Biosciences

The importance of water as a vehicle for spreading diseases has long been recognized and many studies have demonstrated the relationship between illness and deficiencies in water supply and sanitation. This study was conducted between October 2008 and July 2009, to determine microbiological water contaminants and related human health problems in community water sources in Lower Nyakach division, Kisumu County. Water samples were collected in selected water points, analyzed using membrane filter technique and their level of microbiological contamination determined using Escherichia coli type I as bio-indicator. Household level surveys and key informant interviews were conducted and secondary data obtained from Pap-Onditi district hospital on cases of environmental and human health risks associated with water contamination. Data from field samples and survey were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Multiple comparisons between sites were made by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the student t-test. Statistical significance was assessed at p ? 0.05. The mean counts for faecal coliforms were lower than that of total coliforms in all samples in both dry and rainy seasons although the mean counts total coliforms were higher during the rainy season than the dry season. Water samples from water impoundments showed significant differencesin total coliforms compared to recommended WHO levels and no significant differences for faecal coliforms (a = 0.05). Water samples from shallow wells showed significance difference for faecal coliforms between three sampling sites (Pap-Onditi, Urudi and Bonde). From the survey and hospital findings typhoid fever and amoebic dysentery were the most common water-borne diseases in the study area. Faecal contaminated water possesses high human health risks which are responsible for the reported increased water-borne diseases. The study concludes that total and faecal coliforms are important parameters in monitoring faecal contamination and water quality in the area. Most of the community water sources are seasonal and largely contaminated. Consequently, frequent monitoring of water quality and levels of contaminants using total and faecal coliforms is recommended at common water points to curb potential health related risks.

The importance of oil seeds cannot be overemphasised, being a large store of energy in the form of fatty acids deposited in their tissues. This work was aimed at determining the physic-chemical properties and the lipid composition of Sesanum indicum. The sesame seeds analysed have acid and saponification values of 0.53 and 185.9 mg KOH / g of oil respectively and an iodine value of 105.12 g of I2 / 100g of oil. Percentage free fatty acids of 2.52, and kinetic viscosity at 40ºC of 4.8 were also obtained. In addition, trace amounts of trace amounts of butyric, caprioc, caprylic, capric, lauric and myristic acids which are short chain fatty acids were detected. Little amounts of myristic, palmitolic, linolenic, arachidolic and behenic acids of 0.13, 0.18, 1.01, 0.26 and 0.48% respectively were also detected. High amounts of palmitic and stearic acids of 11.49 and 8.124% respectively were obtained with significantly high amount of oleic and linoleic acids of 40.20 and 38.0% respectively. In contrast, trace amounts of longer chain fatty acids including erucic and lignoceric acids were detected. The result obtained also revealed high amount of saturated fatty acids of 32.06%, however the degree of unsaturation of the oil was greater. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils constituted 25.82 and 42.14% of the total fats respectively. The ratio of oleic to linolenic and omega 6 to 3 were 0.67 and 37.7 respectively. The above results imply that the Sesanum indicum is a valuable source of essential fatty acids.

An attempt to draw a correlation between the bacterial load and diversity of used toothbrushes and their storage environment was made. Five different groups of twenty-five individuals each representing bathroom/toilet (BT), kitchen (KT), cupboard (CB), refrigerator (RF) and bag (BG) as the storage environments for used toothbrushes were given a new toothbrush with in-mould placement of filament (Same type and brand) and advised to follow their normal oral hygiene for a two-month period with storage as designated. At the end, the toothbrushes were collected and analysed for bacterial load and diversity using different selective growth media and subsequently biochemical identification to the genus level. Bacterial load of the entire environment had a range of 9.84×106 to 2.0 104 cfu/ml. BT has the highest microbial load followed by KT while RF had the least. Streptococci had the highest count followed by Staphylococci, Escherichia, Pseudomonas and Aerococci respectively and they were all present in all the storage environments. Salmonella/Shigella was only found in BT, Corynebacterium was found in samples of all the storage environments excluding RF while Lactobacilli was not present in BT and BG. Control test using unused toothbrushes stored at the different storage environments revealed a few colonies of Staphylococci and coliforms from three out of five storage environments. Refrigerator is benchmark the best storage environment though under adequate personal and home hygiene. An extensive study placing apparent correlation between oral health status of human subjects and storage environment is suggested.

The possibility for biomass valorization, using biotechnological processes, is an ideal solution for the use of agricultural products with low commercial value. Cashew apple is an agricultural resource available in many African countries. Unfortunately, this agricultural resource is abandoned in the fields by the producers and decayed each year in large quantities, because of the astringency of the juice, and the consumption of cashew apples with milk, would be considered incompatible in several African countries. However, there are a lot of ways to upgrade the value of this resource as a raw material in food industry or in the production of renewable bioenergy. Technical methods used involve biotechnological processes using enzymatic biocatalysis, alcoholic fermentation and fractional distillation.

The present study showed that the broiler chicken in Aurangabad region of Maharashtra harboured 10 species of Eimeria these are, Eimeria tenella, Eimeria necatrix, Eimeria brunetti, Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria maxima, Eimeria praecox, Eimeria mitis, Eimeria nikamae, Eimeria tarabaieandEimeria shivpuri.During the present study ten species of Eimeria are found in Broiler chicken. Seven species are already described and three are new species. The commonest was Eimeria tenella, it was found in 320 of 734 positive samples, showing a prevalence of 43.59% of the positive samples or 12.67% of the total samples examined. Followed by Eimeria necatrix, Eimeria brunetti, Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria praecox, Eimeria maxima, and Eimeria mitis .Seven species of genus Eimeria (E.) including E. tenella, E. acervulina, E. maxima, E. necatrix, E. mitis, E. praecox and E. brunetti are generally accepted to be the causative agent of avian coccidiosis. E. tenella and E. maxima are considered to be the most important to the poultry industry from consideration of their ubiquity in broiler chicks, innate pathogenicity and immunological features. In India E. tenella is the most prevalent and pathogenic species.Coccidiosis in chickens is generally classified as either intestinal or caecal. Most serious cases of intestinal coccidiosis in India are caused by E. necatrix. Caecalcoccidiosis is due to E. tenella. Coccidiosis occurs most frequently in young birds. Old birds are generally immune as a result of prior infection. Severe damage to the caeca and small intestine accompany the development of the coccidia. Broilers and layers are more commonly infected, but broiler breeders and turkey and pheasant poults are also affected.

