Using the Women Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI) to Examine Linkages between Women Smallholder Livestock Farmers' Empowerment and Access to Livestock Vaccines in Machakos County of Kenya: Insights and Critiques.

Livestock diseases are a major barrier to productivity for both male and female livestock keepers in Africa. In Kenya, two of the most devastating livestock diseases are Newcastle Disease (ND) in poultry and Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP) in goats. Female livestock keepers tend to own more small ruminants (goats, sheep, etc.

Gendered Barriers and Opportunities for Women Smallholder Farmers in the Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia Vaccine Value Chain in Kenya.

Most rural women smallholder farmers in Kenya generate income from the sale of small ruminant animals. However, diseases such as Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP) prevent them from optimizing earnings. A crucial aspect for the control of CCPP is vaccination.

Morphometric and stereological methods for quantifying the coarse structural parameters of the ruminal tissues in sheep.

In ruminants, the rumen is the largest and most significant fore-stomach. Stereological analysis of important structural parameters that may be used to assess the functional capacity of the rumen is lacking. In the current investigation, five rams were used to demonstrate the methods for quantifying salient structural parameters related to rumen function.

Cytotoxic activity of medicinal plants of the Kakamega County (Kenya) against drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant cancer cells.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The geographical location of Kakamega County proximal to the Kakamega Rain Forest in Kenya and its rich flora represents an interesting resource of traditional medicinal plants. The medicinal plants in the present study are traditionally used to treat cancer in Kakamega County as recorded in published literature.

Aim Of The Study: Due to multidrug resistance (MDR) and severe side effects of currently used drugs in clinical oncology, new candidate compounds are urgently required to improve treatment outcome.

Immunohistochemical localization of anterior pituitary cell types of vervet monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) following sub-chronic cathinone exposure.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Khat (Catha edulis) contains cathinone, an active principal that is customarily used as a psychostimulant that wards off fatigue and to some extent used as an aphrodisiac.

Aim Of Study: To investigate effects of escalating doses of cathinone on hormone expression by different anterior pituitary cell types using specific antibodies.

Material And Methods: Eleven vervet monkeys (6 males and 5 females) divided into tests (n=9) and controls (n=2) were used.

Medicinal plants used in treatment and management of cancer in Kakamega County, Kenya.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Traditional medicine plays a critical role in treatment of chronic debilitating and life threatening conditions and diseases. Cancer is one such condition whose therapeutic intervention is commonly through inexpensive traditional herbal remedies. Increasingly industrialised societies are developing drugs and chemotherapeutics from these traditional herbal plants.

Dose-response inhibitory effects of purified cathinone from khat (Catha edulis) on cortisol and prolactin release in vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops).

This study reports acute and sub-chronic effects of cathinone on hormonal alterations in single-caged vervet monkeys. Fourteen adult vervet monkeys were used, 12 of which were treated and 2 controls. Pre-treatment phase of 1 month aimed at establishing baseline levels of hormones while treatment phase of 4 months considered the dose- and time-response effects of cathinone on serum cortisol and prolactin levels.

Acute and sub-chronic effects of purified cathinone from khat (Catha edulis) on behavioural profiles in vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops).

We investigated the cumulative effects of cathinone on behavioural alterations in single-caged vervet monkeys. Fourteen adult vervets were divided into tests (12 animals) and controls (2 animals), and exposed to escalating doses of cathinone at alternate days of each week for 4 months in presence and absence of cage enrichment. One month of pre-treatment phase served to establish baseline values.

Preliminary investigation of contractile activity of Ricinus communis and Euclea divinorum extracts on isolated rabbit uterine strips.

Unlabelled: Ricinus communis and Euclea divinorum of the family Euphorbiaceae and Ebenaceae, respectively, are traditionally used by Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in Machakos district of Kenya to induce or augment labor, manage protracted labor, post-partum hemorrhage and retained after birth. Ethno-pharmacological relevance of the study will be the provision of scientific evidence and justification for the ethnic use of both plants as oxytocic agents in the initiation of labor, treatment of prolonged labor, post-partum hemorrhage and retained placenta.

Materials And Methods: The plants were harvested in the wild, identified and voucher specimens preserved.

Practices of traditional birth attendants in Machakos District, kenya.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The aim of the study was to document TBAs practices as well as the indigenous herbal remedies they use to manage pre, intra and post partum complications in a rural Kenyan community.

Materials And Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on practicing TBAs and their clients living in the study area. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and interviews.

Challenges unique to the design of a comprehensive questionnaire assessing breast cancer risk factors among women in sub-Saharan Africa.

We assessed the efficacy of a pilot questionnaire designed to elicit information about external risk factors for breast cancer in sub-Saharan African women. Preliminary analysis identified areas of the questionnaire and interviewing process that required modification, as well as socioeconomic factors that contribute to reduced participation among these understudied populations.