Assessment of phenotypes, physiological and behavioural responses associated with heat tolerance among Galla goats in North Eastern Kenya.

Galla goats have great adaptation vigor to different environments. However, the outcomes of the ongoing climate change have subjected livestock including the Galla goats to harsh environmental conditions like high ambient temperatures. In this study, Galla goats were characterized in the selected areas based on phenotypic, physiological, and behavioural responses to high environmental temperature. One hundred and forty-nine Galla goats selected from Isiolo, Garissa and Tana River were scored for various features such as coat colour, horn colour, skin colour, horn shape, horn length, ear orientation, ear length, wattles and horn circumference. Data collected were entered in an excel spread sheet then analyzed in R statistical software version 4.0.4. White was found to be the dominant coat colour with a percentage frequency greater than 60.0% in the studied counties. The study revealed that both male and female Galla goats possess horns with more than 88.9% of goats being horned across the three counties. There was a strong relationship between horn presence and the environmental temperature with p=0.05. A positive correlation was also observed between environmental temperature and rectal temperature, horn length, ear length and horn circumference. The findings show the presence of an important gene pool from which guidelines on conservation of heat stress phenotypes as a result of the ongoing climate change can be put in place

Assessing progress with the implementation of the public transport policy in Kenya

Paper presented at the 31st Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9-12 July 2012 "Getting Southern Africa to Work", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.The public transport system in Kenya is basically provided by privately owned matatu vehicles whose ownership structure is atomised. They initially entered as pirates running parallel to the then subsidised public transport system, were resisted but eventually allowed to operate through a Presidential decree but without formal regulatory provisions to govern their operations. Since then, several policy formulations have been proposed and implemented in attempts to organise the sector without much success. Using both primary and secondary data, the paper gives a chronology of the implementation of key policy formulations meant to streamline the sector. Also, using part of the information generated from a bigger study which used case studies of fifteen matatu businesses on selected routes in Nairobi, the study evaluates the progress with the implementation of the public policy in Kenya with specific reference to the latest policy directive. The paper concludes that the cost, mode and time implications should be taken into consideration in the implementation of such key policies.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material was published using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.0 Technology. The original CD ROM was produced by Document Transformation Technologies Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: nigel@doctech URL: http://www.doctech.co.zadm201

Public road transport services in the city of Nairobi, Kenya: a case study of the potential for their conversion into a hybrid transport mode

Paper presented at the 31st Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9-12 July 2012 "Getting Southern Africa to Work", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.Public service transport in the city of Nairobi is operated by a few bus companies and the paratransit matatus. Because of the many problems associated with the paratransit mode, especially a high rate of road crashes, the draft Integrated National Transport Policy recommended the need: “To concession routes to SACCOs and bus companies capable of operating them efficiently and in affordable and safe manner”. This paper examines transport services with emphasis on those provided by PSVs on Thika Road. Information was gathered from key informants who included, directors of the Matatu Owners Association and Kenya Bus Services, route managers and crew. It was found that some form of hybrid mode of transport already exists in the form of paratransit matatus and larger buses operated by bus companies with potential for being strengthened into an effective hybrid mode comprising BRT and some paratransit PSVs.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material was published using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.0 Technology. The original CD ROM was produced by Document Transformation Technologies Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: nigel@doctech URL: http://www.doctech.co.zadm201

Paratransit operations and regulation in Nairobi matatu business strategies and the regulatory regime

Paper presented at the 31st Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9-12 July 2012 "Getting Southern Africa to Work", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.Nairobi’s matatus – privately owned paratransit vehicles – are businesses offering a service to the public. Matatu owners adopt business strategies that they hope will ensure them a continuing place in the market and a reasonable reward for their efforts. Matatus operate within a regulatory regime that has the potential to promote or to thwart their strategic objectives. Using case studies of fifteen matatu businesses operating on selected routes in Nairobi, this paper examines the relationship between matatus’ business strategies and the current or proposed regulatory regime. Research findings suggest a relationship between both overall and operating strategies and the nature and level of regulatory compliance. It also found that compliance is selective, with operators following regulations deemed to be reasonable and possible. The findings suggest that compliance may be enhanced by promoting cooperation between matatu owners and government in streamlining regulations and ensuring fair and consistent enforcement, as well as by recognising that matatus are legitimate transport businesses rendering a public service.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material was published using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.0 Technology. The original CD ROM was produced by Document Transformation Technologies Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: nigel@doctech URL: http://www.doctech.co.zadm201

Ten Simple Rules for Organizing a Virtual Conference—Anywhere

1 International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nairobi, Kenya, 2 Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, 3 Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria, 4 Institute of Bioinformatics, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria, 5 Moroccan Society for Bioinformatics Institute, Morocco, 6 South African National Bioinformatics Institute, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa, 7 University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, 8 University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, United States of America, 9 Biotechnology Unit, University of Buea, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon, 10 International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya, 11 Biosciences Eastern and Central Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, 12 International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya, 13 Bioinformatics Organization, Hudson, Massachusetts, United States of America, 14 Bioinformatics Team, Center for Development of Advanced Computing, Pune University Campus, Pune, India, 15 Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of Americ

