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Over the recent years, lives and property worth millions of shillings have been destroyed in fire disasters in secondary schools in the world. Cases of fire disasters in Kenyan secondary schools have been experienced in the last decade with increasing frequency and severity. It was therefore necessary to determine the causes of fire disasters in secondary schools. The main objective of this study was to assess causes of fire disasters in secondary schools in Kenya. An evaluation research design was used. Stratified simple random sampling was used to select the schools and the respondents. The study population was composed of secondary school principals, teachers, laboratory technicians, students and the District Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (DQASO) in Vihiga County. Data was collected by use of structured questionnaires designed for teachers, students and laboratory technicians, in-depth interviews with school principals and the DQASOs and an observation checklist. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 11.5 was used in the analysis of data with Chi-square being used to test independence and variation of responses. A spearman’s rank order correlation was run to determine the relationship between teachers’ and students’ responses. According to the findings of this study, Faulty electrical appliances, arson, flammable materials, gas leakages, waste burning, students unrest and lighting were cited as main hazards that lead to fire disasters in secondary schools. It was also established that: five out of the thirty five schools that participated in the study had experienced fire disasters in the last 10 years; in all the schools that had experienced fire disasters causes were clearly known; It was concluded that: fire disasters in Vihiga are frequent and severe; that the trends as to the causes of fire disasters in the county are dynamic; most of the administrators and even teachers were not trained in fire fighting skills; most of the schools dint have safety committees and were not practicing fire drills and that most of the general requirements for fire disaster preparedness were not in place. The findings of the study will enable schools to be aware of fire hazards and empower them to reduce their vulnerability to fire disasters. It will also be important to education policy makers who will use this information in formulating and implementing policies on fire safety in schools.

The amino acid composition of the muscle and skin of the matured female guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) was determined on a dry weight basis. The total essential amino acids ranged from 30.4 g/100g to 43.5 g/100g crude protein or from 49.7% - 51.2% of the total amino acid. The amino acid score showed that lysine ranged from 0.66-1.17 (on whole hen’s egg comparison), 0.75-1.31 (on provisional essential amino acid scoring pattern) and 0.71-1.25 (on suggested requirement of the essential amino acid of a preschool child). The predicted protein efficiency ratio was 1.81-2.25 and the essential amino acid index range was 0.87-1.28. The correlation coefficient (?xy) was positive and significant at r = 0.05 for the total amino acids, amino acid scores (on whole hen’s egg basis) and other parameters in the two samples. Results have good comparison with whole hen’s egg protein.

The choice of the similarity coefficient used in clustering could have great impact on the resulting classification, there is need to study and understand these coefficients better to be able to make the right choice for specific situations. In this study, variations caused by three similarity coefficients: Dice, Jaccard and Simple matching with five clustering methods: (Unweighted Pair-Group Mean Arithmetic (UPGMA), Weighted Pair-Group Mean Arithmetic(WPGMA), complete linkage, single linkage and Neighbour-Joining with AFLP markers in Colletotrichum gloeosporioides isolates from yam were assessed. Comparison among the similarity coefficients and clustering methods were made using correlation analysis, multidimensional scaling and principal component analysis. Dendrogram topology was compared using consensus fork index (CFI) and node counts. The grouping of the pathogens by the markers is not related to their agro-ecological zones. The CFI results showed varying level of similarity for the cluster analysis CA methods. It was observed that high correlation does not necessarily imply similarity in the topology of a tree, therefore care should be taken in its interpretation. The cophenetic correlation with original distances suggests that the UPGMA method gives consistent results with respect to grouping irrespective of the similarity coefficient. The use of UPGMA method is therefore recommended for its consistency.

Job satisfaction is the sense of well- being, good feeling and positive mental state that emerge in an incumbent worker when his obtained reward consequent upon his performance is congruent with his equitable reward. Extant literature in other sectors of the economy points to the fact that factors such as poor working conditions, below competitive salaries, a lack of promotional opportunities are some of the factors contributing to employee dissatisfaction.The aim of this study is to ascertain the levels of job satisfaction amongst quantity surveyors in consulting firms in Lagos, Nigeria. Biographical and job descriptive index questionnaires (JDI) were administered to gather the data. The JDI measures job satisfaction on five facets, namely, pay, promotions, supervision, co-workers and the work itself. A total of 100 questionnaires were collected and used for the study. The survey covered quantity surveyors in consulting firms in Lagos and the respondents were selected using stratified random sampling technique. Data collected were analysed using mean item score, spearman rank correlation, correlation matrix, linear regression analysis where appropriate. Findings of the study revealed that the respondents were satisfied with the relationship with co-workers, nature of work and the supervision they receive. Major sources of dissatisfaction are promotion and salaries of the respondents. This finding is a bold step and necessary benchmark for resolving major sources of dissatisfaction among quantity surveyors in consulting firms. The roles of other contextual factors on job satisfaction need to be contemplated for future research.

L-proline monohydrate an intriguing new organic material for frequency conversion has been grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique at room temperature. Their structural, optical and physicochemical properties were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, FTIR and FT-Raman spectra. The crystal belongs to orthorhombic system with space group Pbca. The mechanical response of the crystal has been studied using Vickers microhardness technique.

