Determinants of the uptake of green practices in lodges and tented camps within Masaai Mara game reserve in Narok County Kenya

The general objective of the study was to establish the determinants of the uptake of green practices in lodges and tented camps within Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Narok County Kenya. The specific objectives were: to determine whether environmental awareness and organizational commitment influence the uptake of the green practices in lodges and tented camps. This study was anchored on the Institutional Theory of the Firm. The study adopted a descriptive design.The target population was 371 respondents whocomprised of Managers, Housekeepers, and Chefs. A stratified random sampling technique was used to draw the study sample of 196 respondents. The sample size of the study was calculated using Fishers Exact Test 1991 formula. The study used a questionnaire as the main research tool. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Correlation analysis was used to explain the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the determinants of the uptake of green practices in lodges and tented camps. Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis and the subsequent drawing of conclusions. The study found that environmental awareness had a significant positive relationship with green practices in lodges and tented camps within Maasai Mara Game Reserve; organizational commitment had a significant positive relationship with green practices in lodges and tented camps within Maasai Mara Game Reserve. The study concludes that an increase in environmental awareness and organizational commitment will result in increased uptake of the green practices in lodges and tented camp

Limit Theory of Model Order Change-Point Estimator for GARCH Models

The limit theory of a change-point process which is based on the Manhattan distance of the sample autocorrelation function with applications to GARCH processes is examined. The general theory of the sample autocovariance and sample autocorrelation functions of a stationary GARCH process forms the basis of this study. Specifically the point processes theory is utilized to obtain their weak convergence limit at different lags. This is further extended to the change-point process. The limits are found to be generally random as a result of the infinite variance

Consistency of the Model Order Change-Point Estimator for GARCH Models

GARCH models have been commonly used to capture volatility dynamics in financial time series. A key assumption utilized is that the series is stationary as this allows for model identifiability. This however violates the volatility clustering property exhibited by financial returns series. Existing methods attribute this phenomenon to parameter change. However, the assumption of fixed model order is too restrictive for long time series. This paper proposes a change-point estimator based on Manhattan distance. The estimator is applicable to GARCH model order change-point detection. Procedures are based on the sample autocorrelation function of squared series. The asymptotic consistency of the estimator is proven theoretically

Determinants of the uptake of green practices in lodges and tented camps within Masaai Mara game reserve in Narok County Kenya

The general objective of the study was to establish the determinants of the uptake of green practices in lodges and tented camps within Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Narok County Kenya. The specific objectives were: to determine whether environmental awareness and organizational commitment influence the uptake of the green practices in lodges and tented camps. This study was anchored on the Institutional Theory of the Firm. The study adopted a descriptive design.The target population was 371 respondents whocomprised of Managers, Housekeepers, and Chefs. A stratified random sampling technique was used to draw the study sample of 196 respondents. The sample size of the study was calculated using Fishers Exact Test 1991 formula. The study used a questionnaire as the main research tool. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Correlation analysis was used to explain the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the determinants of the uptake of green practices in lodges and tented camps. Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis and the subsequent drawing of conclusions. The study found that environmental awareness had a significant positive relationship with green practices in lodges and tented camps within Maasai Mara Game Reserve; organizational commitment had a significant positive relationship with green practices in lodges and tented camps within Maasai Mara Game Reserve. The study concludes that an increase in environmental awareness and organizational commitment will result in increased uptake of the green practices in lodges and tented camp

Training health care providers to provide PrEP for HIV serodiscordant couples attending public health facilities in Kenya

To catalyse national scale up of PrEP for HIV serodiscordant couples in public health facilities in Kenya, the Partners Scale-Up Project, using a two-day case-based interactive curriculum, trained health care providers working in 24 high volume facilities in central and western Kenya on PrEP service delivery. Using a standardised test with questions about PrEP and antiretroviral-based HIV prevention we assessed gain in knowledge and confidence gain by comparing pre-and post-training test scores. We explored experiences of the training through key informant interviews after clinics started delivering PrEP. Of 716 health care providers trained, 235 (32.9%) were nurses, 144 (20.2%) were clinical officers and 155 (21.7%) were HIV counsellors. There was a significant improvement between the means of pre-test and post-test scores (61.7% (SD 17.4) vs 86.4% (SD 12.7) p < 0.001). The proportion of those who reported being ‘very comfortable’ providing care to HIV serodiscordant couples increased from 22.8% to 67.3% (p < 0.001). Key themes that training increasing both knowledge of PrEP and confidence to deliver PrEP to HIV serodiscordant couples emerged from interviews. This short, standardised training resulted in a substantial increase in knowledge of PrEP and in the confidence of the health providers to provide PrEP to HIV serodiscordant couples. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0305201

Twelve-month observational study of children with cancer in 41 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Childhood cancer is a leading cause of death. It is unclear whether the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted childhood cancer mortality. In this study, we aimed to establish all-cause mortality rates for childhood cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine the factors associated with mortality