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Infiltration of binary solution of hexane and ethanol into chromatography paper associated with their evaporation was found to generate unexpected initial rapid advancement of wicking front followed by its receding and readvancing in our previous research. In the present study, paper chromatography development of hydrophobic dye, Sudan III, and hydrophilic dye, Acid Blue 9, was carried out using binary solutions of hexane and ethanol in open environment, allowing the developing solvent been evaporated. Sudan III was developed with initial rapid advancing wicking front, while Acid Blue 9 was scarcely developed. On the other hand, Acid Blue 9 was developed with the readvancing second wicking front, while the spot of Sudan III scarcely migrated. Thus, the unexpected illusional phenomenon, overtaking the spot of Sudan III by the spot of Acid Blue 9, was observed. The readvancement of the second wicking front was found to be enhanced as increasing the relative humidity in the environment. Surface temperature of the chromatography paper was measured during the chromatographic development in open environment to show that it became lower than the dew point when the experiments were carried out in relatively high humidity. Solubility of Sudan III in a binary solution of ethanol and water remarkably decreased as increasing the content of water. It was thus suggested that the water vapor condensation to induce water mixing into the mobile phase to decrease the solubility of Sudan III to inhibit its chromatographic development to realize the illusional spot overtaking of dyes of their chromatographic development associated with solvent evaporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia possess diverse natural resources and a substantial labor force that permit forming a successful trade integration. However, the recent dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project between Ethiopia and downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan, has weakened the bilateral relations and disrupted trade flows among the three countries. This paper investigates the pattern of trilateral trade between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia during the period between 1995 and 2018. The study also examines the prospects and challenges for establishing a trilateral trade integration between the three countries. The study adopted the gravity model approach, along with the export diversification and trade complementarity indices, in order to scrutinize the pattern and structure of trade between the countries under study. The analysis indicated that Egypt is the most diversified economy with many crucial comparative advantages, which may grant it a leader position in the integration. Moreover, the paper revealed many challenges that may hinder the implementation of trilateral trade integration including, export concentration, poor infrastructure and disputes over water resources. Finally, the paper recommends that facilitating bilateral trade among the riparian countries of Eastern Nile Basin would mitigate the complex clashes over water rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media platforms play a vital role in determining valuable tourist objectives, which greatly aids in optimizing tourist path planning. As data classification and analysis methods have advanced, machine learning (ML) algorithms such as the k-means algorithm have emerged as powerful tools for sorting through data collected from social media platforms. However, traditional k-means algorithms have drawbacks, including challenges in determining initial seed values. This paper presents a novel approach to enhance the k-means algorithm based on survey and social media tourism data for tourism path recommendations. The main contribution of this paper is enhancing the traditional k-means algorithm by employing the genetic algorithm (GA) to determine the number of clusters (k), select the initial seeds, and recommend the best tourism path based on social media tourism data. The GA enhances the k-means algorithm by using a binary string to represent initial centers and to apply GA operators. To assess its effectiveness, we applied this approach to recommend the optimal tourism path in the Red Sea State, Sudan. The results clearly indicate the superiority of our approach, with an algorithm optimization time of 0.01 s. In contrast, traditional k-means and hierarchical cluster algorithms required 0.27 and 0.7 s, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Anaquel de Estudios Árabes is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The adoption of agricultural machinery in countries with a developing economy can have a significant impact on improving well-being and pro-poor growth. However, this requires farmers to buy into mechanized farming, which is more likely to happen if the machinery meets their needs. The objective of this paper is to identify deciding factors for traditional farmers to adopt machinery and identify design requirements. Payback models were developed based on these design requirements, willingness to pay, and expected returns. Thirty-six farmers in Sudan were interviewed throughout 2019–2021. Six of these farmers were provided tractors during 2020 and 2021. Differences in net-profits between the 30 control and 6 treatment farms during the mechanized farming seasons were used in the models for expected profits. There were no significant differences in tractor design preferences between the treatment and control groups. Two cost models were estimated using a 95% confidence interval: entire Δ profit (entire additional profit from mechanized farming above nonmechanized) and percentage of total profit (percentage of total net-profits willing to spend). For the average farm size in this study (44.39 acres) and a market available tractor that satisfied all farmer needs, payback was 3.92 years [2.34, 8.54] and 4.57 years [3.39, 6.38] for the models, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa, specifically Nigeria, has witnessed a dramatic increase in population over the last century, prompting efforts to ensure sustainable food production and quality. Concerns for soil sustainability and food security have led to the exploration of cost-effective methods, such as biochar, to enhance soil quality. Researchers in Nigeria and Africa as a whole have investigated biochar's potential to improve soil fertility and crop performance across various agroecological zones. This paper aims to review recent biochar research priorities on soil fertility and crop performance with an emphasis on various sole biochar applications and combinations with fertilizers to determine the research gaps that need to be developed more in biochar research in Nigeria. From the papers reviewed, sole biochar applications and biochar + macronutrients and biochar + manure combinations were studied more dominantly, while biochar + micronutrients research projects were scanty despite their low content in the semi-arid soils of Nigeria. The studies were spread across the country with the majority taking place in derived savanna and humid forest, while Sudan savanna and Sahel savanna received less research attention despite being characterized by a low-fertile soil and vast area of land. Research involving BC in the context of Sahel savanna (SLS) and Sudan savanna (SS) soils is strongly encouraged in Nigeria. This research should encompass a wide range of investigations, including sole BC applications and combinations of BC with macronutrients, micronutrients, and manure, as well as exploring its potential as a slow-release fertilizer. Incorporating exclusive biochar in substantial amounts appears economically unfeasible within the context of local biochar production. However, it can be utilized in the synthesis of slow-release fertilizers, requiring smaller quantities and potentially offering cost-effectiveness. This approach enhances soil condition and crop productivity. Challenges are faced due to less commercial production as a result of inadequate power and structural facilities. Exploring the modification of local biochar for slow-release fertilizers through future research offers potential profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along the western coastal plain of the Red Sea, the discovery of lithic tools proved that the occurrence of archaeological remains belonged to the Stone Age era. Unfortunately, until recently, most of the Stone Age site plans in the western Red Sea periphery have been unknown because of change in climate in addition to covering these sites with a large layer of sand. Recently, remote sensing (RS) data have proven to be effective at identifying buried archaeological sites using radar satellite imagery due to their ability to penetrate the land surface. This paper aims to identify and reconstruct several potential Stone Age sites using radar satellite images in the Tokar region, North-Eastern Sudan, on the western plain of the Red Sea. Radar (Sentinel-1 SAR GRD: C-band) data were processed