Prevalence of mutations in the cysteine desulfurase IscS (Pfnfs1) gene in recurrent Plasmodium falciparum infections following artemether-lumefantrine (AL) and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) treatment in Matayos, Western Kenya.

Background: Malaria remains a public health concern globally. Resistance to anti-malarial drugs has consistently threatened the gains in controlling the malaria parasites. Currently, artemether-lumefantrine (AL) and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) are the treatment regimens against Plasmodium falciparum infections in many African countries, including Kenya.

Geographic accessibility and hospital competition for emergency blood transfusion services in Bungoma, Western Kenya.

Background: Estimating accessibility gaps to essential health interventions helps to allocate and prioritize health resources. Access to blood transfusion represents an important emergency health requirement. Here, we develop geo-spatial models of accessibility and competition to blood transfusion services in Bungoma County, Western Kenya.

Techniques of power system static security assessment and improvement: A literature survey.

The secure operation of a power system depends on the available security evaluation tools and improvement techniques to tackle the disturbances or contingencies. The main objective of the survey presented in this paper is to provide a comprehensive review to the researchers, academicians, and utility engineers on the available techniques of static security assessment and improvement in modern power systems. Various performance indices are used to express the severity of limit violations from security margins typically in transmission line loading and buses voltage magnitude under a given disturbance or contingency.

The effect of self-compassion-based programs for infertility (SCPI) on anxiety and depression among women pursuing fertility treatment: a three-armed, randomised controlled trial.

Purpose: To examine the effects of self-compassion training using videos (SCV) versus self-compassion training using digital stories (SC-DS) as compared to a control group (CG) on reducing anxiety and depression symptoms among women pursuing fertility treatment.

Methods: A three-armed, randomised controlled trial randomly assigned 200 eligible women to SCV(n = 65), SC-DS (n = 67), and CG (n = 68). All three randomised groups completed questionnaires immediately after randomisation (T1), after completing the interventions (T2), and 10 weeks after the interventions (T3).

Coenzyme Q prevented breach of the blood brain barrier, inflammation and organ damage in late stage of Human African Trypanosomiasis.

During the late stage of Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), there is severe cytokine-driven inflammation, oxidative stress and organ damage. Controlling inflammation and oxidative damage presents unique therapeutic opportunities to improve treatment outcome. The current study sought to determine the putative impact of Coenzyme-Q10 (Co-Q), a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, on adverse inflammatory and oxidative events during (T.

Increase in the Immune Response in Balb/c Mice after the Co-Administration of a Vector-Based COVID-19 Vaccine with Cytosine Phosphoguanine Oligodeoxynucleotide.

The effects of cytosine phosphoguanine oligodeoxynucleotides (CPG ODNs) on immune response have been demonstrated for different vaccines; however, such information is limited for the vector-based Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This paper aims to demonstrate the potential effect of CPG ODNs on immunological response against the vector-based COVID-19 vaccine on Balb/c mice using a JNJ-78436735 Ad26.COV2-S recombinant as a model vaccine.

Oral acute, sub-acute toxicity and phytochemical profile of Brassica carinata A. Braun microgreens ethanolic extract in Wistar rats.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Currently, there is a remarkable increase in the consumption of microgreens, (young edible vegetables or herbs), as potential nutraceuticals for the management of diseases. Brassica carinata A. Braun is one of the traditional leafy vegetables cultivated in various parts of Sub- Saharan Africa.

(Bio)chemical reactions associated with ageing of red kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) during storage probed by volatile profiling: The role of glass transition temperature.

During storage, common beans are susceptible to ageing leading to quality changes, in particular their cooking quality. In this study, kinetics of evolution of volatile compounds was assessed in order to gain insight into possible reactions occurring during ageing of beans. The evolution of volatile compounds of red kidney beans stored at varying conditions of temperature and moisture content relative to their glass transition temperature (T) were evaluated.

Intestinal Parasite Infections and Associated Risk Factors among Pre-School Aged Children in Kibera Informal Settlement, Nairobi, Kenya.

Background: Infections with intestinal parasites are a major public health problem in children in developing countries like Kenya. School going children are considered at most risk and are included in school-based de-worming program. Less focus is given to pre-school children and information is scarce about intestinal parasitosis among this age group.

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).

Gut microbiota shift in layer pullets fed on black soldier fly larvae-based feeds towards enhancing healthy gut microbial community.

Globally, most gut microbiota-related studies have focused on broilers due to their diverse microbial communities compared to that of layer chicken. However, in Africa few studies have been undertaken despite the increasing benefits to the poultry industry. The utilization of Insect-Based diets to improve the gastrointestinal function and gut health in poultry is increasingly gaining global attention.

Chemometrics aided energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence and scattering for diagnostic modeling of trace biometals as cancer biomarkers.

Direct analysis of biometals in biomedical samples by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) for disease diagnostics has hardly been fully explored due to dark matrix analytical challenges. In this study, we exploited multivariate chemometrics modeling of cancer diagnostics in model human tissue simulates and cultures using selected biometals' (Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn and Se) fluorescence and Compton scatter profiles. PCA successfully reduced the correlated data dimension to uncorrelated datasets for the characterization of the cell cultures.

Experiences of infertile women pursuing treatment in Kenya: a qualitative study.

