Abstract
Background: Assumptions about survival of HIV-infected children in Africa without antiretroviral therapy need to be
updated to inform ongoing UNAIDS modelling of paediatric HIV epidemics among children. Improved estimates of infant
survival by timing of HIV-infection (perinatally or postnatally) are thus needed.
Methodology/Principal Findings: A pooled analysis was conducted of individual data of all available intervention cohorts and
randomized trials on prevention of HIV mother-to-child transmission in Africa. Studies were right-censored at the time of infant
antiretroviral initiation. Overall mortality rate per 1000 child-years of follow-up was calculated by selected maternal and infant
characteristics. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate survival curves by child’s HIV infection status and timing of HIV
infection. Individual data from 12 studies were pooled, with 12,112 children of HIV-infected women. Mortality rates per 1,000
child-years follow-up were 39.3 and 381.6 for HIV-uninfected and infected children respectively. One year after acquisition of
HIV infection, an estimated 26% postnatally and 52% perinatally infected children would have died; and 4% uninfected
children by age 1 year. Mortality was independently associated with maternal death (adjusted hazard ratio 2.2, 95%CI 1.6–3.0),
maternal CD4,350 cells/ml (1.4, 1.1–1.7), postnatal (3.1, 2.1–4.1) or peri-partum HIV-infection (12.4, 10.1–15.3).
Conclusions/Results: These results update previous work and inform future UNAIDS modelling by providing survival
estimates for HIV-infected untreated African children by timing of infection. We highlight the urgent need for the
prevention of peri-partum and postnatal transmission and timely assessment of HIV infection in infants to initiate
antiretroviral care and support for HIV-infected children.

In the East African countries, malaria is ranked as the primary cause of morbidity and mortality in both children and adults. It causes about 40,000 infant deaths in Kenya each year; in Uganda annual cases of malaria range between 6 to 7 million, with 6500 to 8500 fatalities, and in Tanzania the annual death toll is between 70,000 and 125,000 and accounts for 19 per cent of health expenditure (De Savigny et al, 2004a and b). In the case of cholera, the first epidemic in Africa was reported as far back as 1836 (Rees, 2000). Major outbreaks were next reported in 1970 and affected West Africa (Guinea), the horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan) and Kenya (Waiyaki, 1996). The most severe cholera outbreak on the African continent was in 1998, accounting for more than 72 per cent of the global total number of cholera cases and acutely affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. Cholera outbreaks in East Africa have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1972. In the Lake Victoria region of East Africa both malaria and cholera are common, with malaria endemic in the lowlands and epidemic in the highland areas and cholera endemic in the basin since the early 1970s (Rees, 2000).

Internal plant tissue colonisation has made endophytic bacteria valuable for agriculture as a tool to improve crop performance particularly for those bacteria having traits such as plant growth promotion (PGP). This project involved screening and identifying endophytic bacterial strains, sourced from the bacterial collection available at the Institute of Technology Carlow, with the potential to enhance growth rate in bio-energy plant crop species. In the initial stage under greenhouse condition, a total of 140 strains in master mix (MM) groups of 10 strains, were inoculated into Rye Grass. The inoculated Rye Grass seeds were sown in pots and arranged in complete randomised design and their growth was monitored for a period of 3 months. The plant fresh weights (FW) and dry weights (DW) were used as growth parameters. Three MMs (comprising 30 strains) showed PGP potential in Rye Grass, significantly increased the mean FW and DW of Rye Grass plants compared to the negative controls. The 30 selected strains were further characterised for PGP traits under in vitro study. Results showed three strains inhibited Pythium spp. growth in dual culture assay, whereas the culture filtrates to quantify gluconic acid production necessary for inorganic phosphate solubilisation, had six strains recording more than 20mg/ml of gluconic acid production. Ten strains showed Indole acetic acid (IAA) production in the range (10-18 µg/ml) while three strains showed 1-aminocylopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase activity. This study indicates that the selected bacterial endophytes have the potential for PGP and development in plant crops.

The microstructures of as-cast and annealed platinum alloys of different compositions were revealed after electrolytic etching in hydrochloric acid/sodium chloride solution using direct current. It was shown that the etching process enhances good microstructural images of platinum-aluminium based alloys.

Form making is one of the most important activities that the architect is engaged in when creating architecture. During the process of form making the architect expresses the individual perceptions of reality in tangible form, which is the symbolic form of architecture. When one observes the majority of built forms in the city of Nairobi they are more of an expression of Western culture than Kenyan culture. The individual perceptions of reality of Kenyan culture and nature are not well symbolized in most of the built forms. This has led to lack of a unifying architectonic style that defines and guides the Kenyan mordern architecture. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to establish the extent to which the built forms in Nairobi portray the Kenyan cultural and natural forms through symbolism in their form making. A sample of 21 buildings constructed between 1960 and 2011 in the City of Nairobi were studied. Data was collected using interviews and observation techniques. Qualitative methods were used to analyse the data. Out of the 21 sampled buildings, only 40% seemed to be inspired by Kenyan culture and nature in their built forms. The study recommends that the architects in Kenya create architectural forms that are inspired by natural environment, traditions and cultural values of the local communities. It is only out of this that the symbolic architectural forms in Kenya can be realised

Early sexual partnerships place young women in sub-Saharan Africa at high risk for HIV. Few studies have examined both individual- and partnership-level characteristics of sexual relationships among adolescent girls. A cross-sectional survey of sexual history and partnerships was conducted among 761 adolescent girls aged 15–19 years in Nairobi, Kenya. Rapid HIV testing was conducted and correlates of HIV infection were determined using multivariate logistic regression. The HIV prevalence was 7% and seropositive adolescents had a younger age at sexual debut (P < 0.01), more sexual partners in 12 months (P = 0.03), and were more likely to report transactional or non-consensual sex (P < 0.01). Girls who reported not knowing their partner’s HIV status were 14 times as likely to be HIV-seropositive than girls who knew their partner’s status (adjusted odds ratio: 14.2 [1.8, 109.3]). Public health messages to promote HIV testing and disclosure within partnerships could reduce sexual risk behaviours and HIV transmission among adolescents.

The Education Act and the Secondary School Heads’ Manual recognize school heads as
the financial controllers and accounting officers, responsible for all school revenue and
expenditure management. Prior to reforms, procurement and tendering activities in
public institutions, including secondary schools, was carried out under unclear legal
frameworks, which failed to check irregularities arising from the process. Studies
commissioned by the government and the World Bank in 1986 and 1997 revealed
serious shortcomings in the procurement system, leading to loss of public funds.
Procurement reforms were initiated to enhance efficiency and minimize loss of public
resources. Even though the reforms process was initiated about a decade earlier, little
had been documented about the extent to which the regulations had been implemented
in public secondary schools and its effect on expenditure management. To achieve the
objective of this study, a cross-sectional survey design, with quantitative and qualitative
approaches was applied to guide data sourcing, processing and analysis. Primary data
was sourced from 117, which were sampled from a national population of 3,868 schools
that have been in existence for at least ten years as at the time of this study. The sample
included 6 national, 42 provincial and 69 district schools. In terms of gender, 23 were
pure girls’ schools, 19 were boys’ schools, while 75 were mixed schools. The schools
were selected through a stratified random procedure, based on the category of schools;
viz. national, provincial or district. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were
applied to process and analyze the data. The study found that advertising tenders,
number of committee members trained in procurement had strong positive effects on
expenditure efficiency. Besides, the frequency of tender-splitting had the strongest
negative effect on expenditure efficiency. The adjusted regression models explained 45.1
percent of variance in expenditure management. The study recommends the need for:
procurement regulations to be reviewed for tender committees to include BoG, PTA
and ministry representatives; regular supervision of tender committees by the ministry
officials; training of tender committee members; technical and financial evaluation
committees to be created to enhance efficiency.

The diversity of traditional foods in Kisumu West District of Western Kenya was assessed with an aim to identify the foods with a potential for complementary feeding. Leaves were the most consumed plant part amongst vegetables, while a few fruits were consumed together with their seeds. Amaranthus cruentus L. was found to be consumed as a leafy vegetable while another variety, Amaranthus hybridus L. was found to be consumed as a grain. Four species of winged termites, a grasshopper, black ant and dagaa fish were also identified. Twelve of the traditional foods were found to be associated with nutritional and health benefits as perceived by the locals. Traditional food processing methods such as boiling, fermentation and sun drying were identified. Thus exploitation of the species possessing nutrient, health and processing benefits needs to be explored in complementary feeding.

To identify and describe populations at risk for HIV in 3 clinical research centers in Kenya and South Africa. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. METHODS: Volunteers reporting recent sexual activity, multiple partners, transactional sex, sex with an HIV-positive partner, or, if male, sex with men (MSM; in Kenya only) were enrolled. Sexually active minors were enrolled in South Africa only. Risk behavior, HIV testing, and clinical data were obtained at follow-up visits. RESULTS: From 2005 to 2008, 3023 volunteers were screened, 2113 enrolled, and 1834 contributed data on HIV incidence. MSM had the highest HIV incidence rate of 6.8 cases per 100 person-years [95% confidence interval (CI): 4.9 to 9.2] followed by women in Kilifi and Cape Town (2.7 cases per 100 person-years, 95% CI: 1.7 to 4.2). No seroconversions were observed in Nairobi women or men in Nairobi or Cape Town who were not MSM. In 327 MSM, predictors of HIV acquisition included report of genital ulcer (Hazard Ratio: 4.5, 95% CI: 1.7 to 11.6), not completing secondary school education (HR: 3.4, 95% CI: 1.6 to 7.2) and reporting receptive anal intercourse (HR: 8.2, 95% CI: 2.7 to 25.0). Paying for sex was inversely associated with HIV infection (HR: 0.2, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.8). 279 (13.0%) volunteers did not return after the first visit; subsequent attrition rates ranged from 10.4 to 21.8 volunteers per 100 person-years across clinical research centers. CONCLUSIONS: Finding, enrolling, and retaining risk populations for HIV prevention trials is challenging in Africa. African MSM are not frequently engaged for research, have high HIV incidence, need urgent risk reduction counseling, and may represent a suitable population for future HIV prevention trials.

Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To determine the impact of facility-based semi-intensive and home-based intensive counselling in improving exclusive breast-feeding (EBF) in a low-resource urban setting in Kenya.
DESIGN:
A cluster randomized controlled trial in which nine villages were assigned on a 1:1:1 ratio, by computer, to two intervention groups and a control group. The home-based intensive counselling group (HBICG) received seven counselling sessions at home by trained peers, one prenatally and six postnatally. The facility-based semi-intensive counselling group (FBSICG) received only one counselling session prenatally. The control group (CG) received no counselling from the research team. Information on infant feeding practices was collected monthly for 6 months after delivery. The data-gathering team was blinded to the intervention allocation. The outcome was EBF prevalence at 6 months.
SETTING:
Kibera slum, Nairobi.
SUBJECTS:
A total of 360 HIV-negative women, 34-36 weeks pregnant, were selected from an antenatal clinic in Kibera; 120 per study group.
RESULTS:
Of the 360 women enrolled, 265 completed the study and were included in the analysis (CG n 89; FBSICG n 87; HBICG n 89). Analysis was by intention to treat. The prevalence of EBF at 6 months was 23•6 % in HBICG, 9•2 % in FBSICG and 5•6 % in CG. HBICG mothers had four times increased likelihood to practise EBF compared with those in the CG (adjusted relative risk = 4•01; 95 % CI 2•30, 7•01; P = 0•001). There was no significant difference between EBF rates in FBSICG and CG.
CONCLUSIONS:
EBF can be promoted in low socio-economic conditions using home-based intensive counselling. One session of facility-based counselling is not sufficient to sustain EBF

Natural killer (NK) cells play an important role in the containment of HIV replication during primary infection, though their functions are impaired during chronic HIV infection. Infants experience more rapid HIV disease progression than adults, but contributions of infant NK cells to containing HIV infection are unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of HIV infection on infant NK cell phenotype by evaluating samples and data from a cohort study of women and their infants, conducted in Nairobi, Kenya between 1999 and 2003. The percentage and phenotype of NK cells was evaluated longitudinally by multi-parameter flow cytometry over the first year of life in HIV-infected (HIV+, = 16), HIV-exposed uninfected (HIV-EU, n = 6), and healthy unexposed controls (HIV-, n = 4). At birth, NK subset distributions based on expression of CD56 and CD16 did not differ between HIV+, HIV-EU, or HIV- infants. However, HIV infection was associated with a subsequent decline in NK cells as a percentage of total lymphocytes (p < 0.001), and an expanding proportion of CD56-CD16+ NK cells (p < 0.001). Activated CD38(bright)CD69+ NK cells were more frequent in the HIV+ infants, followed by HIV-EU and HIV- infants, in both CD56(dim) (p = 0.005) and CD56(bright) compartments (p = 0.03). HIV infection and exposure was also associated with a significant decline in the percentage of perforin-expressing NK cells in the CD56(dim) compartment over the first year of life, with HIV+ infants losing approximately 2.5% (p < 0.001) and HIV-EU infants losing 3.0% (p = 0.01) of perforin+ cells per month. Thus, infant HIV infection is associated with alterations in NK cell subsets, activation, and cytolytic potential that could contribute to their poor control over HIV infection. Furthermore, exposure to HIV infection in infants who escaped infection is also associated with alterations in NK cells that may contribute to the reduced ability to fight infections that is observed in HIV-EU infants

Nefang is a polyherbal preparation constituted of the leavesof six plants and the bark of one of these,used traditionally for the treatment of malaria by the Bayang community, South West Region of Cameroon. Since no ethnopharmacological survey has been carried out on this preparation, this study aims at obtaining indigenous and folkloric information on the optimal methods for harvesting of constituent plants, preparation and administration of Nefang in the treatment of malaria. The study design was an exploratory survey.Semi-structured questionnaires were administered randomly to 20 respondents after obtaining their informed consent with the assistance of a medical practitioner. Review of literature of constituent plants was also undertaken. This study revealed that the respondents had a good knowledge of malaria and its causes. Various compositions for the preparation by decoction was obtained and administration was ascertained to be by oral route or by enema. The brief scientific review also validated the pharmacological actions of the constituent plants. The diverse indigenous knowledge and folk use of this preparation in the treatment of malaria are a pre-requisite for theoptimization of its compositionfor efficacy and pharmacological screening

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The fatigue crack growth behaviour in as-cast and hot isostatically pressed (HIP) model cast aluminium piston alloys with hypoeutectic Si compositions of 6.9 wt% and 0.67 wt% has been investigated. The HIP alloys showed slightly improved fatigue crack growth resistance. Analysis of the crack path profiles and fracture surfaces showed that the crack tends to avoid Si and intermetallic particles at low ΔK levels up to a mid-ΔK of ∼7 MPa√m. However, some particles do fail ahead of the crack tip to facilitate crack advance due to the interconnected microstructure of these alloys. At higher levels of ΔK, the crack increasingly seeks out Si and intermetallic particles up to a ΔK of ∼9 MPa√m after which the crack preferentially propagates through intermetallic particles in the 0.67 wt%Si alloy or Si and intermetallics in the 6.9 wt%Si alloys. It was also observed that crack interaction with intermetallics caused crack deflections that led to roughness-induced crack closure and possibly oxide-induced crack closure at low to mid-ΔK. However, crack closure appears unimportant at high ΔK due to the large crack openings and evidenced by the fast crack growth rates observed.

Zoonoses occur at the interface of human and animal disease and partly because their impact and management fall across two sectors they are often neglected. The Global Burden of Disease captures the impact of zoonoses on human health in terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Based on this, we estimate that in low income countries, zoonoses and diseases which recently emerged from animals make up 26 % of the DALYs lost to infectious disease and 10 % of the total DALYs lost. In contrast, in high income countries, zoonoses and diseases recently which emerged from animals represent less than 1 % of DALYs lost to infectious disease and only 0.02 % of the total disease burden. We present a framework that captures the costs of zoonoses and emerging disease to human, animal and ecosystem health in terms of cost of treatment, cost of prevention, health burden and intangible and opportunity costs. We also discuss how ecohealth concepts of transdisciplinarity, participation and equity can help in assessing the importance of zoonoses in developing countries and illustrate these with an example of assessing milk-borne disease.

Modern wireless systems are placing greater
emphasis on antenna designs for future development in
communication technology because the antenna is a key
element in the overall communication system. A
Microstrip Antenna is well suited for wireless
communication due to its light weight, low volume and
low profile planar configuration which can be easily
conformed to the host surface. In this paper, an
optimization method based on adaptive neuro-fuzzy
inference system (ANFIS) for determining the parameters
used in the design of a rectangular microstrip patch
antenna is presented. The ANFIS has the advantages of
expert knowledge of fuzzy inference system (FIS) and the
learning capability of artificial neural network (ANN). By
calculating and optimizing the patch dimensions and the
feed point of a rectangular microstrip antenna, this paper
shows that ANFIS produces good results that are in
agreement with Ansoft HFSS 13.0 simulation results.

Sweet potato leaf curl virus has been reported in different sweet potato growing regions of Kenya. Partial nucleotide sequences of Kenyan Sweet potato leaf curl virus isolates were compared with other isolates from different parts of the world. Sequences from ORFs AV1 (in the virion sense) and ORFs AC1, AC2, and AC4 (in the complementary sense) were analyzed using OMEGA 5 software. Samples from Central, and Coast Kenya were closely related to isolates from Spain and India with nucleotide sequence identities that varied from 61 to 96%. AV1 sequences of four samples from central were related with over 92% nucleotide sequence identity. AC2 fragments of Isolates from Western and Coast had 95% and 96% nucleotide sequence identity and amino acid sequence identity respectively indicating that the AC2 protein may have had common ancestry. The study reports the first partial sequences of begomovirus infecting sweet potato inform different parts of Kenya and their phylogenetic relationship with other begomoviruses from other parts of the world.

Effective surveillance for infectious diseases is an essential and resource-consuming activity for mitigating unwanted consequences for animal and public health. Allocation of scarce resources for surveillance must be considered against alternative prevention and control measures and regularly reviewed. Few studies estimate cost-effectiveness and benefits of different animal disease surveillance approaches and systems. In this study, we considered the benefits and resource costs of participatory epidemiology (PE) surveys and participatory disease surveillance (PDS) compared with routine passive surveillance. Focusing on a 6-month interval in a primarily pastoralist district in Kenya, basic performance indicators for surveillance measured were (1) number of outbreaks; (2) number of samples generated from suspected outbreaks; (3) number of positive laboratory confirmations. Costs of passive surveillance and interventions mounted were determined for the 6-month interval. In the same district, PE surveys were conducted in randomly selected communities to determine the number of outbreaks of notifiable cattle diseases in the same 6-month interval. Additional information was collected on the scale of morbidity and mortality for historical outbreaks (numbers and duration), the value of individual animals and the number of active outbreaks. Costs associated with mounting PE visits were ascertained and extrapolated to district level. One month after completion of PE visits, district level stakeholders were interviewed to determine the response, if any, to outbreaks detected during the visits. The study provides cost effectiveness estimates at a district level for the 6-month interval, including losses which occurred from outbreaks missed by passive surveillance and costs if PE were applied at regular intervals. In addition, the findings consider available prevention and control responses and provide decision-makers with evidence to inform future application of participatory approaches in animal disease surveillance.

Several studies have shown that the release of low molecular weight organic acids is
a major mechanism for solubilising insoluble phosphate by phosphate solubilising
bacteria (PSB). The production of gluconic acid during inorganic phosphate
solubilisation in conjunction with liberation of phosphate and the influence on plant
growth as a function of phosphate solubilisation by endophytic strains was analysed.
Solubilisation of Ca3(PO4)2 in National Botanical Research Institute’s Phosphate
(NBRIP) growth medium varied among the endophytes with P-liberated ranging from
1109.33 μg/ml to 67.3 μg/ml. In all cases, the final supernatant had a significant pH
decrease and this had a direct relation to P-liberated. High Performance Liquid
Chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the culture filtrate to quantify gluconic acid
produced by the strains ranged from 33.21±2.34 mg/ml to 2.2 ±0.18 mg/ml. The
results suggest that acidification was the main strategy for solubilising phosphate. In
this study, a clear relationship was observed between supernatant acidification and
P solubilisation from Ca3(PO4)2. However, no significant difference was observed for
key growth parameters in oil seed rape between treatments. The result of this study
indicates in planta expression of P solubilisation traits may be more complex than
those in vitro studies.

