Understanding Database Security Metrics: A Review

The ever increasing demand for high software reliability requires more robust techniques for software quality and security level prediction. Databases are the core of Information Systems (IS), it is therefore necessary to ensure that the quality of the databases in order to ensure the quality of the IS. Recently, it has been a challenge to determine on what is a good database model or design. Therefore, in our discussion we have considered measuring specific features and factors in a particular database implementation. The variant features and characteristics inherent to a particular database serve to come up with a metric of assessment

COVID-19 Effects on Curriculum Delivery in Secondary Schools in Kakamega County, Kenya

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health organization (WHO) on 11th March 2020. Therefore, being declared a global emergency, had undergone various mutations, therefore its effect on education was far reaching. The purpose of the study was to establish the COVID-19 effects on curriculum delivery in secondary schools in Kakamega county.This study was guided by the theory of planned behaviour postulated by Ajzen. The study employed a descriptive survey research design whereby mixed research method was utilized to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The study targeted public secondary schools in Kakamega County, Kenya, whereby one hundred and ninety-five (195) school principals and one thousand five hundred and ninety (1590) teachers were the targeted population. The study applied stratified sampling in obtaining the 59 secondary schools thus, 59 principals and 159 teachers. The study employed stratified random sampling to put schools in strata that is 15 boy public secondary schools, 15 girls public secondary schools and 29 mixed public secondary schools totaling up to 59 public secondary schools. Purposive sampling technique was used to select school principals since they belonged to public secondary schools in the strata, which provided the required information for the objectives of the study. Data was collected using questionnaire for teachers. Interview schedules was also used to collect data from the school principals. Research instruments were availed to supervisors who ascertained the relevance of the items hence validity of the instruments. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data was coded and analyzed thematically. Quantitative analysis involved use of frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviation, Spearman correlation analysis and regression analysis. The collected data was presented using pie-charts, frequency tables and mean tables. The study concluded that COVID-19 had adverse effects on curriculum delivery

Learners’ Perceptions of Principals’ Influence on Their Academic Behaviours

The purpose of the study was to assess learners’ perceptions of the principals’ influence on their academic behaviour. The study adopted cross sectional research design and proportionate random sampling to select 336 form four students in 12 public day secondary schools. Data were collected using a five point rating scale and analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that students’ valued their interaction with the principal, recognition and emotional safety they derived from their interaction with the principal. The study concluded that students’ perceptions of principals’ influence on their academic behaviours was favourable. The study recommended that to nurture positive academic behaviours among learners, principals should enhance their interaction with students in and out of classroom. Keywords: Leadership, Academic behaviours, Academic achievement DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-10-06 Publication date: April 30th 202

Role of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Social Development in Developing Nations

Lack of social development is a very common feature in many countries of the world those in the developing world being the most affected. Such is taking place in the backdrop of most government efforts to ensure maximum social development. It is in the light of this that NGOs have emerged to complement government efforts in order to realize lasting social development for the benefit of the people. The present study set out to establish the contribution of Non Governmental Organisations in social development in Unguja island of Zanzibar through education support. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design in which systematic sampling was used to get a sample size of 126 people out of the universe population of 773234. Respondents included Non-Governmental Organisation officers, local leaders in unguja, government officials and ordinary people. Random sampling was also used at the time of data collection. The questionnaire for the interview was prepared in two phases. In the first phase, unstructured in-depth interviews were conducted to create the initial interview (the instrument). Further expert opinions on the questionnaire were collected and improvements were made on it. This necessitated some improvements in the final version. In the second phase, a pilot survey was conducted with some respondents to gauge how well the questionnaire was understood and also to test alternative wordings of the question and alternative response options to determine whether some other response option should be provided. Some questionnaires were emailed to those respondents who were well known by the researchers, whereas other questionnaires were  administered by field assistants who later handed over the filled questionnaires to the researchers for analysis. Findings showed that most respondents were satisfied with the contribution played by Non Governmental Organisations in social development in unguja Island by supporting various schools. In conclusion, while the government of Zanzibar has a big role to play as a single entity, it is imperative to join hands with Non Governmental Organisations to realize even better results by addressing the various social development challenges as a team and not as single entity. As a matter of policy, this study is a wake-up call to all actors- in the government, academia, industry, private sector, the civil society, and the international community -that the contribution played by Non-Governmental Organisations in promoting social development in Unguja Island is indisputable. Specifically, it will create awareness among the concerned actors and other stakeholders  of the important role played by Non Governmental Organisations in the education sec tor thereby prompting them to embrace Non Governmental Organisations as equal partners in development. Keywords: Social Development, Unguja Island, Education, Non-Governmental organisation

Enteropathogen antibody dynamics and force of infection among children in low-resource settings.

