The Changes That Have Occurred In Industrial Development Strategy In The.U.S.S.R. Over The Past Sixty Years

A GEM article on the industrial development strategy of the former USSR.Industrial development in the USSR since the 1920’s has involved not only large scale expansion of output but also major changes in the location of industry, including its development in areas where it was previously non-existent

EFFECTS OF EXCHANGE RATE VOLATILITY ON IMPORTS AND EXPORTS IN KENYA

Purpose: In some market economies, exchange rate may fluctuate significantly relative to major world currencies. This will have a big impact on a country\u27s trade.  Method: This study evaluates the effect of exchange rate volatility on Kenya\u27s imports and exports during the period 1980 - 2015through estimation of two structural equations; an import function and an export function for the economy whose specification follows standard economic theory. Findings: Results indicate that, real exchange rate volatility significantly affect imports and exports. At 5 percent level of significance, result of the cointegration analysis using Johansen test found the trace statistic for both models to be smaller than the critical, with a maximum rank of two (2). This implied that cointegration was present and that there existed at least two (2) co-integrated equations, in ether bi-directional or uni-directional relationship. This meant that the dependent and independent variables move closely to achieve equilibrium in the long-run among the variables of imports and exports models. Results further show that increased exchange rate uncertainty has substantial adverse effects in the long-run on export function but not on import function. The results further show that, long-run parameter estimates of the models are consistent with economic theory.Policy recommendation: The study recommends that imports and exports activities can be improved if macroeconomic policies aimed at keeping stable real exchange rate are implemented

Best practice model for community capacity-building: A case study of community-based tourism enterprises in Kenya

As tourism continues to play a major role in the global economy, key international organisations, such as the United Nations World Tourism Organisation and the World Bank, have endorsed it as a tool for poverty alleviation particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. To address this endorsement, local community involvement in tourism development is now urgent. The Local Agenda 21, for instance, advocates for participative and collaborative approaches in which the local communities play a significant role in defining their development priorities. Community-based tourism enterprises (CBTEs), have been touted as a potential route through which local community involvement in tourism can be enhanced and that they significantly contribute to socio-economic development and consequently poverty alleviation. A previous study in Kenya confirms this but reveals that CBTEs face significant capacity challenges, including deficiencies in vision and leadership for tourism product development and marketing, entrepreneurial skills, business management skills and access to credit facilities or the mobilisation of resources. This paper, through a critical review of literature on capacity-building best practice, seeks to develop a best practice model for community capacity-building suitable for Kenyan CBTEs. The paper is developed using a multiple case study of six CBTEs and in-depth semi-structured interviews with CBTE managers and leaders, tourism academics, and representatives of support organizations and the Kenyan government. The respondents’ views are integrated into a unified best practice model using constructive and choice ordering projective techniques. The paper concludes with the identification of essential components for ensuring the effectiveness of community capacity-building – community approach, leadership approach, sustainable approach and an appropriate policy and legislative framework

Factors Influencing The Performance Of Village Health Teams (VHTS) In Health Promotion. A Cross-Sectional Study Of Namuyoga Town Council Tororo District.

Background: The study focused on examining the various factors, directly and indirectly, that influence the performance of VHT activities. The study was based on the scientific fact that incentives, availability, and support supervisions have a significant impact on the quality of health services offered by VHTS The study was conducted in Nabuyoga Town Council in Eastern Uganda. Methodology: The researcher adopted cross-sectional descriptive methods; the researcher employed a questionnaire with both ended and closed-ended questionnaires to gather data. Also, the researcher acquired an interview guide to gathering qualitative data.  Results Substantively the study has revealed positive results, that incentives influence the performance of VHTS in terms of motivation and retention. Secondary the study has shown that lack of sufficient supplies has negatively affected the performance of service delivery in terms of availability and accessibility. Thirdly, the study has revealed there is a dire need to adopt an effective supervisory mechanism for technical development and the sustainability of VHT activities in the area.  Conclusion and recommendations: Quality services delivery by VHTS in health promotion, there is a great need to improve on the availability of incentives, supplies, and support supervision; it is only by sincere involvement of community members that health quality in the area can be realized.

A Literature Review on the Benefits, Risks and Methods of Promoting Male Involvement in Antenatal Care to Achieve Zero Transmission of HIV From Mother to Child In Sub-Saharan Africa.

Male involvement in Antenatal Care (ANC) has been shown to increase the effects of prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV programs and adherence to Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. Increasing male involvement remains a challenge with few interventions demonstrating credible and sustained effects. Research has mainly been focussed on the benefits of involving men rather than how to involve them in ANC. In addition, little research exists on the acceptability of involving men in ANC. This literature review focusses on the benefits and risks associated with male involvement in ANC as well as the perceptions of both men and women in regard to involving men in ANC in sub-Saharan Africa and assesses methods used to increase male involvement.Master of Science in Public Healt

Determinants of effective control of accidents in the port of Mombasa, Kenya.