Two wetlands (Hyena and Nalogomon) in the Nairobi National Park were investigated by comparing plant composition in and around their immediate vicinity. The most common aquatic plant species in the Hyena wetland was Cyperus dives while in the Nalogomon wetland was Typha domingensis. The terrestrial vegetation surrounding Hyena wetland dominated by while that of surrounding Nalogomon wetland was the grass Hyparrhemia rufa. It was also noted that Hyena Dam waters were colonized by aquatic weeds, namely Gunnera perpensa, Enhydra fluctuans and Ludwigia abyssinica, that were absent in Nalogomon wetland waters. This could have been due to eutrophication of the waters of Hyena Dam as it originated from human settlements (city estates) outside the park boundary.

We previously demonstrated a decrease in bacterial vaginosis (BV) and an increase in Lactobacillus colonization among randomized controlled trial (RCT) participants who received monthly oral periodic presumptive treatment (PPT) [2g metronidazole + 150mg fluconazole]. Post-trial data were analyzed to test the hypothesis that the treatment effect would persist following completion of one year of PPT. Methods Data were obtained from women who completed all 12 RCT visits and attended ≥1 post-trial visit within 120 days following completion of the RCT. We used Andersen-Gill proportional hazards models to estimate the post-trial effect of the intervention on the incidence of BV by Gram stain and detection of Lactobacillus species by culture. Results The analysis included 165 subjects (83 active and 82 placebo). The post-trial incidence of BV was 260 per 100 person-years in the intervention arm versus 358 per 100 person-years in the placebo arm (hazard ratio [HR]=0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.51–1.12). The post-trial incidence of Lactobacillus colonization was 180 per 100 person-years in the intervention arm versus 127 per 100 person-years in the placebo arm (HR=1.42; 95% CI: 0.85–2.71). Conclusions Despite a decrease in BV and an increase in Lactobacillus colonization during the RCT, the effect of PPT was not sustained at the same level following cessation of the intervention. New interventions that reduce BV recurrence and promote Lactobacillus colonization without the need for ongoing treatment are needed.

We previously demonstrated a decrease in bacterial vaginosis (BV) and an increase in Lactobacillus colonization among randomized controlled trial (RCT) participants who received monthly oral periodic presumptive treatment (PPT) [2g metronidazole + 150mg fluconazole]. Post-trial data were analyzed to test the hypothesis that the treatment effect would persist following completion of one year of PPT. Methods Data were obtained from women who completed all 12 RCT visits and attended ≥1 post-trial visit within 120 days following completion of the RCT. We used Andersen-Gill proportional hazards models to estimate the post-trial effect of the intervention on the incidence of BV by Gram stain and detection of Lactobacillus species by culture. Results The analysis included 165 subjects (83 active and 82 placebo). The post-trial incidence of BV was 260 per 100 person-years in the intervention arm versus 358 per 100 person-years in the placebo arm (hazard ratio [HR]=0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.51–1.12). The post-trial incidence of Lactobacillus colonization was 180 per 100 person-years in the intervention arm versus 127 per 100 person-years in the placebo arm (HR=1.42; 95% CI: 0.85–2.71). Conclusions Despite a decrease in BV and an increase in Lactobacillus colonization during the RCT, the effect of PPT was not sustained at the same level following cessation of the intervention. New interventions that reduce BV recurrence and promote Lactobacillus colonization without the need for ongoing treatment are needed.

As prevention of mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission (PMTCT) programs decrease the numbers of HIV-1–infected infants, it remains important to improve growth in HIV-1–exposed, uninfected (EU) infants. To determine the growth rate and predictors of growth faltering in breast-fed and formula-fed EU infants, growth analyses [weight-for-age (WAZ), weight-for-length (WLZ), and length-for-age (LAZ) Z-scores] were conducted by using data from a randomized feeding trial in HIV-1–infected women in Kenya. Growth faltering in EU infants was compared based on randomization to breastfeeding (BF) or formula feeding (FF) using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Linear mixed-effects models determined rate and cofactors of length growth. Among 338 EU infants, 164 (49%) were breast-fed and 174 (51%) formula-fed. In both arms, growth declined steadily during follow-up. By 2 y, 29% of children were underweight (WAZ < −2), 18% were wasted (WLZ < −2), and 58% were stunted (LAZ < −2), with no differences by feeding arm. Higher maternal education (y) and taller stature (cm) were associated with a decreased risk of underweight and stunting [underweight: adjusted HR (aHR) = 0.90 (95% CI: 0.83, 0.99), P = 0.03, and aHR = 0.92 (95% CI: 0.87, 0.97), P = 0.002; and stunting: aHR = 0.91 (95% CI: 0.85, 0.97), P = 0.003, and aHR = 0.96 (95% CI: 0.92, 0.99), P = 0.02, respectively]. Diarrhea was associated with an increased risk of wasting [aHR = 2.26 (95% CI: 1.11, 4.62), P = 0.03]. In multivariate analyses, FF was associated with slower declines in length velocity [0.24 LAZ/y (95% CI: 0.06, 0.43), P = 0.009]. Despite being uninfected, HIV-1–exposed infants showed frequent growth faltering, suggesting the need for vigilance in recognizing stunting within PMTCT programs. The slower rate of decline in length growth with FF may reflect benefits of micronutrients. Because BF is the best option for HIV-1–infected mothers in resource-limited settings, nutritional interventions should be examined for their impact on growth in EU breast-fed infants.

Disclosure to HIV-infected children regarding their diagnosis is important as expanding numbers of HIV-infected children attain adolescence and may become sexually active. In order to define correlates of pediatric disclosure and facilitate development of models for disclosure, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of primary caregivers of HIV-1 infected children aged 6-16 years attending a pediatric HIV treatment program in Nairobi, Kenya. We conducted focus group discussions with a subset of caregivers to further refine perceptions of disclosure. Among 271 caregiver/child dyads in the cross-sectional survey, median child age was 9 years (interquartile range: 7-12 years). Although 79% of caregivers believed children should know their HIV status, the prevalence of disclosure to the child was only 19%. Disclosure had been done primarily by health workers (52%) and caregivers (33%). Caregivers reported that 5 of the 52 (10%) who knew their status were accidentally disclosed to. Caregivers of older children (13 vs. 8 years; p<0.001), who were HIV-infected and had disclosed their own HIV status to the child (36% vs. 4%; p=0.003), or who traveled frequently (29% vs. 16%, p=0.03) were more likely to have disclosed. Children who had been recently hospitalized (25% vs. 44%, p=0.03) were less likely to know their status, and caregivers with HIV were less likely to have disclosed (p=0.03). Reasons for disclosure included medication adherence, curiosity or illness while reasons for nondisclosure included age and fear of inadvertent disclosure. Our study found that disclosure rates in this Kenyan setting are lower than observed rates in the USA and Europe but consistent with rates from other resource-limited settings. Given these low rates of disclosure and the potential benefits of disclosure, strategies promoting health worker trainings and caregiver support systems for disclosure may benefit children with HIV.

Abstract
Abstract Disclosure to HIV-infected children regarding their diagnosis is important as expanding numbers of HIV-infected children attain adolescence and may become sexually active. In order to define correlates of pediatric disclosure and facilitate development of models for disclosure, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of primary caregivers of HIV-1 infected children aged 6-16 years attending a pediatric HIV treatment program in Nairobi, Kenya. We conducted focus group discussions with a subset of caregivers to further refine perceptions of disclosure. Among 271 caregiver/child dyads in the cross-sectional survey, median child age was 9 years (interquartile range: 7-12 years). Although 79% of caregivers believed children should know their HIV status, the prevalence of disclosure to the child was only 19%. Disclosure had been done primarily by health workers (52%) and caregivers (33%). Caregivers reported that 5 of the 52 (10%) who knew their status were accidentally disclosed to. Caregivers of older children (13 vs. 8 years; p<0.001), who were HIV-infected and had disclosed their own HIV status to the child (36% vs. 4%; p=0.003), or who traveled frequently (29% vs. 16%, p=0.03) were more likely to have disclosed. Children who had been recently hospitalized (25% vs. 44%, p=0.03) were less likely to know their status, and caregivers with HIV were less likely to have disclosed (p=0.03). Reasons for disclosure included medication adherence, curiosity or illness while reasons for nondisclosure included age and fear of inadvertent disclosure. Our study found that disclosure rates in this Kenyan setting are lower than observed rates in the USA and Europe but consistent with rates from other resource-limited settings. Given these low rates of disclosure and the potential benefits of disclosure, strategies promoting health worker trainings and caregiver support systems for disclosure may benefit children with HIV.

Abstract
Abstract Disclosure to HIV-infected children regarding their diagnosis is important as expanding numbers of HIV-infected children attain adolescence and may become sexually active. In order to define correlates of pediatric disclosure and facilitate development of models for disclosure, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of primary caregivers of HIV-1 infected children aged 6-16 years attending a pediatric HIV treatment program in Nairobi, Kenya. We conducted focus group discussions with a subset of caregivers to further refine perceptions of disclosure. Among 271 caregiver/child dyads in the cross-sectional survey, median child age was 9 years (interquartile range: 7-12 years). Although 79% of caregivers believed children should know their HIV status, the prevalence of disclosure to the child was only 19%. Disclosure had been done primarily by health workers (52%) and caregivers (33%). Caregivers reported that 5 of the 52 (10%) who knew their status were accidentally disclosed to. Caregivers of older children (13 vs. 8 years; p<0.001), who were HIV-infected and had disclosed their own HIV status to the child (36% vs. 4%; p=0.003), or who traveled frequently (29% vs. 16%, p=0.03) were more likely to have disclosed. Children who had been recently hospitalized (25% vs. 44%, p=0.03) were less likely to know their status, and caregivers with HIV were less likely to have disclosed (p=0.03). Reasons for disclosure included medication adherence, curiosity or illness while reasons for nondisclosure included age and fear of inadvertent disclosure. Our study found that disclosure rates in this Kenyan setting are lower than observed rates in the USA and Europe but consistent with rates from other resource-limited settings. Given these low rates of disclosure and the potential benefits of disclosure, strategies promoting health worker trainings and caregiver support systems for disclosure may benefit children with HIV.

