First Documentation Of Plant Species Diversity In Khartoum Refinery, Sudan

This is the first record data of plant species diversity in the new ecosystem after the establishment of Khartoum Refinery (KRC), a new ecosystem was appeared due to processing, operation of oil refining. Khartoum Refinery (KRC) is located north of Khartoum State, Sudan. This work aim to assess the impact of treated water from KRC on plant diversity; twelve field trips were carried out to cover dry and wet seasons. Plant specimens were collected, pressed, dried, identified, mounted according to the standard methods and then incorporated in the herbarium. Scientific names were updated from the website of the International plant list version. Sixteen (16) plant species belonging to nine (9) families were recorded in Khartoum refinery. This study concludes that treated water has indeed effect the biodiversity since many plant species growing and dominating. The study recommended periodic monitoring of vegetation and soil in KRC to study the accumulative impact of treated water on soil properties and plant diversity

Phytoremediation of Heavy and Trace Elements in Khartoum Refinery by Some Plants

The study area landscape is located in the semi desert zone north of Khartoum State, Khartoum Refinery (KRC) is located north of Khartoum State, Sudan; the objective of the research to investigate the tolerance plants for treated waste water at Khartoum Refinery Inaddtion to study phytoremedation of elements in Khartoum Refinery .The determination of elements was the atomic absorption. The study area was divided into control site (merely received rain water) and treated one (received rainwater and treated water). In KR, the treated area was subdivided into four units planted with Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Ban) based on age of plantation (6, 4, 2 years and 2 weeks). The results showed that plants Ca, Na, Mg concentrations in Khartoum Refinery was high and that plants Ca, Na, Mg concentrations in plantations of was Khartoum Refinery significantly different from control. The results showed that plants K, Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn concentrations in Khartoum Refinery was low, while Cr, Co, Cd and Pb were not detected

A highly virulent variant of HIV-1 circulating in the Netherlands

We discovered a highly virulent variant of subtype-B HIV-1 in the Netherlands. One hundred nine individuals with this variant had a 0.54 to 0.74 log10 increase (i.e., a ~3.5-fold to 5.5-fold increase) in viral load compared with, and exhibited CD4 cell decline twice as fast as, 6604 individuals with other subtype-B strains. Without treatment, advanced HIV-CD4 cell counts below 350 cells per cubic millimeter, with long-term clinical consequences-is expected to be reached, on average, 9 months after diagnosis for individuals in their thirties with this variant. Age, sex, suspected mode of transmission, and place of birth for the aforementioned 109 individuals were typical for HIV-positive people in the Netherlands, which suggests that the increased virulence is attributable to the viral strain. Genetic sequence analysis suggests that this variant arose in the 1990s from de novo mutation, not recombination, with increased transmissibility and an unfamiliar molecular mechanism of virulence