Agroecological farming impacts on livelihoods improvement to inform county government on enactment of agroecology policy : case study of Kiambu County, Central Kenya

The basis for the recognition, adoption and provision of an agroecology legal framework relies on the capacity of the existing agroecological systems to provide enough evidence on their effectiveness. Policymaking in Kenya is moving towards evidence-based policies; hence for agroecology to be recognized, documentation of its current systems is in need. To support the transition to agroecology and influence agroecology policy adoption, a study was carried out in Kiambu, a county in Central Kenya. The purpose of the study was to document the effectiveness of agroecological practices and use the results in agroecology policy advocacy work. From the study objectives, agroecology principles and dimensions, and opinions of the local agroecological promoters, a set of 16 indicators were used to investigate the effectiveness of agroecology under the five key dimensions: Economy, Health and Nutrition, Environment and Climate Change, Society and Culture, and Governance. According to FAO of the United Nations, the five dimensions are the priority areas for agricultural policymakers and are relevant in evaluating sustainable food systems. Different semi-structured questionnaires for farmers, government extension officers, NGOs field officers and county assembly members were designed to collect data. Farmers interviewed were only from Kiambu, while some agroecology promoters were from outside Kiambu. Through agroecological farmers networks, women and youth empowerment, knowledge dissemination and sharing increased. A good increase to average increase was recorded on farm productivity, wealth creation, food security, nutrition, mitigation of climate change and environmental conservation. Land size and tenure systems were significant determinants of the type of AEP to be adopted. These positive changes were associated with AEP practices such as diversification, local trading, connectivity, local-based innovations, agroforestry, minimum tillage, integrated pest management (friendly biopesticides, mixed cropping), manuring and biogas production. The study results are consistent with many other practical and theoretical case studies that have mentioned or shown the facilitation of agroecology in improving farmers and the larger community’s livelihood. The ability of agroecology to provide solutions to the above issues is a direct call for its recognition through promotion, the transition of farms and adoption in agricultural policies and strategies. These results provided a fundamental basis for evidence-based discussions supporting agroecology policy. However, agroecological practices need to be scaled up to enable local to regional applicability and policy contexts.M-A

『古新聖経』の研究 [論文要旨及び審査の要旨]

関西大

Issues and challenges in implementing quality assurance in higher education – Strathmore University case

Regional Eastern Africa Unistaff Alumni Network Conference and Workshop – 6th to 10th November Kenyatta University.This paper deals with the issues and challenges facing the successful implementation of a QMS in an educational institution, namely, Strathmore University. It looks at the various steps followed to implement QMS in the University. Strathmore University (SU) decided to implement a quality assurance system in early 2003 to ensure excellence in the pursuit of its objectives. In the development of her strategic plan, the University identified the need to institute a QMS to ensure adherence to quality along the expansion path. It was a means of entrenching a systematic approach to quality management in both its administrative and academic functions. Ideally, the QMS should guarantee adherence to the University’s processes and procedures. The process of QMS entails various steps including the decision to implement quality assurance, making of quality related choices, educating staff, constituting the implementation team, defining statements, policies and processes, documentation, internal audit training and the audit process, certification and QMS monitoring and growth. The paper discusses the various challenges encountered in the steps of the QMS process. It further looks at positive and negative aspects of each step as well as the measures taken to overcome them. In conclusion, an understanding of the issues and challenges at each step of QMS implementations allows for suitable preventive and correcting actions to achieve optimal performance over time. Our conclusion would be of high interest to other local and regional universities who have decided to implement a QMS.This paper deals with the issues and challenges facing the successful implementation of a QMS in an educational institution, namely, Strathmore University. It looks at the various steps followed to implement QMS in the University. Strathmore University (SU) decided to implement a quality assurance system in early 2003 to ensure excellence in the pursuit of its objectives. In the development of her strategic plan, the University identified the need to institute a QMS to ensure adherence to quality along the expansion path. It was a means of entrenching a systematic approach to quality management in both its administrative and academic functions. Ideally, the QMS should guarantee adherence to the University’s processes and procedures. The process of QMS entails various steps including the decision to implement quality assurance, making of quality related choices, educating staff, constituting the implementation team, defining statements, policies and processes, documentation, internal audit training and the audit process, certification and QMS monitoring and growth. The paper discusses the various challenges encountered in the steps of the QMS process. It further looks at positive and negative aspects of each step as well as the measures taken to overcome them. In conclusion, an understanding of the issues and challenges at each step of QMS implementations allows for suitable preventive and correcting actions to achieve optimal performance over time. Our conclusion would be of high interest to other local and regional universities who have decided to implement a QMS

