Biosciences

A study was conducted to determine the microbial quality and safety of meat sold in formal and informal markets around Egodini Taxi Rank in Bulawayo. Sausage and chicken samples randomly selected from each outlet were screened for bacterial contamination. E.coli was the predominant bacteria in sausage samples (43% in butchery samples and 85% in vendor samples), whilst S. aureus was abundant in chicken samples (43%). Contamination of meat with Klebsiella spp and Streptococcus spp was minimum. The mean Total bacterial counts (TBCs) for sausage and chicken in vendor samples were 7.66 x 105; 2.41 x 105 cfu/ml respectively whilst the TBCs for butchery samples were 1.14 x 104; 5.45 x 102 cfu/ml respectively. Overally, vendor meat was more contaminated than butchery meat which poses a serious health hazard to the public. The type of meat and outlet had no significant influence on the bacterial load (P=0.298 and P=0.061 at ?=0.05).

To solve the problem of microbial outbreak which is a major challenge to human health in developing countries like Nigeria, herbal drugs are being looked as an imperative source for discovery of new agents for treating various ailments related to microbial infections. In this present study, the seeds of Piper guineensii and Buchhloziacoriacea were evaluated for their phytochemical constituents and antimicrobial properties. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponins and reducing sugar in the two plants while others like tannin, flavonoids and steroids were also observed interchangeably. The broad spectrum of the antimicrobial activities of the two seeds proved them to be active against various pathogens tested. The outcome of this workis a good evidence to support ethno-medicinal uses of these plants in the treatment of various diseases.

Studied have established the prevalence of Vaginal Candidiasis (Moniliasis) from women attending antenatal care clinic at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Kano. The Antimycotic susceptibility profile has not been reported. To study the Antimycotic susceptibility profiles of some Candida species isolated from suspected patients. Seventeen isolates of Candida species isolated from vaginal swabs were subjected to Germ Tube Test (GTT) for identification of Candida albicans. Four antifungal drugs were tested against the isolates to determine their Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) on the isolates using tube dilution method. Miconazole had the least MIC of 0.15 mg against 41.2% of the isolates. The MIC of Ketoconazole was 0.078 against 35.3% of the isolates. Up to 29.40% of the isolates were inhibited by Nystatin and Clotrimazole at MIC of 19.53IU and 0.093mg respectively. Miconazole has more antifungal activity against Candida albicans isolates at the area of study.

There is the necessity to preserve the water resources which gets polluted everyday due the development of urbanization. We should acquire the knowledge of nature and level of pollution for choosing the effective remediation techniques. In the present study, the water quality and nutritional characteristics in two freshwater ecosystems, Manjakkudi and Pakkam lakes were investigated simultaneously every month over a two-year period (March 2013 - February 2015). The physicochemical characterization results revealed that there is a strong correlation between the seasonal variation and the physicochemical variations. There is a monthly fluctuation in the physicochemical parameters of both the lakes which was reflected by the variation in the supply of nutrients. In conclusion, the observations of the present investigations enunciate that the seasonal variations and human activities, both plays a great role in the water quality in Manjakkudi and Pakkam lakes.

Agroforestry does not only provide tree products and services but more importantly has the potential to increase agricultural production. Despite these benefits, its adoption in developing countries, Kenya included, does not match the scientific significance, because, farmers continue to use indigenous technical knowledge (ITK). We examined the adoption of agroforestry technologies in the Maseno region of Kisumu County, Kenya where it has remained low despite the area being sufficiently served by agroforestry extension. The objective was to investigating the potential of integrating the existing indigenous technical knowledge into the current agroforestry technologies. I addition, the study investigated the potential of indigenous technical knowledge in supplementing agroforestry extension. We used purposive and proportional simple random sampling to select a sample of 150 household heads out of 4,070 farm households in the region. We collected primary data from household heads using a structured questionnaire. The results of the study showed that indigenous technical knowledge plays a significant role in the adoption of agroforestry technologies that help in management of fuel wood, fodder, soil and weeds. Gender significantly influenced the dissemination of indigenous technical knowledge related to agroforestry. The level of adoption of recommended agroforestry technologies in the study area was low. There is need to develop new farmer-centred agroforestry technologies that should not be seen by farmers as mere modifications of traditional farming systems. We recommended that further studies on how effectively integrate modern agroforestry and indigenous technical knowledge for sustainability in improving agricultural production.

