Physicochemical Analysis of the Drinking Water of Al Gedarif City, Sudan

In the present study the highest residual chlorine level (0.2) was detected in the city inlet and the circular line of the Atbara River sources. The taste, color and odor were found acceptable, although, the ground water is a bit salty and the raw water of the main stream of Atbara River, is always brown in color, specially in the autumn season. The highest turbidity value was recorded for the main stream of Atbara River, while, the maximum electric conductivity was found in Al Azasza boreholes. The total dissolved solids were greater in the ground water sources compared to that of the surface water sources. However, the total alkalinity  and  hardness  values  were  higher  in  the  ground  water  of  Al Azaza boreholes than that of all the other sources. On the other hand, the mineral contents (calcium, potassium, magnesium and sodium) were higher in the ground water. Fluorides, chlorides and bicarbonates were also higher in ground water. Similarly, were the contents of nitrates, nitrites and ammonia. However no carbonates were detected in Al Azaza and Abu Naja nor in Al Saraf dam raw water

Why ethics in research are crucial?

Ethical norms are so everywhere that one might be tempted to consider them as simple rational. Most civilizations use laws to implement widely accepted moral standards and legal rules. It is important to know that ethics and law are not the same. An act may be lawful but immoral/unethical or unlawful but moral/ethical. There are a number of reasons why it is essential to stick to ethical norms in conducting research. First, is to support the aims of research, such as knowledge, truth, and avoidance of error. For example, preventions of fabricating, falsifying, or misrepresenting research data support the truth and avoid error. Second, ethical standards promote the values that are vital to collaborative work, such as trust, accountability, joint respect, and fairness since research usually involves cooperation and coordination among many researchers in a mixture of disciplines and institutions. For example, many ethical standards in research, such as copyright, patenting policies, data sharing policies, and confidentiality rules in peer review, are deliberated to protect intellectual property interests as well as encouraging collaboration. Third, some ethical norms help to guarantee that researchers can be held responsible to the public. For instance, federal policies on research misconduct, conflicts of interest, the human subjects‘ protections, and animal care and use are necessary in order to make sure that researchers who are funded by public money can be held accountable to the public. Fourth, ethical norms in research also help to build community support sustainability for research. Fifth, many of the ethical standards of research promote a variety of other moral and social values, such as human rights, animal welfare and compliance with the law, health and safety. Ethical descends in research can significantly harm the whole society and animal subjects. For example, a researcher who fabricates data in a clinical trial may harm or even kill patients. Also a researcher who fails to stand for guidelines and regulations relating to radiation or biological safety may endanger health and safety of himself, staff and students

Why ethics in research are crucial?

Ethical norms are so everywhere that one might be tempted to consider them as simple rational. Most civilizations use laws to implement widely accepted moral standards and legal rules. It is important to know that ethics and law are not the same. An act may be lawful but immoral/unethical or unlawful but moral/ethical. There are a number of reasons why it is essential to stick to ethical norms in conducting research. First, is to support the aims of research, such as knowledge, truth, and avoidance of error. For example, preventions of fabricating, falsifying, or misrepresenting research data support the truth and avoid error. Second, ethical standards promote the values that are vital to collaborative work, such as trust, accountability, joint respect, and fairness since research usually involves cooperation and coordination among many researchers in a mixture of disciplines and institutions. For example, many ethical standards in research, such as copyright, patenting policies, data sharing policies, and confidentiality rules in peer review, are deliberated to protect intellectual property interests as well as encouraging collaboration. Third, some ethical norms help to guarantee that researchers can be held responsible to the public. For instance, federal policies on research misconduct, conflicts of interest, the human subjects’ protections, and animal care and use are necessary in order to make sure that researchers who are funded by public money can be held accountable to the public. Fourth, ethical norms in research also help to build community support sustainability for research. Fifth, many of the ethical standards of research promote a variety of other moral and social values, such as human rights, animal welfare and compliance with the law, health and safety. Ethical descends in research can significantly harm the whole society and animal subjects. For example, a researcher who fabricates data in a clinical trial may harm or even kill patients. Also a researcher who fails to stand for guidelines and regulations relating to radiation or biological safety may endanger health and safety of himself, staff and students

Social networking and fear of missing out (FOMO) among medical students at University of Khartoum, Sudan 2021

Abstract Background With students becoming more involved in the internet and social networking sites, they become more prone to their consequences. This study focuses on measuring the social networking intensity and the fear of missing out among the medical students of University of Khartoum, then examining the association between them. Methods Facility-based, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted at Faculty of Medicine, Khartoum University between January and March 2021. A total of 333 students were selected by simple random sampling. Data was collected from the participants using a structured self-administered questionnaire that involved the social networking intensity (SNI) scale and fear of missing out (FOMO) scale. The data was analyzed by the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 26. Results Moderate positive correlation between social networking intensity and fear of missing out was found (p-value < 0.01). Of the total participants; 51 participants (15.4%) experienced low SNI and low FOMO. Another 78 participants (23.6%) had moderate SNI and moderate FOMO and only 16 Participants (4.8%) showed high SNI and high FOMO. There were no significant differences in SNI or FOMO scores among the different socio-demographic variables, except for the SNI score which was positively correlated to the monthly income. Conclusion An association between SNI and FOMO was found. SNI was not affected by socio-demographic factors except for the monthly income

Parkinsonism Relat Disord

Background: Several studies suggested a significant role of epigenetic changes, including alterations in miRNA, histone modifications, and DNA methylation of α-synuclein (SNCA) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathogenicity. As of yet, only very few studies have been carried out in this field in Africa and none in Sudan. Materials and methods: We collected DNA from 172 Sudanese individuals (90 cases, 82 controls) who donated saliva for DNA extraction (mean age of onset: 40.6 ± 22.4 years). A family history of PD was evident in 64 patients. DNA preparation and bisulfite sequencing of SNCAintron1 was performed as described earlier. Results: Of the fourteen analyzed CpGs of SNCAintron1, CpGs 16-23 were hypomethylated in PD (P-value ranged from 0.023 to 0.003). P–values improved, when sporadic cases were excluded from the analysis. Conclusion: We identified the presence of a specific pattern of DNA methylation in a young Sudanese cohort of familial PD, which confirms the importance of the methylation of SNCAintron1 for PD. This phenomenon appears to be independent of ethnicity, the impact of environmental factors, drug history, or familial clustering