Archives-June... 

Internal organizational communication plays an important role in facilitating effective and efficient library operations and service delivery. However, over the years, the University of Nairobi library system, scattered across six campuses, has registered many complaints, both from the Library staff and users of information services due to poor internal organizational communication. The aim of this study was, therefore, to analyse the existing internal organizational communication at the University of Nairobi library system with the view of suggesting ways in which it can be enhanced. The objectives of the study were: to determine the effectiveness of the used forms and channels of internal communication on the execution of library operations and services; to establish the internal communication policy framework governing internal communication at the university library system and to suggest ways of optimising the use of forms and channels of internal communication to enhance library operations and services. The study population was composed of various cadres of University of Nairobi Library staff stationed at the six campuses. Out of 167 members of the library staff, 45 were purposefully and randomly selected to form the study sample. Data was collected using face-to-face interviews and documentary reviews. Data was analysed thematically and presented by use of descriptive statistics. The findings of the study revealed that internal organisational communication was largely inadequate due to variations in communication practices in the various branches of the Library and an inefficient internal communication policy. The study subsequently recommends a review of the existing communication policy and streamlining of the internal communication practices to improve library operations and Services.

Magnetic bearing centrifugal pumps are the latest model of artificial hearts for long-term use. The impeller is the only moving part in these pump which can leads to lower blood damage due to travel through the pump. In this paper computational fluid dynamics as an advanced tool is employed to simulate blood dynamics in a magnetic bearing centrifugal pump. Different simulations are performed for various ranges of device speeds (2000, 3000 and 4000 rpm) and various flow rates (1, 2,3,5,7 and 9 ). As a main performance of the pump, hydraulic pressure rise is investigated. The results show that the pump can generate sufficient pressure due to different physiological activities. Also shear stress distribution specified that stress around the pump’s blades (high potential regions for blood damage) is less than 98 pa which is much lower than critical stress for blood pumps.

A digraph D is a pair (V, A), where V is a non-empty set whose elements are called the vertices and A is the subset of the set of ordered pairs of distinct elements of V. The elements of A are called the arcs of D. A vertex v is a boundary vertex of u if d(u, w) ? d(u, v) for all w ? N(v). The boundary digraph BD(G) of a graph(digraph) G is the digraph that has the same vertex set as G and an arc from u to v exists in BD(G) if and only if v is a boundary vertex of u in G. The boundary neighbor digraph BND(G) of a graph G is the graph that has the same vertex set as G and a directed edge (arc) from u to v exists in BND(G) if and only if v is a boundary neighbor of u in G.

This study aims to investigate the influence of burnout on job satisfaction among Chinese Independent Secondary Schools (CISS) teachers. The respondents for this study consist of 175 teachers selected randomly from five CISS from one of Northern State of Peninsular Malaysia. Data from respondents was collected using a translated version of questionnaire consisting of 3 parts, namely demographic, Maslach Burnout Inventory - Educators Survey (MBI - ES), and finally Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS). The results show that the level of teacher burnout dimension of emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment are moderate. Whereas the burnout dimension of depersonalization was at low level. Meanwhile multiple regression analysis shows that only teacher burnout dimensions emotional exhaustion have a significant negative influence on CISS teacher job satisfaction. Findings suggest that the CISS organizations should pay more attention on teachers’ psychological aspect such as teacher burnout in the workplace in order to generate better quality of teachers’ job satisfaction and performance.

This paper investigtaes a comparative evaluation of carrier-based pulsewidth modulation (CB-PWM) methods devoted to the control of a B3-VSI, also known delta inverter, feeding an open-loop induction motor (IM) drives. Four CB-PWM methods namely: (i) sinusoidal PWM (SPWM), (ii) third-harmonic injection PWM (THI-PWM), (iii) optimal PWM (OPT-PWM), and (iv) space-vector PWM (SV-PWM) are analytically presented in order to control a delta inverter. The performance of the CB-PWM methods under consideration are firstly presented and therefore their control performances are analyzed and compared based on simulation and experimental results. The comparison is achieved by an investigation of the total and partial harmonic distortion ratios of the IM stator phase currents.

