Perspectives of Parents on Communication Challenges Faced in Educating Learners with Hearing Impairments

Focusing on Education Policy for Deaf Children, the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD, 2016) postulated that children with HI have a right to full access to quality education and that since persons with hearing impairments (HI) are mainly visual, sign language and visual strategies must be availed to learners with HI as a birthright. This may be interpreted to mean that if quality education is not availed to learners with HI using visual strategies and in sign language, the policies laid down by WFD would have been contravened. It can also be implied that sign language needs to be availed to learners with HI at home with parents, siblings and care givers where they grow and learn before going to school. The purpose of this study was therefore to establish the perspectives of parents on communication challenges faced in educating learners with hearing impairments in. This study adopted a case study research design using a qualitative research approach and was informed by the Social Model of Disability as propagated by Union of Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS) (1976). The objective of the study was to establish the perspectives of parents on communication challenges faced in educating learners with hearing impairments. The target population was 177 comprising 150 parents of learners with hearing impairments, 26 teachers and 1 Quality Assurance and Standards Officer. The study employed purposive sampling technique to sample 30 parents and 13 teachers while saturated sampling technique was used to for 1 Quality Assurance and Standards Officer (QUASO). Data was collected by use of interview schedules, focus group discussion guides and document analysis guides. Trustworthiness was established by use of detailed report of the process within the study, member checks and overlapping methods. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis technique as proposed by Braun and Clarke (2006). The study established that most parents of learners with hearing impairments held the view that sign language was too difficult to learn at their age though they expected the school and the government to facilitate sign language trainings for them. This study concluded that communication between parents and their children was ineffective because parents viewed themselves as unable to learn sign language and communication between parents and the school was ineffective because most parents viewed the teachers as disorganized in the way they communicated with parents. Keywords: Hearing impairments, communication, parents, learners, challenges, educating learners with HI DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-3-0

How does culture influence advertising : a content analysis of magazine advertisements

Masteroppgave i bedriftsøkonomi - Nord universitet 201

Germination ecology of shattercane (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and giant foxtail (Setaria faberi Herrm)

Five studies were conducted in an effort to elucidate differences in germination strategy of shattercane and giant foxtail;The first study was under controlled environmental conditions and aimed at determining how temperature influenced germination of shattercane and giant foxtail parent seeds and then to see if there was a correlation to germinability of their progeny. Such a correlation was found with giant foxtail progeny seedlots but not shattercane. Giant foxtail progeny seed germination was similar in response to all temperatures used whereas shattercane seed primarily germinated with alternating temperatures;The second was a field study designed to determine the influence of alternating temperatures in emergence of shattercane and giant foxtail. Using different seeding depths and soil shading levels, it was determined that shattercane seeds require alternating temperatures for successful emergence, whereas giant foxtail seeds do not;The third study sought to determine if burial of shattercane seed at different depths in the fall and their movement to the soil surface on different dates in spring/summer of the following year, would influence emergence and seed survival. Moist-stratification of shattercane seeds in different regimes was also studied. Shattercane emergence was highest in mid-spring and early summer, especially with more deeply buried seed, and most seed that failed to emerge were dead. A majority of shattercane seed that were stratified in the alternate freezing and thawing regime lost their viability;The fourth study was designed to determine how giant foxtail and shattercane parents interact with environment to influence germinability of their progeny. In addition, progeny seeds were moist-stratified in different environments and germination assessed thereafter. Differences in germinability were detected among giant foxtail progeny seedlots but not in shattercane. Moist-stratification increased germination of giant foxtail progeny seedlots but decreased that for shattercane. Moist-stratification in alternate freezing and thawing caused a majority of shattercane seeds to lose their viability;The fifth study sought to determine the influence of temperature, photoperiod, and moisture during seed development on germinability and dormancy of progeny seeds of shattercane and giant foxtail. Giant foxtail seeds had varying degrees of dormancy. Some shattercane seeds appeared to enter secondary dormancy under short photoperiod and low temperature

Factors controlling virus-vector-host plant interactions : the model system Frankliniella occidentalis and Tomato spotted wilt virus

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Incisive papilla and positions of maxillary anterior teeth among Kenyans of African descent

