Giant urinary bladder calculus: Case report

A vertical calculus weighing more than 100 g is categorised as a giant urinary bladder stone. Giant urinary bladder stones are very rare and very few cases have been reported in English literature and only one case from Africa. This is a case report of a patient with a giant urinary bladder calculus presenting as a rectal tumour. The stone was removed by open cystolithotomy. Possible etiological factors and imaging modalities are discussed

Spatial distribution and co-infection with urogenital and intestinal schistosomiasis among primary school children in Migori County, Kenya

Background: Schistosomiasis is the most prevalent helminthic infection in sub-Saharan Africa. School age children have the highest burden. Chronic schistosome infections in children can have irreversible effects lasting throughout adulthood.Objective: To determine the prevalence, intensity and distribution of urogenital and intestinal schistosomiasis among primary school children in Migori County, Kenya.Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.Setting: Primary schools in Migori County, Kenya.Subjects: Children aged seven to fourteen years.Results: We enrolled 1,784 children with the ratio of female to males being 1:1. Their mean age was 11.4 years (standard deviation ± 1.6). The overall prevalence of infection was 26%, with urogenital and intestinal schistosomiasis being found in 9% and 20% of children, respectively. A trend of increasing prevalence with increasing age of children was observed. Boys had a 50% higher risk of being infected with schistosomiasis when compared to girls (adjusted odds ratio 1.5, 95% confidence interval 1.2-1.9). Intensities of schistosome infections did not vary significantly across gender and age. Nyatike Constituency had the highest prevalence of schistosomiasis (54%).Prevalence in schools ranged from 1.7 to 89%. Seven schools (23%) had a schistosomiasis prevalence of at least 50% while 12 (39%) schools had schistosomiasis prevalence of between 10 and 50%.Conclusion: Our study showed that schistosomiasis is endemic in the study area and represents a significant public health problem among school children. The area should be prioritised for interventions including mass deworming, public health education and sanitation improvement

Social capital and internationalization of commercial banks in Kenya

Purpose - Drawing on the internationalization concept, the study sought to delve into social capital and commercial banks' internationalization in Kenya. Design/Method/Approach - The research adopted a positivist philosophical approach and used a descriptive cross-sectional research design targeting top and middle-level managers in Kenya's commercial banks. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 for both descriptive and inferential statistics. Structural Equation Modelling was used to establish the influence of social capital on commercial banks' internationalization in Kenya. Findings - The findings established a significant and positive relationship between the components of social capital: inter-cultural empathy, inter-personal impact and diplomacy, and internationalization of commercial banks. Theoretically, the study expanded the body of research by developing three arguments. Practical implications - The results have significant consequences: Firstly, social capital has a positive and statistically significant relationship with commercial banks' internationalization. Secondly, all dimensions of social capital affect the acquisition of foreign market knowledge and financial resources. Thirdly, the use of individuals' social capital often changes during internationalization. Originality/Value - The novelty of the study demonstrates the interaction of commercial banks' managers in Kenya on the application of social capital as an internationalization orientation process. Research Limitations/Future Research - The research contributes to the advancement of location theory. It opens avenues for future research to establish what extent social capital is beneficial to banks that have ventured into international markets

INTERPLAY BETWEEN PARENT-TEACHER COLLABORATION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PUPILS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN MIGORI COUNTY, KENYA

This study aimed to establish the influence of parent-teacher collaboration on the academic performance of pupils with Learning Disabilities (LD) in public primary schools in Migori County, Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive design. The study was guided by Constructivist Theory developed by Jerome Bruner (1966). The target population was 47 primary schools, 1000 pupils in grade three, 113 parents of pupils with learning disabilities, 47 grade 3 class teachers, and 47 head teachers in Migori County. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the primary schools. Grade three pupils, class teachers, parents, and head teachers were selected using a purposive sampling technique. The sample size consisted of 11 primary schools, 11 grade 3 class teachers, 11 head teachers, 55 grade 3 pupils, and 22 parents. Researcher-constructed questionnaires, pupil rating scales, and test and interview schedules were used to collect data. To establish the validity and reliability of the research instruments, a pilot study was carried out in one primary school in Migori County. The collected data were descriptively analyzed using means, frequencies, and percentages. Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was used to examine the nature of the relationships among the study variables. The results were presented using tables. The data from the interview schedule for the head teachers were analyzed thematically, and the results were incorporated into the quantitative findings. Findings indicated that effective collaboration between parents and teachers significantly enhanced academic performance. The study concluded that there was a positive correlation between parent-teacher collaboration and the academic performance of pupils with LD revealed a positive correlation, emphasizing the significance of collaborative efforts to elevate academic achievement. The study recommended that to strengthen collaborative efforts, it is imperative to foster a deeper partnership between teachers and parents. In a leadership role, head teachers need to take the lead in sensitizing both teachers and parents on the profound significance of parent-teacher collaboration for the academic performance of pupils with LD. Also, teachers and Ministry of Education officials in the county should create time to meet the parents and teachers to sensitize them about LD and their needs to improve the learning outcomes of such learners.  Article visualizations

