ABSTRACT Sustainable mango production will rely increasingly on alternatives to conventional chemical insecticides that are environmentally friendly for the management of fruit flies. The use of microbial control agents such as fungi in pest suppression is considered suitable since micro-organisms usually exert low environmental impact and are target specific. Application methods of bio-pesticides in the environment, which use minimal amount of inoculum is currently under improvement from inu...
ABSTRACT Formaldehyde is one of the smallest organic molecules with a wide range of uses in the society. It is used in cosmetics as a preservative. Formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers are contained in some cosmetics; hair products, shampoos, nail products, lip and dental care products, deodorants, antiperspirants, shaving products, swipes, among others. It is also used in the pharmaceutical industry and in the manufacture of resins and adhesives, permanent press fabric treatments, tissue ...
ABSTRACT Neisseria gonorrhoea has progressively developed resistance to previously used drugs and recently to fluoroquinolones. Currently, there have been reports of emergency of N. gonorrhoea strains with reduced susceptibility and some exhibiting extensive multidrug resistant to the cephalosporin class of antibiotics that remains to be the remaining option for management of gonorrhoea. In Kenya, published reports regarding the drug susceptibility of N. gonorrhoea is scanty because of lack o...
ABSTRACT Geohelminthiases are infections caused by Ascaris lumbricoides, Ancylostoma duodenale, Necator americanus, Strongyloides stercoralis and Trichuris trichiura leading to oedema, iron-deficiency, protein-energy malnutrition, electrolyte derangement, endocrine upsets and cardio-vascular failure. Resulting sequelae lead to poor health, physical fitness and anaemia. Geohelminthiases is widespread in areas with poor sanitation but empirical data on prevalence and its effects ...
ABSTRACT In turbulent natural convection transport mechanism, fluid motion is generated by buoyancy-induced density gradients resulting from internal body forces due to heating. The objective of this study was to conduct a numerical investigation of turbulent natural convection in a 3-D cavity using the k- SST model and the PISO method. The problem being investigated was computational study of turbulent natural convective flow using a primitive variable to solve time averaged momentum equatio...
ABSTRACT Crickets are drawing interest as sustainable source of protein for food and feed worldwide. However, there is little information on microbial quality of edible crickets thus the need for a profound insight into their safety. The objective of the study was to determine the microbial load of two edible cricket species Scapsipedus marginatus and Gryllus bimaculatus and to evaluate the efficiency of different processing methods (boiling, sun-drying, freeze-drying, snap freezing and deep...
ABSTRACT Safe and readily available water is important for public health, whether it is used for drinking, domestic use, food production or recreational purposes. Consumption of contaminated water may lead to acute and chronic health effects. The most common water pollutants include heavy metals, pesticides, and anions such as fluorides, arsenic, arsenite, chromate and selenate, which cause various diseases such as brain, liver and bone ailments. Among the pollutants, fluoride is the most occ...
ABSTRACT Kenya has the fourth largest HIV epidemic in the world with adult prevalence of 5.9% (2016) (UNAIDS). Currently 80% of HIV patients access ARVs, while the rest do not due to stigma and traditional beliefs. In the coast of Kenya some patients seek alternative treatments to manage HIV/AIDS. Pwani herbs clinic in Mombasa is a popular clinic that dispenses herbal medicines to manage HIV and AIDS. Unfortunately, these medicines have not been subjected to formal clinical research to ascert...
ABSTRACT Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a cyanogenic plant which is toxic when consumed without sufficient processing. Cassava is characterized by presence of linamarin a cyanogenic glycoside and when acted upon by an enzyme linamarase is hydrolysed into cyanohydrin which is further hydrolyzed to give hydrogen cyanide (HCN) which is toxic. This study aimed at determination of the levels of cyanide in the sweet cassava variety grown in five different geographical regions of Kenya namel...
Abstract Soil and water resources are important for sustaining life on earth since they are the main components of sub catchment, however they are under threat of deterioration due to human activities (NEMA, 2011). Maziba sub catchment have high population pressure which have led to deforestation, over cultivation and wetland encroachment leading to soil erosion problems causing severe tension on soil and water resources while little attention is paid to their effects (NEMA, 2011). The purpos...
ABSTRACT Amaranthus is a pseudocereal that has its origin in Mexico, South America. It is commonly known as ‘terere’ in Kenya and is mostly used as leaf vegetable. It is fast gaining interest in Kenyan population as a grain due to its ability to adapt to different environments thus can be grown in semi-arid areas, its fast maturity time of 45-75 days, its high economic value and its vital nutrient composition. Amaranth is found to flourish in hot and dry climates where other cereals are d...
ABSTRACT Heavy metal contamination within river systems is a major environmental problem around the world. An environmental model was developed to simulate the temporal variation of concentration of lead discharged into a riverine system. The model was developed by solving the transport equation which governs the concentration of lead. The equation has advection, dispersion, sink and source terms. The equation was discretised and converted into a language compatible with a computer. A compute...
ABSTRACT Mrima hill in Kwale County, along the Kenyan coast, is known to have high natural background radiation caused mainly by 232 Thorium (Th). Currently, the area also has no proper sanitary disposal system and people use bushes as toilets. There are no fresh water bodies. Despite other parts of the coastal regions of Kenya having been studied for human disease vectors including mosquitoes and sandflies, no studies have been carried out in Mrima hill to establish the prevalence of these i...
ABSTRACT Nickel doped tin oxide and tin monoselenide thin films were coated using spray pyrolysis. Nickel doped tin oxide Precursor solution was prepared using a 0.05M Tin (II) Chloride (SnCl4.2H2O) and 0.05M Nickel chloride 6-hydrate (NiCl2.6H2O) in de-ionized water and then being added in ethanol in the ratio 1:1 to get equal proportions, followed by about 2-3 drops of hydrochloric acid. Doping tin oxide was done using uniform concentration of (NiCl2.6H2O) of 0-10 %. Precursor solution of t...
ABSTRACT Malaria is the commonest parasitic disease that continues to cause considerable number of deaths despite the fact that it is treatable and preventable. In 2016, nearly 3.2 billion persons were at risk of malaria and a total of 216 million cases occurred occasioning deaths of approximately 445 thousand people worldwide with majority of the affected being children below five years of age. These numbers are high for a disease which is treatable and preventable. Plasmodium falciparum, th...