Archives-September 2017

Performance appraisal (PA) is regarded as an effective tool of Human Resources Management used to measure the frameworks set by any organization to its employees by tracking individual contribution and performance against organizational goals. For organizations to achieve a competitive edge, a good performance Appraisal system must be put in place. This study was carried out to ascertain effects of Performance Appraisal on employee performance in National Bank of Kenya. The specific objective of the study were to determine the Communication, Administrative, Employee Development and Employee Behavior effects of Performance Appraisal on employee performance at National Bank of Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research design as it intended to gather quantifiable information to be used for statistical inference through data analysis. This was because this method clearly shows effects of Performance Appraisal on the overall employee performance. The target population in this research comprised of 103 employees of National Bank of Kenya limited 5 Branches in Mombasa County. The sampling technique adopted in this research was stratified Random Sampling and a sample size of 56 employees was selected for the study. The main instrument of data collection used in this study was questionnaire which was administered to management staff, clerks and Direct Sales Representatives. The study used descriptive analysis which involved a process of transforming and presenting a mass of raw data into tables, charts, with frequency distribution and percentages. The collected data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program version 21.Correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to determine the relationship between dependent variable and the independent variables. Descriptive statistics were represented by use of frequencies, measure of central tendencies (the mean, medium and mode) and also measure of dispersions (standard deviation, range and variance).Inferential data analysis was done by using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient which tested the hypotheses, regression analysis and multiple regression analysis. The research study found out that there was a positive and significant relationship between Communication and Employee Performance with a p-value of 0.001 which is below the required value of 0.05 level of significance. There was also a significant and positive relationship between Employee Behavior and employee Performance with a p-value of 0.016 which is less than 0.05 significance level. However an insignificant relationship existed between Administration and employee Performance with a p-value of 0.169 which is above the value of 0.05. Similarly the relationship between Development and Employee Performance and was insignificant with a p-value of 0.669 which is greater than 0.05 significant values. This indicated that performance appraisal according to this study has a great effect on employee performance in Kenyan commercial banks. The study further recommended that all institutions in the banking sector should embrace performance appraisal practice in this study as it greatly influences performance of employees.

The Present Paper entitled “Quest for Identity” focuses on the attitude of New Women. It also brings out how Manju Kapur portrays Virmati in Difficult Daughters trying to establish her identity through her rebellious attitudes.

In the present study, herbicide 2,4-D was investigated for its potency to induce oxidative stress and its effects on antioxidant systems in gill and liver tissues of (Xiphophorus hellerii). Animals were exposed to sublethal doses of 2,4-D for 96 hours except for the control group. Protein, malondialdehyde, catalase and acetylcholine esterase enzyme activity (AChE) were determined using spectrophotometric methods. The results show that protein levels were reduced in all experiments when compared to control group. Levels of malondialdehyde were increased in each group. Catalase enzyme activity was significantly decreased in all groups. In addition, an increased AChE activity was observed.

Fodder grasses like Sorghum bicolor play a vital role in livelihood generation in arid and semi-arid areas of Rajasthan in India. Cadmium pollution from industries can affect soils in farmlands thereby playing havoc with health of humans and livestock. The present study was undertaken to study the effect of Cadmium salts on seed germination percentage, seedling growth and fresh weight including various biochemical parameters of Sorghum bicolor. Seeds were treated with different concentrations (10, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 ppm) of cadmium sulphate along with control for 10 days. On the 10th day results were noted for above parameters. Seed germination percentage was recorded maximum at 10 ppm followed by 100 ppm. Both shoot and root length showed progressive decline with cadmium treatment. Fresh weight of seedlings was observed better than control for 10 ppm dose level. Further maximum amount of proteins and total soluble sugars were observed at 500ppm dose level while starch and total phenols were found to be maximum at 100ppm dose level. However, in lipids there was constant decrease as compared to control with increase in treatment dose. Total chlorophyll was found to be maximum at 1000 ppm , carotenoids and MDA at in control. These results can be further developed as markers for field testing of cadmium polluted plants.

Behavioral problems have remained a critical problem among girls incarcerated in rehabilitation schools. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design with the two rehabilitation schools being randomly assigned into either treatment or control group. Quantitative method was used to collect the data through the use of questionnaire and Achenbach youth self-report (YSR) (11-18 years). Baseline data was first collected in the two sites. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. T-test, Chi square, Anova as well as Ancova tests were carried. The prevalence rates for depression, anxiety disorder and conduct disorder were 66.7%, 70.5% and 55% respectively. In the experimental group the study shows statistically significance difference in mean differences scores at both post-treatment one and two (p<0.001). Therefore this is an indication that MST had an impact on post treatment one and two among juvenile delinquents in experimental as opposed to control groups. The results provide significant insights into effectiveness of MST on selected behavioral problems among Juvenile girls incarcerated in rehabilitation schools.

