Market efficiency is defined as a case when the prices in a market reflects the information, which is currently available within the market, or otherwise, the market is said to be inefficient whenever the prices of a financial security in not reflected by the information available to all local and international investors who are trading in the securities market. Having a better understanding of the market efficiency when trading an Exchange Traded Fund of any given set of securities in an exchange market is extremely vital for any prospective investor who need to make sound investment decisions as well as market predictions. When trading in a market with few traders who likes dominating the market through insider trading, it is more likely to experience securities exchange market without confidence of investors thus depicting weak form of the efficient market efficiency. Nairobi Securities Exchange market is important in the economy especially for those companies that are looking forward to capital or startups in the Kenyan Market from a global perspective. While testing of the weak form of efficient market hypothesis or EMH of the Nairobi stock exchange (NSE) is done through daily as well as weekly securities index data from NSE 20 share index over the period, 2nd February 2002 to May 2nd 2019. The research study applies the use of secondary NSE data that was derived from Nairobi Stock Exchange market website. This research has deviated from the normal and conventional linear approach to test market efficiency and use of using unit roots to test serial correlation. The daily returns in aspect to skewness as well as kurtosis was found to be non-normal. Similar demonstrations resulted from the Kolmogorov Smirnov test. From the results, null hypothesis of the normality was not rejected. In this research, there is the use of fractional integration thus utilization of ARFIMA to test long term memory and even the traditional unit root test is incorporated to compare both results thus giving a perfect conclusion on whether NSE stock market is definitely weak form efficient. Moreover, NSE-20 share Index stocks are used to make an Exchange Traded Fund that is priced and forecasted that is important for investors looking forward to make investments at the NSE Market in Kenya due to its mimicking ability. Ultimately, the forecasted values of ETF is done on the trendlines similar to the NSE-20 share Index trends, which investors to make informed financial decisions when buying any securities traded in NSE market.

Every society welcomes the aspect of the residents being social, living in harmony with the set norms that directly relate well to their traditions, believes and values. The juvenile are no exception though usually not subjected to prisons, making the government adopt various invention approaches like rehabilitation to support and ensure that social reintegration is efficient even after the care, protection, correction and re-unification back into their communities. The purpose of this study was to assess the organizational factors influencing performance of rehabilitation projects for social re-integration of juvenile offenders in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. The study was guided by the following research specific objectives; to evaluate the influence of co-ordination of activities on performance of rehabilitation projects for social re-integration, to investigate the influence of financial support on performance of rehabilitation projects for social re-integration, to determine the influence of staffing capacity on performance of rehabilitation projects for social re-integration and to determine the influence of government policies’ status on performance of rehabilitation projects for social re-integration of juvenile offenders in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. The study used descriptive research design approach. Specifically, the study target population comprised of 60 officials (Institution staff, probation officers and children officers) respectively working in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. This study used stratified random sampling technique to give a sample size of 52 possible respondents. A questionnaire was used as the tool for data collection. To ensure validity of the instruments, the researcher discussed the questionnaire with the supervisor. The reliability test included 10 respondents from Othaya Rehabilitation School. Data collected in this study was analyzed via quantitative approach and assembled to form the final findings and interpretations. Data gathered quantitatively from various close-ended questions were classified into various categories and analyzed. The responses were further coded by allocating identifiable symbols, figures, numerical or other signs. The SPSS (Version. 22.0) was used as the main statistical tool of calculating the expected parameters. The study also concluded that out that the staff in the county of Kirinyaga that comprised of children officers, probation officers, staff at Wamumu Rehabilitation Centre were in agreement that; they were happy that coordination of activities in the enhancement of rehabilitation projects outcomes for social reintegration of Juvenile Offenders has been efficient despite there being inadequate coordination by state and government officials which might be a root factor on the efficiency running of rehabilitation centers. The researcher concluded that that most the same staff believe that the financial support has been key towards the efficiency of administrators in addressing issues in rehabilitation centers that are project and processes efficiency despite still believing that there is a resource scarcity. The study concluded that; there were inadequate staff in the administration of rehabilitation centers in the region which lead to a decrease in productivity which brings about stress hence poor performance of rehabilitation projects for social reintegration. The study concludes that the staff associated with the rehabilitation projects agreed that there were challenges related to government policies implementation. The study recommends that further studies should be done to establish other factors like personal juvenile characteristic based, environment based or cultural based among others that equally influence the performance of rehabilitation projects for social reintegration of the juvenile offenders in Kirinyaga County besides the ones studied above.

This thesis project report is based on waste minimization strategies for sustainable interior design. Conventionally, interior design was viewed as a one-dimensional practice which was basically to offer beautiful spaces to the clients. Recently, the practice has experienced a dramatic change with the incorporation of strategies which emphasize designing environmentally sustainable and healthy spaces for people to live in, work in and play in. The awareness of environmental accountability is what sparked the necessity for an environmental sustainable interior design practice. Society at large is starting to recognize the link between spaces, people and community. Moreover, consumers of interior design are starting to recognize their role and influence in environmental protection. This study makes emphasis on a case study of interior design firms within Nairobi County and its environs. The objectives of this study are to establish the most appropriate waste minimization strategy used by interior designers, to determine the current waste minimization strategies used by interior designers in Nairobi and its environs and to propose a waste minimization strategy that can be adopted by interior designers in Nairobi and its environs to attain sustainable interior design. The literature was gathered through document analysis from published online journals and books. The sample size for the study was determined as 11 respondent interior design firms from a population of 110 interior design firms in Nairobi and its environs. Stratified simple random sampling technique was used to get the sample of interior design firms to be studied. The interior design firms in Nairobi will be categorized into stratus of small, medium and large firms. The instruments that will be used in data collection include in-depth interviews, questionnaire survey and observational forms and checklists. This study will create awareness of the existing waste minimization strategies in interior design and also will propose a waste minimization strategy that can be adopted by Kenyan interior designers.

This is a research purposed to expound the impact of single parenthood on the educational performance of high schools in Limuru District, Kiambu County. The aims of the research were; Determine how single parents participation impact educational achievement, estimate the level to which single parent's level of education imparted educational achievement, determine the level to which single parent's profession imparted educational achievement of learners and to search the level to which the size of the family of a single parent influenced the educational achievement of learners in high schools in Limuru District. The study targeted 31 high schools. Five schools (16.66. %) which is above the 10% that was recommended by Mugenda and Mugenda (2009), were randomly selected from the different types of schools in our country. The research used 5 high schools as the sample with each school contributing 40 learners hence a total of 200 learners. 40 learners were selected so that the schools minimize disruption of school activities. The research also used 5 class tutors and 5 principals from the five schools involved. The single parent learners were randomly selected from form three classes by their class tutors. All schools selected were multiple streams. This study employed a survey study design. The study employed the use of questionnaires as the sole data collection equipment. Data gathered was then resolved using EXCEL, means, and frequencies. The results indicated that parental participation is of great significance to the educational achievements of learners. A direct rapport attic the parent's level of education and the learners' educational performance is obtained by the study. The study also indicated that the larger the family the fewer learners are provided with facilities that are meant to help them in their educational. The financial status of the family highly altered learners' educational achievements mostly due to the provisions. The research recommended: most schools should group learners and make school families from which learners' problems are communicated between the tutors and the parents. The management should look for ways in which they could encourage and motivate parents to embrace the educational clinics where the parents, tutors, and learners should come on board and discuss the conditions that might have affected the learners' achievements. Since family size has a straight impression on the educational enactment of most learners, the government and the civil societies should educate parents on how to plan their family size. The government should inform the guardians of the importance of manageable families that could easily be provided with their requirements; the general public should be informed on the importance of education.

E-commerce is an online transaction which normally takes place over the internet network and uses digital technology. These transactions include buying and selling of goods or services on the internet. Many e-commerce companies like Amazon, Netflix, booking.com and Jumia build their websites with recommender systems that that provide customers with personalized recommendations. These systems face challenges and limitations that reduce their performance, e.g. recommendations' overspecialization, cold start, and difficulties when items with unequal probability distribution appear MBA helps us identify items likely to be purchased together, and association rule mining finds correlations between items in a set of transactions. Association rule mining (ARM) identifies the association or relationship between a large set of data items and forms the base for market basket analysis. ARM has been used in different industries for example supermarkets, mail order, telemarketing, production, fraud detection of credit card and e-commerce.

For any linear operator T acting on a Hilbert space H, its Aluthge transform T˜ where T˜ = |T| 1 2U|T| 1 2 is another linear operator on H. It is known that T˜ preserves the spectral properties of T and more importantly that T has a non trivial closed invariant subspace if and only if T has. In this project Aluthge transforms of dierent classes of operators in Hilbert spaces were studied. In addition, generalized Aluthge transforms, as well as powers of Aluthge transformations were sort and looked at. Lastly, the numerical range of T was discussed but for some classes of operators.

Background Comorbidity of hypertension and diabetes leads to signicant risks of mortality and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart attacks and strokes. Kenya, like many low and middle-income countries (LMICs), faces a rapid increase in NCDs burden. However, sub-national burden proles to inform health policy at the county level; the current health planning units are implausible due to small sample sizes from the existing NCDs data sources in Kenya. The main objective of this study was to determine the distribution of hypertension and diabetes disease prevalence at county units in Kenya using small area estimation methods. Methods Data from a nationally representative Kenya STEPwise survey for NCDs risk factors (STEPs-2015) was used. The survey collected health information (physical and biochemical measurements), risky behaviour and demographic indicators related to NCDs for 4,500 persons aged 18-69 years. Multivariate conditional autoregressive models that account for spatial autocorrelation and dependence between diseases (latent eects) were t to estimate the county-specic prevalence of hypertension and diabetes. Simple multivariate improper CAR, improper multivariate CAR, proper multivariate CAR and M-model latent eects were explored. A mixed-eects multinomial logistic regression model was t to identify the macro-risk factors of hypertension and diabetes in Kenya. Results The M-model was selected as the best t based on DIC. Substantial geographical variation in the prevalence of hypertension ranging from 9% in Wajir county and 54% in Nyeri county while diabetes ranged from 0.1% in Narok to 8.1% in Makueni were observed. Overall, 47% (22 counties) and 36% (17 counties) had hypertension and diabetes prevalence estimates above the national burden, 26.4% and 2.7% respectively. Notably, Mombasa, Kiambu, Embu and Nyeri had a substantial burden of both hypertension and diabetes. High cholesterol, central obesity, age, BMI, harmful alcohol intake and high sugar intake were signicantly associated with hypertension and diabetes. Conclusion The county-specic prevalence estimates provide the rst evaluation of hypertension and diabetes burden that policymakers can use to inform interventions aimed at prevention and treatment of NCDs in Kenya. Implementation of comprehensive screening programs and awareness building for NCDs control are crucial in reducing hypertension and diabetes burden in Kenya.

The purpose of this thesis is to model and forecast value-at-risk based on range-measuring rather than the commonly acknowledged volatility models that are based on closing prices. The use of close-to-close prices in modelling and forecasting value-at-risk might not capture important intra-day information about the price movement. As a result, crucial price movement information is lost and consequently the model becomes less ecient. This thesis recommends the inclusion or range-measuring, described as the dierence between the highest and lowest prices of an underlying stock within a time interval, a day, to compute Value-at-Risk. The project uses data of an NSE-listed and trading company, SASN, between November 2009 and November 2019 on which the predictability of range-based and close-to-close estimates was established. It was observed that the values obtained by range-based models were more accurate than when only the daily closing prices are used. The range-based models successfully capture dynamics of the volatility and achieves improve performance relative to the GARCH-type models. These ndings are fairly consistent and can be extended to applications like portfolio optimization.

Contract farming is becoming popular in most developing countries. Most African farmers operate relatively smaller farm sizes and are resource-poor, characterized by poor access to farm and financial inputs and operate in unreliable inputs and output markets. Extant literature shows that contract farming offers solutions to most of these constraints. However, not all smallholder farmers participate in contracts and those who do, often violate the contracts. Empirical research on effect of contract farming on smallholder livelihoods show inconclusive results; some studies have shown that contract farming improves farmers’ productivity and income, while others find it having a negative effect on income and productivity. This study therefore analyzed participation in contract farming and its effects on technical efficiency (TE) and smallholder farmers’ income in Bungoma and Busia counties in Western Kenya. The present study focused on chili and spider plants as the targeted vegetables due to their richness in vitamins and phytochemicals. Primary data was collected from 300 smallholder vegetable farmers in Bungoma and Busia counties. A Probit model was used to analyze the determinants of participation in contract farming while stochastic production frontier and metafrontier models were applied in analyzing TE and technology gaps. Endogenous treatment regression model was used to analyze the effect of participating in contract farming on farm income. Results revealed that, land size had a positive effect on participation in contract farming for both spider plant and pooled farmers. Contract farming had a positive effect on TE and technology gap ratios (TGRs) for both crops. Participation in contract farming had a positive effect on farm income for spider plant, chili and pooled vegetable farmers. The incentives and disincentives of contracting firms should be put into account when designing programmes and policies for promoting contract farming to ensure that there is a balance in benefits between the contracting and contracted parties

The purpose of the study was investigating the influence of community involvement on the implementation of the Kitui Cereals Enhancement Project in Mwingi Central Sub County. The study had four objectives which included establishing the influence of participatory identification on implementation of KCEP project in Mwingi Central Sub County, secondly to determine how participatory planning influenced the implementation of KCEP project in Mwingi Central Sub County, thirdly to establish the extent to which participatory leadership influenced implementation of KCEP project in Mwingi Central Sub County and lastly to assess how participatory monitoring and evaluation influenced implementation of KCEP project in Mwingi Central Sub County. The study used a descriptive survey design targeting all the 1100 farmers directly benefiting from the KCEP project in Mwingi Central Sub County. The survey respondents were selected using a stratified random sampling technique. Data collection tools used for the study are standardized questionnaires. The questionnaire consisted of five-point Likert rating scales. Pilot testing of the research instruments was done in Kitui Central Sub County of Kitui County. The pilot testing exercise assisted to establish the reliability of the research instrument. The validity of the research instrument was determined by technical experts from the University of Nairobi. The collected data was analyzed using measures of central tendency and coefficient of variation to describe the variability of the statistics. The data was summarized in graphical representations. From the findings of the study, participatory project identification, participatory project planning, participatory leadership and participatory monitoring and evaluation were found to have a positive and significant linear influence on implementation of Kenya cereal enhancement programme. The study indicated that jointly, participatory project identification, participatory planning, participatory leadership and participatory monitoring & evaluation influence the implementation of Kenya cereals enhancement programme using a case of Mwingi central sub county in Kitui County. The findings indicate that 77% of change in KCEP implementation can be explained by four predictors including participatory project identification participatory planning, participatory leadership and participatory monitoring and evaluation implying that the remaining 23% of the variation in project implementation could be accounted for by other factors not considered in this study. Government policy was found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between community involvement and implementation of KCEP.