Comparative Analysis of Aflatoxin Contamination of Maize in Two Different Physiographic Zones and Maize Seasons in Makueni County, Kenya

Background: Aflatoxicosis resulting from consumption of contaminated maize poses a significant public health problem in many countries including Kenya, and many people living in developing countries could be chronically exposed to aflatoxin through their diet. It is caused by Aflatoxins produced by fungus of species Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus flavus found mainly in cereals and other foodstuffs.Objective: To determine and compare prevalence of aflatoxin contamination of household maize in two different altitude areas and different maize harvest seasons, in Makueni County in Kenya.Design: A comparative descriptive analytical study.Setting:Kibwezi and Kilome sub-counties of Makueni County, Kenya.Subjects: Four hundred and fifty household heads or their representatives, who had maize in their household stores.Results: The results of first maize harvest season indicated that the mean moisture content of household maize was 12.78% in high altitude area which was slightly lower than in high altitude which had 12.85%. The aflatoxin positivity rate of maize contamination was 25% in low altitude area and 4.2% in high  altitude area. The results of second maize harvest season indicated that the mean moisture content of  household maize was 13.48 % in high altitude area which was slightly lower than in high altitude area which was 13.63 %. The aflatoxin positivity rate of maize contamination was 33.3 % in low altitude area which was higher than high altitude which had 12.5%. The findings show that the low altitude maize had higher moisture content and aflatoxin contamination than high altitude maize. The results further  indicated that the most common strain/type of aflatoxin in both low and high altitude areas, and in both maize harvest seasons, was AF B1 followed by AF B2, with maize harvested in low altitude and second season having higher quantities of these aflatoxin sub-types. These study findings indicate that there was higher aflatoxin contamination of maize, in both subtypes, for maize harvested in second season than maize harvested in first season, in both low and high altitude areas of Makueni County, with low altitude areas having comparatively higher aflatoxin contamination than high altitude areas for maize harvested in second season.Conclusion: These findings indicate that a sizable proportion of Makueni households mainly relying on maize consumption as their staple foodstuff are likely to consume maize contaminated with aflatoxin. There is therefore need for further public education by local authorities on risks posed by continued consumption of maize contaminated with aflatoxin as well measures to reduce levels of contamination by improving methods of storage. Government authorities need also to periodically sample maize in order to monitor moisture and aflatoxin content of householdstored maize to enable timely interventions should aflatoxin content exceed permissible levels

Factors Associated With Uptake of Skilled Attendants’ Services During Child Delivery In Garissa Town, Kenya

Objective: To identify the factors that are associated with uptake of skilled delivery services during child delivery among women of reproductive age in Garissa town.Design: Cross sectional study.Setting: Garissa townSubject: Three hundred and thirty four women aged 15-49 years who had had at least one delivery in their lifetime were asked about the type of delivery services they had during their last child delivery.Results: The study found that 47% of the last deliveries women were attended by skilled persons and the rest of the deliveries were provided by TBAs. The predictors of skilled delivery uptake in this study were found to be; having knowledge on skilled delivery service providers (AOR = 17.2; 95% CI: 1.05 – 281.12; p = 0.046), child deliveries numbering one to three (AOR = 116.95; 95% CI: 26.68 – 512.64; p = 0.001) and four to six (AOR = 16.75; 95% CI: 4.44 – 62.87; p = 0.001), presence of previous delivery complication (AOR = 11.71; 95% CI: 3.96 – 34.60; p = 0.001), disapproval of TBA services (AOR = 27.19; 95% CI: 6.67 – 110.76; p = 0.001), lack of preference for gender of skilled delivery service provider (AOR = 6.51; 95% CI: 1.08 – 39.37; p = 0.041), and positive view on service related factors such as time to nearest facility (AOR = 3.91; 95% CI: 1.24 – 12.34; p = 0.020), hygiene (AOR = 5.03; 95% CI: 1.49 – 17.05; p = 0.009) and operation time of health facility (AOR = 4.67; 95% CI: 1.59 – 13.76; p = 0.005).Conclussion: The findings show that cultural and maternal factors as well as quality of services at facility level play major role in determining uptake of skilled services among women in Garissa as compared to social  demographic and economic factors

The Influence of Household Socio-Economic Characteristics and Awareness on Aflatoxin Contamination of Maize in Makueni County, Kenya