Unique Cryptosporidium Population in HIV-Infected Persons, Jamaica

A cryptosporidiosis survey showed the presence of Cryptosporidium hominis, C. parvum, C. canis, and C. felis in 25, 7, 1, and 1 HIV-positive persons from Jamaica, respectively; 1 person had both C. hominis and C. felis. Multilocus sequence typing indicated the presence of a homogeneous but geographically distinct C. hominis population in Jamaica

Pattern of road traffic fatalities in Nairobi

Background: Road traffic injuries continue to exert a huge burden on Kenya’s healthcare services. Over 134,000 crashes occur on the Kenyan roads killing more than 2,600 and seriously injuring 11,000 people annually. Injury pattern among traffic trauma admissions have been recently described while that of fatalities remains unstudied. Serious injuries will continue to result from road collisions as long as the compliance to traffic rules remains poor, the rates of seat belt use is low and the number of pedestrian walkways and flyovers few. Objective: To determine the pattern of fatal injuries from road traffic collisions in the city of Nairobi. Design: This was a prospective descriptive study. Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and the Nairobi City Mortuary. Subjects: One hundred consecutive road traffic fatalities autopsied between April 2003 and January 2004 (90 KNH Mausoleum, 10 Nairobi City Mortuary). Results: Casualties included 81 males and 19 females with an age range of 4-80 years and a median age of 33.5 years. Forty-five percent arrived at casualty dead while the remainder were admitted for a mean period of 14 days. The main road-user groups involved were pedestrians (62%), passengers (24%) and drivers (9%). A majority (72%) were injuries sustained along major highways. Head trauma was the most common form of injury accounting for 76%, followed by chest injuries 70%, abdominal injuries 60%, lower limb injuries 56%, upper limb injuries 35%, neck injuries 29% and pelvic injuries 24%. Head, abdominal and chest injuries accounted for 57%, 17% and 13% of causes of death respectively. Limb injury was the least common cause of mortality, although it may have complicated some of the other injuries. Conclusion: Road traffic fatalities are predominantly a pedestrian problem. Head and trunk injuries account for 87% of the deaths. Provision of pedestrian walkways and flyovers along major highways may protect the vulnerable pedestrian population. Improvement of immediate emergency services able to cope with head and trunk injuries is recommended

Issues and challenges in implementing quality assurance in higher education

This paper deals with the issues and challenges facing the successful implementation of a QMS in an educational institution, namely, Strathmore University. It looks at the various steps followed to implement QMS in the University. Strathmore University (SU) decided to implement a quality assurance system in early 2003 to ensure excellence in the pursuit of its objectives. In the development of her strategic plan, the University identified the need to institute a QMS to ensure adherence to quality along the expansion path. It was a means of entrenching a systematic approach to quality management in both its administrative and academic functions. Ideally, the QMS should guarantee adherence to the University’s processes and procedures. The process of QMS entails various steps including the decision to implement quality assurance, making of quality related choices, educating staff, constituting the implementation team, defining statements, policies and processes, documentation, internal audit training and the audit process, certification and QMS monitoring and growth. The paper discusses the various challenges encountered in the steps of the QMS process. It further looks at positive and negative aspects of each step as well as the measures taken to overcome them. In conclusion, an understanding of the issues and challenges at each step of QMS implementations allows for suitable preventive and correcting actions to achieve optimal performance over time. Our conclusion would be of high interest to other local and regional universities who have decided to implement a QMS

