ABSTRACT Microbial diversity and function in agro-ecosystems is influenced by various aspects linked to soil and agronomic practices for example, tillage, irrigation, crop rotation and application of organic and inorganic inputs. Farming systems practices may affect the dynamic interactions existing between soil, plant and microorganisms in different agricultural biomes. Due to limitations associated with conventional microbial cultivation strategies, only a fractional number of cultivable sp...
ABSTRACT Experiences of early antiretroviral treatment failures are increasingly linked to escalating pretherapy HIV resistance mutations. Regular update of epidemic status and impact of pretherapy resistance are needed in resource limited countries, including Kenya. Since pretherapy resistance survey has not been conducted and factors associated remain unknown in the high-HIV prevalence western Kenya region, this study aimed to establish the prevalence of pretherapy antiretroviral resistance...
ABSTRACT The street food industry plays an important role in developing countries by meeting the food demand of the urban dwellers. There is an increase of food vending in Kisumu city due to poor economy and un-employment. Street foods are frequently associated with diarrheal diseases. The contribution of street-vended foods towards food borne infections is unknown in the city. Moreover, limited studies have been conducted in Kisumu city on pathogens associated with street-vended foods, poten...
ABSTRACT Global digitalisation has perpetuated the use of mobile devices for both personal and workrelated activities. As such, some African organisations have been allowing their employees to utilise their personally owned mobile devices to carry out work-related activities all in the name of convenience, reliability, mobility, and reduced maintenance costs. The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offenses (DCEO), being an anti-corruption agency in Lesotho is embracing the BYOD benefits....
ABSTRACT Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the economies of developed and developing countries, through creation of new jobs. Access to bank financial resources seems to be a major constraint to the growth of SMEs in the developing context. This study thus, aimed at finding out the constraints faced by SMEs in particular accessing bank financing. The study adopted the adverse selection theory of credit markets. This study adopted an explanatory and descriptive surv...
ABSTRACT Tea production is the mainstay of many people in Kenya. The contribution of tea sector to the Kenyan economy is enormous as it accounts for about 4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Favourable product prices act as a trigger for any commercial activity over time and also suggest sustainability of the activity. Tea is a very significant crop in Kenya and it is one of the major agricultural exports of the country. However, the industry has experienced many challenges such as stiff comp...
ABSTRACT Sugarcane smut disease caused by a fungus Sporisorium scitamineum is a limiting factor to cane production in Kenya. It is threatening the sugar industry due to its effect on cane quality and yields. Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is known to have microbial organisms associated with its rhizosphere with potential antagonistic activity against the fungus, however numerous studies on rhizosphere microbial diversity and their antagonistic activity against fungal plant pathogens hav...
Abstract Microtubules are hollow cylindrical protein structures found in all eukaryotic cells, and essential in several cellular processes, including cell motility, cell division, vesicle tra±ck- ing and maintenance of cell shape. The building block of microtubules, tubulin, is one of the proven targets for anticancer drugs. A microtubule exhibits a remarkable prop- erty, termed dynamic instability, in which it is able to switch stochastically between two distinct states. In one state, the m...
ABSTRACT An estimated 198 million malaria cases were reported worldwide of which 128 million were in African region while 16 million were reported in Kenya by the end of 2013. The prevalence of malaria in Vihiga, Kenya was 52% and this is greatly driven by Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance, ecological and agricultural factors supporting malaria transmission and vector proliferation. Influence of host genetic factors like blood group, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and haemoglobi...
Abstract Indigenous Knowledge (IK) is the unique, traditional, local knowledge existing within and developed around the specific condition of women and men indigenous to a particular geographic area. Forms of expressing IK include folklores, songs, stories, festivals, outfit and proverbs. Proverbs are grounded upon years of experience and close observation of life and natural phenomena. Some research posed proverbs to be the bedrock of civilization of a society. By implication, almost all so...
Abstract About 22.9 million people living with HIV/AIDS reside in sub-Saharan Africa, many of whom have progressed to AIDS over time. Kenya has high numbers of new infections; a total of 104,000 in the general population with paediatrics at 13,000 and adults at 91,000. Risk scores constructed using prognostic factors may be valuable in the early identication and intervention to patients at risk of progression to AIDS. There was therefore a necessity to come up with robust risk models that use...
Abstract A study was carried out on substrate pasteurisation for P. ostreatus cultivation. The major aim of this work was to compare the effectiveness of wood ash, hydrated lime, bleach and boiling for pasteurisation of the substrate for cultivation of white oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, on maize straw. To achieve this objective, weed occurrence, the number of days to completely colonise the straw (NDCC), the number of days to initiate primordial sprouting (NDIPS), the number of prim...
ABSTRACT “This researcher undertook this project with a view to help improve the relaying of results by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission by providing an alternative route of sending results to the various command centres around the country. With this proposed system the commission will be able to swiftly collate and aggregate results much faster and precise. Also in line with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Green Economy Initiative, Zimbabwe can help reduce its carbon foo...
Abstract The need for a remote control system that can control domestic appliances and various lighting points and sockets has often been a concern for users. At times users find it inconvenient and time consuming to go around turning their appliances on or off each time there is power outage or each time they are leaving the house for work. It has also often led to damage of appliances due to the fact that an appliance was not turned off before leaving the house. The Objective of putting up...
ABSTRACT A wireless remote weather station is an ideal solution for knowing the weather conditions at a specific remote location. Weather forecasts are informative, but they are only a forecast. With a Remote Weather Station, one would always know the exact weather conditions from where ever the Remote Weather Station is located. This project seeks to devise a simple low-cost microcontroller-based remote weather station that measures weather conditions using sensors to measure temperature, h...