The release of chlorophenolics in pulp bleaching wastewater is a threat to the aquatic ecosystems. The chlorophenolics can migrate throughout the biosphere and pose serious health hazard. The work is aimed to detect chlorophenolics using GC-MS and evaluate the effectiveness of TiO2 photocatalysis for their degradation in the paper mill wastewaters. Four type of chlorophenolics i.e. chlorophenols (CP), chloroguaiacols (CG), chlorocatechols (CC), and chlorosyringaldehyde (CSA) are detected in the wastewaters. The wastewaters are subjected to photocatalysis with UV radiation under optimum conditions (TiO2 = 0.50 g/L, pH = 7.0, time = 4 hr, and H2O2 = 15 mM/L). UV/TiO2/H2O2 process has been found to be more efficient for the degradation of chlorophenolics with 68% and 75% removal of chlorophenolics for primary clarified (PC) and biotreated (BT) wastewaters, respectively, as compared to UV/TiO2 process. The Monochlorophenols (MCP) are removed to the maximum extent followed by di- (DCP) and trichlorophenols (TCP).

In this paper, a distance based Cluster head selection algorithm is proposed for improving the sensor network life time. This protocol achieves a good performance in terms of lifetime by balancing the energy load among all the nodes. This clustering technique help to prolong the life of wireless sensor network, especially in hostile environment where battery replacement of individual sensor nodes is not possible after their deployment in the given target area. Therefore, the proposed technique to distribute the role of the cluster head (CH) among the wireless sensor nodes in the same cluster is vital to increase the lifetime of the network. This algorithm uses a distance based method for providing the cluster head selection. Clustering techniques also provide good load balancing. This paper based on the distance of nodes and elects the cluster head to be responsible collects the data from nodes, this implementation done in c- Language.

Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky continue to cause considerable damage to maize grain in most stores in Africa. In the present study, laboratory experiments was conducted to investigate the potentials of Trichilia dregeana and Jatropha curcas seed oils for the protection of stored maize against two week old adult Sitophilus zeamais. The results indicated that Jatropha curcas seed oil and combination of the two seed oils (a synergic effect) caused 100% maize weevil’s mortality after one week exposure which is extremely high compared to negative control. The maize grains treated with seed oils and positive control showed a significant decrease of the number of holes compared to the negative control which indicates its protective effect against weevil from damaging the maize grains. Weevil perforation index ranged from 1.59 to 19.48 and indicate a highly positive protectant ability of the two seed oils. The computed percentage protectant ability of the two seed oils showed that 80.52-81.5% protectant ability in Trichilia dregeana seed oil, 96.87- 98.41% in Jatropha curcas seed oil, 98.41% in combination seed oils, and 98.41% in malathion powder. The results indicate that Jatropha curcas seed oil and combination of the two seed oils are highly effective as compared to Trichilia dregeana seed oil for maize seed protectant against Sitophilus zeamais. Thus, the order of protective ability of seed oils with various treatments on maize weevil were: Jatropha curcas seed oil > combination of Trichilia dregeana seed oil+ Jatropha curcas seed oil > Trichilia dregeana seed oil.

The study investigated the operational mechanism of key Microfinance Service Providers (MSPs) in Bangladesh and China. It seeks to understand diverse methodologies toward financial inclusion of the poor. A total six microfinance service providers were taken for critical evaluation consisting three from each country. A little variation on operational mechanism found among MSPs within the country but a greater variation has appeared between two countries. The most observable differences were- (i) outreach, (ii) service provision, (iii) collateral status, (iv) interest rate, (v) financial sustainability, and (vi) regulatory status which have direct influence on institutional sustainability. Findings of the study can help microfinance practitioners and policy makers to gain a better understanding on existing MSP and leads to further methodological improvement. Finally, the cross country comparison could bring win-win situation for both countries.

We report a case of a complete testicular epididymal dissociation discovered during surgery for cryptorchidism. The epididymis was found in the scrotum and the testis in the inguinal canal. This malformation is very rare, it has been reported sporadically, the incidence in patients with cryptorchidism may be higher. Epididymal anomalies seem to play an important role in the emergence of fertility disorders.