229 research outputs found
Comparative study of in-vitro antimicrobial activity and phytochemical composition of Sida cuneifolia fruits, leaves, and stem bark extracts
Background: Sida cuneifolia plant parts are important in ethno-veterinary medicine, but no studies exist on a comparative evaluation of phytochemical composition and antimicrobial properties of fruits, stem bark and leaves. This study evaluated and compared extraction yields, phytochemical composition as well as antibacterial and antifungal properties of ether, methanol and aqueous crude extracts of fruits, leaves, and stem bark of S. cuneifolia.Methods: Yields of extracts were determined, and qualitative phytochemical screening tests were carried out to establish their composition. Crude extracts were screened against five bacteria and two fungi. Agar disk diffusion technique was used to determine the inhibition zone diameters. Broth micro-dilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibition concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC).Results: Triterpene aglycones, sterols, tannins, athracene derivatives, polyuronides and glucides were found in intense mounts in S. cuneifolia fruits. Leaves contained intense amounts of carotenoids, tannins, polyuronides and coumarin derivatives. For the leaves, methanol extracts had MICs and MBCs as low as (≤3.13 mg/ml) against the majority (6/7) microorganisms hence had the best activity. Considering the stem bark, the ether extracts had the best antimicrobial activity with MICs as low as ≤3.13 mg/ml against 6/7 microorganisms. For the fruits, the ether extracts had the best antibacterial activity with MICs and MBCs as low as (≤3.13 mg/ml) against all tested bacteria.Conclusion: The study provides scientific evidence for ethno-veterinary use of S. cuneifolia leaves, fruits and stem bark, and this can be exploited in the transformative development of ethno-medicine
Solar thermal convective drying characteristics and kinetics for faecal sludge treatment.
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Abstract available in PDF
Putting the Law in its Place: Analyses of recent developments in law relating to same-sex desire in India and Uganda
This collection of essays has been jointly produced by Sexuality Policy Watch and the IDS Sexuality and Development Programme.
The collection of analyses presented here juxtaposes the Indian and the Ugandan contexts with the intention of opening up new questions for struggles in both these places, but also with the objective of generating a deeper conversation amongst activists and academics about the peculiarities of Law and Politics as distinct (if connected) realms of action. One feature of these various essays is to bring about the circulation of more nuanced analyses of the particular political-economic and cultural conditions for these dramatic developments in law , which take place at the intricate intersections between global economics, national politics and the so called ‘return of the religious’ (Derrida, 1998) in dogmatic manifestations. Another aspect examined by some of the authors regards the limitations and caveats of dominant juridical, economic and scientific rationales that currently pervade political struggles and advocacy in relation to human rights
Multi-loci gene sequencing and identification of bifidobacteria strains isolated from dairy and pharmaceutical sources in South Africa
The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of Bifidobacterium species
reveals high interspecies sequence similarity in the range
of 87.7–99.5%. This study illustrated the extent of superiority of
a multigenic approach, involving protein-coding genes, in
comparison to the 16S rRNA gene, to precisely delineate presumptive
Bifidobacterium isolates obtained from probiotic milk
beverages, culture collections and pharmaceutical probiotic
preparations. Oligonucleotide pairs PurF-rev/PurF-uni; RpoCuni/
RpoC-rev; DnaB-uni/DnaB-rev; DnaG-uni/DnaG-rev; and
ClpC-uni/ClpC-rev amplified housekeeping genes while 27F/
1492R amplified the 16S rRNA gene of the presumptive bifidobacteria
in a polymerase chain reaction. Sequences of 16S
rRNA gene and some protein-coding genes effectively identified
the isolates. Phylogenetic analysis together with concatenation
showed that clpC, purF and dnaG genes had over 8-fold
better discriminatory power than the 16S rRNA gene in discriminating
between Bifidobacterium isolates. However, phylogenetic
analysis involving dnaB and rpoC gene sequences or
their concatenated trees showed discrepancies in clustering
isolates with designated type strains.Tshwane University of Technology and the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/lfbt202017-01-31hb2016Paraclinical Science
Invited review : Probiotic yogurt quality criteria, regulatory framework, clinical evidence, and analytical aspects
Yogurt is a milk-based product manufactured by
lactic acid fermentation enabled by symbiotic yogurt
cultures. Yogurt is largely considered to be a health
product, and it is employed to deliver probiotics and
prebiotics to the consumer. However, not all yogurts
are probiotic, neither are they all functional products.
There is increasing demand for health-promoting beverages,
which is prompting the dairy industry to develop
functional probiotic yogurts to meet the demand. However,
there seems to be a scarcity of reviews providing
critical information on regulatory frameworks in regions
of the world, clinical trial outcomes, and methodological
approaches for enumerating multiprobiotic strains in
yogurt. This review, relating to functional probiotic yogurt,
covers the newest information on the topic for the
period mostly between 2014 and 2019. Conformance to
regulations is paramount and hence, global regulatory
frameworks for probiotic yogurt and prebiotic and nonprebiotic
ingredients included in yogurt are reviewed.
