Easily measureable morpho-physiological traits as selection criteria for terminal drought tolerance in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

This study was conducted at El Obied Research Station Farm, North Kordofan State Sudan, with the objective of identifiying easily measurable morpho-physiolgical traits that could be used in drought tolerance breeding programs. Nine groundnut mutants together with three parents were evaluated under normal and terminal drought stress environments in 2003 and 2004 cropping seasons in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The genotypes did not differ significantly in the number of days to 75% emergence, with  a range of 6-8 days. Most of the measured traits showed higher values under normal than under stressed environments. Under stressed environment, some mutants like Barberton-B-30-3 and Barberton-B-30-4, exceeded their parents in pod yield (PY) /plant, dry matter production (DM) and leaf relative water content (LRWC), whereas they showed lower specific leaf area (SLA), canopy temperature (CT) and leaf senescence (LSENS) than their parents. CT, LRWC, LSENS and PY showed relatively medium broad-sense heritab-ility estimates under stress environment. PY was positively, significantly and genotypically correlated with DM and LRWC while significantly and negatively correlated with SLA, CT and LSENS under stress enviro-nment. Since these traits are reasonably heritable, strongly correlated with PY under stress enviroment and easily measurable under field conditions, they could be suggested as selection criteria for droguht tolerance in groundnut. The mutant Barberton-B-30-3, which produced the highest PY, DM and LRWC, under terminal drought stress, could be suggested as the best drought tolerant mutant in this study bending further testing over years and locations. &nbsp

OWL-POLAR : semantic policies for agent reasoning

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.comPostprin

The relationship between vitamin D level and severity and control of bronchial asthma among adult Sudanese patients

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between vitamin D level and severity and control of bronchial asthma among adult Sudanese patients at Alshaab Teaching Hospital.Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study, conducted at Alshaab Teaching Hospital, Khartoum Sudan in the period from June to August 2015. Eighty-six asthmatic patients participated in the study after taking their consent. Demographic data were collected using structured questionnaire, the clinical parameters of asthma severity and control were measured according to the criteria of Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention 2014 of the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). Airway limitation was assessed using Peak Flow Meter. Three ml of blood was taken from each patient to measure vitamin D (25(OH)D) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and data were analyzed using the statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20.Results: Normal serum 25(OH)D (30-50ng/ml) was found in only 2.3% of patients. The mean serum 25(OH)D level in patients with controlled asthma was 25.82±17.27ng/ml while in patients with uncontrolled asthma it was16.48±7.14ng/ml. (P value = 0.005). The mean serum 25(OH)D level in patients with severe asthma was 16.15±6.9ng/ml (P value = 0.151).Conclusions: There was a positive correlation between vitamin D level and bronchial asthma control and a negative correlation with bronchial asthma severity among the study group

Whole-genome sequencing of ocular Chlamydia trachomatis isolates from Gadarif State, Sudan

Background: Trachoma, caused by ocular Chlamydia trachomatis, is the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. Sudan first reported trachoma in the 1930s and has since been consistently endemic. Ocular C. trachomatis previously isolated from trachoma patients in Sudan in 1963 was antigenically identical to an isolate from Saudi Arabia (A/SA1). No contemporary ocular C. trachomatis whole genome sequences have been reported from Sudan. Methods: This study sequenced twenty ocular C. trachomatis isolates to improve understanding of pathogen diversity in North-East Africa and examine for genomic variation specific to Sudan, possibly related to the persistence of trachoma in surveyed communities. High quality, whole genome sequences were obtained from 12/20 isolates. Results: All isolates were serovar A and had tarP and trpA sequences typical of classical, ocular C. trachomatis isolates. The Sudanese isolates formed a closely related subclade within the T2-trachoma clade of C. trachomatis phylogeny distinct from geographically disparate ocular isolates, with little intra-population diversity. We found 333 SNPs that were conserved in Sudanese ocular isolates but rare compared to other ocular C. trachomatis populations, which were focused in two genomic loci (CTA0172-CTA0173 and CTA0482). Conclusions: Limited intra-population diversity and geographical clustering of ocular C. trachomatis suggests minimal transmission between and slow diversification within trachoma-endemic communities. However, diversity may have been higher pre-treatment in these communities. Over-representation of Sudan-specific SNPs in three genes suggests they may have an impact on C. trachomatis growth and transmission in this population

