ABSTRACT Nickel doped tin oxide and tin monoselenide thin films were coated using spray pyrolysis. Nickel doped tin oxide Precursor solution was prepared using a 0.05M Tin (II) Chloride (SnCl4.2H2O) and 0.05M Nickel chloride 6-hydrate (NiCl2.6H2O) in de-ionized water and then being added in ethanol in the ratio 1:1 to get equal proportions, followed by about 2-3 drops of hydrochloric acid. Doping tin oxide was done using uniform concentration of (NiCl2.6H2O) of 0-10 %. Precursor solution of t...
ABSTRACT Malaria is the commonest parasitic disease that continues to cause considerable number of deaths despite the fact that it is treatable and preventable. In 2016, nearly 3.2 billion persons were at risk of malaria and a total of 216 million cases occurred occasioning deaths of approximately 445 thousand people worldwide with majority of the affected being children below five years of age. These numbers are high for a disease which is treatable and preventable. Plasmodium falciparum, th...
ABSTRACT The mesocarp (edible part) of Mangifera. indica L. (mango) is known for its contribution towards addressing nutritional challenges that face most of the developing countries. Based on the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) recommended levels by National Research Council (NRC) USA, mangoes would provide sufficient amounts of essential minerals, sodium (Na), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), Zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn). However, as a result of consumi...
ABSTRACT Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a permanent and progressive loss of kidney function, resulting in deterioration of renal function. The overall management of CKD focuses on medication, dialysis, transplant and nutrition. The importance of nutritional evaluation and diet therapy in the overall management of the patients with CKD is very important; its application is limited by lack of knowledge regarding the requirement for certain nutrients in health and the way in which these require...
ABSTRACT Polypropylene is one of the most important commodity polymers and is used in many areas. Its applications are often limited due to its low impact strength, Young‟s modulus properties and non-biodegradability nature. Blending polypropylene with different polymers is an economic and effective way to improve these drawbacks. Polypropylene/wood flour blends have undesirable properties; they have weak structural rigidity, very low thermal stability and high diffusivity. Cellulose is lin...
ABSTRACT The potentiality for use of catechin levels in selection for drought tolerance ability in clones of tea Camellia sinensis (L) O. Kuntze was studied. The study reported herein was carried out in Tea Research Foundation of Kenya (TRFK) between June 2011 and March 2012. Ten clones of tea known to vary in drought tolerance were screened. The experiment was conducted in an open field over three seasons. The treatments were arranged in a completely randomized design and replicated...
ABSTRACT Pica is described as the craving and subsequent consumption of non-food substances including earth, charcoal and uncooked rice. Various hypothesis have been fronted to explain pica among them hunger, micronutrient deficiency and protection. Geophagy, a special type of pica applicable to the deliberate consumption of soil and clay deposits cuts across socio-economic, ethnic, religious and racial divides due to cultural, medicinal, physiological and nutritional factors. In sub-Saharan ...
ABSTRACT The action of Projective Special Linear group PSL(2; q) on the cosets of its subgroups is studied. Primitive permutation representations of PSL(2; q) have been previously studied by Tchuda (1986), Bon and Cohen (1989) and Kamuti (1992). In particular, the permutation representations on the cosets of Cq1 k ; Cq+1 k ; Pq; A4 and D2(q1) k are studied. In the case where it was previously done, we employ a dierent method or otherwise quote the results for completeness purpose. Thu...
ABSTRACT HIV infection continues to be among the leading causes of global mortality. Genital ulcer disease increases the risk of HIV infection. Ulcerative STDs such as Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and syphilis cause breaks in the skin or mucous membranes, disrupt barriers that provide protection againstHIV-1 infections. It has been shown that HSV-2 is the single most important sexually transmitted infection that is fueling the HIV epidemic in Africa.. There is also an estimated two to ...
ABSTRACT Antibiotics are among the most counterfeited anti-infectious medicines in developing countries due to high demand. Amoxicillin is among the most prescribed, affordable and easily accessible antibiotic in Kenya. It is a broad-spectrum antibiotic hence commonly used for chemotherapy. Administration of poor-quality medicine possess the potential risks of treatment failure, emergence of resistance, side effects, and /or death to patients. This study sought to determine the quality and id...
ABSTRACT Diarrhoea is one of the leading causes of illness and death among children in developing countries, where an estimated 1.3 billion episodes and 4 to 10 million deaths occur each year in children less than 5 years of age. The study envisioned to determine the genetic basis of extended spectrum β-lactam (ESBL) resistance in E. coli isolated from children aged below 5 years attending Thika Level 5 Hospital Kiambu County in Kenya. Faecal samples were obtained from 384 children present...
ABSTRACT Parasites play an important role in ecosystems including shaping the populations and communities of their hosts. Majority of arthropod parasites transmit vector-borne zoonotic diseases, some of which are transmissible to humans and livestock. Birds are a host to a variety of arthropod parasites. Despite their importance, parasites continue being excluded in most ecological inventories. For example, the diversity of avian fauna in Kenya is fairly well known yet little is known about t...
ABSTRACT The ashes of different types of agricultural biomasses from Githurai market and rice husks collected from Mwea, have been analyzed for their inorganic elements content using both Atomic Absorption and X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopic Techniques. The results show that ash content of various agro-waste ranges from 3.31± 0.10% to 23.92±0.39% with rice husks having 23.92±0.39%. Further analysis on the ashes show that some biomaterials contain very high levels of K2O and Na2O, for inst...
ABSTRACT Trees are very important in Thiririka sub-catchment of Kiambu County in Kenya for reasons such as income generation, soil and water conservation, biodiversity conservation, charcoal production, erosion control, among many others. Eucalyptus spp. (E. grandis, E. saligna and E. globulus) remain part of the dominant tree species planted in the Thiririka sub-catchment. Although these species are planted in various spatial patterns in the sub-catchment to meet the demand for fuel wood, ...
ABSTRACT Both HIV and TB as well as substance use cause profound dysregulation in the production of inflammatory cytokines such as adiponectin, interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ). Although there are marked immunologic alterations in HIV and TB co-infected patients, IFN-γ, IL-10 and adiponectin levels, and their association with clinical correlates of disease such as CD4 counts, HIV-1 viral loads and BMI has not been examined in Kenyan HIV and TB co-infected non-injection su...