In a world of diminishing resources, current research efforts are often directed to extending the life of existing resources and developing technology to treat resources deemed uneconomic. To this end, biotechnology has been explored as a potential low cost, environmentally benign alternative to many of the current mineral processing techniques. Microorganisms and their metabolites have been successfully applied in the leaching of metals from medium and low grade sulfide minerals for many years. Recent fundamental studies have shown that selected bacteria may also assist in the beneficiation of these minerals through bio-flotation. Interaction between Rhodococcus erythropolis with minerals such as hematite, and quartz brought about signi?cant surface chemical changes of the minerals surfaces. Quartz was rendered more hydrophilic, while hematite became more hydrophobic after bio-treatment. Different characterization techniques for single minerals and bacteria before and after interaction as scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FTIR), zeta potential have been done.

Asthma is one of the major health problem in the developed countries, 15 million of the affected asthmatics. Hence a study was conducted to determine the breath holding time, forced vital capacity (FVC), and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) among patients with bronchial asthma. A Qualitative study design was adopted and the study was conducted in Chest OPD, Sri Ramachandra Hospital. The result suggest that Breath holding time may be thought of as being relatively constant inspite of the large standard deviation. Hence the Nurses play an vital role in imparting the knowledge of complementary and alternative therapy ( Yoga etc., ) to them.

Comparisons of peroxidase isozymes among seeds and seedlings of barley, naturally infected and artificially inoculated to Drechslera gramnea were investigated. Electrophoretic comparisons revealed no significant qualitative differences in peroxidase isoenzymic patterns in seeds of different categories viz. healthy, naturally infected and artificially inoculated. Results of electrophoretic study of peroxidase isozymes on Drechslera graminea infected seedlings indicated difference in banding pattern and band intensity in healthy, naturally infected and artificially inoculated seedlings during examination periods. Band intensity was in increasing order from 10th to 30th day, was highest in samples of 30th day of sowing. peroxidase isozymes analysis gave only a possibility of defence mechanism against Drechslera graminea by introducing new isozymes of peroxidase.

The ciliates are one of the most important groups of Protozoa, common everywhere in waters of lake, pond, oceans and soils with many ecto and endosymbiotic members, as well as some obligate opportunistic parasites. Free living ciliates are found in fresh, marine, estuarine waters and in the soil. The present species described as Stylonychia pustulata Ehrenberg (1830), (O. F. Muller, 1786) Ehrenberg, 1835 (O. F. Muller, 1786) Ehrenberg, 1838, S. pustulata (Deshmukh, 2010) has found in fresh water ponds, ditches and streams, especially more abundantly in rain water bodies of Nashik district.

The impacts of superficial mycosis badly affecting the individuals. The nails, hair and skin infections collectively known as dermatophytosis and its creating a social stigma. Both dermatophytes and non dermatophytes are the cause for the nail infections but onychomycosis is a non dermatophytic nail infection. Considerable percentage of the onychomycosis is caused by the candida species .Drug resistant and multi drug resistant candida often isolated from the onychomycosis which interferes in treatment. In view of finding the effective solution for these drug resistant candida strain, The present study was undertaken. Totally 30 numbers of the candida isolates which were originally isolated from the onychomycosis cases were subjected to the antifungal activity of the green synthesized silver nano particles. Terminalia chebula was used in green nano synthesis and reduced silver nitrate bulk materials to nano size materials. It was recorded that the green synthesized silver nanoparticles comparatively shown their best anti candidal activity than aqueous extract of T.chebula and AgNo3 aqueous solution.