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Spirulina (Arthrospira fusiformis, Gomont 1892) as a High-Quality Feed Ingredient for Nile Tilapia Fingerlings
Get PDFThis journal article was published by Tanzania journal of Science, in 2023A partially randomized experimental design was conducted to evaluate the effect and potential
of spirulina species (Arthrospira fusiformis) isolated from Momela Lakes, Tanzania, on the
growth, antioxidant capacity, feed utilization, and body composition of Nile tilapia fingerlings.
Five dietary treatments were formulated, including spirulina meal at 5%, 10%, and 15% of the
total diets, as well as control diets with freshwater shrimp or Lake Victoria sardine. The protein
content of the experimental diets was 25, 28, and 35% for a treatment containing spirulina at 5,
10, and 15% inclusion, respectively, while the control diets had 35% crude protein each. After
eight weeks of feeding, fish fed with a lower inclusion level of spirulina showed the best
growth performance and feed utilization efficiency, similar to the fish fed with control diets.
The group fed with 5% spirulina exhibited excellent protein efficiency ratio compared to all
other fish groups. All spirulina-fed fish groups demonstrated higher protein deposition and
strong antioxidant activity against free radicals compared to those fed with control diets. In
conclusion, spirulina proves to be a superior feed ingredient for high-quality Nile tilapia
farming, providing comparable results to control feed
Associated factors contributing abundance of fleas on rodents in plague endemic area of Karatu district, northern Tanzania.
Get PDFThis research article was published by IEEE,In 2023Fleas are small wingless hematophagous insect that are frequently infesting on rodents and other small mammals while acting as reservoirs and vectors of many rodent borne zoonotic diseases including plague infectious disease which is threat to the public health in many part of the world including Tanzania. 291 rodents from nine species were captured with Sherman traps in farm land, peridomestic areas, bush land and forest buffer zone across wet and dry season in plague and non-plague foci villages. Captured rodents were anaesthetized and 190 fleas comprising four species were collected and morphologically identified with available dichotomous key. Dinopsyllus lypusus were (46.32%), Ctenophthalmus spp (26.84%), Xenopsylla brasiliensis (16.32%) and Xenopsylla cheopis (10.53%). 38.42% of fleas were collected from Mastomy natalensis, 22.63% from Lemniscomys striatus and 18.42% from Rattus rattus. Highest flea infestation prevalence was found on R.rattus and was strongly associated with X.cheopis and X.brasiliensis. Specific flea index of X.cheopis on R.rattus was (01) in plague foci and (<0.5) in non-plague foci villages. Result of GLM final model indicated that flea abundance was significant influenced by rodent species (p < .001), season (p= .031), habitat type (p= .02), rodent weight (p < .001), rodent sex (p < .001) and plague locations (p= .02). There was significance difference in variation of flea abundance between rodent sexes (W = 9158.5, p = .009) and a weak positive correlation between rodent’s weight and abundance of fleas (R= 0.17, p< 0.05). Despite that, specific flea index of X.cheopis on rats in both plague foci and non-plague foci villages were not indicating alarming condition that would require urgent control of fleas, still society should consistently adhere to rodent and fleas control methods in order to limit their interaction to the society especially in farm land and peridomestic areas where human activities are high
Techno-economic analysis of a solar-assisted heat pump dryer for drying agricultural products
No full textThis research article was published by Wiley 2023Postharvest losses (PHLs) of biomaterials, such as vegetables and fruits, significantly
impact food security and economic stability in developing nations. In Tanzania, PHLs
are estimated to range between 30% and 40% for cereal crops and even higher for
perishable crops such as fruits and vegetables. Open-sun drying (OSD) is the most
extensively employed method because of its affordability and simplicity. However,
OSD has several drawbacks, including difficulties in managing drying parameters,
long drying times owing to adverse weather, and product contamination. The solar-
assisted heat pump dryer (SAHPD) is a technology designed as an alternative solutio
Preliminary symbiotic performance of indigenous soybean (Glycine max)-nodulating rhizobia from agricultural soils of Tanzania