utilizing the advantages of the Google Earth Engine platform and Snap software. The results of this research showed that some potential settlements belonging to the Stone Age era (expectedly dating back to the end of the Pleistocene and/or the initial phase of the Holocene) have subcircular shapes with some interior subcircles. These results shed new light on the potential construction technique, size, and function of the settlement in the Stone Age era and can provide some initial insights into the ancient lifestyle in this region. Additionally, this study can aid in future archaeological surveys and excavation missions in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world battled to defeat a novel coronavirus 2019 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19), a respiratory illness that is transmitted from person to person through contacts with droplets from infected persons. Despite efforts to disseminate preventable messages and adoption of mitigation strategies by governments and the World Health Organization (WHO), transmission spread globally. An accurate assessment of the transmissibility of the coronavirus remained a public health priority for many countries across the world to fight this pandemic, especially at the early onset. In this paper, we estimated the transmission potential of COVID-19 across 45 countries in sub-Saharan Africa using three approaches, namely, R 0 based on (i) an exponential growth model (ii) maximum likelihood (ML) estimation and (iii) a time-varying basic reproduction number at the early onset of the pandemic. Using data from March 14, 2020, to May 10, 2020, sub-Saharan African countries were still grappling with COVID-19 at that point in the pandemic. The region's basic reproduction number ( R 0 ) was 1.89 (95% CI: 1.767 to 2.026) using the growth model and 1.513 (95% CI: 1.491 to 1.535) with the maximum likelihood method, indicating that, on average, infected individuals transmitted the virus to less than two secondary persons. Several countries, including Sudan ( R 0 : 2.03), Ghana ( R 0 : 1.87), and Somalia ( R 0 : 1.85), exhibited high transmission rates. These findings highlighted the need for continued vigilance and the implementation of effective control measures to combat the pandemic in the region. It is anticipated that the findings in this study would not only function as a historical record of reproduction numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic in African countries, but can serve as a blueprint for addressing future pandemics of a similar nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health digital GIS map provides a great solution for medical geographical distribution to efficiently explore diseases and health services. In Sudan, tuberculosis disease is expanding in different areas, which requires a digital GIS map to collect information about the patients and support medical institutions by geographical distribution based on health services, drug supply, and consumption. This paper developed a health digital GIS map to provide a fair geographical distribution of tuberculosis health centers and control the drug supply according to medical reports. The proposed approach extracts the unfair distribution of medicine, as some centers receive medicine but do not receive patients, while others receive a large number of patients but limited amounts of medicine. The analysis results show that there is a defect in some states representing the distribution of tuberculosis centers. In the Northern State, there are 15 tuberculosis centers distributed over all localities, serving about 84 tuberculosis-infected patients only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the dynamics of pastoralist herd mobility in West Darfur State, Sudan, a region affected by persistent conflict. The paper examines the annual cycle and seasonal trajectories of mobility for camels, cattle, and sheep, comparing mobility patterns by livelihood specialisation and reviewing the mobility of multi-species herds. Using social research tools and remote sensing livestock tracking technology, the study found diverse livestock mobility patterns within the region. Conflict and insecurity have reduced the freedom and flexibility of these movements. Persistent insecurity combined with climate shocks have led to adaptations, including changes in herd species composition and owner preference, and a shift from long to short-distance mobility closer to the home area. Ultimately these changes have undermined the resilience of the pastoral system. The paper considers the implications of these changes in pastoralist mobility for humanitarian needs, building livelihood resilience and promoting peaceful integration with other users of natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this research is to illustrate systematic literature review, investigating the importance of Egypt and Sudan cooperation in terms of logistics and transport networks through conducting a SWOT analysis to determine the main opportunities and barriers behind this cooperation and how to overcome these barriers. Design/Methodology/Approach: In order to highlight Egypt and Sudan relations to offer and integrate various transportation networks and methods, a systematic literature review of 34 published research papers on Egypt and Sudan connectivity was conducted over 18 years. The main goal was to report on the most important research studies that matched the research keywords across multiple databases, report the research gap by displaying the research theoretical framework, and state what other researchers should consider. Consequential is the strategic analytical tool, SWOT analysis, which is based on the results of the systematic review analysis to evaluate internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats that Egypt should address in integrating with Sudan. Findings: It was determined that an insufficient number of research investigations has used the waterway connection to impede the flow of commerce to ascertain multimodal transportation. There has also been no additional investigation into the border terminals and route networks between Egypt and Sudan, which could potentially help in the enhancement of the countries' import and export operations. Taking into consideration the main results and variables of the study, that should be tested in further studies, it was found that enhancing activities, services, and hubs may be beneficial to the transportation networks, seaports, and logistics networks that surround both nations. Research Implications/Limitations: The current research presents a narrative and systematic representation of logistics transportation networks resulting in pointing up the research theoretical framework, then a SWOT analysis to highlight the main strength points and opportunities for Egypt and Sudan for their transport and logistics development and for attaining greater benefits for both nations. Nevertheless, achieving this goal requires additional research and fact-finding. Originality: Through identifying the effects of collaboration on the transport sector by enhancing inter-modality services and logistics services between the two nations, the research provides a significant addition to the literature, as there were a lack of studies investigating the cooperation between Egypt and Sudan and limited studies highlighting its importance. The theoretical models and findings from actual investigations developed by the researchers will aid in the infrastructure of transport networks connecting Egypt and Sudan, but this will necessitate extensive research and testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines the determinants of participation in non-farm activities in rural Sudan. It also investigates whether the factors that influence participation in non-farm activities vary across agriculture sub-sectors. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts the multinomial logit and probit methods on labour supply participation theory using the Sudanese National Baseline Household Survey (2009). The analysis was applied across job types and agriculture sub-sectors. Findings: The results indicated that educational level, means of transportation, lack of land and access to formal agricultural credit are the most significant factors that push rural farmers to participate in non-farm activities. Surprisingly, the effect of household income was positive and significant, implying that individuals from rich households have higher opportunity to engage in non-farm activities compared to their poor counterparts. The results also revealed some variations in the factors that influence participation in non-farm activities according to the agricultural sub-sectors. Originality/value: The originality of this article lies in investigating the factors that influence participation in non-farm activities across irrigated and rainfed systems. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study identifying the determinants of participation in non-farm activities across agriculture sub-sectors. Therefore, the paper fills an important gap in the literature and helps in designing appropriate pro-poor policies to allocate infrastructures across irrigated and rainfed areas in Sudan. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2022-0092. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to offer an overview of a unique and decade-long Ethiopian peacekeeping deployment in Abyei, where Ethiopian contingents comprise almost the entire force, where the deployment ended in an ungraceful manner because of disapproval from the government of Sudan. The paper reveals that the Tigray conflict which resulted in the desertion of the Ethiopian peacekeepers and Egyptian pressure on Sudan because of the GERD have contributed to the withdrawal of Ethiopian peacekeepers and the Ethiopia--Sudan border dispute brought a dark shadow on their relations in addition to the disruption of the peacekeeping deployment. The paper concludes that unless Ethiopia makes a progress on internal stability and reboots its relations with its neighbours, Ethiopia's role as a peace mediator and peacekeeper in the region becomes an ignominy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many applications in agriculture as well as other related fields including natural resources, environment, health, and sustainability, depend on recent and reliable cropland maps. Cropland extent and intensity plays a critical input variable for the study of crop production and food security around the world. However, generating such variables manually is difficult, expensive, and time consuming. In this work, we discuss a cost effective, fast, and simple machine-learning-based approach to provide reliable cropland mapping model using satellite imagery. The study includes four test regions, namely Iran, Mozambique, Sri-Lanka, and Sudan, where Sentinel-2 satellite imagery were obtained with assigned NDVI scores. The solution presented in this paper discusses a complete pipeline including data collection, time series reconstruction, and cropland extent and crop intensity mapping using machine learning models. The approach proposed managed to achieve high accuracy results ranging between 0.92 and 0.98 across the four test regions at hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a literature-based review methodology, this paper examines the questions, fairness, and implications relating to the inclusion of the 14-Mile Area in the September 2012 Cooperation Agreement signed between Sudan and South Sudan. It finds that previous colonial arrangements and the subsequent inclusion of this area under the rubric of disputed territories muddied the waters, thus giving a wrong impression to the public about what was originally unintended and sanctioned. Second, it finds that the Malual Dinka community remains justified in arguing that the 14-Mile Area is undisputed. The fact that Arab nomads from Sudan have been permitted to enjoy access to the grazing and crossborder trade benefits does not confer right of ownership over the strip. Seen from this context, the article examines the implications of including the 14-Mile Area in the Cooperation Agreement and arrives at policy recommendations designed to ensure community resource management and investments in the area. Thus, the article advances not just community-to-community peace, but also regional peace and stability. It concludes by beseeching the governments of both Sudan and South Sudan to exclude the 14-Mile Area from any discussion of disputed areas of international borders. The article advocates that local communities should be given an unencumbered opportunity to manage issues of access to grazing areas by Sudanese nomads based on community-to-community negotiations, which have always been the tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lipofuscin is a yellow-brown pigment typically found in the lysosomes that contains a mixture of molecules including lipids, metals and misfolded proteins. The use of Sudan black B to detect lipofuscin accumulation, a well described marker of cellular senescence and ageing, was first described in 2013 by Georgakopoulou, et al. Here, we provide an optimisation of the original protocol. Firstly, we adjusted the staining methodology for increased ease of use on cultured cells. Secondly, we show that Sudan black B-stained lipofuscin emits strong fluorescence in the far-red channel making it suitable for fluorescence microscopy detection and quantification. Moreover, we also demonstrate that this optimised protocol can be utilised in conjunction with standard immunofluorescence staining techniques, making possible the simultaneous detection of lipofuscin and other cellular proteins of interest, like additional markers of senescence. This is a significant advantage over the most commonly used method for senescence detection, based on beta galactosidase enzymatic activity. We therefore believe that these findings and the provided optimised protocol will represent a useful tool for the scientific community in the field of cellular senescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the writer's experience and knowledge and observation of the Sudanese context. Data has also been collected from key informants using the interviews with three o members occupying leading positions in: civil society Organizations including, The Nuba Women Organization, The southern Sudanese women Organization and The Sudanese Council of Churches. This paper provides brief classification of faith-based organization (FBO) in Sudan, with an introduction to the evolution activities they perform and factors that led to minimum links between the (FBO) and Sudanese Women Empowerment for Peace and Development Network (SWEPD) and the way forward for possible links and engagement are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of agricultural technologies in developing economy countries has the potential to reduce poverty through sustainable intensification. Mechanized farming can also improve perceptions of farming and mitigate rural out-migration. However, many traditional farmers do not have access to machinery and/or machinery is cost prohibitive. The objective of this paper is to quantify how the use of machinery affects costs, revenue, net-profits, and returns on investment for a case study of farmers in Sudan, Africa. A treatment control study (N = 36) was performed across the 2019 (baseline), 2020, and 2021 farming seasons, where the treatment group was provided tractors. ANOVAs and t-tests were used to compare financial values between these groups across the farming seasons, to quantify economic differences associated with farming machinery. We show that all farmers had similar net-profits when farming without machinery, while mechanized farming yielded significantly higher net-profits (USD 16.61/acre more in 2020, USD 27.10/acre more in 2021). Our study also finds that the volatility of the black-market exchange rate and labor shortages have a significant impact on farming net-profits. These results provide a quantified difference between farming with and without machinery, which can provide a financial basis for purchasing and borrowing models, machinery design requirements, and educational value to farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper was conducted to determine the hydrological and morphometric characteristics of the Wad Ramli region, Sudan. The Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was obtained and then processed within the ArcGIS 10.8 program. Hydrological analysis tools were used to determine the hydrological characteristics, and then the quantitative analysis was done to deduce the morphological characteristics. The water flow direction, water streams, stream orders, order 4 watershed, and all water basins were obtained. The best location for the dam's water storage was determined. It was found that the water is flowing normally, the basin is asymmetrical, and the area has low terrain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever increasing applications of bioinformatics in providing effective interpretation of large and complex biological data require expertise in the use of sophisticated computational tools and advanced statistical tests, skills that are mostly lacking in the Sudanese research community. This can be attributed to paucity in the development and promotion of bioinformatics, lack of senior bioinformaticians, and the general status quo of inadequate research funding in Sudan. In this paper, we describe the challenges that have encountered the development of bioinformatics as a discipline in Sudan. Additionally, we highlight on specific actions that may help develop and promote its education and training. The paper takes the National University Biomedical Research Institute (NUBRI) as an example of an institute that has tackled many of these challenges and strives to drive powerful efforts in the development of bioinformatics in the country. Author summary: Bioinformatics is gaining recognition globally and in Sudan as an important subdiscipline of biological sciences, one