Factors associated with non adherence to regulations on sale of alcohol by alcohol outlets operators in Thika Municipality, Kiambu County

Objective: To determine factors associated with non-adherence of existing alcohol regulations and policies on alcohol sale in Thika municipality Kiambu County.Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study.Setting: Thika Municipality, Kiambu County, KenyaSubjects: Eighty nine (89) participants were enrolled in the study. Ten (10) Key Informant Interviews were conducted among the security personnel, health officers, managers and supervisors.Results: Out of the 89 outlet operators enrolled in the study, (70.8%) among therespondents were not aware of the alcohol control act. Association between marital status and non adherence of the act was significant (p=0.003). There was low knowledge of 5.6%, who were aware of when the alcohol act was implemented, majority who totaled to 70.8% were not aware on when the alcohol control policy came into existence. Majority of the respondent 62.9% reported not to adhere to the alcohol control act of 2010; also the study showed that 57.3% of the responded were not aware of measures to control illicit brew. From the In-depth interviews most of the respondents interviewed confirmed that many of the operators were not aware of the act and it was difficult to implement thus subjecting the consumers into alcohol abuse. They also confirmed that with lack of employment, many women engaged into the alcohol operations which also contributed to the breakdown of their families given the mode of operations.Conclusion: This study concludes that there is failure in enforcement and adherence of the 2010 alcohol regulations. The study recommends the review of the alcohol control act of 2010 to ensure tough measures and penalties are adapted to anyone who fails to adhere to the act. Also there is need for awareness to be initiated to ensure members are informed and adhere to the policy. Setting up of an independent unit that will be mandated to enforcement and adherence of the 2010 alcoholic act

Cost-effective nutrient sources for tissue culture of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

Application of tissue culture technology is constrained by high costs making seedlings unaffordable. The objective of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using locally available fertilizers as alternative nutrient sources for cassava micropropagation. A Low Cost Medium (LCM) whereby the conventional sources of four Murashige and Skoog (MS) macronutrients had been replaced with locally available fertilizers was developed. Stanes Iodized Microfood® from Osho Chemical Industries in Nairobi was used as the alternative source of micronutrients. Modified conventional MS medium was used as the control. Both media were supplemented with 30 g/l of table sugar and 3 g/l of gelrite. Two cassava varieties, Muchericheri and KME 1 were regenerated on the two media. Node, leaf and root formation patterns plus plant height were determined and compared. A reduction of 95.50% in nutrient cost was achieved. The two cassava varieties had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher number of nodes on the conventional medium compared to LCM. There were no differences in node formation by the two varieties on the low cost medium during both initiation and multiplication. KME 1 produced significantly more leaves on the LCM compared to Muchericheri during both initiation and multiplication. Acclimatization of plantlets was successful; hence, this protocol can be adopted in cassava regeneration.Keywords: Tissue culture, cassava, nutrient sources, micropropagation, low cost medium, acclimatizatio

Use of rapid diagnostic tests in malaria school surveys in Kenya: does their under-performance matter for planning malaria control?

Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are known to yield false-positive results, and their use in epidemiologic surveys will overestimate infection prevalence and potentially hinder efficient targeting of interventions. To examine the consequences of using RDTs in school surveys, we compared three RDT brands used during a nationwide school survey in Kenya with expert microscopy and investigated the cost implications of using alternative diagnostic approaches in identifying localities with differing levels of infection. Overall, RDT sensitivity was 96.1% and specificity was 70.8%. In terms of classifying districts and schools according to prevalence categories, RDTs were most reliable for the 40% categories and least reliable in the 1-4.9% category. In low-prevalence settings, microscopy was the most expensive approach, and RDT results corrected by either microscopy or polymerase chain reaction were the cheapest. Use of polymerase chain reaction-corrected RDT results is recommended in school malaria surveys, especially in settings with low-to-moderate malaria transmission

Teachers’ Perceptions Towards Instructional Supervisory Competences of Educational Quality Assurance and Standards Officers

The main purpose of this study was to assess the existing perceptions of school principals and Heads of Departments (HoDs) towards the instructional supervisory competences of Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs) in secondary schools in Nairobi and Machakos counties, Kenya. The study aimed to investigate the school principals’ and HoDs’ perceptions towards QASOs’ human, technical and conceptual skills. The study used three types of research instruments, namely; School Principals’ and Heads of Departments’ Questionnaire, Quality Assurance and Standards Officers’ Questionnaire and County Quality Assurance and Standards Officers’ Interview Guide. Data was analyzed used mixed methods, involving qualitative and quantitative techniques. The study revealed that, teachers hold the opinion that QASOs exhibited favorable human relations competences, however, QASOs were found to be partially effective in respect to technical and conceptual competences. The study recommends that the QASOs already in the field to be taken through intensive capacity building trainings in their specific subjects so as to equip them with requisite technical and conceptual competences for conducting instructional supervision. Keywords: Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs), instructional supervisory competences, Teachers’ perception

A systematic review of academic writing services in low- and middle-income countries

Libraries are the key research and scholarly communication centres of any university. The information literacy skills offered to library users enable scientific communication. As new roles for librarians emerge to meet changing user needs and match fluid technological trends, academic libraries must combine their rich resources with cutting-edge skills to further impact the scientific world. There is a need for a sound, evidence-based appreciation of the factors that influence or hinder the establishment of academic writing centres and academic writing services in Low- and Middle-income Countries (LMIC). This article aims to synthesise qualitative and mixed methods research on academic writing services in LMIC to inform policy and practice and identify areas for further research. The review can be used for decision-making as it offers a reliable foundation for assessing approaches to academic writing services. Relevant literature was identified from five electronic databases: SCOPUS, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Emerald, and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were: published peer-reviewed studies about academic writing services or academic writing centres in Low- and Middle-income Countries. Study quality was assessed using a standard grading scale. Relevant data, including findings and practice recommendations, were extracted and compared in a tabular format. Of the 215 articles initially identified, 22 were included in the qualitative synthesis. The review emphasises the necessity of academic writing services in low- and middle-income countries by pinpointing crucial areas for exploration within a research agenda. These include cultural aspects, technological aspects, institutional factors and individual barriers

