High-Throughput Shotgun Metagenomics of Microbial Footprints Uncovers a Cocktail of Noxious Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, Kenya.

A diverse range of pollutants, including heavy metals, agrochemicals, pharmaceutical residues, illicit drugs, personal care products, and other anthropogenic contaminants, pose a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems. The Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, heavily impacted by surrounding human activities, faces potential contamination from these pollutants. However, studies exploring the presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the lake remain limited.

Optimal sizing and placement of STATCOM, TCSC and UPFC using a novel hybrid genetic algorithm-improved particle swarm optimization.

The increase in global power demand has caused most of today's power networks to become overloaded especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The increased load demand can be met through expansion of existing generation and transmission system. However, construction of new power infrastructure is limited by financing and technical constraints.

Prospective clinical surveillance for severe acute respiratory illness and COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in Kenyan hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: There are limited data from sub-Saharan Africa describing the demographic characteristics, clinical features and outcome of patients admitted to public hospitals with severe acute respiratory infections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We conducted a prospective longitudinal hospital-based sentinel surveillance between May 2020 and December 2022 at 16 public hospitals in Kenya. All patients aged above 18 years admitted to adult medical wards in the participating hospitals were included.

Molecular Footprints of Y Isolate Infecting Potatoes () in Kenya.

(PVY) is a highly diverse and genetically variable virus with various strains. Differential evolutionary routes have been reported in the genus Potyvirus, caused by natural selection pressure, mutation, and recombination, with their virulence being dependent on different environmental conditions. Despite its significance and economic impact on Solanaceous species, the understanding of PVY's phylogeography in Kenya remains limited and inadequately documented.

The role of vegetation structural diversity in regulating the microclimate of human-modified tropical ecosystems.

Vegetation regulates microclimate stability through biophysical mechanisms such as evaporation, transpiration and shading. Therefore, thermal conditions in tree-dominated habitats will frequently differ significantly from standardized free-air temperature measurements. The ability of forests to buffer temperatures nominates them as potential sanctuaries for tree species intolerant to the increasingly challenging thermal conditions established by climate change.

Shotgun Metagenomic Analyses of Microbial Assemblages in the Aquatic Ecosystem of Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, Kenya Reveals Multiclass Pollution.

Lake Victoria, the second-largest freshwater lake in the world, provides an important source of food and income, particularly fish for both domestic consumption and for export market. In recent years, Lake Victoria has suffered massive pollution from both industrial and wastewater discharge. Microplastic biomes, pharmaceutical residues, drugs of abuse, heavy metals, agrochemicals, and personal care products are ubiquitous in the aquatic ecosystem of Winam Gulf.

Molecular Characterization of Indigenous Rhizobia from Kenyan Soils Nodulating with Common Beans.

Kenya is the seventh most prominent producer of common beans globally and the second leading producer in East Africa. However, the annual national productivity is low due to insufficient quantities of vital nutrients and nitrogen in the soils. Rhizobia are symbiotic bacteria that fix nitrogen through their interaction with leguminous plants.

Mutational signatures for breast cancer diagnosis using artificial intelligence.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common female cancer worldwide. Its diagnosis and prognosis remain scanty, imprecise, and poorly documented. Previous studies have indicated that some genetic mutational signatures are suspected to lead to progression of various breast cancer scenarios.

Comparing adherence to MDR-TB treatment among patients on self-administered therapy and those on directly observed therapy: non-inferiority randomized controlled trial.

Background: Adherence is key to the treatment success of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and prevention of community transmission. Directly observed therapy (DOT) is the recommended approach for the management of patients with MDR-TB. Uganda implements a health facility-based DOT approach where all patients diagnosed with MDR-TB report to the nearest private or public health facility for daily observation of ingesting their medicines by a health care provider.

Whole Transcriptome Analysis of Differentially Expressed Genes in Cultured Nile Tilapia () Subjected to Chronic Stress Reveals Signaling Pathways Associated with Depressed Growth.

Chronic stress is a serious threat to aquaculture as it lowers fish growth performance and compromises fish welfare. The exact mechanism by which growth is retarded is, however, not clearly understood. This study sought to elucidate the gene expression profiles associated with chronic stress in cultured Nile tilapia () reared for 70 days at different ammonia concentrations and stocking densities.

Indirect serum biomarkers perform sub optimally in screening for significant liver fibrosis among HIV-infected and uninfected adults in Uganda.

Introduction: Indirect serum bio-markers present an acceptable noninvasive and cheap alternative for screening of significant liver fibrosis (SLF). Evaluation of their use in resource limited settings is important to determine their utility.

Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study among 520 HIV infected and HIV uninfected adults attending care clinics in Kampala Uganda.