that enables researchers to efficiently interpret complex biological data. A limited number of Sudanese academic institutions have acknowledged this field despite its increasingly recognized importance. The development of bioinformatics in the country requires interdisciplinary collaborations involving experts in life sciences, research methodology, healthcare, computer, and data sciences. This can be achieved through designing educational programs and workshops alongside proposing and establishing effective collaborative research projects. In this context, we comprehensively discussed the present state of bioinformatics in Sudan, the challenges faced, as well as the efforts exerted by academic institutions including NUBRI, to upgrade infrastructure and establish local and international collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undernutrition (stunting, wasting and underweight) among children remains a public health concern in North Africa, especially following recent conflicts in the region. Therefore, this paper systematically reviews and meta-analyses the prevalence of undernutrition among children under five in North Africa to determine whether efforts to reduce undernutrition are on track to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Eligible studies published between 1st January 2006 and 10th April 2022 were searched for, using five electronic bibliographic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase (Ovid), ProQuest and CINAHL). The JBI critical appraisal tool was used, and a meta-analysis was conducted using the 'metaprop' command in STATA, to estimate the prevalence of each undernutrition indicator in the seven North African countries (Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Western Sahara). Due to the significant heterogeneity among studies (I2 >50%), a random effect model and sensitivity analysis were conducted to examine the effect of outliers. Out of 1592 initially identified, 27 met the selection criteria. The prevalence of stunting, wasting and being underweight were 23.5%, 7.9% and 12.9%, respectively. Significant variations between the countries with the highest rates of stunting and wasting were reported in Sudan (36%, 14.1%), Egypt (23.7%, 7.5%), Libya (23.1%, 5.9%), and Morocco (19.9%, 5.1%). Sudan also had the highest prevalence of underweight (24.6%), followed by Egypt (7%), Morocco (6.1%), and Libya (4.3%) with more than one in ten children in Algeria and Tunisia having stunted growth. In conclusion, undernutrition is widespread in the North African region, particularly in Sudan, Egypt, Libya, and Morocco, making it challenging to meet the SDGs by 2030. Nutrition monitoring and evaluation in these countries is highly recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microfluidics is a rapidly advancing technology with expansive applications but has been restricted by slow, laborious fabrication techniques for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based devices. Currently, 3D printing promises to address this challenge with high-resolution commercial systems but is limited by a lack of material advances in generating high-fidelity parts with micron-scale features. To overcome this limitation, a low-viscosity, photopolymerizable PDMS resin was formulated with a methacrylate-PDMS copolymer, methacrylate-PDMS telechelic polymer, photoabsorber, Sudan I, photosensitizer, 2-isopropylthioxanthone, and a photoinitiator, 2,4,6-trimethyl benzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide. The performance of this resin was validated on a digital light processing (DLP) 3D printer, an Asiga MAX X27 UV. Resin resolution, part fidelity, mechanical properties, gas permeability, optical transparency, and biocompatibility were investigated. This resin produced resolved, unobstructed channels as small as 38.4 (±5.0) µm tall and membranes as thin as 30.9 (±0.5) µm. The printed material had an elongation at break of 58.6% ± 18.8%, Young's modulus of 0.30 ± 0.04 MPa, and was highly permeable to O2 (596 Barrers) and CO2 (3071 Barrers). Following the ethanol extraction of the unreacted components, this material demonstrated optical clarity and transparency (>80% transmission) and viability as a substrate for in vitro tissue culture. This paper presents a high-resolution, PDMS 3D-printing resin for the facile fabrication of microfluidic and biomedical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While conflict-and-cooperation phenomena in transboundary basins have been widely studied, much less work has been devoted to representing the process interactions in a quantitative way. This paper identifies the main factors in the riparian countries' willingness to cooperate in the Eastern Nile River basin, involving Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, from 1983 to 2016. We propose a quantitative model of the willingness to cooperate at the national and river basin scales. Our results suggest that relative political stability and foreign direct investment can explain Ethiopia's decreasing willingness to cooperate between 2009 and 2016. Further, we show that the 2008 food crisis may account for Sudan recovering its willingness to cooperate with Ethiopia. Long-term lack of trust among the riparian countries may have reduced basin-wide cooperation. While the proposed model has some limitations regarding model assumptions and parameters, it does provide a quantitative representation of the evolution of cooperation pathways among the riparian countries, which can be used to explore the effects of changes in future dam operation and other management decisions on the emergence of conflict and cooperation in the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To measure the effectiveness of educational programmes for nurses regarding knowledge and practice of advanced resuscitation for newborn infants. Design: This is a quasi‐experimental study in (Sudan, White Nile state), to evaluate the effectiveness of designed guidelines regarding advanced neonatal resuscitation for midwives during the period November 2020–January 2021. Methods: Data were collected using two tools: semi‐structured questionnaire and checklist. The number of the respondents to the questionnaire is 75 nurses. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS (version 22). Data were expressed as percentages. The results show that the level of knowledge is improved significantly after training programme interventions, with safe practice reaching (98.70%) compared with a pre‐test percentage of (11.5%). This indicates a steep rise in safe practice after the simulation section, a sharp decrease in unsafe practice after the practical section, followed by subsequent decrease in neonatal mortality rate. This paper has been guided by (STROBE, cohort study) checklist. Results: The study concluded that the majority of nurses and midwives have some knowledge regarding advanced neonatal resuscitation but still, there is a practice gap because of a shortage of facilities and lack of training, However, training programmes do add value on knowledge and practice for nurses and eventually decrease neonatal mortality rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal-lens spectrometry is a sensitive technique for determination of physicochemical properties and thermophysical parameters of various materials including heterogeneous systems and nanoparticles. In this paper, we consider the issues of the correctness (trueness) of measurements of the characteristic time of the thermal-lens effect and, thus, of the thermal diffusivity determined by dual-beam mode-mismatching thermal lensing. As sources of systematic errors, major factors—radiation sources, sample-cell and detector parameters, and general measurement parameters—are considered using several configurations of the thermal-lens setups, and their contributions are quantified or estimated. Furthermore, with aqueous ferroin and Sudan I in ethanol as inert colorants, the effects of the intermolecular distance of the absorbing substance on the correctness of finding the thermophysical parameters are considered. The recommendations for checking the operation of the thermal-lens setup to ensure the maximum accuracy are given. The results obtained help reducing the impact of each investigated factor on the value of systematic error and correctly measure the thermophysical parameters using thermal-lens spectrometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the role of regional institutions in translating regional policy instruments into practical action using the experience of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in training teachers for refugee and host community secondary schools in three pilot member states: Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda. The paper raises questions about the regional organizations could be engaged in developing commonly shared commitments and at the same time implement these policies. Using a participant observation method combined with textual and contextual analysis, the study outlined the results in terms of process, products and lessons achieved in the course of the teacher training process. Regarding the process, the paper highlights consensus building, needs assessment, selection of sites, teachers and trainers as well as development of training modules as important outcomes. The product involves the skill-sets acquired or capacities developed cultural materials and media products. The training initiative brought home useful lessons including the importance of the participatory approach and joint decision-making, the role of partnership, enabling leadership, effective coordination and flexibility in managing joint, multi-stakeholder programs. The paper concludes by articulating the need for further studies and scaling-up the teacher training covering member states that are not involved in the pilot phase.

