Effect of Acacia tortilis pods on intake, digestibility and nutritive quality of goat diets in southwestern Eritrea

Fresh Acacia tortilis pods were mixed with low quality native grass hay to form the following five rations: 100% hay (T 1), 25% pods and 75% hay (T 2), 50% pods and 50% hay (T 3), 75% pods and 25% hay (T 4) and 100% pods (T 5) on ‘as fed’weight basis. Fifteen male Barka goats, approximately one year old and 10–15kg body weight, were randomly assigned to the five rations and fed in individual pens. Chemical composition, dry matter intake (DMI), in vitro dry and organic matter digestibility and body weight changes of the animals were evaluated. The average crude protein content of the pods was about 47% higher than the 7% minimum required for normal rumen function, while that of the hay was about 13% below. Percent ash, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), hemi-cellulose (HC), cellulose (CL) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) contents were higher in the hay than in the pods. The pods were, however, generally higher in Ca, P, Mg and Na than the hay. Average DMI (g d -1 and g kg-1 LBW), percent in vitro dry and organic matter digestibility and body weight gains (total kg and gd -1) increased with an increase in A. tortilis pods, up to 75% level and then begun to decline. However, despite the decrease, T 5 still had significantly (P< 0.05) higher feed digestibility and body weight gains than T 2 and T3. Thus, supplementing low quality range herbage with Acacia pods can considerably improve the nutritive value of range livestock diets, particularly during the dry season when other types of fodder are of extremely low quality

Prevalence of HepatitisB virus infections among HIV infected individuals in Nairobi, Kenya

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and characteristics of HBV infections among HIV infected individuals in Nairobi, KenyaDesign: A cross-sectional study.Setting: Kenya Medical Research Institute HBV Laboratory, Nairobi, KenyaSubjects: A total of four hundred HIV infected patients randomised from a Nairobi HIV comprehensive care centre between June and October 2015.Results: Of the 400 subjects screened; (27.75%) had HBV immunisation, (3%) had acute disease, (4.75%) were on recovery, (2.5%) were in chronic stage, (1.75%) were asymptomatic and (2.25%) had occult HBV. Statistical analysis showed that age andgender were not significantly associated with the risk of HBV or occult HBV infections.Conclusion: HIV/HBV co-infections is still &gt;5.5% but the rates could be higher than reported here. Utility of HBV sero-markers especially in infection staging is therefore very important in disease diagnosis and surveillance

