Abstract/Overview The future emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are likely to increase beyond the current levels due to rapid industrialization in China. Several methods have been proposed as possible mitigation strategies to reduce the anthropogenically emitted CO2 from the atmosphere and water. This study provided the description of stratigraphic structure of the basin through analysis between the regional groundwater flow and the injection of carbon dioxide. The geological and geomechan...
Abstract/Overview Wound management is key to healing. Poorly managed wounds lead to abnormal biological reactions and complications. Microorganisms, bacteria or fungi, infect such wounds leading to their chronic nature. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) show wound healing properties. In addition, ethnobotanical information from Siaya County in Kenya shows the leaves of Physalis peruviana L. to be effective in wound management. A combination of Au NPs and leave extracts of Physalis peruviana L. ...
Abstract Climate-change leads to extreme droughts, but it is difficult to predict how crop pests are affected. Drought may alter behavior of crop pests such as aphids that facilitate transmission of pathogens like Fusarium graminearum, causing Fusarium foot and root rot in barley crops by feeding close to the susceptible base of plants. Ground dwelling generalist predators like Carabid beetles, and wolf spiders are important aphid enemies during the aphid colonization phase in barley crops i...
Abstract In Kenya, Arid and semi-arid Lands are more affected by drought due to their fragile ecosystems, unfavourable climate, and historical marginalization. Kitui County is one of the counties that have been hit hard by protracted droughts over the past decades. This study aimed at addressing the increasing global, regional, and national attention on building community resilience to disasters. The overall objective of the study was to evaluate the strategic options for enhancing community...
Abstract Drought risk management is the function of the national government complemented by the developed systems of governance in Kenya. However, this function is clearly delineated only for institutions and misses the mark in identifying the roles of communities and strategies they apply in building resilience to drought. This paper is part of a two-part series of outcomes of a study in Marsabit county, that looked at community managed strategies that promote drought resilience. Using an e...
Abstract In this work, zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI NPs) were synthesized in (EW-Fe0) ethanol -water mixed system and have been evaluated for degradation in aqueous solution of metribuzin. The batch experiments at varying solution pH showed the degradation efficiency of 93.22%, 83.74% and 70.09% for the pH value 10, 7 and 4 respectively. Application of the varying dosage; (2% Feo w/v, 4% Feo w/v, 6% Feo w/v) reflected an increasing trend as per the recorded degradation efficiency of ...
Abstract/Overview As a result of climate change and rapid urbanization, attention increasingly turns to the management of water resources. Proper management of water resources has become a core concern for development practitioners and national governments, especially in the developing world. Accordingly, Community Participation (CP) has been touted as a viable model for managing water in resource scarce regions. This paper synthesizes literature written both from practice-focused and cri...
Abstract/Overview Prior to the commencement of a large-scale malaria intervention study on Rusinga Island, western Kenya, intensive baseline surveillance of the mosquito population was performed using odour-baited traps. The survey aimed to determine the relative abundance and species composition of malaria vectors, and to measure seasonal and spatial heterogeneity in populations. Human malaria prevalence was combined with entomological data to provide information about malaria transmissi...
Abstract/Overview The efficiency of rice husk biochar (RHB) and coconut shell biochar (CSB) in adsorbing Cadmium (Cd), as one of the prevalent heavy metals reported to bioaccumulate highly at the larval stage of the black soldier fly (BSF) was investigated. The synthesized biochars were activated using sulphuric acid and surface morphology investigated using SEM. The surfaces of CS biochar had well defined pores while RH had irregular pores of different sizes. Batch adsorption studies wer...
Abstract Kenya Vision 2030 aims to transform Kenya into a newly industrializing, middle class income country providing high quality life to all her citizens in a safe and secure environment by the year 2030. To achieve this, generation and management of a knowledge based economy and the contribution of indigenous inventions and technologies has been recognized as vital. A lot of efforts have been put in place on the application of Science, Technology and innovations as an engine and driver o...
Abstract This study sought to To examine the influence of land rehabilitation on sustainable economic development in Kilome, specifically studying how entrepreneurial attributes, entrepreneurial value of Kilome area resources, potential entrepreneurial initiatives and entrepreneurial systems influence sustainable economic development. Existing local empirical studies did not establish this role. Four hypotheses were investigated using a census survey of data obtained from ten (10) Community ...
Abstract/Overview Commelina species are plant resources full of promise as future food and feed that thrive in diverse ecosystems. They are medicinal plants, leafy vegetables, forage for ruminants, feed for cricket insects, crop protection, and fuel. However, information regarding factors driving Commelina in agro-ecological zones in Western Kenya is lacking. Therefore, we investigated the diversity of Commelina species, the composition of associated weed species as well as environmental ...
Abstract The focus on strategies for mitigating flood risks is to identify which measures have been put in place to reduce flood risk using nature-based affordable approaches. It has been observed that there is a continuous increase in floods all over the world, in developed and developing countries, as a result of climate change. Floods have affected millions of people worldwide, leading to environmental, physical, economic, and social losses and reducing the growth of the nation. Disaster ...
Abstract Background. Since Anopheles mosquitoes which transmit and maintain the malaria parasite breed in the outdoor environment, there is an urgent need to manage these mosquito breeding sites. In order to elaborate more on the ecological landscape of mosquito breeding sites, the bacterial community structure and their interactions with physicochemical factors in mosquito larval habitats was characterised in Kwale County (Kenya), where malaria is endemic. Methods. The physical characterist...
Abstract Proper characterization of total electron content (TEC) and scintillation is very important to global positioning system (GPS) users in communication, navigation, ionospheric or atmospheric studies. Quiet time variation of TEC is useful in the estimation and removal of ionospheric delay for global navigation satellite systems single-frequency positioning. During geomagnetic storms, the variations of ionosphere deviate from their quiet day pattern and can cause significant effects on...