ABSTRACT Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a common type of liver cancer arising from progressive transformation of pre-cancerous dysplasia macronodules and hepatocytes is ranked as the fourth leading cause of death globally and a fifth cause of death in Africa. Several risk factors for HCC have been identified that include dietary and life style risks, significant genetic family history and predisposition to genetic mutation. It has been hypothesized that codon 249 of p53 gene is more suscepti...
ABSTRACT The synthesis and characterization of zeolite and its application in adsorption of nickel from aqueous solution was investigated. Synthesis of zeolite was performed at 90 oC for 8 h. The size of the resulting crystals increased with an increase in the water content of the reaction mixture. The synthesized zeolite was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques. Crystal structure of the product was determined as zeolite X by XRD. The...
ABSTRACT Contamination of drinking water sources remains a big challenge and many people lack access to safe potable water. In Njoro Sub-county the main water sources are rivers, man-made wells (protected and unprotected), boreholes, rainwater and springs (protected and unprotected). Although Escherichia coli (E. coli) is an indicator organism for fecal contamination of water, some E. coli strains have acquired the ability to cause intestinal (gastroenteritis) and extraintestinal diseases in ...
ABSTRACT Prolonged and severe droughts have affected many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, increasing cases of crop failure, hunger and destruction of habitats. Kenya has experienced worse droughts since the turn of the 20th century, with increased frequency in the recent decades. This study assessed effects of drought on household livelihoods and adaptation strategies in Laikipia West sub-County. The specific objectives of the study were to: analyze temporal drought trends in Laikipia West ...
ABSTRACT Malaria control through insecticide application has significantly been compromised by the advent of resistance to the insecticide in the Anopheles mosquito vector. These developments have necessitated the need to bio prospect for and understand the mode of action of novel insecticide introduction. Larvicidal potential in extracts from Aloe plants on Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto and Aedes aegypti third instar (two days old) larvae were evaluated. Extracts were obtained from Aloe tu...
ABSTRACT Reuse of fluoride saturated bone char as a way of reducing fluoride in domestic water was investigated. The study was aimed at determining the most effective solution (NaOH, Na2CO3, NaHCO3 or Na3PO4) to use in the regeneration of fluoride saturated bone char. Effect of temperature on regeneration and removal capacity of regenerated bone char is also reported. Samples of 40 grams of bone char per 50 mL solution were used in determination of effectiveness of different sodium solut...
ABSTRACT The sun emits ultraviolet radiation in the form of ultraviolet-A (UV-A), ultraviolet-B (UV-B), and ultraviolet-C (UV-C) bands. Ultraviolet light has the potential to boost vitamin D2 production in mushrooms which are the only non-animal food source of vitamin D for humans. The ergosterol in mushrooms, a component of fungal cell membranes which serves the same function as cholesterol in animal cells, can be converted into vitamin D2 by exposure to controlled UV light. However, mushroo...
ABSTRACT Production of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in Kenya is constrained by many biotic, abiotic and socio-economic factors. Among the biotic constraints, bacterial wilt, caused by Ralstonia solanacearum (Yabuuchi et al., 1995) presents major management difficulties. Attempts to combat the disease have been difficult due to the complex heterogeneous genetic make-up of the pathogen, comprising different races and biovars, its survival mechanisms and its large number of hosts, including wee...
ABSTRACT In Anopheles gambiae mosquito vector of malaria, mating is mediated by transfer of a plug (mating plug protein) from males to females. In the females, the constituents of the plug include male accessory glands (MAGs) proteins and female specific proteins that influence ovulation, oviposition, lifetime refractoriness to mating and other post-mating behaviors in the females. Manipulation of the plug can significantly affect the reproduction potential and concomitant population density ...
ABSTRACT Ganoderma polypore species are hard, leathery poroid mushrooms that lack the distinct stipe. They are a unique group of fungi usually ignored by most fungi enthusiasts because of their typical inedibility, unfamiliar habitat and general opacity. In addition to their traditional use, contemporary research has suggested many applications for cancer treatment and boosting of the immune system. Due to increase in bacterial resistance to existing antibiotics infectious diseases have ...
ABSTRACT Tea-drinking is a habit that has over time spread globally. The chemical composition of tea is very complex and is currently a subject of broad medical and toxicological scientific studies. Thus, the accurate quantification of the levels of both essential and non-essential elements in tea is very important in assessing it’s standard and quality as they are directly related to health and disease. This study examined the levels of Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), Cadmium...
The use of and reliance on information systems for business has been on the rise especially in recent years. This has had a serious impact on the security of business information. Previous studies have identified two areas that must be considered when creating a secure information system: technology and human compliance to policies. Many researchers have stated that technology vulnerabilities are a key source of weakness and data loss in many information systems in organizations. Additio...
The emerging Broadband Integrated Services Digital Networks |||(B-ISDN) will become the core of the future telecommunication infrastructure based on the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology and will provide a wide range of services such as video conferencing, video mail, image transfer high definition television, video on demand and video telephony. An aspect of Broadband ATM networks is the multiplexing of the multiple terminals (TEs) and diverse traffic types at the Customer premises...
Security problems have become a major concern in most urban settlements across the globe. The use of technology can be incorporated into the security systems to enhance operational measures that have been deployed. The aim of this study was to examine the challenges stakeholders face in crime reporting and develop a mobile-based system that would support intelligence collection and real-time reporting. The study employed design science to develop the proposed system. Primary data was col...
Smart phones are powerful minicomputers characterized by high performance, large memory capacity and enhanced applications that enable various ways of communication. They are widely used for other purposes besides making phone calls, for instance browsing the internet, reading and responding to emails, road navigation, editing documents, video conferencing, playing music, taking videos and photo, to mention but a few. The problem at hand is that forensic investigators often encounter diff...