Research Publications

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://localhost:4000/handle/20.500.12092/1797

Welcome to Karatina University Research papers. The community has research papers produced by Karatina University Community

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 856
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Effectiveness of albendazole on soil transmitted nematodes among school children-: a case of Kakamega County, Kenya
    (2019-03-25) Ngonjo, T.W.; Okoyo, Collins; Simiyu, Elses; Kihara, Jimmy; Lelo, Agola Eric; Kabiru, Ephantus; Mwandawiro, Charles
    Background: Recent assessment by WHO on Soil Transmitted Nematodes (STN) point that their morbidity is still high in people mainly in children. A. lumbricoides globally infects 1.2 billion people and T. trichiura 795 million worldwide. Infections with Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus 740 million leading to 135,000 deaths per year. It became necessary to find out the effectiveness of Albendazole on soil transmitted Nematodes among school children- a case of kakamega county, kenya. Methodology: Study respondents were selected fom public primary school children in Kakamega County. A total of 731 and 665 (pre & post) children in 7 primary schools in three sub counties of Kakamega County were recruited in the study. Pre-treatment survey was done in March, 2014 and follow up in September 2014. Fecal samples were examined for the presence of STN . 14 days after treatment using Kato- Katz method. The total number of eggs were expressed as eggs/gm of feaces (epg). Pretreatment prevalence was 43.5% for Ascaris lumbricoides, 1.8% for hookworm and 0.9% for Trichuris trichiura. Results: Mean intensity of hookworm, A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura infections in the pre-and post-surveys were reduced by 1.2%, 98.4% and 100% respectively. Prevalence decreased to 2.3% for Ascaris lumbricoides and 0 % for T. trichiura. Post treatment prevalence of A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura infections were significantly reduced by 94.8% and 100% respectively. A slight increase in hookworm prevalence was observed. However, this increase was not significant (p=0.993). Conclusion: The therapeutic efficacy of Albendazole indicated a good reduction in parasite burden. Albendazole satisfactorily reduced STN infection while for hookworm there was a non-significant increase in prevalence.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Plasmid mediated penicillin and tetracycline resistance among Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from Kenya
    (2020) Kivata, Mary Wandia; Mbuchi, Margaret; Eyase, Fredrick; Bulimo, Wallace Dimbuson; Kyanya, Cecilia Katunge; Oundo, Valerie; Mbinda, Wilton Mwema; Sang, Willy; Andagalu, Ben; Soge, Olusegun O.; McClelland, Raymond Scott; Distelhorst, John
    Background: Treatment of gonorrhea is complicated by the development of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) to the antibiotics recommended for treatment. Knowledge on types of plasmids and the antibiotic resistance genes they harbor is useful in monitoring the emergence and spread of bacterial antibiotic resistance. In Kenya, studies on gonococcal antimicrobial resistance are few and data on plasmid mediated drug resistance is limited. The present study characterizes plasmid mediated resistance in N. gonorrhoeae isolates recovered from Kenya between 2013 and 2018. Methods: DNA was extracted from 36 sub-cultured GC isolates exhibiting varying drug resistance profiles. Whole genome sequencing was done on Illumina MiSeq platform and reads assembled de-novo using CLC Genomics Workbench. Genome annotation was performed using Rapid Annotation Subsystem Technology. Comparisons in identified antimicrobial resistance determinants were done using Bioedit sequence alignment editor. Results: Twenty-four (66.7%) isolates had both β-lactamase (TEM) and TetM encoding plasmids. 8.3% of the isolates lacked both TEM and TetM plasmids and had intermediate to susceptible penicillin and tetracycline MICs. Twenty-six (72%) isolates harbored TEM encoding plasmids. 25 of the TEM plasmids were of African type while one was an Asian type. Of the 36 isolates, 31 (86.1%) had TetM encoding plasmids, 30 of which harbored American TetM, whereas 1 carried a Dutch TetM. All analyzed isolates had non-mosaic penA alleles. All the isolates expressing TetM were tetracycline resistant (MIC> 1 mg/L) and had increased doxycycline MICs (up to 96 mg/L). All the isolates had S10 ribosomal protein V57M amino acid substitution associated with tetracycline resistance. No relation was observed between PenB and MtrR alterations and penicillin and tetracycline MICs.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    ICT Definition Implication on ICT Career Choice and Exclusion among Women
    (2016-05) Muchiri, Michael Njoki; Wabwoba, Franklin; Micheni, Elyjoy Muthoni
