Factors for joining village community networks in Tanzania

Self-created social networks play key role in the development of communities across the globe. Self-created community networks serve as platforms for social networking among marginalized communities in Africa and the rest of the world. Although community members are motivated to network, social networks face some micro and macro structural challenges. Despite the challenges, community members continue to join and benefit from social networks. However, the reasons for them to join the networks, especially in the African context, are inadequately documented. Using a qualitative methodology and longitudinal research design, the article explores “push and pull” factors for joining a strand of self-created social network known as Village Community Networks (VCONEs). The findings suggest that challenges emanating from the neoliberal context push some community members to join VCONEs. The push prompts them to seek some protection against the negative forces of neoliberalism. VCONEs also pull women to access opportunities offered by the network. Noteworthy, VCONEs have managed to retain some autonomy from external agents such as local governments, donor and NGOs. The autonomy from external agencies makes VCONEs more sustainable than other strands of social networks

Service performance and customer satisfaction as antecedents of corporate reputation: A comparative analysis between local and foreign banks in Tanzania

ArticleThe competitiveness of commercial banks is of vital importance for a developing country that is striving to enhance the standard of living of its citizens by ensuring an expansion of banking services. This study compared service performance and customer satisfaction as antecedents of corporate reputation between foreign and local banks in Tanzania. The study had a sample size of 380 respondents who were the customers of these banks. The structural equation modelling was carried out so as to examine the interrelationships of the constructs and how the findings can be inferred on the entire population. Chi-square statistical values, Incremental Fit Index, the Tucker-Lewis Fit Index, the Comparative Fit Index, the Parsimony Normed Fit Index and the Root Mean Square Error Approximation were applied to examine the models’ fit. While the mean values were applied to compare customers’ perceptions of service performance, customer satisfaction and corporate reputation between local and foreign banks. The main findings from the study indicate that, service performance levels were perceived relatively positively; customer satisfaction on corporate reputation was slightly stronger for the foreign banks than the local banks and there are very strong positive relationships between service performance and customer satisfaction in the Tanzanian banking industry. The study recommends that managers of the banks need to understand that customers’ perceptions on the banks’ service performance have a significant influence on the perceived banks’ reputation

Performance characteristics and costs of serological tests for brucellosis in a pastoralist community of northern Tanzania

The control of brucellosis across sub-Saharan Africa is hampered by the lack of standardized testing and the use of tests with poor performance. This study evaluated the performance and costs of serological assays for human brucellosis in a pastoralist community in northern Tanzania. Serum collected from 218 febrile hospital patients was used to evaluate the performance of seven index tests, selected based on international recommendation or current use. We evaluated the Rose Bengal test (RBT) using two protocols, four commercial agglutination tests and a competitive enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (cELISA). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, Youden’s index, diagnostic accuracy, and per-sample cost of each index test were estimated. The diagnostic accuracy estimates ranged from 95.9 to 97.7% for the RBT, 55.0 to 72.0% for the commercial plate tests, and 89.4% for the cELISA. The per-sample cost range was $0.69–$0.79 for the RBT, $1.03–$1.14 for the commercial plate tests, and $2.51 for the cELISA. The widely used commercial plate tests performed poorly and cost more than the RBT. These findings provide evidence for the public health value of discontinuing the use of commercial agglutination tests for human brucellosis in Tanzania.DELTAS Africa Initiative Afrique One-ASPIRE scholarship scheme (Afrique One-ASPIRE/DEL-15-008, http://afriq ueone aspir e.org). Â.J.M is supported by The University of Glasgow’s Lord Kelvin/Adam Smith (LKAS) PhD scholarship. R.F.B received scholarship support from the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Department for International Development (DFID), the Economic & Social Research Council, the Medical Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory, under the Zoonoses and Emerging Livestock Systems – Associated Studentship (ZELS-AS) programme (grant number BB/N503563/1). This study was also supported by the Zoonoses and Emerging Livestock Systems program grant numbers BB/L018845 and BB/ L017679 http://www.bbsrc .ac.uk/)

