6229 research outputs found
Sort by
Level of Education, Leadership Style and Employee Engagement
No full textDOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-2-08This study sought to establish the relationship between the level of education, leadership style and teacher engagement in public secondary schools of Murang’a County, Kenya. A survey research design was used. A sample of 368 respondents was selected from a target population of 3,860 teachers in 306 public secondary schools using systematic random sampling followed by use of random numbers. Data was collected using a questionnaire. Descriptive statistical methods like mean and percentage, and inferential statistical methods like F-test and t-tests (at 0.05 significance level) were used for data analysis. The research findings indicated that more teachers (75.7%) were Bachelors Degree holders in relation to the principals (51.4%) while more principals (41.2%) had attained their Masters Degrees compared to teachers (12.8%). The results also revealed that there was a significant difference on the perception about employee engagement among respondents due to their level of education. The
ANOVA-test results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the compared levels of education except between Diploma and Masters. The study recommended that the Teachers’ Service Commission should come up with a policy that guides on brilliant ways of engaging the knowledge, skills and abilities of the teachers who had earned postgraduate education while teaching in secondary schools and also compensate them appropriately. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge in drivers of employee engagement domain that are significant to school leader
Adjusting Academic Library Services to Covid 19 Prevention Protocols
No full textThe Covid 19 pandemic has presented challenges in the provision of library services in academic libraries. The pandemic has affected the mode of library operations and therefore librarians had to shift to virtual library services and also adopt to new ways of providing their normal physical library services while observing Covid 19 prevention protocols. Due to these unexpected challenges, this study finds out the type of library services offered, working patterns and strategies applied by academic libraries in Kenya in response to Covid 19. Google form questionnaires were administered to librarians in ten academic libraries. Semi structured interview was also conducted to five librarians in the same selected academic libraries. The study found majority of the libraries have adjusted their services and facilities to the Covid 19 prevention protocols though frequent cleaning of the main reading areas have been overlooked. Libraries have also adopted the use of virtual library services in dissemination of most of electronics resources but the main challenges hindering improved transition to virtual services are poor library infrastructure and slow internet connection, lack of adequate skilled staff, lack of support in purchasing of core e-books, e-journals and e-newspapers. During the academic institutions closure, librarians were relying on provision of online resources and this was faced with barriers of digital divide and unaffordable internet access among users. Library working schedules changed and librarians had to reduce their operating hours to adjust to the national curfew guidelines. The study recommends initiatives to be adopted by academic libraries in order to meet user information needs during and after Covid 19 pandemic period
Detection of Visual Similarity Snooping Attacks in Emails using an Extended Client Based Technique
No full textThis paper provides an Extended Client Based Technique (ECBT) that performs classification on emails using the Bayessian classifier that attain in-depth defense by performing textual analysis on email messages and attachment extensions to detect and flag snooping emails. The technique was implemented using python 3.6 in a jupyter notebook. An experimental research method on a personal computer was used to validate the developed technique using different metrics. The validation results produced a high acceptable percentage rate based on the four calculated validation metrics indicating that the technique was valid. The cosine of similarity showed a high percentage rate of similarity between the validation labels indicating that there is a high rate of similarity between the known and output message labels. The direction for further study on this paper is to conduct a replica experiments, which enhances the classification and flagging of the snooped emails using an advanced classification method
Isolation and Identification of Bacteriocin-Producing Bacillus spp from Rastrineobola argentea (Omena) with Activity against Bovine Mastitis Bacterial Pathogens
No full textRampant use of antibiotics has increased resistance of pathogenic bacteria in both animals and humans.
This has triggered the investigation of novel antimicrobial agents produced by a bacterial strain of low virulence
with antimicrobial activity with a wide range of clinical significance. This study sought to extract bacteriocins from
Bacillus spp that were isolated and identified from Omena (Rastrineobola argentea) and to evaluate the in vitro
antimicrobial effect of the obtained bacteriocin against bovine mastitis pathogens. Samples were collected from
Lake Victoria using a completely randomized design method followed by isolation of the bacteriocin producing
Bacillus spp. Characterization and identification of isolates was done by Gram staining, morphology and
Biochemical tests which included catalase, nitrate reduction, methyl Red,-Voges-Proskauer, indole, motility and
hydrogen sulphide, growth on Simmons citrate agar, triple sugar iron agar and starch hydrolysis. Antimicrobial
activity was done using disc diffusion methods on the nutrient agar and zone of the inhibition measured after
24hours. An analytical profile index system (API 50CH BE, Biomerieux, Inc, France), was also used for
identification. Molecular characterization was done by extracting genomic DNA using Qiagen DNA isolation Kit
(Qiagen Germany) using the manufacturer's instructions. The gene encoding the 16S rRNA was amplified by PCR
using universal bacterial primers pair combination of forwarding primer 27F forward (5′-AGA GTT TGA TCC
TGG CTC AG-3′) and 1492R reverse, (5′-GGT TAC CTT GTT ACG ACT T-3′) about Escherichia coli gene
sequence. A total of 60 pure isolates were obtained from Omena samples from Lake. Victoria. Morphological
characteristics showed varied colour, form, shape and elevation of the pure colonies. About 54 isolates (90%) were
gram-positive with spores, while 6 (10%) were gram-negative. Biochemical tests showed varied results among the
bacterial isolates. 28 isolates showed antimicrobial activity on E. coli and S. aureus with inhibition measuring
between 17-30mm. Analytical profile index system also showed that 20 isolates (71%) were identified as Bacillus
subtilis, three isolates (11%) identified as Bacillus pumilus and five isolates (18%) Bacillus mycoides. The Blast
analysis of the partial sequences showed100% of the strains of genus Bacillus within the Firmicutes in the domain
bacteria. Twenty (20) isolates belong to Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus mycoides represent 18% (5 isolates) while
Bacillus pumilus constituted 11% (3 isolates). This study contributes to understanding the use of bacteriocin in the
control of diseases in dairy animal farming in Kenya
Sustainability of Livelihood Strategies of Riparian Communities in Murang’a County, Kenya.
