ABSTRACT Biological control of Ceratocystis paradoxa using Trichoderma spp. were conducted on oil palm spouted seeds. Eighteen spp. of fungi belonging to ten genera were identified as fungi associated with diseased sprouted seeds. Out of these genera, Aspergillus spp. occurred most frequently and in relative abundance at 25.9%, Trichoderma spp. (23.4%), Ceratocystis paradoxa (11.1%), Fusarium spp (9.9%), Penicillium spp. (8.7%), Rhizopus sp. (7.4%) and Curvularia sp. (4.9%) respectively. Pest...
ABSTRACT Sugarcane smut disease caused by a fungus Sporisorium scitamineum is a limiting factor to cane production in Kenya. It is threatening the sugar industry due to its effect on cane quality and yields. Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is known to have microbial organisms associated with its rhizosphere with potential antagonistic activity against the fungus, however numerous studies on rhizosphere microbial diversity and their antagonistic activity against fungal plant pathogens hav...
ABSTRACT Tinea capitis (ring worm) is a superficial fungal infection of the scalp and hair of the head. According to World Health Organization (WHO), the prevalence rate of superficial mycotic infection worldwide has been found to be 20-25% and the infection presents a major public health problem in primary school-age children especially those from low and middle income countries like Kenya. Tinea capitis inflicts a lot of psychosocial trauma in children due to attached stigma, ulceration and...
ABSTRACT Breast cancer is a top killer illness for women globally, but early and effective screening can increase their survival rate. Mammography is the tool used by a radiologist to screen for breast cancer, however, a radiologist is susceptible to human observer variability, and therefore, reading and interpretation of mammography test results depend on the expertise of the radiologist administering the test. To improve the reading and interpretation accuracy of the test, researchers’ de...
ABSTRACT Dietary deficiencies of iron and zinc are high. Underutilized crops are rich in micronutrients but are cultivated at subsistence level due to high perishability and poor processing of products. These crops are potential sources of iron and zinc but there is no documentation that reveals if they can be processed into safe, acceptable and nutritious food products that can improve their exploitation. An informal experimental study design was used to evaluate preparation of safe, accepta...
ABSTRACT The study of automorphisms of algebraic structures has contributed immensely to many important findings in mathematics. For example, Galois characterized the general degree five single variable polynomials f over Q, by showing that the roots of such polynomials cannot be expressed in terms of radicals, through the automorphism groups of the splitting field of f. On the other hand, the symmetries of any algebraic structure are captured by their automorphism groups. The study of comple...
ABSTRACT Sera from 775 persons in 10 age-groups, living in Lagos metropolis, were titrated for Toxoplasma antibodies, using the haemagglutination test. The overall percentage positive was 63.2%. The highest (78.4%) was found amongst the age group ranging from 36-40 years, whilst the lowest (48.2%) was recorded in the age group. 11-15 years. The risk of non-immune persons acquiring infection was calculated in the different age groups using Van Der Veen's equation. Venous blood samples, cord bl...
Abstract Soap is sodium or potassium salt of fatty acid produced by saponification reaction. Soap is used on a day to day basis by households. The physicochemical properties of soaps determine their quality and hence determine their efficiency and their cleansing properties. It remains obscure the quality of the soaps that are sold in the local markets in Kenya and thus the need to assess them. Eight commercial washing soaps were analyzed for Matter insoluble in alcohol, moisture content, tot...
ABSTRACT Bio-fuels are fuels derived from biological materials or their by-products such as agricultural waste. A study was carried out to assess the production of bio-fuel (bioethanol) from some hydrolyzed agricultural wastes using yeast species isolated from Cola acuminata, Ipomoea batatas, Manihot esculenta, Pennisetum glaucum, Sorghum bicolor, Solanum tuberosum, Zea mays and palmwine (from Elaeis guineensis). Eight yeast species including Candida krusei, Candida tropicalis strain A, Cand...
ABSTRACT The use of chemical herbicide in the management of aquatic weeds does not only constitute environmental and health problem but its cost and its non-specific nature calls for the use of biological control agents. An investigation was conducted into the probable use of indigenous fungi as potential mycoherbicides for water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) control. Trips were made to Badagry Creeks, Mile 2 and Lagos Lagoon in Lagos State and Ogun river in Isheri, Ogun state to collect sa...
Abstract The study of duality properties of the spaces of analytic functions contin- ues to attract the attention of many mathematicians. Most studies have concentrated on the re exive Hardy and Bergman spaces both on the unit disk and the upper half-plane. For instance, Zhu, Peloso, among others have determined the duality properties of Hardy and Bergman spaces. For the non-re exive Bergman spaces of the disk, it was proved by Axler that the dual and the predual are identied as big and littl...
ABSTRACT Solar radiation energy incident on a collector can be converted into electricity using PV cells or thermal energy by means of solar thermal collectors. Solar radiation intensity is sometimes lower than required for suitable applications, hence needs to be concentrated. Solar radiation concentration can be done by mirrors or lenses to obtain higher temperatures and thermal energy required for appropriate applications such as heating, drying, cooking and other industrial applications. ...
ABSTRACT Public Universities in Kenya are key players in the training of physics teachers through the Bachelor of Education (Science) programme. However, the training is in need of reforms due to changes in content, educational media and technology in teaching of secondary school physics. Reviews of the programme in public universities have focused on content with little attention to methodology. Further, there is lack of coordination in key areas of training among the universities yet; secon...
ABSTRACT Fish farming is now a major source of global and local fish requirements of food, raw materials, income and ecological considerations supplementing the dwindling output from the wild waters. Several systems are now in place including use of earthen, concrete, liner ponds and race ways. Earthen ponds are of major concern as they mainly depend on natural stream water sources. The ponds release their effluents containing elevated levels of nutrients as a result of fertilizers and feeds ...
ABSTRACT HIV/AIDS epidemic has endangered the development of countries in this new century, presenting one of the greatest challenges of this generation and threatening human development. To accomplish an efficient response requires many researches to find long term solutions. Though its prevalence has declined in the past years, it is still very high in particular regions due to various factors. This research analysed major factors associated with HIV/AIDS prevalence in Maseno Community. If ...