Death is ofttimes ignored in lost to follow up studies yet it is a competing event in such cases as it is informative of its probability.A couple of studies have been done on incidence and determinants of lost to follow up however solid estimates may be found if death as a competing event is taken into account rather than censoring. The goal of the study seeks to find out the incidence and determinants of lost to follow up with and without death as a competing event. Cox proportional hazards model and Fine-Gray’s subdistribution hazards model were employed to model the outcome of the determinants on lost to follow up. Kaplan-Meier graph was done to describe the probability of lost to follow up in the cox proportional hazards model while cumulative incidence function was done to describe the incidence of lost to follow up while taking death as competing event into account.Each variable was tested for the assumption of proportional hazards before inclusion in the final model using Schoenfeld residuals. 1047 patients (≥ 15 years) were included in the study. The overall lost to follow up rate was 14% with 2.4 per 100-person years incidence rate. Being male, having CD4 count of< 200 mm3 and a younger age (15-30 years) were significant determinants of lost to follow up, hence there is need to give extra attention to these groups of people in order to improve HIV care service delivery

Recent news coverage in both print and electronic media clearly indicates that cyberattacks are increasingly on the rise. As compared to large enterprises, SMEs are highly vulnerable to cyberattacks for they lack adequate cybersecurity controls in place to cope up with evolving cyber threats. According to reports from the industry, humans are regarded as the root cause of many cybersecurity incidents in organizations. This study, thus, purposed to examine the key human factors that impact on favourable cybersecurity culture in Kenyan SMEs premised in Nairobi City County and that provides enterprise wide Information Systems(IS) solutions. Primary data was collected through mail survey method from 34 SMEs that were selected from the official 2019 yellow pages Kenya online directory. The data collection tool was a structured questionnaire. To achieve this, quantitative research inform of descriptive research design was conducted. Judgmental sampling technique was used to choose respondents believed to have the required information relating to the objective of the study. As such, the respondents for the study consisted of senior personnel responsible for cybersecurity issues, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) head, technical ICT staff and a general user of ICTs in each of the selected SME. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23(SPSS) was used for data analysis. Descriptive analysis findings established perceptions regarding the current cybersecurity practices in the SMEs studied. The regression analysis results of all the independents variable against the dependent variable jointly accounted for 54.4% (R-square equals to 0.544) of variation in the dependent variable (favourable cybersecurity culture). 45.6% of variation in favourable cybersecurity culture was therefore unexplained for, and this are covered by other factors not considered in the study. The P-value of 0.000(<0.05) implied that the model used to predict the effect of key human factors on favourable cybersecurity culture among SMEs providing enterprise wide IS solutions was statistically significant at the 5% significance level. Further, it was established that top management support and involvement together with reward and deterrence measures are positive and significant predictors of favourable cybersecurity culture among SMEs providing enterprise wide IS solutions and thus form important strategies for instilling favourable cybersecurity culture in SMEs providing enterprise wide IS solutions in Nairobi city county. Other strategies that need to be developed by these SMEs are cybersecurity policy, cybersecurity change management, cybersecurity training and awareness programs, cybersecurity monitoring and audit for they were also found to have a positive effect on favourable cybersecurity culture. The study concludes by emphasizing the need for adequate and consistent top management support and involvement in cybersecurity issues. It recommends that the top management need to strongly recognise their critical role in ensuring favourable culture of cybersecurity in organizations. Similar to road maps that clearly show direction and distance, the roadmap developed from this study can be used by cybersecurity practitioners to benchmark cybersecurity practices and processes in efforts to promote favourable cybersecurity culture in their organizations Keywords: Cyberattacks, enterprise wide IS solutions, human Factors, organizational security culture, cybersecurity roadmap, Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs)

