Marketing study

The findings are presented of a marketing survey conducted in the lake Victoria region. The research concentrated on consumers, trader /processors serving local markets, industrial processors serving mainly international markets, and fishers. The market for fish from Lake Victoria is traced from the consumer to the producer, including as many components of the chain as possible. The components are dealt with in individual sections which comprise a profile of a typical consumer/trader-processor/industrial processor /fisher, a list of survey sites, a map showing locations, a note on potential biases within the individual survey, a list of hypotheses or study topics for all surveys except for that of industrial processors, detailed analyses and also the pertinent questionnaire

Antimicrobial, cytotoxicity and preliminary phytochemical determination of commonly used medicinal plants to treat oral cavity, urinary tract and gut infections by inhabitants of Borabu sub-county, Nyamira County, Kenya

Aims: The study aimed at determining the antimicrobial activities and cytotoxicity properties of medicinal plants collected from southwestern Kenya. Methods and results: A total of 23 ethanol extracts of selected medicinal plants were bio-assayed against Gram-negative bacterial strains (Escherichia coli NU14, Helicobacter pylori ATCC 700824, and Porphyromonas gingivalis ATCC 33277). Cytotoxicity tests were also carried out on mammalian cell lines (AGS, KB, and TR146). Preliminary type of phytochemical compounds present in the extracts was determined by thin-layer chromatography. Cassia didymobotrya plant extract (1 mg/mL) had strong antimicrobial activity against P. gingivalis (average zone of inhibition of 21.70 ± 0.88 mm, MIC 0.13 ± 0.00 mg/mL and MBC 0.50 ± 0.00 mg/mL). E. coli was resistant to all the extracts bioassayed. Leonotis nepetifolia (15.80 ± 0.20 mm) and Clerodendrum myriacoides (14.20 ± 0.44 mm) showed only moderate activity against H. pylori. Cell cytotoxicity results indicated a dose-dependent response against KB, TR146 and AGS cell lines with C. didymobotrya having IC50 values of 47.64 and 704.00 µg/mL on KB and TR146 cell lines, respectively. L. nepetifolia and C. myriacoides did produce IC50 of 0.1883 mg/mL and 0.1061 mg/mL against the AGS cell line respectively. Conclusion, significance and impact of the study: Most of the extracts had no or weak activity against test isolates, but C. didymobotrya leaves extracts showed strong activity against P. gingivalis. C. didymobotrya can offer alternative medicare to P. gingivalis conditions

Habitação de interesse social e as legislações municipais da região metropolitana de Campinas

O presente artigo é resultado da análise de Planos Diretores Participativos, desenvolvidos entre 2001 e 2008, pelos municípios da Região Metropolitana de Campinas. No decorrer da análise dos Planos Diretores, mostrou-se pertinente a inclusão de legislação complementar que tratasse do parcelamento, uso e ocupação do solo dos municípios, assim como de seus Planos Habitacionais. No total, foram analisados de mais de cinquenta leis e planos. O artigo apresenta a fragilidade da legislação urbanística ao lidar com os instrumentos urbanísticos previstos pelo Estatuto da Cidade e que deveriam, ao menos sob o ponto de vista jurídico, atuar na efetivação do princípio constitucional da função social da propriedade. Adotou-se um método comparativo entre municípios possibilitando a identificação da forma como foram tratadas as questões relativas ao macrozoneamento, gestão, parcelamento, sistema de espaços livres, habitação de interesse social e instrumentos urbanísticos, de modo a inferir o quanto o referido princípio constitucional foi incorporado nas legislações municipais. Os resultados obtidos colaboram na compreensão de entraves encontrados no atendimento às demandas de Habitação de Interesse Social, assim como, na elaboração de ações concretas que visem a qualificação do Sistema de Espaços Livres de edificação