Modern polymer chemistry is highly progressive in tailoring polymers to specific requirements such as mechanical, thermal and chemical stability, with better performance with wide range of pore size. Composite materials combine and maintain two or more distinct phases to produce a material that has properties far superior than either of the base materials. Nanoparticles made of chitosan, a naturally occurring polymer isolated from crab and shrimp shells, have shown to be promising as carriers of anticancer drugs, antitumor genes, and other novel therapeutic agents. Cross linking agents improve the properties of polymer and their products. Polymer nanocomposited are a class of reinforced polymer with low quantities of nanometric-sized clay particle, which improved their fair resistance, strength and its porosity deceases. Hence, in the present work nanochitosan was prepared using sodium tripolyphosphate and composite of nanochitosan were prepared with methylcellulose in the presence of clay. However, a greater understanding of the nanoscale features of clays, and the ability to disperse the ultrafine layers within other materials has led to increased interest in their application in composite materials; to provide properties to lightweight polymers that would usually only be found in heavier or more expensive materials (such as glass or metals). The formation of the polymer membrane made by the immersion precipitation process depends on a large number of material and process specific parameters such as choice of the polymer (molecular weight, molecular weight distribution), choice of the solvents, choice of the casting solution temperature and the casting atmosphere. The composites were analyzed for their thermal stability, porosity, X-ray diffraction studies, etc. The results show that the addition of clay along with the nanosized chitosan had decreased the transparency of methylcellulose and with decreased pore size suitable for developing as RO membranes.

We are very happy to announce that from 20th April 2017, Dr. K. Vijayaraj has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Mechanical Engineering. Dr. K. Vijayaraj working as Principal / Professor, A.K.T.Memorial College of Engg. &Tech., Kallakurichi-606 202, TamilNadu, India. The appointment of Dr. K. Vijayaraj as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal.

In recent times, many organizations in the Kenyan EPZ industry, have recorded cases of immoral and unethical practices, gratifications, high labour turnover, inability to meet basic required obligations, and incessant financial distress syndrome, which has led to many entities being merged and acquired or closing down. This may be as a result of lack of effective leadership. It is on this premise that this research work set out to examine the effects of leadership styles on employee performance in Export Processing Zones in Kenya. This was guided by the following specific objectives; determining the effect of transactional leadership style on employee performance, ascertaining the effect of transformational leadership style on employee performance and evaluating the effect of authoritarian leadership style on employee performance in Mombasa in Apparel EPZ Ltd. The study adopted a descriptive research design on a population of 676 which was further sampled to 43 through stratified sampling. The study findings indicated that transactional and transformational leadership style, in which employees are allowed to have sense of belonging, carry out higher responsibility with little supervision, and followers are helped to achieve their visions and needs enhance organizational efficiency. It is concluded that transactional and transformational leadership styles are the best for the management of Export Processing Zones in Kenya to be adopted in order for them to wax stronger in a global competitive environment. It was recommended that managers use a composition of transactional leadership and transformational leadership as a core managerial strategy in the organization. It was also suggested that managers to be trained to use both styles of leadership and along with the increasing need for new skills and competencies of leadership as a result of changes in community, leadership training program is more important whenever.

Neurological problems are the major complications generally recognized during the early childhood Type I Diabetes Mellitus (DM).Which causes potential physio-morphological changes on central nervous system. Its early adverse impact can’t be ignored during the childhood cognitive behavior. The recognition of disease and initiation of early treatment can prevent the advanced complications in young diabetic children. The diabetes was induced in 22 days (postnatal) wistar rats by giving intraperitoneal injection of Streptozotocin at a dose of 60mg/kg body weight. After the confirmation of diabetes induction treatment with the alcoholic root extract of Salacia chinencis at a dose of 100mg/Kg body weight was started immediately. And it was continued for one month duration. At the end of 30 days treatment schedule the animals were scarified and the brain tissue was collected. The tissue was processed under rapid Golgi staining. Tissue sections of frontal cortical neurons were subjected to Camera Lucida drawings and later it was analyzed by considering the changes in dendritic arborization pattern. The alcoholic root extract of Salacia chinencis has shown significant changes in the dendritic arborization pattern in different groups as follows. The analysis of apical intersections has shown that normal control differs with treatment group (p=.014), diabetic control group differs with treatment group (p=.020). And in case of apical branching the normal control differs only with diabetic control (p=.029.) The basal branching points between the normal control differs with diabetic group (p=.013), diabetic control group differ with treatment group (p=.006). And in case of basal intersections none of them are statistically significant to compare.

Influence of Selenium (Se) concentration in the nutrient solution on yield, quality, and Se status of Brussels sprout plants (Brassica oleracea, varGemmifera) was evaluated.The Brussels sprout plants were treated with six concentration of Se asselenate sodium (Na2 SeO4., 0, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 mg L-1).Treatments were arranged in a completely randomize design with four replicates. The highest concentration of Se in the leaves, buds and stem was observed at the 32mg L-1 Se concentration. The total Se accumulation in percentage differed among different parts of plants. Total Se for the differ parts of plants ranged from 2.44 to 65.93% and old leaves accounted for the greatest proportion of total Se, followed by stem, young leaves, roots and buds in descending order. Increasing Se concentration increased Se allocation to the roots, while reduced the Se allocation to the buds. The size of buds increased by increasing Se concentration from 0 to 8 mg L-1. However it was reduced in 16 and 32mg L-1 Se concentration. It can be concluded that Se supplements (8mg L-1) improve yield, and Se concentration in the bud.