Cattle are kept as an important source of livelihood in many Kenyan farming households whilst also having cultural and social value. A review was undertaken to estimate productivity in the three main Kenyan cattle production systems: small-scale dairy and meat; small-scale dairy; and large-scale dairy and meat. Data on production parameters were collected through a systematic literature search of electronic databases for peer reviewed and grey literature. The parameters included were reproductive rates, mortality rates and yields. Prices for livestock and livestock products were estimated from markets. The data were used to estimate net output from cattle using the Livestock Productivity Efficiency Calculator (LPEC), a deterministic steady state model which measures productivity as net output per megajoule (MJ) of metabolisable energy (ME). The estimated net outputs per livestock unit year−1 were USD 146.6,USD215.1andUSD84.8inthelarge-scaledairyand meat, small-scale dairy and meat and small-scale dairy systems,respectively.Milkproductioncontributedsignificantly tonetoutputinallsystemsandwas91.8%oftotaloutputin small-scaledairy.Cattlesaleshadthehighestcontributionto net output in large-scale dairy and meat system (45.1 %). Sensitivity analysis indicated that output was most affected by milk yield, age and weight at maturity and parturition rate. The productivity differences between the production systems call for more detailed research on the constraints to the production systems such as diseases, and to describe the benefits that farmers and society would obtain from disease control and improved management.

To determine the point prevalence of abnormal cardiac function and to assess the risk factors for cardiac dysfunction in paediatric oncology patients on treatment at Kenyatta National Hospital. DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study with a nested case control. SETTING: Kenyatta National Hospital between February and April 2006. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Left ventricular dysfunction if ejection fraction (EF) <55% or fractional shortening (FS) <29% defined cases. Controls had EF >55% or FS >29%. RESULTS: One hundred and eleven patients were enrolled of whom 32 had abnormal cardiac function and were classified as cases while 79 had normal cardiac function. About a third, point prevalence 29% (95% CI 21.2-37.9), had cardiac dysfunction. Cumulative anthracycline dose was a risk factor for cardiac dysfunction in this population. Above 200 mg/m2 the attributable risk percentage of cardiac dysfunction was 77%. CONCLUSIONS: Serial echocardiography should be performed to identify patients at risk. Alternative treatment protocols should be used when the cumulative anthracycline dose exceeds 200 mg/m2 due to the high attributable risk. Studies to further assess the other associated risk factors and long term effects of anthracycline are recommended.

To determine the point prevalence of abnormal cardiac function and to assess the risk factors for cardiac dysfunction in paediatric oncology patients on treatment at Kenyatta National Hospital. DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study with a nested case control. SETTING: Kenyatta National Hospital between February and April 2006. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Left ventricular dysfunction if ejection fraction (EF) <55% or fractional shortening (FS) <29% defined cases. Controls had EF >55% or FS >29%. RESULTS: One hundred and eleven patients were enrolled of whom 32 had abnormal cardiac function and were classified as cases while 79 had normal cardiac function. About a third, point prevalence 29% (95% CI 21.2-37.9), had cardiac dysfunction. Cumulative anthracycline dose was a risk factor for cardiac dysfunction in this population. Above 200 mg/m2 the attributable risk percentage of cardiac dysfunction was 77%. CONCLUSIONS: Serial echocardiography should be performed to identify patients at risk. Alternative treatment protocols should be used when the cumulative anthracycline dose exceeds 200 mg/m2 due to the high attributable risk. Studies to further assess the other associated risk factors and long term effects of anthracycline are recommended.

Breastfeeding is the ideal infant food—it provides both optimal nutrition and numerous factors that contribute to infant immunity, growth, cognition, and health. It also enhances maternal–infant bonding and child-spacing and may provide long-term benefits to mothers. An estimated 7.7 million children under 5 years of age die annually, with >30% dying of infectious diseases [1, 2]. Breastfeeding has been identified as the most effective intervention to prevent under-5 mortality [3]. It was therefore a huge public health and policy challenge to discern the best infant feeding strategy when it was discovered that HIV-1 could be transmitted through breastfeeding. While nonbreastfeeding could entirely prevent transmission of a rapidly fatal infection, implementation of artificial feeding could be associated with increased infant mortality and morbidity. Over the past two decades, mothers, clinicians, and policy makers have wrestled with balancing infant risk of HIV-1 acquisition against risk of infant mortality in the context of concurrently changing interventions that decrease transmission of HIV-1.

This study summarizes the results of a pilot survey on utilization of weather information and products for selected districts in Kenya and the response of users to Kenya Meteorological Department’s (KMD) weather products on how members of the public obtain, perceive, use, and value weather services. Questionnaires were used to conduct sample surveys on three distinct populations comprising of general public, enterprises and public officials. The survey (288 respondents were interviewed in June 2007) indicated that people use weather information for a variety of activities ranging from crop farming to road transport. Most people identified crop-farming as the activity most vulnerable to weather. Majority of people indicated that they are willing to spend money on weather information, including value added products an indication that KMD should add value to its products and services. The overall assessment of KMD’s performance in terms of provision of weather information was rated as above average. The results from this survey suggest that there is need for KMD to brand its products. The effective dissemination and awareness of the availability and use of weather information should be promoted through a partnership between KMD and local media. Most respondents feel that the government should put in place policies on monitoring, processing and dissemination of weather information with more emphasis on dissemination. Regulatory measures are also necessary and critical in the development of new weather information dissemination strategies.

Pharmaceutical safety is a public health issue. In 2005, the Connecticut Attorney General (AG) raised concerns over adverse drug reactions in off-label settings, noting that thalidomide was approved to treat a rare illness, but more than 90% of its use was off label. A hematologist had reported thalidomide with doxorubicin or dexamethasone was associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE) rates of 25%. We review US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and manufacturer responses to a citizen petition filed to address these thalidomide safety issues. Case study. The AG petitioned the FDA requesting thalidomide-related safety actions. Coincidentally, the manufacturer submitted a supplemental New Drug Approval (sNDA), requesting approval to treat multiple myeloma with thalidomide-dexamethasone. FDA safety officers reviewed the petition and the literature and noted that VTE risks with thalidomide were not appropriately addressed in the existing package insert. In the sNDA application, the manufacturer reported thalidomide-associated toxicities for multiple myeloma were primarily somnolence and neurotoxicity, and a proposed package insert did not focus on VTE risks. In October, the FDA informed the Oncology Drug Division that VTE risks with thalidomide were poorly addressed in the existing label. After reviewing this memorandum, an Oncology Drug Division reviewer informed the manufacturer that approval of the sNDA would be delayed until several thalidomide-associated VTE safety actions, including revisions of the package insert, were implemented. The manufacturer and FDA agreed on these actions, and the sNDA was approved. New approaches addressing off-label safety are needed. The conditions that facilitated the successful response to this citizen petition are uncommon.

The effect of paroxetine on the day--night variations in the synthesis of 5HT was determined in the rat brain in an effort to gain an insight into the mechanism of action of this drug. This was done by determining its effect on the activity of tryptophan hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis of 5HT in serotonergic neurons. The enzyme activity was determined in two brain regions, cortex and the brainstem, at two time points of 12hr light/12hr dark cycle, namely, mid-light and mid-dark. The results obtained showed that the activity of tryptophan hydroxylase was significantly greater in control animals during the dark than light phase both in the cortex and brainstem. They also demonstrate that the rate of synthesis of 5HT was affected by paroxetine in a time-dependent manner. It was therefore concluded that these time-dependent changes observed in paroxetine effect may influence the activity of serotonergic input into the suprachiasmatic nucleus and hence the regulation or expression of certain circadian rhythms. This action may help correct or compensate for abnormalities present in depressive illness.

Prior to the introduction of the International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research (INCTR) protocol INCTR 03-06, survival of patients with Burkitt lymphoma at four tertiary care centres in equatorial Africa was probably no more than 10-20%. The results reported here for 356 patients have demonstrated marked improvement in survival through the use of a uniform treatment protocol consisting of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, vincristine, and intrathecal therapy, and the introduction of non-cross resistant second-line (salvage) therapy, consisting of ifosfamide, mesna, etoposide and cytarabine, when patients failed to achieve a complete response to first-line therapy or relapsed early. Overall survival rates of 67% and 62% were observed at 1 and 2 years (relapse is rare after 1 year of remission). Of interest was the small impact of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and bone marrow involvement on outcome. However, the presence or absence of abdominal involvement clearly defined two prognostic groups. An additional finding was the association between CSF pleocytosis and orbital tumours, suggesting that spread of tumour cells to the central nervous system may sometimes occur via direct involvement of cranial nerves in the orbit. Survival rates may be increased in patients with abdominal involvement by combining first- and second-line therapy, but verification will require a further clinical study.

