ABSTRACT Studies were carried out on the distribution, characterization, pathogenicity and antibiotic susceptibility of Listeria monocytogenes in Six Local Government Areas of Plateau State, Nigeria. A total of One hundred and fifty (150) experimental samples were taken from each test Local Government Area. The isolation was carried out with the aid of cold enrichment, selective broth and selective Listeria agar. The experimental samples examined included: cow, goat, poultry, rabbit and sheep...
Nutrient mining in rice-rice cropping system due to inadequate amount of chemical fertilizer applied is one of the reasons for low rice yield in Ghana. To address this challenge, a field trial was initiated to determine the best nutrient management option to improve yield of rice and soil fertility. The field experiment was conducted at the University of Ghana’s Soil and Irrigation Research Centre - Kpong during 2014 and 2015 cropping seasons to evaluate the influence of composted organ...
Abstract: Knowledge about types of soils and the status of their quality is needed for developing sound land use planning and soil management decision for enhancing crop productivity. However, such information is lacking in Kersa sub-watershed in eastern Ethiopia where the current study was conducted. The objectives of this study were, therefore, to 1) characterize and classify soils of the study area, 2) determine soil quality indicators using minimum data set and calculate soil quality ind...
ABSTRACT Agro-forestry has continued to receive increasing attention from researchers and policy makers especially in coffee farming systems but there is lack of sufficient evidence on its role in productivity and profitability of coffee farming in Kenya. There is also lack of empirical evidence on whether factors that influence adoption of shade technology have the same effect on productivity and profitability of coffee. The general objective of the study was to examine the adoption of agro...
ABSTRACT Agriculture is considered the backbone of the Kenyan economy since it contributes to approximately 25 percent of the gross domestic product. It earns a significant amount of foreign exchange since it provides for all food supplies in the country in addition to creating employment to almost 70 percent of the entire population in either a direct or an indirect manner. The study therefore focused on evaluating Agricultural credit as well as its effect on small scale farm production in T...
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of some immunostimulants and probiotics on the survival rate, final weight, and disease resistance of overwintered tilapia fry. There were five treatments: T1 (control) fed a balanced diet (35% protein) without additives. Treatments 2 to 5 were fed diets supplemented with 4% garlic, 4 g/kg Echinacea, 4 g/kg Organic Green or 4 g/kg Vet-Yeast, respectively. Growth and resistance to disease challenge with Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudom...
ABSTRACT Use of mobile phones in the neonatal intensive care unit by healthcare workers can lead to contamination and spread of healthcare associated infections among hospitalized neonates. An understanding of dynamics of mobile phone usage as well as contaminating bacteria forms an important step in developing infection control strategies to regulate its use in clinical areas of the neonatal intensive care unit. Methods: I conducted a cross-sectional study to assess mobile phone use, at...
ABSTRACT Wave and wind dynamics are important in the estimation of beach erosion rates and sediment transport modelling. They are also important in modelling sea fatigue, oil spill transport and planning of coastal and marine activities. This work sought to quantify the magnitude of wave and wind parameters along the coast of Ghana as well as identify how these parameters varied across the year. A nine years wave and wind data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gl...
ABSTRACT Malnutrition is among the serious health problems affecting infants, children and women of reproductive age in Tanzania. Various approaches have been adopted to address this problem. Such approaches include; importation of food, food aid and medical treatment. Despite these efforts, however, millions of Tanzanians particularly women and children continue to suffer from one or more forms of malnutrition. Agriculture has been currently taken as great measure to harness malnutrition am...
ABSTRACT Globally, food security continues to be a complex phenomenon that people across all fields have to manage. In developing countries of which Ghana is part of, the number of people who are food insecure keeps increasing. Little attention has been given to households in the rural areas of the agro-ecological zones and how their occupation influences food security. This study seeks to examine the relationship between occupation and food security in the agro-ecological zones in rural Ghan...
ABSTRACT Shortage of food in the world today has resulted from changes in agricultural land use practices among other factors including climate change, population growth and urbanization. In Kenya, over the past four decades there has been reducing number of people practicing agriculture in the country. Though agriculture is the main economic activity in the country, the increasing population and human settlement into the agricultural regions has led to the sub-division of the rural agricult...
ABSTRACT With the fast depletion of fossil fuel sources for energy production and coupled with their negative impacts on the environment, the continued search for alternative sources that are renewable, sustainable and environmentally friendly has become imperative. This research examined the performance of sodium borohydride for the production of hydrogen gas using 5 ml each of organic acid (acetic acid) and extracts of spoilt citrus fruits (lime, lemon and orange) without the use of neithe...
ABSTRACT Rivers are essential ecosystems that assist in maintaining and supporting functions and ecological processes that are important for sustaining the biodiversity and providing services and resources to people. However, in the tropics they are under threat of deterioration as a result of human encroachment and more so, removal of riparian vegetation. This study aimed at assessing the effects clear-cut of Tumoo forest on water quality, coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) and benthic...
Abstract: In Botswana crop production has been the most vulnerable component of the agricultural sector due to its heavy reliance on rainfed agriculture. At the same time, the availability of rainfall is uncertain due to natural climatic variability which is worsened by climate change. Already the local farmers have knowledge of the climatic conditions around them, and from time to time, they have been adjusting their farming practices in line with the prevailing climatic conditions. Climate...
ABSTRACT The antidiabetic effect of aqueous stem bark extract of A. polycarpa (AP) in male ICR mice and its sub-chronic toxicity in Sprague-Dawley rats were investigated. The effect of AP (20 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, and 500 mg/kg) on fasting blood glucose, serum triglyceride and total cholesterol levels were determined over a period of 4 weeks. An oral glucose tolerance test was also conducted over 150 min post-glucose load. Organ specific toxicity of AP (20 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, and 500 mg/kg) in Spra...