Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of common bean

The common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important human dietary constituent being a rich source of protein. Genetically improved bean varieties are required as optimum yields are not realised due to constraints such as diseases and insect pests. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of two common bean varieties Mwitemania and Rose coco to in vitro Agrobacterium tumefaciens - mediated transformation. Mature seed embryos germinated for 1-2 days on moist filter paper, were stab inoculated with A. tumefaciens strains LBA 4404 (pBI 121), EHA 105 (pCAMBIA 1201) and EHA 105 (pCAMBIA 1301), harbouring \u3b2-glucuronidase (GUS) intron plasmids. The infected embryos were co-cultivated for 3-4 days on basal Murashige and Skoog, 1962 medium with B5 vitamins (MSB5) or medium supplemented with 10 \ub5M benzyl-aminopurine (BAP) and cultured on regeneration and selection medium consisting of 10 \ub5M BAP and 50 mg L-1 kanamycin or hygromycin. Transformed shoots and roots confirmed by histochemical staining for GUS activity were obtained in 40 weeks old Mwitemania plantlets from explants infected with A. tumefaciens LBA 4404 (pBI 121). No GUS expression was observed in all Rose coco and Mwitemania shoots from explants infected with EHA 105 (pCAMBIA 1201) or EHA 105 (pCAMBIA 1301).Le haricot commun ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) est un important constituant du regime alimentaire humain riche en prot\ue9ines. Des vari\ue9t\ue9s g\ue9n\ue9tiquement am\ue9lior\ue9es sont n\ue9cessaires, les rendements optimum n\u2019\ue9tant pas realis\ue9s suite aux contraintes comme maladies et pestes dues aux insects. L\u2019objectif de cette \ue9tude \ue9tait d\u2019\ue9valuer le potential de deux vari\ue9t\ue9s de haricot commun, Mwitemania et Rose coco en transformation m\ue9di\ue9e in vitro Agrobacterium tumefaciens . De grains embryonnaires matures en germination sous papier filter pendant 1-2 jours, \ue9taient inocul\ue9s en stab avec des strains de LBA 4404 (pBI 121) A. tumefaciens, EHA 105 (pCAMBIA 1201) et EHA 105 (pCAMBIA 1301), harbouring \u3b2-glucuronidase (GUS) "intron plasmids". Lews embryons infect\ue9s \ue9taient c0-cultiv\ue9s pendant 3-4 jours sur la base de media Murashige and Skoog, 1962 avec des vitamins B5 (MSB5) ou media suppl\ue9ment\ue9 avec 10mM benzyl-aminopurine (BAP) et cultiv\ue9 sur le m\ue9dia s\ue9lectionn\ue9 et r\ue9g\ue9n\ue9r\ue9 compos\ue9 de 10 mM BAP et 50 mg L-1 kanamycin ou hygromycin. Les tiges et racines transform\ue9es, confirm\ue9es par la culture histochimique pour activit\ue9 GUS \ue9taient obtenues dans les plantules de Mwitemania \ue2g\ue9es de 40 semaines issues des explants infect\ue9s avec A. tumefaciens LBA 4404 (pBI 121). Aucune expression GUS n\u2019\ue9tait observ\ue9e dans toutes les tiges de Rose coco et Mwitemania shoots issues des explants infect\ue9s avec EHA 105 (pCAMBIA 1201) ou EHA 105 (pCAMBIA 1301)

Effects of strategic planning on organizational efficiency of Tea factories in Kisii County-Kenya

Revenues from Tea in Kenya have significantly dropped by Shs 16 Billion in the year to October 2014 as low prices hit the international market (CBK Economic review 2014) The crop fetched Shs 96 Billion ($1.07 Million) in that year translating to 14.3$ 1.256 Million) that the produce earned in a corresponding period in 2013(CBK Economic review 2014). About 95% of Kenyan tea is exported as a generic product. Currently Kenya produces Black CTC tea as the only product for which the prices have declined.However, the extent to which strategic planning is employed to overcome this problem has not been established. Therefore, it is for this reason that this study sought to find out the effect of strategic planning on organizational efficiency with specific focus on tea factories in Kenya

In vitro antifungal activity of methanolic extracts of different Senna didymobotrya (Fresen.) H.S. Irwin & Barneby plant parts

Background: Herbal medicines have been in use for many years and remain widespread in developing countries; whereas, the use of complementary alternative medicine is on the increase in developed countries. Senna didymobotrya is important for its medicinal benefits among most communities in treating a wide range of ailments.Materials and methods: Plants were collected from a cluster in Siaya, Nandi and Nakuru counties (Kenya). Stem bark, root bark, leaves, flowers and immature pods were obtained; air-dried and ground into fine powder. Methanol was used to extract the plant extracts. The extracts were reconstituted in water and incorporated into growth media to obtain 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%. Bioassays were carried out on T. tonsurans (ATCC 28942) and C. albicans (14053). The growth of cultures on the plates was measured over a period of sixteen days. The area under disease progress stairs was determined and subjected to ANOVA and comparison of means using LSD.Results: Results indicated that the growth of C. albicans was not significantly affected by the plant extracts. Growth of T. tonsurans was completely inhibited by immature pods extract at 10%, the leaves and flowers extracts inhibited the growth at 7.5%. The stem and root bark extracts inhibited growth at low dosages of 2.5- 5 %.Conclusion: There is need to carry out research on root and stem barks to identify the active phytochemicals that contribute to their high efficacies. On species conservation, harvesting of roots may lead to depletion of S. didymobotrya.Keywords: Senna didymobotrya, ringworms, candidiasis, tinea capiti