Dog bite is a prevalent but, underreported problem in the developing world. It’s almost always associated with rabies. Rabies, a disease of ancient times, continues to cause untold suffering and death in most of the developing world. Control efforts of the disease have largely been unsuccessful. Part of the reason for control failure is lack of data to inform policy on control. The objectives of the present study were to 1) Estimate human cases of dog bites and and 2) Assess the public health burden of dog bites in Homa Bay County, Kenya. The study was a survey of randomly selected households in three sub-counties of Homa Bay County. Within each selected sub-county, two wards were randomly selected. A transect walk was done within each ward and every 4th household selected until the required sample size was achieved. Two sets of data were collected:- retrospective study of hospital records from 2016 to 2018 and Survey (prospective study) of households in Homa Bay County in 2018. The latter method employed simple and systematic random sampling and data collected through questionnaires administered via personal interviews. There were 291 dogs found in the 198 households visited converting to 1.5 dogs per household. The dog population in the county was large and estimated at 192,000 dogs. The dog to person ratio was 1:6. Dog ownership in the county was common with 71% of the surveyed households owning dogs. The dog population in the county was inadequately protected from rabies through vaccination – only 27% of survey dogs were reportedly vaccinated against rabies. The annual animal bites of humans were 1,571/100,000 population i.e. 1.57% of the population. A large proportion (82%) of bites were inflicted in the lower extremities (feet and legs). Children especially those under 15 years of age, were the most affected. Compliance with the recommended five-dose vaccination regimen in humans was low. Only four of the 28 human bite cases reportedly completed the five doses of anti-rabies vaccinations. Reasons for non-compliance included, the prohibitive cost of antirabies vaccines, its non-availability at time of visit and the transport cost to health facility by the victim. The average cost of post exposure prophylaxis (vaccination) was estimated at KES. 3,450 with a range of KES 1200 to 6000. Further, transport cost to hospital was between KES60 and 500 with an average of KES 300. With the requirement of five hospital visits, the cost of transportation alone was approximated at KES 1500. In conclusion, this study has shown that dog bites had an incidence of 1.57%, and is a major public health problem in Homa Bay County. Control of rabies in dogs has not been adequate as shown by the low vaccination levels of dogs in the county which was only 27% as revealed by the study. There is a need to scale up rabies control efforts in the county with public participation being a major component of those efforts. These efforts are essential if the ancient and terrible disease - rabies- is to be controlled and eradicated

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), corticosteroids, and opioids are used in the management of inflammation and pain. However, the use of these drugs is limited by cost, adverse effects, and the reappearance of symptoms after discontinuation. Given these limitations, the search for alternatives may be necessary. The roots of Maerua triphylla are used by Maasai and Kikuyu communities for the management of headaches, stomachaches, migraines, and rheumatism. However, data on the safety and efficacy of this plant is not available to support its use. The aim of this study was to investigate the safety (LD50), phytochemical constituents, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory properties of root extracts of M. triphylla. Cold maceration was used to prepare methanol and aqueous root extracts of M. triphylla. The safety of these extracts was evaluated in Wistar rats using the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD 425) guidelines. Phytochemical composition of the extracts was determined by standard qualitative methods. The acetic acid-induced writhing procedure was used to evaluate the analgesic activity of the extracts in Swiss albino mice. The anti-inflammatory activity of the extracts was determined in Wistar rats using the acetic acid-induced paw oedema method. The percentage yield from the aqueous extraction was 12.4% whereas the percentage yield from the methanol extraction was 6.2%. All the studied plant extracts had LD50 > 2000mg/kg bw and were classified as nontoxic according to the OECD 425 guidelines. Qualitative phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, phenols, cardiac glycosides and alkaloids in both extracts. However, saponins were only present in the methanol extract. In the analgesic study, mice that received 100 mg/kg bw and 500 mg/kg bw of aqueous root extract of M. triphylla had significantly lower acetic acid-induced writhing in comparison to mice that received 75 mg/kg bw acetylsalicylic acid (reference drug) (p< 0.05). Additionally, mice that received 500 mg/kg bw of methanol root extract of M. triphylla had significantly lower acetic acid-induced writhing in comparison to mice that received 75 mg/kg bw acetylsalicylic acid (p< 0.05). In the anti-inflammatory study, there was no significant difference (p>0.05) between the inhibitory activity of different doses of the aqueous root extract of M. triphylla and a 50 mg/kg dose of diclofenac sodium (reference drug) on acetic acid-induced paw edema in rats. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the inhibitory activity of 100 mg/kg bw and 500 mg/kg bw doses of the methanol root extract of M. triphylla and a 50 mg/kg dose of diclofenac sodium (p>0.05). These findings suggest that the roots of M. triphylla may be useful in the mitigation of pain and inflammation and therefore support their ethnomedicinal use in the management of inflammation and pain. Further isolation, characterization and quantification of the specific phytochemical constituents in the root extracts of M. triphylla with anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity is recommended. Furthermore, the specific mode(s) through which these extracts exert their reported pharmacological activities should be established. Further toxicological studies on the plant extracts are recommended to fully determine their safety.

