ABSTRACT Oestrogens are hormones, naturally produced by mammals or synthetically produced as drugs used in hormone therapy or as contraceptives. In the recent past years, oestrogens have gained much recognition due to their detrimental effect to aquatic life, which ranges from induction of intersexuality to complete reproductive failure of fish. Their main source in the aquatic environment is attributed to human and livestock waste and residues of oestrogens are found in water downstream of ...
ABSTRACT This study was conducted to determine the effects of different traditional cooking methods on the nature of starch in some Nigerian starchy staples. The staples used were yam (Dioscorea spp), cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta spp), cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz),and plantain (Musa paradisiaca spp). Yam and plantain were cooked into boiled and roasted forms. Cocoyam was prepared as cocoyam chips, while cassava was used to produce cassava dough, tapioca, and cassava foo foo and gari p...
ABSTRACT Nutrient contents of foods widely grown and commonly consumed in Morogoro Municipality were determined, aiming at establishing nutrient composition databases of foods in the study area. Data was collected in dry (July to September) and wet (January to March) seasons. A total of 144 respondents were selected from eight wards using simple random technique. Selected nutrient contents of raw and cooked foods were analyzed according to the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOA...
ABSTRACT The anti-ulcer and other gastrointestinal effects of the methanol extract and fractions of Cucumis metuliferus were investigated in rats and mice. Ethyl acetate (EAFCM), butanol (BFCM) and water (WFCM) fractions obtained from the methanol extract of Cucumis metuliferus (MECM) were screened for anti-ulcer activity. The anti-ulcer effect was investigated on gastric ulcers induced by absolute ethanol, hypothermic-restraint stress and indomethacin in rats. The median lethal dose (LD50)...
Abstract von Willebrand’s disease is an autosomally inherited bleeding disorder caused by a qualitative and/ or quantitative abnormality of von Willebrand’s factor . It is one of the most common inherited bleeding disorders based on statistics from developed countries. Human von Willebrand’s factor is a large multimeric protein that plays an important role in the adhesion of platelets to the sub endothelium. It also acts as a carrier for coagulation factor VIII. Its deficiency and or d...
ABSTRACT Gastrointestinal nematode parasitism is a global problem in both sub-tropical and tropical countries. Due to frequent administration of chemical anthelmintics the gastrointestinal nematodes have developed resistance hence giving rise to the search of alternative anthelmintics. This study was carried out to evaluate anthelmintic effects of Tithonia diversifolia in Mbinga district, Ruvuma region, Tanzania. The study specifically dealt with evaluation of the efficacy of T. diversifolia...
ABSTRACT The current study investigated the role of trauma exposure, emotion regulation, and neuroticism on sleep quality among postgraduate students. Four hundred and four postgraduate students (males=228, females=176) participated in the study. The students’ ages ranged from 22 years to 51years, with a mean age of30.60 years (SD=6.84).Participants completed the Harvard trauma Questionnaire (HTQ), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Neuroticism Subscale of Big Five Inventory ...
ABSTRACT Paleolimnology is the reconstruction of historical conditions of lakes using information contained in the sediment proxies. Previous studies have provided evidence for climate variability in the East African region over the last 200 years. However, the response of Lake Baringo to shifts in climate over the years remains unknown. As a consequence this thesis presents a sediment based semi-quantitative reconstruction of water level fluctuations and trophic state variations for Lake Bar...
ABSTRACT East Coast fever (ECF) caused by Theileria parva and African animal trypanosomosis (AAT) caused by some Trypanosoma species are the most devastating cattle diseases that affect cattle productivity in Eastern, central and Southern Africa including Tanzania. A study was conducted in Monduli district in the Maasai steppe ecosystem of Tanzania to determine the prevalence of infections during the dry season when there is increased interaction between livestock and wildlife as a result of...
ABSTRACT Dietary inadequacy and malnutrition among pregnant women has a direct impact on pregnancy outcome. The causes of maternal malnutrition include inadequate food intake, poor nutritional quality of diets, frequent infections and short inter-pregnancy intervals. Tanzania is faced with high maternal malnutrition especially in the rural areas. The aim of this study was to assess the dietary intake and determine the nutritional status of pregnant women in rural Tanzania. Although pregnancy...
A B S T RA C T Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious viral animal disease that impact negatively on food security of livestock keepers in Africa due to its fast spread and death of small ruminants. The disease was first reported in West Africa and afterwards Asia, rest of Africa including East Africa and Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Lack of vaccination and effective application of diagnostic technologies to identify carriers has led to fast spread o...
ABSTRACT Currently, there is a growing trend towards gathering children at orphanage centres (OCs) due to societal changes. This leaves many unanswered questions related to the quality of care offered to children living in OCs. This study aimed to examine care practices and support provided to children living in orphanage centers in Morogoro and Dar es Salaam regions. A cross sectional study design using a questionnaire, observations, anthropometric and biochemical measurements was used to c...
ABSTRACT Lack of dietary diversity is a serious health problem in developing countries because diets are dominantly starchy staples. This study aimed at assessing healthy eating behaviors and dietary diversity among people living in Morogoro urban, rural and Mvomero districts. A cross sectional study was conducted to assess eating behaviors and dietary diversity in 150 households. Dietary diversity was assessed by using un-quantified validated 24 hours recall method. Anthropometric measureme...
ABSTRACT This study was conducted to assess the nutritional status of prisoners living with HIV/ AIDS in Tanzania prisons. A total of 768 (384 HIV-infected, 384 non-infected) prisoners were assessed for nutritional status, dietary intake, Hb status and body fat mass. Results showed that, 75.5% (N=768) of prisoners had good nutritional status of whom 38.3% were HIV-infected and 37.2% were non-infected inmates. About 6.6% (N=768) of the inmates were under-weight, (2.9% HIV-infected, 3.7% non-H...
ABSTRACT Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an arbovirus that causes Rift Valley fever (RVF), a disease that causes morbidity and mortality in livestock and humans. Among the measures considered, vaccines are the most effective control strategy against this RVF disease. While we have available vaccines, effective vaccines and better routes of vaccination are needed to prevent RVF among livestock and humans. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a li...