The SpotLight Kenya

As per the University Regulations, 2014  which were gazetted in 12 th June, 2014 and which currently in force the list of universities accredited by Commission of Education (CUE) to offer university education in Kenya are as follows; Public chartered universities 1.       University of Nairobi (UoN) - Established in 1970 and chartered in 2013 2.       Moi University(MU)- Established in 1984 and chartered 2013 3.       Kenyatta University(KU)- Established in 1985 and charted in 2013 4.       Egerton University(EU)- Established n 1987 and charted in 2013 5.       Jomo Kenyatta University(JKUAT)- Established in 1994 and charted in 3013 6.       Maseno University(Maseno) – Established in  2001 and charted in 2013 7.        Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) - E...

 Glycogen is a multi-branched polysaccharide of glucose that serves as a form of energy storage in animals and fungi. The polysaccharide structure represents the main storage form of glucose in the body. In animals it functions in the following manner: In liver – The synthesis and breakdown of glycogen is regulated to maintain blood glucose levels while in the muscle - The synthesis and breakdown of glycogen is regulated to meet the energy requirements of the muscle cell.  Glycogen is synthesized from glucose as follows:  in the first step glucose is converted to glucose-6-phosphate, using one ATP, this reaction is catalyzed by hexokinase. Glucose-6-phosphate is then converted to glucose-1-phosphate, (this reaction is catalyzed by phosphoglucomutase), glucose-1-phosphate is then activated by UTP, forming UDP-glucose which is acted upon by UDP glucose pyrophosporylase. As UDP-glucose attaches to the end of the glycogen chain (catalyzed by glycogen synthase), UDP is rel...

Shampoos                               The term “shampoo” has it origin from Hindustani language (‘Hindustani people’ or ‘people of Hindusta’n also known as ‘Hindi people’ or ‘Hindavi’ are panethnicity primarily living in the Hindi belt region of India, which is located in the Gangetic plain of India between the Himalayas and Vindhyas)  meaning to ‘squeeze’. Originally shampoos were of soaps or a mixture of soaps, while synthetic detergents were used majorly in commercial shampoos. Shampoo is a preparation of surfactant(surface active material) in a suitable forth either in liquid, or powder when applied as specified conditions is capable of removing surface grease, dirt and skin debris from the hair, shaft and scalp without affecting hair, scalp or the health of the user. Shampoo types and forms Shampoos are classified according ...

Orbital ooh! It is like orbit and orbit is something round ooh! Not round but spherical. Sometime differentiating round and sphere can be like climbing a steep mountain to majority of human kind. Back to business, it will be very crucial to understand what a shell is and the number of shells which are possible in an atom.   Shell is a spherical space around a nucleus (nucleus of an atom consists of protons and neutrons, except for one of the hydrogen isotopes (protium), which has a nucleus consisting of one proton. The nucleus has a positive electric charge, the size of which depends upon the number of protons it contains. The nucleus provides the mass of an atom); it contains extra-nuclear electrons with energy levels of that shell. An atom possesses different shells of increasing radii around its nucleus. The radius of a shell is 100 000 times greater than the radius of the nucleus. Ok now let’s focus on these shells of atom. The first one is; K-shell is the innermost at...

Chemistry and Biochemistry Academy : Unusual behaviour of Lithium aluminium hydride : Conversion of amides into amines by reduction (RCONH 2 =RCH2NH 2 ) Amides are organic compounds with chemical formula RCONH 2 in ...

Chemistry and Biochemistry Academy : How to make explosive (PETN) (for industrial purpo... : Explosives are materials (chemicals/nuclear ) that can be initiated to undergo very rapid self-propagating decomposition that results...

Conversion of amides into amines by reduction (RCONH 2 =RCH2NH 2 ) Amides are organic compounds with chemical formula RCONH 2 in which R refers to the hydrocarbon chainand can either be aromatic or aliphatic. Therefore amides are derivative of carboxylic acids where hydroxyl ( - OH) is replaced by amino group (-NH 2 )   or they are organic compounds in which amino groups are attached to carbonyl groups of carboxylic acids or they are conjugate base of anion(the anion H 2 N - ) or organic amine(an anion R 2 N - ). They are reduced by LiAlH 4 / lithium aluminum hydride (reduction by hydride transfer { - H}), usually LiAlH 4 is a powerful reducing agent and reduces ketones, esters, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, nitriles and amide quite rapidly and on hydrolysis gives alcohol as the product. In this case it is different; LiAlH 4 reduces amide to amine instead of alcohol. Reduction is the gain of electron and decreasing of oxidation number or it is a chemical reaction in w...

Explosives are materials (chemicals/nuclear ) that can be initiated to undergo very rapid self-propagating decomposition that results in the formation of more stable materials with liberation of heat and large amount of gases. This heat can be tapped and use in industrial applications e.g generation of s team that can be used to turn turbines which can either generates electricity or do some mechanical works (in machines like mills e.t.c). Pentaerythritoltetranitrate is one of secondary explosives. It is an explosive booster/high explosive.   Explosive boosters are made of materials which are insensitive to mechanical shocks and flames but explode with great violence when set off by explosive shock. The explosion is achieved by detonating small amount of primary explosives in contact with high explosives like lead azide and lead styphnate which are highly susceptible to initiation.  Pentaerythritoltetranitrate can be synthesized from methanal/formaldehy...