Trapping mosquitoes using milk products as odour baits in western Kenya

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ample evidence has shown that blood seeking mosquitoes locate their hosts by following odours produced by the hosts. Odour baited traps would therefore, provide a solution in controlling diseases spread by mosquitoes. Comparative studies were undertaken to determine the relative efficacies of two odour baits i.e. Limburger cheese and African traditional milk cream in trapping mosquitoes in the field in western Kenya.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Comparative efficacy studies were carried out in the field using Latin square experimental designs. In the first study, a counterflow geometry (CFG) trap (MM-x model; American Biophysics Corp., USA.) baited with Limburger cheese, man landing catches (MLC), Centres for Disease Control (CDC) light trap and an entry trap were compared. In the second study, three CFG traps baited with either Limburger cheese, African traditional milk cream or with no bait were compared and in the third study four CDC traps baited with either Limburger cheese, African traditional milk cream, light or with no bait were compared. Parameters like species, catch size, abdominal status, parity status and size of the collected mosquitoes were compared.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 1,806 mosquitoes were collected (60% <it>An. gambiae s.l </it>and 25% <it>An.funestus</it>, culicines 15%). There was no significant difference in the number of <it>An. funestus </it>trapped by the CFG trap baited with Limburger cheese from those trapped by the MLC (P = 0.351). The Limburger cheese baited CFG trap collected significantly more gravid <it>An. funestus </it>than the MLC (P = 0.022). Furthermore, when the CFG trap baited with Limburger cheese and the CFG trap baited with milk cream were compared, there was no significant difference in the number of <it>An. funestus </it>collected (P = 0.573). The same trend was observed in the comparison of Limburger cheese baited CDC trap and milk cream baited CDC trap.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Limburger cheese and African traditional milk cream have a potential as effective odour baits for sampling/surveillance and as oviposition attractants for the malaria vector, <it>Anopheles funestus</it>.</p

Gross presentation and histomorphological changes of placentae in patients presenting with intrauterine foetal death at Kenyatta national hospital

Background: There are 3.2 million annual stillbirths, at least 98% occur in low-/middle income countries, and on average, as many as two-thirds of these stillbirths are thought to occur antenatally, prior to labour. The most useful test towards a diagnosis after stillbirth is pathological examination of the placenta and the foetus. However, this pathological examination is done in less than half of the placentae after cases of stillbirth.Objective: To determine gross presentation and histomorphological changes of placentae in patients presenting with intrauterine foetal death as compared to live births.Design: A case control study.Setting: The Kenyatta National Hospital’s labour ward and the Department of Human Pathology, University of Nairobi.Subjects: The cases were mothers who presented with IUFD at a gestation of 28 weeks and above. The controls were a comparative group of mothers who delivered live babies at the hospital and were matched for age.Results: Reduction of the mass of functioning villi was present in 11.8% of placenta in the stillbirth group compared to 2% in the live birth group (p-value 0.002). There was significant presence of other placental abnormalities in the stillbirth group (22.5%) compared to the live birth group (9.8%) (p-value-0.002).Conclusion: This study revealed that histological examination of placenta is useful in identifying some causes of stillbirths. This knowledge may lead to preventive measures which would lower perinatal mortality

Does the Quality of Antenatal Care Predict Health Facility Delivery Among Women in Kenya? Further Analysis of KDHS Data 2008/09

Improving maternal health remains a priority in Kenya and beyond. It is essential that women get good medical care before, during and after pregnancy to reduce maternal mortality. Skilled delivery care remains low in Kenya and maternal mortality rate high regardless of numerous ongoing interventions. Antenatal care is known to promote maternal and fetal well-being. However less than 50% of women make the recommended four or more antenatal care visits, missing out on key services such as urine and blood tests, and advice on possible pregnancy complications, that determine the quality of ANC. This study examines how the number of ANC visits and the quality of those visits predict health facility use at delivery. Maternal health data from DHS of 2008/2008 in Kenya was analyzed using Stata 11.0 software. Logistic regression was used to evaluate relationships between facility delivery and predictor variables in univariate and multivariate models. Estimates were based on 95% confidence inteval. The models were examined at 95% CI and 80% power and adjusted for maternal age at last birth, education, place and type of residence, level of exposure to media, mother’s religion, wealth index and birth order. The quality of ANC was an index developed based on the number of services received during ANC visits.The quality of ANC visits progressively increased the likelyhood of health facility delivery. Supply and demand should be intervention targets to ensure that women know and understand the services to demand. Health facilities should also be sufficiently prepared and ready with the services