This paper argues that access to quality education and skills development programs for refugees, returnees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) is not only one of the fundamental human rights that states and non-state actors have obligations to fulfill; it is also an integral part of sustainable development efforts which will have significant contributions to socio-economic transformation in host countries, countries of origin and countries of destinations in the event that refugees become migrant, which is sometimes the case. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) region, consisting of eight member states, namely, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, host more than 13 million forcibly displaced people. This results from protracted and devastating conflicts; drought and famine and other natural or man-made calamities. Within the IGAD region, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan produce 80 to 90% of displacement due to protracted civil wars. However, almost all the member states have refugees, IDPs or migrants sheltered in their territories. Access to higher education among refugees, returnees and IDPs is very low at only 3% compared to 36% globally. The figure for Africa is still dismal, at less than 1%; and the same holds true for the IGAD region. In an effort to address this major challenge facing these population categories, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) convened a high level regional (Ministerial Conference) on refugee education held in Djibouti, 12-14 December 2017. That Conference adopted what is now called the Djibouti declaration and Plan of Action for refugee education in the IGAD region. The major purpose of this paper was is to outline the refugee situations in general and the state of higher education in the region in particular.

This paper explores a change in education law in the Republic of Sudan, also known as Northern Sudan, to estimate the causal effect of compulsory education on the welfare of women and children. The aim is to investigate the impact of education policies on women and children's well-being and point out the limitations of these policies in conservative societies. The policy extended the duration of primary education from five years to eight, made it compulsory and reduced the entry age from seven to six. It was proposed in 1995 and implemented in 1998, affecting individuals born from July 1993 onwards. The birth-date Regression Discontinuity Design is implemented as the main methodology to investigate the engagement with education and outcome variables of interest after versus before the cut-off point, by using the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Survey Data. This methodology enables overcoming the endogeneity problem when dealing with observational data. The results suggest that the policy increased completion rates of primary education and participation of women in the labour force but did not increase participation in education. Moreover, there is limited evidence of any welfare effect of the policy. The paper also investigates possible reasons for the policy being ineffective in increasing participation rates. The paper recommends that before taking an essential step towards the goal of universal primary education, the government failed to address existing problems such as the unavailability of schools, long distances to schools, school fees and child labour, which discourage families from sending their daughters to school to increase the effectiveness of the policy. In Muslim societies where informal institutions dominate written rules, compulsory education policies are not likely to yield the expected outcomes, such as equal access for girls to education, unless they are accompanied by huge investment. This paper contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the impact of educational reform policies, discussing issues that limit their effectiveness and making propositions to improve the impact of these policies in such societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Statistics helps medical students understand research. Without understanding statistics, students can't choose the proper analysis in their research. We aimed to assess the attitude toward statistics, usage of statical software and associated factors for using statistical analysis software in Sudan. Method: A cross-sectional online survey was distributed among undergraduate medical students across ten Sudanese universities. The study aimed to measure their attitude towards statistics using Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS-36) scale. Results: In total, 489 students were participated with a mean age of 21.94 ± 1.61 and a slight female preponderance (52%, n = 256). The overall attitude towards statistics was 4.64 ± 0.91. The mean attitude scores for the components of SATS-36 scale was higher for students who were using statistical analysis software demonstrating significant difference in affect (p = 0.002), cognitive competence (p = 0.002), value (p = 0.002), Interest (p = 0.004) and Effort (p = 0.029). Almost half of the students (47%) had attended a biostatistics workshop with only 26% of them reported using statistical analysis software. Of the latter group, 72% (n = 91) used SPSS while 50% (n = 64) used excel. Univariate logistic regression showed students who had previously used an statistical software were more likely to be studying in their sixth year compared with second year (OR: 12.652, CI 95% 4.803– 33.332; p < 0.001), older age (OR: 1.224, CI 95% 1.079– 1.388; p = 0.002), attended a course in research methodology (OR: 3.383, CI 95% 2.120– 5.398; p < 0.001) or biostatistics (OR: 1.886, CI 95% 1.252– 2.841; p = 0.002), initiated or participated in a research project (OR:4.349, CI 95% 2.839 – 6.661;p < 0.001) or published a paper (OR: 8.271, CI 95% 3.542 – 19.312; p < 0.001). Conclusions: The study showed an average attitude towards statistics among medical students. Being at higher years, participating or publishing research and attending research workshop are associated with the usage of statistical software. Also, few students were using statistical software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to translate and validate an Arabic version of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Head and Neck Scale (FACT-H&N, v-4) for use among Sudanese oral cancer patients. Methods: The instrument underwent translation and validation following the standard FACT translation methodology. The translated instrument was pre-tested for face validity and content validity using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with ten oral cancer patients to assess acceptability. The questionnaire was pilot tested with 60 patients; reliability was tested for internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha while construct validity was tested using 'known-group validity'. Results: The pre-test study revealed no major issues, apart from a reluctance to answer questions on sexual satisfaction. The FACT-H&N demonstrated good internal consistency, it considered five particular constructs: PWB, SWB, EWB, FWB and FACT-H&N, their Cronbach's α values were positive and close to 1 with values of 0.85, 0.788, 0.86, 0.895 and 0.703 respectively, indicating that the questionnaire was valid and the responses consistent. Sixty patients were asked the global health-related quality of life item, 36.3% rated their QOL as very good or good (36.3%), while 41.7% rated it as average, and 21.7% as poor or very poor. Then FACT subscale mean scores were tabulated against three categories; patients with very poor/poor recorded significantly lower scores indicating construct validity. Some psychometric properties were consistent with other FACT-H&N translations such as the Chinese, French, Pakistani and Malaysian. Conclusions: This study validates the Arabic version of the FACT-H&N. It is a reliable tool and, will assist further QoL research in other Arabic-speaking countries. Plain English Summary: While survival rates are routinely used to evaluate treatment outcomes in oral cancer, increased understanding of the human cost of this disease highlights the need to also consider the impact of the disease and