    One of the most noteworthy challenges in society in the 21st century is sustainable development. The usefulness of ICT has led to an overwhelming demand for electronics such as computers and mobile phones. ICT is vital for poverty reduction and in the growth of sectors such as agriculture, business, health, education etc. Applying ICT to drive any development has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, its measurement should be focused on whether the benefits outweigh the pitfalls. The purpose of carrying out this research is because most development initiatives in Africa are being undertaken with the use of ICT. Therefore, this paper surveys the literature on ICT for sustainable development without the digital divide and how ICT can lead to un-sustainability in Africa. Findings indicate that driving sustainable development through ICT initiatives bring much greater benefits than negative consequence.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    ICT for Sustainable Development without Digital Divide in Africa
    (2020-04-25)
    One of the most noteworthy challenges in society in the 21st century is sustainable development. The usefulness of ICT has led to an overwhelming demand for electronics such as computers and mobile phones. ICT is vital for poverty reduction and in the growth of sectors such as agriculture, business, health, education etc. Applying ICT to drive any development has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, its measurement should be focused on whether the benefits outweigh the pitfalls. The purpose of carrying out this research is because most development initiatives in Africa are being undertaken with the use of ICT. Therefore, this paper surveys the literature on ICT for sustainable development without the digital divide and how ICT can lead to un-sustainability in Africa. Findings indicate that driving sustainable development through ICT initiatives bring much greater benefits than negative consequence.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Implementation Evaluation Metrics for Enterprise Resource Planning Solution – A Case of Kibabii University
    (2019-01-17) Mbuguah, Samuel Mungai; Wabwoba, Franklin; Wanjala, Chrispus Kimengich
    Most institution of higher learning are implementing and Enterprise Resource planning (ERP) in automating various activities. The architecture of most of the ERP is based on the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) where each module can be called as service. In most of the contract signed between the vendor and the university, payment is tied to the level of implementation. The Question is how to then measure the level of implementation? This paper proposes a metric that could be used in evaluation of the degree of implementation. The metric was derived based on an acceptance test on each of functionality of module as per terms of reference. The result of a test was rated as a Fail, Pass, or Query The result was then coded such that a fail was assigned a zero (0), pass one (1) and query a half (½). From which a metric was derived which measures the level implementation.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Simplifying the Opaqueness and Dilemma of the Computing Disciplines for the Common Person in Society
    (2023-12) Mohammed Swaleh Mohammed; Wabwoba, Franklin
    The computing fields have grown increasingly influential in modern times, yet their complexities and technical terms can prove problematic for the public to comprehend. This paper proposes to bridge this gap, introducing readers to the five major computing disciplines as per the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), 2016: computer science, Information System, software engineering, computer engineering, and information technology. An additional more recent discipline which does not fall under the 5 ACM disciplines, Information Communication Technology was also introduced. The paper first examines the evolution of the Computing disciplines from the 1960s. Then the paper briefly discusses each discipline and how the disciplines overlap with each other through using secondary data materials. A section on the new and emerging computing technologies outlines the recognition status by the society. The interdisciplinary nature of the computing disciplines necessitated the need to simplify it. Thus, a table was done which summarized various works of various researchers who had researched on the computing disciplines.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    The Role of ICT in Social Inclusion: A Review of Literature
    (2023-01) Muchiri, Njoki; Wabwoba, Franklin