Hypothetical proteins predicted from nucleic acid and which have not shown any chemical evidence in the genome. In this study, we elaborated the functional and structural molecular model of the hypothetical protein of Trichomoniasis vaginalis. Functional annotation was carried out by using Pfam, SMART, CDD and BLAST. The conceptual three-dimensional structure has been investigated, since there was no structure available in any of the databases. We predicted the structure of hypothetical protein in Trichomonas vaginalis by using the comparative modeling approach. Molecular dynamics simulation was used to characterize its structural and dynamic feature at 10 ns by using the GROMACS. In the end the simulated model was validated with different web servers SAVES, WHAT IF, PorSA, iPAB. We observed this hypothetical protein was involved in asparagine biosynthesis performing catalytic activity. These findings are essential in reducing the gap between the deficiencies of annotation and crucial biosynthetic pathways and may be endorse in relational drug designing of molecules of structure function studies.

The new complexes of novel ligand with Zr (IV), In(III) Tl (III), and Th (IV) have been synthesized. These complexes were then characterized by melting point, magnetic studies and spectroscopic techniques involving infrared spectra (IR), UV–Vis, 1H NMR. C, H, N and halogen elemental analysis and thermal behavior of complexes also investigated. The results suggested that the molar ratio for all complexes is 1:2 where ligand acts as a bidentate via one of the oxygen atoms of the hydroxyl group tetracycline and oxime .through the Eyring parameters were calculated from thermo gravimetric (TGA) and differential thermo gravimetric (DTG) curves, using Coats–Redfern (CR). The cell dimensions were found by X-ray powder pattern and molecular structure were optimized by Chem Office Ultra-11 software programme.

Verbal communication is temporal and easily forgotten, but written reports exist for long periods and yield long-term benefits for the author and others. Individual scientists and groups of researchers perform experiments to test hypotheses about biological phenomena. After experiments are completed and duplicated, researchers attempt to persuade others to accept or reject their hypotheses by presenting the data and their interpretations. The report or the scientific paper is the vehicle of persuasion; when it is published, it is available to other scientists for review. This model of technical report in biology therefore looks into the right way in putting the reports together in a way that is acceptable to other researchers and readers.

This study was designed to assess the ameliorative properties of methanol extract of Pleurotus ostreatus cultivated with extract of Allium cepa on oxidative stress markers of CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in wistar albino rats. Seventy wistar albino rats were used for the study and were grouped into 7 of ten rats in each. Groups 2-7 received a dose of 0.3ml/kg body weight (b.w) of CCl4 in 1:1 olive oil via intraperitoneally twice a week. Those in group 1 received only normal rat chow without CCl4. Groups 3, 4, 5 and 7 orally received a dose of 100mg/kg b.w, 200mg/kg b.w, 300mg/kg b.w and 200mg/kg b.w of the methanol extract respectively. Group 6 and 7 orally received a dose of 5.2mg/kg b.w of livolin and group 7 alone orally received a dose of 50mg/kg b.w of vitamin C. These treatments were administered for 30 days and the following biochemical markers; Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS), Catalase (CAT) and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) were estimated on day 10, 20 and 30 after treatment. Result showed that the values of TBARS significantly increased at p<0.05 on day 10, 20 and 30 in group 2 compared to group 1 while the values of CAT and SOD significantly decreased at p<0.05 on day 10, 20 and 30 in group 2 compared to group 1. The values of TBARS significantly decreased at p<0.05 on day 10, 20 and 30 in groups 3,4,5, 6 and 7 compared to group 2 while the values of CAT and SOD significantly increased at p<0.05 on day 10, 20 and 30 in groups 3,4,5,6 and 7 compared to group 2. These findings suggest that methanol fruiting body extract of Pleurotus ostreatus cultivated with extract of Allium cepa scavenged the free radicals responsible for oxidative stress initiated by CCl4 and subsequently ameliorated and substantially reversed the toxic effect of the tissue specific toxicant.

Pesticides are one of the most significant environmental factors that cause various metabolic and physiological dysfunctions in the male reproductive system. In the present investigation, alterations in sperm morphology, sperm count and sperm motility, as well as in the testosterone levels and histopathology of testicular cells due to endosulfan toxicity was studied. Sexually matured male Swiss albino mice (Mus musculus), weighing 30±2g, were segregated into 4 different groups with ten mice in each group. 3 groups were administered with the dose of 3mg/kg body wt per day of Endosulfan by oral gavage method for 6, 12 and 18 weeks respectively, and one group served as control. After the last treatment, the animals were sacrificed on 6th, 12th, 18th weeks and the sperm parameters were estimated. The mice testes were fixed for light microscopy study and serum testosterone levels were estimated. Endosulfan significantly decreased the sperm motility and sperm count, and there were distinct histopathological abnormalities in testicular tissue. Significant decline in the testosterone levels was also observed. Endosulfan causes deleterious effects on the spermatological parameters of Swiss albino mice,thus negatively affecting the fertility. Keywords: Endosulfan, Mus musculus, Sperm count, Sperm motility, Sperm morphology.