Estimated area of impervious parking surfaces and the potential groundwater recharge increase through permeable pavement retrofit in the Chino Basin

California recently declared a state of emergency over drought followiing three years of below average rain and snowfall. There is a consensus among many involved in water supply in California for finding new sources of water, conservation, and increasing recharge to replenish the groundwater with surface water that would have been lost to run off. This study investigates the amount of stormwater that could potentially be reinvested as groundwater recharge by simply transforming selected impermeable parking lots of the commercial, industrial, and institutional sectors into pervious pavement that allow water to infiltrate rather than be lost as urban runoff

Effect of Investment Decision on Financial Performance of Savings and Credit Cooperatives: The Case of Kitui Central Sub-County, Kenya

This research work focused on determining the effect of investment decision on financial performance of Savings and Credit Cooperatives in Kitui Central Sub-County. This is was due to the observed decline in performance of SACCOS in Kenya due to a low investment culture. The researchers adopted four objectives as a drive towards the research results as follows; to assess the effect of Replacement decision on Financial Performance of SACCOs in Kitui Central Sub-County, to find out the effects of Expansion Decision on Financial Performance of SACCOs in Kitui Central Sub-County, to investigate the effect of Renewal or modernization Decision on financial performance of SACCOs in Kitui Central Sub-County, and to evaluate the effects of Research and Development Decision on Financial Performance of SACCOs in Kitui Central Sub-County. The study adopted an empirical study design for a time-series data over a ten year period from 2006-2015. The research was undertaken on all twelve (12) SACCOS located in Kitui Town thus utilizing a Census technique in selection of respondents. Simple multivariate analysis was used for data analysis, while Karl Pearson’s correlation was used in determining the correlation within variables. The results of study were produced using data analysis workbook; the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS-version 21). Data presentation was done using tables. The study findings indicated that only research and development decision had a significant effect to SACCO performance while expansion decision, replacement decision, and renewal decision had none. The study recommended that SACCOs should invest more in research and development decision as it had a significant effect to SACCO financial performance, the least variation to the expected results and the highest contribution to financial performance in respect to SACCOs. Keywords: investment decisions, Financial Performance, SACCO

A Mathematical model for motorcycle rider population total based on susceptibles, reported and unreported accidents

Paper presented at the 4th Strathmore International Mathematics Conference (SIMC 2017), 19 - 23 June 2017, Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya.Reports indicate that the emergence of motorcycles in the transport sector has come with both pros and cons. The rising numbers of motorcycles and the related accidents have a close association. In some previous studies, regression models have been used to show the factors that frequently contribute to motorcycle accidents. In this study, a mathematical model is proposed and solved for motorcycle rider population at a given time t, where t is defined in days. This model is based on three classes: susceptible class of riders which includes old and new riders joining the population, a second that contains the population that have caused and reported accidents and a third of unreported accidents. Three differential equations are solve numerically by the Laplace transform to obtain an overall equation from which the total rider population may be determined at any given time t in days. The results of this study are presented in graphs and are discussed

Evaluation of the Factors Leading to Loan Default at Equity Bank, Kenya

This paper gives an evaluation of the causes of loan default among the customers of Equity bank. A sample of 80 respondents out of 240 respondents which comprised of both the bank managers and loan defaulters at Equity Bank was used in the study. This represented 33% of the target population. The population was stratified into bank managers and loan defaulters while loans were stratified into performing and nonperforming loans. Data was collected using two sets of questionnaires which were administered separately to the target population. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel Data Analysis Tools. In the evaluation of the causes of nonperforming loans, the paper considered the contribution of the factors such as the banks’ lending practices as well as the economic backgrounds and financial decision making among loans recipients at Equity Bank Ltd. Microsoft Excel Data Analysis Tools were used to establish the relationship between amounts of loan advanced to an individual and the amount of loan defaulted. The paper established that the major factors influencing nonpayment of borrowed loans at Equity Bank Ltd were both internal and external. The paper recommended that banks’ credit policies be reviewed to match the highly volatile economic trends within financial markets with a strong emphasis on institutional appraisals on credit worthiness. Keywords: Loans, Bank, Default

