Causes of Fire Disasters in Secondary Schools in Kenya

Over the recent years, lives and property worth millions of shillings have been destroyed in fire disasters in secondary schools in the world. Cases of fire disasters in Kenyan secondary schools have been experienced in the last decade with increasing frequency and severity. It was therefore necessary to determine the causes of fire disasters in secondary schools. The main objective of this study was to assess causes of fire disasters in secondary schools in Kenya. An evaluation research design was used. Stratified simple random sampling was used to select the schools and the respondents. The study population was composed of secondary school principals, teachers, laboratory technicians, students and the District Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (DQASO) in Vihiga County. Data was collected by use of structured questionnaires designed for teachers, students and laboratory technicians, in-depth interviews with school principals and the DQASOs and an observation checklist. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 11.5 was used in the analysis of data with Chi-square being used to test independence and variation of responses. A spearman’s rank order correlation was run to determine the relationship between teachers’ and students’ responses. According to the findings of this study, Faulty electrical appliances, arson, flammable materials, gas leakages, waste burning, students unrest and lighting were cited as main hazards that lead to fire disasters in secondary schools. It was also established that: five out of the thirty five schools that participated in the study had experienced fire disasters in the last 10 years; in all the schools that had experienced fire disasters causes were clearly known; It was concluded that: fire disasters in Vihiga are frequent and severe; that the trends as to the causes of fire disasters in the county are dynamic; most of the administrators and even teachers were not trained in fire fighting skills; most of the schools dint have safety committees and were not practicing fire drills and that most of the general requirements for fire disaster preparedness were not in place. The findings of the study will enable schools to be aware of fire hazards and empower them to reduce their vulnerability to fire disasters. It will also be important to education policy makers who will use this information in formulating and implementing policies on fire safety in schools. Keywords : Secondary schools, Fires, Hazards, Disasters, Preparednes

Effect of fish farming on household food security in western Kenya

This study examined the impact of fish farming on household food security and livelihoods of fish farming and non-fish farming households in Siaya County. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. Currently fish farming remains under developed in Western Kenya where pond productivity is low and not rising, despite the efforts of several players including the national government of Kenya. Further, capture fishing in Lake Victoria and rivers has been declining. These scenarios called for the need to examine the production systems and their current performances. The objective of the study was to examine effect of fish farming on household food security and livelihoods. A correlational research design was adopted for the study. Stratified random sampling was used to select fish farming and non-fish farming households. For nutritional assessment, lactating mothers and pre-school children were selected through stratified and systematic random sampling. Chi-Square revealed slight association between nutritional status and fish farming (4,0.012= 0.448;p>0.05) though not significant. Analysis of variance found a higher dietary diversity score for fish farmers at 77.1% (CL: 95%) compared to 14.6% (CL: 95%) for non-fish- farmers on the high end Hoddinote Scale. From the measurement of the mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) of pre-school children, a correlation coefficient was determined to establish if there is a relationship between improved nutritional status and fish farming. Findings were that non-fish farmers experienced more food shortages than fish farmers. Children from fish farmers’ households were well nourished as compared to those of non-fish farmers. This study will benefit farmers since they will adopt Best Management Practices in fish farming in order to improve their household food security and livelihoods through increased income. Increased fish farming will avail fish as food hence improved food and nutrition security to curb incidences of under-nutrition in pre-school children and lactating mothers.Key words: Fish farming, Food security, Livelihoods, Household, Nutritional Assessmen

Efficacy of Dog Training With and Without Remote Electronic Collars vs. A Focus on Positive Reinforcement

We assessed the efficacy of dog training with and without remote electronic collars compared to training with positive reinforcement. A total of 63 dogs with known off-lead behavioral problems such as poor recall were allocated to one of three training groups (each n = 21), receiving up to 150min of training over 5 days to improve recall and general obedience. The 3 groups were: E-collar—manufacturer-nominated trainers who used electronic stimuli as part of their training program; Control 1—the same trainers following practices they would apply when not using electronic stimuli; and Control 2—independent, professional trainers who focused primarily on positive reinforcement for their training. Data collection focused on dogs’ response to two commands: “Come” (recall to trainer) and “Sit” (place hindquarters on ground). These were the two most common commands used during training, with improving recall being the target behavior for the subject dogs. Measures of training efficacy included number of commands given to elicit the response and response latency. Control 2 achieved significantly better responses to both “Sit” and “Come” commands after a single instruction in the allocated time. These dogs also had shorter response latencies than the E-collar group. There was no significant difference in the proportion of command disobeyed between the three groups, although significantly fewer commands were given to the dogs in Control 2. There was no difference in the number of verbal cues used in each group, but Control 2 used fewer hand and lead signals, and Control 1 made more use of these signals than E-collar group. These findings refute the suggestion that training with an E-collar is either more efficient or results in less disobedience, even in the hands of experienced trainers. In many ways, training with positive reinforcement was found to be more effective at addressing the target behavior as well as general obedience training. This method of training also poses fewer risks to dog welfare and quality of the human-dog relationship. Given these results we suggest that there is no evidence to indicate that E-collar training is necessary, even for its most widely cited indication