Bacteriophage 1N2-2 infects a narrow range of alkaliphilic bacterial strains phylogenetically
related to the family Idiomarinacea [1]. Both phage and host bacterium were isolated from alkaline
and saline waters of Lake Nakuru, a soda lake of Kenya’s Great Rift Valley. Virion structures
including capsids must tolerate extreme alkaline environments of pH 10 and above. The phage is
morphologically and genetically related to lambdoid viruses of the family Siphoviridae (Fig. 1B)[1].
Genomic analysis revealed that 1N2-2 genes are organized in functional modules. Capsid
morphogenesis genes are homologous both in order and predicted amino acid sequence to the
corresponding genes of the coliphage HK97 (Fig. 1A )[2]. Like many dsDNA viruses, HK97
assembles multiple subunits of a single gene product into a protocapsid around a transient
protein-scaffolding core that is subsequently cleaved by a protease at the time of DNA packaging
triggering expansion and stabilization of the mature capsid [3]. 1N2-2, like HK97, lacks an
independent capsid scaffolding gene but rather, as we have inferred, the N-terminal 110 residues of
the major head protein (MHP) encoded by gene 10 probably assume a coiled-coil folding typical of
scaffolding proteins.
We cloned the 1N2-2 gene 10 MHP sequence into a pQE-Tri-system plasmid (Qiagen) and have
expressed a 46-kDa MHP protein in Escherichia coli strain SG19003 (Qiagen) that can be
precipitated by 8% PEG treatment in ice and low speed centrifugation (Fig. 1C and 1E).
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis shows the presence of virus-like particles (VLP)
of similar size and shape as empty proheads of naturally formed 1N2-2 (Fig. 1B). Alternatively,
the 3’ end of the gene 10 in the pQE vector was modified to eliminate the stop codon allowing in
frame translation of ten additional codons including eight histidine residues at the C-terminus of
MHP (MHP-his). Based on a Swiss-model prediction of the 1N2-2 MHP protein sequence using
the structure of phage HK97 MHP as template (PDB 1OHG)[4] we inferred that the C-terminus and
its additional modifications would be located on the surface of the recombinant capsid allowing the
purification of fully assembled capsids with Ni-NTA affinity chromatography (data not shown).
SDS-PAGE analysis and UAc-stained protein samples visualized by TEM show that MHP-his
expressed in E. coli is a protein of 46.5 kDa (Fig. 1E) that can assemble into VLPs, possibly
proheads of 46 nm in diameter (Fig. 1D). Other non-closed structures that are seen in the sample are
presumably incomplete capsids (Fig 1 C and 1D). We are currently investigating whether capsid
morphogenesis including incomplete structures and proheads produced from the expression plasmid
in E. coli differ from natural capsid morphogenesis in the alkaliphilic host of 1N2-2. We are
formulating capsid assembly buffers to produce fully closed stable VLP in vitro. We conclude that the Φ1N2-2 MHP protein, either intact or with histidineresidues at the C-terminus, is sufficient to produce VLP in theabsence of other virally-encoded proteins. Weexpectthe MHP C-terminus can be used to
display antigens on the prohead surface while modifications of the N-terminus may be used for
packaging antigens internally providing a versatile VLP platform for vaccine development and
other nanomedicine applications.

Basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.) is preferred by consumers over other varieties because of its aroma and good cooking traits. However, its yield is genetically low compared to other pure bred lines. To increase yield of Basmati per hectare, it has become necessary to adopt hybrid rice technology that has been reported to increase yield by up to 30% above pure dwarf lines. Photoperiod-sensitive genic male sterile (PGMS) and Thermosensitive genic male sterile (TGMS) rice lines contain genes that confer male sterility under long day light-length and high temperature growth conditions, respectively. Pollination of these lines, in their male sterile period, with a viable male parent pollen produce hybrid seeds. The problem of using PGMS or TGMS is that in the tropics, day-light length is 12hours and diurnal temperature range is high, making induction of complete male-sterility in these lines difficult. The result is contamination of hybrid seeds with self-bred pure line seeds. The objective of this research work was to produce pure hybrid Basmati seeds. Hypothesis to be tested is that anthocyanin markers can be used to differentiate hybrid F1s from pure inbred seedlings. This tool can be used in selection of Basmati hybrid seedlings free from contamination with self-bred parents before transplanting and therefore save on the associated losses. The F1 seeds from a cross between PGMS or TGMS and Basmati were sown in greenhouse at KARI Mwea- Kimbibi station. Hybrid seeds were scored for anthocynanin morphological marker, by observation, to differentiate them from the pure bred lines. All hybrids involving Basmati370 and Basmati217 had very conspicuous incidence of anthocyanin which made them distinct from the parents. The conclusion is that anthocyanin can be used as a marker to separate F1 hybrid plants from the parents.

Key words: Anthocyanins, Morphological marker, Basmati, Hybrid rice seed

The effect of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) suppression on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA in the context of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) interventions is unknown. Methods. Between April 2008 and August 2010, we conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of twice daily 500 mg valacyclovir or placebo beginning at 34 weeks gestation in 148 HIV-1/HSV-2 coinfected pregnant Kenyan women ineligible for highly active antiretroviral therapy (CD4 > 250 cells/mm3). Women received zidovudine and single dose nevirapine for PMTCT and were followed until 12 months postpartum. Results. Mean baseline plasma HIV-1 RNA was 3.88 log10 copies/mL. Mean plasma HIV-1 was lower during pregnancy (−.56 log10 copies/mL; 95% confidence interval [CI], −.77 to −.34) and after 6 weeks postpartum (−.51 log10 copies/mL; 95% CI, −.73 to −.30) in the valacyclovir arm than the placebo arm. Valacyclovir reduced breast milk HIV-1 RNA detection at 6 and 14 weeks postpartum compared with placebo (30% lower, P = .04; 46% lower, P = .01, respectively), but not after 14 weeks. Cervical HIV-1 RNA detection was similar between arms (P = .91). Conclusions. Valacyclovir significantly decreased early breast milk and plasma HIV-1 RNA among women receiving PMTCT.

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) suppression has been shown to reduce HIV-1 disease progression in non-pregnant women and men, but effects on pregnant and postpartum women have not been described.

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) suppression has been shown to reduce HIV-1 disease progression in non-pregnant women and men, but effects on pregnant and postpartum women have not been described.

Maternal administration of the acyclovir prodrug valacyclovir is compatible with pregnancy and breastfeeding. However, the safety profile of prolonged infant and maternal exposure to acyclovir in the context of antiretrovirals (ARVs) for prevention of mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission (PMTCT) has not been described.

Maternal administration of the acyclovir prodrug valacyclovir is compatible with pregnancy and breastfeeding. However, the safety profile of prolonged infant and maternal exposure to acyclovir in the context of antiretrovirals (ARVs) for prevention of mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission (PMTCT) has not been described.

Our study aimed to assess adult women's knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer, and characterize their attitudes towards potential screening and prevention strategies.

Our study aimed to assess adult women's knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer, and characterize their attitudes towards potential screening and prevention strategies.

Antiretroviral preexposure prophylaxis is a promising approach for preventing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in heterosexual populations.

Antiretroviral preexposure prophylaxis is a promising approach for preventing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in heterosexual populations.

The effect of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) suppression on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA in the context of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) interventions is unknown.

The effect of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) suppression on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA in the context of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) interventions is unknown.

Effective contraception reduces unintended pregnancies and is a central strategy to reduce vertical HIV-1 transmission for HIV-1-infected women.

Effective contraception reduces unintended pregnancies and is a central strategy to reduce vertical HIV-1 transmission for HIV-1-infected women.

Hormonal contraceptives are used widely but their effects on HIV-1 risk are unclear. We aimed to assess the association between hormonal contraceptive use and risk of HIV-1 acquisition by women and HIV-1 transmission from HIV-1-infected women to their male partners.

Hormonal contraceptives are used widely but their effects on HIV-1 risk are unclear. We aimed to assess the association between hormonal contraceptive use and risk of HIV-1 acquisition by women and HIV-1 transmission from HIV-1-infected women to their male partners.

Early sexual partnerships place young women in sub-Saharan Africa at high risk for HIV. Few studies have examined both individual- and partnership-level characteristics of sexual relationships among adolescent girls. A cross-sectional survey of sexual history and partnerships was conducted among 761 adolescent girls aged 15-19 years in Nairobi, Kenya. Rapid HIV testing was conducted and correlates of HIV infection were determined using multivariate logistic regression. The HIV prevalence was 7% and seropositive adolescents had a younger age at sexual debut (P < 0.01), more sexual partners in 12 months (P = 0.03), and were more likely to report transactional or non-consensual sex (P < 0.01). Girls who reported not knowing their partner's HIV status were 14 times as likely to be HIV-seropositive than girls who knew their partner's status (adjusted odds ratio: 14.2 [1.8, 109.3]). Public health messages to promote HIV testing and disclosure within partnerships could reduce sexual risk behaviours and HIV transmission among adolescents.

Early sexual partnerships place young women in sub-Saharan Africa at high risk for HIV. Few studies have examined both individual- and partnership-level characteristics of sexual relationships among adolescent girls. A cross-sectional survey of sexual history and partnerships was conducted among 761 adolescent girls aged 15-19 years in Nairobi, Kenya. Rapid HIV testing was conducted and correlates of HIV infection were determined using multivariate logistic regression. The HIV prevalence was 7% and seropositive adolescents had a younger age at sexual debut (P < 0.01), more sexual partners in 12 months (P = 0.03), and were more likely to report transactional or non-consensual sex (P < 0.01). Girls who reported not knowing their partner's HIV status were 14 times as likely to be HIV-seropositive than girls who knew their partner's status (adjusted odds ratio: 14.2 [1.8, 109.3]). Public health messages to promote HIV testing and disclosure within partnerships could reduce sexual risk behaviours and HIV transmission among adolescents.

We previously demonstrated a decrease in bacterial vaginosis (BV) and an increase in Lactobacillus colonization among randomized controlled trial (RCT) participants who received monthly oral periodic presumptive treatment (PPT; 2 g metronidazole + 150 mg fluconazole). Posttrial data were analyzed to test the hypothesis that the treatment effect would persist after completion of 1 year of PPT.

We previously demonstrated a decrease in bacterial vaginosis (BV) and an increase in Lactobacillus colonization among randomized controlled trial (RCT) participants who received monthly oral periodic presumptive treatment (PPT; 2 g metronidazole + 150 mg fluconazole). Posttrial data were analyzed to test the hypothesis that the treatment effect would persist after completion of 1 year of PPT.

Describe changes in sexual behaviour and determinants of unsafe sex among HIV-infected women in the 24 months after delivery.

