ABSTRACT The milk marketed in Kenya has been reported to be of poor quality and does not meet national and international standards due to high bacterial load, high somatic cell count, adulteration and antibiotic residues. The study investigates the raw milk quality, adherence to hygienic code of practice and identifies the critical control points for improved raw milk quality in the smallholder supply chain. Compliance to hygienic code of practice was assessed using questionnaires. The facto...
Abstract The development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens due to the indiscriminate use of antibiotics has led to advocacy for the use of natural products in the treatment of fish diseases. The antimicrobial activity of methanolic and ethanolic extracts of walnut leaves and onion bulbs were evaluated against six pathogenic bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphyloccocus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Escherichia coli, Samonella typhi) using the cup – plate method. Min...
ABSTRACT Software reliability is defined as the probability of failure free operation of a software in a specified environment during a specified period. Software reliability has been the focus of several researches over the last four decades. One of the earliest software reliability models is the exponential nonhomogeneous Poisson process developed by Goel and Okumoto in 1979. Most research works have considered fitting different software reliability models to different software reliability...
ABSTRACT The thermodynamics of the azide binding reactions of the hybrids of human and canine hemoglobin as well as the isolated a and ß polypeptide chains of human and canine hemoglobin have been studied at various pH's and temperatures. Plots of -AH° against pH, for all the species, show a distinct maximum. The pH at which the maximum value of -M° occurs is termed the 'characteristic pH' (pH From the results, it is concluded that the value of pH , for the hemoglobin tetramer is an avera...
Abstract The hatchability of Schistosoma mansoni eggs exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and the activity of die hatched miracidia were examined. Hatchability decreased with die increasing exposure to irradiation. The difference in hatchability of eggs irradiated for 15 and 30 minutes were highly significant (P < 0.01. da = 3.07 and 3.24) compared with hatchability of the non-irradiated eggs. The mean motility rates of the hatched m iracidia were found to be radiation dose-dependent. There...
Abstract The postharvest losses in fruits and vegetables in developing countries vary between 15-90%. Many organizations are actively promoting the processing of fruits and vegetables to find a solution to the difficulties encountered in storing large quantities of fresh produce without incurring heavy losses. This study evaluated the chemical, microbiological and sensory properties of leather blends produced from 'Ogbomoso' mango and carrot. Purees of mango (Mangifera indica 'Ogbomoso') and...
ABSTRACT The Russian wheat aphid (RWA) Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov) is a serious pest of wheat in Kenya. Development and use of RWA resistant wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties, has been constrained by variations in the resident RWA populations and evolution of virulent biotypes. To fully exploit host plant resistance (HPR) in management of RWA, resident populations of RWA were evaluated for biotypes in order to develop and deploy cultivars that exhibit cross biotype resistance. Three exp...
ABSTRACT Malaria is a global disease prevalent in the tropics caused by Plasmodium species. It affects 300-500 million people and kills 1.5-2.7 million people annually. To date, a large number of herbal remedies are used to treat malaria and manage related fever; nevertheless, in most of these cases of plant therapies, efficacies have not been proven nor have their active components been identified. Most malaria episodes are accompanied by clinical complications attributable to radical oxyge...
ABSTRACT Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes transmit malaria resulting into about 500 million infections globally every year. Recent studies estimate that more than 50% of the world‟s population is at risk of malaria infections. Apart from the development of insecticide resistance, the use of synthetic insecticides to control mosquito vectors continues to cause adverse effects to the environment, human health and non-target organisms. Plant derived larvicidal compounds are increasingly being exp...
ABSTRACT Information on the vertebrate hosts of blood feeding vectors forms a useful decision-making tool in the planning of tsetse fly control and eradication operations. The objective of this study was to investigate the utility of mitochondrial Cytochrome c oxidase I and Cytochrome b gene sequences in the identification of tsetse fly blood meals in order to provide a basis for more rational control of trypanosomosis in East Africa. Blood fed Glossina swynnertoni were sampled from the Sere...
ABSTRACT Due to the high bills involved in the importation of modern medicinal drugs, about 80% of the African population use traditional medicine from plants to treat common infectious diseases caused by microorganisms. The main objective of this research was to determine the antimicrobial activity of crude extracts and isolated compounds from Turraea abyssinica, Meyna tetraphylla (Abyssinian coral tree) and Leonotis mollissima (Lion’s ear) from Meliaceae, Rubiaceae and Lamiaceae families...
ABSTRACT The biosafety of commonly used domestic grinding techniques was investigated; the effects of attrition mills using new (attrition mill 1) and old (attrition mill 2) plates, wooden mortar and pestle, grinding stone and electric blender on iron content of wetground staple foods, Vigna unguiculata (cowpea) and Capsicum frutescens (pepper) were examined in this study. Attrition mill 1 was in use 4 weeks prior to this study while the attrition mill 2 had newly installed grinding plate....
ABSTRACT Dried, milled cassava and yam peels were inoculated separately with A. nigermidRhizopus sp in solid state. The changes in crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and hemiccllulose were evaluated til 0. 4. X, and 10 days after inoculation. At. the end of the 10th day of fermentation with A. niger the crude protein of cassava peel meal (CPM) increased from 3.5% to 7.0% while that inoculated with Rhizopus sp increased to 5.25%. Cru...
ABSTRACT The levels of selected heavy metals in water, plant, soil and sediment samples collected around the Fluorspar Mining and Processing Plant in Kerio Valley were determined using AAS and EDXRFS. Digested soil 7 reference material (IAEA) was used as the standard for analysis of the soil and sediment samples. The results obtained from AAS were compared with those obtained using EDXRFS. The concentration of fluoride in the water, soil and sediment samples was determined using fluoride sel...
ABSTRACT Intensive mining activities and highly mineralised rock formations have a significant impact on both surface and underground water. Mining activities shuffle the rock formations creating fissures and cracks enhancing greater percolation and movement of water underground. Macalder mines(gold mining region) in Nyatike –Karungu Divisions was divided into two regions (Epicentre and surrounding).This research sought to determine the concentration levels of Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe, and water har...