Mombasa port plays a pivotal role in the economic development of East and Central African countries where goods of varying hazards transit the port. The risk of serious accidents is inevitable due dangerous operations involving cranes and handling of hazardous materials. Ports are potential sources of accidents such as spills, explosions, fires, toxic fumes The goal of this study was to evaluate determinants of effective control of accidents in the port of Mombasa. The study employed a descriptive survey research design where structured questionnaires were used to collect data. Random sampling was used to identify 248 study participants from a population of 650 workers. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 at 95% confidence interval. Data was subjected to descriptive tests to determine proportions as well as chi square test and presented using graphs and tables. The rates of occupational accidents in Mombasa port were significantly high with 99.5% of the port workers reporting to have witnessed occurrence of accidents. Accidents reported by port workers include crane failure, chemical spillage, fire accidents and explosions. The main container terminal had recorded the highest number of occupational accidents compared to other terminals. There was a significant association between training on accident hazards and improvement on understanding of accident prevention (X2 = 0.029 P= 0.05 DF = 1). study reveal that training on accident would help reduce occurrence. The determinants of effective control of accidents in the port of Mombasa that were studied included: Safe sytems of work, risk assessment, cargo handling equipment and training

‘The final door to future parenthood’: the need for a fair balance between the procedural and substantive justice in in vitro fertilization (IVF) and patient consent in Kenya.

In 1978 in England, the In vitro fertilisation technique was first launched as a research project to determine whether a baby can be born using controlled laboratory conditions. Following the success of the first baby Louise Brown to be born under this technique, In vitro fertilisation was adopted as a method of reproduction. There are three main elements in IVF: induction of ovulation, fertilization of the oocyte (a woman’s egg that has not been fertilized and are found in the ovaries) 3 and the transfer of embryos into the uterus. 4 The process outlined below aims to provide a clear understanding on the procedures in IVF.Assisted Reproduction Technologies is a fairly new concept in Kenya especially when it comes to In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). In Kenya today, IVF is an emerging area with approximately 2,000 babies born from the procedure. 1 However, there is no judicial scrutiny on the processes in IVF procedures especially on the cryopreservation of pre-embryos after fertilisation. This study aims to bridge the gap between consent forms and the disposition of embryos in IVF procedures. The issue of disposition of embryos brings the debate on the personhood verses the contractual approach which this study shall address. This will be done through academic commentaries and natural jurisprudence. Furthermore, this study will view plausible approaches that various jurisdictions have used to address this issue. Lastly, the study will conclude with recommendations guided by Article 26 of the Constitution of Kenya

Leveraging LTSP to deploy a sustainable e-infrastructure for poor communities in South Africa

Poverty alleviation is one of the main challenges the South African government is facing. Information and knowledge are key strategic resources for both social and economic development, and nowadays they most often rely on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Poor communities have limited or no access to functioning e-infrastructure, which underpins ICT. The Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL) is a joint project between the universities of Rhodes and Fort Hare that has been running for over 15 years now. The SLL solution is currently implemented in schools in the Eastern Cape’s Dwesa-Mbhashe municipality as well as schools in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown). Over the years, a number of blueprints for the meaningful connection of poor communities was developed. The research reported in this thesis sought to review and improve the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL) blueprint regarding fixed computing infrastructure (as opposed to networking and applications). The review confirmed the viability of the GNU/Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) based computing infrastructure deployed in schools to serve the surrounding community. In 2019 LTSP was redesigned and rewritten to improve on the previous version. Amongst other improvements, LTSP19+ has a smaller memory footprint and supports a graphical way to prepare and maintain the client’s image using virtual machines. These improvements increase the potential life of ICT projects implementing the SLL solution, increasing the participation of members of the community (especially teachers) to the maintenance of the computing installations. The review recommends the switching from thin clients deployments to full ("thick") clients deployments, still booting from the network and mounting their file systems on a central server. The switch is motivated by reasons that go from cost-effectiveness to the ability to survive the sudden unavailability of the central server. From experience in the previous deployment, electrical power surge protection should be mandatory. Also, UPS to protect the file system of the central server should be configured to start the shutdown immediately on electrical power loss in order to protect the life of the UPS battery (and make it possible to use cheaper UPS that report only on network power loss). The research study contributed to one real-life computing infrastructure deployment in the Ntsika school in Makhanda and one re-deployment in the Ngwane school in the Dwesa-Mbhashe area. For about two years, the research also supported continuous maintenance for the Ntsika, Ngwane and Mpume schools.Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Computer Science, 202

Surrogate endpoints in trials-a call for better reporting

Better reporting of RCTs with primary surrogate endpoints