Abstract/Overview The plant species Lonchocarpus eriocalyx Harms (Fabaceae) is a deciduous slender tree or shrub which grows up to 15 m tall. It is an important medicinal plant in Kenya used to treat a wide range of ailments including eye infection, wound and ulcer. However, little is known about its chemical constituents. The present study aims to isolate secondary metabolites from the plant leaves along with their various biological activities. Eight compounds, namely friedelin (1), lup...
Abstract/Overview Socio-economic and medical information on Bondo sub-county community was studied to help establish the relationship between the water quality challenges, community health and water rights conditions. Health challenges have been linked to water quality and household income. A total of 1,510 households/respondents were studied by means of a questionnaire. About 69% of the households have no access to treated water. Although 92% of the respondents appear to be aware that tr...
Abstract/Overview Sap flux density (SFD) measurements were used, in combination with morphological characteristics of trees and forest structure, to calculate whole-tree transpiration, stand transpiration (St) and mean canopy stomatal conductance (Gs). Analysis based on the relationships between the morphological characteristics of trees and whole tree water use, and on the responses of SFD and Gs to short wave radiation (RR), vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and soil water content (SWC) duri...
Abstract/Overview Forests are some of the key natural assets that provide a wide range of goods and services to forest adjacent communities. However, there is inadequate information on the factors that influence community members’ level of dependence on forest resources. This study examined and analyzed factors that influence dependence of households on non-timber forest products from South Nandi forest, Kenya. 431 household heads from 9 villages were interviewed using proportional rand...
Abstract/Overview Thiocarbohydrazide synthesis is an important intermediate step for many hydrazine organic synthetic reactions. Synthesis of thiocarbohydrazide can be done by reaction of carbon disulfide with hydrazine (hydrazinolysis) in water at 0°C giving 25% yield (based on [hydrazine]). However, in this article, we achieve a 96% yield (based on [hydrazine]) by carrying out the reaction in methanol at 24°C. The thiocarbohydrazide is then used to synthesize 1,5-bis (2-hydroxybenzald...
Abstract/Overview Herbal medicine has been used for many years and it remains widespread in developing countries while the use of complementary alternative medicine is increasing rapidly in developed countries. Senna didymobotrya is important for its medicinal use among many communities to treat a wide range of ailments. The study examines the patterns of morphological variation and phenetic relationships among 39 populations of S.didymobotrya in Kenya using17 quantitative and 17 qualitat...
Abstract/Overview The electrical and optical properties of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) thin films prepared by D.C. reactive magnetron sputtering technique have been systematically studied. The influence of the film deposition conditions on the opto-electrical properties has been investigated and has helped to solve the puzzles of difficulties associated with preparation of high quality Cu2O films. This is because there is usually co-deposition of phases of Cu, Cu2O and CuO during the preparation...
Abstract Africa is under pressure from climate stresses and is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In Kenya, agriculture is the backbone of the economy making it an important contributor to food security of rural households. Currently crop productivity is being affected by continued climate variations and decline in soil fertility. Adaptation to climate change requires to be given high and urgent priority for sustainable crop production. A study was conducted in Mavuria ward,...
Abstract/Overview The future emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are likely to increase beyond the current levels due to rapid industrialization in China. Several methods have been proposed as possible mitigation strategies to reduce the anthropogenically emitted CO2 from the atmosphere and water. This study provided the description of stratigraphic structure of the basin through analysis between the regional groundwater flow and the injection of carbon dioxide. The geological and geomechan...
Abstract/Overview Wound management is key to healing. Poorly managed wounds lead to abnormal biological reactions and complications. Microorganisms, bacteria or fungi, infect such wounds leading to their chronic nature. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) show wound healing properties. In addition, ethnobotanical information from Siaya County in Kenya shows the leaves of Physalis peruviana L. to be effective in wound management. A combination of Au NPs and leave extracts of Physalis peruviana L. ...
Abstract Climate-change leads to extreme droughts, but it is difficult to predict how crop pests are affected. Drought may alter behavior of crop pests such as aphids that facilitate transmission of pathogens like Fusarium graminearum, causing Fusarium foot and root rot in barley crops by feeding close to the susceptible base of plants. Ground dwelling generalist predators like Carabid beetles, and wolf spiders are important aphid enemies during the aphid colonization phase in barley crops i...
Abstract In Kenya, Arid and semi-arid Lands are more affected by drought due to their fragile ecosystems, unfavourable climate, and historical marginalization. Kitui County is one of the counties that have been hit hard by protracted droughts over the past decades. This study aimed at addressing the increasing global, regional, and national attention on building community resilience to disasters. The overall objective of the study was to evaluate the strategic options for enhancing community...
Abstract Drought risk management is the function of the national government complemented by the developed systems of governance in Kenya. However, this function is clearly delineated only for institutions and misses the mark in identifying the roles of communities and strategies they apply in building resilience to drought. This paper is part of a two-part series of outcomes of a study in Marsabit county, that looked at community managed strategies that promote drought resilience. Using an e...
Abstract In this work, zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI NPs) were synthesized in (EW-Fe0) ethanol -water mixed system and have been evaluated for degradation in aqueous solution of metribuzin. The batch experiments at varying solution pH showed the degradation efficiency of 93.22%, 83.74% and 70.09% for the pH value 10, 7 and 4 respectively. Application of the varying dosage; (2% Feo w/v, 4% Feo w/v, 6% Feo w/v) reflected an increasing trend as per the recorded degradation efficiency of ...
Abstract/Overview As a result of climate change and rapid urbanization, attention increasingly turns to the management of water resources. Proper management of water resources has become a core concern for development practitioners and national governments, especially in the developing world. Accordingly, Community Participation (CP) has been touted as a viable model for managing water in resource scarce regions. This paper synthesizes literature written both from practice-focused and cri...