The paper emphasizes the need for convincing clinical
trial outcomes that provide the dairy industry with
an opportunity to market products with substantiated
beneficial claims. The paper also discusses probiotic
strains in functional yogurt, which is required to have
population levels above the recommended therapeutic
minimum during shelf life. The multiprobiotic species
added to yogurt may present challenges relating to
methodological and analytical approaches needed to determine viability of each strain contained in such
yogurt. Hence, the review also presents the pros and
cons of the culture-dependent and culture-independent
approaches for the enumeration of probiotic cells in
yogurt. The review is arguably valuable to the dairy
industry, functional food developers, related scientists,
and researchers, as well as policy makers.http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-dairy-scienceam2022Consumer ScienceFood Scienc
Cost effectiveness analysis of clinically driven versus routine laboratory monitoring of antiretroviral therapy in Uganda and Zimbabwe.
BACKGROUND: Despite funding constraints for treatment programmes in Africa, the costs and economic consequences of routine laboratory monitoring for efficacy and toxicity of antiretroviral therapy (ART) have rarely been evaluated. METHODS: Cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted in the DART trial (ISRCTN13968779). Adults in Uganda/Zimbabwe starting ART were randomised to clinically-driven monitoring (CDM) or laboratory and clinical monitoring (LCM); individual patient data on healthcare resource utilisation and outcomes were valued with primary economic costs and utilities. Total costs of first/second-line ART, routine 12-weekly CD4 and biochemistry/haematology tests, additional diagnostic investigations, clinic visits, concomitant medications and hospitalisations were considered from the public healthcare sector perspective. A Markov model was used to extrapolate costs and benefits 20 years beyond the trial. RESULTS: 3316 (1660LCM;1656CDM) symptomatic, immunosuppressed ART-naive adults (median (IQR) age 37 (32,42); CD4 86 (31,139) cells/mm(3)) were followed for median 4.9 years. LCM had a mean 0.112 year (41 days) survival benefit at an additional mean cost of 7386 [3277,dominated] per life-year gained and 3.78 to become cost-effective (<3xper-capita GDP, following WHO benchmarks). CD4 monitoring at current costs as undertaken in DART was not cost-effective in the long-term. CONCLUSIONS: There is no rationale for routine toxicity monitoring, which did not affect outcomes and was costly. Even though beneficial, there is little justification for routine 12-weekly CD4 monitoring of ART at current test costs in low-income African countries. CD4 monitoring, restricted to the second year on ART onwards, could be cost-effective with lower cost second-line therapy and development of a cheaper, ideally point-of-care, CD4 test
Quantification of Lycopene from Tomatoes and Watermelons by Using Beer-Lambert Principle
Red tomatoes and red-fleshed watermelons contain a high level of lycopene.  It is well known that lycopene is precursor to vitamin A. In Uganda, and East Africa in general, there are so many tomato and watermelon varieties with little information on their lycopene content. However, no study has been done to estimate the quantity of lycopene in fresh tomatoes and watermelons in Uganda. The objective of this study was to quantify lycopene by using Beer-Lambert Principle. The varieties were bought from Nakulabye market in Kampala, and extracted by using solvent system of acetone/ethanol/ hexane (5ml/5ml/10ml). Stirring on ice was done for 15 minutes. 3 ml of deionized water was added after shaking. Samples were shaken for 5 minutes on ice and then left at room temperature for 5 minutes to allow the separation of phases. The lycopene layer were then separated and scanned in UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The results showed that the lycopene concentration ranged from 27 μg/g to 115 μg/g with % relative error ranged from 2.86 to 3.14, the standard error ranged from ± 0.013to ± 0.015,and standard deviation ranged from 7.38 to 29.5. Both watermelons and tomato varieties contain the appreciable quantities of lycopene which is the significant nutrient for human body in daily life.
Developing Experimental Vignettes to Identify Gender Norms Associated With Transactional Sex for Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Central Uganda.
PURPOSE: Transactional sex or informal sexual exchange relationships increase adolescent girls' and young women's (AGYW) HIV and pregnancy risk in sub-Saharan Africa. These relationships are grounded in the shared expectation that men should provide financial support to their partners. We built a vignette experiment to assess whether gender norms influenced by expectations of provision help to explain how transactional sex increases AGYW's sexual and reproductive health risks. METHODS: We used mixed methods to develop a vignette experiment in Central Uganda with AGYW including 10 focus group discussions, 32 cognitive interviews, and a pilot survey experiment with 108 sexually active unmarried AGYW. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of the two manipulations for three vignettes. The vignettes examined whether the amount a man provided changed perceived social approval of men's authority in relationships, sexual decision-making power, or women having multiple partners. RESULTS: We find that a higher level of male provision is associated with higher levels of perceived community approval for his sexual decision-making power (p < .001) and lower levels of perceived peer approval for AGYW's to seek a second partner (p < .05). We also find that higher levels of male provision are associated with respondent's own approval of male authority and sexual decision-making. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that approval of men's sexual decision-making power increases when they provide more and that girls who seek a second partner find higher levels of social approval for this behavior when their primary partner provides less. Vignette experiments may be valuable for identifying social norms that put AGYW's sexual and reproductive health at risk
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