Effect of Spatial Distribution of Precipitation Data on Temporal and Spactial Uncertainty of Swat Output

Accurate modeling of water quality, water availability, and transport of pollutants at the watershed scale requires an accurate representation of the precipitation data. For this reason, the ability of hydrologic models to predict accurate outputs depends to a great extent on how well the rainfall data is distributed. In general, rainfall intensities can vary in space and time, particularly in convective events. A number of schemes are available to account for temporal and spatial uncertainties of precipitation data. The simplest method is the arithmetic mean, which assumes the rainfall is uniformly distributed over the watershed. The Thiessen polygon method is an improvement over the arithmetic approach, by assigning the record from the closest rain gauge to the unstamped location. The Centroid method is another popular method. The centroid method uses the rain gauge nearest to the centroid of each subbasin. The objectives of this project are (1) to assess the impacts of using different interpolation schemes for incorporating spatially variable precipitation data into the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and (2) assess the impacts of using three levels of subbasin delineation on the streamflow

Effects of Annealing Ambient on the Structural, Optical and Electrical Properties of TiO2:Ge Thin Films

TiO2, a semiconducting material with a wide energy band gap, has been researched intensively due to its interesting properties and many potential applications. The films properties can as well be modified by preparing the films under diverse ambient to suit diverse applications. In this work, the effects of the annealing atmosphere on the structural, optical and electrical properties of pure TiO2 and TiO2:Ge composite thin films deposited by sputtering from commercially available pure TiO2 and TiO2:Ge (85:15) targets respectively were studied. The films were deposited on fluorine doped tin oxide glass substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique at room temperature 23–25 ℃ and then annealed at 450 ℃ for one hour in three different atmospheres: air, argon and nitrogen. The XRD results revealed that, both pure TiO2 and TiO2:Ge thin films were crystalline and had a mixed phase of anatase and rutile regardless of the annealing ambient. The calculated crystallite sizes ranged between 19–21 nm with the particle sizes for TiO2:Ge films being larger compared to pure TiO2 as calculated from ImageJ software. Electrical measurements showed that the resistivity of as deposited pure TiO2 films (about 13.03 × 10–2 Ω-cm) was greater than the TiO2: Ge composite (5.91 × 10–2 Ω-cm). Furthermore, on annealing, pure TiO2 had a resistivity of 9.47 × 10–2 Ω-cm–10.4 × 10–2 Ω-cm, while the TiO2:Ge composite had a resistivity of 2.24 × 10–2 Ω-cm–3.61 × 10–2 Ω-cm depending on the annealing atmosphere. Variation of annealing atmosphere had minimal influence on the electrical resistivity of the films. The films annealed in nitrogen recorded the least resistivity values averaging about 5.86 × 10–2 Ω-cm, while those annealed in argon and air recorded a resistivity of 6.94 × 10–2 Ω-cm and 6.65 × 10–2 Ω-cm, respectively. The transmittance spectra showed that, all the annealed films were transparent in the visible region (400–700 nm) with a mean bandgap of 3.60 eV for each annealing atmosphere. It is recommended that films annealed in nitrogen atmosphere could be considered for potential applications in photovoltaics. Keywords: Titanium dioxide; Germanium; Ambient; Structural; Optical, Electrica

Evaluation of Ensiled Brewer's Grain in the Diet of Piglets by One Way Multiple Analysis of Variance, MANOVA

