An alternative management strategy for Lake Victoria (Kenya)

In Kenya, fisheries resource management has been based on the top-down centralized approach since the colonial days. Stakeholders have never been consulted concerning management decisions. The 4-beaches Study was undertaken to investigate the potential for an alternative management system for Lake Victoria

Plant Species in the Folk medicine of Kit Mikayi Region, Western Kenya

An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in Kit Mikayi area of Western Kenya was carried out in 2007. The area is adjacent to Lake Victoria, the second largest fresh water lake in the world. Being a shrine, an ethnobotanical survey was conducted with the aim of documenting the local plants of economic value which have over time attracted both local and foreign visitors. Thirty-seven species were documented, and their use values and informant consensus factors were determined. The results were considered as important in defining conservation priorities as well as for further investigation of the identified plants for possible pharmacological applications

Molecular epidemiology of human rhinovirus infections in Kilifi, coastal Kenya

This study reports pediatric surveillance over 3 years for human rhinovirus (HRV) at the District Hospital of Kilifi, coastal Kenya. Nasopharyngeal samples were collected from children presenting at outpatient clinic with no signs of acute respiratory infection, or with signs of upper respiratory tract infection, and from children admitted to the hospital with lower respiratory tract infection. Samples were screened by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR) and classified further to species by nucleotide sequencing of the VP4/VP2 junction. Of 441 HRV positives by real-time RT-PCR, 332 were classified to species, with 47% (155) being HRV-A, 5% (18) HRV-B, and 48% (159) HRV-C. There was no clear seasonal pattern of occurrence for any species. The species were present in similar proportions in the inpatient and outpatient sample sets, and no significant association between species distribution and the severity of lower respiratory tract infection in the inpatients could be determined. HRV sequence analysis revealed multiple but separate clusters in circulation particularly for HRV-A and HRV-C. Most HRV-C clusters were distinct from reference sequences downloaded from GenBank. In contrast, most HRV-A and HRV-B sequences clustered with either known serotypes or strains from elsewhere within Africa and other regions of the world. This first molecular epidemiological study of HRV in the region defines species distribution in accord with reports from elsewhere in the world, shows considerable strain diversity and does not identify an association between any species and disease severity

The ZmRCP-1 promoter of maize provides root tip specific expression of transgenes in plantain

Background Bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) provide 25 % of the food energy requirements for more than 100 million people in Africa. Plant parasitic nematodes cause severe losses to the crop due to lack of control options. The sterile nature of Musa spp. hampers conventional breeding but makes the crop suitable for genetic engineering. A constitutively expressed synthetic peptide in transgenic plantain has provided resistance against nematodes. Previous work with the peptide in potato plants indicates that targeting expression to the root tip improves the efficacy of the defence mechanism. However, a promoter that will provide root tip specific expression of transgenes in a monocot plant, such as plantain, is not currently available. Here, we report the cloning and evaluation of the maize root cap-specific protein-1 (ZmRCP-1) promoter for root tip targeted expression of transgenes that provide a defence against plant parasitic nematodes in transgenic plantain. Results Our findings indicate that the maize ZmRCP-1 promoter delivers expression of β-glucuronidase (gusA) gene in roots but not in leaves of transgenic plantains. In mature old roots, expression of gusA gene driven by ZmRCP-1 becomes limited to the root cap. Invasion by the nematode Radopholus similis does not modify Root Cap-specific Protein-1 promoter activity. Conclusions Root cap-specific protein-1 promoter from maize can provide targeted expression of transgene for nematode resistance in transgenic plantain

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Xai Xai, Zongoene Village, Bairro 1, Mozambique

This is the report of the village baseline study of Zongoene Village, Bairro 1, in the CCAFS benchmark site of Xai Xai, Mozambique in May 2013 to complement an earlier household baseline survey done in the same village. Zongoene village is located by the coast at the mouth of the Limpopo River where there are extensive wetlands along with forests and sand dunes. The village is divided into five sections: Bairro 1, Bairro 2, Bairro 3, Bairro 4 and Bairro 5. Zongoene is the result of a government resettlement program that brought people together to ease service provision. Nonetheless, the level and quality of services remain very low with roads in bad condition, local schools poorly built and lacking water, one hospital with insufficient staff and resources, and nascent electrical availability. The concentrated and expanding population is also increasing pressures on the environment as demand for food and farmland grows

Base excision repair apurinic/apyrimidinic endonucleases in apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii

DNA repair is essential for cell viability and proliferation. In addition to reactive oxygen produced as a byproduct of their own metabolism, intracellular parasites also have to manage oxidative stress generated as a defense mechanism by the host. The spontaneous loss of DNA bases due to hydrolysis and oxidative DNA damage in intracellular parasites is great, but little is known about the type of DNA repair machineries that exist in these early-branching eukaryotes. However, it is clear, processes similar to DNA base excision repair (BER) must exist to rectify spontaneous and host-mediated damage in Toxoplasma gondii. Here we report that T. gondii, an opportunistic protozoan pathogen, possesses two apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonucleases that function in DNA BER. We characterize the enzymatic activities of Toxoplasma exonuclease III (ExoIII, or Ape1) and endonuclease IV (EndoIV, or Apn1), designated TgAPE and TgAPN, respectively. Over-expression of TgAPN in Toxoplasma conferred protection from DNA damage, and viable knockouts of TgAPN were not obtainable. We generated an inducible TgAPN knockdown mutant using a ligand-controlled destabilization domain to establish that TgAPN is critical for Toxoplasma to recover from DNA damage. The importance of TgAPN and the fact that humans lack any observable APN family activity highlights TgAPN as a promising candidate for drug development to treat toxoplasmosis

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Chicualacuala, Maluana, Mozambique (MO0145)

This is the report of the village baseline study of Maluana village in the CCAFS benchmark site of Chicualacuala, Mozambique from May 5-12, 2013 to complement an earlier household baseline survey done in the same village

Impact of viral upper respiratory tract infection on the concentration of nasopharyngeal pneumococcal carriage among Kenyan children

Viral upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) predisposes to bacterial pneumonia possibly by facilitating growth of bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae colonising the nasopharynx. We investigated whether viral URTI is temporally associated with an increase in nasopharyngeal pneumococcal concentration. Episodes of symptomatic RSV or rhinovirus URTI among children <5 years were identified from a longitudinal household study in rural Kenya. lytA and alu PCR were performed on nasopharyngeal samples collected twice-weekly, to measure the pneumococcal concentration adjusted for the concentration of human DNA present. Pneumococcal concentration increased with a fold-change of 3.80 (95%CI 1.95–7.40), with acquisition of RSV or rhinovirus, during 51 URTI episodes among 42 children. In repeated swabs from the baseline period, in the two weeks before URTI developed, within-episode variation was broad; within +/−112-fold range of the geometric mean. We observed only a small increase in nasopharyngeal pneumococcal concentration during RSV or rhinovirus URTI, relative to natural variation. Other factors, such as host response to viral infection, may be more important than nasopharyngeal pneumococcal concentration in determining risk of invasive disease

Multifocal pheochromocytoma in early childhood: case report

A three and a half year old male with multifocal phaeochromocytoma involving the right adrenal gland and an intrathoracic mass is presented. Twenty four hour vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) was negative despite suggestive symptomatology. The diagnosis was made on serial CT scans of the head, thoracic inlet and pelvis. He underwent right adrenalectomy and thoracotomy to remove the abdominal and intrathoracic mass. The diagnosis was confirmed by histology. He remained hypertensive on hefty antihypertensive doses throughout his lifespan and finally succumbed to status epilepticus at the age of ten, six years from the time of diagnosis