The Effects of a Human Hand on a Wireless Mouse Antenna

In this paper, Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method is used to analyze the effect of a human hand on a wireless mouse antenna. The need for this analysis is based on the fact that human tissues are dielectric in nature and they can, therefore, be treated as electromagnetic absorbers. In the first part, hand effect on reflection coefficient, input resistance, bandwidth and radiation efficiency are studied. In the second part, the variation of radiation efficiency with the position of the hand from the antenna feed point is estimated. The Method of Moments is used to validate the results. Keywords: Wireless mouse, Antenna dipole, Electromagnetic Field, FDTD, Efficiency

Using electronic syndromic surveillance system to collect animal health and meat inspection records in Marsabit County, Kenya

Introduction: An electronic syndromic surveillance system for collecting, collating and analysing animal health and meat inspection records in Marsabit County, Kenya has been developed. Architecture: The system comprises a cloud server linked to a series of data collection phones operated by field veterinarians based at the sub-county locations and meat inspectors in abattoirs. Animal health data are collected by sub-county veterinarians during their routine active surveillance missions or via telephone contacts with community disease reporters (CDRs) who are based at the village; these CDRs have been trained on disease recognition and reporting. Each veterinarian is expected to make weekly phone calls to each CDR to check whether there has been any incident that needs to be reported during the intervening period. However, when there is an outbreak, the CDRs from affected village call the veterinarian to whom they report to provide the data. Sub-county veterinarians upload the syndromic reports to the online server at the end of each day. Abattoir data on the other hand are uploaded by the meat inspectors to the database directly at the end of each day. The server has scripts written in Java language for automated data management and analysis. Descriptive results produced include trend graphs, heat maps and word clouds on reported syndromes. Initial observations: For livestock diseases and syndromes, the system currently indicates that a total of 130 reports have been made over the last six months. The number of reports by sub-county varies from 65 in Laisamis, 46 from Moyale, 14 from Saku and 5 from North Horr. The common syndromes captured in the word cloud include coughing, mucoid nasal discharge, severe breathing difficulties and thickening of the skin. The numbers of cattle slaughtered and inspected in the County abattoirs in the months of September, October and November 2017 were 178, 212 and 203 cattle, respectively. The combined numbers of sheep and goats slaughtered at the same period were 989, 1078 and 1011, respectively. Cases reported from post mortem inspections in the abattoirs included facioliasis, pneumonic lungs, abscesses and cysts. Conclusion: The system improves the capacity of the department to collect and manage data that could have otherwise been keep in paper forms. The analyses conducted also show a good level of agreement between animal health data and post mortem findings. This is because the common animal health syndromes reported by CDRs were coughing and severe breathing problems, while a high proportion of post mortem cases observed were pneumonic lesions. This demonstrates the utility of using multiple sources of data for triangulation purposes

Effects of biofertilizer containing N-fixer, P and K solubilizers and AM fungi on maize growth: A greenhouse trial.

An in vitro study was undertaken to evaluate the compatibility of indigenous plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) with commonly used inorganic and organic sources of fertilizers in tea plantations. The nitrogenous, phosphatic and potash fertilizers used for this study were urea, rock phosphate and muriate of potash, respectively. The organic sources of fertilizers neem cake, composted coir pith and vermicompost were also used. PGPRs such as nitrogen fixer; Azospirillum lipoferum, Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB); Pseudomonas putida, Potassium Solubilizing Bacteria (KSB); Burkholderia cepacia and Pseudomonas putida were used for compatibility study. Results were indicated that PGPRs preferred the coir pith and they proved their higher colony establishment in the formulation except Azospirillum spp. that preferred vermicompost for their establishment. The optimum dose of neem cake powder

Comprehensive transcriptome of the maize stalk borer, Busseola fusca, from multiple tissue types, developmental stages, and parasitoid wasp exposures

International audienc

Awareness of Hygiene and Safety Practices on Raw Milk Produced and Consumed in Kiambu County, Kenya

Background: In Kenya Food safety has been a subject of concern in the recent past due to an increase in chronic illnesses. This was triggered by challenges in quality control, unregulated trade of milk by hawkers, and a minimal level of safety awareness among the farmers. Objective: The study was aimed at finding out awareness of safety practices on raw milk produced and consumed in Kiambu County.  Methods: A cross-section study was carried out, to examine hygiene standards and safety aspects among dairy farmers at Gatundu South Constituency, mainly in three regions namely Kiganjo, Gatei and Gatundu town. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 33 participants in each locality. Results: The study showed small scale farmers accounted for (98%) who keep 2 to 3 cows. The quality assurance of the products accounted for more than (97%) hence not significant (p>0.05). The record management at the farm level had less than 40% of farmers, hence no significance difference (p>0.05). The milk rejection accounted for 97%, and there was a significant ((p˂0.05)). In contamination with antibiotics and preservatives. Brokers who vend milk in the sub-urban centers in Thika town, Ruiru town, and Nairobi accounted for (14%)... The use of health records was not a priority among the farmers, coupled with irregular withdrawal periods; ranging from 48 hours to 72 hours. Conclusion: Hygiene standards and safety aspects among dairy farmers in Kiambu County are compromised. Subsequently, there is a need to enforce controls in; informal marketing channels, besides training, infrastructural development, code of practice and inspections to enhance the quality and safety of dairy products along the supply chain

Use of mobile technology to identify behavioral mechanisms linked to mental health outcomes in Kenya: protocol for development and validation of a predictive model

Abstract Objective This study proposes to identify and validate weighted sensor stream signatures that predict near-term risk of a major depressive episode and future mood among healthcare workers in Kenya. Approach The study will deploy a mobile application (app) platform and use novel data science analytic approaches (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning) to identifying predictors of mental health disorders among 500 randomly sampled healthcare workers from five healthcare facilities in Nairobi, Kenya. Expectation This study will lay the basis for creating agile and scalable systems for rapid diagnostics that could inform precise interventions for mitigating depression and ensure a healthy, resilient healthcare workforce to develop sustainable economic growth in Kenya, East Africa, and ultimately neighboring countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This protocol paper provides an opportunity to share the planned study implementation methods and approaches. Conclusion A mobile technology platform that is scalable and can be used to understand and improve mental health outcomes is of critical importance

Per capita FSW in the towns mapped in Western and Rift Valley provinces, Kenya.

<p>Per capita FSW in the towns mapped in Western and Rift Valley provinces, Kenya.</p

Estimated number of active FSW spots and population sizes in the towns mapped in Western and Rift Valley provinces, Kenya.

a<p>Based on point estimate for FSW population.</p