Privacy Literacy In the Era of the Internet of Things and Big Data

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.The aim of this study was to investigate people’s privacy management practices in the digital environment, especially on platforms that generate and collect personal data as part of larger Big Data practices. The use of digital technologies have become part of our everyday life with the increased use of social networking sites for socialisation, sharing information, and entertainment, among other benefits. In addition, in the current digital age, there is increased use of Internet-connected devices like fitness trackers for monitoring various aspects of our physical activities, and also the use of digitally-tracked consumer loyalty systems. All these technologies generate and provide access to personal data to organisations and other individuals. In our current data-driven economy, personal data has become an important resource for service providers to mine data and gain insights into users’ behavioural activities in return for services. Increasingly, consumers are required to protect themselves, and “privacy in YOUR hands” is a common public service message by governments to protect their citizens. This study used an empirical approach to understand the extent to which users manage their privacy and their personal information, while enjoying the benefits and affordances of such technologies. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data from twenty-one (n=21) users who used all three technologies — social media, consumer loyalty systems, and fitness trackers. In addition to participant interviews, a Facebook walkthrough of the participants’ profiles was undertaken to understand their use of privacy settings and their online behaviours. Sandra Petronio’s (CPM) theory was used as the main lens in analysing the resulting data. The CPM theory, originally proposed in 2002, uses a boundary metaphor to explain how people make decisions about revealing or concealing personal information with various communication partners; they do so through boundary rule formation (who to share with) and boundary coordination (between people they shared with), and readjust if there is a boundary turbulence or breach of confidence. It was originally developed to understand interpersonal communication, but in this study, it is used as a framework to understand communication in digital technologies, where both people and organisations are involved. The findings show that people balance benefits against risks in information disclosure; they selectively disclosed personal information on social media and segmented their professional and social worlds as a privacy management strategy to delineate and distinguish the boundaries of the various privacy levels they desired in their personal and professional lives. The findings also show that individuals make a cost-benefit analysis –- or use privacy as a negotiation tool –- in trading their social and personal data for certain benefits, but also expect “contextual integrity” of their data; that is, they expect privacy protection against that data reaching outside the boundaries of the entity they were trading the data with. Participants' privacy literacy around social media platforms was the most evolved, for it was a new public-facing technology where they had a huge learning curve, and hence they were used to being somewhat careful already. In the case of loyalty systems, participants were somewhat aware of the risk of sharing too much personal information, but since these systems were generally run by companies that they trusted and had done business with for many years, they did not perceive as much of a threat in disclosing personal information to them, although these same companies had merged since and were now sharing data. In the case of fitness trackers and other wearable technologies, participants were generally much more open to sharing their health data with third-party organisations, as they clearly perceived some health (and sometimes monetary) benefits from doing so, among other derived value, and did not clearly envision the future risks such as higher health insurance premiums in the future in case their fitness routine falls short. While privacy knowledge is important for individuals in protecting their privacy, participants’ use of privacy protection strategies was often exercised after experiencing privacy breaches. Hence, boundary rule formation and boundary coordination are both an evolving process and change continually based on privacy knowledge gained and boundary turbulence experienced. The study also uncovered some challenges users face in their effort to manage their online information privacy including usability and an understanding of the reasons for privacy protection. This study provides evidence of how individuals use digital technologies in their everyday lives and participate in the digital economy, while also trying to protect their informational privacy. There is often a tension between individual and organisational motives in this environment, which can only be overcome through some level of privacy awareness and privacy literacy for individuals in addition to regulatory controls for organisations to maintain a level of “contextual integrity” when handling user data

Observed surface ozone trend in the year 2012 over Nairobi, Kenya

Clean air is a basic requirement for human health and wellbeing. The Kenya Meteorological Department has established air pollution monitoring activities in various sites in Nairobi, at Dagoretti Corner meteorological station and at Mount Kenya. Different pollutants are measured including ozone. The increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has influenced the weather and climate. This study examined the variations of surface ozone over Dagoretti Corner, Nairobi for a 12-month period ending July 2013, exactly one year after the start of data acquisition. The trend was studied using time series analysis of ozone concentration on both an hourly and monthly basis. The ozone data was then combined with meteorological data and temperature to find correlations between the two. Overall, the air quality of Nairobi, represented by Dagoretti Corner meteorological station is good as compared to the World Meteorological Organization ozone standards. The highest concentration of ozone is observed in the afternoon and the minimum at dawn on a daily basis. On seasonal scale, the highest levels are recorded in the cold months. This information helps to reduce exposure to the gas and thus to reduce its impacts on living things. The study recommends the reduction of exposure to the gas during the times when it has been observed to be highest in order to minimize its impacts

The Hidden Costs of Free Primary Education and Their Implication on Enrolment in Kisii Central District, Kenya.

