PhD - Dissertations

Extent of Disaster Risk Preparedness in Informal Settlements of Nyeri Town, Nyeri County, Kenya

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Extent of Disaster Risk Preparedness in Informal Settlements of Nyeri Town, Nyeri County, Kenya Muriuki, Zachary K. Informal settlements are growing in the world everyday due to poverty and inadequate land to settle. Most informal settlements are faced with a myriad of problems ranging from inadequate infrastructure, poor sanitation, water and noise pollution among others. This study sort to determine the extent of disaster risk preparedness in the informal settlements of Nyeri town, Nyeri County. The specific objectives of the study were to assess the level of awareness on the types of disasters and existing policies to address them, to establish disaster mitigation measures in place, to identify the role of stakeholders in disaster management, to identify the challenges encountered during disaster risk reduction initiatives. The study targeted residents of informal settlements in Majengo Witemere Ngangarithi kwa Mwaura, Mathari “transformer”, and Ruring’u Muslim village. This research applied descriptive cross-sectional study design. A sample of 384 residents was selected among the residents. Data was collected by use of questionnaires and key informant interview guide. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 21. Univariate analysis for each variable was done so as to yield descriptive statistics that was used to analyze the variables. Presentation of the findings was done through prose, tables and figures. The results indicated that there was a significant association between the area of residence and the level of compliance of policy rules concerned with disaster risk reduction [X2 (3) = 11.446, p-value =0.010<0.05]. However, there was no significant association between the area of residence and level of awareness of the disasters that could affect them [X2 (3) = 2.99, p-value =0.393>0.05], and neither was there significant association between the area of residence and level of awareness of any policy rule concerned with disaster risk reduction [X2 (3) =7.026, p-value =0.071>0.05]. Key informants interview was administered to 10 key informants within Nyeri County, these included each Managers and supervisors of Ministry of Health Nyeri County, County Government of Nyeri department disaster Management, Nationals interior and coordination office Nyeri, Kenya Red Cross Society Nyeri office and County National Disaster Management Authority Nyeri office. It was concluded that Risk assessment as a step for successful disaster reduction measures will ensure that the community members are aware of the possible hazards. National and County government should incorporate the national and international guidelines in their policy. Lessons learnt from previous disasters that have affected other informal settlements and other parts of the country should inform the formulation of mitigation measures for disaster management. The researcher further recommends to the scholars to consider research on disaster risk preparedness as the strategy of counties development agenda and Social and economic potentials that the County Governments can tap in informal settlements.

Integrated QOS Management Technique for Internet Protocols Storage Area Network

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Integrated QOS Management Technique for Internet Protocols Storage Area Network Kithinji, Joseph The increasing number of Information Technology Users around the world has led to tremendous increase in the amount of data that requires storage. In response to this challenge, new storage area network architectures based on Ethernet (IP) have evolved. With the coexistence of storage traffic with other types of traffic in the same IP network, it is important to offer storage traffic QOS guarantees to prevent performance degradation for storage users. Regrettably, the storage device itself does not provide any capability of guaranteeing storage QOS. QOS is a vital issue in environment of mixed works like IP SANS. The main aim of the study was to analyses the QOS techniques used in IP networks, design, develop and validate an Integrated QOS management technique for IP SANS. The study first analyzed the various techniques for achieving QOS in IP Networks. By decomposing QOS problem into an integration of four techniques of performance isolation, bandwidth management and burst handling the study designed and developed IQMIS, an integrated quality of service management technique for IP SANS. The study adopted experimental research design. Simulations were used as the source of data where Park dale tool was used for simulating reads and writes to the targets. The study generated quantitative results which were analyzed using descriptive statistics and results presented in tables and charts. Empirical results show that IQMIS enables users to fairly share the aggregate system throughput even in environment of contention of resources with a small implementation cost of 6%. In the implementation of bandwidth management and burst handling, IQMIS was found to be work conserving and quickly adopts to network changes with a convergence time of 10 seconds. Further the results show that IQMIS can provide strong performance isolation, superior latency, throughput and jitter compared to best effort. Ultimately, IQMIS can be used to provide end-to-end QOS management in IPSANS and at the same time provide building blocks for providing QOS in IPSANS to a tremendous increase in the amount of data that requires storage.

Factors Influencing Effectiveness of Community Based Tuberculosis Care Among Patients in Meru County, Kenya