A number of studies of highly exposed HIV-1-seronegative individuals (HESN) have found HIV-1-specific cellular responses. However, there is limited evidence that responses prevent infection or are linked to HIV-1 exposure. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from HESN in HIV-1-discordant relationships and low-risk controls in Nairobi, Kenya. HIV-1-specific responses were detected using gamma interferon (IFN-γ) enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) assays stimulated by peptide pools spanning the subtype A HIV-1 genome. The HIV-1 incidence in this HESN cohort was 1.5 per 100 person years. Positive ELISpot responses were found in 34 (10%) of 331 HESN and 14 (13%) of 107 low-risk controls (odds ratio [OR] = 0.76; P = 0.476). The median immunodominant response was 18.9 spot-forming units (SFU)/10(6) peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Among HESN, increasing age (OR = 1.24 per 5 years; P = 0.026) and longer cohabitation with the HIV-1-infected partner (OR = 5.88 per 5 years; P = 0.003) were associated with responses. These factors were not associated with responses in controls. Other exposure indicators, including the partner's HIV-1 load (OR = 0.99 per log(10) copy/ml; P = 0.974) and CD4 count (OR = 1.09 per 100 cells/μl; P = 0.238), were not associated with responses in HESN. HIV-1-specific cellular responses may be less relevant to resistance to infection among HESN who are using risk reduction strategies that decrease their direct viral exposure.

A number of studies of highly exposed HIV-1-seronegative individuals (HESN) have found HIV-1-specific cellular responses. However, there is limited evidence that responses prevent infection or are linked to HIV-1 exposure. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from HESN in HIV-1-discordant relationships and low-risk controls in Nairobi, Kenya. HIV-1-specific responses were detected using gamma interferon (IFN-γ) enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) assays stimulated by peptide pools spanning the subtype A HIV-1 genome. The HIV-1 incidence in this HESN cohort was 1.5 per 100 person years. Positive ELISpot responses were found in 34 (10%) of 331 HESN and 14 (13%) of 107 low-risk controls (odds ratio [OR] = 0.76; P = 0.476). The median immunodominant response was 18.9 spot-forming units (SFU)/10(6) peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Among HESN, increasing age (OR = 1.24 per 5 years; P = 0.026) and longer cohabitation with the HIV-1-infected partner (OR = 5.88 per 5 years; P = 0.003) were associated with responses. These factors were not associated with responses in controls. Other exposure indicators, including the partner's HIV-1 load (OR = 0.99 per log(10) copy/ml; P = 0.974) and CD4 count (OR = 1.09 per 100 cells/μl; P = 0.238), were not associated with responses in HESN. HIV-1-specific cellular responses may be less relevant to resistance to infection among HESN who are using risk reduction strategies that decrease their direct viral exposure.

Early infant HIV-1 diagnosis and treatment substantially improve survival. Where virologic HIV-1 testing is unavailable, integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) clinical algorithms may be used for infant HIV-1 screening. We evaluated the performance of the 2008 WHO IMCI HIV algorithm in a cohort of HIV-exposed Kenyan infants.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of removal of the adventitia on the tunica media in a pig model. METHODS: The experiment was performed in eight pigs. The adventitia of the descending aorta was removed. Following euthanasia, at two, four, six and eight weeks, the aortic segment was removed. Next, slices of the aorta were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Weigert-Van Gieson. RESULTS: After two weeks there was a slight cellular breakdown in the outer third of the media. After four weeks structural breakdown of elastic fibers was observed in the outer two thirds of the same layer. In six weeks, several areas of necrosis and almost complete disruption of elastic fibers were identified. Finally, after eight weeks, there was fibrosis of the entire wall with disruption of the internal elastic lamina. CONCLUSION: The removal of the adventitia leads to degeneration of the media, determining loss of the normal structure of the aortic wall that is variable in its location, intensity and shape, depending on the length and duration of the ischemic insult.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of removal of the adventitia on the tunica media in a pig model. METHODS: The experiment was performed in eight pigs. The adventitia of the descending aorta was removed. Following euthanasia, at two, four, six and eight weeks, the aortic segment was removed. Next, slices of the aorta were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Weigert-Van Gieson. RESULTS: After two weeks there was a slight cellular breakdown in the outer third of the media. After four weeks structural breakdown of elastic fibers was observed in the outer two thirds of the same layer. In six weeks, several areas of necrosis and almost complete disruption of elastic fibers were identified. Finally, after eight weeks, there was fibrosis of the entire wall with disruption of the internal elastic lamina. CONCLUSION: The removal of the adventitia leads to degeneration of the media, determining loss of the normal structure of the aortic wall that is variable in its location, intensity and shape, depending on the length and duration of the ischemic insult.

Step by step guide

Fiji is a distribution of the popular open-source software ImageJ focused on biological-image analysis. Fiji uses modern software engineering practices to combine powerful software libraries with a broad range of scripting languages to enable rapid prototyping of image-processing algorithms. Fiji facilitates the transformation of new algorithms into ImageJ plugins that can be shared with end users through an integrated update system. We propose Fiji as a platform for productive collaboration between computer science and biology research communities.

Experimental data indicate that the adventitial compartment of blood vessels, in both the pulmonary and systemic circulations, like the connective tissue stroma in tissues throughout the body, is a critical regulator of vessel wall function in health and disease. It is clear that adventitial cells, and in particular the adventitial fibroblast, are activated early following vascular injury, and play essential roles in regulating vascular wall structure and function through production of chemokines, cytokines, growth factors, and reactive oxygen species (ROS). The recognition of the ability of these cells to generate and maintain inflammatory responses within the vessel wall provides insight into why vascular inflammatory responses, in certain situations, fail to resolve. It is also clear that the activated adventitial fibroblast plays an important role in regulating vasa vasorum growth, which can contribute to ongoing vascular remodeling by acting as a conduit for delivery of inflammatory and progenitor cells. These functions of the fibroblast clearly support the idea that targeting chemokine, cytokine, adhesion molecule, and growth factor production in activated fibroblasts could be helpful in abrogating vascular inflammatory responses and thus in ameliorating vascular disease. Further, the recent observations that fibroblasts in vascular and fibrotic diseases may maintain their activated state through epigenetic alterations in key inflammatory and pro-fibrotic genes suggests that current therapies used to treat pulmonary hypertension may not be sufficient to induce apoptosis or to inhibit key inflammatory signaling pathways in these fibroblasts. New therapies targeted at reversing changes in the acetylation or methylation status of key transcriptional networks may be needed. At present, therapies specifically targeting abnormalities of histone deacytelase (HDAC) activity in fibroblast-like cells appear to hold promise.

The vascular adventitia acts as a biological processing center for the retrieval, integration, storage, and release of key regulators of vessel wall function. It is the most complex compartment of the vessel wall and is composed of a variety of cells, including fibroblasts, immunomodulatory cells (dendritic cells and macrophages), progenitor cells, vasa vasorum endothelial cells and pericytes, and adrenergic nerves. In response to vascular stress or injury, resident adventitial cells are often the first to be activated and reprogrammed to influence the tone and structure of the vessel wall; to initiate and perpetuate chronic vascular inflammation; and to stimulate expansion of the vasa vasorum, which can act as a conduit for continued inflammatory and progenitor cell delivery to the vessel wall. This review presents the current evidence demonstrating that the adventitia acts as a key regulator of vascular wall function and structure from the outside in.

Titanium dioxide has been intensively studied as a wide band gap transition metal oxide due to its n-type semi-conducting property which makes it to have many applications in industry. Some of the observed conductivity arises from its intrinsic point defects. The structural properties and electronic band structures of TiO2 (rutile and anatase) phases, have been investigated using ab-initio methods. The structural properties were obtained using generalized gradient approximation (GGA) employing pseudopotentials and plane wave basis sets. For the two phases of TiO2, the calculated equilibrium lattice constants, bulk moduli and bond lengths were found to be in good agreement with other recent theoretical calculations and also with experimental data. After introduction of various defects to the perfect super cell, the Ti-O bond lengths were altered greatly. The apical bond lengths changed from a constant 1.959 Å to a range of values (1.718 - 1.861) Å, and the equatorial bond lengths changed from a constant 2.006 Å to a range of values (2.072 - 2.231 ) Å for rutile TiO2. The apical bond lengths changed from a constant 1.956 Å to a range of values (1.782 - 1.830) Å, and the equatorial bond lengths changed from a constant 2.050 Å to a range of values (2.112 - 2.214) Å, for anatase TiO2. Also altered were Ti-O-Ti angles, from the two constants (99.93, 131.04)° to a range of values (88.86 - 95.69 and 132.01 - 143.49)° for rutile TiO2. For anatase TiO2, Ti- O-Ti angles changed from the two constants (103.81, 152.39)° to a range of values (93.59 - 149.91 and 156.74 - 176.05)°. Electronic properties were investigated too. Perfect rutile and anatase super cells gave band gaps of 2.24 eV and 2.44 eV, respectively, underground-state conditions. Valence bandwidths (VB) and conduction bandwidths (CB) were also obtained for both phases. VB of 5.6 eV and CB of 1.654 eV were observed for rutile TiO2, while VB of 4.76 eV and CB of 2.35 eV were observed for anatase TiO2; all in good agreement with experimental values. This study also investigated the defect formation enthalpies of Frenkel and Schottky defects in both rutile and anatase phases of TiO2. This study also considered point defect stability in rutile and anatase phases of TiO2. The formation energies for oxygen and titanium atoms, defects were found to be in agreement with the experimental values, especially the case of rutile oxygen atom vacancy. Both Frenkel and Schottky defects were found to induce new energy states in titanium dioxide. Normally band gaps are reduced in defective TiO2 crystals, and in this study, reduced energy band gaps were reported for all the defective super cells. In rutile, the metal oxide gaps were found to almost vanish due to the presence of oxygen atom vacancy, oxygen atom Frenkel and titanium Frenkel defects. These gave direct energy band gaps: 0.35 eV, 0.207 eV and 0.327 eV, respectively. Defects in anatase phase showed a similar trend, with the least energy band gap being reported for the case titanium interstitial (0.041 eV, which is indirect). With such infinitesimal gaps, these otherwise insulating oxides can with ease become conducting metal oxides, by either increasing the temperatures or pressure since these calculations were done at 0 K and 0 pressure. It can thus be said that intrinsic point defects in titanium dioxide do contribute to the improvement of the electrical conductivity of this oxide.

