Pattern of stroke in a rural Kenyan hospital

BackgroundThe pattern of stroke in rural population differs from that in urban ones. Although there are many studies on this condition in sub-Saharan Africa, few studies about stroke pattern in a Kenyan rural area exist.. This study therefore aims at describing the characteristics of stroke in a rural Kenyan hospital.Patients and MethodsThe study was conducted on 227 consecutive patients admitted with a World Health Organization (WHO) diagnosis of stroke in Kangundo Hospital, a level IV facility in Machakos, Eastern Kenya, between April 2015 and September 2016. The sub-type and anatomical distribution of stroke as well as the age, gender of the patients were recorded prospectively. Diagnosis was made through physical neurological examination and confirmed by Computerized Tomography (CT) scan imaging. Only those with complete bio-data, past medical and social history, clinical and physical findings of the patients and imaging results were included. The data were entered into a pre-formatted questionnaire, analysed for means, standard deviations and frequencies, and are presented in tables and bar charts.ResultsOut of 3200 medical admissions, 227 (7.09%) had a confirmed diagnosis of stroke. Ischaemic stroke was more common (67.4%) than haemorrhagic stroke (32.6%). It affected mainly the anterior circulation, especially the middle cerebral artery (39%). The mean age of patients was 68.8 years, (Range 32 – 96). It was more common in females (62%) than in males (38%). Hypertension was the most common (74%) risk factor followed by alcohol abuse (63%), tobacco smoking (48%) and diabetes mellitus (42%).ConclusionIschaemic stroke was the more common major cause of morbidity in the rural hospital studied in Kenya. It occurred most commonly among elderly females, with the most frequent comorbidities being hypertension. In addition, modifiable lifestyle factors like alcohol abuse and cigarette smoking contributed to the prevalence; hence we recommend the control of blood pressure and glucose as well as lifestyle modification to reduce the scourge in our studied population

Laboratory evaluation of the improved tube test detection limits for β-lactam residues in Kenyan milk

In Kenya there is currently no screening of antimicrobial drug residues in milk. This study evaluated the improved tube test as a possible screening method using seven representatives of the β-lactam antibiotics. The group comprises antimicrobials most frequently used to treat bacterial infections in dairy cows. Each antimicrobial was tested at five concentrations based on established codex alimentarius maximum residue limits (MRLs). Test parameters studied were practicability and limits of detection (LODs) compared to MRLs and repeatability. The LODs established using a logistic regression model were: penicillin G (2 μg /kg), ampicillin (2 μg /kg), amoxicillin (2 μg /kg), oxacillin (30 μg /kg), cefalexin(100 μg /kg), cephapirin(60 μg /kg) and ceftiofur(100 μg /kg) all within codex alimentarius MRLs. The cost per ten samples using the improved tube test was less than 1 USD compared with 5 USD for the Delvo test. The improved tube test is concluded to be an affordable method, which could be used for qualitative identification of residues in low-income countries dairies. Key Words: Improved tube test, β-lactams, Kenyan milk, maximum residue limits. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.3(1) 2004: 82-8

Antibiotic residues in milk from three popular Kenyan milk vending machines

Milk vending machines (MVMs) are growing in popularity in Kenya and worldwide. Milk vending machines dispense varying quantities of locally sourced, pasteurized milk. The Kenya Dairy Board has a regulatory framework, but surveillance is weak because of several factors. Milk vending machines’ milk is not routinely screened for antibiotics, thereby increasing potential for antibiotic misuse. To investigate, a total of 80 milk samples from four commercial providers (N = 25), street vendors (N = 21), and three MVMs (N = 34) were collected and screened in Eldoret, Kenya. Antibiotic residue surveillance occurred during December 2016 and January 2017 using Idexx SNAP tests for tetracyclines, sulfamethazine, beta-lactams, and gentamicin. Overall, 24% of MVM samples and 24% of street vendor samples were presumably positive for at least one antibiotic. No commercial samples were positive. Research into cost-effective screening methods and increased monitoring by food safety agencies are needed to uphold HAACP for improving antibiotic stewardship throughout the Kenyan private dairy industry

Evaluation of a Bacillus stearothermophilus tube test as a screening tool for anticoccidial residues in poultry

A Bacillus stearothermophilus var. calidolactis C953 tube test was evaluated for its ability in detecting the residue of selected anticoccidial drugs in poultry, specically sulfamethazine, furazolidone, and amprolium. Various concentrations of each drug were injected into chicken liver and kidney tissues and these tissues were tested to determine the drug detection limits for each drug. The detection limit was defined as the drug concentration at which 95% of the test results were interpreted as positive. The limits of detection in liver tissue were 0.35 µg/ml for furazolidone, 0.70 µg/ml for sulfamethazine and 7.80 µg/ml for amprolium. In kidney tissues, they were 0.30 µg/ml for furazolidone, 0.54 µg/ml for sulfamethazine, and 7.6 µg/ml for amprolium. It was concluded that this tube test could be used to screen for the residue of these three drugs in poultry

Bayesian analysis of Multivariate Stochastic Volatility models

Paper presented at the 4th Strathmore International Mathematics Conference (SIMC 2017), 19 - 23 June 2017, Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya.Multivariate stochastic volatility (MSV) models have gained applicability in Time Series (TS) data for analyzing multivariate financial and economic time series because they capture the volatility dynamics. Bayesian prior works allow analysis of MSV models to provide parsimonious skew structure and to easily scale up for high-dimensional problem. Bayesian MCMC estimation are used for high dimensional problems because it’s a very efficient estimation method, however, it is associated with a considerable computational burden when the dimensionality of the data is moderate to large. Forward-filtering backward-sampling (FFBS) algorithm by sampling is used as it considers reparameterizations. This is applied directly to heteroscedasticity estimation for latent variables. To show the effectiveness of this approach, we apply the model to a vector of daily exchange rate data from Central Bank of Kenya