Rangewide ploidy variation and evolution in Acacia senegal: a north-south divide?

Knowledge of rangewide variation in DNA content and ploidy level may be valuable in understanding the evolutionary history of a species. Recent studies of Acacia senegal report diploids and occasional tetraploids in the Sudano-Sahelian region of sub-Saharan Africa, but nothing is known about the overall extent of DNA ploidy variation within the species. In this study, we determine the DNA content and ploidy level of A. senegal across its native range, and explore whether the variation is related to its evolutionary and colonization history. We used propidium iodide flow cytometry (FCM) to estimate DNA content (2C value) and infer ploidy in 157 individuals from 54 populations on various tissues, using seeds, fresh leaves, dried leaves and twigs and herbarium specimens. The mean 2C DNA (pg ± s.d.) contents detected were 1.47 ± 0.09, 2.12 ± 0.02, 2.89 ± 0.12, and a single individual with 4.51 pg, corresponding to a polyploid series of diploid, triploid, tetraploid and hexaploid individuals. Diploids were confirmed by chromosome counts (2n = 2x = 26). Most populations (90.7 %) were of single ploidy level, while mixed ploidy populations (9.3 %) comprising mostly diploids (2x+3x, 2x+4x and 2x+6x) were restricted to the Sudano-Sahelian and Indian subcontinent regions, its northern range. The species is predominantly diploid, and no mixed ploidy populations were detected in east and southern Africa, its southern range. The geographic pattern of ploidy variation in conjunction with existing phylogeographic and phylogenetic data of the species suggests that polyploids have occurred multiple times in its evolutionary and recent colonization history, including contemporary ecological timescales. The successful use of external tissues of dried twigs in FCM is new, and presents the opportunity to study numerous other dryland woody species

An Application of association rule learning in recommender systems for e-Commerce and its effect on marketing

The conference aimed at supporting and stimulating active productive research set to strengthen the technical foundations of engineers and scientists in the continent, through developing strong technical foundations and skills, leading to new small to medium enterprises within the African sub-continent. It also seeked to encourage the emergence of functionally skilled technocrats within the continent.High annual customer churn rates and low customer attractions caused by poor marketing recommendations inhibit enterprises from making as much profit as they should. The purpose of this research was to derive a more optimized association rule learning algorithm that can be used in a web-based recommender system for small-scale enterprises. The method used was a case study approach on a small-scale enterprise called Makewa Hardware located in Ruiru, Kenya. Having access to the enterprise supported the use of the agile methodology, more specifically, extreme programming in the development of the system that applied the algorithm. A sample of training data consisting of transactions made in the past was obtained from the enterprise in order to create the machine learning aspects of the algorithm. The results howed that the derived association rule learning algorithm was able to learn and generate its own frequent-item-set and use this to give appropriate recommendations to customers. The results revealed the system’s ability to make more accurate recommendations.This was based on the pattern of purchases made from the hardware store by various customers. The recommendations were given on a weekly basis. The implication of the results on the subjects showed that more business owners are open to having intelligent systems help make and predict their sales. The findings can be applied not only in hardware stores but also in other retail stores. Future research can ensure that a normal dataset can be transformed into a market basket without it losing important information.Strathmore University; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE

N-(2,6-Diisopropyl­phen­yl)formamide toluene 0.33-solvate

The crystal packing of the title compound, C13H19NO·0.33C7H8, shows a channel at [001], which contains grossly disordered toluene solvent mol­ecules. The angle between the benzene ring and the mean plane of the formamide group is 71.1 (1)°. The amide groups of neighbouring mol­ecules are connected by N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming 21 helical chains propagating along [001]. Mol­ecules are also connected by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming 61 helices