Background: The infertility treatment process is associated with various psychological, physical, social, moral, and financial challenges, especially for women. The women are likely to report low marital satisfaction and emotional distress due to fertility treatment demands. This study explored how infertile women described their treatment experience and how they coped with treatment demands as they underwent treatment at three gynecology outpatient clinics in Kenya.

Enhancing low voltage ride through capability of grid connected DFIG based WECS using WCA-PSO tuned STATCOM controller.

This paper investigates the utilization of a STATCOM to enhance the LVRT capability of a 9 MW DFIG based Wind Power Plant (WPP) during grid faults. The STATCOM under investigation is tuned using the Water Cycle Algorithm (WCA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and a hybrid algorithm of both WCA and PSO. Simulations are carried out in MATLAB programming software, using SimScape toolbox.

Enteritidis Bacteriophages Isolated from Kenyan Poultry Farms Demonstrate Time-Dependent Stability in Environments Mimicking the Chicken Gastrointestinal Tract.

Multi-drug resistant (MDR) Enteritidis is one of the major causes of foodborne illnesses worldwide. This non-typhoidal (NTS) serovar is mainly transmitted to humans through poultry products. Bacteriophages (phages) offer an alternative to antibiotics for reducing the incidence of MDR NTS in poultry farms.

Contemporary exploitation of natural products for arthropod-borne pathogen transmission-blocking interventions.

An integrated approach to innovatively counter the transmission of various arthropod-borne diseases to humans would benefit from strategies that sustainably limit onward passage of infective life cycle stages of pathogens and parasites to the insect vectors and vice versa. Aiming to accelerate the impetus towards a disease-free world amid the challenges posed by climate change, discovery, mindful exploitation and integration of active natural products in design of pathogen transmission-blocking interventions is of high priority. Herein, we provide a review of natural compounds endowed with blockade potential against transmissible forms of human pathogens reported in the last 2 decades from 2000 to 2021.

Kinetics of phytate hydrolysis during storage of red kidney beans and the implication in hard-to-cook development.

In this study, the kinetics of phytate (inositol hexaphosphate, InsP) hydrolysis by endogenous phytase in red kidney beans stored at varying conditions of temperature (25-42 °C) and moisture content (6.9-14.5%) was determined and the potential role in hard-to-cook (HTC) development was evaluated.

Formulation of phage cocktails and evaluation of their interaction with antibiotics in inhibiting carbapenemase-producing in vitro in Kenya.

Background: The development of alternative control measures, such as phage therapy or adjunctive therapy, is urgently needed to manage the dissemination of carbapenemase-producing

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic potential of formulated phage cocktails and their interaction with select antibiotics in inhibiting the growth of carbapenemase-producing clinical isolate in vitro in Kenya.

Methods: The study was conducted from February 2021 to October 2021 at the Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya. Phage cocktails were formulated based on the morphology and biological properties of precipitated phages.

Genomic evaluation of novel Kenyan virulent phage isolates infecting carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and safety determination of their lysates in Balb/c mice.

This study aimed to evaluate the genomic features of novel Kenyan virulent phage isolates infecting carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and to determine the safety of their lysates using mice model in a preclinical study. The genomics showed that the Klebsiella phages vB_KpM_CPRSA and vB_KpM_CPRSB belonged to the genus Slopekvirus with a similarity index of less than 92% compared to the most closest relative species. Their genomes did not contain antimicrobial resistance and toxin genes.

Insights into the Gut Microbial Communities of Broiler Chicken Fed Black Soldier Fly Larvae--Based Meal as a Dietary Protein Source.

The utilization of insect-based diets to improve gastrointestinal function and gut health in poultry is gaining global attention as a promising feed additive. The objective of this study was to determine the optimal inclusion level of the full-fat black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) and (DI) in broiler chicken diets and to evaluate their impact on the microbial community in the gut. The bacterial communities were characterized using Oxford nanopore sequencing of the full-length bacterial 16S rRNA gene.

Evaluation of water quality and potential scaling of corrosion in the water supply using water quality and stability indices: A case study of Juja water distribution network, Kenya.

Drinking water quality describes the conditions for water to be accepted as suitable for human consumption. The water quality index is characterized by including, in the assessment process, water quality parameters such as physical, chemical and micro-biological. The availability of adequate management strategies to maintain good quality water has always been a challenge for water utilities.

Case studies from the experience of early career researchers in East Africa in building community engagement in research.

In this paper, we explain how three early career researchers actively engaged community members in their health research projects in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and what was learnt from the experience. The research project in Kenya was on camel trypanosomiasis and the role of camel biting keds (or louse flies) in disease transmission. The project in Tanzania looked at the effect of human immunodeficiency virus and antiretroviral therapy on fertility and ascertained the trends in the use of family planning services amongst women of reproductive age.

Tallo: A global tree allometry and crown architecture database.

Data capturing multiple axes of tree size and shape, such as a tree's stem diameter, height and crown size, underpin a wide range of ecological research-from developing and testing theory on forest structure and dynamics, to estimating forest carbon stocks and their uncertainties, and integrating remote sensing imagery into forest monitoring programmes. However, these data can be surprisingly hard to come by, particularly for certain regions of the world and for specific taxonomic groups, posing a real barrier to progress in these fields. To overcome this challenge, we developed the Tallo database, a collection of 498,838 georeferenced and taxonomically standardized records of individual trees for which stem diameter, height and/or crown radius have been measured.