School of Biosciences Collection
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ItemPrevalence of overweight and obesity among rural and urban primary school going children of Uganda (Kisoro and Kampala respectively)(Makerere University, 2023)Overweight and obesity are increasing across the world. Previously it was more in developed countries but is now also prevalent in developing countries. We undertook this study to find out the prevalence of overweight and obesity in public day primary school going children of Kampala and Kisoro districts in Uganda. This research used a cross-sectional descriptive research design. Participants were public day primary school going children (n=810) between 6 and 12 years. Waist circumference, height and weight of each child were measured to describe the weight status of the children. Out of the 810 students used in the study, 56(6.91%) were underweight, 698(86.17%) were normal weight, 45(5.56%) were overweight and 11(1.36%) were obese. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in rural areas was 1.95% and 0% respectively while for urban (Kampala) was 9.25% and 2.75% respectively. The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity in rural (Kisoro) and urban (Kampala) was 2% and 12% respectively. The waist circumference of rural school going children was generally higher than that of urban school going children. There is prevalence of overweight and obesity in Uganda and this is more in urban school going children than the rural school going children. Therefore, interventions to reduce on overweight and obesity need to be developed.
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ItemEffect of cage fish culture on the diversity and abundance of zooplankton in Tende bay Lake Victoria(Makerere University, 2024)Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing sectors in Uganda, producing up to 15000 tonnes of fish from small-scale farmers, emerging commercial fish farmers and stocked community water reservoirs and minor lakes. In order to cater for the increase in demand for animal protein, manifold fish rearing methods have been created and employed, one of which is cage fish farming. A fish cage is a meshed enclosure which is placed into a body of water to confine the fish in captivity until they grow to the required size. Fish cages can be put in freshwaters for fresh fish, or in marine waters for saltwater fish. Majority of Lake Victoria’s Bays are subjected to aquaculture production, one of which is Tende Bay. Two fish farms are situated in Tende bay, that is Pearl aquatics fish farm and Victoria treasures. However much the production of fish has solved the problem of low fish catch from the wild, the fish in cages impacts the water of Lake Victoria negatively. There is deposition of materials from fish cages directly into the water, which distorts the physical parameters and chemical parameters of the water. It also brings about change in the aquatic biota thereby altering the ecology of the lake and subsequent loss of biodiversity. The research is based on studying the community of zooplankton and the physico-chemical parameters of water, in order to find out the extent of cage culture practices on the water environment of Tende bay. Water samples for zooplankton were collected from selected three sites on Lake Victoria, that is site A, site B & site C. The water parameters were measured in-situ and analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Mann- Whitney U test to test the differences. Zooplankton species abundance and diversity were done using Kruskall-Wallis test and Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index respectively. The results of the three study sites compared, indicated minimal variation in the physico- chemical parameters (p<0.05), while oxygen indicated no significant difference (p=0.1598). The results for zooplankton species abundance indicated no significant differences between the study sites. The fish cages thus had observed low impact on the lake water of Tende bay.
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ItemPrevalence of parasites on nile tilapia (oreochromis niloticus) fry during sex reversal stage at Mig Fish Farm, Mayuge District- Eastern Uganda( 2024)This study investigated the occurrence, infestation levels and diversity of ecto-parasites during sex reversal in Nile tilapia fry. Two subpopulations were used to study the prevalence of parasites in fry that is one fed on sex reversal hormone and another that was not treated with the hormone. Fish fry were collected from the brood stock ponds using a seine net (Weinstein and Davis, 1980) counted and their weight measured using a digital weighing scale. A total of 150 fish fry were examined for ectoparasites using standard parasitological procedures. Five species of parasites were identified, consisting of 3 protozoans (Trichodina heterodentata, Trichodina magna, and Trichodina constrostrigata) and 2 monogeneans (Gyrodactylus salaris, and Dactylogyrus vastator). The study findings showed that Trichodina heterodentata was the most abundant followed by Gyrodactylus salaris, Trichodina magna, Dactylogyrus vastator and Trichodina constrostrigata being the least abundant. Furthermore, the prevalence of the parasites in examined fish fry was significantly higher in the sample treated with sex reversal hormone (91.33%) than in the fish fry sample not treated with the hormone (62.67%). Nevertheless, the diversity of parasites was low illustrated by the low value of Shannon Weiner diversity indices recorded in sex reversed sample (H=1.07) and control group (H=0.74). In the view of the study findings and the pathological effects of the different parasites identified on the examined fry samples, MIG fish farm is liable to facing high mortalities, increased cost of production, reduced profit margin, losses and at the extreme failure of the business enterprise. Therefore, appropriate and strategic management measures should be designed and followed for proper management and business flow.