Detection of porcine cysticercosis in meat juice samples from infected pigs

Journal articleBackground Seroprevalence of porcine cysticercosis has been generally studied using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) detecting either antigens or antibodies in sera. However, serum is not always readily available. The objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic potential of meat juice in detecting porcine cysticercosis using a cysticercosis antibody ELISA. Methods Sera and meat juice samples from 13 different organs/tissues were collected from nine pigs naturally infected with cysticercosis and from six uninfected pigs reared under hygienic conditions. The sensitivity of the cysticercosis antibody ELISA in detecting porcine cysticercosis in meat juice samples was compared to that in serum samples from the same pigs. Results Using sera, cysticercosis was detected in all nine pigs harbouring cysticerci, but not in those reared under hygienic conditions. The sensitivity of the ELISA was highest in meat juice extracted from the diaphragm (100%), heart (89%) and neck muscle (78%) of the nine infected pigs, whereas it varied between 0 and 44% in the other samples. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study for T. solium cysticercosis serology to use meat juice. Our results show that meat juice from pig carcass organs or muscles is a promising diagnostic specimen for the detection of porcine cysticercosis. More studies including a large sample size of pigs with varying degrees of cysticercosis infection are needed to further prove this concept

Potentials of Spices Diet-Derived Polyphenols in Modulating the Self-Renewal of Stem Cells

Over many centuries, spices have been and are globally utilized in foods and drinks, as well as in pharmaceuticals industries. Spices are rich in health-beneficial chemical constituents that include diet- derived polyphenols, terpenes, polysaccharides, lipids, organic acids, and raw fibres. Stem cells can self- renew and differentiate into major cell types. However, malignant stem cells can invade and kill nearby tissue as well as spread to other body parts through the blood and lymph systems leading to several diseases including cancers affecting the lungs, liver, breasts, pancreas, stomach, colorectum, and cervix. The purpose of this mini-review is to highlight the contributions of recent research on the role of different diet-derived polyphenols from spices mainly cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum); cinnamon (Cinnamomumzeylanicum); clove (Syzygiumaromaticum); ginger (Zingiberofficinale); nutmeg (Myristicafragrans); pepper (Pipernigrum); saffron (Crocussativus); turmeric (Curcumalonga) and vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) in the modulation of the self-renewal of normal and malignant stem cells. Recent researches have demonstrated that predominant compounds; curcumin, crocetin, crocin, gingerols, shogaols, myristicin, piperine, and vanillin possess immunomodulatory effects that specifically inhibit or suppress the proliferation of cancer cells by stimulating the development of normal stem cells, encouraging apoptosis, and activating the expression of protective genes that prevent the formation of malignant cells. More attention should focus on spices and their advanced applications into nutraceuticals for the prevention and management of chronic illnesses. Further work using a combination of in vitro and in vivo methods is needed to fully understand the synergistic impacts of combining more of these compounds to express their modulation effect on the self-renewal of stem cells

The influence of weather on the occurrence of aflatoxin b1 in harvested maize from Kenya and Tanzania

Journal Article: A study was conducted using maize samples collected from different agroecological zones of Kenya (n = 471) and Tanzania (n = 100) during the 2013 maize harvest season to estimate a relationship between aflatoxin B1 concentration and occurrence with weather conditions during the growing season. The toxins were analysed by the ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method. Aflatoxin B1 incidence ranged between 0–100% of samples in different regions with an average value of 29.4% and aflatoxin concentrations of up to 6075 µg/kg recorded in one sample. Several regression techniques were explored. Random forests achieved the highest overall accuracy of 80%, while the accuracy of a logistic regression model was 65%. Low rainfall occurring during the early stage of the maize plant maturing combined with high temperatures leading up to full maturity provide warning signs of aflatoxin contamination. Risk maps for the two countries for the 2013 season were generated using both random forests and logistic regression models

Cultural orientations as antecedent of customers’ perceptions of banking services: evidences from Tanzanian banking industry

