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Recent Submissions
Role of Interpersonal Communication in Uptake of Cervical Cancer Screening Among In Uasin Gishu County,
(International Journal of Applied Sciences: Current and Future Research Trends (IJASCFRT), 2023-12-09) Chepngeno Judy Ba, Anyonje Lydia
Cervical cancer remains a serious health challenge in the developing world due to various reasons. Among these
reasons are low uptake of screening services owing to poor access to reliable information about cervical cancer,
role of screening and treatment options. This paper examines the role of interpersonal communication channels
in the uptake of cervical cancers screening services among women in Uasin Gishu County. The study was
guided by Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory. It utilized mixed methods research design. The target
population of the study was all women within the reproductive age of 18-65 years seeking maternal child health
services and family planning (MCH-FP) at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya.
The study used systematic random sampling method to obtain a sample of 308 from the population. Purposive
sampling was used for the key informants, namely 4 health workers and 2 County officers from the Ministry of
Health. Two focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted among women with each group composed of 10
women. Data from the FGDs and key informant interviews were used to generate qualitative data. For
quantitative data, the study utilized questionnaires for data collection. Quantitative data was analysed using
descriptive statistics with the aid of SPSS, version 29. Qualitative data was analysed thematically. The study
found that women rely on several channels of communication to access and disseminate cervical cancer
information. The most common channels of communication used are friends, health care workers and media
channels. From the study findings, it is also concluded that interpersonal communication channels play a key
role in the uptake of cervical cancer screening. As such, it is recommended that the major stakeholders, namely
the national and county governments, together with non-governmental organizations working in the health
sector in Kenya, should make deliberate efforts to formulate policies to guide effective dissemination of cervical
cancer messages for prevention, early detection and treatment of cervical cancer.
THRESHOLD DETERMINATION FOR MAXIMUM PRODUCT OF SPACING METHODOLOGY WITH TIES FOR EXTREME EVENTS
(2021-06) Peter G. Murage1 , Joseph K Mung’atu2 and Evelyne Odero3
Extreme events are defined as values of the event below or above a certain value called
threshold. A well-chosen threshold helps to identify the extreme levels. Several methods have
been used to determine threshold so as to analyze and model extreme events. Maximum Product
of spacing is one of these methods. However, there is a problem encountered while modeling
data through this method in that the method breaks down when there is a tie in the exceedances.
This study improved MPS method in order to determine an optimal threshold for extreme values
in a data set containing ties, estimated the GPD parameters with the optimal threshold derived
and then applied the method to determine the GPD parameters for a real market data that could
be containing ties. The study applied a method to determine optimal threshold based on
improved maximum product of spacing method and used Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD)
and Peak over threshold (POT) methods as the basis of identifying extreme. The peaks-overthreshold (POT) models are models for all large observations which exceed a high threshold. The
POT models are generally considered to be the most useful for practical applications. The study
used the method developed to deal with the ties to model the market volume data. This study will
help the Statisticians in different sectors of our economy to model extreme events involving ties.
To Statisticians, the structure of the extreme levels which exist in the tails of the ordinary
distributions is very important in analyzing, predicting and forecasting the likelihood of an
occurrence of extreme event.
DYNAMICS OF A FISHERY MODEL WITH ALLEE EFFECT IN POPULATION GROWTH
(2019-11) Makwata Harun Omukuba
Sustainable exploitation of renewable resources such as marine fish has been a concern to both ecologists and economists with threats of species extinction due to over
- exploitation a stark reality. Fish exhibits co-operative and social characteristics
among individuals which increases its survival through predator surveillance and
enhanced spawning. Overfishing compromises this con - specific interactions and
socialism. In this study, a mathematical model of a fishery with an Allee effect in
the population growth equation is developed. This is achieved by formulation of
a set of ordinary differential equations governing the evolution in the population
growth, harvesting effort and the stock market price. The model is aggregated to
reduce its dimensions from a system of three equations to a system of two equations since market price is taken to evolve faster. Four equilibrium points are
obtained, and analysed using local stability and local bifurcation. Simulation of
the model for equilibrium points with zero harvesting is performed using MATLAB
while further stability analysis, at three different values of the threshold population
is carried out yielding three different cases of equilibrium solutions; Stable equilibrium, co-existence of three positive equilibria two being saddles and the other
being stable and the co-existence of three positive equilibria with two being stable
separated by a saddle. The stable equilibrium corresponds to the case of a fishery
with the fish stock at high levels with a small economic activity, the harvesting is
artisanal with low economic returns. The co-existence of three positive equilibria,
two being saddles and the other being stable corresponds to a fishery where, fishery management practices of monitoring, control and surveillance are practised,
hence exploited in a sustainable manner. Finally, the co-existence of two stable
equilibria points separated by a saddle corresponds to co-existence of two kinds
of fishery; an over- exploited fishery with a large economic activity with the stock
facing extinction and an under - exploited fishery with a small economic activity
with the stock maintained at high levels far from extinction. Bifurcation diagrams
obtained show how equilibria changes from stable to unstable at critical value of
the carrying capacity as the fish population and harvesting effort vary. From the
analysis, setting of appropriate fishery management practices like fishing quotas,
shall guide sustainable exploitation of the Kenya commercial marine fish species.