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Factors Influencing Effectiveness of Community Based Tuberculosis Care Among Patients in Meru County, Kenya Mberia, Jane Kawira Factors that influence the effectiveness of Community Based Tuberculosis Care (CBTC) may differ depending on population setting, characteristics, cultural practices, life style and economic status. It is unclear factors that influence the effectiveness of CBTC with reported low case notification rate (280 per cases 100, 000 populations), low treatment success rate (<90%) below the WHO target of 90% and above followed by low community referrals (<9%) (MOH, 2014). This was a descriptive cross- sectional study design that collected quantitative and qualitative data to determine the effectiveness of Community based tuberculosis care (CTBC) among patients in Meru County. The main objective of the study was to determine factors that influence the effectiveness of CBTC among TB patients aged 18 years and above in Meru County. Specific objective included determinations of demographic factors, socio-economic factors, treatment factors, to assess the role of community health volunteers and to assess the patient's perceptions in Meru County. The study was conducted in Meru County health facilities implementing CBTC. Semi-structured questionnaires and key informants guide were used to collect data from the respondents. A sample size of 345 respondents were enrolled from high and low volume tuberculosis control zones and at the facility level (2:1). Simple random sampling, was used to select the health facilities, proportionate sampling was used to identify the number of participants to be enrolled in each facility, At the facility level simple random sampling method was used to identify participants during drug refill days. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 24 for statistics and STATA version 13 was used for inferential statistics. Qualitative data was transcribed manually. Overall 345 patients were recruited to participate in the study. The mean age of the respondents was 37.17 (+2) years and a standard deviation of 12.528 years. Majority of the respondents were males 267(77.4%), females only 78(22.6%). The respondents who had attained primary level of education 247(71.55%). Majority of the respondents were aged 18-36 years 195(56.5%). The main source of income the study respondents was mainly employment 217(62%). Majority of the respondents 210 (60.9%) took less than three months before seeking treatment despite having experienced signs and symptoms of tuberculosis. Effectiveness of CBTC improved with the age and level of education of the respondents at OR 1.39, 1.79 and OR 1.01, 1.02 respectively, although there was no significant association (p-0.076, p-0.788 respectively). The effectiveness of community based tuberculosis increased with the frequency of tuberculosis related outreach services; having outreach services on monthly basis was more effective at OR-1.00 compared to quarterly and annually at OR -0.29, OR-0.21 respectively at a confidence interval of 95% (CI 0.04-1.90). The study concluded that: Majority of the study respondents were males of primary level of education residing in rural areas. Majority of the respondents had temporary employment which had low income of below Kshs.10, 000 per month. Majority of treatment supporters were trained by healthcare workers before initiation of tuberculosis treatment. Minimal numbers of households were visited by community health volunteers within the first month of treatment. The study recommended that: Enhanced programs on tuberculosis should be designed and focused to male gender in the periphery. Enhance community based social protection measures such as cash transfer or incentives. Upscaling dissemination of knowledge on tuberculosis by health professionals. Training of more community health volunteers on basis modules of tuberculosis to improve household visits within one month of initiation of treatment.

Bioprotection of Tomatoes against Phytophthora Infestants and Alternaria Using Warburgia Ugandensis Extract and Trichodema Asperellium

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Bioprotection of Tomatoes against Phytophthora Infestants and Alternaria Using Warburgia Ugandensis Extract and Trichodema Asperellium Kamau, Waithira Esther Phytophthora infestans belongs to Kingdom Chromista and is the causal agent of late blight in tomatoes while Alternaria solani is a fungal pathogen causing early blight in tomatoes. Blight is controlled using chemicals leading to safety challenges. Trichoderma is a soil borne fungi which has been shown to have broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and is used as a biocontrol agent. Warburgia ugandensis is an indigenous tree of East and South Africa whose extracts have been found to have antimicrobial properties especially in the medical field. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of Warburgia ugandensis in the control of blight pathogens affecting tomatoes and also the effectiveness of the synergy from Trichoderma asperellum in controlling blight pathogens. The blight pathogens were isolated from infected tomatoes in Nchiru, Meru County. Warburgia stem bark sample were processed to obtain crude extracts using different organic solvents in multiple extraction method. Lyophilization was also carried out to obtain crude extracts using water. Phytochemical analysis was carried out on the extracts and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined. Screening of the extracts and Trichoderma for antimicrobial properties was carried out and the zones of inhibition were observed and recorded. In vivo studies were carried out in the screen house using lyophilized crude extract and the disease incidence observed and recorded. Percentage severity index and disease reduction were calculated. Gradient column chromatography was carried out on the organic crude extract and the fractions with similar thin layer profiles were pooled together before being subjected to gas chromatography interfaced with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), from which the profiles of the compounds in the extracts were determined. The quantitative data collected and recorded was analyzed using ANOVA by Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) s and the means separated using Tukey's tests. All statistical results with P<0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. Warburgia ugandensis hexane crude extract had the highest mean inhibition zone in A. solani while methanol crude extract gave the highest mean inhibition zone against P. infestans. The MIC for A. solani was 1.25mg/ml while for P. infestans was 2.5mg/ml with Warburgia stem bark lyophilized crude extract. Results of in vivo studies trial 2, showed least disease severity in the combined treatment with Warburgia and Trichoderma at 27.81% for P. infestans and A. solani. This was closely comparable with the commercial fungicide which had disease severity of 33.21%. Warburgia stem bark was found to have different compounds which include terpenes, sesquiterpenoids, fatty acids derivatives, and phytosterols among others. The results from this research showed that Warburgia extracts and Trichoderma were effective in the control of blight pathogens. Further investigation can be carried out on effects of specific Warburgia phytochemicals in the control of blight pathogens and other phytopathogens