ArticleThe paper examined how the cultural orientations influence customers’ perception on the banking services offered in the Tanzanian banking by carrying out a comparison between foreign and local banks. The sample size of 380 customers were involved, of whom 196 used local banks services while 184 used foreign bank services. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the psychometric properties of cultural orientations as based on the Tanzanian bank customers. Validity and reliability assessment as well as measurement invariance testing were performed on the cultural orientations’ measurement models used in the study. In carrying out the confirmatory factor analysis, Sharma’s (2010) cultural orientation scale was applied and, the dimensions consumer innovativeness, traditional values and prudence values were used in the model. The findings indicate that Foreign bank customers had significantly higher mean values than local bank customers for consumer innovativeness and traditional values, but there was no significant difference between the two types of banks for prudence values. The findings of the study suggest that there are significant differences in the consumer innovativeness between local and foreign bank customers, with foreign banks customers having significantly higher latent mean consumer innovativeness scores than local customers. There were no significant differences between local and foreign bank customers based on prudence values. Surprisingly, foreign bank customers had a slightly higher significant mean traditional values than local bank customers. The study recommends that Bank managers should change the strategic focus of their offerings by identifying the exact customers’ needs, incorporating cultural values so that these needs can be met and exceeded

Maize milling and modifying atmospheric conditions limit formation of aflatoxin B1 by aspergillus flavus

Journal of Biology and Life Science, Vol. 12, No. 2. pp. 16-26Occurrence of mycotoxins in foods poses a serious health concern all over the world. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is the most toxic, with widest occurrence in various foods, but mainly in cereals and nuts and its accumulation depends on substrate and environmental factors. This study investigated the how physical status (milling) of maize kernels and atmospheric conditions (aeration, moisture and temperature) affect production of aflatoxin B1 by Aspergillus flavus (ATCC 28862). Intact kernels and flour were incubated for up to 20 days in open and partially sealed petri dishes under controlled temperatures of 25 ºC, 30 ºC and 37 ºC and initial moisture contents of 27%, 22%, 18%, 15% and 12%. It was found that on average, significantly higher (p < 0.05) aflatoxin B1 level was accumulated in intact kernels (145.7 µg/kg) as compared to milled kernels (2.2 µg/kg). Also, none of the samples incubated under partially sealed conditions, compared to up to 100% of the samples incubated in open atmosphere had detectable levels of aflatoxin B1 after 20 days. Fungal growth was not affected by milling or aeration, but sporulation was low at 37 ºC and high at 25 ºC and 30 ºC. The findings of this study provide baseline information on how conditions can be modified to control postharvest accumulation of aflatoxin B1 in cereal

Effect of water velocity on ammonium and nitrite removal in pilot scale fixed bed biofilters

The effect of water velocity on nitrification rates in fixed bed biofilters was investigated in three freshwater pilot scale RAS with rainbow trout. Removal of total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) and nitrite-nitrogen were assessed by NH4Cl spikes and tested at four different water velocities in the biofilters (1.4, 5.4, 10.8 and 16.2 m h− 1) under identical conditions. Water velocities below 10.8 m h− 1 significantly reduced TAN- and nitrite removal rates. The surface specific TAN removal rates correlated with the TAN concentrations at the water velocities 10.8 and 16.2 m h− 1, and the first order surface removal rate constant was estimated at 0.45 m h− 1. However, no correlations between TAN removal and TAN concentrations were found at the lowest velocities. Up to five-fold elevated nitrite levels were found in the RAS when biofilters were operated at 1.4 m h− 1 compared to the trials at other water velocities, substantiating the significant effect of water velocity on both nitrification processes. The importance of biofilter hydraulics documented in this pilot scale RAS probably have implications for design and operation in larger scale RAS

Actors’ roles and functions in the improved rice varieties innovation system in the eastern zone of Tanzania

South African Journal of Agricultural Extension, Vol. 49 No. 1, pp. 59-80The objective of the study was to establish the actors’ roles and functions in improved rice varieties innovation system in the Eastern Zone of Tanzania. The target population samples for the study comprised of household heads (n = 340) and other key identified actors (n = 99). The research design was a convergent parallel mixed method. Face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions and documentary review were used to collect the data. The findings indicate weak or inability of Agricultural Seed Agency, TANSEED International Ltd, Quality Declared Seed producers in seed multiplication and distribution and agro-dealers were not selling quality rice seeds, thereby resulting in low availability and high prices of the same. Also, the findings show weak participation of farmers, agro- dealers, traders and millers in the functions of guidance of the search and rice varieties development, and the limited number of market actors and weak credit mobilization for farmers to invest in IRVs. The study recommends for the Government of Tanzania to create enabling environment that enhances participation of all key actors in the processes of guidance of the search and rice varieties development; linking farmers with external markets; and enhancing the farmers’ access to credit facilities by working on the obstacles hampering farmers from accessing loans from financial institutions