Background: Aflatoxicosis resulting from consumption of contaminated maize poses a significant public health problem in many countries including Kenya, and many people living in developing countries could be chronically exposed to aflatoxin through their diet. It is caused by Aflatoxins produced by fungus of species Aspergillusparasiticus and Aspergillus flavus found mainly in cereals and other foodstuffs.Objective: To determine socio-economic and aflatoxin awareness factors associated with aflatoxin contamination in household maize in Makueni County, Kenya.Design: A comparative descriptive analytical study.Setting: Kibwezi and Kilome sub-counties of Makueni County, Kenya.Subjects: Four hundred and fifty household heads or their representatives with maize in their household stores, comprising 225 from each study site.Results: Majority of the households’ main source of income was farming and most of them were poor, but level of awareness on aflatoxin was very high. The results further showed significant associations of some socio-economic characteristics and awareness with aflatoxin contamination of maize. Gender of  household head was significantly associated with proper maize storage. Age of respondent was found to be significantly associated with knowledge/awareness of aflatoxin and knowledge on signs of suspected aflatoxin contaminated maize. There was significant association between age of respondent and perception on whether altitude/climate affected aflatoxin contamination, level of education and  knowledge/awareness of aflatoxin. Level of education was significantly associated with Knowledge on  identification of contaminated maize as well as on Knowledge on signs of aflatoxin. Besides, level of education was significantly associated with proper ventilation, discoloration of maize, and maize in storage affected by pests/insects, and cleaning of maize prior to storage. There was also significant  association between occupation of respondent and proper maize storage. Income of house hold head was significantly associated with knowledge/awareness on aflatoxin. Knowledge/awareness of aflatoxin  problem was also significantly associated with placing of material underneath of maize during drying, cleaning of maize prior to storage, moldy condition of maize, aflatoxin content in maize and proper maize storage.Conclusion: These study findings imply that efforts to control and prevent aflatoxin contamination of maize should take into consideration socio-economic characteristics as well as aflatoxin awareness. Thus reducing poverty levels by raising income, education levels and awareness of the community will most likely have a profound impact on control of aflatoxin. There is need, therefore, for policy makers and stakeholders to promote household positive socio-economic factors and aflatoxin awareness in households. This can greatly contribute to reduction of aflatoxin contamination in maize

Determinants of vaccination coverage among pastoralists in north eastern Kenya

Background: Vaccination is the most cost-effective, highest-impact health intervention to reduce the morbidity and mortality of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs). Despite success in Kenya implementing the Expanded Programme on Immunisation, VPDs remain prevalent in pastoralist communities. Pastoralism was defined as raising any livestock other than fowl; nomadism was defined by seasonal movement ofanimals for grazing.Objective: To examine the roles of geographic access and Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAPs) on vaccination coverage among settled and nomadic pastoralist households (HHs).Design: A cross-sectional study.Setting: Lagdera Sub-county, Garissa County, North Eastern, Kenya.Subject: Twelve mothers were selected for interview per cluster. We used a structured instrument to survey pastoralist mothers with children aged 0–59 months old.Results: A total of 476 eligible mothers were interviewed with 725 children; 241 mothers (50.6%) belonged to nomadic HHs while 235 (49.4%) belonged to settled HHs. Forty percent of nomadic mothers stated that vaccination was “very important” compared to 87.2% of mothers from settled HHs. Nearly 60% of mothers from nomadic HHs had never vaccinated all their children in comparison to 7.2% of mothers from settled pastoralist. The main reason for non-vaccination among mothers from nomadic HHs was “hospital or clinic was too far away” (78.6%).Analysis of the collected data revealed steep distance decay in the level of vaccine utilisation.Conclusion: Nomadic pastoralist exhibited very low vaccination coverage than their settled counterpart.This, in turn, calls for proper policy measures for addressing these inequities

Household maize storage practices and aflatoxin contamination in Makueni County, Kenya

Introduction: Aflatoxicosis resulting from consumption of contaminated maize poses a significant public health problem in many countries including Kenya, and many people living in developing countries could be chronically exposed to aflatoxin through their diet. It is caused by Aflatoxins produced by fungus of species Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus flavus found mainly in cereals and other foodstuffs.Objective of the study: To determine maize storage practices and their association with aflatoxin contamination of maize in Makueni County, Kenya.Study design: A cross-sectional study design in Makueni County, with comparative assessment of two sites, to determine household maize storage practices and aflatoxin contamination of maize.Methods: Four hundred and fifty households (225 from each study site) which had maize in household were randomly sampled and household heads or their representatives interviewed using questionnaires. In addition, a sub-sample comprising 10 percent of the sampled households had their maize samples collected for moisture content determination using Portable Grain Moisture Tester, and for aflatoxin determination using Enzyme Linked Immunoassay (ELISA) Test, and for aflatoxin sub-type determination using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).Results: Majority of households stored their maize in bags which were kept on raised platform. This was followed by storing maize in traditional cribs, storing maize with cobs directly on the floor, keeping maize under or on top of roof and storing maize on improved cribs, but none of the households stored their maize in sealed containers. Majority of households stored their maize properly. However, storing maize in grains form in bags/sacks was preferred by most households. Mean length of storage of maize was about two months. The frequency of store cleaning of maize stores was about three times per two months. This study has shown that duration of maize while in storage (storage time) had significant positive correlation with aflatoxin content in maize (P<0.05). Frequency of store cleaning had significant negative correlation with aflatoxin content (P<0.05). Results further indicated significant association between proper maize storage in households and discoloration of maize (P<0.05). Poor maize storage practices was also associated with pests/insects infestation in stored maize (P<0.05). Moreover poor storage was also significantly associated with moldy infestation and aflatoxin content in maize (P<0.05). Moldy condition of maize had significant association with aflatoxin content while maize affected by pests/insects had significant association with aflatoxin content. Moisture content in maize had positive correlation with aflatoxin content while ventilation of maize store had significant association with aflatoxin content in maize.Conclusion: Households store maize using various methods with the main aim being prevention of contamination and spoilage of maize. Some of the maize storage practices were found to be associated with aflatoxin contamination of maize. There is need, therefore, for households to adopt proper maize storage practices. Policy makers and stakeholders should also encourage households to adopt and practice proper maize practices as this can greatly contribute to reduction of moisture content and aflatoxin contamination of maize.Keywords: Household, maize, maize storage practices, aflatoxin, aflatoxin contaminationAfr J Health Sci. 2016; 29(2):89-10

