Quality of Life of Women living with HIV and AIDS in Korogocho Slums, Nairobi, Kenya

Background: Since HIV/AIDS was reported in Kenya the country has been and continues to be impacted negatively in all sectors. Despite Government’s intervention initiatives to mitigate the impact, patients continue to succumb to this condition. The main objective of this study was to assess the factors that affect on the Quality of Life among HIV and AIDS positive women in Korogocho Slums. Methods: This study employed an exploratory design. Quality of Life was evaluated using several items which employed a Likert2type five2point scale. These items were distributed in four domains: Physical health and level of independence; Psychological well2being; Social relationships and environment. The domain scores scaled in a positive direction – higher scores denoted higher quality of life and vice versa. Structured interviews were used to collect quantitative data while in2depth interviews were used to collect qualitative information. Results: A total of 83 female patients were interviewed in this study. Only 31% reported that they were restricted by physical pain to go about their business. As high as 70% of the respondents reported that they did not get enough support from relatives and friends. Eighty percent reported that they were not satisfied with their sex life and 37% reported that the environment they lived in was unhealthy. This study reported a low quality of life of 53% among the respondents. Recommendations: Clinicians and health practitioners in their interaction with women with HIV and AIDS to consider involving them in their health decision making since they are the owners of their bodies who continuously listen to the manifestation of the condition in order to improve health care outcomes. Keywords: Health Related Quality of Life; HIV and Aid

Comparing Forest Species Emissivity Using Airborne Thermal Infrared Hyperspectral data in a Mixed Temperate Forest

The need to identify and remotely speciate different vegetation classes in mixed forest environments continues to be an important area for ecosystem conservation and management purposes. Such applications generally rely on the biochemical and biophysical properties found in the VNIR (0.3–1.0 μm) and SWIR (1.0–2.5 μm) regions. Nevertheless, foliar spectral behaviour in the TIR (8–14 μm) domain hassignificant interspecies variability that has been shown to correlate with the spectral features of key plant constituents. Different plant species have been successfully discriminated in the laboratory using leaf emissivity spectra. However, given the complexity of emissivity at the canopy level, species discrimination using canopy emissivity spectra obtained from airborne TIR remains unexplored. This study aims to compare the differences in the canopy emissivity spectra obtained from the airborne TIR hyperspectral data among and between various vegetation covers in a mixed temperate forest

Isoflavones from Calpurnia aurea subsp. Aurea and their Anticancer Activity

Background: Calpurnia aurea is an African medicinal plant used in many countries in Africa to treat a range of medical conditions or disorders.Extracts of the plant were shown to be active in antibacterial and  antioxidant assays as well as against lice, ticks and maggots. The aim of the study was to isolate the phytochemical constituents from the plant and to test them in appropriate bioassays dependent on the compounds isolated in order to provide a rationale for the use of the plant in ethno-medicine or to provide some information on its constituents.Materials and methods: The stem and bark of the plant was extracted with organic solvents of varying polarity and the extracts separated and purified using column chromatography. The isolated compounds were identified by NMR spectroscopy and the compounds were tested for their in vitro anticancer activity against breast (MCF7), renal (TK10) and melanoma  (UACC62) human cell lines using an in house method developed at the CSIR, South Africa.Results: The isoflavones, 4Œ,5,7-trihydroxyisoflavone (1), 7,3Œ-dihydroxy-5Œ-methoxyisoflavone (2), 7-hydroxy-4Œ,8- dimethoxyisoflavone (3), 7- acetoxy-4Œ,8-dimethoxyisoflavone (4) and 3',7-dihydroxy-4Œ,8-dimethoxyisoflavone (5), a pterocarpan (3-acetoxy-9-methoxypterocarpan) and a quinolizidine alkaloid (calpurnine) were isolated from the stem and bark of Calpurnia aurea. The tetrasubstituted isoflavone 5 was found to be the most active in the three cell lines amongst all the compounds tested. This was followed by trisubstituted isoflavone 2.Conclusion: The isoflavones showed moderate activity against the renal, melanoma and breast cancer cell lines tested against, with the isoflavones 2 and 5 showing the best activity of the compounds tested. These  isoflavones may have a synergistic effect with other anticancer drugs.Key words: Calpurnia aurea, Fabaceae, 5,6Œ-dihydroxy-2Œ,6-dimethoxyisoflavone, anti cancer

The development of bone char-based filters for the removal of flouride from drinking water

Millions of people rely on drinking water that contains excess fluoride. Only few fluoride removal techniques have been implemented on a wider scale in low and middle income countries. One of these methods, bone char filtration, is highly efficient. However, its lifespan is rather limited. This paper presents first laboratory results and field testing of a new fluoride removal technology, based on a combination of bone char and calcium-phosphate pellets. These chemicals are slowly released to the water for fluoride precipitation. Although this method, commonly referred to as contact precipitation is known, the development of such pellets is new. Fixed-bed laboratory experiments show that this mixture of materials can increase filter uptake capacity by a factor of 3 and more. However, to reduce the phosphate concentration in the treated water, the design of full-scale community filters for field testing has to be slightly modified