Laboratory Diagnosis of Candidiasis

The burden of Candidiasis continues to increase and so does the Candida species. Although Candida species are closely similar phenotypically, they differ from each other in terms of epidemiology, genetic characteristics, antifungal susceptibility and virulence profile. Therefore, reliable and accurate laboratory methods for identification of Candida species can determine the Candidiasis burden and enable the administration of the most appropriate antifungal drug therapy to reduce fungal mortality rates. Conventional and biochemical methods are often used in identification of Candida species. However, these techniques are specific and sensitive enough in detecting the non albicans candida (NAC) species. Molecular techniques have improved the laboratory diagnosis and management of Candidiasis due to improved sensitivity and specificity threshold. This chapter provides an overview of different laboratory methods for diagnosis of Candidiasis

Yield and Response of Bean Breeding Lines for Drought Tolerance to Field Diseases

Climate change has resulted in an increase in the intensity of droughts and rains, and higher temperatures which are adversely affecting crop production in Africa. It has also influenced the distribution and increased the occurrence of disease and pest epidemics. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is especially sensitive to these changes. Most released varieties are not well adapted to environmental extremes and extended periods of drought in particular has become a major constraint. In this study, 462 advanced breeding lines developed for drought tolerance were evaluated for yield, agronomic traits and disease response in two contrasting agro-ecologies, Kawanda in the Lake Victoria crescent and Kachwekano in the southwestern highlands. Analysis of variance indicated significant differences (P 1500 kg ha-1, the minimum anticipated commercial yield of new varieties, in all the trials, both seasons and in each year; 5.0 % also maintained above average yields. The most outstanding (1629-3944 kg ha-1) were; DAB299, DAB291, DAB234, DAD34, DAB478, DAB487, DAB543, DAB231, SCN20, SCR66, SCR60, and SER335. These are recommended for development of new varieties

Gain and performance in yield and micronutrient concentration in common bean improvement

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a staple and nutritious leguminous food crop for all income categories in Africa. Efforts to improve its yield performance and nutritional components, especially Iron and zinc have resulted in the release of several varieties in the sub-Saharan African region. The objective of this study was to assess genetic progress in varieties released in 12 African countries through the Pan African Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) from 1973 to 2017, to inform current breeding decisions. A total of 214 released varieties, land races and breeding lines, of bush and climbing beans were evaluated for yield, micronutrient (Fe and Zn) concentration, and phenology in three locations (Kawanda and Kachwekano in Uganda, and Kitengule in Tanzania) in 2017–2018. There were significant differences (P 0.01) among genotypes for all traits except days to maturity (DPM). Genotype x environment interaction was also significant (P<0.05) for all assessed traits, except for iron in climbing beans. Across environments, repeatability (H2) was greater than 0.50 for all traits, except for DPM in climbing beans. Annual rates of genetic yield gains were 4.41 and 4.57 kg ha-1 for large and small seed bush beans, and -2.74 and 21.6 kg ha-1 for large and small seeded climbers. Similarly, gains in seed iron (FESEED) were 0.40 and 0.17 ppm for bush and climbing beans, respectively. These represented an annual relative gain over the oldest varieties of 0.6 and 0.7% kg ha-1 for yield of large and small seeded bush beans, -0.3 and 1.6% kg ha-1 for yield of large and small seeded climbers, 0.6 and 0.2% ppm for FESEED of bush and climbers. Overall, genetic progress was slow for both yield and FESEED

High Level Synthesis of FPGA-Based Digital Filters

This thesis work is aimed at the high level synthesis of FPGA based IIR digital filters using Vivado HLS produced by Xilinx and HDL coder produced by MathWorks. The Higher Layer Model of the filter was designed in Vivado HLS, MATLAB and Simulink. Simulations, verification and Synthesis of the RTL code was done for both tools.  Further optimizations were done so that the final design could meet the area, timing and throughput requirements. The resulting designs were later evaluated to see which of them satisfies the design objectives specified. This thesis work has revealed that Vivado HLS is able to generate more efficient designs than the HDL coder. Vivado provides the designer with more granularity to control scheduling and binding, the two processes at the heart of HLS. In addition, both tools provide the designer with transparency from modeling up to verification of the RTL code. HDL coder did not meet timing. Vivado HLS on the other hand met the timing requirements. The limitations of each design flow are also discussed in this report.   A review of the tools available on the market today was also done and recommendations about them made. Finally, this thesis work recommends that ABB HVDC should adopt the HLS methodology using Vivado in order to achieve accelerated development. More work should be done to evaluate the possibility of auto C/C++ code generation for RTL synthesis in Vivado. Lastly, an evaluation on the LabVIEW environment should be done as an alternative to the HLS methodology

Comparative Phenotypic and Agronomic Assessment of Transgenic Potato with 3R-Gene Stack with Complete Resistance to Late Blight Disease

Transgenic potato event Vic.172, expressing three naturally occurring resistance genes (R genes) conferring complete protection against late blight disease, was evaluated for resistance to late blight, phenotypic characterization, and agronomic performance in field conditions at three locations during three seasons in Uganda. These trials were conducted by comparison to the variety Victoria from which Vic.172 derives, using identical fungicide treatment, except when evaluating disease resistance. During all seasons, the transgenic event Vic.172 was confirmed to have complete resistance to late blight disease, whereas Victoria plants were completely dead by 60–80 days after planting. Tubers from Vic.172 were completely resistant to LB after artificial inoculation. The phenotypic characterization included observations of the characteristics and development of the stems, leaves, flowers, and tubers. Differences in phenotypic parameters between Vic.172 and Victoria were not statistically significant across locations and seasons. The agronomic performance observations covered sprouting, emergence, vigor, foliage growth, and yield. Differences in agronomic performance were not statistically significant except for marketable yield in one location under high productivity conditions. However, yield variation across locations and seasons was not statistically significant, but was influenced by the environment. Hence, the results of the comparative assessment of the phenotype and agronomic performance revealed that transgenic event Vic.172 did not present biologically significant differences in comparison to the variety Victoria it derives from