Abstract Synthetic sex pheromones could provide valuable alternative means of pest control in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies. Their uses could include population monitoring with pheromone traps to guide other control methods, by mass trapping and mating disruption. (Z)-ll-Hexadecenal (Z-11-C4Hg CH=CH (CHZ) 9 CHO) and (Z)-llhexadecen- l-ol (Z-ll-C/H",CH=CH(CH1 )oCH10H), the major components of '1 £ J £. spotted stalk borer, Chilo pert el Lue (swinhoe) fernale sex pheromone, were...
ABSTRACT; Amritphala (psidium guajava l) is a small size tree in myrtaceae family, traditionally used in treatment of several diseases such as inflammation, diabetes, hypertension, wounds, pain and fever. When it comes to skin care, the astringents of guava enhance the skin texture and tighten loosened skin. The guava leaves works more effectively than any other skin nourishing lotions in the market. Decoction of immature leaves and fruits can be applied on the skin to prevent tightening and ...
Abstract Preliminary validation of the extracts for bioactivity revealed that the n-hexane, DCM and MeOH extracts of the stem bark of L. eriocalyx were active against P. falciparum, A. gambie larvae, B. anthracis, and A. niger. This formed the the basis of fractionation of these crude extracts whereby lupeol (27), quercetin (65), apigenin (68) friedelin (133), -sitosterol (134), lupenone (135), -sitosterol-3-O-glucoside (136), chrysin (137) morinhydrate (138), quercetin-3-O-glucoside (1...
ABSTRACT Greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions data from large-scale agricultural activities are available. In developing countries, e.g. Kenya, agriculture is dominated by smallholder farming, data on the assessment of possible contributions of smallholder agriculture to GHG emissions and GHG fluxes data from smallholder farming systems in the tropics is scarce. The study area is a 10 square km area also called the ―Lower Nyando Block‖ in Western Kenya. The basin varies in landscapes (low la...
Abstract Preliminary bioassay analysis was done on all parts of the three plants under study as explained in section 4.2.1. The antiplasmodial activity of the DCM extract of the leaves of E. abyssinica was significantly high (p≤0.05) against W2 and D6 clones of P. falciparum with IC50 values 165.1 and 215.1 g/mL, respectively. Similarly, the DCM extract of the stem bark of L. eriocalyx showed high activity (p≤0.05) of 423.0 and 365.2 g/mL against the two clones. Likewise, the DCM ex...
ABSTRACT Use of contaminated water risks human lives hence should be treated to meet drinking water quality guidelines. The most applied technique is municipal water treatment technology (MWTT) though inaccessible in peri-urban/rural settings leading to use of untreated water like borehole waters. Desirable water treatment processes need to be developed for provision of portable water. Local materials such as Moringa oleifera seed, activated clay, activated charcoal and natural zeolite have b...
Abstract The impact of potentially toxic metals (PTM) on humans and other organisms depends on their concentration, toxicity and bioavailability, which in turn, depend in part on reactivity and solubility. The total concentrations of PTM do not determine the mobility, bioavailability and uptake by plants but the fraction of these metals in soils or sediments, hence the development of sequential extraction method which has been widely used for speciation or fractionation studies. The limitatio...
ABSTRACT Sugarcane is an important cash crop in Kenya. Due to its economic value, efforts are in progress to increase its production. The efforts include intense use of fertilizers, besides the use of high-yielding varieties. The intense use of fertilizers adds heavy metals to the sugarcane growing soils. The sugarcane plants can bioaccumulate heavy metals from soils to levels above safe limits. Metal levels in soil and factors such as soil pH and soil organic matter (SOM) influence levels of...
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 While most universities in the developed world, by tradition, have research offices to handle research management, structures for the efficient coordination and strong governance of research are nascent within many Sub-Saharan African universities. In this paper we look at the organizational structures, policies and functions of research offices for supporting faculty research as well as their management operations in 5 selected Nigerian universities. The authors interviewed 20 part...
ABSTRACT Plant-derived compounds could exhibit a direct and/or an indirect antimicrobial activity as antimicrobial resistance modifying compounds. Their effectiveness could further be increased when combined with other bioactive compounds or antibiotics (synergy). A systematic search for plant-derived bioactive compounds, including those which can synergistically act with other bioactive compounds or antibiotics, as resistance modifying agents represents a potential approach to overcoming mic...
ABSTRACT Management of parasitic disease continues to be a burden and a major public health problem the world over today. Malaria is most lethal of the parasitic vector-borne diseases due to drug and vector resistance to the available chemotherapeutics and vector management strategies, respectively. Bacterial and fungal infections are opportunistic to persons with compromised immunity yet the available drugs are associated with occasional treatment failures while antibiotic resistance is grow...
ABSTRACT Lake Victoria is the largest freshwater and fishery lake in Africa. Kisumu City on the Winam Gulf has industrial activities that dispose of their effluents into the lake which may contaminate aquatic species thus threatening human health. It is not known fully if these anthropogenic activities adversely change the water quality and contribute heavy metal pollutants to the lake water and/or cause high accumulation of the metals in sediments and fish from the gulf. The study employed a...
ABSTRACT Plastic pollution has recently gained global concern due to the negative effect it presents on both the environment and human health. In the environment, plastics degrade yielding millions of micro- and nano-scale plastic particles. The microplastics have the ability to adsorb organic pollutants, heavy metals, and micro-organisms in either the aquatic or terrestrial environments. The microplastics size range and ubiquity in the environment provides an easy pathway into the food chain...
ABSTRACT Despite more than a century of efforts to eradicate and control malaria, it still remains a major risk to public health and economies of countries in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Control of malaria has been based on eradication of the vector, mosquito, by use of pesticides. In order to reduce malaria incidence, some African countries are re-introducing the banned dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), however, organophosphates are known to have far more immediat...