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ItemThe microbial quality of traditionally smoked Nile tilapia (oreochromis niloticus)( 2024)Microbiological quality of traditionally smoked fish was assessed to ascertain the handling conditions for smoked fish shelf-life and safety. Fish smoking is a popular preservation method in Uganda. Although fish smoking is a widely used method of preservation, the presence of spoilage and pathogenic bacteria in smoked fish and food borne illnesses remain a threat in developing countries. In light of this, the status of spoilage, hygiene and pathogenic indicator organisms in fish (Nile tilapia) was investigated. A total of 40 randomly selected on shelf smoked fish from Nakasero and Owino markets were obtained for microbial analysis. Descriptive statistics was used to present the data, while Tukey’s test was used to analyze the data. The study revealed that, the mean microbial load (log of cfu/g) of indicator organisms for on shelf smoked fish (Nile tilapia) market samples was above the acceptable levels for consumption. Furthermore, the mean microbial loads of indicator organisms differed significantly (P<0.05) between the two markets of Nakasero and Owino. Additionally, mean microbial load (log of cfu/g) for on shelf smoked fish from markets varied from; 6.78 to 8.82 (Total Plate Count), 0 to 6.12 (E. coli), and 4.15 to 7.05 (S. aureus). Generally, the microbial status of on shelf smoked fish (Nile tilapia) from Owino and Nakasero markets indicated poor fish handling and storage. Therefore, proper fish handling during and post-smoking as well as cooking before consumption, are highly recommended for assured shelf-life and safety of smoked fish for consumption in Uganda.
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ItemSalivary miRNA profiles in treatment naïve active pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Uganda(Makerere University, 2022)Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is the biggest cause of death from a single infection worldwide. This can be attributed to the present diagnostic tests' sensitivity and specificity limits. MicroRNAs (miRNA) have been shown in studies to be better diagnostic indicators due to their stability and capacity to withstand pH and temperature extremes. salivary miRNA expression profiles of miRNAs (hsa-miR-424, hsa-miR-30b, miR-29a, hsa-155,) in TB patients and healthy people, was investigated. This research aimed to identify if there is a significant difference in salivary concentrations of the candidate miRNAs between TB and non-diseases patients and the expression patterns in cell bound versus circulating miRNAs. Methodology: 25 participants; 13 treatment naïve TB patients at Mulago National Referral Hospital, the 12 healthy participants, salivary miRNA from circulating and cell bound miRNA was isolated using the miRNeasy Serum/Plasma Advanced Kit and reverse transcribed by the Taqman Advanced miRNA cDNA Synthesis Kit which uses universal primers and a reverse transcriptase to create cDNA templates for qrtPCR. The expression profiles of hsa-miR-424, hsa-miR-30b, miR-29a, hsa-155, determined using the TaqMan® Advanced miRNA Assay. Results: Based on the qualitative and quantitative findings of the statistical analysis of the data obtained from the qrtPCR, it was concluded that there is no significant difference in the of salivary miRNA expression profiles of hsa-miR-424-5p and hsa-miR-29a for the, hsa-miR-30b, hsa-miR-155 the data obtained was insignificant to draw any statistical analysis, the expression patterns between cell bound and circulating miRNA have relatively not different.