Validation of the Arabic version of the Social Communication Questionnaire

Validated screening and diagnostic tools for autism spectrum disorder for use in Arabic-speaking individuals are scarce. This study validated the Arabic version of the Social Communication Questionnaire. The total study sample included 206 children with autism spectrum disorder and 206 typically developing children (73.8% male; mean age: 8.5 (standard deviation = 2.6) years). The mean Social Communication Questionnaire total score was significantly higher in autism spectrum disorder children than in typically developing children (p < 0.0001). Scores on the three Social Communication Questionnaire subscales also differed significantly between the groups (p < 0.001). Of the 39 items, 37 were endorsed significantly more often in the autism spectrum disorder group. The total Social Communication Questionnaire score did not vary by age or gender. Internal consistency was excellent (alpha = 0.92). In the receiver operating characteristic analysis, the area under the curve for the total score showed excellent discrimination between autism spectrum disorder and typically developing children (area under the curve = 0.95; 95% confidence interval: 0.93–0.97). The areas under the curve for the scale subscores were 0.923 (95% confidence interval: 0.898–0.949) for the social interaction score, 0.872 (95% confidence interval: 0.838–0.905) for the communication score, and 0.856 (95% confidence interval: 0.819–0.893) for the repetitive behaviors score. The findings support the use of the Arabic Social Communication Questionnaire to successfully differentiate children with clinically diagnosed autism spectrum disorder using the established cutoff value for the English version.The authors would like to thank all the staff of the autism centers and schools who contributed in distributing and collecting the SCQ forms. They also would like to thank Western Psychological Services (WPS) staff for their help during the process of translating and reviewing the Arabic SCQ. They acknowledge Jennifer Holmes, ELS, for medical editing. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The study was funded by the Qatar National Research Fund (NPRP 6-093-3-024)

Anthropogenic Pressure on Tree Species Diversity, Composition, and Growth of Balanites aegyptiaca in Dinder Biosphere Reserve, Sudan

This research article published by MDPI, 2021Anthropogenic disturbances, such as illegal harvesting and livestock browsing, often affect natural forests. However, the resulting tree species diversity, composition, and population structure have rarely been quantified. We assessed tree species diversity and importance value indices and, in particular, Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Del. population structure, across 100 sample plots of 25 m × 40 m in disturbed and non-disturbed sites at the Dinder Biosphere Reserve, Sudan, from April 2019 to April 2020. We found that the tree species diversity in non-disturbed sites was more than double that of disturbed sites (p < 0.001, T = 32.6), and seedlings and saplings comprised more than 72% of the entire tree population (F2,48 = 116.4, p = 0.034; F2,48 = 163.2, p = 0.021, respectively). The tree density of B. aegyptiaca in the disturbed site was less than half that of the non-disturbed site (p = 0.018, T = 2.6). Balanites aegyptiaca was seven times more aggregated in disturbed sites compared to more regularly spaced trees in non-disturbed sites (T = 39.3 and p < 0.001). The poor B. aegyptiaca population status of the disturbed site shows that the conservation of this vulnerable species is essential for a sustainable management and utilization scheme

Consideration of NDVI thematic changes in density analysis and floristic composition of Wadi Yalamlam, Saudi Arabia

