ABSTRACT Aflatoxin contamination of maize in Africa poses a major threat to food security and the health of many African people. In Kenya, aflatoxin contamination of maize is high due to the environmental, agricultural and socio-economic factors. Many studies have been conducted to understand the scope of the problem especially at pre-harvest level, but few of them have been concentrated to the post-harvest level. This research was carried out to gather scientific information on the fungi pop...
Abstract: Abstract:This study was conducted in the scope of developing a sustainable effective approach againstsubterranean termite pests using entomopathogenic and endophytic fungus-based biopesticides.Termites,Odontotermesspp. workers, were tested for their susceptibility to 15 entomopathogenicfungal isolates through the direct spraying of conidia suspensions at 1×108conidia/mL. In general,all the isolates screened were pathogenic, with 100% mortality 4–7 days post-inoculation. However,...
H. pylori is a microaerophilic organism and a gram negative bacterium which is found in the alimentary canal. It causes chronic gastritis and gastric ulcers. It is also linked to the development of duodenal ulcers and stomach cancer, conditions that were not previously believed to have a microbial cause. The persons infected with H. pylori usually have a 10 to 20% danger of developing peptic ulcersand a 1 to 2% likelihood of acquiring stomach cancerin lifetime. Nearly 15% of infected persons ...
Abstract: Endophytic fungi are important in diverse plant functions but knowledge of the factors that shape assemblages of these symbionts is lacking. Here, using a culture-dependent approach, we report 4,178 endophytic fungal isolates representing 16 orders isolated from stems, roots and leaves of three cruciferous plant species, Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L.), radish (Raphanus sativus L.) and white cabbage (B. olerocea L.), collected from 21 focal fields with different landscape contex...
Abstract Salmonella enterica and Shigella dysenteria are different groups of Gram-negative bacteria. Salmonella infection affects the small and large intestine (enterocolitis) whereas Shigella infection affects the colon (colitis). Diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever are the main symptoms in both diseases. The study was conducted among Beitbridge residents who visited Beitbridge District Hospital suffering from diarrhea in the months December 2017 and January 2018. The aim of the study was t...
Abstract Most variable speed wind turbines have pitch angle control mechanisms and one of their objectives is to extract maximum power from available wind speed, by adjusting pitch angles of wind turbine. In this research, the use of pitch angle control using PI controller is presented for wind turbines equipped for a three turbines with self-exited induction generators (SEIGs). The converters are used to extract the maximum available power from the wind. All machines are connected to a dc b...
ABSTRACT Amoebiasis remains one of the commonest gastroenteritis in Ghana especially among children. The Entamoeba complex comprises Entamoeba histolytica, Entamoeba dispar and Entamoeba moshkovskii, which are morphologically identical but genetically diverse. Entamoeba histolytica is the only known pathogenic protozoan Entamoeba species. The epidemiology of Entamoeba complex infections within the Ho Municipality in the South-Eastern part of Ghana has not been thoroughly investigated and th...
ABSTRACT Background: The suppression of the immune system by persistent exposure to organic pollutants can induce or exacerbate airway inflammation, which can be a predictor of respiratory infections. Objective: The study examined the association between exposure to pesticides and symptoms of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) among children under five years in the Offinso North District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Methodology: The study population was derived from a population-based cro...
Abstract: Maize is a staple food crop in Kenya with about 90% of the rural households depending on it. However, the grain is vulnerable to degradation by mycotoxin producing fungi in the field and during storage. Mycotoxins produced by these fungi cause significant economic losses and deleterious health effects to humans and animals. Strategies such as storage of maize in hermetic bags have been developed to reduce post-harvest grain losses due to pest attack, fungal growth and mycotoxin con...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease, often endemic in areas with poor sanitation, is known to cause physical and mental defects in children and adults alike. Consequently, a number of strategies with much emphasis on drug administration for morbidity control have been put in place to combat schistosomiasis in Ghana and the world at large. Unfortunately, children under six years have been excluded from chemotherapy for several years and it is in recent times t...
ABSTRACT The study revealed into the relationship between personal hygiene and the occurrence of diseases primary school children in Makindye municipality where the following aspects were investigated: (1). personal hygiene practices among primary school children, (2). occurrence of disease among primary school, (3). relationship between hygiene practices and occurrence of diseases, (4). difference between personal hygiene practices and occurrence of diseases between private and public primar...
ABSTRACT Surveys were conducted to assess the incidence of seed borne pathogens on fingermillet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaetrn) and sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) in seeds produced by farmers in Morogoro Rural, Kilosa districts (Morogoro Region), Kondoa, Dodoma Rural districts (Dodoma Region), and Njombe and Iringa Rural districts (Iringa Region), in Tanzania. A total of 72 seed samples were collected and taken to the laboratory for assay of seed-borne pathogens. The blotter method was used...
ABSTRACT Malaria and typhoid fever are both endemic in the tropics and pregnant women constitute one of the high risk groups. The study on prevalence of Plasmodium and Salmonella infections among pregnant women in Aba, Abia State was carried out in Aba between June and July, 2016. Blood samples from 200 volunteered pregnant women who came for antenatal clinic with clinical signs in three selected health institution were collected and analyzed at microbiology laboratory, Abia State Polytechnic...
ABSTRACT Namibia has achieved great success in the reduction of malaria case numbers from over 500 per 1000 population in 2000 to between 1 -2 per 1000 population in 2013 (MoHSS-NVDCP, 2009). The gains in the reduction of malaria case numbers have seen the country transitioning from the control phase of malaria epidemiology to the pre-elimination phase, and has subsequently adopted the goal of malaria elimination by 2020 (MoHSS-NVDCP, 2010; Pindolia et al., 2012). Since the year 2008, there ...
ABSTRACT Background: The Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) was first recognized in the 1980s by Poiesz et al and was the first retrovirus identified in human. HTLVs are human retroviruses identified as the causative agents of Adult T-Cell Leukemia/Lymphoma (ATLL), a lymphoproliferative malignancy of CD4+ activated cells and HTLV-1 associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (HAM/TSP), a demyelinating disease. There is a significant association of HTLV 1 with lymphoid malignanc...