therapy on patients' quality of life (QoL). Measurement of quality of life outcomes requires a validated QoL questionnaire with proven applicability in that specific context. Little research has been undertaken on the QoL of cancer patients in Sudan and no published research exists to date on the QoL of Sudanese oral cancer patients. While an Arabic version of the FACT-G general questionnaire exists, the FACT-H&N module was not previously available in Arabic. This paper describes the translation of the FACT-H&N from English into Arabic to suit Sudanese patients and other Arabic-speaking patients, with a detailed pre-test review by 10 patients, a pilot study with 60 patients and further validation with 130 patients. This study represents the first QoL research undertaken in oral cancer patients in Sudan and provides some insight into the impact of oral cancer on their lives. Findings from this study indicate that the Arabic version of the FACT-H&N questionnaire is a valid, reliable and acceptable method for assessing health related QoL in Arabic-speaking Sudanese oral cancer patients. This work will benefit future researchers working with Arabic-speaking oral cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building new wedding halls has been flourishing as one of the catching investments in Sudan in recent years. These halls typically require large open spaces with no permeant partitions or furniture that reduces the superimposed dead load considerably. This paper presents an example of designing a reinforced concrete wedding hall floor, using two flooring systems, namely, flat slab and two way solid slab considering dancing induced dynamic load. Firstly an initial sizing based on only dead and live load was carried. The dynamic response was assessed following three methods: 1) the fundamental frequency limit; 2) equivalent static load; and 3) the acceleration limit. The results of the dynamic assessment has shown that a little to no-design alteration has to be made in the concrete flooring systems to satisfy safety. However, problems of vibration perception and comfort may require further structural adjustment to meet the acceptable level of vibration in the project specification based on the anticipating floor usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In Khartoum/Sudan the consumption of water per capita in urban areas far below the real need and WHO standard and huge volume of untreated municipal wastes water and industrial waste is discharged directly to an upstream from the town's sewage water and treatment plants. Only 5% of resident received waste water treatment services, and 95% of waste discharge in unregulated dumps and injected into ground, these leading to pollution of the atmosphere, surface and ground waters, and poses a serious environmental hazard downstream. The main objective of this paper to Simulate pollutant produce from water sector demands being prime indicators of water and environment challenge, using WEAP model, and GIS software.The methodology used in this study to identified appropriate indicators and creates a model that represents water resource status, and pollution generator sectors for a specific system boundary.Khartoum satellite Landsat Mosaic Image (copy write), and Digital elevation model, (DEM) for Sudan, from Global ESRI map, and Land cover map, acquired from Sudanese remote sensing and seismology authority are used in this study to create maps.The Basin Catchment model WEAP21 system scenarios with Remote Sensing, and GIS predicted response and evaluated water deterioration risk quantity and quality related to river Nile catchment area in Khartoum. The model software selected provides decision makers with watershed environmental response factors, with allocation for sustainable water concern lower River Nile catchments.The model approach across user was taken into consideration to ensure withdrawals, assumed improvement in consumption, researcher assumed building a reservoir to improve quality, and reduces people suffering from water shortage, building expansion to reform waste, with reference time from 2015 and projected year by 2030.To fulfill objectives the models was used for pollutant transport from upstream to watershed, to evaluate the effect of applying alternative management practices by development of different Scenarios.Water quality data are collected from Ground water central laboratories, also from Khartoum state data base center. While Waste water data collected from waste water treatment plants in the towns, and from constructional and environmental laboratories, centre. Also, field samples were collected from discharge point in lagoons near river shore and from the cross point of discharge into the river. The study result show how satellite technology combined with local monitoring, GIS, and advanced modeling system can be used to investigate the improved accuracy of the model results, and to improve operations and performance of service providers downstream. The result indicated that scenarios can be developed to explore options for the future and sustainability, and implication of various policies can evaluated. For environmental carrying capacities, the model results indicated that, 90% of water consuming by sector demands end at the receptors as waste water need to be treated. The pollutant load produced by those waste water treatment plants were measured and simulated including pollutant (BOD, COD, TSS, Phosphate, Nitrate, Total organic carbon, heavy metals (Pb, Cr, Zn, Cu), which in turn affects the quality of water resources available for direct use. The improvements in water collection systems affect water supply and wastewater treatment, while the improvement in waste water treatment plants after built new environmental expansion and technology may reduce the flow of waste water to receptors 50% by 2030. In order to ensure a long term development of water resources, and to avoid water becoming a limiting factor in the development of dependent activities, we recommend that country should develop environmental pollution reform and management policy based on an integrated management which associates management of surface and underground waters, qualitative and quantitative measures and management of use by various water sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to investigate the influence of oral dipping of Tombak Smokeless Tobacco (SLT) on prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), international normalized ratio(INR) values, and platelet counts (PLTs), in Sudanese Tombak users. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at Kosti health insurance hospital, Sudan, in 2019. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 100 adult users of oral Tombak for three or more years were chosen randomly as a study group. Another 100 matched healthy individuals who never used Tombak were randomly selected as a comparative group. Venous blood specimens were collected in ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) containers for the PLT counts using the automated haematology analyser (Sysmex, Tokyo, Japan XK-21SYSMEX) and in trisodium citrate anti-coagulant containers for coagulation tests using a co-agulometer machine analyser. Our findings show a significant decrease in PLT count mean values in the Tombak users group (212.1 × 103/mm³±74.3 × 103/mm³) compared with the non-taking Tombak group mean values (243.2 × 10³/mm3±83.0 × 103/mm3), (p < 0.006). Both PT and APTT were significantly prolonged in Tombak users (16.03±1.22 s vs. 14.44±0.557 s), p < 0.001 for PT, and (41.62±7.28 s vs. 34.99±4.02 s), (p < 0.001) for APTT. INR mean values were significantly longer in Tombak users (1.11±0.096) vs. (1.07±0.66; p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis findings show a significant impact of the four investigated variables, including duration of taking Tombak, age, and frequency of taking Tombak per day (p < 0.001). In conclusion, using Tombak a Smokeless Tobacco (SLT) for a long period significantly affect Platelet counts and coagulation profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Naphthenic acids are naturally occurring carboxylic acids in crude oil with cyclic or aromatic rings in their structure. These carboxylic acids are responsible for the acidity of crude oil, leading to corrosion problems in refinery equipment and the deactivation of catalysts while creating a continuous need for maintenance. Therefore, removing naphthenic acids has become an important requirement in refining acidic crude oil. In this paper, experiments are conducted to investigate the use of HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst to reduce the total acid number (TAN) of a typical acidic crude oil obtained from Al-Fula blocks in Western Sudan. TAN is an important metric signifying the acidity of crude oil. A full factorial design of the experiment (DOE) framework enabled a better understanding of the efficacy of the catalyst at three parametric levels (reaction temperature: 250-270-300 °C, reaction time: 2-3-4 h, and oil:catalyst weight ratio: 