Wadi Yalamlam is known as one of the significant wadis in the west of Saudi Arabia. It is a very important water source for the western region of the country. Thus, it supplies the holy places in Mecca and the surrounding areas with drinking water. The floristic composition of Wadi Yalamlam has not been comprehensively studied. For that reason, this work aimed to assess the wadi vegetation cover, life-form presence, chorotype, diversity, and community structure using temporal remote sensing data. Temporal datasets spanning 4 years were acquired from the Landsat 8 sensor in 2013 as an early acquisition and in 2017 as a late acquisition to estimate normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) changes. The wadi was divided into seven stands. Stands 7, 1, and 3 were the richest with the highest Shannon index values of 2.98, 2.69, and 2.64, respectively. On the other hand, stand 6 has the least plant biodiversity with a Shannon index of 1.8. The study also revealed the presence of 48 different plant species belonging to 24 families. Fabaceae (17&thinsp;%) and Poaceae (13&thinsp;%) were the main families that form most of the vegetation in the study area, while many families were represented by only 2&thinsp;% of the vegetation of the wadi. NDVI analysis showed that the wadi suffers from various types of degradation of the vegetation cover along with the wadi main stream.</p

Growth and Yield of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L) as Influenced by Plant Population in Arid Tropic of Sudan under Rain-fed.

Abstract Growth plant is the result of transfer of solar radiation in to the photosynthetic processes of green leaf and transmission of photosynthates into increased biomass. Recently, many researchers have manipulated plant row-spacing and direction as well as plant populations within the row, to increase crop production through more efficient use of solar energy. A field experiment was conducted in North Kordofan State of Sudan, to investigate the effect of intra -row spacing (10, 20, 30 and 40cm) and planting stand (two and three plants per stand) on yield and yield components of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. The results showed that, plant population had a significant effect on most of the attributes measured. Closer spacing increased the number of branches per plant, days to 50% flowering, days to 95% physiological maturity, number of calyces per plant, calyces yield (g/plant) and decreased final calyces yield (t/ha). Spacing of 20 cm and three plants per stand gave highest calyces yield (t/ha)

A pandemic within a pandemic? Admission to COVID-19 wards in hospitals is associated with increased prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in two African settings

BACKGROUND: Patients who develop severe illness due to COVID-19 are more likely to be admitted to hospital and acquire bacterial co-infections, therefore the WHO recommends empiric treatment with antibiotics. Few reports have addressed the impact of COVID-19 management on emergence of nosocomial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in resource constrained settings. This study aimed to ascertain whether being admitted to a COVID-19 ward (with COVID-19 infection) compared to a non-COVID-19 ward (as a COVID-19 negative patient) was associated with a change in the prevalence of bacterial hospital acquired infection (HAI) species or resistance patterns, and whether there were differences in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 wards. The study was conducted in Sudan and Zambia, two resource constrained settings with differing country-wide responses to COVID-19. METHODS: Patients suspected of having hospital acquired infections were recruited from COVID-19 wards and non-COVID-19 wards. Bacteria were isolated from clinical samples using culture and molecular methods and species identified. Phenotypic and genotypic resistance patterns were determined by antibiotic disc diffusion and whole genome sequencing. Infection prevention and control guidelines were analysed for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 wards to identify potential differences. RESULTS: 109 and 66 isolates were collected from Sudan and Zambia respectively. Phenotypic testing revealed significantly more multi-drug resistant isolates on COVID-19 wards in both countries (Sudan p = 0.0087, Zambia p = 0.0154). The total number of patients with hospital acquired infections (both susceptible and resistant) increased significantly on COVID-19 wards in Sudan, but the opposite was observed in Zambia (both p = ≤ 0.0001). Genotypic analysis showed significantly more β-lactam genes per isolate on COVID-19 wards (Sudan p = 0.0192, Zambia p = ≤ 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Changes in hospital acquired infections and AMR patterns were seen in COVID-19 patients on COVID-19 wards compared to COVID-19 negative patients on non-COVID-19 wards in Sudan and Zambia. These are likely due to a potentially complex combination of causes, including patient factors, but differing emphases on infection prevention and control, and antimicrobial stewardship policies on COVID-19 wards were highlighted