Wildlife Conservation and Management in Kenya: Towards a Co-management Approach

The co-management approach of managing natural resources has increasingly become popular among conservationists and development practitioners since it overcomes the shortcomings of both the centralised management and community-based approaches that hinder harmonization of conflicting interests among diverse stakeholder groups. Considering criteria developed from theoretical advancements on co-management and drawing on empirical studies conducted in Kenya, the paper examines how successful the co-management approach has been in terms of meeting the needs and interests of local communities and conservationists. Further, it analyses some of the factors or conditions that contribute towards the emergence and subsequent adoption of the co-management approach in the conservation and management of wildlife. These factors, which may also be important in other developing countries, include the provision of a favourable policy framework, institutional capacity of organized user groups to co-manage wildlife resources, land tenure conditions and accessibility to wildlife resources. It is emphasised that the co-management approach has had, so far, mixed results and there are certain important factors challenging its successful implementation in Kenya.Kenya, Co-management, Wildlife management, Conditions for co-management, Sustainable management

Orientation to working in a nursing home for health care workers : An Orientation Guide for Foreign Nurses in Nurmikoti

The purpose of this functional thesis is to create an orientation guide in English for foreign nurses coming to work in Nurmikoti. The orientation guide will help in creating an easier transition into the new work environment, hence promoting the quality of patient care and enhancing patient safety. In the thesis, the concepts of multiculturalism and communication are explored. A literature review was conducted on the objectives of the orientation process and how orientation can be effectively carried out. The guide contains information on the principles of medication administration, patient safety and emergency procedures. In order to enhance orientation, further research is recommended on the orientation needs of foreign nursing students in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences as regards adapting to the new work environment, and on how these needs could be met

Sociopolitical imperatives in the history of health development in Kenya

European Colonial Powers have shaped the philosophies and the social structures in their former colonies. Institutions currently dominating lives in the African states are a reflection of colonial domination. The thrust of colonial activity was to mould political systems, socioeconomic activities and cultural patterns which were largely consistent with the prevailing or desired European moulds. The greatest hindrances to change in the health and other systems in Africa today lie in what was inherited, however inappropriate. A historical analysis of the Kenyan health care system shows that inheritance from Britain has not been lost, it is being strengthened. The prevailing health system is tailored to suit the growing and inevitable socio-economic classes

Computing Opportunity Costs of Growing Local Varieties for On-farm Conservation: Illustrations Using Sorghum Data from Ethiopia

The recent shift of emphasis to on-farm conservation is driven by its diverse attractive features - participatory nature, dynamic nature, capacity to maintain not only crop diversity but the knowledge that evolves with it, the chance it offers and the challenge it brings to link conservation with farmers' livelihood. To make it operational, placing incentives and removal of perverse incentives are of critical importance. However, before placing sound incentives compatible to farmers' circumstances, the opportunity costs farmers face when using local varieties of public interest should be understood. This paper empirically examines farmers' opportunity costs of maintaining local varieties of sorghum using a household survey data collected from 198 sorghum growers in Eastern Ethiopia. Opportunity costs are generated using different homogeneous treatment statistical models and factors affecting them are further examined using switching regression model. The average opportunity costs suggest not only the size of policy incentive required for farmers to maintain local varieties of sorghum on-farm but also are useful to estimate the national costs of conserving crop genetic resources. The regression analysis shows that opportunity costs increase with access to output markets and extension, output price, access to input supply, experience in growing improved varieties, and relative importance of the crop. On the contrary, plot quality, input price and oxen ownership are reducing opportunity costs. The paper then concludes outlining the policy implications of the empirical findings to incentive design for on-farm conservation of crop genetic resources.Opportunity costs, incentive design, on-farm conservation, crop genetic resources, Ethiopia, Crop Production/Industries,

Inflammatory Mechanisms of Chemokine Receptor 7 expression in Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (SCCHN)

The microenvironment of aerodigestive cancers contains tumor promoting inflammatory signals often involved in innate immunity. SCCHN is an epithelial malignancy characterized by the secretion of inflammatory mediators that can promote tumorigenesis and lymph node metastasis. The chemokine receptor CCR7 is a key molecule whose aberrant expression in SCCHN has been linked to pro-survival, invasive and metastatic pathways. Indeed, the selective upregulation of CCR7 in metastatic SCCHN tumors has been previously described. However, the mechanisms of CCR7 expression have not yet been elucidated. Inflammatory cytokines are known to upregulate CCR7 in immune cells through downstream NF-κB dependent mechanisms. In addition, antimicrobial peptides such as human β-defensin 3 (HBD3) are capable of promoting an inflammatory microenvironment and may possess tumor-promoting properties. Given the frequent overexpression NF-κB in SCCHN and its association with a more aggressive SCCHN phenotype, I hypothesized that NF-κB may be a key mediator of invasive and metastatic disease by promoting CCR7 expression in SCCHN tumors. Indeed, I identified and studied four potential NF-κB binding sites in the promoter region upstream of the CCR7 gene and report on their relative contribution to CCR7 expression in metastatic SCCHN. Furthermore, I demonstrate that HBD3 induces CCR7 expression in dendritic cells as well as primary SCCHN tumors in an NF-κB-dependent fashion. Interestingly, HBD3 stimulation provides anti-apoptotic signals to SCCHN cells, as evidenced by tumor resistance to cisplatin-induced cell death. As presented in this dissertation, these findings suggest that HBD3 represents a novel, NF-κB-regulated mediator of CCR7 expression and anti-apoptotic pathways, which may be exploited by developing SCCHN tumors to enhance their growth, survival and evolution into a metastatic phenotype. NF-κB appears to be a key regulator of basal and inducible CCR7 expression. The observed NF-κB induction of CCR7 and its subsequent downstream pathways provide clinically important therapeutic targets to control the progression and metastasis of SCCHN tumors

