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Soil data collection using wireless sensor networks and offsite visualization: case study of the innovative solutions for digital agriculture project in Kenya
Get PDFA Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Science in Embedded and Mobile Systems of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and TechnologyThe applications of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) and Internet of Everything (IoE) has
changed how we obtain and consume information. Traditional farming has come a long way in
accepting scientific methods to improve production. Smart Agriculture is one of the ways
technology has greatly contributed to maximized crop production. Centrally placed labs and
mobile soil labs have played a key role in this improved way of farming. Soil samples are
collected from farms and analyzed to provide data to farmers, extension workers, and
policymakers. This process takes time and is costly to implement. In addition, the definition of
trends is difficult as replication of sampling requires more funding. This study proposes to
connect end devices in an IoE system bringing in real-time data and at low-cost and also
providing local data at local stations. The system is built incrementally to have a minimum
viable product (MVP) using a combination of Agile and Waterfall methods of development.
The system presents a pilot remote sensor module in a WSN using a Raspberry Pi minicomputer
as an end node and three sensors collecting information on soil humidity and temperature, air
humidity and temperature and soil pH values in real-time. A cloud-based data analysis and
visualization are used. The system supports the ongoing work by soil labs by collecting
information that is close to real-time. The study brings on board real-time data relaying of farm
parameters that make it easier for small scale farm owners, extension officers, soil labs and
other stakeholders to make instant informed decisions
Land use patterns influence the distribution of potentially toxic elements in soils of the Usangu Basin, Tanzania
Get PDFThis research article was published by Elsevier Ltd.,2021Spatial distribution of Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) in agricultural soils in Usangu Basin (Mbeya Region)-Tanzania were conducted. The study included three land-use types (paddy farming, maize farming, and conserved community forest areas). About 198 soil samples were collected from November to December 2019 across contrasting land management schemes (Group I dominated by agricultural areas versus Group II dominated by residential and agricultural areas). Total (aqua regia extracts) and bioavailable (Mehlich 3 extracts) PTEs concentrations were analyzed. For Group I and II areas, total and bioavailable concentrations (mg/kg dry weight, mean values) of some PTEs were: chromium 1662 ± 5.2 μg/kg for Group I and 1307 ± 3.9 μg/kg for Group II (Total), 55.1 ± 37.1 μg/kg for Group I and 19.2 ± 21.6 μg/kg for Group II (bioavailable); and lead 5272 ± 1650 μg/kg for Group I and 6656 ± 1994 μg/kg for Group II (Total), 1870 ± 800 μg/kg for Group I and 1730 ± 530 μg/kg for Group II (bioavailable). Soil total PTEs such as cadmium and lead were generally lower in Group I areas than in Group II areas. The reverse scenario was observed for copper. Farming areas had high PTEs concentration than non-farming areas because of anthropogenic activities. Overall, soil total concentrations of Fe (99.5%), As (87%), Se (66%), and Hg (12%) were above Tanzanian Maximum Allowable Limits. This study provides essential baseline information to support environmental risk assessment of PTEs in Tanzanian agro-ecosystem
Enhancing access to information about civil society organizations and communities through an interactive android mobile application
Get PDFA Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Embedded and Mobile Systems of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and TechnologyCivil Society Organizations are non-governmental and not-for-profit organizations which act
as a bridge between the government, society and the private sector by holding the
government accountable and give a voice to the marginalized groups on issues such as
education, health and other sectors. The problem in this study is that currently, the
information about CSOs and their activities in East Africa cannot be found in one place
online and it is inaccurate and sometimes outdated. The data collection was done through
questionnaires, observations and interviews with different stakeholders in the civil society
arena. In the system development phase, agile development methodology was used. The
study showed that there is a gap in the availability of a single platform where different actors
can readily get reliable and up-to-date information about the available CSOs of interest. The
outcome of the study is the development of an interactive online directory of Civil Society
Organizations. The platform is mobile based and enables CSOs to register and fill up their
current details, ensuring that there is always correct and updated information. The platform is
equipped with a geo-mapping facility which enables users of the system to correctly geo locate their civil societies of interest on a map. The results of system evaluation showed that
88.125% of users were satisfied with the system basing on the evaluation criteria. The
developed system will benefit stakeholders in the non-profit sector by having one platform
where accurate and up-to-date information about civil societies can be easily found
Tree species diversity, composition, population structure and associated herbivore abundance in human-impacted and non-impacted areas of marang’ forest, northern Tanzania
Get PDFA Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master’s in Life Sciences of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and TechnologyForest resources are mainly conserved in protected areas under various management regimes.