Globally, potato cyst nematodes species (Globodera pallida and Globodera rostochiensis) are characterized by their invasive nature, efficient adaptability in most environments, and vast spread in potato fields. Given the invasive potential of this pest, its mitigation entails restricting the movement of soil, planting materials, and farm tools in established infested farms. Therefore, the study aims at determining the level of resistance in local potato cultivars, efficacies of organic amendments and bio-control agents (BCAs) in managing potato cyst nematodes. In achieving these objectives, experiments were conducted in the laboratory, greenhouse, and open field already infested with potato cyst nematodes. Laboratory and greenhouse experiments were conducted at Upper Kabete, University of Nairobi whereas the subsequent field experiments were conducted in selected farms in Nyandarua County. To determine the level of resistance of locally available potato cultivars to potato cyst nematodes, the following potato cultivars were used; Dutch Robijn, Shangi, Roslin Tana, Tigoni, Asante, Sherekea, Nyota, Unica, Chulu, Arka, Kenya Mpya, Desiree and Manito. Potato cultivar ‘Shangi’ was used to assess the efficacies of organic amendments (chicken, pig, cow, goat and green manure) and bio-control agents; Purpureocillium lilacinum, Trichoderma asperellum, Trichoderma atroviride, Trichoderma hamatum, Trichoderma harzianum and Bacillus subtillis on potato cyst nematodes, respectively. Data collected from the experiments was subjected to analysis of variance and their means separated using Tukeys multiple comparisons (p<0.05). Potato cultivars Sherekea and Nyota were considered partially resistant to PCN with a severity score of 4-6 (<25-3%) whereas cultivars Shangi, Tigoni, Dutch, Chulu, Asante, Unica, Arka, Kenya Mpya and Roseline Tana were susceptible with a severity score of 1- 3(>100-5%). The reproductive index of PCN viable eggs of all the 11 potato cultivars either susceptible or partially resistant were < 1 compared to the positive control potato cultivar Desiree. For all organic amendments, potato cyst nematode count was reduced by 50% under greenhouse whereas the reduction was 85% with a reproductive index of <1 for cow, goat and green manure compared to the control in the open field. All commercial BCAs had < 25 potato cyst nematode count compared to the control which had 48-53 cysts under the greenhouse. In the open field, the BCAs namely T. asperellum, T. atroviride and P.lilacinus, had < 23 final cysts count from an initial count of 106-247 cysts in the first season whereas the second season had < 7 final cyst count from an initial count of 19-166 cysts across cultivars Desiree, Shangi and Markies. This study established two tolerant potato cultivars; Nyota and Sherekea. Additionally, all bio-control agents except Bacillus subtillis and organic amendments were effective in suppressing potato cyst nematodes population densities. Therefore, integration of tolerant potato cultivars, bio-control agents and organic amendments can be recommended for sustainable management of potato cyst nematodes

Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) is bio-fortified with vitamin A and is therefore highly promoted for its contribution to the fight against vitamin A deficiency (VAD). It is predominantly consumed in rural areas where the roots are boiled, roasted, steamed, or eaten raw. Various research and development projects have focused on creating nutritional awareness to promote the consumption of OFSP. One of the ways to promote broader consumption of OFSP is to process it into less perishable products with wider geographical coverage. However, there is a dearth of empirical insights on the level of preferences for such value-added products; this constrains sustainable investments in such initiatives. This creates the need to investigate OFSP products and product attributes that are preferred by consumers. Therefore, this study examined consumer preference for value-added OFSP products in HomaBay and Nairobi counties, Kenya, with a focus on OFSP juice and OFSP puree chapati. The study was guided by the random utility theory and the theory of consumer choice. The choice experiment (CE) design was used in eliciting WTP for OFSP juice and Contingent valuation in eliciting willingness to pay (WTP) for OFSP puree chapati. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires from a random sample of 411 sweet potato consumers; 198 and 213 in HomaBay and Nairobi counties, respectively. Data was analysed using a Random Parameter Logit model for the choice experiment data on OFSP juice and a double bounded logit to assess the consumers’ WTP for sweet potato puree chapati. The results for WTP for OFSP juice showed that consumers in rural and urban regions preferred OFSP juice with OFSP only, juice with additives, and joint inspection and certification. Further, Urban consumers were willing to pay more for OFSP juice than their rural counterparts. The mean WTP value was Kshs. 19 and 35 for HomaBay and Nairobi counties, respectively. Further, presence of children under five years in a household, consumer awareness on benefits of OFSP, awareness of other existing OFSP products, level of education and income had significant influence on consumer WTP for OFSP puree chapati in both areas. In order to increase rural consumers' WTP for OFSP juice and chapati, the study recommended the need to establish more OFSP products demonstration centres to create awareness, and a partnership between private and public sector in juice inspection and certification

The aim of the study was to investigate the factors impacting the enrolment and performance in physics among secondary school students in Masaba North Sub County in Nyamira County. Stratified random sampling method was used in this study from which members of every stratum had an equal chance of selection. A representative sample of 50 participants was selected from the total population of 450 people that include academic staff, middle staff and support staff members as well as students. A qualitative research design was applied in the research where both primary and secondary data was collected. Self-administered semi-structured questionnaires were used in data collection while frequency tables were used in data presentation. Frequency distribution tables were then applied in the analysis of every qualitative data gathered. The respondents studied aged between 15 and 25 years were twenty, while those aged 25 to 35 years were ten. Five of the sampled participants were aged between 35 and 45 years and another five between 45 and 55 years. Similarly, 25 participants acknowledged that the department directed messages to the respective audiences while 10 of them explained that department never directed messages to the relevant target group. From the study 26 participants agreed that the best communication channels were used while 4 of them did not believe on the perspective. 25 of the studied respondents disagreed with the observation that communication barriers might have been causing poor communication with 5 of them believed that it was a significant causation. It was recommendation organizations develop communication strategies to guide messages, the respective audience, medium used and the feedback given. An organization has to remain conscious of every challenge faced in communication and work towards reducing its impacts by constantly checking and understanding through the feedback offered. Online engagements have become the behavior of many people regardless of their age and background with the search of new media for information and socializing purposes being core. The researcher recommends future studies to be conducted with the aim of exploiting the application of effective communication approaches as public relational tools. Communication has been observed as an essential organizational practice regardless of their size.

Vegetables are very essential in almost all the meals served in Kenya and worldwide. Therefore their production is driven by high demands in the Kenyan and the world markets. This pushes the farmers in Kenya to consistently use and sometimes overuse the pesticides so as to produce high yield of vegetables to meet the high demands as well as to maintain the quantity of the vegetables in the markets. This leads to contamination of the vegetables and fruits. Use of pesticides must ensure public food safety as well as safeguard the environment with regard to the chemicals used and their harmful metabolites. The study aimed at determining chlorothalonil and lambda-cyhalothrin pesticides residue levels in spinach, kales and African nightshade sold in Nairobi city park market, effectiveness of washing methods for their removal and their degradation process in the washing solutions. The washing was done using tap water, 0.9% NaCl, 0.1% NaHCO3, 0.001% KMnO4, 0.1% H2O2 and 0.1% CH3COOH. Degradation process of the pesticides was studied by mixing known concentration of the pesticides with the washing solution at ratio of 1:9. The mixture were then subjected to different condition of shaking and settling for different time durations, and then extracted for analysis. UV-Vis spectrophotometer was used for analysis of the pesticide residue levels. The mean chlorothalonil residue levels in spinach, kales and african nightshade were 0.140 ±0.013 mg/kg, 0.100 ±0.007 mg/kg and 0.002 ±0.001 mg/kg respectively. These values were above the maximum residue limits (MRL) of 0.04 mg/kg allowed and also above allowed daily intake (ADI) of 0.02 mg/kg in spinach and kales. The mean lambda cyhalothrin residue levels were found to be 0.034 ±0.003 mg/kg and 0.030 ±0.002 mg/kg in spinach and kales respectively. The concentration of lambda cyhalothrin was below detection limits (BDL) in the african nightshade. The concentrations were below MRL of 0.1ppm and 0.2 in spinach and kales respectively but above ADI of 0.007 mg/kg. 0.001% KMnO4 was the most effective washing solution at 65.67 ±3.73% to 70.23 ±3.82% removal of chlorothalonil and 81.68 ±3.03% to 85.98 ±4.19% for lambda cyhalothrin in all the three vegetables analyzed. Tap water was the least effective pesticides remover, ranging from 10.23 ±2.00% to 11.43 ±0.21% for chlorothalonil and 42.34 ±2.47% to 48.43 ±1.91% removal of lambda cyhalothrin in the three vegetables analyzed. 0.001% KMnO4 gave the highest degradation rate of 86.63 ±0.02% to 89.01 ±1.03% for lambda cyhalothrin and 81.52 ±1.02 % to 84.08 ±1.78% chlorothalonil. Agitation increased the degradation of 0.9% NaCl which surpassed that of both 0.001% KMnO4 and 0.1% CH3COOH with a degradation of 92.57 ±0.99% of lambda cyhalothrin and 86.97 ±1.36% chlorothalonil after 20 minutes of shaking.