Genomes reveal selective sweeps in kiang and donkey for high-altitude adaptation

Over the last several hundred years, donkeys have adapted to high-altitude conditions on the Tibetan Plateau. Interestingly, the kiang, a closely related equid species, also inhabits this region. Previous reports have demonstrated the importance of specific genes and adaptive introgression in divergent lineages for adaptation to hypoxic conditions on the Tibetan Plateau. Here, we assessed whether donkeys and kiangs adapted to the Tibetan Plateau via the same or different biological pathways and whether adaptive introgression has occurred. We assembled a de novo genome from a kiang individual and analyzed the genomes of five kiangs and 93 donkeys (including 24 from the Tibetan Plateau). Our analyses suggested the existence of a strong hard selective sweep at the EPAS1 locus in kiangs. In Tibetan donkeys, however, another gene, i.e., EGLN1, was likely involved in their adaptation to high altitude. In addition, admixture analysis found no evidence for interspecific gene flow between kiangs and Tibetan donkeys. Our findings indicate that despite the short evolutionary time scale since the arrival of donkeys on the Tibetan Plateau, as well as the existence of a closely related species already adapted to hypoxia, Tibetan donkeys did not acquire adaptation via admixture but instead evolved adaptations via a different biological pathway

Third Report on Chicken Genes and Chromosomes 2015

Following on from the First Report on Chicken Genes and Chromosomes [Schmid et al., 2000] and the Second Report in 2005 [Schmid et al., 2005], we are pleased to publish this long-awaited Third Report on the latest developments in chicken genomics. The First Report highlighted the availability of genetic and physical maps, while the Second Report was published as the chicken genome sequence was released. This report comes at a time of huge technological advances (particularly in sequencing methodologies) which have allowed us to examine the chicken genome in detail not possible until now. This has also heralded an explosion in avian genomics, with the current availability of more than 48 bird genomes [Zhang G et al., 2014b; Eöry et al., 2015], with many more planned

[Avian cytogenetics goes functional] Third report on chicken genes and chromosomes 2015

High-density gridded libraries of large-insert clones using bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) and other vectors are essential tools for genetic and genomic research in chicken and other avian species... Taken together, these studies demonstrate that applications of large-insert clones and BAC libraries derived from birds are, and will continue to be, effective tools to aid high-throughput and state-of-the-art genomic efforts and the important biological insight that arises from them

The effect of distance on maternal institutional delivery choice : Evidence from Malawi

In many low- and middle-income countries, geographical accessibility continues to be a barrier to health care utilization. In this paper, we aim to better understand the full relationship between distance to providers and utilization of maternal delivery services. We address three methodological challenges: non-linear effects between distance and utilization; unobserved heterogeneity through non-random distance “assignment”; and heterogeneous effects of distance. Linking Malawi Demographic Health Survey household data to Service Provision Assessment facility data, we consider distance as a continuous treatment variable, estimating a Dose-Response Function based on generalized propensity scores, allowing exploration of non-linearities in the effect of an increment in distance at different distance exposures. Using an instrumental variables approach, we examine the potential for unobserved differences between women residing at different distances to health facilities. Our results suggest distance significantly reduces the probability of having a facility delivery, with evidence of non-linearities in the effect. The negative relationship is shown to be particularly strong for women with poor health knowledge and lower socio-economic status, with important implications for equity. We also find evidence of potential unobserved confounding, suggesting that methods that ignore such confounding may underestimate the effect of distance on the utilization of health services

Paratransit use among low income industrial workers in Nairobi

Paper presented at the 31st Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9-12 July 2012 "Getting Southern Africa to Work", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.Matatu mode of transport is one of the main means of paratransit in Kenya that has grown in numbers over the past years. Despite the growth, a significant proportion of the low-income population rely on non-motorised transport for their trips. This paper interrogates the extent to which matatu mode of transport is catering to the mobility demands of the low income industrial workers and the factors that influence matatu use among them. The paper is based on an exploratory survey and case studies of industrial workers in Sameer Park Export Processing Zone (EPZ). The findings demonstrate that most industrial workers do not regularly use matatus for their work trips. Matatu use is determined by the fares charged, distance from residential area to the work place and the nature of employment. Industrial workers who cannot afford to use matatus regularly for their work trips are forced to switch between non-motorised transport and matatus. Residing in informal settlements close to work destinations becomes a coping strategy against the high paratransit fares. The study recommends that newly formed matatu industry institutions i.e. Transport Companies and SACCOs should play a significant role in controlling arbitrary fare increase by operators.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material was published using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.0 Technology. The original CD ROM was produced by Document Transformation Technologies Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: nigel@doctech URL: http://www.doctech.co.zadm201