The present study aimed at understanding the impacts of changing the status of Marang’ Forest
(MF) in Northern Tanzania to a higher-ranked protection status on its tree-species diversity,
composition, structure and mammalian-herbivores richness and abundance. Transects and
concentric circular plots were used to identify tree species, count stems, measure tree diameter,
assess indicators of disturbances and count the signs of large mammalian-herbivores in human impacted and non-impacted areas. The results show that tree species richness and Shannon’s
diversity index were about one-third and 17% higher in impacted areas than in non-impacted
areas (t = 5.03, p < 0.001; t = 4.98, p < 0.001), respectively. The average number of tree stems
ha-1
in impacted areas was significantly higher than the non-impacted ones (t = 3.46, p = 0.01).
The impacted areas mostly contained seedlings, saplings and sub-mature trees of pioneer tree
species, while the non-impacted ones contained more mature tree stems (F = 16.8, p < 0.001),
including endangered species such as Prunus africana. The human disturbances included wood
extraction, mining, livestock grazing associated with trespassing. The signs of elephants and
buffaloes were about 35% more frequent in impacted than in non-impacted areas. These
findings reveal that lowering human disturbances by upgrading forests reserve to higher
protection status that emphasize more on resource protection enhance forest recovery and
improve tree species diversity, composition, and structure as well as the utilization of the forest
by large mammalian-herbivores. Governmental and conservation agencies should deter human
disturbances to a minimum level to secure forest resources, which are important for providing
environmental services
Assessment of the applicability of p16 and top2a biomarkers for cervical cancer diagnosis in northern Tanzania
Get PDFA Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master’s in Life Sciences of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and TechnologyBiomarkers provide valuable information for the early detection of cervical cancer. However,
they are seldom utilized for the prognosis of cervical cancer in Tanzania, where visual inspection
with acetic acid (VIA) or Lugol's iodine (VILI) are being utilized as the standard screening
techniques. A retrospective hospital-based cross-sectional study assessing cyclin-dependent
kinase inhibitor (p16) and topoisomerase II-alpha (TOP2A) proteins expression was conducted
among women seeking cervical cancer care at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Tanzania
between 1 May, 2017 to 10 May, 2018. A total of 149 studied patients (Mean age: 52.1 ± 12.9
years) were enrolled. Of these, 99 (66.4%) of women seeking care in the period under review
were diagnosed with cervical cancer lesions. Moreover, only 145 cervical biopsies met the
inclusion criteria for p16 and TOP2A immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. Upon IHC staining,
103 (71.0%) and 90 (62.1%) were p16 and TOP2A positive, respectively. Histopathological class
and p16/TOP2A expression levels were closely associated (Fisher’s exact test, p<0.001).
Moreover, p16/TOP2A expression levels were positively correlated with cancerous cervical
lesions (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients = 0.833 and 0.687, p = 0.006 and 0.005,
respectively). The age-adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for predicting cervical cancer lesions were
independently significant for p16/TOP2A biomarkers in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded
cervical tissues [p16: AOR=1.142 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.059–1.232, p<0.001) and
TOP2A: AOR=1.046 (95% CI: 1.008–1.085, p=0.015)]. Importantly, the diagnostic performance
of p16 was higher than that of TOP2A in the diagnosis of cancerous lesions from non-cancerous
cervical lesions (sensitivity: 97.2% versus 77.6%, accuracy: 92.8% versus 87.8%, respectively).
Overexpression of TOP2A is linked to the grade of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in our study,
however it does not predict cervical cancer prognosis. Similarly, expression of p16 is associated
with histological dysplasia grade and malignancy, suggesting its prognostic significance in the
management of cervical cancerous lesions. Further bigger studies are needed to validate their
applications in the early diagnosis of cervical cancer
Capacitive Deionization for the Removal of Paraquat Herbicide from Aqueous Solution
Get PDFThis research article was published by Hindawi, 2021In comparison to other conventional methods like adsorption and reverse osmosis (RO), capacitive deionization (CDI) has only been investigated extensively for the removal of inorganic pollutants from water, demonstrating limited practicality. Herein, the study investigated the use of CDI for the removal of paraquat (PQ) herbicide from water by using commercial activated carbon (AC) electrodes. The CDI performance was examined as a function of the initial PQ concentration, applied voltage, flowrate, treatment time, and cycle stability testing in the batch mode approach. The applied voltage had a beneficial effect on the removal efficiency, whereas the removal efficiency of PQ declined as the initial PQ concentration increased. However, the electrosorption capacity gradually increased with the increase of initial feed solutions’ concentration. The maximum removal efficiency and electrosorption capacity achieved at 5 mg/L and 20 mg/L PQ initial concentrations, an applied voltage of 1.2 V, and 5 mL/min flowrate were 100% and 0.33 mg/g and 52.5% and 0.7 mg/g, respectively. Washing the electrodes with distilled water achieved sequential desorption of PQ, and the process produces a waste stream that can be disposed of or treated further. Therefore, the CDI method is considered a promising and efficient method for removing organic pollutants from water including pesticides
Mobile-based Decision Support System for Poultry Farmers: A Case of Tanzania
Get PDFThis research article published by the International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications,Vol. 12, No. 2, 2021—Poultry farms in Tanzania are characterized by
