Mount Kenya University

Children and adolescents living with HIV face unique physical, psychological, and social challenges that can significantly affect their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Understanding the dimensions and determinants of HRQoL among them is crucial to developing solutions to improve their overall well-being. This research aimed to assess the HRQoL and its determinants among children and adolescents living with HIV in Eastern Uganda. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 228 respondents. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were assessed using an investigator-designed questionnaire, and HRQoL was assessed using the World Health Organization HIV Quality of Life – BREF tool. A multiple linear regression model was used to identify independent factors associated with HRQoL. The mean age of the respondents was 13.68 ± 1.95 years, 129 (56.58

This study assessed the influence of laboratory resource management on the teaching and learning of science subjects in rural public secondary schools in Nyagatare District, Rwanda. It focused on laboratory resource availability, teacher training in laboratory management, and laboratory scheduling practices. The study was guided by Constructivist Learning Theory and Systems Theory and adopted a descriptive survey design involving 45 respondents (school leaders, deans of studies, and science subject leaders) selected through a census approach. Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews and analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Findings revealed that laboratory resource availability positively influences students’ academic performance in science subjects, with most respondents reporting frequent laboratory sessions (60.0%) and active student participation (66.7%). Teacher training in laboratory management was also found to enhance the effectiveness of practical science teaching, with 73.4% of respondents indicating improved instructional delivery. Additionally, regular use of laboratories and high student engagement in practical activities were reported. However, challenges such as inadequate laboratory materials, uneven teacher training, and inconsistency in practical sessions were identified. The study concludes that effective laboratory resource management significantly improves science teaching and learning outcomes. It recommends increased investment in laboratory facilities, continuous teacher professional development, improved management practices, and stronger monitoring systems to enhance science education in rural schools.

Debt financing constitutes a fundamental avenue through which business entities secure resources for their operational and strategic obligations, thus necessitating careful determination of appropriate borrowing levels. The principal challenge resides in establishing and implementing the optimal quantum of debt that can deliver superior financial outcomes. Kenya’s building and construction industry recorded performance metrics of 3.2/3.5 in third order during the 2014/2016 study period, representing a notable decline when juxtaposed against the 5.8 and 6.0 percentages achieved during 2005/2006. This suboptimal performance trajectory within the construction sector, according to extant literature, was attributable to the debt composition employed in financing operational activities among industry participants. This circumstance prompted the current investigation into the effect of debt ratio on the financial performance of non-listed building and construction enterprises operating in Kenya. The research endeavor sought to assess the influence of debt ratios on profitability metrics of these non-listed construction firms. The study employed Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) as proxies for financial performance evaluation. The investigation covered the period spanning 2014 to 2016. The theoretical framework incorporated Trade-off theory. A descriptive survey design was adopted as the research methodology. Secondary data were extracted from consolidated financial statement records maintained at the National Construction Authority and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers. The target population encompassed all 10 Tier 1 non-listed building and construction firms registered with the National Construction Authority during the three-year study window. The sample size corresponded to the entire target population, with secondary data serving as the primary information source. The outcomes derived from this analysis demonstrated that debt ratio exerts a discernible inverse influence on the financial standing of non-listed building and construction firms in Kenya. The evidence indicated that financial performance tends to deteriorate as the proportion of debt within the capital structure increases. This observation provides compelling justification for prioritizing equity financing over borrowed capital. Debt financing proved to be cost-intensive, attracting interest expenses and other associated costs that surpass the anticipated benefits of leveraging. The findings of this study will enable management and financial practitioners to evaluate corporate growth characteristics, business risk exposures, and financial performance metrics to project future enterprise value. The research recommends that business entities should strive to minimize financial leverage within their capital structures as a strategy for enhancing financial performance and maximizing shareholder wealth creation.

Introduction: Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) aims to reduce maternal and perinatal mortality through ongoing monitoring and retrospective data analysis. The Kiambu County Referral Hospital (KCRH) MPDSR committee observed an increase in maternal mortality with the use of misoprostol for labour induction. An administrative decision was implemented in June 2019 to replace misoprostol with dinoprostone for labour induction. Here, we sought to investigate the factors associated with maternal mortality and the role of induction agents, as well as the effectiveness of the MPDSR at KCRH. Methods: We analysed all the 58 maternal mortality cases that occurred during the 36-month study period between January 2018 and December 2020 against a random sub-cohort of 232 controls. Multiple logistic regression, adjusted for intensified MPDSR activities and labour induction agents, was employed to identify factors affecting maternal mortality. Results: In multivariable analysis, postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) was strongly associated with higher odds of maternal death (aOR: 14.4; 95%CI: 2.72–75.8; p = 0.002), while gestational age ≥38 weeks was associated with significantly lower odds (aOR: 0.16; 95%CI: 0.05–0.54; p = 0.003). Use of misoprostol for induction was associated with a four-fold higher odds of maternal death compared to dinoprostone (aOR: 4.95; 95% CI: 0.56–43.8; p = 0.15), although this difference was not statistically significant. Unemployment, single marital status, eclampsia, gestational hypertension, vaginal delivery, and maternal pyrexia were associated with either higher or lower odds of maternal death, but none of these associations were statistically significant. Intensified MPDSR activities were not associated with a significant change in maternal death risk (aOR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.32–3.55; p > 0.9). Conclusion: Although enhancing MPDSR activities did not reduce maternal mortality, inducing labour with misoprostol showed higher odds of maternal mortality compared to dinoprostone, though this association did not reach statistical significance. Our findings raise a safety concern consistent with the initial safety concern that motivated this study, and further post-marketing surveillance of labour induction methods is required to establish whether this reflects a true causal relationship. This work also underscores the urgent need to strengthen prevention and management of PPH in resource-limited settings while also ensuring careful evaluation of induction agents.

The recent advancements in contactless multimodal biometric fusion in respect to the pharmaceutical company’s secure access are discussed in the systematic review. The article proposed a new hybrid model framework for secure access. Recent articles that were published between the year 2020 to 2025 were considered using the using the PRISMA approach. From the findings deep learning such as the CNN architectures have shown a decrease in false acceptance rates and in increase in the recognition accuracy (95–99%). However, most models have not been validated in real-world pharmaceutical contexts, are still unimodal, and do not optimize hybrid settings. To bridge these gaps, the suggested Hybrid CNN–Gabor–PSO architecture integrates feature engineering, data augmentation, and hyper parameter tuning. Adaptative learning rate is incorporated in the model after the new feature generation. CNN layers collect spatial patterns, Gabor filters capture frequency and orientation information, and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) optimizes the fused feature subset to minimize intra-class variation. In order to guarantee the security of the pharmaceutical companies, the proposed integrated hybrid feature fusion model guarantees secure, reliable, adaptable and effective authentication.