Abstract: Cassava mosaic geminiviruses (CMGs) and cassava brown streak viruses (CBSVs) respectively cause cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) which significantly inhibit cassava production in Kenya. This study aimed at determining the prevalence and incidence of CMD and CBSD in lower eastern Kenya and resistance response of new improved cassava genotypes. To determine the prevalence and incidence of CMD and CBSD in lower eastern Kenya, survey was conducted in...
Abstract: Ticks and the microbes they transmit have emerged in sub-Saharan Africa as a major threat to veterinary and public health. Although progress has been made in detecting and identifying tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) across vast agroecologies of Kenya, comprehensive information on tick species infesting cattle and their associated pathogens in coastal Kenya needs to be updated and expanded. Ticks infesting extensively grazed zebu cattle in 14 villages were sampled and identified based o...
This study uses the model organism, C. elegans, to investigate its sensitivity and response to static magnetic fields. Wild-type C. elegans are put into microfluidic channels and exposed to permanent magnets for five cycles of thirty-second time intervals at field strengths ranging from 5 milli Tesla to 120 milli Tesla. Recorded and analyzed with custom software, the results of the worm's movement - the average velocity, turning and curling percentage - were compared to control experiments...
We present the NERV, a nonmechanical, unidirectional valve, to control the locomotion of Caenorhabditis elegant (C. elegans) in microfluidic devices. This valve is created by establishing a region of lateral electric field which can be toggled between on and off states. We observed that C. elegans do not prefer to advance into this region when the field lines are facing their movement, so when they reach the boundary of the NERV, they partway enter the field, retreat, and switch direction. We...
A nonmechanical, unidirectional valve, the Nematode Electrotactic-Response Valve (NERV), has been developed to control the motion of Caenorhabditis elegant (C. elegans) in microfluidic devices. By forming a region of lateral electric field, which can be switched or reversed, the NERV prevents worms from advancing through it if the field lines are angled against the movement of the worms. Upon arriving at the boundary of the NERV, the worms penetrate the field area briefly and then retreat and...
It is becoming more essential to identify and recognize the phenotypes of anti-parasitic drug-resistant isolates. Current molecular methods of doing so are restricted. In this paper, we showcase a microfluidic bioassay to measure phenotype using parameters of nematode locomotion, using larvae of the animal parasite Oesophagostomum dentatum. Parameters of sinusoidal movement, including propagation speed, wavelength, wave amplitude, and oscillation frequency, were dependent on the levamisole-se...
ABSTRACT In recent years, mortality due to leptospirosis in dogs has been of major concern in Southwestern Nigeria, but the prevalent serovars, pathology and pathogenesis have not been fully documented. The purpose of this study was to investigate the disease in the dog and reservoir hosts (cattle and wild rats), and its pathogenesis and pathology in a guinea pig model. Between 2003 and 2010, 44 fresh and 60 formalin-fixed kidneys of tentatively diagnosed cases of canine leptospirosis o...