    The questions we seek to answer in this paper are; Have ICT contributed to enhance social inclusion? Has use of ICT brought new forms of exclusion? And what is the way forward in using ICT for an inclusive society? Desk Top research was used. From the findings, one form of exclusion often leads to another, resulting to a cycle. a spanner and Nut Model was developed to show how Knowing which exclusion to reduce in order to break the cycle is critical in determining the type of ICT and how to apply it in order create an inclusive society.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Pervasiveness of green ICT awareness amongst Kenyan ICT personnel
    (2013-01) Wabwoba, Franklin; Wanyembi, Gregory W.; Omuterema, Stanley; Mutua, Stephen Makau
    There has been growing concerns about the rising costs of doing business and environmental degradation world over. Green ICT has been proposed to provide solutions to the two issues yet it is not being implemented fully in developing nations like Kenya despite the availability of the technologies of doing it. The study investigated pervasiveness of green ICT awareness amongst the ICT personnel, how they perceive it to be relevant to their organisations and the drivers towards implementation of the same. The study surveyed ICT personnel in four cases using a questionnaire on a seven scale likert scale. The study established that awareness level of green ICT in Kenya is low when compared with developed nations. It also established the green ICT drivers and how ICT personnel perceived it to be relevant to their organisations. The study recommends the raising of green ICT awareness levels through aligning the ICT personnel’s capacities.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Usability Evaluation of Kenyan Universities Websites for Webometrics Ranking
    (2022-02) Mukanda, Adeline; Buguah, Samuel M.; Wabwoba, Franklin
    The study aimed to evaluate the usability of Kenyan universities websites for webometrics ranking using web analysis tools. The target population for the study was the top five (5) universities in the January 2020 edition of webometrics ranking in Kenya. The study collected, analyzed, and evaluated website usability of the following website attributes: URL structure, Website Age, Uptime, Content Management System, website hosting service provider, Responsiveness, Browser compatibility, Color contrast, Domain Authority, Domain Backlinks, Website traffic, Broken Links, Number of Subdomains, Website Speed, Indexed webpages, Website compression, Search Engine Optimization, Website content utility, Website design and Website Accessibility. After analysis, it was noted that Kenyan universities need to improve on some of the usability criteria used in the study where a score of less than 50% was attained, such as Website compression, website speeds, website subdomain, website indexed pages, website traffic, website backlinks, website colour contrast and website design.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    The Role of Virtualization towards Green Computing and Environmental Sustainability
    (2017-06) Motochi, Vincent; Samuel Barasa; Owoche, Patrick; Wabwoba, Franklin
    The environment has become a key concern by the entire world and global warming is increasingly attracting attention in many conferences. Moreover, energy usage in data centers has become a concern bearing in mind the fact that the more energy is used in data centers, the more it affects the environment with emissions, which eventually cause global warming. This paper studies the role of virtualization towards green computing and environmental sustainability. Server virtualization is emerging as the prominent approach to consolidate applications from multiple applications to one server, with an objective to save energy usage. This research identified the virtualization environments, identified green computing environments, and then established how virtualization could be used to attain environmental sustainability. This paper was developed on an experiment design. The researcher reviewed an empirical experiment to investigate how server virtualization affects the energy usage in physical servers. Through this analysis, the researcher identified a fundamental trade-off between the energy saving from server consolidation and the detrimental effects (e.g., energy overhead and throughput reduction) from server virtualization. This paper found out that a server consumes a substantial amount of energy when idle thus the importance of consolidation. Secondly the energy overhead depends on the type of hypervisor used and the application architecture. Thirdly for a given traffic load, the energy cost can be minimized by launching an optimal number of virtual machines. The analysis and review results show that virtualization brings substantial energy savings, promotes green computing and would be a clear methodology to conserve the environment in the technology world today. Therefore, green computing is a well balanced and sustainable approach towards the achievement of a greener, healthier and safer environment without compromising technological needs of the current and future generations.