https://repository.seku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/121 2026-04-09T11:10:37Z https://repository.seku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/8306 Unveiling the traditional wisdom of the cholistan desert plants: Desert healers of Pakistan Wariss, Hafiz M.; Alam, Khurshid; Ahmad, Saeed; Imran, Muhammad; Wambulwa, Moses C.; Arunachalam, Karuppusamy; Li, Wen-Jun Traditional healers in the Cholistan Desert of Pakistan play a crucial role in local healthcare, leveraging deep knowledge of the region’s unique flora where modern medical facilities are scarce. This chapter documents 50 plant species from 45 genera and 26 families, comprising 26 herbs, 16 shrubs, and 6 trees, with grasses (Poaceae) and sedges (Cyperaceae) being the least common. Perennial plants dominate with 34 species, while 16 are annual. The most represented family is Fabaceae, followed by Amaranthaceae, Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Convolvulaceae, Solanaceae, and Zygophyllaceae. Medicinal uses range from treating digestive disorders to skin conditions. Key plants include Boerhavia diffusa for stomach ailments and kidney stones; Citrullus colocynthis, Prosopis cineraria, and Abutilon pannosum var. pannosum for digestive issues; and Cressa cretica and Cleome brachycarpa for skin diseases. Preparation methods are mainly powders, decoctions, and infusions, with whole plants (27%), leaves (16%), and roots (12%) commonly used. This study underscores the essential role of traditional healers in preserving and transmitting medicinal knowledge, contributing to sustainable healthcare solutions. By documenting this heritage, the chapter ensures that the medicinal potential of Cholistan’s plants continues to benefit local and global communities. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-91945-9_8 2026-02-14T00:00:00Z https://repository.seku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/7739 Research management and administration in Kenya in a challenging research environment Rampioni, Patrizia; Hunja, Carol W. This chapter provides an overview of the current state of research policy and research management and administration (RMA) in Kenya. Although RMA is an emerging field globally, it is not yet fully recognised in Kenya. The main objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of the vibrant research environment in Kenya, its most important challenges in the field of management and administration of research, and how some Kenyan Universities are dealing with them. The findings in this chapter are based first on a research policy documents analysis and on literature review. In a second phase, qualitative data were collected through desk-based research and informant questionnaires and interviews. In the conclusions, concrete suggestions are formulated that could support the enrichment of the research environment, find solutions for RMA-related challenges, but also lead to the development and establishment of RMA as a profession in the country. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-701-820231035 2023-11-29T00:00:00Z https://repository.seku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/7311 Mechanisms of transmission of the Banana streak virus by Paracoccus burnerae Muturi, Samuel M.; Wachira, Francis N.; Karanja, Laura S.; Njeru, Lucyline K. Like most viruses that cause plant diseases, the Banana streak virus (BSV) is dependent on several abiotic and biotic factors for its successful transmission and survival. Several BSV isolates are vectored by several mealybug species, including the oleander mealybug, Paracoccus burnerae (P. burnerae). However, the transmission mechanisms of this virus by the vector are poorly understood, yet the mechanisms are critical elements in the transmission of viruses by their putative vectors. This chapter presents a factorial experimental design results of studies conducted on three critical biotic factors that determine the successful transmission of the virus. The studies employed highly sensitive techniques such as immuno-capture polymerase chain reaction and rolling circle amplification to detect the BSV in the vector gut. The findings suggest that the virus is transmitted semipersistently by the P. burnerae vector through a noncirculative mode. These findings provide a new frontier for the development of novel control strategies for banana streak disease. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-90899-3.00021-5 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://repository.seku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6679 Interaction force convex reduction for smooth gait transitions on human-power augmentation lower exoskeletons Ahmed, Abusabah I. A.; Cheng, Hong; Liu, Huaping; Lin, Xichuan; Juma, Mary A. Online gait control in human-powered exoskeleton systems is still rich research field and represents a step towards fully autonomous, safe and intelligent navigation. Many Control method performs well and with accepted interaction force between pilot and exoskeleton during system’s navigation on level walking, but with large convex when walking speed changed. Adaptive LOcally WEighted Scatterplot Smoothing (ALOESS) is a modification for LOESS regression method that combine multiple regression models for predefined convex threshold. We proposed convex reduction technique for smooth tracking of arbitrary reference trajectories. The large convex resulted during changing gait from flat terrain to stair ascent are studied in this work and the overshoots are reduced to minimize trajectory tracking error. We choose the overshoots to be reduced in this step because the they are larger than undershoots. We demonstrate the proposed control strategy on computer simulations, results show that the proposed strategy can minimize the overshoot by 46%. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5230-9_39 2017-07-01T00:00:00Z