Population Levels of Indigenous Bradyrhizobia Nodulating Promiscuous Soybean in two Kenyan Soils of the Semi-arid and Semi-humid Agroecological Zones

Soybeans grown in Africa have been selected to nodulate effectively with indigenous Bradyrhizobium spp. populations since Bradyrhizobium japonicum populations are considered absent or in very low numbers in African soils. The major objective of this study was to estimate total population of Bradyrhizobia specific to soybean in two agro-ecologically different study sites, Kiboko in Makueni District, Southeast Kenya (semi-arid to arid conditions) and Kaguru in Meru District, East Kenya (semi-humid climate) . The population of the indigenous rhizobia specific to soybeans was determined using the Most Probable Number (MPN) plant infection technique. In these experiments, the total Bradyrhizobia populations, the population sizes of taxonomically defined slow-growing Bradyrhizobia specific to soybean and the population sizes of Bradyrhizobia spp. specific to tropical Glycine Cross (TGx) varieties were determined for the two study sites. Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata, cultivar Ken Kunde I was used to estimate the total Bradyrhizobia spp. population. Clark soybean, Glycine max, was used to estimate the population sizes of taxonomically defined slow-growing Bradyrhizobia spp. specific to soybean while a TGx genotype, SB12-TGx1869-31E was used to determine the population sizes of Bradyrhizobia spp. specific to TGx varieties. The results of the MPN counts indicated that the total Bradyrhizobia population in Kiboko was between 2.59x104 and 1.89x105. The population size of taxonomically defined slowgrowing Bradyrhizobia in Kiboko was between 2.59x102 and 1.89x103 cells per gram of soil sample while the approximate Bradyrhizobia population specific to TGx genotype was between 7.81x102 and 5.67x103 cells per gram of soil. In Kaguru, the approximate total Bradyrhizobia population was between 1.04x102 and 7.56x103 cells per gram of soil. The population size of taxonomically defined slow-growing Bradyrhizobia was between 1.33x102 and 9.72x102 cells per gram of soil while the approximate Bradyrhizobia population specific toTGx genotype was between 2.37x102 and 1.73x103 per gram of soil. These populations were adequate to give satisfactory results on nodulation and nitrogen fixation in the two study sites

Phytochemical screening and antipyretic activities of dichloromethane-methanolic leaf and stem bark extracts of Ximenia americana in rat models

Introduction: In most parts of Africa, Ximenia americana is used in folklore to treat various disorders such as oedema, pain, fever, helminthiasis, diarrhoea, burns among other diseases. This study tested the antipyretic activities of dichloromethane-methanolic (DCM-MeOH) stem bark and leaf extracts of X. americana in rats. Qualitative phytochemical screening was also done to evaluate the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, cardiac glycosides, phenolics and terpenoids in the extract.Methods: The plant materials were collected from Mbeere North sub-county, Embu county, Kenya. Methanol and dichloromethane in the ratio of 1:1 was used to extract the active compounds. Two to three months old male Wister rats were employed for the antipyretic studies. Animals were divided into six groups of five rats each: normal, negative, reference and three experimental groups (50, 100 and 150 mg/kg body weight). Pyrexia was induced experimentally using turpentine. The experimental groups were treated with predetermined dose quantities of prepared extracts. Aspirin was used as the reference drug. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).Results: The extracts from the leaves lowered rectal temperature by 0.45 to 2.11 while the stem bark extracts lowered rectal temperature in the range of 0.71 to 2.13. Aspirin lowered the rectal temperature in the range of 0.74 and 1.67. Qualitative phytochemical screening showed presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, cardiac glycosides, phenolics and terpenoids in the extract.Conclusion: DCM-MeOH leaf and stem bark extracts of X. americana is effective in management of fever and therefore it can be explored as a possible bio-resource in the development of herbal antipyretic medicines

Combining school-catchment area models with geostatistical models for analysing school survey data from low-resource settings: Inferential benefits and limitations

School-based sampling has been used to inform targeted responses for malaria and neglected tropical diseases. Standard geostatistical methods for mapping disease prevalence use the school location to model spatial correlation, which is questionable since exposure to the disease is more likely to occur in the residential location. In this paper, we propose to overcome the limitations of standard geostatistical methods by introducing a modelling framework that accounts for the uncertainty in the location of the residence of the students. By using cost distance and cost allocation models to define spatial accessibility and in absence of any information on the travel mode of students to school, we consider three school catchment area models that assume walking only, walking and bicycling and, walking and motorized transport. We illustrate the use of this approach using two case studies of malaria in Kenya and compare it with the standard approach that uses the school locations to build geostatistical models. We argue that the proposed modelling framework presents several inferential benefits, such as the ability to combine data from multiple surveys some of which may also record the residence location, and to deal with ecological bias when estimating the effects of malaria risk factors. However, our results show that invalid assumptions on the modes of travel to school can worsen the predictive performance of geostatistical models. Future research in this area should focus on collecting information on the modes of transportation to school which can then be used to better parametrize the catchment area models

Personality traits as markers of psychosis risk in Kenya: Assessment of temperament and character

Specific personality traits have been proposed as a schizophrenia-related endophenotype and confirmed in siblings at risk for psychosis. The relationship of temperament and character with psychosis has not been previously investigated in Africa. The study was conducted in Kenya, and involved participants at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis