Phylogenetic reconstruction is essential to many decisions in the medical and agricultural sciences. However, a common drawback in many of these studies is the failure of different datasets to recover the same phylogeny, using the same individuals. Such incongruence result mainly from factors inherent in the evolutionary process itself such as homoplasy or evolutionary ‘noise’, not adequately treated in many analysis programs available. The current study evaluated the usefulness of ascertainment bias (increase in microsatellite allele size range with evolutionary distance from focal taxon) as well as RNA secondary structure morphology in reconstructing accurate phylogenetic relationships. Two domesticated animal systems, one with an unresolved and often controversial evolutionary history, (the camel) and another with a well resolved phylogeny at the species level (cattle), were used to test the reliability of the two methods, and as a spinoff, to revisit the camel’s unresolved history. Published camel and cattle microsatellite genotype data were used to test the utility of ascertainment bias, while cattle mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence data were obtained from a public repository at the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Allele frequency statistics, number of alleles and the allelic size ranges were estimated for each taxonomic group using Microsat toolkit. The means of the number of alleles and size ranges were determined, treating populations separately. The average of means, which is the mean of the means generated, was computed and compared with the mean of all, when the populations were combined. Secondary structures were predicted using MFOLD version 3.5, both at the default temperature (37oC) and at 25oC. The degree of congruence between predicted structures in different taxonomic groups were compared, based on shapes, sizes (in bases) and positioning of hairpins, and lengths of helices. The predicted secondary structure morphologies compared in a manner reflecting evolutionary distances of major Bovine lineages. Whereas individuals within species were the most congruent followed by those between species within the genus, the most distant ones also differed the most, reinforcing their usefulness in resolving enigmatic phylogenies. However, in both test systems used in this study (Camelini and Bovini), ascertainment bias did not exhibit the uniformity required of a good phylogenetic probe. In many cases and for many loci, the principle (reduced allele size range proportional to evolutionary distance from the focal taxon) was not obeyed especially in the Bovini. This confirms that ascertainment bias may reflect phylogenetic trends in some systems but not others. The results of this study contradicted two major evolutionary, migration and domestication theories. The data suggested that first, unlike the current tenet that cattle (Bos taurus and Bos indicus) descended from the Auroch in Eurasia and then B. indicus migrated into Africa, and that Bos javanicus (banteng) and the Auroch shared a common ancestor, it is evident that B. indicus may have evolved independently from the Auroch in North Africa, making the indicine-taurine clade paraphyletic with respect to banteng. Second, this study suggested that the one humped and two humped camels did not simultaneously radiate from their common ancestor (Paracamelus) in western Asia, rather, it showed the dromedary to recently emerge from the Bactrian. These are interesting paleontological questions needing further examination from whole genome scans, as the current study relied on single genes.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), a vast majority of people in Africa and Asia rely on herbal medicine for their primary health care needs. The concomitant use of traditional and biomedical systems of care is common in both rural and urban areas in Africa. Use of herbal medicine and traditional systems of care by expectant mothers as well as lack of disclosure to healthcare practitioner has an influence on both health-seeking behavior and outcomes of care. The broad objective of this study was to assess the utilization of herbal medicine among women in Embu Provincial General Hospital .The specific objectives of the study were: a) to determine the prevalence of use of herbal medicine in the study group, b) to determine the socio-demographic factors associated with herbal medicine use in the study group, and c) assess health-seeking behaviour, disclosure to healthcare practitioner and perception of safety and efficacy among users and non-users. It was a cross-sectional survey of 165 randomly selected women. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire administered by an interviewer or self-administered in presence of interviewer. Quantitative data was entered into SPSS version 16.0 and analyzed descriptively (means and frequencies). Chi-square test was used to compare differences between categorical variables at 0.05significance level. Multiple logistic regression models were used to analyze for joint effect of more than one independent variable. The prevalence of herbal medicines use during pregnancy, labour and post-partum period among women attending antenatal clinic at Embu Provincial General Hospital (PGH) was high (70%).Age, distance to the nearest health facility, employment status and number of children were found to be significantly associated with use of herbal medicine. The use of herbal supplements in pregnancy is likely to be relatively high in pregnant Kenyan women and it is important to ascertain which supplements (if any) women are taking. Pregnancy care providers should be aware of the common herbal supplements used by women and of the evidence regarding potential benefits or harm. It is essential that health care personnel teach their patients about possible interactions between herbs and prescription or over-the counter medications.

Strategy implementation is often called the action phase of the strategic management process which is the most challenging. Executing the strategy is a difficult and more consuming management challenge than crafting the strategy because of the wide array of managerial activities that have to be attended to. The demanding peoplemanagement skills required, initiatives that need to be launched and moving, the bedevilling issues that need to be worked out, the resistance to change and the difficulties of integrating the efforts of work groups into functioning whole. For effective implementation of strategy an organization must achieve congruency between structure, leadership, culture and the capability of the organization. This study focused on strategy implementation challenges and measures used to address the challenges at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital. To achieve these objectives a case study was carried out to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges. Both primary and secondary data were used. Primary data was collected using a self-administered interview guide while the secondary data was collected from organizations documents such as annual reports, website and the strategic plan document. A Total of eight respondents were interviewed by use of an interview guide. The respondents included the senior, middle and lower level managers. Content analysis was used to analyse the data after it was checked for consistency and then coded. There was an alignment between the research findings and the literature review carried out. The major challenges as revealed in the study highlighted inadequate resources which made it difficult for the organization to execute the strategies, employee commitment to strategy that was limited to implementation of specific activities in the operational plan, the policies and procedures practiced and resistance from the staff. The researcher recommends that a similar study be carried out on organizations that are of the same size and operate in areas of intervention that are close to JOOTRH so as to establish if the challenges of strategy implementation encountered are similar to those of JOOTRH or unique. There is need to examine how the process can impact on institutional commitment, narrow organizational vision, discourage change, and breed an atmosphere of politics. Also the ever increasing importance of knowledge and the general recognition of knowledge as the strategic asset in most organizations .Most institutional strategies are time bound thus organizational discontinuity and easily are predicted and these strategies are developed by external strategist who is most at times detached from the operations of the organization. These two strategic planning practices may result to effective strategy implementations.

The energy sector is one of the most important, requiring a substantive shift in energy production from fossil fuels into renewable energy (RE). The increasing global and local impact induced by fossil fuels has instigated policy and technical support towards the use of RE technologies as an alternative to reduce the threats (IPCC, 2007). Drastic changes are happening and the commercial viability of RE technologies is currently at a turning point; they are fast becoming attractive due to various environmental, social and economic reasons. Despite the importance of renewable energy there is dearth empirical evidence on the factors that influence the implementation of renewable energy development projects in Kenya. A descriptive survey research design was used to obtain data. The target population of this study was the top, middle and lower management staff of KenGen. Stratified random sampling was used to pick 30% of the target population. The sample size for the study included 72 respondents. The researcher used primary and secondary sources of data for this study. The primary data was obtained from the respondents through a structured questionnaire comprising of closed and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. The study concludes that KenGen’s organization culture supports implementation of renewable energy development projects. The study further concludes that KenGen is striving to bring about change in its operations. It can further be concluded that KenGen finances renewable projects by use of equity and debt. The Stakeholders involvement influences the implementation of renewable energy development projects as depicted by the study. The study further concluded that KenGen has innovative edge on renewable energy as it allocates intensive resource on technology development. The study finally concludes that the cost of renewable energy in KenGen has drastically reduced because of technological advancement in efficiency under mass production. The study recommends timely release of funds as a way to ensure completion of projects within the stipulated time. The study further recommends use of asset backed securities to raise funds such as the use of steam as collateral to raise capital from the market. The study further recommends use of high level technological improvements in mega projects so as to make use of various sources to generate electricity from hydro, geothermal and wind. This can be achieved by raising financial resources from local and external sources geared towards geothermal, solar and wind. Also implement projects that are geared towards renewable energy. Further recommendation would be to invest in R&D for renewable energy studies by partnering with global institutions that design, manufacture and trade in renewable energy plants globally.

Outsourcing is the practice of hiring outside professional services to meet in-house needs of an organization. Outsourcing by a firm may be either tactical or strategic. Outsourcing is considered tactical when it is implemented in order to solve specific problems being experienced by the firm. Strategic outsourcing on the other hand is concerned with building long term value for the firm through long term relationships. The firm seeking to outsource works with best in class service providers whom it integrates into its operations. The outsourcing firm considers the vendors offering services as business partners and the emphasis is on mutual benefit. The purpose of this project is to establish the factors that influenced Airtel Kenya’s decision to outsource some of its functions to external vendors, to establish what process was followed and to also establish the effects of strategic outsourcing on the business of Airtel Kenya. The research design was that of a case study and senior members of the Airtel Kenya, Executive Committee were interviewed. The decision to outsource at Airtel Kenya was largely driven by the parent company Bharti Airtel of India which had extensive outsourcing experience in India. However, forces in the macro environment and the competitive environment provided justification for the implementation of the decision. Because of the top down nature of the decision, formal steps necessary to evaluate whether outsourcing was needed by the Company were omitted. The local teams were also not given adequate time to prepare for the transition to the outsource partners. As a result the implementation faced a number of challenges which could have been avoided by ownership of the process by local teams and providing adequate time to plan for the outsourcing. The study found that the Company nonetheless, experienced a raft of benefits such as the ability to focus on the core business of the Company and become more customer-centric; the Company gained access to superior services of the vendors; gained efficiency; helped the company to manage the vendors’ ability to constrain the company’s profitability; enabled the company to manage technological risks; attain cost control; attain standardization across many related operations and to a limited extent save costs. The study findings recommend that the success of strategic outsourcing is dependent on governance structures in place to manage the vendors output. Water tight contracts are needed to manage the roles and responsibilities of the company and the vendor and provide for consequence management. Adequate time also needs to be given to the senior management of the Company for them to transition the services to the outsource vendor as well as manage the impact of the transition on staff. The study was limited by the unavailability of financial and transactional cost information by reason of confidentiality. As a result the study does not establish the actual cost benefit of outsourcing that the company attained or hoped to attain or how outsourcing contributed to the financial performance of the company. The study suggests that further studies should be carried out to determine how widespread is the practice of outsourcing in Kenya and what is the effect of outsourcing on the Kenyan economy? Such further studies would help the government develop appropriate policies on outsourcing.

The drug supply system to health institutions especially the Public Health Institutions in Kenya has for a long time been characterized by many pitfalls. Rational use of medicines requires that a patient receives appropriate medications to their clinical needs, in doses that meet their own individual requirements, for an adequate period of time, and at the lowest cost to them. A previous study on drug use in Public Health facilities in Kenya was conducted by Health Action International Africa in collaboration with the World Health Organization in April 2003. The baseline survey was conducted in Nairobi, Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley and Coast provinces and it was found out that the availability of essential medicines in Public Health facilities was 90%. The survey also established that there was a general tendency to over prescribe antibiotics with 78% of patients receiving antibiotic prescriptions, irrational dispensing was found at 70% of Public Health Institutions. The survey however was not conducted in Central Province and did not evaluate private health facilities, an important component of health care delivery in Kenya. The objectives of the study were to establish the pharmaceutical prescribing practices, patient care factors and health facility factors that affect drug use in Health Facilities and how these factors compare between Public and Private Health Facilities. The study was conducted as a cross sectional survey consisting of 1260 respondents within 42 Health Facilities in Thika District. The sample consisted of 25 Public Health Facilities with 750 respondents and 17 Private Healthcare Facilities with 510 respondents. The data was collected on the three key indicators of rational drug use as provided by the World Health Organization namely prescribing factors, patient care factors and health facility factors. The data collected was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The results on prescribing indicators showed that Private Health Facilities prescribe on average 3.10 drugs compared to Public Facilities which prescribe an average of 2.83. The Public Facilities had on average 77.16% of all prescriptions with an antibiotic prescribed compared to Private Facilities which had an average of 62.44% of antibiotics prescribed. The results showed that antibiotic use in Kenya is higher than in other countries which is a source of concern due to the associated risk of higher antibiotic resistance when antibiotics are over prescribed. The results on patient care factors indicated that the average consultation time in Public Health Facilities 8.10 minutes while the average consultation time in Private Health Facilities was 8.4 minutes. The results on patient care factors indicate that both the consultation time and dispensing time in Kenya is longer than in other countries signifying more personalized attention to patients by the Kenyan clinicians. The average dispensing time in Public Health Facilities was 118.32 seconds while the average dispensing time in Private Health Facilities was 225.82 seconds. The results on Health Facility factors showed that the average cost per prescription was ksh 228.26 in Public Health Facilities while in Private Health Facilities it was ksh 476.32 indicating that Public Health Facilities prescribed cheaper drugs. It was concluded from the study that in order to improve drug use in the health sector, a countrywide study should be conducted in order to establish drug use information where data is unavailable. The results from the study are important to the Ministry of Health in drug use strategy formulation, the county of Kiambu in developing the Kiambu County Health Plan, medical insurance companies in computing insurance premiums based on the average cost of a prescription of drugs and other stakeholders in the Healthcare Sector.