Better under stress: Improving bacterial cellulose production by Komagataeibacter xylinus K2G30 (UMCC 2756) using adaptive laboratory evolution

Among naturally produced polymers, bacterial cellulose is receiving enormous attention due to remarkable properties, making it suitable for a wide range of industrial applications. However, the low yield, the instability of microbial strains and the limited knowledge of the mechanisms regulating the metabolism of producer strains, limit the large-scale production of bacterial cellulose. In this study, Komagataeibacter xylinus K2G30 was adapted in mannitol based medium, a carbon source that is also available in agri-food wastes. K. xylinus K2G30 was continuously cultured by replacing glucose with mannitol (2% w/v) for 210 days. After a starting lag-phase, in which no changes were observed in the utilization of mannitol and in bacterial cellulose production (cycles 1-25), a constant improvement of the phenotypic performances was observed from cycle 26 to cycle 30, accompanied by an increase in mannitol consumption. At cycle 30, the end-point of the experiment, bacterial cellulose yield increased by 38% in comparision compared to cycle 1. Furthermore, considering the mannitol metabolic pathway, D-fructose is an intermediate in the bioconversion of mannitol to glucose. Based on this consideration, K. xylinus K2G30 was tested in fructose-based medium, obtaining the same trend of bacterial cellulose production observed in mannitol medium. The adaptive laboratory evolution approach used in this study was suitable for the phenotypic improvement of K. xylinus K2G30 in bacterial cellulose production. Metabolic versatility of the strain was confirmed by the increase in bacterial cellulose production from D-fructose-based medium. Moreover, the adaptation on mannitol did not occur at the expense of glucose, confirming the versatility of K2G30 in producing bacterial cellulose from different carbon sources. Results of this study contribute to the knowledge for designing new strategies, as an alternative to the genetic engineering approach, for bacterial cellulose production

Development of a new molecular typing method of Salmonella spp. based on SNPs detection

The aim of this study was to develop a new molecular typing method of Salmonella spp. based on the detection of point mutations (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms or SNPs) in the genome. Several genomic regions (ManB, InvA, pduF) were sequenced in strains isolated from pig, the sequences were aligned and 49 point mutations were identified. A panel of 12 SNPs giving a genotype characteristic of a particular serotype was selected. Until now, thes selected SNPs were unable to distinguish the all strains. Therefore, additional SNPs must be selected

Perturbations of the optical properties of mineral dust particles by mixing with black carbon: A numerical simulation study

Field observations show that individual aerosol particles are a complex mixture of a wide variety of species, reflecting different sources and physico-chemical transformations. The impacts of individual aerosol morphology and mixing characteristics on the Earth system are not yet fully understood. Here we present a sensitivity study on climate-relevant aerosols optical properties to various approximations. Based on aerosol samples collected in various geographical locations, we have observationally constrained size, morphology and mixing, and accordingly simulated, using the discrete dipole approximation model (DDSCAT), optical properties of three aerosols types: (1) bare black carbon (BC) aggregates, (2) bare mineral dust, and (3) an internal mixture of a BC aggregate laying on top of a mineral dust particle, also referred to as polluted dust. DDSCAT predicts optical properties and their spectral dependence consistently with observations for all the studied cases. Predicted values of mass absorption, scattering and extinction coefficients (MAC, MSC, MEC) for bare BC show a weak dependence on the BC aggregate size, while the asymmetry parameter (g) shows the opposite behavior. The simulated optical properties of bare mineral dust present a large variability depending on the modeled dust shape, confirming the limited range of applicability of spheroids over different types and size of mineral dust aerosols, in agreement with previous modeling studies. The polluted dust cases show a strong decrease in MAC values with the increase in dust particle size (for the same BC size) and an increase of the single scattering albedo (SSA). Furthermore, particles with a radius between 180 and 300 nm are characterized by a decrease in SSA values compared to bare dust, in agreement with field observations. This paper demonstrates that observationally constrained DDSCAT simulations allow one to better understand the variability of the measured aerosol optical properties in ambient air and to define benchmark biases due to different approximations in aerosol parametrization

Study on Chinese Tourism Web Sites' Distribution and Online Marketing Effects.