Little is known about enteropathogen seroepidemiology among children in low-resource settings. We measured serological IgG responses to eight enteropathogens (Giardia intestinalis, Cryptosporidium parvum, Entamoeba histolytica, Salmonella enterica, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, Campylobacter jejuni, norovirus) in cohorts from Haiti, Kenya, and Tanzania. We studied antibody dynamics and force of infection across pathogens and cohorts. Enteropathogens shared common seroepidemiologic features that enabled between-pathogen comparisons of transmission. Overall, exposure was intense: for most pathogens the window of primary infection was <3 years old; for highest transmission pathogens primary infection occurred within the first year. Longitudinal profiles demonstrated significant IgG boosting and waning above seropositivity cutoffs, underscoring the value of longitudinal designs to estimate force of infection. Seroprevalence and force of infection were rank-preserving across pathogens, illustrating the measures provide similar information about transmission heterogeneity. Our findings suggest antibody response can be used to measure population-level transmission of diverse enteropathogens in serologic surveillance

Examining the safety of menstrual cups among rural primary school girls in western Kenya: observational studies nested in a randomised controlled feasibility study.

Examine the safety of menstrual cups against sanitary pads and usual practice in Kenyan schoolgirls. Observational studies nested in a cluster randomised controlled feasibility study. 30 primary schools in a health and demographic surveillance system in rural western Kenya. Menstruating primary schoolgirls aged 14-16 years participating in a menstrual feasibility study. Insertable menstrual cup, monthly sanitary pads or 'usual practice' (controls). Staphylococcus aureus vaginal colonization, Escherichia coli growth on sampled used cups, toxic shock syndrome or other adverse health outcomes. Among 604 eligible girls tested, no adverse event or TSS was detected over a median 10.9 months follow-up. S. aureusprevalence was 10.8%, with no significant difference over intervention time or between groups. Of 65 S.aureus positives at first test, 49 girls were retested and 10 (20.4%) remained positive. Of these, two (20%) sample isolates tested positive for toxic shock syndrome toxin-1; both girls were provided pads and were clinically healthy. Seven per cent of cups required replacements for loss, damage, dropping in a latrine or a poor fit. Of 30 used cups processed for E. coli growth, 13 (37.1%, 95% CI 21.1% to 53.1%) had growth. E. coli growth was greatest in newer compared with established users (53%vs22.2%, p=0.12). Among this feasibility sample, no evidence emerged to indicate menstrual cups are hazardous or cause health harms among rural Kenyan schoolgirls, but large-scale trials and post-marketing surveillance should continue to evaluate cup safety

Diarrhea in young children from low-income countries leads to large-scale alterations in intestinal microbiota composition

Acknowledgments This work was funded in part by the William and Melinda Gates Foundation, award 42917 to JPN and OCS; US National Institutes of Health grants 5R01HG005220 to HCB, 5R01HG004885 to MP; US National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship award DGE0750616 to JNP; AWW and JP are funded by The Wellcome Trust (Grant No. WT098051).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Beacon of hope: Evaluation of the Kenya Girl Guides Association HIV/AIDS program for school children

This Horizons report presents findings from an evaluation of the Kenya Girl Guides Participatory Peer Education Program for HIV and AIDS Prevention. The objective of the program was to train Girl Guide patrol leaders as peer educators, who in turn would communicate key information and concepts about such topics as HIV prevention, relationships, and self-esteem to other Girl Guides, and ultimately to their school peers. The results demonstrate that peer education conducted by Girl Guides is a feasible strategy for imparting HIV and AIDS education to school-going youth; however, such a program would need to be branded, strengthened, and appropriately resourced to attain positive results that extend beyond the Girl Guides to include their peers. The results also demonstrate that school girls in this study are operating in an environment where their male counterparts are more than seven times as likely to be sexually experienced, and may be exerting considerable pressure to have sex even on the strongest of girls. HIV risk-reduction programs directed at school girls may be more successful if they also address the risk behavior of school boys