inadequate management practices which are mainly caused by
the lack of adequate systems to guide the small-scale poultry
farmers in decision making. It is well-established that
information is a key factor in making effective decisions in
numerous sectors including poultry farming. Furthermore,
various researchers have identified the use of mobile decision
support tools to be an effective way of aiding farmers in making
informed decisions. In this paper, we present a mobile-based
decision support system that will aid rural and small-scale
poultry farmers in Tanzania to obtain reliable information that is
crucial for making proper decisions in their farming activities. In
this context, a mobile-based decision support system was
achieved through a mobile application integrated with a chatbot
assistant to provide a solution to various poultry farming-related
problems and simplify their decision-making process. We used a
data-driven approach towards developing an informational
chatbot assistant for Android smartphones that is capable of
interacting with small-scale poultry farmers through natural
conversations by utilizing the RASA framework
Evaluation and Prediction of the Impacts of Land Cover Changes on Hydrological Processes in Data Constrained Southern Slopes of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Get PDFThis research article published by MDPI, 2021This study provides a detailed assessment of land cover (LC) changes on the water balance components on data constrained Kikafu-Weruweru-Karanga (KWK) watershed, using the integrated approaches of hydrologic modeling and partial least squares regression (PLSR). The soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model was validated and used to simulate hydrologic responses of water balance components response to changes in LC in spatial and temporal scale. PLSR was further used to assess the influence of individual LC classes on hydrologic components. PLSR results revealed that expansion in cultivation land and built-up area are the main attributes in the changes in water yield, surface runoff, evapotranspiration (ET), and groundwater flow. The study findings suggest that improving the vegetation cover on the hillside and abandoned land area could help to reduce the direct surface runoff in the KWK watershed, thus, reducing flooding recurring in the area, and that with the ongoing expansion in agricultural land and built-up areas, there will be profound negative impacts in the water balance of the watershed in the near future (2030). This study provides a forecast of the future hydrological parameters in the study area based on changes in land cover if the current land cover changes go unattended. This study provides useful information for the advancement of our policies and practices essential for sustainable water management planning
Relaxed complex scheme and molecular dynamics simulation suggests small molecule inhibitor of human TMPRSS2 for combating COVID-19
Get PDFThis research article was published by Taylor & Francis online in 2021As the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to pose a health and economic crisis worldwide, the quest for drugs and/or vaccines against the virus continues. The human transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) has attracted attention as a target for drug discovery, as inhibition of its catalytic reaction would result in the inactivation of the proteolytic cleavage of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein. As a result, the inactivation prevents viral cell entry to the host’s cell. In this work, we screened and identified two potent molecules that interact and inhibit the catalytic reaction by using computational approaches. Two docking screening experiments were performed utilizing the crystal structure and holo ensemble structure obtained from molecular dynamics in bound form. There is enhancement and sensitivity of docking results to the holo ensemble as compared to the crystal structure. Compound 1 demonstrated a similar inhibition value to nafamostat by interacting with catalytic triad residues His296 and Ser441, thereby disrupting the already established hydrogen bond interaction. The stability of the ligand–TMPRSS2 complexes was studied by molecular dynamics simulation, and the binding energy was re-scored by using molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) binding free energy. The obtained compounds may serve as an initial point toward the discovery of potent TMPRSS2 inhibitors upon further in vivo validation
Identification of Bacillus anthracis, Brucella spp., and Coxiella burnetii DNA signatures from bushmeat
Get PDFThis research article was published by Springer Nature Limited in 2021Meat from wildlife species (bushmeat) represents a major source of dietary protein in low- and middle-income countries where humans and wildlife live in close proximity. Despite the occurrence of zoonotic pathogens in wildlife, their prevalence in bushmeat remains unknown. To assess the risk of exposure to major pathogens in bushmeat, a total of 3784 samples, both fresh and processed, were collected from three major regions in Tanzania during both rainy and dry seasons, and were screened by real-time PCR for the presence of DNA signatures of Bacillus anthracis (B. anthracis), Brucella spp. (Brucella) and Coxiella burnetii (Coxiella). The analysis identified DNA signatures of B. anthracis (0.48%), Brucella (0.9%), and Coxiella (0.66%) in a total of 77 samples. Highest prevalence rates of B. anthracis, Brucella, and Coxiella were observed in wildebeest (56%), dik-dik (50%), and impala (24%), respectively. Fresh samples, those collected during the rainy season, and samples from Selous or Serengeti had a greater relative risk of being positive. Microbiome characterization identified Firmicutes and Proteobacteria as the most abundant phyla. The results highlight and define potential risks of exposure to endemic wildlife diseases from bushmeat and the need for future investigations to address the public health and emerging infectious disease risks associated with bushmeat harvesting, trade, and consumption