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Moderating Influence of Socio-Demographic Factors on the Relationship between Social Media Applications and Guests’ Choice of Fine Dining Restaurants
No full textThe main purpose of this research was to determine the moderating influence of social demographic factors on guests’ choice of fine dining restaurants. A mixed-method (concurrent nested) was used to do the survey. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the study units while convenient sampling technique was used o pick the respondents. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 22 to generate descriptive statistics, inferential, statistics, and regression analysis. The study established that social demographic significantly influences guests’ choice of fine dining restaurants. Also revealed, was that the composite of social demographic factors is another independent variable and not a moderating variable. The study findings encourage Managers and owners of fine dining restaurants to include infrastructure that enables guests to use social media applications. This study contributes to the understanding of theories of consumer behavior in the perspective of fine dining restaurants. Also provided is knowledge for sharing with stakeholders and for policy developments
Re-centring Mother Earth: Ecological Reading of Contemporary Works of Fiction
No full textAs the title, Re-centring Mother Earth: Ecological Reading of Contemporary Works of Fiction suggests, this book seeks to restore the principal influence of Mother Nature in human life. Individual literary critics have demonstrated how literary writers have deliberately presented the impact of Mother Nature on the lives of characters. However, most of them have hardly demonstrated the indispensable role of ecological environment on the political, social and religious attributes of human life. Although most scholars single out human greed and imperialism as the prime causes of historical events such as colonialism, war, slavery and industrialisation, this book extendsit by investigating the influence of Mother Nature in the political, cultural, religious aspects of human life in contemporary novels. This book is close textual analysis of works of fiction from any regions of the globe. The wide scope of choice of texts is deliberate because ecological issues are global and should be given the gravity they deserve in every continent. This study would have used academic and journalistic primary texts, but I choose literary texts because literature has the capacity to speak to hearts rather than minds of audiences. According to Brueggemann (1989): To address the issue of a truth greatly reduced requires us to be poets that speak against a prose world. The terms of that phrase are readily misunderstood. By prose I refer to a world that is organised in settled formulae, so that even pastoral prayers and love letters sound like memos (48) Brueggemann in the line “speak against prose world” suggests that works of art possess certain unconventionality that will invert the homocentric ethos that has constantly relegated Mother Nature
Factors Affecting Software Maintenance Cost of Python Programs
No full textOne of the primary areas of software project management is cost estimation. The cost estimation problem remains unsolved today because of the ineffective cost estimation techniques which are unsuitable for handling current development methods. Software maintenance costs can be estimated using a variety of models such as the Construction Cost Model (COCOMO), Software Life Cycle Management (SLIM), Software maintenance project effort estimation model and others but more work needs to be done in developing models that can accommodate programs from new programming paradigms. The primary objective of this research was to identify factors affecting the software maintenance cost of python programs and rank them according to their relevance. To achieve the objective, a literature review study was done to identify factors that influence software maintenance costs followed by an expert opinion survey to ascertain which of the factors were relevant for Python programs. Fifty two (52) Python developers and project managers were identified using snowballing technique and asked to rate the cost drivers in order of relevance using a five point scale. Descriptive statistics were used to carry out the analysis of the results. The results indicated that all the eighteen (18) factors affected the maintenance cost of Python programs. The factors were ranked based on the percentage mean of frequencies. Six additional factors were also identified by the experts and ranked. The factors will be considered as input parameters for a cost estimation model to be developed in the near future for estimating the cost of maintaining python programs
Molecular characterisation of Duffy (FY) red blood cell variants among voluntary blood donors at the National Blood Grouping Testing Laboratory, Kenya
No full textA variant is an alternative nucleotide located at a specific region of a gene. 48 genes encode for human red cell blood group systems. Variants within these genes encode for alleles, which can be highly polymorphic. The blood group gene loci jointly display all types of inherited variants to include single nucleotide variants insertions/deletions and structural variants. In Africa, there is limited information on the red cell variants. The aim of the study was to establish the frequency Duffy red blood cell variants among the donors in Kenya. The study employed next sequencing method, descriptive statistics and results presented in form of a table. The findings show that Duffy system has three variants to include; homozygous for FY*Null GATA regulatory box variant FY*02N.01/FY*02N.01 or Fy(a–b–) found in 93.52% (101/108), while FY*01/FY*02 and FY c.–67T>C predicted Fy(a+b–) or Fy(a–b+) at 3.70% (4/108) while FY*02/FY*02N.01 predicted Fy(a–b+) at 2.78% (3/108). This study recommends an extended research involving large sample size and introduction of extended phenotyping in the identification of FY antigens population
Effects of Land Use and Land Cover Change on Potential Ecosystem Service Value in Mathioya Watershed, Murang’a County, Kenya
No full textWetlands in Mathioya watershed are declining due to continued alterations caused by human and natural factors. This study assessed the effects of spatiotemporal changes in Land Use and Land Cover (LULC), on potential ecosystem service value in Mathioya watershed, Murang’a County, Kenya. We considered the period between 1987 and 2020. Supervised classification using maximum likelihood classifier was performed in ERDAS imagine v.15. The values obtained from the analysis of LULC maps were then used together with the global data for habitats to approximate the ecosystem service value (ESV) change within the watershed. Six LULC classes namely, forestland, wetlands, agricultural land, water bodies, built-up areas and barren lands, were identified. Analysis of Landsat images revealed that between 1987 and 2020, human activity led to decrease in the area covered by wetlands, forestland, water bodies, and barren land. Area under these land cover classes decreased by 45%, 34%, 50% and 27%, respectively. During the study period, agricultural land and built-up areas increased by 43% and 85%, respectively. Changes in LULC resulted in decline of ESV from 337.7 million/ha/year in 2020. With respect to individual ecosystem services, regulating services declined. Between 1987 and 2020, water regulation and climate regulation declined by 48% and 16%, respectively. However, provisioning services such as food production increased by 34%. Wetlands play a critical role in the provision of ecosystem services. The loss of wetlands translated to decline of critical ecosystem services such as water regulation. Eventually, this will lead to poor water quality within the watershed and the entire County, thus impacting negatively on the health of the locals. Hence, there is a need for urgent action to prevent the current trend of wetland loss within Mathioya watershed