H. Odera Oruka and the Right to a Human Minimum: A Sagacious Quest for Global Justice

This dissertation primarily aims at making contribution to the advancement of philosophy from the practical point of view. It does so by analytically and critically studying H. Odera Oruka (1944-1995), arguably one of the finest 20th century African philosophers. Thus, it identifies, expounds, and critiques Oruka’s philosophical cum ethical commitment by situating him within various philosophical discourses touching such important global issues as justice, human rights, ethical duty, ecology, humanism and politics. It specifically advances Oruka’s argument for the right to a human minimum, establishing how that ethical principle can be applicable in addressing some distressing human conditions such as inequality, poverty, in-humanness and ecological degradation. It also attempts to borrow and apply some ethical value-systems or philosophies from Africa – such as ubuntu (or humanness) - so as to clarify and philosophically defend the possibility of ensuring the practice of justice at the global level

Enhancing home based care for HIV patients using an advisory expert system

South Africa has one of the highest Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevalence rates in the world. People living with HIV/AIDS experience many unrelieved symptoms. Nutritional care and support are important in preventing development of nutritional deficiencies. Home remedies can extend and improve the quality of their lives. Home remedies treatment involves eating healthy food, avoiding certain types of foods, psychological and emotional support and practicing hygiene to avoid skin infections (Sizani, Bandile; Nikiwe 2012). HIV/AIDS treatment and management strategies require ongoing management and support. In this research, we work with people from a clinic in Gugulethu Township in Western Cape, South Africa. The area has high prevalence of HIV (Ministry of health South Africa 2011). Most of the HIV patients in this area access medical information by walking long distances to the clinic. Most of these patients are poor and sometimes cannot afford to visit the clinic regularly for medical advice. In this township there is scarcity of health care workers (HCWs). The HCWs toil on many fronts to meet the enormous demand for the HIV/AIDS services but they are not able to meet the patients' needs. The aim of this research is to empower HIV-patients to self-manage the HIV-related symptoms which they experience. We investigated the way in which the HCWs deliver information to the patients. We interviewed the patients to understand what measures they take to manage the symptoms which they experienced. Consequently, we developed an advisory expert system to enhance Home-Based Care for HIV patients. An advisory expert system is defined as a computing system which is capable of representing and reasoning about some knowledge–rich domain, with a view to solving problems and giving advice (Gustafson et al. 1994). Since South Africa has high mobile phone penetration and most of the patients own them, we opted to use mobile phone as a tool to access the information provided by the advisory expert system. The system was then deployed at the clinic. We trained both HCWs and patients how to use the system. The findings were captured and reported after a six month deployment of the system. The results show that our system can be used as an effective tool to disseminate nutritional and psychological support information to HIV- patients in Gugulethu. The system is simple, yet practical. It helps the patients to self-manage the HIV-related symptoms which they experienced and at the same time, saves time and cost for both HCWs and the patients

Understanding the head of department role: leading Design and Technology

In the secondary school curriculum, in England, Design and Technology is to some extent regarded as less beneficial and it is becoming more unpopular with pupils. Therefore, Design and Technology heads of departments find themselves leading a curriculum subject that is in an uncertain situation. The purpose of this study is to consider the perceptions of Design and Technology heads of departments about their practice in monitoring teaching and learning in their departments. This study uses cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) (Engeström, 2001) as a lens to view interview data from six case studies. CHAT is often employed in analyses of activities in workplaces, for example, to uncover how people use both material and conceptual tools and what aspects of tasks they prioritise (Edwards, 2011). Data were collected through field visits that included observations and interviews. The analysis of data reveals how tools were appropriated differently or similarly in Design and Technology department leadership activity systems. The findings identify tools which mediate the work of Design and Technology heads of departments in secondary school. How the heads of departments perceive these tools is analysed to suggest the object of the Design and Technology department leadership activity system. This paper proposes that the contextual settings of subject departments influence department head leadership in forming their own conceptions about their practice