The basic purpose of feeding trials is to find the optimum level of feed ingredients which give the highest economical returns to the farmers. This can be achieved through estimation and comparison of means of different rations. The example we have is a study of incorporation of different levels of ensiled brewers grains in the diet of 24 hybrids weaned piglets from Landrace x Duroc x Berkshire x Large White. They were randomly divided into four groups with three replicates of two piglets per pen. They were fed 0, 10, 20, 30% incorporation of ensiled brewer's grains on dry matter basis during post-weaning period followed by 0, 30, 40 and 50% during growing period and 0, 50, 60 and 70% during finishing period. We have one explanatory variable: initial weight, and four post treatment outcome variables recorded per piglets: final weight, dry matter consumption, weight gain and index of consumption. Comparing of several multivariate treatment means model design analysis is adapted. We obtain the MANOVA (Multiple Analyse of Variance) table of each phase, where the treatment differences exist by using Wilk's lambda distribution, and we find the treatment effect by using a confidence interval method of MANOVA. This model has the advantage of computing the responses of all variables in the matrix of sum of squares and more precisely in separation of the different means percentage of Ensiled Brewer's grain

The Future of ISO 9000 Quality Management System in a Global Economy

This position paper discusses ISO 9000 family of standards in terms of its capability assessment value and as a framework for management of organizations. Uses data collected from empirical sources to buttress a position for the continued usefulness of the management system standard for the foreseeable future and challenges the critics to put forward an alternative that can be effective for the complex global economy. Thepaper uses rationalization to put forward a thesis in which the misperceptions are blamed on the marketing flavor favored by the certification industry.Keywords: ISO9001; ISO9004; Quality Management standard

COMPLEMENTARY FEEDING PRACTICES AND NUTRIENT INTAKE FROM HABITUAL COMPLEMENTARY FOODS OF INFANTS AND CHILDREN AGED 6-18 MONTHS OLD IN LUSAKA, ZAMBIA

ABSTRACT Poor quality complementary foods with low nutrient density and inappropriate feeding practices have been identified among the major causes of malnutrition in young children. In many developing countries, complementary foods are introduced too early or too late and the quality and quantity of the foods are insufficient, leading to a great risk of nutritional deficiencies during the second half of infancy. Most of the habitually used complementary foods in developing countries are unfortified cerealbased gruels characterised by low energy and nutrient density and are often inadequate in iron, zinc and pyridoxine and in some populations may be deficient in riboflavin, niacin, calcium, thiamine, folate, ascorbic acid and vitamin A. The aim of this study was to establish current complementary feeding practices of mothers/caretakers living in a medium income urban community in Lusaka, Zambia. The study was the first phase of a larger study designed to develop improved complementary foods based on already-in-use cereals and legumes for the improvement of infant health in urban settings characterised by high HIV prevalence. Complementary feeding practices and nutrient intakes of children 6-18 months old in Lusaka were assessed by qualitative and quantitative methods. Themes generated from three focus group discussions (9 health workers, 7 mothers and 8 fathers) were used to design a semi-structured questionnaire to interview 34 mothers, 20 of whom were observed for 12 hours at home and their infant&apos;s dietary intake measured by 12-h weighed food record and 24-h recall, (assuming medium breast milk intake). The results showed that although mothers had wide knowledge of optimal infant feeding, actual practices were constrained by food cost, maternal HIV status and time availability. Compared with the recommended daily allowance (RDA) at 6-8, 9-11 and 12-18 months of age, the daily nutrient intakes were 88%, 121% and 94% for energy; 33%, 52% and 59% for iron and 30%, 33% and 38% for calcium, respectively. Fortification of complementary foods is necessary to meet infants&apos; needs for iron and calcium

The role of women’s empowerment and male engagement in pregnancy healthcare seeking behaviors in western Kenya

We sought to understand whether women’s empowerment and male partner engagement were associated with use of antenatal care (ANC). Women presenting for ANC in Nyanza province of Kenya between June 2015 and May 2016, were approached for participation. A total of 137 pregnant women and 96 male partners completed baseline assessments. Women’s empowerment was measured using the modified Sexual Relationship Power Scale. ANC use measures included timing of the first ANC visit and number of visits. Male engagement was based on whether a husband reported accompanying his wife to one or more antenatal visits during the pregnancy. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors independently related to use and timing of ANC. Women with higher mean empowerment scores were likely to have more than one ANC visit in the index pregnancy [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 2.8, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.1–7.3], but empowerment was not associated with early ANC use. Women who were more empowered were less likely to have a husband who reported attending an ANC visit with his wife (AOR = 0.1, 95% CI: 0.03–0.8). Women’s empowerment is important and may be related to ANC use and engagement of male partners in complex ways