With the increased population growth and urbanization, developing countries are faced with increased consumption and production activities. As a result, solid waste production has become a key concern in many countries, Kenya inclusive, due to the challenges of regulating it. In Kenya, solid waste management authorities have not in totality managed to control and collect the solid waste generated from the production and consumption activities. Informal waste picking has been rationalized on the grounds that; waste pickers make use of this opportunity to earn their living as the status quo of the urban areas cannot absorb them in the formal jobs sector. Through the literature search, it is clear that waste pickers help in creating wealth particularly for the cartels and brokers who engage in purchasing the collected waste. However, the informal solid waste management is not recognized and there is no regulation to guide this sector. Therefore this leaves big gaps for research to identify the role that informal waste pickers take in implementing a sustainable environment. This study is aimed at analyzing the role of waste pickers in the informal solid waste management sector taking Roysambu Constituency in Nairobi County, as the case study. The study made use of both qualitative and quantitative research approach through the use of survey design to collect data from 196 waste pickers (n = 196) and assessed the degree to which they impact the informal waste management. The quantitative data was analyzed by the use of tables, graphs and percentages whereas the thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data. The study found that plastic containers are the most collected types at 35% however, there are other types of wastes that included glass18%, scrap metal 12%.Additionally, informal waste pickers have an economic, as well as, environmental value. The waste they collect has some economic value in terms of generating incomes for them and boosting the recycling activities where solid waste is converted to useful products. For instance plastic containers are recycled to make buckets, basins, water tanks, poles just to name a few. The environmental value that could be attached to waste pickers’role is that they contribute to a clean physical environment and some solid waste that would have otherwise ended in rivers and oceans is collected by waste pickers. Therefore the waste pickers’ role in waste collection is a milestone to the actualization of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 that envisages a clean and healthy environment to all. The waste pickers go through harsh social and economic challenges in their daily routines. They lack proper meals, they carry waste on their back, they are vulnerable to diseases and injuries and their income varies and they can survive on less than a dollar day which cannot support their siblings for the ones that have dependents. All the research objectives were achieved and all the research questions were answered. The study concludes that waste pickers are crucial players in solid waste management particularly for plastic containers which is the most common kind of waste of interest among the informal waste pickers because of the availability and attached economic value. The waste pickers are crucial actors in solid waste management and towards achieving a clean and healthy environment.Socially and economically, the informal waste pickers are neglected and sidelined. The study recommends for some changes within their structure which include implementing training programs, reduce the middle men, start more recycling plants where waste pickers can take solid waste directly, initiate a government compensatory programs which can include these people in the county-level waste management platforms. It is not enough to have solid waste collected and disposed in designated areas, it should be processed and converted to useful by-products this way it becomes less toxic

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) has been at the cored of Operational Technology (OT) used in industries and process plants to monitor and control critical processes, especially in the energy sector. In petroleum sub-sector, it has been used in monitoring transportation, storage and loading of petroleum products. It is linked to instruments that collect and monitor parameters such as temperature, pressure and product densities. It gives commands to actuators by the use of the application programs installed on the programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Earlier SCADA systems were isolated from the internet, hence protected by an airgap from attacks taking place on interconnected systems. The recent trend is that SCADA systems are becoming more integrated with other business systems using Internet technologies such as Ethernet and TCP/IP. However, TCP/IP and web technologies which are predominantly used by IT systems have become increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks that are experienced by IT systems such as malwares and other attacks. It is important to conduct vulnerability assessment of SCADA systems with a view to thwarting attacks that can exploit such vulnerabilities. Where the vulnerabilities have been exploited, forensic analysis is required so as to know what really happened. This paper reviews SCADA systems configuration, vulnerabilities, and attacks scenarios, then presents a prototype SCADA system and forensic tool that can be used on SCADA. The tool reads into the PLC memory and Wireshark has been to capture network communication between the SCADA system and the PLC.