No full textWetlands have played a key role in support of the riparian community’s livelihoods and development and have been the source of forest, wildlife, minerals, agriculture, recreation, water and energy. Murang’a County in Kenya, is endowed with many such wetlands that provide water to nearby towns of Thika and Nairobi city. Despite these important roles, wetlands conservation and management in the county continue to attract little attention from scientists and policy makers. This study aims at investigating the livelihood strategies of riparian communities in Murang’a County, Kenya. This study aimed at investigating how sustainable the livelihoods strategies are of the riparian communities are in Murang’a County. The study was conducted in four purposively selected sub-counties, due to their richness in wetlands: Kiharu, Kangema, Mathioya, and Maragua. Data was collected using household’s survey questionnaires, key informant interviews, and focus group discussion. Questionnaire were administered to a randomly selected sample of 404 respondents from the riparian community in the four sub-counties. Data was analyzed using SPSS software version 26.0. Chi-squared test was used to test for association between livelihood strategies and effects of encroachment into wetlands. Rejection value for statistical tests was set at P< 0.05. Results showed an encroachment rate into the wetlands by the riparian communities of 60.4%. It is concluded that livelihood strategies of riparian communities were not sustainable due to a high rate of encroachment, inadequate enforcement of laws and policies, On the other hand, over exploitation of wetlands resources, lack of knowledge on wise use of wetlands and conflict of interest among different environmental conservation institutions among other factors, were impacting negatively on wetlands conservation in Murang’a County. The study recommends enhanced sustainability of livelihood strategies of riparian communities through empowerment, capacity building and well-coordinated livelihood strategies by all stakeholders in wetlands management that will lead to the wise use of wetlands ecosystems in Kenya and in other parts of the world
Examining the Prominence of the Political Corruption News in South Sudan
No full textPurpose: The purpose of the study to examine the prominence of political corruption news by newspapers in South Sudan
Method: The study used descriptive research design to address the research objectives. The target population in this study was Sudan Tribune, Juba Monitor, The Dawn, Peace Day, Sudanese Online newspapers, international and local NGOs, journalists who work for the media station and lecturers and students from Juba University. The researcher can identify every single element and the sampling frame was the five newspapers, also local and international NGOs, students and lecturers from Juba University
Findings: The findings indicated that media houses shied away from giving priority to political corruption news for the fear of their lives, intimidation and torture. This further saw the coverage of political corruption news on a quarter of a page, hence confirming the fact that the public in South Sudan was denied the opportunity by the print media to question the government on corruption in the country
Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: The study had the following recommendations: The various media regulatory policies and the constitutional rights should be implemented by the instruments of power including the police, the government and the judiciary. This would assure journalists and media houses of their freedom to access information and freedom of expression, while shielding them from intimidation, torture and killing. The legislature, in collaboration with the media regulatory bodies in South Sudan should enact laws that protected media houses and journalists, especially in the cases where they covered sensitive but important information. Those who infringed on the rights of journalists and media houses should be pursued and arraigned in the court of law, where punitive action would be taken against them. This would further reaffirm journalists of their safety
Insecticidal Drimane Sesquiterpenes from Warburgia ugandensis against Maize Pests
No full textSitophilus zeamais and Prostephanus truncatus, the destructive pests of maize in Africa, cause extensive
tunneling in maize grain leading to conversion of maize grain into flour within a very short time. Small-scale farmers are
often forced to sell maize shortly after harvest to minimize losses during storage, thereby attract low prices and compromising
food security. Most available pesticides have adverse effects on environment and humans. The aim of this study was to
evaluate efficacy of extracts and compounds of Warburgia ugandensis in controlling of S. zeamais and P. truncatus.
Chromatographic fractionation of extracts from W. ugandensis afforded 7α-acetylugandensolide (1), ugandensolide (2),
polygodial (3), warbuganal (4), ugandensidial (5), mukaadial (6) and muzigadial (7). The structures of the compounds
were determined using spectroscopic and physical methods. n-Hexane extract was the most repellent among the extracts
while polygodial (3) was the most repellent compound against the two pests. n-Hexane and ethyl acetate extracts caused
76.3-78.3% and 71.1-75.0% deaths of the insects respectively. Polygodial (3) and warbuganal (4) caused 64.3-70.0 and
61.7-65.0% deaths respectively. n-Hexane and ethyl acetate extracts, polygodial (3) and ugandensolide (2) significantly
inhibited the emergence of the insects. The findings from this study show that extracts from W. ugandensis are effective in
controlling maize insect pests
