The prevalence of stunting is very high in Africa (33.9%) despite global decline from 32.6 to 22.2% between 2000 and 2017; and over 33% of all stunted children live in Sub Saharan Africa. In Malawi, 37.1% of under-five children are stunted, 12% are underweight and 3% are wasted. Dedza district has very high prevalence of stunting (43%) despite various interventions to improve child nutrition. The most mothers do not follow standard practices of ensuring food safety, hygiene and dietary d...
ABSTRACT An entomological survey was conducted in the lowland and highland of Gonja Maore and Bombo villages respectively in Same District north - eastern Tanzania. The aim of this survey was to estimate the malaria vectors abundance and to determine the malaria vector composition of Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus sibling species. Mosquitoes were collected from two identified villages with houses preferred for mosquito resting. In each of the selected village, twelve houses were pr...
ABSTRACT The presence of aflatoxins in foods and feeds is respectively a health hazard to human and animals. Cereals, especially maize have been reported to be susceptible to aflatoxin contamination. This study was carried out to investigate aflatoxin levels in maize flour as influenced by maize storage and milling practices in Gairo district, Morogoro region. Quantification was preceded by a purposive cross-sectional survey focusing on storage and milling practices. Based on the survey, the...
ABSTRACT Milk is a rich source of proteins and contains all the essential amino acids and other nutrients. However, only 13% of children below five years in Kenya consume milk and milk products. This study aimed at determining the milk consumption patterns and nutritional status of children aged 24-59 months from smallholder dairy households (DHs) and non-dairy households (NDHs) from peri-urban (Bahati) and rural (Olenguruone) areas in Nakuru County, Kenya. A cross-sectional survey was conduc...
ABSTRACT Most communities in Western Kenya use plant indigenous salts for cooking, medicinal and numerous uses. Typha latifolia and Cyperus rotundus reeds are widely used in Busia and Lugari regions of Western Kenya to prepare indigenous salts. The suitability of these salts and validation of micronutrients and heavy metals is unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the suitability of the indigenous reed salt used in selected parts of Western Kenya. Micronutrients and heavy metal c...
ABSTRACT Major obstacles to the survival of children below the age of five in developing world include malnutrition, inaccessibility to safe water and infections due to parasitic worms such as soil transmitted helminths. This cross-sectional study was undertaken in Marani subcounty, Kisii County, to determine the prevalence rate and potential risk factors of soil transmitted helminths (STH) amongst preschool age children. Stool samples were collected from 106 preschool age children. Data rega...
ABSTRACT A total of 660 discrete jumps in the rotation frequency (ı) and the spin-down rate (ıı) of about 140 pulsars were studied. Out of the 660 discrete jumps, 394 were classical glitches (the so-called macroglitches) and 266 were microglitches. The objects are grouped into normal radio pulsars, anomalous x-ray pulsars and recycled millisecond pulsars. A bimodal distribution was observed in many of the pulsar glitch parameters, namely the discrete absolute fractional jumps in the rotat...
ABSTRACT A study was conducted along the Great Ruaha River (GRR) at Ruaha National Park (RNP) for a period of two months (November to December 2013) with the main aim of assessing the effects of Hippopotamus amphibious vectored subsidies on the chemistry of river ecosystems and the ecology of aquatic resident within these systems. The study was done by measuring river water nutrients, physical water chemistry parameters, and stable isotope analysis of aquatic consumers. Study sites were iden...
ABSTRACT The study area is bounded by latitudes 5027’N and 5034’N, and longitudes 7025’E and 7035’E. It falls within the Northern Niger delta Basin. The aim of this present study is to evaluate the hydrocarbon potentials of the sediments in the area, determine their age and environment of deposition. To achieve this aim, geochemical analysis (TOC and Rock-Eval) and Palynological studies were carried out on fifteen (15) samples. Results from the analysis indicates that the total organi...
Table of Contents Certification . . . Dedication r . . . Acknowledgement r . Abstract . . . . . . L i s t of Figures . . List of Tables .. . Table of Contents .. Introduction Importance of t h e River . . Niger Possible Sources of P u l l u t i o n Xeed for Study . . Objective . . . . L i t e r a t u r R~ ev iew Experiment a1 Study Area Sampling Poi-nts Sampling . . Analysis .. Temperature Conductivity pH .. 0. Colour . .
EXTENDED ABSTRACT Commercial cereal-based complementary foods (CBCF) for infant porridge are increasingly produced and sold in developing countries including Tanzania. A crosssectional study was conducted to determine the safety and quality of commercial cerealbased complementary foods produced and marketed in Mwanza region. Twenty differently formulated cereal-based complementary food products (CBCFs) from 20 processors were purchased from supermarkets and retail shops in Mwanza region. Pro...
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to investigate the structure, pattern and problems of yam production and marketing in Benue State, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to: examine the socioeconomic characteristics of yam farmers and the volume of yam production in Benue State. To examine the socio-economic characteristics of yam traders and the structure and pattern of yam marketing. To investigate the contribution of the middlemen and yam marketing associations towards marketing of ya...
ABSTRACT Novel methods for rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) are urgently needed to complement the widely used smear microscopy in low income settings. Trained TB detection rats offer a promising tool for rapid diagnosis of TB in resource limited settings. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) specific volatile compounds detected by trained Cricetomys gambianus rats in sputum of TB patients are unknown. It is also not known whether rats detect odour signals from other mycobacteria and micr...
ABSTRACT The idea of pool testing originated from Dorfman during the World War II as an economical method of testing blood samples of army inductees in order to detect the presence of infection. Dorfman proposed that rather than testing each blood sample individually, portions of each of the samples can be pooled and the pooled sample tested first. If the pooled sample is free of infection, all inductees in the pooled sample are passed with no further tests otherwise the remaining portions o...
ABSTRACT Chloroquine (CQ) drug was replaced in 1998 by Sulfadoxine - Pyrimethamine (SP) and later Artemisinin Based Combination therapy (ACT) as a first-line treatment of uncomplicated malaria in Kenya. This was due to development of resistance to CQ in Plasmodium falciparum Welch, 1897 malaria parasite. This study set out to determine the prevalence of the CQ resistance in malaria endemic Tiwi and Mbita towns of Kenya. Blood sample were collected from out-patient candidates with uncomplicat...