In spite of the Republic of Kenya’s (ROK) efforts to make primary education free and accessible to all, approximately  3.9 million children still remain out of school due to hidden costs (Census Report ,2009), hence the government‘s initial objective of every child attaining primary education remains unattained. In addition, prior researches have established increase in non – enrolment and drop-out in various parts of the country due to these hidden costs. The study sought to establish the hidden costs in the provision of free primary education and their impact on enrolment in Kisii Central District. The study was guided by the budget principal theory which emphasizes the balancing of three basic components in any ideal educational budget namely; educational programme, expenditure/cost and income/revenue for a successful education system. The study used a descriptive survey method, which was designed to investigate the hidden costs in the Provision of Free Primary Education and their impact on learning in Kisii Central District. Prior to the study, pilot study was conducted to ensure validity and reliability of the research instruments. Cluster random sampling technique was used to select 10% of the Head teachers and 10% of the parents from the sampled schools. This being a survey, the researcher used questionnaires and interview schedules as research instruments to collect data. The data were then analyzed with the aid of frequencies, averages, percentages and presented in tables, bar graphs and pie charts. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data: The study revealed that though the introduction of FPE Programme had greatly reduced the financial burden of public primary school going children, the parents still incurred some costs. It was established that on average parents spent Kshs 1674 per child on these costs. In addition the findings established that partially the hidden costs contributed to drop out rates as most parents were unable to meet the hidden costs of FPE. Further, the findings revealed that the government funding on FPE was inadequate and it was characterized by late disbursement. The results indicated that many public primary schools in Kisii Central District have insufficient physical facilities and learning resources. Conclusively, FPE implementation in Kisii Central District has not been effective as evidenced through educational wastage due to hidden costs of FPE; inadequate government funding among other factors. The study recommends government budgetary increase on FPE progamme so as to ease the financial burden met by parents, involvement of other stakeholders in funding FPE, timely disbursement of FPE funds to schools by the government among other recommendations as discussed in chapter five of the study. Significantly the study findings underscored the impact of hidden costs on the provision of FPE, which will enable education policy-makers and other stakeholders to cope with strategies for easing parents’ cost-burden and ways of mobilizing funds to meet the cost of FPE programme to ensure its sustainability to avoid wastage in terms of human and material resources. Finally, the study has provided information that could form the basis for further critical assessment and evaluation of the FPE situation by future researchers to facilitate more concrete and valid solutions to the problem.

The effectiveness of agrometeorological information in the realization of Kenya’s Vision 2030; lessons learnt from China

Agriculture is the backbone of Kenya’s economy. The agricultural practices in Kenya are mainly rain fed making them vulnerable to effects of climate variability and climate change. Weather forecast helps farming to maximize farm produce under prevailing meteorological conditions. Kenya’s Vision 2030 economic pillar is anchored on agriculture among other sectors. This calls for best farming practices and accurate, timely and reliable weather forecast. The Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) as well as China Meteorological Administration (CMA) issue closely similar agrometeorological forecast among other products. The main difference is the dissemination and uptake of the information, with CMA embracing dedicated daily television channel and daily newspaper to agrometeorological forecast unlike KMD that only uses media briefing and newspaper print on the day of seasonal weather release. The utilization of weather forecast has greatly helped China to grow its agricultural sector. The study recommends for KMD to adopt the approach of the media avenues adopted by CMA for effectiveness of weather forecast

Impact of grassland conversion to forest on groundwater recharge in the Nebraska Sand Hills

Study region: Nebraska National Forest in the High Plains Aquifer, Nebraska Sand Hills, U.S.A. Study focus: This research aimed to investigate the effects of grassland conversions to forest on recharge rates in a century-old experimental forest. The DiffeRential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis (DREAMZS) global optimization algorithm was used to calibrate the effective soil hydraulic parameters from observed soil moisture contents for 220 cm deep uniform soil profiles. The historical recharge rates were then estimated by applying the numerical model HYDRUS 1-D for simulation of two plots representing grasslands and dense pine forest conditions. New hydrological insights: The results indicate that conversion from grasslands to dense pine forests led to vegetation induced changes in soil hydraulic properties, increased rooting depth, and greater leaf area index, which together altered the water budget considerably. The impacts of land use change, expressed in percent of gross precipitation, include a 7% increase in interception associated with an increase in leaf area index, a nearly 10% increase in actual evapotranspiration, and an overall reduction of groundwater recharge by nearly 17%. Simulated average annual recharge rates decreased from 9.65 cm yr−1 in the grassland to 0.07 cm yr−1 in the pine plot. These outcomes highlight the significance of the grassland ecology for water resources, particularly groundwater recharge, in the Nebraska Sand Hills and the overall sustainability and vitality of the High Plains Aquifer