Influence of Green Recruitment and Selection on Sustainability of Selected Tea Factories in Kericho Highlands Region, Kenya

The focus of this study was to assess the influence of green recruitment and selection on the sustainability of selected tea factories in Kericho Highlands region, Kenya. The study was anchored on human capital theory. It adopted a correlational research design, with a targeted population of 915 respondents drawn from tea factories in the Kericho highlands region. A sample size of 278 respondents was determined scientifically using the Yamane taro formula. Primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire. The validity of the research was checked together with the supervisors and subject experts, while instrument reliability was determined through Cronbach's alpha coefficient, where a coefficient of 0.7987 was obtained. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis was used to analyse data. The findings established a significant positive relationship between green recruitment and selection and the sustainability of the tea factories. The study concluded that green recruitment and selection influenced the sustainability of the factories.

Does Trust Associate with Political Regime?

Since trust correlates with economic development and in turn economic development associates with political regime, we conjecture that there may be a relationship between trust and political regime. Without looking for any casual inference, we investigate if trust aggregated on the country level correlates with the country's political regime. Specifically, we are interested whether trust correlates positively with the level of democracy in cross-sectional observations. We analyse data on trust from 76 countries using the Global Preference Survey and investigate the correlations with five separate democracy indices (Polity2, Economist Intelligence Unit’s Index of Democracy, Freedom House, MaxRange and Unified Democracy Score). We do not find any significant association, with or without taking into account other factors (e.g., regional location, economic development, geographic conditions, culture) as well. Trust does not correlate with cornerstones of democracy either, measured by five components of the EIU index. A robustness check using an alternative measure of trust from the World Values Survey reaches the same results. The present study supersedes the working paper version (Khayouti et al., 2020).

Library Websites During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has been shown to impact the business environment in different ways. The current paper presents how the university and research library websites in Tanzania responded to the changes in the working environment and style following the outbreak of COVID-19. This study employed a content analysis method to collect and analyse data from academic and research library websites in Tanzania. This study focuses on how library websites in Tanzania were used to update and connect library users with relevant information resources and services during the outbreak of the COVID-19. The findings show that 12 of the 24 library websites had the opening and closing hours, two university library websites had information related to the outbreak of the COVID-19 and 12 had no information related to the outbreak of the COVID-19. This study has an important practical implication for the academic and research librarians on the effective use of library websites for information sharing and communication.

FAKTOR PENYUMBANG MASALAH PENGAJARAN DAN PEMUDAHCARAAN BAHASA TAMIL DAN CARA PENYELESAIANNYA DI SEBUAH SEKOLAH RENDAH ANTARABANGSA

Tamil language is one of the subjects offered by government schools as well as international schools in Malaysia. This study was conducted to examine the problems faced by students and teachers in learning and facilitation Tamil language in an international school. There are two objectives of the study in this study which is to examine the problems faced by students in an international primary school in learning and facilitation Tamil language and to identify the problems faced by teachers in an international primary school in learning and facilitation Tamil language. This study was conducted in an international primary school in Klang, Selangor. This study was conducted with the qualitative use of hermeneutic methods. Document analysis was used as a research instrument to collect and analyse data using daily lesson plans (RPH). The results of this study indicate that unplanned daily lesson plans, unclear content and inappropriate learning objectives were obtained from document analysis. This study can identify the problems faced by students and teachers should be curbed in an effective way. The problems studied in this study can help identify the solution to conduct effective Tamil language learning and facilitation in international primary schools.

A Mixed-Method Approach to Examining the Drivers and Outcomes of Citizens Trust towards e-government

This study investigates the antecedents and consequences of trust in e-government websites in Saudi Arabia. FSQCA and Structural equation modelling were used to analyse data collected from 504 participants. The findings indicate that our unified framework possesses some predictive ability regarding citizens' intentions to use e-government services, which was superior to existing theories. The findings indicate that (1) there is no sole factor that sufficiently motivates citizens to use e-government services; (2) three distinct settings of citizens' intention drivers are probable to lead in a significant level of citizens intending to use e-government services; and (3) Uncertainty avoidance has a moderating effect on citizens’, intention to use e-government services. The theoretical and practical implications were demonstrated.

Role of Information Technology in Environmental Communication

Environmental communication emerged in the United States in the 1980s and reached multiple milestones in the area of environmental protection and management. Information and communication technological advancement took a quantum leap in supporting environment-related problems through internet. Involvement of ICT in protecting the environment led to the development of ‘green websites', which are associated with policies to improve, conserve, recycle, and check the carbon emissions and for the development of eco-friendly products. Environmental nature communication is the exchange of information observed during interaction of plants with ecosystems. It was discovered that organs of the plants communicate when in danger to protect themselves from predators. Application of communication devices likes drones, collars, Wifi, usage of software servers for data collection, monitoring will be a way forward to conserve bioresources. Therefore, environmental communication will analyse data for scientific studies in protecting our earth. The chapter provides an overview of environmental communication.

