JOSEPH KARANJA - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by JOSEPH KARANJA

African journal of reproductive health, 2013

In July 2012 in Dar es Salaam Tanzania more than 35 obstetricians/gynecologists nurse-midwives an... more In July 2012 in Dar es Salaam Tanzania more than 35 obstetricians/gynecologists nurse-midwives and public health professionals working in Africa convened at a Regional Expert’s Summit to recommit their efforts towards achieving Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG5). In discussing maternal mortality due to postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) and unsafe abortion misoprostol was discussed as a simple and effective medicine that can contribute to efforts to reduce maternal mortality. Misoprostol recognized as the World Health Organization (WHO) as an essential medicine to these health problems and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) has untapped potential to save women’s lives. Backed by these policy endorsements and peer-reviewed literature and drawing upon experiences of introducing misoprostol throughout Africa the experts identified three primary activities that must be accelerated. They include the scale-up of misoprostol distribution to prevent PPH for home del...

Natural Hazards, 2022

The implications of hazards on populations are accentuated or alleviated by the nature of social ... more The implications of hazards on populations are accentuated or alleviated by the nature of social systems, yet the multi-scalar variations of socioeconomic and demographic variables are partially understood across space and time. Targeted response strategies to a hazard rely upon accurate and complete data. However, social vulnerability studies could benefit from more robust explorations regarding critical data variables, geographic scale, data weighting mechanics, data transformations, broader timeframe, and visualization models. Our study addresses each of these topics for our study area of Atlanta, Georgia (USA) over a 20-year time frame. The study compares equal and variance-based weightings and their influences on local and global measures of spatial autocorrelation for both gridded and census tract scales. Our results establish the critical drivers of vulnerability as race, language, poverty, gender, living alone, and age. We found variance-based weighting to have more clustering and a higher magnitude of vulnerability than equal weighting. A uniform 30-m gridded scale revealed more data nuances than the traditional census tract scale. Besides, local and global measures of spatial autocorrelation returned inconsistent results, confirming variations in outputs attributable to scale choices. A 20-year historical view provides a context for assessing changes over time, crucial for understanding the evolution of critical drivers. Combining multiple Social Vunerability Index (SVI) derivation techniques altered the magnitude and intensity of the level of vulnerability, thereby justifying the need for further research.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have become a major driver of economic growth and development... more Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have become a major driver of economic growth and development in Kenya. Government agencies, development partners and non-governmental organizations have invested considerable resources and effort in promoting business innovations and enterprises. However, environmental concerns and even sustainability issues have in many instances taken a back stage. This paper seeks to highlight the drivers of SMEs, types of SMEs, their general environmental impacts and recommend some strategies and tools that can be used to ensure environmental integrity, human health and sustainability of benefits arising from SMEs. Review of documented evidence indicated that the major drivers of SMEs are economic recession resulting in job losses in large industrial and commercial companies, unfavourable climate which affects livelihoods and natural resources; and inflation and reduced incomes from employment and sale of agricultural products. As a result unemployed people even workers in formal employment engage in small business to improve their income. SMEs tend to have low capital outlay and lack adequate safeguards against environmental impacts and sustainability. There is also growing trend of applying new innovations and technology to venture into new enterprises. These enterprises are spread over a number of economic sectors, such as energy, agriculture, transport and communication, and financial services. Among these are Ecopreneurs, who have established individual businesses or social entrepreneurs who have established business have been driven by profit generation and environmental concerns. These include merchants of solar panels, builders of biogas units and waste recycling facilities to generate new marketable products or services. Integration of environmental concerns in business enterprises can be achieved through a number of strategies: creation of environmental awareness, planning for mitigation of anticipated adverse environmental impacts, adopting cradle t business design, the triple accounting and some eco-industrial park principles. The existing discrepancy between economic and environmental accounting can lead to wanton destruction of global commons, especially natural resources and systems that maintain and/or generate new resources. It is therefore prudent for all business enterprises irrespective of their size to integrate some aspects of environmental protection in their business plans.

than 35 obstetrician/gynecologists, nurse-midwives and public health professionals working in Afr... more than 35 obstetrician/gynecologists, nurse-midwives and public health professionals working in Africa recommitted to and reinvigorated their efforts towards achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 at a Regional Experts ’ Summit. During the weeklong conference convened to explore the myriad factors contributing to maternal mortality in the 12 African countries represented, the experts identified solutions that exist today, and that can be made available on a large scale to confront preventable maternal deaths. One such solution, misoprostol, is a simple and effective medicine that can contribute significantly to our efforts to reduce maternal mortality.