The Abundance of Lactic Acid Bacteria in the Gastrointestinal Tract of Lake Victoria Nile Perch

This study was carried out to determine the presence and abundance of lactic acid from gastrointestinal tracts of Latesniloticus fish with the specific objective of determining fish size effect on lactic acid bacteria (LAB) population. The study was conducted in Lake Victoria between April-June and July-September, 2014. Statistical analysis was performed by using Minitab 9.1.3 software version. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and east significant difference (LSD) was used for statistical comparisons. Differences were considered significant at α=0.05 level.  The average weight of small fish sampled during the wet season was 667.9g that gave an average colony forming units/g of 9.2x 103; medium averaging 1485.1g had an average of 2.1x104cfu and big averaging 3210.8g had 4.9 x 104cfu. In the dry spells, the small fish averaging 614.6g had 6.7 x 103, medium averaging 1392.9g had an average of 1.7x104cfu and big averaging 2756.3g had 3.4 x 104cfu. The mean of counts of LABs are significantly different for the three sizes tested, with the big size giving the highest followed by medium and small respectively. This could be due to ability to access more variety of foods. The means of counts of LABs are insignificantly different for the eight sites tested. The mean of counts of LABs are significantly different for the wet and dry seasons tested. In conclusion, this study showed availability of lactic acid bacteria in the gut of Lake Victoria Nile perch which can be used as a source of potential bio preservative. Key words: Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), Gastrointestinal tracts, Nile perch, L. Victoria, ANOVA

Effect of mastitis on raw milk compositional quality

In this study, we investigated the impact of mastitis infection on the quality of milk composition in small-scale dairy bovine herds. The purpose of this study was to find a milk quality somatic cell count (SCC) standard that could be used as an integral component of a control program. In all, 396 quarter milk samples from lactating cross-bred cows (Holstein & Zebu) were analyzed; 56% of these quarters were experiencing intramammary infection, with an overall mean SCC of 5.46 × 105 ± 2.30 × 104cells/ml. Infected quarters had significantly (p < 0.05) higher mean SCC levels (6.19 × 105± 4.40 × 104cells/ml) compared to healthy quarters (2.65 × 105 ± 2.40 × 104cells/ml). In high SCC milk and infected quarters, the concentrations of non-casein fractions, sodium, chloride, and free fatty acid were higher (p < 0.05), while the casein content, lactose, casein-to-total protein, potassium, and calcium were lower (p < 0.05) compared to normal quarters. These findings suggest a mean SCC threshold limit of 5.46 × 105 cells/ml for the region. It was concluded that the results could be used to propose a milk quality SCC standard that can be used as an integral component of a control program

Response surface regression modelling for the quality characteristics of wheat-plantain composite Flour bread containing gum Arabic from Acacia Senegal Var Kerensis

Paper presented at the 5th Strathmore International Mathematics Conference (SIMC 2019), 12 - 16 August 2019, Strathmore University, Nairobi, KenyaThis paper is based on a study on the quality characteristics of wheat - plantain composite flour bread containing gum Arabic from acacia Senegal var kerensis using response surface methodology. In the study the effect of partial replacement of wheat with 10- 40% plantain and the subsequent effect of gum Arabic on composite bread quality attributes was investigated. The characteristics of bread tested included hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness. Wheat- plantain composites produced dough that took longer than the control to breakdown thus stronger dough. Plantain composites had a higher peak viscosity which indicated that the composites had a higher swelling index than the wheat (control). The model p-values were significant for both linear and quadratic models. The parameter estimates for hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness were all statistically significant at a = 0.05 level of significance. The results indicated that low levels of plantain substitution may have no adverse effect on gluten functionality since composites bread volume did not differ significantly from the control. Gum Arabic as used in this study was found to improve the breads textural qualities such as reducing bread hardness and chewiness and increasing bread springiness.Kisii University, Kenya. Masinde Mulim University of Science and Technology, Kenya

Chitosan nanoencapsulation of flavonoids enhances their quorum sensing and biofilm formation inhibitory activities against an E.coli Top 10 biosensor

Phytochemicals have been found to be promising alternatives to conventional antibiotic therapies for the control of bacterial infections, as they may entail less selective pressure and hence reduce the development of resistance. This study involved examining the inhibition of biofilm formation and of quorum sensing (QS), and the cytotoxicity on mammalian cells of two flavonoids, quercetin and baicalein, in freeform and associated into chitosan-based nanocapsules. This was done by use of a transformed E. coli Top10 biosensor strain, while the cytotoxicity was evaluated on MDCK-C7 cells. In free form, application both flavonoids exhibited slight inhibitory activity on the QS response and biofilm formation, a scenario that was improved positively upon encapsulation with chitosan (Mw ∼115,000 g/mol and DA ∼42%). The association efficiency of 99% (quercetin) and 87% (baicalein) was determined, and each formulation had an average diameter of 190 ± 4 and 187 ± 2 nm, and zeta ( ) potential of +48.1 ± 2.03 and +48.4 ± 3.46 mV, respectively. Both types of systems were stable against aggregation in M9 and MEM media. The in vitro release kinetics data of both flavonoids seemed to be similar with only ∼20% released over the first 5 h, or∼10% over the first 4 h, respectively, with subsequent sudden release increase up to ∼40% in both cases.The free phytochemicals seemed to be cytotoxic to MDCK-C7 cells at higher doses, however, upon nanoencapsulation, a cytoprotective effect was evidenced. We have gained proof-of-principle of the advantages of encapsulation of two bioactive flavonoids

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