Objective: To describe the relationship between the incisive papilla and the maxillary anterior teeth among Kenyans of African descent.Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study conducted over six months.Setting: The Department of Conservative and Prosthetic Dentistry, School of Dental Sciences, University of Nairobi.Subjects: One hundred and twelve students of African descent studying at the College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, Kenya.Results: One hundred and twelve maxillary casts generated from participants aged 18-35 years (mean age 22.39±2.00 years), with well aligned arches were studied. The maxillary central incisor exhibited a mean of 14.93±1.52mm from the posterior limit of the incisive papilla while the inter-canine line scored a mean of 4.73±1.73mm anterior to the most posterior limit of the incisive papilla. The mean inter-canine width was 35.44±1.79mm.Conclusion: This study brings out salient unique features in the relationship between the incisive papilla and maxillary anterior teeth among Kenyans of African descent, which may guide placement of maxillary central incisors and canines during complete denture construction

Factors that influence use of the incisive papilla as reference to maxillary anterior tooth positions

Objective: To describe some factors that may influence the use of the incisive papilla as reference to maxillary anterior tooth positions.Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.Setting: The Department of Conservative and Prosthetic Dentistry, School of Dental Sciences, University of Nairobi.Results: 112 maxillary casts generated from participants aged 18-35 years, with well aligned arches were studied. The distance from the posterior limit of the incisive papilla and the most labial aspect of maxillary central incisor (pap11) did not vary with the gender, facial profile, or somatotype. There was a weak correlation between pap11 and age. Pap11 varied with arch form. There was weak correlation between age and the distance from the posterior margin of the incisive papilla to the inter-canine line (papintcan). There was no variation in the relationship between papintcan and gender, facial profile or somatotype. Papintcan varied with the arch form. There was no variation in the inter-canine width with age, facial profile or somatotype. There were correlations between the inter-canine width and papintcan, between the intercanine width and pap11, and between papintcan and pap11.Conclusion: Arch form is a significant factor to consider while using incisive papilla as reference to maxillary anterior tooth positions. Age, gender, facial profile and somatotype have no effect on the relationship between the incisive papilla and maxillary anterior teeth

Another continental vulture crisis: Africa's vultures collapsing toward extinction

Vultures provide critical ecosystem services, yet populations of many species have collapsed worldwide. We present the first estimates of a 30-year Pan-African vulture decline, confirming that declines have occurred on a scale broadly comparable with those seen in Asia, where the ecological, economic, and human costs are already documented. Populations of eight species we assessed had declined by an average of 62%; seven had declined at a rate of 80% or more over three generations. Of these, at least six appear to qualify for uplisting to Critically Endangered. Africa's vultures are facing a range of specific threats, the most significant of which are poisoning and trade in traditional medicines, which together accounted for 90% of reported deaths. We recommend that national governments urgently enact and enforce legislation to strictly regulate the sale and use of pesticides and poisons, to eliminate the illegal trade in vulture body parts, as food or medicine, and to minimize mortality caused by power lines and wind turbines

Influence of corporate branding on client satisfaction in commercial banks in Voi Town, Kenya

Competitive pressure in the banking industry is causing banks to resort to creation of customer satisfaction and switching barriers as some of the strategies to retain customers. However, banks still lose customers to their peers and even to non-bank financial insitutions. Thus, the effectiveness of their relationship marketing approaches is put to doubt. The purpose of this paper, therefore, was to examine the influence of corporate branding on client satisfaction in commercial banks in Voi Town. Using quantitative analysis on cross-sectional data collected from a sample of 135 respondents, the study found that corporate branding was correlated with customer satisfaction. This satisfaction was enhanced by corporate branding, which made a bank more distinct from its competitors. Because customer satisfaction is a key driver of success, this study recommends that commercial banks have regular staff training on their brand so as to improve the connection between the brand and their service delivery, thus, leading to improved customer experience.Keywords: Client satisfaction, Corporate branding, Relationship marketing, Keny

Complementarity of inorganic fertilizers and improved maize varieties and farmer efficiency in maize production in Kenya

This study contributes to the literature and policy on the impact of partial and package adoption of inorganic fertilizers and improved maize varieties on yields among smallholder households in Kenya. We use a blend of the quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach and propensity score matching to control for both time-variant and time-invariant unobservable household heterogeneity. Our findings show that inorganic fertilizers and improved maize varieties significantly improve yields when adopted as a package rather than as individual elements. The impact is greater at the lower end of the yield distribution than at the upper end, and when technical efficiency of the farmers improves. A positive effect of partial adoption is experienced only in the lower quantile of the yield distribution. The policy implication is that complementary agricultural technologies should be promoted as a package, and should target households and areas which are already experiencing low yields for greater impact.Keywords: Technology Adoption; Yield; Difference-in-Differences; Keny