Infectious diseases remain to be a global health burden due to the development of antibiotic resistance by pathogenic microorganisms. Antibiotic resistance has led to increased number of deaths among children and adults. Medicinal plants have been used over the years in the treatment and remedy of various infections affecting human beings. The use of secondary metabolites from medicinal plants and fungal endophytes can be an alternative to disease management without the negative impact o...
The uncontrolled and unrestricted use of antimicrobials may lead to the accumulation of undesirable drug residues in the treated animals and their products. To avoid adverse effects from antibiotic residue consumption such as drug resistance, regulations such as maximum residue limits (MRLs), acceptable daily intakes (ADIs) for humans and withholding times for pharmacologically active substances have been set. However, in the Kenyan poultry industry there lacks affordable, easy to perfor...
ABSTRACT Heavy metal concentrations and degradation efficiency of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) on environment in Ibeno Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria was investigated. Experimental design method was adopted for this study. Fifteen composite samples each of soil, leaves of Telfairia occidentalis, sediment and water were collected in December 2012 and June 2013. The sediment and water samples were collected using corer and clean plastic bottles respectively. Soil and se...
Mosquito transmitted diseases such as yellow fever, elephantiasis, dengue and malaria are some of the most deadly vector-borne diseases, affecting millions of people mainly in the tropics. In spite of major efforts undertaken for control of the diseases, through drug treatment and vector control, an increase in mosquito borne disease incidences has been witnessed in the last decades. Africa suffers most from mosquito borne diseases since mosquito vectors are distributed almost throughout...
ABSTRACT To enhance our understanding of epidemiology of Trypanosoma congolense infection and to mitigate the development of drug resistance in the field, this study sought to assess whether there is any correlation between sensitivity and/or resistance to drug and virulence, and also to establish the relative efficiency of transmission of drug sensitive and resistant T. congolense by Glossina pallidipes in mice. The other aim was to assess possible molecular changes in T. congolense (savanna...
ABSTRACT This work investigated the volatility clustering of exchange rate of Nigeria Naira against the United States of America Dollar. The data used in the present study consist of the monthly exchange rates of the Naira to Dollar from January 1999 to December 2012 obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The main focus is to provide a proper understanding of the theory and empirical working of GARCH family models and to determine volatility clustering. The EGARCH(2,2) model was selected...
Trypanosome parasite isolates are routinely collected within Human African Trypanosomiasis foci in the region and cryopreserved in a parasite cryobank at theTrypanosomiasis Research Center of the Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (KARI-TRC). Investigations were conducted to compare pathogenicity and transmissibility of drug sensitive (KETRI 2427) and resistant (EATRO 237) Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense isolates obtained from the KARI-TRC bank. Glossina pallidipes (tsetse fly vector) ...
ABSTRACT Information signals need to be transmitted fast, efficiently and accurately. Optical fiber cables are the transmission medium used in optical fiber communications. Optical fiber communication has exhibited many advantages over other means of communication. However, natural and physical environment within the vicinity where the cable is installed poses a great challenge to signal transmission. The effect of bends on the quality of the output signal generated by a continuous wave (CW)...
ABSTRACT Maize is an important cereal crop and a staple food in most parts of Africa. Food insecurity is one of the major challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. The food situation is worsened by fungal infestation of maize crops in the fields. The most prevalent fungi on maize crops are Fusarium moniliforme and Fusarium graminearum that cause red ear rot, stalk rot and Grey leaf spot (GLS) respectively. The development of antifungal resistance and side effects associated with synthetic pesticides ...
ABSTRACT The dispersion parameter in proportions occurring in toxicology, biology, clinical medicine and epidemiology is important in making inference regarding the regression parameters on the mean. Most data in form of proportions often exhibit excess variation (extra-dispersion). This can arise when the data is from different sub-populations (clusters) or when the assumption of independence is violated. The Beta-Binomial distribution has been applied to model over-dispersion in binary res...
Traditional processed camel meat (Nyirinyiri) is a ready to eat meat product prepared traditionally from dehydrated camel meat that is deep fried in fat. The processed product is stored in the same fat and consumed little by little as required because of its long shelf life with desirable taste which pastoral households use in their diets, snack or sell for income. This study analyzed the biochemical, chemical and nutritional status of camel Nyirinyiri from production area in Isiolo Coun...
ABSTRACT Sweet potato an ideal tuber crop due to its hardy nature and consistent performance even in stressful growing conditions. Viral diseases such as sweet potato virus disease (SPVD) complex caused by synergistic interaction of Sweet Potato Feathery Mottle Virus and Sweet Potato Chlorotic Stunt Virus are a major cause of yield losses due to lack of resistant varieties. Breeding, promotion and adoption of orange fleshed sweet potato (OFSPs) varieties can be enhanced by identification of v...
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is one of more than 20 species of soil growing Bacilli, it is an ubiquitous gram positive, aerobic, spore- forming organism that forms parasporal crystals during the stationary phase of its growth cycle. Bt was initially characterized as an insect pathogen, and its insecticidal activity was attributed largely or completely depending on the insect and the parasporal crystals. This study addressed the need to characterize three Bt isolates with varying levels of...
ABSTRACT Chickpea (Cicer arientinum L.) is an important dry land legume whose full potential in Kenya has not been realized due to abiotic and biotic stresses. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the use of seed treatment and foliar sprays as disease management options against Ascochyta blight caused by Ascochyta rabiei in chickpea. The study was conducted in two sites; Egerton University Njoro and Agricultural Training Centre (ATC) Koibatek. One genotype Chania Desi (ICCV97105) was...
ABSTRACT Reproductive tract infections (RTIs) are a major public health problem especially in the developing world. As part of measures to control the spread of these infections, the World Health Organization recommended syndromic management. This study set out to determine the prevalence patterns, molecular characteristics and antibiotic susceptibility of reproductive tract pathogens isolated from women of child bearing age with the aim of contributing useful information to policy formulati...