Phenotypic Diversity in Sorghum Landraces From Kenya

Characterisation of the available Kenyan sorghum genetic diversity is important for understanding the dynamics of the genetic resources and for improving and sustaining sorghum productivity. The aim of this study was to assess the extent and structure of diversity in sorghum landraces from Kenya. Phenotypic data were used to assess diversity in 148 sorghum accessions collected from Western, Turkana, Coast and Eastern regions of Kenya. The accessions were phenotyped using qualitative and quantitative morphological characters. Most of the accessions were high yielding as revealed by the means of panicle branches (43), panicle length (21cm), and grain weight (1.5 g). Majority of the sorghums were late maturing and tall as shown by the mean number of days to 50% flowering (88 days), number of leaves and nodes. Turkana and coast sorghums had similarities in maturity, height and panicle length. The number of panicle branches had the highest Broad-sense heritability (0.957). Majority of the sorghums had dull green midrib (49.55%), no basal tillers (83%), had waxy bloom (39.64%) and produced prop roots (87%). Loose and semi-loose erect panicles dominated (69%) while 83% of the accessions had slightly exerted peduncles. The two Eigen values in PCA explained 67% of the total variance. Phenotypic cluster analysis gave two major groups subdivided into four sub clusters.La caract\ue9risation de la diversit\ue9 g\ue9n\ue9tique du sorgho disponible au Kenya est important pour la compr\ue9hension de la dynamique des ressources g\ue9n\ue9tiques et pour l'am\ue9lioration et durabilit\ue9 de la productivit\ue9 du sorgho. L'objectif de cettte \ue9tude \ue9tait d'\ue9valuer le niveau et la structure de la diversit\ue9 dans le sorgho indig\ue8ne du Kenya. Des donn\ue9es ph\ue9notypiques \ue9taient utilis\ue9es pour \ue9valuer la diversit\ue9 dans 148 accessions de sorgho collect\ue9es \ue0 l'ouest, Turkana, Coast et r\ue9gions de l'est du Kenya. Le ph\ue9notype des accessions \ue9taient d\ue9termin\ue9 par l'utilisation des caract\ue8res morphologiques qualitatif et quantitatifs. Laplupart des accessions \ue9taient \ue0 haut rendement comme l'a r\ue9v\ue9l\ue9 les moyennes de branches de panicles (43), longueur des panicles (21cm), et le poids de grains (1.5 g). La majorit\ue9 de sorghos \ue9tait \ue0 maturation tardive avec long taille comme r\ue9v\ue9l\ue9 par la moyenne du nombre de jours \ue0 50 % de floraison (88 jours), le nombre de feuilles et de nodes. Les sorghos Turkana et Coast pr\ue9sentaient de similarit\ue9s en terme de maturit\ue9, la hauteur et la longueur des panicules. Le nombre des branches de panicules avait un sens d'h\ue9ritabilit\ue9 le plus large (0.957). La majorit\ue9 de sorghos avait une veine centrale de la feuille l\ue9g\ue9rement verte (dull green midrib) (49.55%), sans talles basales (83%), avec de fleurs \ue0 mati\ue8res collantes (39.64%) et racines adventives sur les noeuds aeriens (87 %). Les panicules verticales ouvertes et semi ouvertes \ue9taient dominantes (69%) pendant que 67% des accessions avaient des p\ue9doncules inserr\ue9es ou l\ue9gerement inserr\ue9es. Les deux premi\ue8res valeurs de Eigen dans PCA ont expliqu\ue9 67 % de la variance totale. L'analyse ph\ue9notypique des clusters a abouti \ue0 deux groupes majeurs subdivis\ue9s en quatre sous clusters

Estimation of the burden of active and life-time epilepsy: a meta-analytic approach.

PURPOSE: To estimate the burden of lifetime epilepsy (LTE) and active epilepsy (AE) and examine the influence of study characteristics on prevalence estimates. METHODS: We searched online databases and identified articles using prespecified criteria. Random-effects meta-analyses were used to estimate the median prevalence in developed countries and in urban and rural settings in developing countries. The impact of study characteristics on prevalence estimates was determined using meta-regression models. RESULTS: The median LTE prevalence for developed countries was 5.8 per 1,000 (5th-95th percentile range 2.7-12.4) compared to 15.4 per 1,000 (4.8-49.6) for rural and 10.3 (2.8-37.7) for urban studies in developing countries. The median prevalence of AE was 4.9 per 1,000 (2.3-10.3) for developed countries and 12.7 per 1,000 (3.5-45.5) and 5.9 (3.4-10.2) in rural and urban studies in developing countries. The estimates of burden for LTE and AE in developed countries were 6.8 million (5th-95th percentile range 3.2-14.7) and 5.7 million (2.7-12.2), respectively. In developing countries these were 45 (14-145) million LTE and 17 (10-133) million AE in rural areas and 17 (5-61) million LTE and 10 (5-17) million AE in urban areas. Studies involving all ages or only adults showed higher estimates than pediatric studies. Higher prevalence estimates were also associated with rural location and small study size. CONCLUSIONS: This study estimates the global burden of epilepsy and the proportions with AE, which may benefit from treatment. There are systematic differences in reported prevalence estimates, which are only partially explained by study characteristics

Challenges and Opportunities in Cassava Production among the Rural Households in Kilifi County in the Coastal Region of Kenya

In Kenya, food security and poverty alleviation are some of the most important factors that the country must address in order to achieve the vision 2030. Cassava has potential not only as food for humans, but also as feed for livestock and as a substrate for biofuel production.  Although various constraints have been reported to afflict farmers in cassava production, a base line survey in the study sites (Kilifi and Kaloleni) was necessary to identify specific constraints facing farmers in this region so as to identify areas of intervention in production and utilization. Lack of disease free planting materials was identified as one of the major constraints since cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and the cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) pose serious threats in yield losses. The two diseases are transmitted by vectors and by diseased planting materials and almost all the farmers obtain their planting materials from their neighbours thus aiding in disease dissemination and compounding the problem. There is need to enable the community produce quality cassava seed and operate sustained cassava business, integrate legumes into cassava cropping systems and create an innovative value addition chain for utilization of cassava. Eighty percent of Kenya is marginal area and cassava being drought tolerant can enable the potential of these areas to be tapped thus helping to deal with the persistent food insecurity which is a common feature in these areas. Key words: Cassava, cowpeas, cultivars, production constraints, utilizatio

