ABSTRACT Studies show there is less ear damage by insect pests and increased soil fertility from maize/legume intercropping system. These are two main benefits with pre-harvest potential on ear rots incidence and severity which result into mycotoxins reduction. Therefore, in a two season study, impact of push-pull technology (PP), maize desmodium intercrop edged by Brachiaria or Napier grass, was assessed on incidence and severity of four common ear rots: Fusarium, Gibberella, Diplodia and As...
ABSTRACT Control and management of human African trypanosomosis faces many challenges including limited available drugs that are stage specific and also toxic, treatment failures and post treatment CNS and cardiac pathology which might be fatal. Because of ethical considerations, trypanosomosis and drug trial studies are conducted using animal models which have drawbacks. It is therefore important to develop models that can address the current drawbacks and also develop enzymatic disease stag...
ABSTRACT Agrochemical industries are faced with inadequate supply of molasses that is the main raw material for ethanol production creating a need to develop an alternative feedstock. The use of sweet sorghum will alleviate the problem. Three sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) genotypes, EUSS10, EUSS11, and EUSS17 were tested against five controls, SS21, SS17, SS14, ACFC003/12 and SS04 to evaluate their ethanol yield potential, stability, and adaptability in Busia, Siaya and Kisumu Cou...
ABSTRACT Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection remains a major global public health concern with 36.9 million people infected. The HIV health burden is most felt in Sub-Saharan Africa, where about 70% of the infection occurs. The unprecedented scale-up of access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) has improved the management of HIV and reduced HIV-associated morbidity and mortality. However, long term sustainability of this success requires treatment monitoring and surveillance of emerging...
ABSTRACT Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a common type of liver cancer arising from progressive transformation of pre-cancerous dysplasia macronodules and hepatocytes is ranked as the fourth leading cause of death globally and a fifth cause of death in Africa. Several risk factors for HCC have been identified that include dietary and life style risks, significant genetic family history and predisposition to genetic mutation. It has been hypothesized that codon 249 of p53 gene is more suscepti...
ABSTRACT Contamination of drinking water sources remains a big challenge and many people lack access to safe potable water. In Njoro Sub-county the main water sources are rivers, man-made wells (protected and unprotected), boreholes, rainwater and springs (protected and unprotected). Although Escherichia coli (E. coli) is an indicator organism for fecal contamination of water, some E. coli strains have acquired the ability to cause intestinal (gastroenteritis) and extraintestinal diseases in ...
ABSTRACT Malaria control through insecticide application has significantly been compromised by the advent of resistance to the insecticide in the Anopheles mosquito vector. These developments have necessitated the need to bio prospect for and understand the mode of action of novel insecticide introduction. Larvicidal potential in extracts from Aloe plants on Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto and Aedes aegypti third instar (two days old) larvae were evaluated. Extracts were obtained from Aloe tu...
ABSTRACT In Anopheles gambiae mosquito vector of malaria, mating is mediated by transfer of a plug (mating plug protein) from males to females. In the females, the constituents of the plug include male accessory glands (MAGs) proteins and female specific proteins that influence ovulation, oviposition, lifetime refractoriness to mating and other post-mating behaviors in the females. Manipulation of the plug can significantly affect the reproduction potential and concomitant population density ...
A great number of people all over the world suffer from diabetes. Understanding the mechanisms by which amino acids regulate insulin secretion in vivo may reveal novel sites for targeting drugs for the therapy of type 2 diabetes in the future. A descriptive analytical cross-sectional and hospital based study was done. The objectives of this study were to determine in the levels of selected amino acids in patients with diabetes type 2 and to measure the serum levels of insulin in Sudanese...
ABSTRACT Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), an edible crop that is renowned out of its growth advantages over other crops, carries cyanide which is potentially poisonous to humans. The threat is intensified by human habit of consuming raw cassava tubers whose toxicological status is not established. Cases and indicators of cyanide poisoning due to cassava consumption are evident in Tanzania, particularly in Kagera and Morogoro regions. This study was launched to quantify cyanide in tubers o...
Sickle cell anaemia is the most common single gene defect among black population. The two main levels of control are early prenatal diagnosis and premarital counselling and screening. Early prenatal diagnosis is performed on the chorionic villi, which is usually contaminated with DNA from the maternal decidua cells during sampling. Co- amplification of the maternal and fetal DNAis a major challenge during molecular diagnosis using the ARMS PCR protocol. The outcome would be laboratory misdiag...
ABSTRACT Waste generated by several agricultural activities has many alternative uses. Unfortunately, much of it is burnt in the open fields, resulting in environmental pollution. In view of the economic and ecological importance of agro wastes, microfungi were isolated from decaying agro wastes samples and screened for pectinolytic activity using a plate assay method containing pectin alone. The effects of carbon, nitrogenous sources and pH on pectinase production by the strains with maximum...
ABSTRACT Aloe vera gel (AVG) extract is commonly used as a home remedy for some diseases, including diabetes mellitus. This study investigates the effects of pure Aloe vera (Aloe babardensis) gel on some biochemical, haematological and histological parameters in diabetic rats. The animals were divided into six groups of six rats each (n=6). Diabetes mellitus was experimentally induced in rats by intraperitoneal administration of a single dose of alloxan monohydrate (170 mg/kg BW.) following ...
ABSTRACT Soy bean v arieties commonly gro wn in Kenya`s acidic soils that contain aluminium are SB 97, SB 19, SB 20 and SB 123. Soy bean grains have high protein content, vitamins and used to manufacture industrial products. Aluminium toxicity affect growth and physiology of plant growth . The effects of aluminium chloride solution on plant growth, uptake of mineral nutrients and di stribution in vegetative parts of soy beans are still not fully understood. The objective of this study was to ...
ABSTRACT Oral contraceptive agents (OCA) have been in use for well over two decades with a total of 150 to 200 million women all over the world using the pills as means of birth control. Aside from their gynecologic influences, the hormones have been shown to affect metabolic and nutritional processes. Concern over the nutritional status of Nigerian females consuming OCA prompted this research using animal model. Pour vitamins were investigated along with four birth control pills Ovral, Norde...