Influence of entrepreneurship on small and medium enterprises: A case study of SMES owned by females in Kisii town, Kisii county, Kenya

Female entrepreneurs make a substantial contribution to national economies through their participation in start-ups and their growth in small and medium businesses. United Nations 2006 stipulated that their interests and activities in the economic growth and development especially in the area of SMEs have received outstanding interest of researchers. Businesses owned by females do not grow to medium or large scale hence not clear what influences stagnation of these businesses. This could be attributed to either lack of proper planning, improper financing or, poor business management. The study therefore set to establish the influence of entrepreneurship of women of SMEs and also finds out factors that hinder their growth. The objectives of the study have been be to: Determine the major influences facing female in small scale business   in Kisii Town; establish suitable strategies in improving the female small scale Business influences and determine the impact of a proprietor’s professional improvement on the business strategy implementation. The study adopted descriptive research design. The target population was 577 respondents. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules which were both open and closed-ended and analyzed using tables and charts. The open-ended questions were analyzed qualitatively. The study is useful to female entrepreneurs in making useful decisions regarding their SMEs

IN VITRO ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF METHANOLIC EXTRACTS OF DIFFERENT Senna didymobotrya (FRESEN.) H.S. IRWIN & BARNEBY PLANT PARTS

Background: Herbal medicines have been in use for many years and remain widespread in developing countries; whereas, the use of complementary alternative medicine is on the increase in developed countries. Senna didymobotrya is important for its medicinal benefits among most communities in treating a wide range of ailments. Materials and methods: Plants were collected from a cluster in Siaya, Nandi and Nakuru counties (Kenya). Stem bark, root bark, leaves, flowers and immature pods were obtained; air-dried and ground into fine powder. Methanol was used to extract the plant extracts. The extracts were reconstituted in water and incorporated into growth media to obtain 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%. Bioassays were carried out on T. tonsurans (ATCC 28942) and C. albicans (14053). The growth of cultures on the plates was measured over a period of sixteen days. The area under disease progress stairs was determined and subjected to ANOVA and comparison of means using LSD. Results: Results indicated that the growth of C. albicans was not significantly affected by the plant extracts. Growth of T. tonsurans was completely inhibited by immature pods extract at 10%, the leaves and flowers extracts inhibited the growth at 7.5%. The stem and root bark extracts inhibited growth at low dosages of 2.5- 5 %. Conclusion: There is need to carry out research on root and stem barks to identify the active phytochemicals that contribute to their high efficacies. On species conservation, harvesting of roots may lead to depletion of S. didymobotry

Predictors of linkage to care following community-based HIV counseling and testing in rural Kenya

Despite innovations in HIV counseling and testing (HCT), important gaps remain in understanding linkage to care. We followed a cohort diagnosed with HIV through a community-based HCT campaign that trained persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) as navigators. Individual, interpersonal, and institutional predictors of linkage were assessed using survival analysis of self-reported time to enrollment. Of 483 persons consenting to follow-up, 305 (63.2%) enrolled in HIV care within 3 months. Proportions linking to care were similar across sexes, barring a sub-sample of men aged 18–25 years who were highly unlikely to enroll. Men were more likely to enroll if they had disclosed to their spouse, and women if they had disclosed to family. Women who anticipated violence or relationship breakup were less likely to link to care. Enrolment rates were significantly higher among participants receiving a PLHA visit, suggesting that a navigator approach may improve linkage from community-based HCT campaigns.Vestergaard Frandse

The Enterics for Global Health (EFGH) Shigella Surveillance Study in Kenya

Background: Although Shigella is an important cause of diarrhea in Kenyan children, robust research platforms capable of conducting incidence-based Shigella estimates and eventual Shigella-targeted clinical trials are needed to improve Shigella-related outcomes in children. Here, we describe characteristics of a disease surveillance platform whose goal is to support incidence and consequences of Shigella diarrhea as part of multicounty surveillance aimed at preparing sites and assembling expertise for future Shigella vaccine trials. Methods: We mobilized our preexisting expertise in shigellosis, vaccinology, and diarrheal disease epidemiology, which we combined with our experience conducting population-based sampling, clinical trials with high (97%–98%) retention rates, and healthcare utilization surveys. We leveraged our established demographic surveillance system (DSS), our network of healthcare centers serving the DSS, and our laboratory facilities with staff experienced in performing microbiologic and molecular diagnostics to identify enteric infections. We joined these resources with an international network of sites with similar capabilities and infrastructure to form a cohesive scientific network, designated Enterics for Global Health (EFGH), with the aim of expanding and updating our knowledge of the epidemiology and adverse consequences of shigellosis and enriching local research and career development priorities. Conclusions: Shigella surveillance data from this platform could help inform Shigella vaccine trials

PDBe-KB: collaboratively defining the biological context of structural data

The Protein Data Bank in Europe - Knowledge Base (PDBe-KB, https://pdbe-kb.org) is an open collaboration between world-leading specialist data resources contributing functional and biophysical annotations derived from or relevant to the Protein Data Bank (PDB). The goal of PDBe-KB is to place macromolecular structure data in their biological context by developing standardised data exchange formats and integrating functional annotations from the contributing partner resources into a knowledge graph that can provide valuable biological insights. Since we described PDBe-KB in 2019, there have been significant improvements in the variety of available annotation data sets and user functionality. Here, we provide an overview of the consortium, highlighting the addition of annotations such as predicted covalent binders, phosphorylation sites, effects of mutations on the protein structure and energetic local frustration. In addition, we describe a library of reusable web-based visualisation components and introduce new features such as a bulk download data service and a novel superposition service that generates clusters of superposed protein chains weekly for the whole PDB archive