Abstract/Overview This study investigated the abundance and control of malaria mosquito larvae in a traditional water management agro-ecosystem of Kasagam, Kisumu City, western Kenya. The study of larval habitats of malaria vectors is important in determining abundance and fitness of resultant adult mosquito populations and planning for suitable control measures. Dominant types of plants found in the study site were identified, recorded and categorized. Sampling of mosquito larvae was don...
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....
Summary This short report describes the results of a rapid; simple and cost effective immuno diagnostic test for malaria in Ibadan, Nigeria. A total of 77% patients presenting at the children outpatient clinic, University College Hospital with malaria symptoms were screened for malaria parasites by microscopy using Giemsa stain and by the immuno chromatographic card test. The immunodiagnostic test had a sensitivity of 93.1 % and a specificity of 95.8%, making a gog,d alternative for malaria ...
ABSTRACT Changing urban ecology has increasingly put amphibians living in swampy portions of coastal city centres in constant threat of mortality resulting from acute toxicity effects.
ABSTRACT Background: Malaria co-infection with schistosomiasis is known to modulate the immune response and thereby to potentially alter the pathophysiological and immunological profile of the diseases.
ABSTRACT Merozoite surface protein-119 (MSP-119) specific antibodies which include processing inhibitory, blocking and neutral antibodies have been identified in individuals exposed to Plasmodium falciparum. Here we intend to look at the effect of single andmultiple amino acid substitutions ofMSP-119 on the recognition by polyclonal antibodies from children living in Igbo-Ora, Nigeria. This would provide us with information on the possibility of eliciting mainly processing inhibitory antibodi...
ABSTRACT During studies on the epidemiology of malaria at a rural community, Igbo-Ora, Southwest Nigeria, genotyping of Plasmodium falciparum extracted from infective Anopheles gambiae s.l. was undertaken. Circumsporozoite (CSP) ELISA was used on crushes from head-thorax for DNA extraction and PCR amplification for the determination of P. falciparum genotypes on merozoite surface protein-I and 2 (MSP-I & 2). Of the 65 infective anophelines, P. falciparum genotypes were positively identified i...
ABSTRACT Background & objectives: Investigations were conducted to obtain key entomological indices of Anopheles gambiae s.l. at Igbo-Ora, a rural community in south-west Nigeria. Methods: Mosquitoes were caught daily for a week from rooms where tenants had slept the previous night in each of the four months June, July (2001), and August, September (2002). Anopheles gambiae s.l. sibling species were PCR-identified, the blood meal origin was determined by direct ELISA, and the circumsporozoit...
Abstract This research study focus on the determination of anti-nutritional content status of the uninfested and infested dried cassava chips by Prostephanus truncatus. Prostephanus truncatus, the larger grain borer, is an alien invasive post harvest pest; with wide spread population all over cassava growing regions. After an infestation period of 10 weeks in the laboratory, proximate analysis revealed increased values for only alkaloids content in the infested dried cassava chips, while all...
Abstract The boinsecticidal potency of three botanicals, namely: Allium sativum (Garlic), Allium cepa (Onion) and Capsicum annum (Red pepper) were tested on Oryzaephilus surinamensis (Saw- toothed grain beetle) infested with Phoenix dactylifera (Date fruits) at exposure periods of three weeks and six weeks in the Department of Zoology, Entomology Laboratory. The boinsecticides used were in powdered and whole forms at three different concentrations of 1.25g, 2.50g and 5.00g. Potency was deter...
Abstract Background: The emergence of Anopheles populations capable of withstanding lethal doses of insecticides has weakened the efficacy of most insecticide based strategies of vector control and, has highlighted the need for further studies on the mechanisms of insecticide resistance and the various factors selecting resistant populations of mosquitoes. This research targeted the analysis of breeding sites and the oviposition behaviour of susceptible and resistant populations of Anopheles ...
Abstract: Problem statement: Urinary schistosomiasis is highly endemic in Nigeria and for effective control measure, an efficient, quick and yet cheap diagnosis should be integrated. This will ensure the proper management of infection due to Schistosoma haematobium in low resource communities of Nigeria. Approach: This cross-sectional study recruited a total of 456 (252 males, 204 females) school children aged 3-20 years between November 2010 and June 2011. Urine samples were examined macrosc...
Scientific efforts in the eradication of neglected tropical diseases, such as those caused by the parasitic helminthes, can be improved if a database of key virulence factors directly implicated in pathogenesis is available. As a first step towards creating SchistoVir, a database of virulence protein factors in schistosomes, in this study, we curated, annotated and aligned sequences of twenty virulence factors identified from the literature, using several bioinformatics tools including UniPro...
ABSTRACT: Stored dried cassava chips are known to become heavily damaged by Prostephanus truncatus (Hum). A laboratory study was undertaken to determine the extent of losses that this insect pest could cause on TME 30572, the mean weight loss (±SD) rose to 36.93 ± 24.43'% over the period of 112 days compared with 63.2 ± 3.37% for TME I, under the same period and experimental condition, At each time interval of 28 days during which the cassava dried chips were examined, the weight loss in ...
Abstract Context: This study investigated the presence or absence of β-catenin and Patched1 (PTCH1) genes involved in the developmental pathway in ameloblastoma, in order to clarify the genetic etiology of this tumor. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate whether PTCH1 and β-catenin genes are involved in the development of ameloblastoma. Subjects and Methods: Archived formalin-fixed paraffinembedded specimens of 89 ameloblastoma cases from the year 2000 to 2010 were genotyped by pol...