Promise and peril-defining ethical telehealth practice from the clinician and patient perspective: A qualitative study

Objectives We undertook a qualitative study to examine and compare the experience of ethical principles by telehealth practitioners and patients in relation to service delivery theory. The study was conducted prior to and during the recent global increase in the use of telehealth services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 telehealth practitioners and patients using constructionist grounded theory methods to collect and analyse data. Twenty-five axial coded data categories were then unified and aligned through selective coding with the Beauchamp and Childress (2013) framework of biomedical ethics. The groups were then compared. Results Thirteen categories aligned to the ethical framework were identified for practitioners and 12 for patients. Variance existed between the groups. Practitioner results were non-maleficence 4/13 or (31%), beneficence 4/13 (31%), professional–patient relationships 3/12 (22%), autonomy 1/13 (8%) and justice 1/13 (8%). Patient data results were non-maleficence 4/12 (33%), professional–patient relationships 3/12 (33%), autonomy 2/12 (18%), beneficence 1/12 (8%) and justice 1/12 (8%). Conclusions Ethical principles are experienced differently between telehealth practitioners and patients. These differences can impact the quality and safety of care. Practitioners feel telehealth provides better care overall than patients do. Patients felt telehealth may force a greater share of costs and burdens onto them and reduce equity. Both patients and practitioners felt telehealth can be more harmful than face-to-face service delivery when it creates new or increased risk of harms. Building sufficient trust and mutual understanding are equally important to patients as privacy and confidentiality.

African burial practices as havens that promote the spread of cholera in Zimbabwe

The research presents the results of a qualitative study that investigated the African burial practices as ravens that promote the spread of cholera in Zimbabwe which has experienced such outbreaks in 1992/1993, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2008/2009 and 2018. Participants were ten representatives of ten families from Machivenyika Village of Zaka District in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe who had cholera-deaths related during the 2018 outbreak. Data collection instruments were semi-structured questionnaires and focus-group discussions. The constant comparative method was used to analyse data for thematic coding. Findings indicated that participants viewed African burial practices one of the major contributing factors in the spread of cholera in Zimbabwe. Participants suggested ways of improving African burial practices to accomplish positive results. Recommendations were made for the relevant authorities.

Prevalence of Dental Caries, its Associated Risk Factors and Treatment Needs among School Aged Children at Kimironko II Primary School, Kigali, Rwanda

BackgroundDental caries is still a health problem worldwide, its prevalence and incidence are associated with various factors like age, sex, social status, dietary patterns and oral hygiene habits.MethodologyA Secondary data collected from outreaches done by UR CMHS, School of Dentistry at Kimironko II Primary School was analyzed. This secondary data had been obtained using structured questionnaires with close ended questions. Clinical examination had also been done to gather information. SPSS statistical software package version 22 was used to analyse data from Community outreach done at Kimironko Primary School in August 2019.ResultsThe prevalence of dental caries of 42.4% was found among children aged 6-12 years old of Kimironko II Primary School. The researchers found the following to be statistically significantly associated with prevalence of dental caries: gender (p=0.042), dental visits (p=0.001), and use of chew sticks or miswaks (p=0.041). Females were 1.4 times more likely to develop dental caries (OR: 1.462; 95% CI: 1.16-2.017; p=0.021) and children who did not use toothpick were 2 times more likely to develop dental caries (OR: 2.149; 95%CI: 1.251-4.395; p=0.036), whereas visiting a dental practitioner was protective against dental caries (OR: 0.362, 95% CI: 0.251-0.516; p=0.001).ConclusionDental caries is prevalent among children of Kimironko II Primary School. Appropriate preventive measures should be taken to protect those found to be exposed.Rwanda J Med Health Sci 2021;4(3):341-346

Perspectives, dimensions, and references that shape the notion of nature: A semiotic model based on socioecological relations

If the significance of nature is a crucial phenomenon in understanding the forms of relations societies establish with the environment, in what way is this significance built? This paper presents the results of a case study focused on exploring how the meanings of nature and socioecological relationships relate to each other in an indigenous population. The first part of the article explains the theoretical scaffolding used to collect and analyse data, based on ecological anthropology and Ogden and Richards’ semiotic scheme. The second part describes the methodological procedures and the first findings, that is, the elements and dimensions that integrate the meanings of nature and land for the inhabitants of this population. It is also explained how those meanings are built and how they are fused to local socioecological relationships in an ontological way. The findings reveal that the inhabitants of this community configure their meanings of ‘nature’ from multiple references of biological, spiritual, axiological, and cultural character, often represented by its referent ‘land’. The notion of ‘nature’ (as land) is created from subjective and social experiences with the environment and the territory, and in turn provides meaning to the biocultural identity of the population. However, historical learning, worldview, and social organization also emerge as the main structuring elements of the social meanings of nature and land.