No full textThis research article was published by frontiers,2023Globally, the increase in human population continues to threaten the sustainability of agricultural systems. Despite the fast-growing population in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the efforts in improving the productivity of crops, the increase in the yield of crops per unit area is still not promising. The productivity of crops is primarily constrained by inadequate levels of soil nutrients to support optimum crop growth and development. However, smallholder farmers occasionally use fertilizers, and the amount applied is usually small and does not meet plant requirements. This is due to the unaffordability of the cost of fertilizers, which is enough to suffice the crop requirement. Therefore, there is a need for alternative affordable and effective fertilization methods for sustainable intensification and improvement of the smallholder farming system's productivity. This study was designed to evaluate the symbiotic performance of indigenous soybean nodulating rhizobia in selected agricultural soils of Tanzania. In total, 217 rhizobia isolates were obtained from three agroecological zones, i.e., eastern, northern, and southern highlands. The isolates collected were screened for N2 fixing abilities under in vitro (nitrogen-free medium) and screen house conditions. The results showed varying capabilities of isolates in nitrogen-fixing both under in vitro and screen house conditions. Under in vitro experiment, 22% of soybean rhizobia isolates were identified to have a nitrogen-fixing capability on an N-free medium, with the highest N2-fixing diameter of 1.87 cm. In the screen house pot experiment, results showed that soybean rhizobia isolate significantly (P < 0.001) influenced different plant growth and yield components, where the average shoot dry weight ranged from 2.49 to 10.98 g, shoot length from 41 to 125.27 cm whilst the number of leaves per plant ranged from 20 to 66. Furthermore, rhizobia isolates significantly (P = 0.038) increased root dry weight from 0.574 to 2.17 g. In the case of symbiotic parameters per plant, the number of nodules was in the range of 0.33–22, nodules dry weight (0.001–0.137 g), shoot nitrogen (2.37–4.97%), total nitrogen (53.59–6.72 g), and fixed nitrogen (46.878–0.15 g) per plant. In addition, the results indicated that 51.39% of the tested bacterial isolates in this study were ranked as highly effective in symbiosis, suggesting that they are promising as potential alternative biofertilizers for soybean production in agricultural soils of Tanzania to increase productivity per unit area while reducing production cost
Radioactivity and dose assessment of naturally occurring radionuclides in terrestrial environments and foodstuffs: a review of Bahi district, Tanzania
Get PDFThis research article was published by International Journal of Environmental Health ResearchIn this review, the online searchable research articles were scrutinized for the data presented in line with radioactivity and dose estimates from both terrestrial environments and foodstuffs from Bahi district and other parts of Tanzania. The data on natural gamma ray dose rates from Bahi localities were observed with variations among researchers. The observed ranges of radioactivity concentrations (Bq kg−1) in soil were 226Ra (28.5–57.4), 232Th (38.1–521.3), and 40K (562.9–665.0). Deep closed water wells with installed pumps from Ilindi and Bahi Mission reported radioactivity concentration of 238U 3.08 Bq L−1 and Ilindi swamps reported radioactivity concentrations of 226Ra 15.35 Bq L−1, whereas radioactivity concentrations of 238U in cereals were within the annual tolerable limits of 0.001–0.02 Bq kg−1. The quantity and accessibility of published studies, as well as the diversity of the data, point to the necessity for additional studies to be carried out in order to obtain comprehensive baseline data
Large branchiopod occurrence and community structure in relation to land-use types in temporary ponds of northern Tanzania
Get PDFThis research article was published by Springer Nature Switzerland AG., 2023Large branchiopods are a key component of the fauna of temporary ponds and play an important role in the functioning of these vulnerable ecosystems. Owing to the establishment of new settlements and agricultural expansion, temporary ponds in Tanzania are disappearing at an alarming rate whilst little is known about their diversity and ecology. We contrasted temporary ponds from a protected area with those in communal lands to detect associations between land-use types and large branchiopod community structure. Six large branchiopod species were collected, five of which have been previously reported from Southern Africa, whilst one turned out to be new to science: Streptocephalus manyarensis n.sp. Kafula and Brendonck (2023). The clam shrimp Cyzicus sp., fairy shrimps Streptocephalus lamellifer Thiele (1900) and S. bourquinii Hamer and Appleton (1993) were the most abundant and widely occurring. Variation in large branchiopod community structure was explained by the presence of Nothobranchius killifish and orthophosphate concentration. The large branchiopod community structure was different in settlement and protected areas. Our study on the occurrence and structure of large branchiopod communities in relation to land-use types serves as a base for formulation of guidelines and management tools to regulate land-use practices adjacent to temporary pond ecosystems
Adsorption-capacitive deionization hybrid system with activated carbon of modified potential of zero charge