Implicit integration scheme for porous viscoplastic potential-based constitutive equations

This paper deals with a viscoplastic potential-based model allowing thermomechanical damage behavior modeling of porous materials. The model describes rate dependent effects, hardening, creep as well as defects coalescence and propagation. Kinematic and isotropic hardening effects are taken into account by a set of internal state variables. The integration and implementation of the model into the FE code using a fully implicit integration scheme is exposed. Finally, it 19s used to predict mechanical behaviour degradation of solder layers used in power electronic packaging. Stress-strain behaviour and the evolution of volumic fraction of voids for the material under cyclic loading are presented

Balance Board Sensory to Increase Body Balance’s Children with Special Needs

Children with special needs is a child who has obstacles in his growth and development. Children with special needs with multiple disabilities are children who have special learning needs and barriers caused by a combination of barriers and special learning needs caused by a combination of physical, sensory, social, emotional, intellectual and others. The condition of this multiple obstacle varies greatly depending on the type of mild and severity of the obstacle experienced. This study aims to produce an educational game tool (APE) to assist teachers and parents coaches in stimulating motor skills related to static and dynamic balance’s children with special needs. The research methods model used is ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation), involving 4 teachers and 20 students with special needs (8-12 years olds). expert judgment in this study consisted of 4 experts, consisting 2 learning media experts, 1 psychologist, and 1 adaptive physical educator. Expert  analysis of APE balance board sensory product using CVI and CVR, based on the result of the analysis, an average score of 0.7 which means the validity is high and it can be concluded that APE balance board sensory help teachers and parents stimulate the static and dynamic balance skill children with special needs

In-situ Analysis of Laminated Composite Materials by X-ray Micro-Computed Tomography and Digital Volume Correlation

The complex mechanical behaviour of composite materials, due to internal heterogeneity and multi-layered composition impose deeper studies. This paper presents an experimental investigation technique to perform volume kinematic measurements in composite materials. The association of X-ray micro-computed tomography acquisitions and Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) technique allows the measurement of displacements and deformations in the whole volume of composite specimen. To elaborate the latter, composite fibres and epoxy resin are associated with metallic particles to create contrast during X-ray acquisition. A specific in situ loading device is presented for three-point bending tests, which enables the visualization of transverse shear effects in composite structures

Axial-flexural coupled vibration and buckling of composite beams using sinusoidal shear deformation theory

A finite element model based on sinusoidal shear deformation theory is developed to study vibration and buckling analysis of composite beams with arbitrary lay-ups. This theory satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of beam without using shear correction factors. Besides, it has strong similarity with Euler–Bernoulli beam theory in some aspects such as governing equations, boundary conditions, and stress resultant expressions. By using Hamilton’s principle, governing equations of motion are derived. A displacement-based one-dimensional finite element model is developed to solve the problem. Numerical results for cross-ply and angle-ply composite beams are obtained as special cases and are compared with other solutions available in the literature. A variety of parametric studies are conducted to demonstrate the effect of fiber orientation and modulus ratio on the natural frequencies, critical buckling loads, and load-frequency curves as well as corresponding mode shapes of composite beams

Roles of Traditional Birth Attendants and Perceptions on the Policy Discouraging Home Delivery in Coastal Kenya

Objectives: To describe the roles of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), to determine the perceptions of TBAs and Skilled Birth Attendants (SBAs) towards the policy discouraging home delivery by TBAs and to establish the working relationship between TBAs and SBAs in Kwale, Kenya.Design: Community based cross-sectional study.Setting: Mwaluphamba, Kinango and Golini locations of Kwale County, Kenya.Subjects: Fifty eight participants were involved in the study. Interviews were conducted with 22 TBAs and 8 SBAs as well as 3 FGDs with 28 TBAs were carried out in July 2012.Main outcome measures: Roles of TBAs, policy awareness and support as well as the working relationship between TBAs and SBAs.Results: Before delivery, the main role of TBAs was checking position of the baby in the womb (86%) while during delivery, the main role was stomach massage (64%). However, majority (95%) of the TBAs did not provide any after delivery. All SBAs and 59% of TBAs were aware of the policy while 88% SBAs and 36% of TBAs supported it. The working relationship between TBAs and SBAs mainly involved the referral of women to health facilities (HFs). Sometimes, TBAs accompanied women to the HFoffering emotional support until after delivery.Conclusion: TBAs in Kwale have a big role to play especially during pregnancy and delivery periods. Awareness and support of the policy as well as the collaboration between SBAs and TBAs should be enhanced in Kwale