Abstract A field trial was done to examine the efficacy of chloro-nicotinyl aphicides applied as soil applications, and to determine the optimum rate for fipronil, acetamiprid and calypso for control of the tobacco aphid Myzus persicae. The tobacco variety KRK26 was used in this experiment. The plants were initially exposed to natural infestation by the tobacco aphid. At eight weeks after planting (WAP) the plants were artificially infested with cultured aphids after an assessment of nat...
ABSTRACT Cockroaches have become one of the most common pests due to their wide distribution in human dwellings, kitchens, food outlets and the hospital. In hospitals their wide abundancy may be related to poor sanitary conditions, plenty of food sources, environments which are unhygienic and moist shady places. This study was carried out to evaluate the microbial fauna of cockroaches in a hospital environment as proxy to Health acquired infections. Two different species of cockroaches Peripl...
ABSTRACT The study was carried out to determine the effect of Tenolam drug on kidney function in HIV positive patients at Nkayi District Hospital. The study was done from June 2016 to October 2016. This was done by analysing the change in urine protein concentration after the patients were given the drug. A total of thirty individuals were recruited in the study, fifteen females and fifteen males. Age, gender and CD4 counts of the patients were recorded before tenolam administration. Each pat...
ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa is gram negative bacterium which causes nosocomial infections in patients and is highly resistant to most antibiotics as it possess numerous mechanisms of resistance. These mechanisms possessed by P. aeruginosa make it difficult to treat in infections thus being of medical concern. A study was carried out to determine the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of P. aeruginosa isolated from wound pus and urine samples. A total of 1200 primary culture...
ABSTRACT Some aspects of the ecology of Barbus amphigramma Boulinger 1908 which included distribution and abundance, effects of physico-chemical parameters on the species, growth parameters, food and feeding habits and reproduction in Lake Naivasha and River Malewa were investigated using standard methods and procedures. The study covered nine months from February to October 2003. There was an overall influence of seasonal long rains in Lake Naivasha and River Malewa on dissolved oxygen, chlo...
ABSTRACT The impact of industrial effluent discharged into Khami Dam was assessed through physicochemical parameters and also by bio-monitoring of benthic macro-invertebrates. Samples for physico-chemical parameters were measured at three sites over a period of six months and sampling was done once each month. Composite samples of 1000ml for nitrates and phosphates were collected using a beaker on all sites and placed on schott bottles and placed on ice filled cooler boxes and were then take...
ABSTRACT In developing countries with disproportionately high burden of HIV-1 (HIV) infections, access to early infant diagnosis (EID) and viral load (VL) HIV nucleic acid testing is limited by the prohibitive infrastructural costs of centralized testing laboratories. To increase access to HIVEID and VL monitoring, development of robust and low cost point of care (POC) technologies is a priority of current HIV diagnostic research. In Kenya, a number of POC technologies are being evaluated for...
ABSTRACT Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), one of the main stay of Lake Victoria fisheries, was introduced in the 1950s and 1960s to boost capture fisheries. However, its production has declined dramatically over the years due to over exploitation and its consumption preference by the ever increasing Kenyan population. The decline of capture fisheries has made aquaculture production be considered as the future solution to the declining of capture fisheries and the availability of fish glo...
ABSTRACT Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are a great achievement to the implementation of parasite based diagnosis before treatment. They use a nitrocellulose strip coated with antibodies that target the Plasmodium antigens; histidine rich protein II (HRP2), lactose dehydrogenase (LDH), and aldolase. A major drawback of the method is that the majority of RDTs do not have positive control materials to test different batches of RDTs at the point of care. Dried Plasmodium-infected samples ...
Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine if the Boophilus species spectrum of ticks infesting cattle owned by resource limited farmers in the state owned communal land areas of Zimbabwe, are resistant to Amitraz. The study was also aimed at finding a concentration of the acaricide that the tick species are susceptible to, and can give at least 99.9% mortality. Five districts were selected from the Matabeleland South province and five farms were randomly selected from each district...
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ABSTRACT Sugarcane is the third most important commodity crop in Kenya after tea and coffee. The productivity of the crop has been declining despite existence of recommended agronomic and cultural practices and opening new sugarcane lands. Though high yielding and early maturing varieties have been introduced in Kenya Sugar Industry to overcome low yields, the problem persists. Farmers apply nitrogen either in single dose or split. It is not known if the rates and mode of application are appr...
ABSTRACT Striga hermonthica weed is the most widespread and noxious species that parasitises many economically important cereal crops including maize ( Zea mays L.) in sub-Saharan Africa. Striga is also called witchweed in the family Orobanchaceae. Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Strigae is a fungus of the genus Fusarium that causes fusarium wilt disease on S. hermonthica. Most control methods against Striga; chemicals, cultural and resistant maize are expensive, ineffective and toxic to environmen...
ABSTRACT Common bean is an important legume and a cheap source of proteins. Phaeoisariopsis griseola causing Angular Leaf Spot disease (ALS) is a major constraint for common bean production in Kenya contributing to yield losses estimated at 80%. ALS disease has been difficult to control using cultural practices and resistant varieties which necessitates the need to search for an alternative management option. Synthetic fungicides too have numerous side effects, so the plant-based products are...
ABSTRACT Sugarcane productivity in Kenya has declined despite increased acreage and new cultivars possibly due to use of old-cultivar agronomic inputs. The N-K2O optimal rates for new cultivars are unknown. Kenya Sugar Industry intends to pay farmers based on sucrose instead of tonnage however, factors that influence productivity e.g. N-K2O rates and harvesting age have not been evaluated. Foliar analysis is a diagnostic tool, but has not been embraced. The objective was to compare variations...