Activity Budget and Foraging Patterns of Nubian Giraffes (\u3cem\u3eGiraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis\u3c/em\u3e) in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya

How animals decide to spend their time has a key impact on their survival and reproduction. These behavioral decisions are shaped by ecological and environmental factors, such as seasonal changes. Foraging patterns show how an animal chooses to forage in its environment as influenced by resource availability, competition, and predation risk. Giraffe activity budget has been investigated in populations across Africa and found to be influenced by body size, diet composition, and sex. The activity budget and foraging patterns of Nubian giraffes vary considerably between ecosystems. The Nubian giraffe, a subspecies of the Northern giraffe species (Giraffa Camelopardalis) is a critically endangered population and occurs only within Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Southern Sudan. We performed 3 months of behavioral observation on a population of Nubian giraffes in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya, to assess seasonal activity budgets and foraging patterns. We found that in the wet and dry seasons giraffe spent approximately the same amount of time (53% and 57%, respectively) foraging. Movement and resting duration decreased slightly from dry to wet seasons 22% to 20% and 25% to 22% respectively. Across both seasons, Vachellia xanthophloea (67%), Maytenus senegalensis (19%), and Solanum incanum (9%) made up the bulk of giraffe\u27s diet. In the dry season, giraffes additionally foraged on Maerua triphylla (2%), Vachellia gerrardi (2%), and Grewia similis (1%); in the wet season, they added Vachellia abyssinica (2%) and Rhus natalensis (2%) to their diet. The most utilized browsing height was 3.5 meters (level 5), below their average height. Giraffes browse at lower heights after they consume the young shoots from the top of the bushes. Overall, seasonality did not appear to influence the Nubian giraffe\u27s activity budget or foraging patterns in LNNP. Planting perennial plants encourage uniform park resource use, boosts forage diversity, and minimizes Vachellia browsing pressure

Burden, causes, and outcomes of people with epilepsy admitted to a rural hospital in Kenya

Objective: People with epilepsy (PWE) develop complications and comorbidities often requiring admission to hospital, which adds to the burden on the health system, particularly in low-income countries. We determined the incidence, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), risk factors, and causes of admissions in PWE. We also examined the predictors of prolonged hospital stay and death using data from linked clinical and demographic surveillance system. Methods: We studied children and adults admitted to a Kenyan rural hospital, between January 2003 and December 2011, with a diagnosis of epilepsy. Poisson regression was used to compute incidence and rate ratios, logistic regression to determine associated factors, and the DALY package of the R-statistical software to calculate years lived with disability (YLD) and years of life lost (YLL). Results: The overall incidence of admissions was 45.6/100,000 person-years of observation (PYO) (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 43.0–48.7) and decreased with age (p \u3c 0.001). The overall DALYs were 3.1/1,000 (95% CI, 1.8–4.7) PYO and comprised 55% of YLD. Factors associated with hospitalization were use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) (odds ratio [OR] 5.36, 95% CI 2.64–10.90), previous admission (OR 11.65, 95% CI 2.65–51.17), acute encephalopathy (OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.07–4.22), and adverse perinatal events (OR 2.87, 95% CI 1.06–7.74). Important causes of admission were epilepsy-related complications: convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) (38%), and postictal coma (12%). Age was independently associated with prolonged hospital stay (OR 1.02, 95% CI 1.00–1.04) and mortality (OR, 1.07, 95% CI 1.04–1.10). Significance: Epilepsy is associated with significant number of admissions to hospital, considerable duration of admission, and mortality. Improved supply of AEDs in the community, early initiation of treatment, and adherence would reduce hospitalization of PWE and thus the burden of epilepsy on the health system