School of Agriculture and Biotechnology

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    Effects of dexamethasone on antibody response and anaemia in Sprague Dawley rats infected with Trypanosoma brucei brucei.
    (Kenyatta University, 1991-09) Gitonga, Linus Muthuri
    Sprague Dawley rats infected with Trypanosom·a brucei brucei strainIL3579 (2616) developed parasitaemia characterised by intermittent remission and relapses. Infected rats developed progressive anaemia that was macrocytic normocytic. The rats responded to trypanosome infection by formation of antibodies, as shown by, enhanced y-globulin levels and agglutination of trypanosomes by serum derived from infected rats. Dexamethasone treatment, using different concentrations administered 24 hours before infection, ablated the antibody response as evidenced by reduced r-globulin levels in the treated groups. In dexamethasone treated rats, parasitaemia were elevated and remission eliminated, suggesting the involvement of an antibody in trypanosome clearance in rats whose humoral response was not compromised. The corticosteroid treatment also ameliorated the infection induced anaemia, as evidenced by reduced percentage fall in haematocrit. It is, therefore, most probable that the r-globulin fraction not only plays a key role in trypanosome clearance but also in the aetiology of anaemia in rodent trypanosomiasis.
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    Survey of Production Practices and Evaluation of Onion Varieties Susceptibility to Thrips in Kirinyaga District, Kenya
    (2009) Kibanyu, James Kimani
    In Kenya, dry onion, Allium cepa L., is among the most important vegetable crops for domestic market. However, records indicate that onion production does not meet the local market demand resulting to imports. To identify onion production constraints experienced by onion growing farmers, a field survey was conducted in Kirinyaga District of Central Kenya, an area where commercial production of onions was promoted since 1950s. Insect pests were significantly rated as the most limiting factor in production of onions followed by diseases, lack of capital, unreliable onion market, weed control and inadequate supply of water for irrigation in that order. The findings of the present study were expected to provide baseline information upon which solutions to the many problems affecting onion production would be addressed. The second part of this study involved evaluation of the level of susceptibility of onion varieties to attack by onion thrips (Thrips tabaci Lind.). Field trials were conducted at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) centres at Mwea and Thika. Results indicated that different onion varieties available in Kenya had different levels of susceptibility to attack by onion thrips. BSS 230 Hybrid and Red Comet onion varieties significantly harboured the highest and the lowest number of onion thrips respectively. Red Creole, Bombay Red and Texas Grano had medium levels of susceptibility. Highly leafy onion varieties tended to harbour a higher number of thrips compared to the less leafy ones. Infestations of onion varieties by large number of onion thrips adversely affected the growth of onion crop. Red xxi Comet although significantly harbouring the least number of onion thrips displayed the highest loss of growth and was, therefore, the least tolerant to damage by thrips. Onion varieties grown in Kenya had the capacities of producing over 30 t/ha. Texas Grano onion variety significantly produced higher yield than all other varieties tested. BSS 230 Hybrid was also high yielding despite the high number of thrips harboured by the variety. Red Creole and Bombay Red had moderate yield capacities. Red Comet significantly produced the lowest yield. Increased thrip load led to increased yield loss for all the varieties. However, Red Comet onion variety recorded the lowest thrip load but had the highest percent yield loss implying that it was least tolerant to damage by onion thrips. Infestations of various onion varieties by thrips were found to peak three months after transplanting. High temperatures and low rainfall tended to encourage higher levels of onion thrips on onion plants. It was revealed that the damage of onion leaves by onion thrips depended on their numbers. BSS 230 Hybrid and Bombay Red onion varieties were found to significantly show the highest foliar damage score compared to the rest of the varieties. There were no significant differences in the mean frequencies of onion foliar disease incidences among the varieties. However, infestations by onion thrips had the potential of increasing incidences of onion foliar diseases. Results indicated that Texas Grano and Red Comet onion varieties significantly produced the highest and the lowest quality onion bulbs respectively. Arising from the above findings, it could be recommended that regular outreach programmes should be conducted in the onion growing area by relevant stakeholders to address the identified production xxii constraints. The present study should closely be followed by another survey to evaluate the impacts of the implementation of intervention strategies. On the other hand, Texas Grano could be recommended as an important variety to be grown in Kenya for markets where pungency was not an important quality factor. BSS 230 Hybrid, Red Creole and Bombay Red could also be recommended to farmers in Kenya. BSS 230 Hybrid and Red Comet required improvements through plant breeding programmes.
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    A balanced scorecard approach to measuring performance of five star hotels in Nairobi, Kenya.
    (Kenyatta University, 2015-07) KUIRA, JOB
    Performance measurement is a term that refers to the process of quantifying the efficiency and effectiveness of past actions. Traditional models for determining the performance and effectiveness of employees rely heavily on financial accounting indicators. However, this study shifts the perspective of how performance measurement can be conducted. In today‟s competitive environments, hotels are competing in terms of non-financial measures like product quality, delivery, reliability and customer satisfaction. None of these variables are measured by traditional financial measures despite the fact that they represent major goals of hotel operations. The purpose of this study was to measure performance using the balanced scorecard. This study sought to measure the performance of five star hotels in Nairobi County using the balanced scorecard approach; to compare selected indicators in five star hotels in Nairobi according to perceived performance; to establish if there is a relationship between performance of hotels using the balanced scorecard with selected variables such as age, gender, professional qualification and experience of the managers. The study was a complete census of five star hotels in Nairobi. The research design was a cross sectional survey and purposeful sampling method was utilised. Research instruments comprised of semi structured questionnaires which were administered to the respondents who were the departmental managers in the hotels sampled. Research instruments were pretested so as to establish their validity and reliability. The research had fifty-five respondents. Data was analysed both qualitatively and using descriptive statistics. One way ANOVA was used to compare the performance of the selected indicators in successive years. Chi-square test and Correlations were also used. The findings of the study revealed that 20 (36%) of the respondents used a balanced scorecard as a method of measuring performance, while 16 (29%) used key performance indicators (KPI). The use of a balanced scorecard for measuring performance in five star hotels resulted in improved quality of guest profiles for 40 (73%) of the managers in five star hotels in Nairobi County whereas 37 (67%) of the managers experienced an increase in training hours per employee. From the analysis of variance (ANOVA), there were significant differences in the mean performance of financial (p=0.000), learning and growth (p=0.014) and internal process (0.000) indicators at 5% level of significance. The study recommended that employees in the five star hotels in Nairobi County through the departmental heads should be enlightened on the value of performance measurement especially using a balanced scorecard approach.
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    Agricultural Sciences
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    Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries Management
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    Department of Crop Science
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    Department of Food Science and Nutrition
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