Molecular Characterization and Mineralizing Potential of Phosphorus Solubilizing Bacteria Colonizing Common Bean ( L.) Rhizosphere in Western Kenya.

Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB) are a category of microbes that transform insoluble phosphates in soil into soluble forms that crops can utilize. Phosphorus in natural soils is abundant but poorly soluble. Hence, introducing PSB is a safer way of improving its solubility.

Liver Injury Patterns and Hepatic Toxicity among People Living with and without HIV and Attending Care in Urban Uganda.

Introduction: The evaluation of the patterns of liver injury, derived from liver chemistry panels, often may narrow on probable causes of the liver insult especially when coupled with clinical history, examination, and other diagnostic tests.

Methods: Among people living with and without HIV and attending care, we used the ratio to evaluate for liver injury patterns. Liver injury patterns were defined as cholestatic ( < 2), mixed ( = 2-5), and hepatocellular ( > 5).

Rhizobia Contribute to Salinity Tolerance in Common Beans ( L.).

Rhizobia are soil bacteria that induce nodule formation on leguminous plants. In the nodules, they reduce dinitrogen to ammonium that can be utilized by plants. Besides nitrogen fixation, rhizobia have other symbiotic functions in plants including phosphorus and iron mobilization and protection of the plants against various abiotic stresses including salinity.

Development of electrical power transmission system linear hybrid state estimator based on circuit analysis techniques.

Electrical power systems are in rapid evolution, necessitating advanced monitoring, control, and protection aspects connected to an accurate knowledge of the state of the grid. State estimation is one-way such knowledge could be achieved by estimating voltage magnitudes and phase angles at all buses in electrical networks. Electric utilities are deploying advanced Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) in grids with conventional Remote Terminal Units (RTUs).

Burden and correlates of significant liver fibrosis among HIV-infected and uninfected adults in urban Uganda.

Introduction: Following chronic inflammation and other disease specific factors, the risk of liver disease is believed to be higher among HIV-infected patients than in the general population despite shared risk factors. Understanding this differentiated burden and its drivers will inform policy and priority populations for intervention.

Methods: This was a cross sectional study among 516 adults attending care clinics in Kampala Uganda.

Distribution, Characterization and the Commercialization of Elite Rhizobia Strains in Africa.

Grain legumes play a significant role in smallholder farming systems in Africa because of their contribution to nutrition and income security and their role in fixing nitrogen. Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF) serves a critical role in improving soil fertility for legumes. Although much research has been conducted on rhizobia in nitrogen fixation and their contribution to soil fertility, much less is known about the distribution and diversity of the bacteria strains in different areas of the world and which of the strains achieve optimal benefits for the host plants under specific soil and environmental conditions.

The Cell Membrane of a Novel Strain Is the Crucial Target for Aluminium Toxicity and Tolerance.

Soils with low pH and high aluminium (Al) contamination restrict common bean production, mainly due to adverse effects on rhizobia. We isolated a novel rhizobium strain, B3, from Kenyan soil which is more tolerant to Al stress than the widely used commercial strain CIAT899. B3 was resistant to 50 µM Al and recovered from 100 µM Al stress, while CIAT899 did not.

Isolation and Characterization of High-Efficiency Rhizobia From Western Kenya Nodulating With Common Bean.

Common bean is one of the primary protein sources in third-world countries. They form nodules with nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, which have to be adapted to the local soils. Commercial rhizobial strains such as CIAT899 are often used in agriculture.

Comparison of four outdoor mosquito trapping methods as potential replacements for human landing catches in western Kenya.

Introduction: Longitudinal monitoring of outdoor-biting malaria vector populations is becoming increasingly important in understanding the dynamics of residual malaria transmission. However, the human landing catch (HLC), the gold standard for measuring human biting rates indoors and outdoors, is costly and raises ethical concerns related to increased risk of infectious bites among collectors. Consequently, routine data on outdoor-feeding mosquito populations are usually limited because of the lack of a scalable tool with similar sensitivity to outdoor HLC.

Prevalence and Factors Associated With Liver Fibrosis Among Adult HIV-Infected Patients Attending Urban and Rural Care Clinics in Uganda.

Background: Liver fibrosis is common among HIV-infected patients. Risk factors vary by location. Understanding this variation may inform prevention strategies.

Predictors of loss to follow up among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus attending a private not for profit urban diabetes clinic in Uganda - a descriptive retrospective study.

Background: Although the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus is increasing in Uganda, data on loss to follow up (LTFU) of patients in care is scanty. We aimed to estimate proportions of patients LTFU and document associated factors among patients attending a private not for profit urban diabetes clinic in Uganda.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive retrospective study between March and May 2017.