ABSTRACT Despite many building have firefighting systems installed in them; many people are still losing their lives and property due to fire accidents. The cost of installation of these systems is usually high and most of them are operated manually. They are often located inside the building which may not be accessible during fire accidents. In this research, an automatic cost effective prototype of a fire fighting system for the detection and control of fire has been designed and fabricated...
ABSTRACT Advanced technology in petrochemical based polymers has brought many benefits to mankind. However; it has become evident that the ecosystem is being disturbed because of non-biodegradable plastic materials. The environmental impact of persistent plastic wastes is growing into a more global concern. Currently, there is considerable interest in biodegradable polymers, which can be used as alternatives to traditional plastics, thus reducing the pollution caused by plastic wastes. The ma...
ABSTRACT Natural radiation is the major source of external doses in our environment. Human exposure to high dose rates poses a health risk. In this research work, radiometric survey and dose rate assessment was carried out on Archean rocks within the gold belt mining complex of Migori, Kenya. The objective was therefore to find out the contribution of different Archean rocks to the ambient gamma-ray dose in the mining complex. The high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy NaI (TI) provided a sen...
ABSTRACT Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern for public and animal health. Threats to public health could come from the transfer of pathogens from animals to people via indirect contact such as through food or by direct contact with animals during handling process. Development and prevalence of antibiotic resistance of Salmonella and Escherichia coli strains is common. There is also acquisition of pathogenicity by the commensals. The purpose of the present study was to determine the pr...
ABSTRACT Kenya has been experiencing rising cases of diseases such as diabetes, tuberculosis, liver complications, HIV/AIDS among others. Management of these conditions can be enhanced by use of plant-based trace elements. There is a need therefore to investigate crops that can provide a cheap source of these essential immune boosting trace elements. Grain amaranth is grown in different parts of Kenya including Bureti, Mt Elgon, Bondo, Meru and Embu. However, little research has been reporte...
ABSTRACT Ground magnetic survey in Lake Baringo area was carried out to examine underlying geology in relation to anomalies in the magnetic field of the earth arising from the magnetic properties of subsurface lithology. This has been done to delineate areas associated with high temperature reservoir in the study area and establish if it relates with the occurrence of geothermal manifestations. The field stations were selected carefully along a profile in the study area and were positioned us...
ABSTRACT Lake Victoria Basin is one of the regions in sub-Sahara Africa which is densely populated and majority of the inhabitants are poor economically. Cases of diseases related to nutrient deficiency, child mortality, high HIV and AIDS have increased in the recent years due to malnutrition and undernourishment as the cost of basic foods have been on the rise. One way of reducing malnutrition is increased consumption of indigenous fruits and vegetables which offer variety of nutrients. The ...
ABSTRACT Iron is the single element used in industries in larger quantities than all the other metallic elements combined. This is because of the very wide applications of the metal in manufacture of machinery, vehicles, utensils, trains and train rails, ships and bars used in re-enforced concrete. Whereas the element occurs in more than 80 minerals, only a small number is important as a source of iron. However, even these must be concentrated to make them suitable for putting in a blast fur...
ABSTRACT The quality of cement as a binding material in building and construction depends on many factors. Among the most important is its resistivity to the aggressive environment and its strength. The most aggressive ions to reinforced concrete are Cland SO4 2- . This study investigated the diffusivity of these ions into mortar made from a mixture of ground calcined clay bricks from Kibwezi region (GB) vis-a-vis ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and Commercial Portland Pozzolana cement (PPC)....
ABSTRACT Cross section studies are important as they supply fundamental level researchers with necessary information and predictions for their experiments. Once experimental measurements agree with some prediction, the theoretical model yielding the prediction is then applied to other situations and finally validated. Very few studies have been made on electron impact double excitation of (2s2) 1S and (2s2p) 1P states of helium and even the results obtained in these studies do not agree among...
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 Solar energy is deemed the single energy resource that is continuously decreasing in price (by 75%), increasing in utility and could effectively contribute to sustainable watershed management. In Kenya, there is an observed acceptance of Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Home Systems (SHS) as the best-fit form of energy to meet rural energy demand. This could potentially displace rural predisposition to woodfuels and paraffin and cumulatively, reduce environmental vulnerability. Photovolt...
ABSTRACT Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death world-wide despite the vigorous campaigns that have been made to combat them. This has been occasioned by drastic growth of drug resistant pathogens. Phytomedicines derived from plants have shown the ability to overcome resistance in some organisms and great promise in the treatment of intractable infectious diseases. Plant based antimicrobials represent a vast untapped source of medicines and a further exploration of plant antimicro...
ABSTRACT The presence of heavy metals in water due to anthropogenic and natural sources is widespread with serious effects on surface and ground water sources. There is the risk of accumulation of these metals in the body after ingestion of such waters for a long duration of time even when the concentration is low. This is because metals interfere with the functioning of body enzymes and/or bio-accumulate in hard and soft tissues in the body. There is a growing need for more clean water with ...
ABSTRACT Post-harvest pesticides applied to consumable foodstuffs usually pose a serious but silent threat to human and livestock health. Some pesticides accumulate slowly in various strata of the ecosystem causing irreparable damage to the environment and wildlife. In Kenya huge quantities of these pesticides are used to preserve maize grains during storage. The amount of pesticide residues consumed through maize grains and its products depend on ambient storage conditions of grains, the nat...