I dedicate this work to my loving wife Jane Wangare ,Sons Lenny Allan, RJ and my daughter Lynn Al... more I dedicate this work to my loving wife Jane Wangare ,Sons Lenny Allan, RJ and my daughter Lynn Alma for their support and patience during the time of writing this project. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to appreciate and thank the Board of Post Graduate Studies of the University of Nairobi for giving me an opportunity to take this course. I most thank my research supervisor, Dr. John Mbugua for guidance and supervision of my work. I thank other lecturers at the university who taught me throughout the entire course, the Librarian, administration and support staff at the Department of Open Learning. I acknowledge my fellow colleagues in my class for their immense support making learning gratifying during the period of the course. v TABLE OF CONTENTS

Geothermal energy is regarded as a clean energy source. This assertion has a degree of truth subj... more Geothermal energy is regarded as a clean energy source. This assertion has a degree of truth subject to technological interventions applied in its extraction. This paper focuses on quality of vegetation, soils and water points at well sites. The concentrations of trace elements at the well sites is mainly determined by adequacy of technological interventions. Geothermal energy is classified as renewable source and climate changeresilient. However, ineffective interventions andreservoir characteristics could result in undesired effluents to the surrounding rendering it unsustainable. More so, the resource is located in fragile ecosystems pivotal in climate change resilience. Simple random sampling of 81 wells was done. Samples were collected and analyzed in the laboratory. The results indicated that contamination of the vegetation, soils and water was evident. Boron concentrations in the soils for instance resulted in a sigma value of 5.99 and pvalue of 0.00. This meant its concentra...

Imperial journal of interdisciplinary research, 2016

Climate change is inevitable for years to come. This reality dictates that development paths shou... more Climate change is inevitable for years to come. This reality dictates that development paths should build social, economic and ecological resilience for sustainability to be attained. In Kenya, 70 % of total formal employment is from natural resource sectors. This paper focused on technological inadequacies in the course of geothermal production in Olkaria and Eburru geothermal sites which are fragile ecosystems. The physical and chemical characteristics of waste geothermal fluids, physical and chemical properties of rain water were analyzed as well as gaseous emissions from the plants. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling were used in determining samples. Focused group discussions, interviews, observation guides and key informant were used to collect data. Most of the data was collected from Kengen for a five year duration between 2011 and 2015. 81 wells were sampled out for analysis. Analysis was done using Statistical Package of Social Sciences. One sample t- test was ...

East African Medical Journal, 2016

Science of The Total Environment, 2021

This study constructs two biophysical metrics; one based on Land Surface Temperatures (LST) and a... more This study constructs two biophysical metrics; one based on Land Surface Temperatures (LST) and an integrated spectral index. The latter is an aggregate of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Bareness Index (NDBaI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), and Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI). The goal is to determine how disparate weighting techniques, data transformation approaches, and spatial visualization pathways influence the computation of composite heat metrics. Using composite images made of aggregated images from late May to Early September within Google Earth Engine, we generated four composites by combining biophysical metrics with SoVI using equal and Eigen-based weightings informed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). We compared equal interval classification, global and local Moran's as pathways for spatial visualization of hotspots. We utilized several data transformation techniques in a Geographic Information System (GIS), including rescaling, reclassification, zonal statistics, and spatial weighting. Mann Kendall and Sen's Slope detected and quantified monotonic trends in each spectral index. The results show that the LST biophysical metric and its composites indicate increased heat susceptibility over time, with disproportionately exposed core metro counties. The integrated spectral index and its proxies showed reduced vulnerability hence not a good proxy for LST. At the same time, the Mann Kendall and Sen's Slope found persistent increases in NDVI and NDWI and decreases in NDBI and NDBaI. However, opposite trends were evident in core city counties. The LST-based composites and spectral indices-based composites varied in the spatial-temporal distribution of hotspots. Disparate weighting mechanics, data transformation techniques, and visualization alternatives influence the magnitude and spatial-temporal distribution of heat hotspots.