This shall be enhanced by more monitoring on fish stock density and total catches
Simulation of Trust-Based Mechanism for Enhancing User Confidence in Mobile Crowdsensing Systems WHERE DO YOU CLASS THIS
(IEEE ACCESS, 2020-01-31) DOROTHY MWONGELI KALUI, DEZHENG ZHANG, GEOFFREY MUCHIRI MUKETHA, AND JARED OKOYO ONSOMU
With the rapid development of mobile technology and subsequent mass adoption of mobile
devices, mobile crowdsensing (MCS) has gained a lot of research attention. In MCS systems, trust is a key
focus in the overall improvement in the participant uptake of the sensing tasks. The trust-based scheme of
MCS is studied to predict the damage level, the scores of quality-of-service (QoS), and the levels of qualityof-data (QoD) of MCS systems. Users can participate in MCS sensing based on trustworthy indicators that are
related to user experience and system reputation, as well as the knowledge obtained about the MCS systems.
This paper illustrates the establishment of user confidence during recruitment in MCS as it is very critical for
the success of MCS systems and proposes a simulation trust-based mechanism (SiTBaM) approach. The level
of MCS security is enhanced to protect the privacy of participants, so that participants can be assured that
the MCS system they are working with during sensing moment is trustworthy. The application of SiTBaM in
MCS is verified to yield better results as the simulations show that it offers higher QoS levels, QoD scores,
as well as low damage levels in the presence of any task or many malicious users. These results were validated
through comparisons with other schemes.
SOIL MOISTURE CONSERVATION, CROPPING SYSTEMS AND SOIL FERTILITY EFFECTS ON SOIL AND MAIZE PERFORMANCE IN MACHAKOS COUNTY, KENYA
(2019-05) NGIE MWENDE
The main causes of food insecurity in semi–arid parts of Kenya are low soil
fertility, low and unreliable rainfall. These two causes are the main challenges facing
small-scale farmers in food production especially in semi-arid areas of the country.
To overcome these challenges, soil and water management technologies especially
those in soil and water conservation need to be embraced. The aim of the study was
to determine the effect of tied ridges, fertilizers and cropping systems on soil
properties (moisture, pH and organic carbon), growth and yield parameters of maize;
and to identify the most cost effective water and soil management technology. This
study was carried out in four seasons at Katumani in Machakos County. The
experiment was a 2 x 4 x 2 factorial, laid out in a randomized complete block design
(RCBD). The treatments were: tied ridging, flat bed planting, farm yard manure 0
t/ha, farm yard manure 5 t/ha, nitrogen fertilizer 20 kg/ha, farm yard manure 5 t/ha +
nitrogen fertilizer 20 kg/ha, maize mono crop and maize cowpea intercrop. Data
collected included soil moisture content, soil pH, total organic carbon, growth
parameters and maize yield. The results showed that, treatments with flat bed
planting in maize mono crop significantly increased soil moisture content at 0–20cm
depth as compared to tied ridging in maize cowpeas intercrop during short rains
2015. Application of farm yard manure at 5 t/ha increased soil moisture content at 2
and 4 weeks after planting. The soil moisture content ranged from 6.30% to 23.80%.
During the short rains 2015, maize mono crop significantly increased vegetative
growth in comparison to maize cowpeas intercrop. Treatment with flat bed and 20
kg N/ha in maize mono crop had the highest mean for vegetative growth. However,
during the long rains 2016, treatment with tied ridging and 20 kg N/ha in maize
mono crop registered the highest mean for vegetative growth. During the short rains
2015, treatments with maize mono crop significantly increased grain yield with a
range of 1.35 t/ha 3.59 t/ha. Flat bed planting with farm yard manure 5 t/ha in maize
cowpea intercrop significantly increased the grain yield by 165.93%. The harvest
index during the short rains 2015 ranged between 0.35 and 0.48. Treatments with
maize mono crop significantly increased gross benefit, net profit, gross margin and
cost benefit ratio during short rains 2015 and long rains 2016. Application of farm
yard manure 5 t/ha + 20 kg N/ha had the highest variable cost. The cost benefit ratio
was positive during the short rains 2015 with a range of 1.47–2.98. The yield
differences among the four seasons could have been as a result of
variations/distribution in rainfall amount, soil moisture content and soil fertility as
induced by the treatments. Flat bed planting increased the yields during the short
rains 2015 when the amount of rainfall was high whereas tied ridging resulted in
improved yields during short rains 2014, long rains 2015 and 2016 when rainfall
amount was low. For the farmers to maximize yields and profits in the study area,
adoption of flat bed planting with farm yard manure 5 t/ha and maize cowpeas
intercrop during the seasons of high rainfall could be appropriate treatment
combination according to the findings of this study. However, during seasons with
low rainfall, tied ridging with 20 kg N/ha and maize mono crop could be
recommended for adoption. Also, variations in seasonal rainfall should be
considered when integrating different soil and water management practices because
the effectiveness of different technologies vary with the seasons. Farmers in
Machakos County may have to consider use of supplementary irrigation during the
dry spells to increase soil moisture.