Recent years, Light energy consumption minimization has become the important aspect. In this, it is proposed to develop a system that will help various organizations to play an effective role in saving electrical energy. Energy utilized for lighting purpose sums up to a considerable part in the overall energy consumed. Effective and efficient lighting helps in reducing the unwanted excessive use of energy wasted. Smart illuminance control techniques concentrates on providing effective illuminance at a work place by varying the dimming levels of the networked luminaires.so here we used arduino board and Light Dependent Resister sensor to control the room light. Keywords— Arduino, Light Dependent Resister

Environmental Impact Assessment process is vital in preventing adverse environmental impacts thus ensuring sustainable development. However, while EIA has been embedded within the development planning processes in many countries, quality EIA reports have not been produced in developing countries. Despite EIA being carried out on most development projects there still remains the challenge on the quality of EIA reports that are being written by environmental experts. It’s for this reason that the study evaluates the effectiveness of mitigation in Kenya’s EIA process for selected urban projects in Kisumu City to investigate the quality of EIA reports in terms of impact identification and proposed mitigation measures, the level of implementation of mitigation measures for the selected projects and the utility of EIA mitigation conceptual model in enhancing the effectiveness of mitigation in EIA. A cross-sectional design was adopted to collect and analyse data. Data from thirty (30) EIA reports conducted between 1999 and 2016 were purposively sampled to provide information about the quality of EIA reports in terms of environmental impact identification and proposed mitigation measures. The modified EIS quality review package and mitigation guidelines were used to gather and grade the quality of EIA reports in terms of the impacts and mitigation measures. Regarding the practical implementation of mitigation measures proposed in the reviewed EIA reports, three purposively selected EIA projects, environmental managers, local communities surrounding them and field observations provided the required data. The key findings of this study reveal that the deficiency in the EIA reports quality is attributed to a number of factors. These factors include, Inadequate baseline data and access to data, inadequate time given for EIA study, attitude of consultants and proponents, the commercial interest of consultants and proponents, a lack of EIA experts, lack of adequate funds, weak TORs, and lack of adequate EIA stakeholders. The results also reveal that time and financial resources are among the main driving forces of EIA Quality. The study concludes that lack of adequate funds is the main factor affecting the quality of EIA reports in Kisumu City. The study recommends that improvements to impact identification in EIA reports will enhance the mitigation measures proposed. It’s also clear from the findings that when the impacts are poorly identified, subsequent mitigation measures proposed are also poor. In cases where the EIA reports were graded unsatisfactory in terms of identified impacts, the proposed mitigation measures were equally unsatisfactory as they addressed wrong impacts.

The effectiveness of mitigation in EIA is vital in preventing adverse environmental impacts thus ensuring sustainable development. However, while EIA has been embedded within the development planning processes in many countries, successful implementation has not been evident in developing countries. Despite EIA being carried out on most development projects there still remains the challenge of implementation of EIA mitigation measures. It’s for this reason that the study evaluates level of implementation of mitigation measures for the selected projects and the utility of EIA mitigation conceptual model in enhancing the effectiveness of mitigation in EIA. A cross-sectional design was adopted to collect and analyse data. Data from thirty (30) EIA reports conducted between 1999 and 2016 were purposively sampled to provide information about the quality of EIA reports in terms implementation proposed mitigation measures. The modified EIS quality review package and mitigation guidelines were used to gather and grade the quality of EIA reports in terms of the impacts and mitigation measures. Regarding the practical implementation of mitigation measures proposed in the reviewed EIA reports, three purposively selected EIA projects, environmental managers, local communities surrounding them and field observations provided the required data. The key findings reveal that the level of mitigation implementation in EIA was partly implemented. Among the six mitigation measures projected, the proponent implemented fully two mitigation measures only relating to impact on land use and impact on soils. The other four mitigation measures relating to air quality and noise pollution control, health and safety, solid waste management and social and economic impacts were implemented partly. The findings of the three projects reveal that mitigation measures are inadequately implemented. The study concluded that EIA reports had shortcomings in impact identification and implementation of mitigation measures. The study recommended that active public participation of local communities can make the implementation of mitigation measures effective.

Modeling of steady magnetohydrodynamic viscous incompressible fluid flow through a porous medium between two disks rotating with same angular velocity about two non-coincident axes has been discussed taking into account the injection/suction, radiation and temperature dependent variable thermal conductivity. An exact solution of the governing equations has been obtained in a closed form by using perturbation along with dsolve Mat lab software tool to attain an analytical result for the velocity and the temperature profile. Analysis of the flow characteristics has been performed graphically by varying Hartmann number (M),I injection /suction parameter (?), permeability parameter (Kp), rotation parameter, Prandtl number (Pr), radiation parameter (R) and the variable thermal conductivity. The Skin friction coefficients are presented in pictorial from (11) to (16) and, discussed in detail.

The phenotypic correlations among egg weight, external and internal egg quality traits of two commercial egg type chickens, Isa brown and Harco black chickens were determined. A total number of 200 point of lay hens of 100 each of Isa brown and Harco black were used for the study. Data were collected on egg weight, egg length, egg content, shell weight, shell thickness, yolk weight, albumen height, albumen weight, yolk height, yolk length and yolk colour, from 960 eggs consisting 40 each of the strain analyzed on weekly bases for 12 weeks. Results shows a significant (P<0.05) effect between the measured parameters and the two strain of hens. Isa brown eggs had higher values of egg length (54.12mm), egg content (45.48g), shell weight (4.68g) and albumen length (5.75mm) than its counterpart Harco black eggs. The association between egg weight and other egg biometrical traits were found to be positive and very highly significant (r = 0.31- 0.80; p<0.0001) while other egg parameters were either positively or inversely correlated with each other for Isa brown strain. The relationship between egg weight and other egg biometrical traits were found to be very highly significant (p<0.0001; r = 0.73) while other egg variables were also either positively or inversely correlated with each other for Harco black strain .It can be concluded that Isa brown hens eggs was better than Harco black hens in respect to egg length, egg content, shell weight and albumen length while the phenotypic correlation coefficient results can be used in selection criteria.