Background: Information about the prevalence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) among HIV infected and HIV uninfected patients receiving anti-tuberculous therapy in Africa is limited due to unavailability of local data or publications and hence the basis of this study.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of adverse drug reactions among HIV infected and HIV uninfected adult patients on anti-TB therapy.
Design: A retrospective cohort study.
Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya.
Subjects: HIV infected and HIV uninfected patients receiving anti-TB therapy between January 2006 to December 2007
Main Outcome Measures:Documented adverse drug reactions.
Results: Three hundred and fourteen records were reviewed, 157 for both HIV infected and HIV uninfected. Of the 314 patient files, 96 (30.5%) had ADRs; 70 (44.6%) verses 26 (16.6%) for HIV infected and HIV uninfected respectively. Overall, the most frequent ADR among the two groups was gastrointestinal disturbances (21.7%) verses (10.2%) for HIV infected and uninfected respectively, (RR=2.44 [1.28-4.63], P=0.006). This was followed by peripheral neuropathy (16.6%) verses (4.5%) for HIV infected and uninfected respectively, (RR=4.25 [1.79-10.12], P=0.005). 73(46.49%) of the HIV infected patients were also receiving anti-retroviral therapy, of
which 36(49.31 %) of them had ADRs documented. Twenty five (29.8%) of the HIV infected who were not taking anti-retroviral therapy, had ADRs documented.
Conclusions: Gastrointestinal disturbances and peripheral neuropathy were the most common ADRs in both groups. Surveillance systems should be established in hospitals for ADRs monitoring and control.

Background: Information about the prevalence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) among HIV infected and HIV uninfected patients receiving anti-tuberculous therapy in Africa is limited due to unavailability of local data or publications and hence the basis of this study.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of adverse drug reactions among HIV infected and HIV uninfected adult patients on anti-TB therapy.
Design: A retrospective cohort study.
Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya.
Subjects: HIV infected and HIV uninfected patients receiving anti-TB therapy between January 2006 to December 2007
Main Outcome Measures:Documented adverse drug reactions.
Results: Three hundred and fourteen records were reviewed, 157 for both HIV infected and HIV uninfected. Of the 314 patient files, 96 (30.5%) had ADRs; 70 (44.6%) verses 26 (16.6%) for HIV infected and HIV uninfected respectively. Overall, the most frequent ADR among the two groups was gastrointestinal disturbances (21.7%) verses (10.2%) for HIV infected and uninfected respectively, (RR=2.44 [1.28-4.63], P=0.006). This was followed by peripheral neuropathy (16.6%) verses (4.5%) for HIV infected and uninfected respectively, (RR=4.25 [1.79-10.12], P=0.005). 73(46.49%) of the HIV infected patients were also receiving anti-retroviral therapy, of
which 36(49.31 %) of them had ADRs documented. Twenty five (29.8%) of the HIV infected who were not taking anti-retroviral therapy, had ADRs documented.
Conclusions: Gastrointestinal disturbances and peripheral neuropathy were the most common ADRs in both groups. Surveillance systems should be established in hospitals for ADRs monitoring and control.

The aim of this study was to assess and validate the herbal anthelmintic remedies used by farmers in
Kirinyaga county, Kenya for the treatment of their cattle against gastrointestinal nematodes. The herbs
used were identified via questionnaire surveys through focused group discussions. The aqueous
extracts of plants used: Aspillia pluriseta, Vernonia lasiopus, Entada leptostachya and Erythrina
abyssinica were prepared and using dosage between 10 and 30%, the viability of infective strongyle
larvae were assessed for a period of 48 h. The results of the in vitro antihelmintic study indicated a high
to moderate anthelmintic activity for the tested extracts. E. leptostachya exhibited the highest in vitro
anthelmintic activity, while E. abyssinica had the lowest activity. The anthelmintic activity may have
been due to the presence of saponins in the herbal remedies. There was a positive correlation between
the saponin concentration and the anthelmintic activity of the extracts. In general, the in vitro
anthelmintic activity increased with the extract concentration for the medicinal plants examined.

A rigorous comparison of cervical cancer screening methods utilizing data on immune status, antiretroviral therapy (ART), and colposcopy-directed biopsy has not been performed among HIV-positive women.
METHODS::
Between June and November 2009, 500 HIV-positive women were enrolled at an HIV treatment clinic in Nairobi, Kenya, and underwent Papanicolau (Pap) smear, Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA), human papillomavirus (HPV), and colposcopy-directed biopsy (gold standard). Positive Pap smear (ASCUS+, LSIL+, HSIL+), VIA, HPV, and their combinations were compared to CIN2/3+. Sensitivity, specificity, and AUC (sensitivity and 1-specificity) were compared using pairwise tests and multivariate logistic regression models that included age, CD4 count, and ART duration.
RESULTS::
Of 500 enrolled, 498 samples were collected. On histology, there were 172 (35%) normal, 186 (37%) CIN1, 66 (13%) CIN2, 47 (9%) CIN3, and 27 (5%) indeterminate. Pap (ASCUS+) was the most sensitive screening method (92.7%), combination of both Pap (HSIL+) and VIA positive was the most specific (99.1%), and Pap (HSIL+) had the highest AUC (0.85). In multivariate analyses, CD4 count ≤350 cells/mm was associated with decreased HPV specificity (p = 0.002); ART duration <2 years was associated with decreased HPV (p = 0.01) and VIA (p = 0.03) specificity; and age <40 years was associated with increased VIA sensitivity (p < 0.001) and decreased HPV specificity (p = 0.005).
CONCLUSIONS::
Pap smear is a robust test among HIV-positive women regardless of immune status or ART duration. Results should be cautiously interpreted when using HPV among those younger, immunosuppressed, or on ART <2 years, and when using VIA among those ≥ 40 years.

HIV-positive women are infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) (especially with multiple types), and develop cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer more frequently than HIV-negative women. We compared HPV DNA prevalence obtained using a GP5+/6+ PCR assay in cervical exfoliated cells to that in biopsies among 468 HIV-positive women from Nairobi, Kenya. HPV prevalence was higher in cells than biopsies and the difference was greatest in 94 women with a combination normal cytology/normal biopsy (prevalence ratio, PR = 3.7; 95% confidence interval, CI: 2.4-5.7). PR diminished with the increase in lesion severity (PR in 58 women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL)/CIN2-3 = 1.1; 95% CI: 1.0-1.2). When HPV-positive, cells contained 2.0- to 4.6-fold more multiple infections than biopsies. Complete or partial agreement between cells and biopsies in the detection of individual HPV types was found in 91% of double HPV-positive pairs. The attribution of CIN2/3 to HPV16 and/or 18 would decrease from 37.6%, when the presence of these types in either cells or biopsies was counted, to 20.2% when it was based on the presence of HPV16 and/or 18 (and no other types) in biopsies. In conclusion, testing HPV on biopsies instead of cells results in decreased detection but not elimination of multiple infections in HIV-positive women. The proportion of CIN2/3 attributable to HPV16 and/or 18 among HIV-positive women, which already appeared to be lower than that in HIV-negative, would then further decrease. The meaning of HPV detection in cells and random biopsy from HIV-positive women with no cervical abnormalities remains unclear.

A series of hybrid compounds based on (2R,3S)-N-benzoyl-3-phenylisoserine, artemisinin and quinoline moieties was synthesized and tested for in vitro antiplasmodial activity against erythrocytic stages of K1 and W2 strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Two hybrid compounds incorporating (2R,3S)-N-benzoyl-3-phenylisoserine and artemisinin scaffolds were three- to four-fold more active than dihydroartemisinin, with nanomolar IC50 values against Plasmodium falciparum K1 strain.

Introduction

More than 60% of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) arise from the stomach and about 20% from the small intestine. About 95% of GISTs express kit receptor tyrosine kinase (CD117), which is used for purposes of diagnosis and targeted treatment. However, kit expression alone is not specific for GIST, nor does it necessarily imply that signalling through the kit kinase is the driving oncogenic event. Poor prognostic features of GIST include involvement of the liver and other bulky sites of disease.
Patients and methods

We carried out a retrospective analysis of patients with CD117-positive leiomyosarcomas arising in the abdomen and treated through the Glivec International Patient Assistance Program (GIPAP) Clinic at the Nairobi Hospital between 7th November 2005 and 22nd November 2011.
Results

In total 54 patients were included. Males were 36 (66.7%) and females 18 (33.3%). The age range was 25–86 years and the median age 50 years. The stomach was involved primarily in 22 of 47 cases evaluable (46.8%). The liver was primarily involved in 3 (6.4%) and liver metastases in 7 (14.9%) cases. None of 8 patients (0%) with evaluable liver involvement regressed or stabilized on treatment for at least 6 months compared with 10 of 14 (71.4%) from the stomach, 7 of 7 (100%) from the small bowel, and 7 of 13 (53.8%) with mesenteric/omental involvement. These differences were statistically significant (P<0.001).
Conclusion

Apparent lack of response by tumours involving the liver could suggest that the kit, or by extrapolation PDGFR-alpha overexpression, may not be the factors activating kit or PDGFR-alpha targets in this subset of patients, or they could be of exon 9 mutation predominantly. Mutational analysis studies may shed more light in this issue.

The study was set to investigate the effect of human resource strategic orientation on performance of large private manufacturing firms in Kenya based on the following general research objective: To establish the relationship between human resource strategic orientation and performance. The specific objectives of the study were as follows: (i) to determine the effect of universalistic perspective human resource strategic orientation on firm performance; (ii) to determine the effect of contingency perspective of human resource strategic orientation on firm performance. The target population was all large private manufacturing firms in Kenya that were registered members of Kenya Association of Manufacturers. Using probability sampling, a sample population of 108 firms was chosen. Out of the sample population, only 68 firms managed to respond giving a response rate of approximately 63%; which was seen by the researcher based on the previous research as appropriate for analysis. The respondents were human resource managers, finance managers, corporate planning managers or any other senior manager. Data was collected using questionnaires developed by Huselid (1995), Becker and Huselid (2006) and Becker and Gerhart (1996) and that these were modified by the researcher. The research adopted descriptive research design which utilized both descriptive and inferential statistics for effective generation of the required output. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version seventeen (17) was used to analyze the data. The results of this study showed that there was high positive correlation between universalistic human resource strategic orientation and firm performance. These results to a greater extent portrays that all forms of universalistic human resource strategic orientation if managed properly, enhances performance of manufacturing firms and most specifically those registered with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM). These findings can also be generalized to cover all other manufacturing firms in the country. As of the direction for further study, the researcher recommends that future research in universalistic human resource strategic orientation focus on public manufacturing firms and for the sake of knowledge, consider the use of longitudinal research design as opposed to the survey research designed which was central to this study. Further still, researchers should consider the moderating or intervening variables in this study. The main contribution of this paper lies in highlighting the fact that, proper configuration of universalistic human resource strategic orientation in manufacturing firms, will enable them enhance performance.