20-22-25 g/g). The results demonstrate that the HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst provides up to 99% removal of naphthenic acids via the decarboxylation route. Additionally, the removal efficiency increases with increasing temperature and residence time. The acidity of the crude oil was shown to decrease after treatment with the catalyst for four hrs.; from 6.5 mg KOH/g crude to 1.24; 0.39 and 0.17 mg KOH/g at 250; 270 and 300 °C, respectively. A sharp decrease of TAN was observed at the oil catalyst mass ratio of 20 g/g at 250 °C, and almost complete conversion of acids was achieved after 4 hrs. Another experiment at 270 °C showed a converse relationship between the oil:catalyst ratio and acid removal; suggesting the activation of side reactions at higher temperature conditions catalyzed by excess acid. Finally; a Langmuir–Hinshelwood (LH) kinetic model has been developed to enable rapid prediction of the performance of the HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst for decarboxylation reaction. The model has also been validated and tested in ASPEN® software for future simulation and scalability studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of TEME: Casopis za Društvene Nauke is the property of TEME: Casopis za Drustvene Nauke and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There are different feminist perspectives of education which focus on women’s empowerment. Some of these perspectives address instrumental and intrinsic circumstances influencing motivations and choices for schooling, whilst others look into the role of schooling in shaping and constraining perceptions of empowerment and self-esteem among women. There are also studies which look into the role of the school system in reproducing gender divisions and oppression. As a result, many educational researchers and feminists are concerned about the influence of the family and school systems on women’s/girl’s roles, self- esteem and aspirations. This paper is based on a qualitative case study which analyzes the impact of the schooling process on girls’ educational aspirations and gender inequality in the disadvantaged communities in Sudan. The data was collected by means of in-depth interviews, life history journals and focused group discussions. The sample comprised 30 teenage girls between the ages of 12 – 20 years at two disadvantaged communities’ basic schools in Juba and Khartoum, Sudan. This paper looks at the effects of structure and socio-cultural practices of mixed schools on girls’ educational aspirations, perceptions and inequalities and their implications for the conceptualization of gender within an empowerment framework. In this paper it is argued that whilst education is perceived as a means of women’s liberation and empowerment, it can also have negative effects on girls’ educational aspirations and expectations. The paper concludes that schooling perpetuates gender inequalities through schooling system as well it shapes girls’ educational aspirations among disadvantaged communities in Sudan. This study concludes that girls’ educational aspirations and perceptions are constructed and shaped within the gender role socialization and the traditional and patriarchal social system in Sudan. The home and the school environments in disadvantaged communities of Sudan appear to reinforce gender inequality in the manner in which parents and teachers treat children. The entrenched socio-cultural practices and pressures seem to impact negatively on the school girls’ educational aspirations, expectations and self-esteem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the critical success factors (CSFs) for the successful implementation of operational excellence (OE) by the organisations in the Sudanese aviation industry. Besides that, this study intended to determine the resulted impacts in the improved organisational performance and competitive advantage and quantify the benefits. Design/methodology/approach: The CSFs of OE were provided and dissected to reveal their integrated components and importance levels. The factors include leadership, people management, continuous improvement, operational strategy, and asset optimisation. The impacts (outcomes) were further categorised into four categories, namely financial results, quality of products or services, efficiency, and satisfaction. The outcome groups were presented, while the weight of each outcome was highlighted. Findings: With the OE's conceptual framework, the CSFs to achieve OE were identified. From the five main factors, the expert panel members suggested that the leadership factor was the most important factor to achieve OE in the Sudanese aviation industry. Ranking the five CSFs and 40 subfactors provided a better understanding of the Sudan situation, specifically the effective implementation of OE philosophy. Research limitations/implications: The findings of the subfactors reported in this study were not enough. As a result, future studies must focus on the detailed descriptions of subfactors related to each of the critical factors. Practical implications: The efficiency in the organisations is generated and enhanced when they become efficient in reducing time wastage, raw materials, and unnecessary processing, and energy used in transportation, storing, and operating plant. Besides, the state of effectiveness is achieved when the organisation achieves its long-term goals through increased customer satisfaction and proves its reason for being. OE is critical as it assures both the efficiency and effectiveness of organisations. Originality/value: Past research have relatively over-emphasised the unilateral "result-driven" perspective of OE that corresponds with the limited concern for enablers, critical forms, and focus of OE. Thus, this paper intended to address this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Social Studies is the property of University of Science & Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The marginalized and oppressed women in Sudan, alongside the subaltern women living on the margin, are depicted in the current work. "The Ostrich" by Laila Aboulela shows the protagonist's life of Sumra both in Khartoum, Sudan, and London in the UK. Sumra represents Sudanese women struggling hard to find their place in a patriarchal society. The structure of this article can be articulated in two arguments; the empowerment of patriarchal supremacy and the power of tradition implanted in Sudan and most thirdworld countries to marginalize and silence the role of women so that they can never be heard. Although women have got their studies at universities, they are still marginalized and have no full right to decide for themselves. Appropriating the analytical descriptive approach, the current study aims to demonstrate the marginalization and oppression of women in Sudan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter comments on the article "Emergence of the invasive malaria vector Anopheles stephensi in Khartoum State, Central Sudan" published in Parasites and Vectors 2021, 14:511. Here we aim of provide a response to this paper in the broader context of the invasion and spread of An. stephensi in the Horn of Africa, and the required response to it. We agree with the authors that the arrival of this invasive vector in Khartoum State is of high public health concern. Equally concerning, however, we found that the detection of the vector by the authors in 2018 seemingly took 3 years to communicate to the Ministry of Health and World Health Organization (WHO), and was reliant on an academic journal. We consider that this short report sets a poor example of how public health threats should be reported. Suitable communication alternatives to alert public health authorities to such threats have been put in place by the WHO and its Member States, and are well known to at least some of the authors of the short report. We would like to encourage all readers not to follow the example of Ahmed et al. but instead act as responsible public health professionals by drawing on the established reporting mechanisms and escalate potential threats as soon as they are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A collection of sets displays a proximity gap with respect to some property if for every set in the collection, either (i) all members are δ-close to the property in relative Hamming distance or (ii) only a tiny fraction of members are δ-close to the property. In particular, no set in the collection has roughly half of its members δ-close to the property and the others δ-far from it. We show that the collection of affine spaces displays a proximity gap with respect to Reed--Solomon (RS) codes, even over small fields, of size polynomial in the dimension of the code, and the gap applies to any δ smaller than the Johnson/Guruswami--Sudan list-decoding bound of the RS code.We also show near-optimal gap results, over fields of (at least) linear size in the RS code dimension, for δ smaller than the unique decoding radius. Concretely, if δ is smaller than half the minimal