Journal of Plant Breeding and Crop Science, 2018

Maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky) is a major maize (Zea mays L.) storage insect pest ... more Maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky) is a major maize (Zea mays L.) storage insect pest in the tropics which reduces the quantity and quality of maize hence facilitating establishment of aflatoxin and other mycotoxins. The objective of this study was to evaluate maize weevil resistance on selected inbred lines. Twenty eight inbred lines with 2 checks (MTPO701-reistant and Duma 41-susceptible) were used in this experiment. Thirty unsexed adult insects were introduced into 250 ml glass jars with grains of the lines at room temperature. Evaluation of weevil damage was done at 10, 60 and 120 days after maize weevil infestation. Each category of storage period was replicated 4 times and experiment was set at the same time. Data was collected on percent weevil damage, grain weight loss and number of live and dead weevils on each inbred line. ANOVA analysis showed significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) on weight loss. The selection of the resistant genotypes was based on percent weight loss after 60 days. Resistant lines selected included KEN2/TZL2.25# and LEPOOL-1/TZL2-2-1. These lines showed resistance to maize weevil damage and hence can be stored up to 4 months. At 120 days there was maximum damage and most lines could not be differentiated on the basis of resistance. KEN2/TZL2-2-5# showed consistency in resistance to maize weevils at all storage periods. High heritability at 60 days showed that selection for weevil resistance in these inbred lines is effective and feasible. Results in this study also revealed high, positive and significant correlation relationship between percent damage, weight loss and live weevils. The maize weevil resistant lines can be used to improve resistance of high yielding varieties in breeding programmes.

Obstetrics and gynecology international, 2018

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) has no medical benefits and is associated with serious ... more Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) has no medical benefits and is associated with serious health complications. FGM/C including medicalization is illegal in Kenya. Capacity building for nurse-midwives to manage and prevent FGM/C is therefore critical. Determine the current FGM/C knowledge and effect of training among nurse-midwives using an electronic tool derived from a paper-based quiz on FGM/C among nurse-midwives. Nurse-midwives (=26) were assessed pre- and post-FGM/C training using a quiz comprising 12 questions. The quiz assessed the following factors: definition, classification, determining factors, epidemiology, medicalization, prevention, health consequences, and nurse-midwives' roles in FGM/C prevention themes. The scores for individuals and all the questions were computed and compared using SPSS V22. The mean scores for the quiz were 64.8%, improving to 96.2% < 0.05 after training. Before the training, the following proportions of participants correctly answ...

Reproductive Health, 2017

From Management and prevention of female genital mutilation/cutting: sharing data and experiences... more From Management and prevention of female genital mutilation/cutting: sharing data and experiences, improving collaboration Geneva, Switzerland. March 13-14, 2017 Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C), as a topic, has evolved over the last eighty years, from being almost unheard of outside practicing countries [1], to a subject about which, there is now greater awareness. However, many misconceptions prevail. We support the idea that everyone needs to know basic facts about FGM/C, that all health care providers should be involved in avoiding new cases and trained to provide care for existing ones, and that beyond these consensual aspects, there are areas of doubt and lack of evidence which scientists and policy makers need to identify, understand and address. In this area of "expertise", the present issue of RH contains abstracts from presentations and eposters from a conference which took place in Geneva in March 2017 titled "Management and prevention of female genital mutilation/cutting: sharing data and experiences, improving collaboration".

Five herbal drugs were obtained from a market in Nairobi and analyzed for anti-diabetic propertie... more Five herbal drugs were obtained from a market in Nairobi and analyzed for anti-diabetic properties. Swiss albino rats were used as the animal model in the study. Metformin (500mg) was used as the positive control. The rats were induced with diabetes using alloxan. Thereafter, Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG) was carried out to confirm induction of diabetes. Rats induced with diabetes were then grouped into five groups, (n=5), corresponding to treatments with various herbal drugs: Commercial Diabetic formula®, Ganotech® herbal powder, Prunus africana herbal powder, Flax seeds herbal powder and Stevia rebudiana ground leaves powder. Herbal flax seeds at concentrations of 30, 40 and 50% recorded percentage blood glucose reduction of 44.9%, 9.4% and 31.1% respectively compared with the group administered with rat pellets only where the blood sugar increased by 9.5%. The group administered with metformin as positive control showed 75 % reduction of blood sugar. Stevia powder extract concentrations of 20, 30 and 40 % recorded 29.7, 32.7 and 66.7% reduction respectively compared to the group administered with water only which recorded a reduction of 30.3% compared to the group administered with 500 mg/Kg metformin which recorded a reduction of 64.3%..Aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Diabetic Formula® reduced the blood sugar by 56 and 44 % respectively while aqueous and ethanolic extract of Ganotech® herbal powder reduced the blood sugar by 61 and 72% respectively. The aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Prunus africana herbal treatment resulted in reduction of blood sugar by 21.71 and 38.5% respectively compared to the rats treated with the 5% DMSO which reduced by 24.0% and the group treated with 500mg/Kg metformin reduced blood sugar by 53.3%. The herbal drugs used in this study were found to be active against diabetes when compared to the commercial drug Metformin and should be exploited as possible alternative sources of medicine and dietary supplements for diabetes.

IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 2015

Three-dimensional multitrench microstructures, femtosecond laser ablated in fiber Bragg grating (... more Three-dimensional multitrench microstructures, femtosecond laser ablated in fiber Bragg grating (FBG) cladding, TbDyFe sputtered is proposed and demonstrated for magnetic field sensing probe. Parameters such as the number of straight microtrenches, translation speed (feed rate), and laser pulse power of laser beam have been systematically varied and optimized. A 5-µm-thick giant Terfenol-D magnetostrictive film is sputtered on to FBG microtrenches, and acts as magnetic sensing transducer. Eight microtrench samples produced the highest central wavelength shift of 120 pm, nearly fivefold more sensitive compared with nonmicrostructured standard FBG. An increase in laser pulse power to 20 mW generated the magnetic sensitivity of 0.58 pm/mT. Interestingly, reduction in translational speed contributed dramatically to the rise in the magnetic sensitivity of the samples. These sensor samples show magnetic response reversibility and have great potential in the magnetic field sensing domain.

Nigerian Food Journal, 2013

The aqueous and ethanol extract of Calotropis procera leaf and latex were investigated. The leave... more The aqueous and ethanol extract of Calotropis procera leaf and latex were investigated. The leaves and latex from the plant were tested for antimicrobial activities. The bioactive constituents extracted from the leaf and latex were tested against pathogenic organisms (Eschericia coli, Salmonella typhi, Bacillius subtilis, Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger) using the Agar well diffusion method. The ethanolic latex extract showed significant activity against all the test organisms. The results revealed that ethanol is a more effective extractive solvent for antimicrobial activity of leaf and latex of C. procera. The ethanol extract of the latex gave the widest zone of inhibition (21mm) against B. subtilis. All the extracts inhibit the growth of all the organisms except B. subtilis of which the aqueous extract has no effect. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) for the latex extract was between 3 and 7.5 mg/ml for bacteria, and 5.0 to 7.0 mg/ ml for fungi. For the leaf extract the MIC for bacteria was between 5.0 and 10.5 mg/ml and 11 and 15 mg/ml for fungi. The results also showed an increase in antimicrobial activity with increase in temperature. This study therefore revealed that C. procera latex extract demonstrated strong and better inhibitory activity on the test organisms than the leaf extract. These findings therefore provide an explanation for the traditional medicinal use of C. procera extracts.

Journal of obstetrics & gynaecology of Eastern and Central Africa, 1982

17 regularly mentruating young black Kenyan women were studied during a mentrual cylcle for their... more 17 regularly mentruating young black Kenyan women were studied during a mentrual cylcle for their reproductive hormonal patterns. The serum concentrations of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Luteinizing Hormone (LH) and Prolactin (PRL) were determined by World Health Organization Matched Reagent Programme Radioimmunoassay (WHO-MR-RIA). A biphasic basal body temperature (BBT) record was also noted. The hormonal patterns showed a mid-cycle LH surge and rise in plasma progesterone beginning with the LH peak and lasting a maximum of 6-8 days after the LH peak. Cycle lengths ranged from 25-32 days with a mean of 28 plus or minus 2 days. The follicular phase ranged from 10-17 days, and the luteal phase lasted from 13-15 days. When the mean LH and FSH concentrations and the mean BBT curve were synchronized on the day of the mid-cycle LH peak, the temperature elevation occured about 48 days after the LH peak. Along with the LH, the FSH showed a mid-cycle peak. The results of this study are consistent with those already documented for Caucasian, Asian and African females

East African medical journal, 1999

Pregnancy among adolescents is unplanned in many instances. Although some pregnant adolescents ca... more Pregnancy among adolescents is unplanned in many instances. Although some pregnant adolescents carry the pregnancy to term, abortion, in many instances unsafely induced, is a commonly sought solution in Kenya. To determine adolescents' perceptions of induced abortion. A cross-sectional descriptive study carried out between July 1995 and June 1996. An urban and a rural district in Kenya. Adolescents aged 10-19 years in schools in Nairobi and Kiambu districts, and a group of immediate post-abortion adolescent girls in some health facilities in Nairobi. The number of health programmes formulated and put into use, which are adolescent-friendly and providing information, education and communication on abortion issues. One thousand eight hundred and twenty adolescents were subjected to a self-administered questionnaire that collected demographic and health data as well as perceptions of induced abortion. Focus group discussions on perceptions of abortion were held with 12 groups of ad...