As a platform and carrier of tourism information, tourism websites (TWs) and online tourism marketing have deeply affected the tourism industry. The authors adopt a geographical perspective to analyze the distribution of Chinese tourism websites (CTWs), and statistical analysis with SPSS16.0 was conducted to explore the online marketing effects of CTWs, and some meaningful results has been produced: 1) The number of CTWs generally decreases from eastern China to central and western China, and are especially dominant in tourism developed provinces. 2) The number of tourists has strong statistical correlation with the number of CTWs. 3) The strongest correlation for inbound tourists is with hotel websites, and the highest correlation coefficient is 0.807 between the number of domestic tourist and resort websites. Both inbound and domestic tourists have a low correlation coefficient with travel agency websites (TA). 4) There exist some statistical models between tourist numbers and different kinds of CTWs. The results clearly unveil the marketing effects and correlation of CTWs and is helpful for further online marketing strategies

\u3cem\u3eI Love New York\u3c/em\u3e: Does New York Love Me?

This article seeks to highlight reality television’s most popular re-articulation of the Jezebel and the Sapphire stereotypes while assessing its implications for African American women. Nearly eight decades after their inception in mass mediated culture, the Jezebel and Sapphire stereotypes have been reborn in the form of Tiffany Pollard, better known as “New York,” and her mother “Sister Patterson” (respectively). Television acts as a powerful socialization agent, and thus plays a significant role in how audiences shape their racially stratified and gendered world. Researchers employed discourse analysis to provide the rich contextual data necessary to capture the effects of I Love New York; additionally, researchers will illustrate notions of patriarchy and hegemony. Further, the authors seek to provide readers with the motivation and materials to self-identify, and more importantly, self-correct

Why does the Engel method work? Food demand, economies of size and household survey methods

Estimates of household size economies are needed for the analysis of poverty and inequality. This paper shows that Engel estimates of size economies are large when household expenditures are obtained by respondent recall but small when expenditures are obtained by daily recording in diaries. Expenditure estimates from recall surveys appear to have measurement errors correlated with household size. As well as demonstrating the fragility of Engel estimates of size economies, these results help resolve a puzzle raised by Deaton and Paxson (1998) about differences between rich and poor countries in the effect of household size on food demand

Focus on vulnerable populations and promoting equity in health service utilization ––an analysis of visitor characteristics and service utilization of the Chinese community health service

Background Community health service in China is designed to provide a convenient and affordable primary health service for the city residents, and to promote health equity. Based on data from a large national study of 35 cities across China, we examined the characteristics of the patients and the utilization of community health institutions (CHIs), and assessed the role of community health service in promoting equity in health service utilization for community residents. Methods Multistage sampling method was applied to select 35 cities in China. Four CHIs were randomly chosen in every district of the 35 cities. A total of 88,482 visitors to the selected CHIs were investigated by using intercept survey method at the exit of the CHIs in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. Descriptive analyses were used to analyze the main characteristics (gender, age, and income) of the CHI visitors, and the results were compared with that from the National Health Services Survey (NHSS, including CHIs and higher levels of hospitals). We also analyzed the service utilization and the satisfactions of the CHI visitors. Results The proportions of the children (2.4%) and the elderly (about 22.7%) were lower in our survey than those in NHSS (9.8% and 38.8% respectively). The proportion of the low-income group (26.4%) was apparently higher than that in NHSS (12.5%). The children group had the lowest satisfaction with the CHIs than other age groups. The satisfaction of the low-income visitors was slightly higher than that of the higher-income visitors. The utilization rate of public health services was low in CHIs. Conclusions The CHIs in China appears to fulfill the public health target of uptake by vulnerable populations, and may play an important role in promoting equity in health service utilization. However, services for children and the elderly should be strengthened