Assessment of community led total sanitation uptake in rural Kenya

Background: Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is an innovative community led drive to set up pit latrines in rural Kenya with an aim of promoting sustainable sanitation through behaviour change. It’s a behaviour change approach based on social capital that triggers households to build pit latrines without subsidy. The Ministry of Health introduced the CLTS campaign in 2007 and the first road map to ODF ended in 2013. Since the commencement of the CLTS Programme in, there is little documentation on assessment of its uptake from triggering to the certification of open defecation free villages.Objective: To assess the magnitude of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) triggering to certification of Open Defecation free (ODF) villages in rural Kenya.Design: A retrospective descriptive study.Setting: The 47 counties in Kenya. Kenya is projected to have a population of 46 million people with the majority as rural populace. The study unit were Villages across the 47 counties from the data generated in the CLTS monitoring and evaluation dataset.Results: The number of triggered villages (11641) compared to those that reached certification stage (3131) reduced significantly. Busia County achieved the 100% target for triggering. There was a significant decline of the proportions per county in the process of claiming, verifying and certifying ODF villages however Busia, Siaya and Vihiga were leading across the counties. The proportion of CLTS facilitators and CLTS certified villages per county were incongruent.Conclusion: There was low uptake of CLTS from the triggering phase to the certification phase due to plausible factors such as inadequate monitoring of the CLTS process, inadequate funding of CLTS programmeming and conflicting work demands on the CLTS facilitators leading to reduced momentum as observed in Uganda

Trends of reported outpatient malaria cases to assess the Test, Treat and Track (T3) policy in Kenya

Background: Kenya reports over six million malaria cases annually. In 2012 the country adopted the Test, Treat and Track (T3) policy to ensure that all suspected malaria cases are tested, confirmed cases are treated with quality-assured drugs and timely accurate malaria surveillance are in place to guide policy and practice.Objective: To describe the trends of confirmed outpatient malaria cases and the consumption of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in the government health facilities in Kenya following the roll out of the T3 initiative.Design: A retrospective review study.Setting: All government health facilities in the 47 counties.Subjects: Secondary data on all outpatient malaria cases and ACT consumed as reported in the District Helth Information Software (DHIS).Results: Total malaria cases decreased from 8.5 to 6.8million cases in 2012 and 2015, respectively. Confirmed malaria cases increased from 1.97 (23%) to 4.9 (72%) million cases. The greatest decrease in total malaria cases and the greatest rise in confirmation of suspected cases occurred in the lower level health facilities. More confirmation of suspected cases occurred in the malaria endemic regions compared to other epidemiological zones. Excess ACT consumption reduced by 46% to reach 27% in 2015.Conclusion: Though there was increased confirmation of suspected malaria, still onethird of the outpatients were treated clinically in 2015. About one-third of ACTs were also used in excess in 2015. There is need for enhanced efforts to adhere to the T3 policy and malaria elimination guidelines

An assessment of water, sanitation and hygiene (wash) practices and quality of routinely collected data in Machakos County Kenya

Background: Poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices, predispose to childhood morbidity and mortality globally, and especially from diarrhoeal diseases. Machakos County in its community strategy utilises Community Health Workers (CHWs) to promote WASH practices and to collect household based data using a structured reporting tool. There is no published data on WASH in Machakos County.Objectives: To assess (i) WASH practices, and (ii) completeness and accuracy of routinely collected data on household water, sanitation and hygiene with reported childhood diarrhoea cases of all community units in Machakos County, Kenya.Design: Descriptive ecological studySetting: Machakos County, KenyaSubjects: Household unitsResults: A total of 137,540 households were served by the CHWs between January and December 2014. The number of households was not updated as per ministry of health recommendation, after six months hence the denominator remained constant. There was a high uptake of households with treated drinking water (92%), availability of hand washing facilities in (89%) and availability of functional pit latrines (98%). A total of 4,012 diarrhoea cases were reported in the County, with an average of 90 cases every month, except in the month of August where 3,020 cases of diarrhoea were reported. There was no apparent relationship observed between WASH practices and occurrence of under five diarrhoea cases.Conclusion: Water, sanitation and hygiene practices at community level in Machakos County are in keeping with post 2015 WASH targets and indicators, with few cases of under-five diarrhoea reported. Data quality and completeness need to be addressed for effective programme evaluation