ATM mediated phosphorylation of CHD4 contributes to genome maintenance

Background: In order to maintain cellular viability and genetic integrity cells must respond quickly following the\ud induction of cytotoxic double strand DNA breaks (DSB). This response requires a number of processes including\ud stabilisation of the DSB, signalling of the break and repair. It is becoming increasingly apparent that one key step\ud in this process is chromatin remodelling.\ud Results: Here we describe the chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein (CHD4) as a target of ATM kinase. We\ud show that ionising radiation (IR)-induced phosphorylation of CHD4 affects its intranuclear organization resulting in\ud increased chromatin binding/retention. We also show assembly of phosphorylated CHD4 foci at sites of DNA\ud damage, which might be required to fulfil its function in the regulation of DNA repair. Consistent with this, cells\ud overexpressing a phospho-mutant version of CHD4 that cannot be phosphorylated by ATM fail to show enhanced\ud chromatin retention after DSBs and display high rates of spontaneous damage.\ud Conclusion: These results provide insight into how CHD4 phosphorylation might be required to remodel\ud chromatin around DNA breaks allowing efficient DNA repair to occur

Comparison of Resistance to γ-Irradiation between Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium muris Using In Vivo Infection

In the genus Cryptosporidium, there are more than 14 species with different sizes and habitats, as well as different hosts. Among these, C. parvum and C. hominis are known to be human pathogens. As C. parvum can survive exposure to harsh environmental conditions, including various disinfectants or high doses of radiation, it is considered to be an important environmental pathogen that may be a threat to human health. However, the resistance of other Cryptosporidium species to various environmental conditions is unknown. In this study, resistance against γ-irradiation was compared between C. parvum and C. muris using in vivo infection in mice. The capability of C. muris to infect mice could be eliminated with 1,000 Gy of γ-irradiation, while C. parvum remained infective in mice after up to 1,000 Gy of γ-irradiation, although the peak number of oocysts per gram of feces decreased to 16% that of non-irradiated oocysts. The difference in radioresistance between these 2 Cryptosporidium species should be investigated by further studies

Development of a framework for genotyping bovine-derived Cryptosporidium parvum, using a multilocus fragment typing tool

Background: There is a need for an integrated genotyping approach for C. parvum; no sufficiently discriminatory scheme to date has been fully validated or widely adopted by veterinary or public health researchers. Multilocus fragment typing (MLFT) can provide good differentiation and is relatively quick and cheap to perform. A MLFT tool was assessed in terms of its typeability, specificity, precision (repeatability and reproducibility), accuracy and ability to genotypically discriminate bovine-derived Cryptosporidium parvum. Methods: With the aim of working towards a consensus, six markers were selected for inclusion based on their successful application in previous studies: MM5, MM18, MM19, TP14, MS1 and MS9. Alleles were assigned according to the fragment sizes of repeat regions amplified, as determined by capillary electrophoresis. In addition, a region of the GP60 gene was amplified and sequenced to determine gp60 subtype and this was added to the allelic profiles of the 6 markers to determine the multilocus genotype (MLG). The MLFT tool was applied to 140 C. parvum samples collected in two cross-sectional studies of UK calves, conducted in Cheshire in 2004 (principally dairy animals) and Aberdeenshire/Caithness in 2011 (beef animals). Results: Typeability was 84 %. The primers did not amplify tested non-parvum species frequently detected in cattle. In terms of repeatability, within- and between-run fragment sizes showed little variability. Between laboratories, fragment sizes differed but allele calling was reproducible. The MLFT had good discriminatory ability (Simpson’s Index of Diversity, SID, was 0.92), compared to gp60 sequencing alone (SID 0.44). Some markers were more informative than others, with MS1 and MS9 proving monoallelic in tested samples. Conclusions: Further inter-laboratory trials are now warranted with the inclusion of human-derived C. parvum samples, allowing progress towards an integrated, standardised typing scheme to enable source attribution and to determine the role of livestock in future outbreaks of human C. parvum