distance of an RS code V ⊂ Fnq, then every affine space is either entirely δ-close to the code or, alternatively, at most an (n/q)-fraction of it is δ-close to the code. Finally, we discuss several applications of our proximity gap results to distributed storage, multi-party cryptographic protocols, and concretely efficient proof systems. We prove the proximity gap results by analyzing the execution of classical algebraic decoding algorithms for Reed--Solomon codes (due to Berlekamp--Welch and Guruswami--Sudan) on a formal element of an affine space. This involves working with Reed--Solomon codes whose base field is an (infinite) rational function field. Our proofs are obtained by developing an extension (to function fields) of a strategy of Arora and Sudan for analyzing low-degree tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Biology is the property of Instituto Internacional de Ecologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study explores the varieties of civilian praetorianism or the different ways in which civilians enable and support military coups. It specifically argues that by shaping their access to different sets of resources, civilians' proximity to the political establishment and their level of social capital influence their method of support. Civilians linked to the political establishment wield resources better suited for enabling praetorianism through tactics like initiating or plotting coup conspiracies with military officers. Conversely, civilians with high levels of social capital hold resources valuable for consolidating praetorianism through tactics like providing post-coup support and neutralizing anti-coup opposition. Qualitative evidence from three coup episodes in Sudan demonstrates the argument's plausibility. By explaining the important variation in civilian capabilities and resources, this study advances research on civilian coup involvement, which—although understudied—is critical to understanding coup politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of herbal medicine has a long history in Sudan and is widely practiced among the general population. However, there is a lack of studies examining the prevalence, patterns, and predictors of herbal medicine usage in Sudan. Thus, this study was conducted to bridge this gap. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between January and February 2021. It included Sudanese adults residing in Omdurman, Sudan, using systematic and simple random sampling methods. Data were collected using a structured, adapted questionnaire comprising: the socio-demographic characteristics and the knowledge of herbal medicine and its usage. Moreover, it investigated the commonly used herbal remedies and the participants' sources of information and procurement of such products. Additionally, we examined the correlation between socio-demographic factors, cultural beliefs, and the use of herbal medicine. Data were analyzed using SPSS, and categorical data were presented as frequencies and percentages. Associations were assessed using chi-square, Fisher's exact tests, and binary logistic regression (p < 0.05). Results: This study included 381 participants, of which 48.1% were females and 31.4% were aged 20-30. The majority of participants were aware of the practice of herbal medicine and the prevalence of its usage was 85.9%. Peppermint, acacia, hibiscus, ginger, and fenugreek were the most commonly used remedies. Chi-square and Fisher's exact testing revealed that the participants' gender and beliefs in the safety and effectiveness of herbal medicines were significantly associated with herbal medicine usage (p < 0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that only the perception of herbal medicine's safety was an independent predictor of its usage (p-value 0.038). Conclusion: This study reported a very high prevalence of herbal medicine usage, highlighting the acceptability of Sudanese adults towards herbal medicine usage. This prompts further studies to explore their safety, efficacy, and the possibility of their integration into mainstream healthcare practices and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silage preservation is critical for livestock's stable forage supply during cold seasons and fostering the recycling of agricultural byproducts. We assessed the effects of adding previously fermented juices (PFJ) and different proportions of Sorghum Sudanense (Piper) Stapf (Sudan grass) on the silage quality of Medicago sativa L. (alfalfa). A 50% alfalfa and 50% Sudan grass (M50) mixture exhibited superior performance in sensory evaluation and fermentation quality. The addition of PFJ (PFJI group) further enhanced quality, and increasing the proportion of alfalfa improved the nutritional quality. However, PFJI had no significant effect on the degradation rates of these nutritional indicators (p > 0.05). As alfalfa proportion increased, the disappearance rates of dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber in silage increased. Principal component, correlation, and membership function analyses revealed that treatment with M50 without PFJ (PFJ0+M50) had the best effect, followed by treatment with 25% alfalfa and 75% Sudan grass (PFJ0+M25) and 100% alfalfa (PFJ0+M0). Therefore, the mixing ratio of alfalfa and Sudan grass should be maintained between 25% and 50% to optimize the nutritional and fermentation qualities of silage. These findings offer crucial guidance for alfalfa silage preparation, promoting enhanced livestock industry productivity and sustainable agricultural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dental anomalies in humans are rare developmental alterations involving the normal number, morphology, size, eruption, and position of one or more teeth in primary or permanent dentitions. To date, the etiology of these anomalies is still yet to be fully understood, since they are caused by interactions between genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. However, familiarity is considered to play an important role in their onset. In this paper, we report two new cases of dental anomalies recorded in two adult skeletal individuals from the Mesolithic graveyard UA 50 (Eastern Sudan, 5th millennium BCE). The mature male from Grave 3 shows bilateral supernumerary mandibular premolars. The two additional teeth erupted on the lingual side of the mandibula between the fourth premolars and the first molars. The young adult female from Grave 1 shows the retention of the deciduous mandibular right canine, the intra vitam loss of both mandibular central incisors, and the transmigration of the right mandibular canine with the impaction of the left one. Both mandibles were subject to gross morphological analysis and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) 3D volumetric measures. Evidence of dental anomalies in past populations is still scanty and, as far as we know, the reported cases are the oldest dental anomalies so far recorded in prehistoric Sudanese populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Mental health during armed conflicts is of paramount importance, as such situations often lead to increased risks of anxiety and depression symptoms among civilians. The military conflict between the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces, which began on April 15, 2023, is currently ongoing mainly in Khartoum State. Despite the significant impact of the conflict on the region, there is a lack of data regarding the mental health status of the residents. The aim of this study is to assess anxiety and depression symptoms among residents of Khartoum State during the first months of the 2023 military conflict. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study among residents of Khartoum State between May 27 and June 19 using an online questionnaire. We used standardized screening questionnaires, namely the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) for anxiety and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for depression. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify sociodemographic factors that are associated with anxiety and depression symptoms. Results: Out of the 393 participants in the study, 70% had symptoms suggestive of depression and 57.3% suffered from anxiety symptoms. Both anxiety and depression were associated with being female (p < 0.001). Being married was a predictor of anxiety (p = 0.028) but not depression (p = 0.3). Other predictors were not significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion: High levels of anxiety and depression symptoms were prevalent among Khartoum residents during the conflict, with females and married individuals at higher risk. Immediate medical assessment is essential for identifying cases and providing support. Mental health services should be integrated into emergency response efforts, particularly focusing on vulnerable groups. Future research should address study limitations and explore coping strategies for anxiety and depression in Sudanese adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]