Vision 2030 reveals the magnitude of wastage in the transition from secondary to University Education. It notes that secondary school enrolment has risen from 112,229 in the 2006/2007 academic year to 118,239 in 2007/2008 academic year; the passage to university is at 3 percent. To raise the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of university students from the present 3 per cent to the projected 15 per cent, the government must continue increasing the number of students joining higher education from 130,000 (2008) to 450,000 (2015). This can be done by expanding the capacities of existing universities through establishment of new courses in Distance Education. The university of Nairobi school of continuing and distance education runs a course in distance education. It has been observed that many students fail to score a total of 40% in a given course and they re-sit the failed units. The failure rate goes up to 63% with 27% out of 38% cases, which is a very high failure rate. High failure rate and the ever increasing time taken to graduate is a chronic problem in Distance learning. One of the reasons why there could be poor performance is lack of quality time in reading. It is therefore worth knowing how efficiency in distance learning can be enhanced. To find out the effect of reading skills on academic performance a study was carried out. A total number of 650 students were selected using stratified random sampling technique. This sample was taken from 4,500 University of Nairobi students who were registered for B.Ed degree in different levels of study in the school of continuing and distance Education. A mixed mode method approach was used in data collection. Correlational research design was employed in data analysis. Pearson correlations were used to establish if there was a relationship between reading skills and academic performance. The analysis indicated a strong relationship between reading skills and academic [r= 0.569]. The value of r2 =0.324, indicated that reading skills accounts for about 32.4% of the variation in average performance.
Key words reading skills:, Distance Learning

Transport mechanism studies in TiO2/In(OH)xSy/Pb(OH)xSy/PEDOT:PSS eta solar cell have been carried out. The characterizations have been performed both in the dark and under varying illumination intensity for temperature range 200 K – 320 K. Calculations from ideality factor have shown that the recombination process of the eta solar cell in the dark to be tunneling enhanced, while under illumination it is thermally activated and takes place through exponentially distributed energy recombination levels. The temperature has been found to influence series resistance of the solar cell. Series resistance has been found to be high at low temperature and low at higher temperature, thus we can conclude that the recombination is thermally activated.

Keywords: Eta Solar Cell, Recombination, Series Resistance, Buffer Layer

Cite this paper: Robinson Musembi, Bernard Aduda, Julius Mwabora, Marin Rusu, Konstantinos Fostiropoulos, Martha Lux-Steiner, Effect of Recombination on Series Resistance in eta Solar Cell Modified with In(OH)xSy Buffer Layer, International Journal of Energy Engineering, Vol. 3 No. 3, 2013, pp. 183-189. doi: 10.5923/j.ijee.20130303.09.

Transport mechanism studies in Ti02/In(OH)xSy/Pb(OH)xSy/PEDOT:PSS eta solar cell have been carried out. The characterizations have been performed both in the dark and under Varying illumination intensity for temperature range 200 K - 320 K. Calculations from ideality factor have shown that the recombination process of the eta solar cell in the dark to be tunneling enhanced, while under illumination it is thermally activated and takes place through exponentially distributed energy recombination levels. The temperature has been found to influence series resistance of the solar cell. Series resistance has been found to be high at low temperature and low at higher temperature, thus we can conclude that the recombination is thermally activated.

An analysis of fatigue crack growth and stable crack growth using the J-Integral has been carried out. At low and medium stress intensities the crack growth process appeared to be strain-controlled crack-tip blunting mechanism. however, at high stress intensities the growth was caused by void coalescence and the stable crack growth was derived from JB- curves. Assuming that these two crack growth mechanisms may act simultaneously and are additive, under elastic-plastic conditions, the total fatique crack growth was predicted.

Photo–thermo-sensitive genic male sterile (P(T)GMS) rice is a new hybrid rice technology that uses prolonged
light length and high temperatures to induce sterility. This technology is being introduced in Kenya but such
growth conditions are lacking in the tropics. To overcome this, we grew P(T)GMS under greenhouse conditions
where day light length was prolonged to 14 hrs using solar illumination and day and night temperatures were
maintained above 36Cº and 24ºC respectively. Sterility of P(T)GMS was determined by the level of abortive
pollen and seed set rates. Hybrid seeds were produced by crossing three P(T)GMS lines (V1PGM, V2TGM and
V3PGM) as female lines with Basmati 370 and Basmati 217 varieties as pollen donors. Under long and normal
day lengths and high temperatures, pollen sterility ranged from 99-100% but no seeds were set in PGMS lines.
However, TGMS recorded 3% and 2% seed set under similar conditions. Under natural conditions both PGMS
and TGMS reverted to fertility. Agronomic evaluation showed outstanding (P<0.01) performance of hybrids over
parents in flag leaf length (V2370; 35.8 cm), panicle exsertion (V2217; 8cm) and shorter flowering time (V3217;
85 days) under greenhouse conditions while flag leaf width (V1370; 1.48 cm) and tillering (100) performed better
under natural conditions. Percentage seed set positively correlated with flag leaf related traits and flowering days
but negatively correlated with panicle length, panicle exsertion and tillering. We conclude that the P(T)GMS lines
are adaptable for hybrid rice seed production in Kenya but there is need to review the P(T)GMS lines’ background
so as to minimize incompatibility in hybrids.Key words: Oryza sativa, Basmati, PGMS/TGMS, seed technology, pollen sterility.

The East African Rift (EAR) is an active continental rift and ideal to investigate the processes of rift initiation and the breaking apart of continental lithosphere. Mantle and crust-derived fluids may play a pivotal role in both magmatism and faulting in the EAR. For instance, large quantities of mantle-derived volatiles are emitted at Oldoinyo Lengai volcano [1, 2]. Throughout the EAR, CO2-dominated volatile fluxes are prevalent [3, 4] and often associated with faults (i.e. Rungwe area, Tanzania, [5, 6]). The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between volcanism, faulting and the volatile compositions, focusing on the central and southern Kenyan and northern Tanzanian section of the EAR. We report our analysis results for samples obtained during a 2013 field season in Kenya. Gases were sampled at fumaroles and geothermal plants in caldera volcanoes (T=83.1-120.2°C) and springs (T=40-79.6°C and pH 8.5-10) located near volcanoes, intra-rift faults, and a transverse fault (the Kordjya fault, a key fluid source in the Magadi rift) by 4N-NaOH solution-filled and empty Giggenbach bottles. Headspace gases were analyzed by a Gas Chromatograph and a Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer at the University of New Mexico. Both N2/Ar and N2/He ratios of all gases (35.38-205.31 and 142.92-564,272, respectively) range between air saturated water (ASW, 40 and ≥150,000) and MORB (100-200 and 40-50). In addition, an N2-Ar-He ternary diagram supports that the gases are produced by two component (mantle and air) mixing. Gases in the empty bottles from volcanoes and springs have N2 (90.88-895.99 mmom/mol), CO2 (2.47-681.21 mmom/mol), CH4 (0-214.78 mmom/mol), O2 (4.47-131.12 mmom/mol), H2 (0-35.78 mmom/mol), Ar (0.15-10.65 mmom/mol), He (0-2.21 mmom/mol), and CO (0-0.08 mmom/mol). Although some of the samples show an atmospheric component, CO2 is a major component in most samples, indicating both volcanoes and springs are emitting CO2. Gases from volcanoes are enriched in CH4 and H2, denoting their sources are reduced (oxygen-poor) magma chambers or hydrothermal systems. 40Ar/36Ar ratios (average of all samples=299.15) are similar to our air standard value (299.65×4.05), however, some volcanoes (~308.75) and springs (~321.96) have slightly higher ratios. The springs with elevated 40Ar imply that both the intra-rift (Lake Bogoria) and transverse (Lake Magadi) faults are possibly pathways to carry volatiles from deep sources to the surface. In future work, we will carry out wet chemistry and ion chromatography analyses of the NaOH solutions, measure 3He/4He ratios and complete C, N, and S isotope analyses to further constrain fluid sources and migration processes. [1] Fischer et al., 2009, Nature 459. [2] de Moor et al., 2013, EPSL 361. [3] Sawyer et al., 2008, G-cubed 9. [4] Tassi et al., 2009, G-cubed 10. [5] Barry et al., 2013, Chem Geol 339. [6] de Moor et al., 2013, Chem Geol 339.

To better manage, use and conserve animal genetic resources (AnGR), we must understand the nature and distribution of both the phenotypic and genetic diversity that they posses. This module makes a case for and highlights issues and methods that underpin improved understanding of the diversity in AnGR as a basis for designing conservation and sustainable utilisation of the diversity (the subject of Module 3). The module emphasises the need to undertake phenotypic and genetic characterisation of indigenous breeds in order to improve our understanding. It also points out the role that modern technologies and indigenous knowledge may play in this process. Within the module there are links [blue] to the web resources and [burgundy] to case studies and other components that help illustrate the issues discussed. Various photographs referred to in the text are included in the appendix at the end of this document.

This article examines the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities in violent conflict who have been neglected in practice and academia. Such invisibility, combined with the disabling impact of society, their low priority, and the nature of their impairments, results in a disproportionately negative impact of conflict on people with intellectual disabilities. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including humanitarian workers, this article examines their experiences and analyses how much consideration has been given to people with intellectual disabilities in humanitarian assistance policy and practice in light of their increased need and vulnerability. Lack of awareness and recognition of their diverse experiences can result in their needs failing to be adequately met, which compounds their disproportionately negative experience of conflict. It is important to finally start paying attention in order to ensure their inclusion in humanitarian responses.