Get PDFThis research article was published by Elsevier, 2023In this study water solutions are desalinated with carbon electrodes of modified surface charges. The idea is to endow the electrodes with the ability to physically adsorb salt ions without applying potential so as to save energy. The modification enhanced to decrease the energy consumption of a newly invented adsorption-CDI hybrid system by 19%, since modified activated carbon cell consumed 0.620 (relative error 3.00%) kWh/m3 compared to pristine activated carbon cell which consumed 0.746 (relative error 1.20%) kWh/m3. Further analysis revealed high adsorption capacity of the modified activated carbon electrode cell which exhibited 9.0 (relative error 2.22%) compared to activated carbon cell with 5.3 (relative error 5.66%) mg g−1. These results show the potential of surface modification in adding value to low cost activated carbons for application in CDI
Preliminary symbiotic performance of indigenous soybean (Glycine max)-nodulating rhizobia from agricultural soils of Tanzania
Get PDFThis research article was published by Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 2023Globally, the increase in human population continues to threaten the sustainability of
agricultural systems. Despite the fast-growing population in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
and the
Modeling cryptosporidiosis in humans and cattle: Deterministic and stochastic approaches
Get PDFThis research article published by Elsevier, 2023Cryptosporidiosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Cryptosporidium. The disease poses a public and veterinary health problem worldwide. A deterministic model and its corresponding continuous time Markov chain (CTMC) stochastic model are developed and analyzed to investigate cryptosporidiosis transmission dynamics in humans and cattle. The basic reproduction number
for the deterministic model and stochastic threshold for the CTMC stochastic model are computed by the next generation matrix method and multitype branching process, respectively. The normalized forward sensitivity index method is used to determine the sensitivity index for each parameter in
. Per capita birth rate of cattle, the rate of cattle to acquire cryptosporidiosis infection from the environment and the rate at which infected cattle shed Cryptosporidium oocysts in the environment play an important role in the persistence of the disease whereas Cryptosporidium oocysts natural death rate, cattle recovery rate and cattle natural death rate are most negative sensitive parameters in the dynamics of cryptosporidiosis. Numerical results for CTMC stochastic model show that the likelihood of cryptosporidiosis extinction is high when it arises from an infected human. However, there is a major outbreak if cryptosporidiosis emerges either from infected cattle or from Cryptosporidium oocysts in the environment or when it emerges from all three infectious compartments. Therefore to control the disease, control measures should focus on maintaining personal and cattle farm hygiene and decontaminating the environment to destroy Cryptosporidium oocysts
The needs and opportunities for housing improvement for malaria control in southern Tanzania
Get PDFThis research article was published by BMC in 2023Background Malaria disproportionately afects low-income households in rural communities where poor housing
is common. Despite evidence that well-constructed and mosquito-proofed houses can reduce malaria risk, housing
improvement is rarely included in malaria control toolboxes. This study assessed the need, magnitude, and opportuni ties for housing improvement to control malaria in rural Tanzania.
Methods A mixed-methods study was conducted in 19 villages across four district councils in southern Tanzania. A
structured survey was administered to 1292 community members to assess need, perceptions, and opportunities for
housing improvement for malaria control. Direct observations of 802 houses and surrounding environments were
done to identify the actual needs and opportunities, and to validate the survey fndings. A market survey was done to
assess availability and cost of resources and services necessary for mosquito-proofng homes. Focus group discussions
were conducted with key stakeholders to explore insights on the potential and challenges of housing improvement
as a malaria intervention.
Results Compared to other methods for malaria control, housing improvement was among the best understood
and most preferred by community members. Of the 735 survey respondents who needed housing improvements,
a majority needed window screening (91.1%), repairs of holes in walls (79.4%), door covers (41.6%), closing of eave
spaces (31.2%) and better roofs (19.0%). Community members invested signifcant eforts to improve their own
homes against malaria and other dangers, but these eforts were often slow and delayed due to high costs and
limited household incomes. Study participants suggested several mechanisms of support to improve their homes,
including government loans and subsidies.
Conclusion Addressing the need for housing improvement is a critical component of malaria control eforts in
southern Tanzania. In this study, a majority of the community members surveyed needed modest modifcations and
had plans to work on those modifcations. Without additional support, their eforts were however generally slow;
households would take years to sufciently mosquito-proof their houses. It is, therefore, crucial to bring together
the key players across sectors to reduce barriers in malaria-proofng housing in endemic settings. These may include
government subsidies or partnerships with businesses to make housing improvement more accessible and afordable
to residents