8393 research outputs found
Sort by
Neglected Tropical Diseases – a case for eradication and the related public health challenges
No full textThe global health community pays renewed attention to evaluating the feasibility of
elimination and eradication of additional communicable diseases, particularly Neglected
Tropical Diseases (NTDs) besides continuing to aim at reducing the burden of ill-health.
While the health and economic benefits of disease elimination and subsequent
eradication may be substantial, elimination initiatives represent resource-intensive efforts
with associated opportunity costs. Thus, besides studying the biomedical approaches
and the accompanying R&D agenda, any attempt of considering elimination and
eradication efforts also entail engaging into developing the Eradication Investment Case
(EIC). An EIC is an economic assessment addressing all three fundamental economics
questions: 1) the “What question”, that compares remaining in control mode versus
moving towards elimination and then eradication; 2) the “How question”, that assesses
which intervention/s or strategy/ies should be adopted by which stakeholder, how much
resources would be required and how they could be mobilized; and 3) the “For whom”
question, that assesses who would benefit from control or elimination in terms of health
and economic benefits, and the likely impact on equity and fairness
Synergies in Footcare across Ntds in Low And Middle-Income Countries
No full textIn this talk, Prof Gail Davey will first present the results of a recent systematic review and
meta-analysis to assess the association between footwear use and infection or disease
for those Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) for which the route of transmission or
occurrence may be through the feet. These include Buruli ulcer, cutaneous larva
migrans (CLM), leptospirosis, mycetoma, myiasis, podoconiosis, snakebite, tungiasis,
and soil transmitted helminth (STH) infections, particularly hookworm infection and
strongyloidiasis. Footwear use was significantly associated with a lower odds of infection
of Buruli ulcer (OR = 0.15; 95% CI: 0.08–0.29), CLM (OR = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.06–0.96),
tungiasis (OR = 0.42; 95% CI: 0.26–0.70), hookworm infection (OR = 0.48; 95% CI:
0.37–0.61), any STH infection (OR = 0.57; 95% CI: 0.39–0.84), strongyloidiasis (OR =
0.56; 95% CI: 0.38–0.83), and leptospirosis (OR = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.37–0.94). No
significant association between footwear use and podoconiosis (OR = 0.63; 95% CI:
0.38–1.05) was found and no data were available for mycetoma, myiasis or snakebite.
Possible prevention synergies for podoconiosis, STH and mycetoma will be discussed.
Following this, Gail will move to strategies recently initiated to integrate morbidity
management and disability prevention across lymphatic filariasis and podoconiosis in
Ethiopia. Domains, levels and degrees of potential integration will be outlined, and the
possibility of extending integration to other conditions requiring foot care (for example
leprosy, mycetoma and diabetes) will be raised
Imaging spectroscopy for estimating sugarcane leaf nitrogen concentration
No full textThis paper had been presented for promotion at the university of Khartoum. To get the full text please contact the author
[email protected] spectroscopy can provide real-time high throughput information on growing crops. The spectroscopic data can
be obtained from space-borne, air-borne and handheld sensors. Such data have been used for assessing the nutritional
status of some field crops (maize, rice, barely, potato etc.). In this study a handheld FieldSpec® 3 spectroradiometer in
the 350 – 2500 nm range of the electromagnetic spectrum was evaluated for its use to estimate sugarcane leaf nitrogen
concentrations. Sugarcane leaf samples from one variety viz., N19 of two age groups (4-5 and 6-7 months) were
subjected to spectral and chemical measurements. Leaf reflectance data were collected under controlled conditions and
leaf nitrogen concentration was obtained using an automated combustion technique (Leco TruSpec® N). The potential
of spectroscopic data for estimating sugarcane leaf nitrogen status was evaluated using univariate correlation and
regression analyses methods with the first-order reflectance across the spectral range from 400 to 2500 nm. The variables
that presented high correlation with nitrogen concentration were used to develop simple indices combining reflectances
of 2-wavelengths. Simple linear regression was then used to select a model that yielded the highest R2. These were the
R744 / R2142 index for the 4-5 months old cane crop and the (R2200 – R2025) / (R 2200 + R 2025) index for the 6-7 months old
cane crop, with R2 of 0.74 and 0.87, respectively
Nubian Language
No full textThis paper had been presented for promotion at the university of Khartoum. To get the full text please contact the other at [email protected] book is the partial outcome of the workshop entitled, _Unity and
Diversity of Nubian Languages: toward a Standardizcd Writing Systcm',
which was organized by the Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts,
University of Khartoum, together with the Centre for Advanced Studies
of African Society (CASAS), Cape Town, South Africa. The workshop
was held at the University of Khartoum, Shaljah Hall, from 7 to 8
December 2009. Writing and promoting African languages is deemed
crucial to the development ofAfrica.The persistent variable in the subject
matter of African underdevelopment, as compared to the case of the Far
East and Asia, is the fact that Africa had to seek a renaissance through
languages borrowed from the colonial powers of yesterday. This fact
however, is mosdy passed by unnoticed by many commentators. Hence
the growing awareness of the crucial role African languages can play in
realizing prosperity and development to the Black continent. Since its
estabhshment in the wake of the dismandement of the Apartheid system
in South Africa, CASAS has shouldered the responsibility of bridging a:!ld
bringing closer the sisterly languages ofAfrica with regard to grammar and
orthography. Notwithstanding the huge job that has already been done,
one can safely say that the standardization ofAfrican sisterly languages is
a venture that is still in its infancy.
The aim of the workshop was to explore the possibilities for, and
difficulties and obstacles that are, facing the standardization of the Nubian
languages. The standardization that is meant in fins regard, covers two
aspects of these languages, as perceived :from the experience of CASAS.
The first aspect is apparendy deep structural standardization, where the
approach is the unification of these languages in a sort of high register
level, that comprises them all. This process involves choosing certain
granunatical features &om some Nubian languages as a standard by which
the other languages should abide. An example of this is the objective
marker in Nubian langl1ages, which varies from one language t o another,
between the allomorph: e.g. to choose [-ga] (with pernnssible allophone
[-ka]) rather than the aUophone [-gi] (along with its equivalent al1ophone
[-ki]) or any other different allophone.This process of standardization ma
Leaf litter decomposition and nutrient release pattern of three tree species under semi-arid conditions
No full textThis study was carried out in the demonstration farm of the Faculty of Forestry, University of Khartoum, Sudan (latitude 15° 39´ N, longitude 32° 30´ E) to assess the decomposition rates (weight loss and nutrient release) of litters from three tree species, namely Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit, Benjamina bengalensis L. and Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh., during June-September 2003. Results showed that the decomposition rate constants (k week-1) of these litters were 0.12, 0.09 and 0.08 for Leucaena, Eucalyptus and Benjamina respectively. Ultimate weight loss was faster and greater for Leucaena with mass reduction more than 70% against hardly 50% for both Benjamina and Eucalyptus. Organic carbon (C) release was proportional to the rates of mass reduction of these litter types. Total nitrogen (N) was readily and continuously released from Leucaena litter, where only 12.5% of its original content remained but it was immobilized in Benjamina and Eucalyptus litters during the first weeks of decomposition process. Respective values of remained N in Benjamina and Eucalyptus litters were 50 and 34.5%. Potassium (K) and Phosphorus (P) release rates, from the three litter types, were prompt and sharp; more than 65% K was lost during the first week of decomposition while virtually all the P (99%) in these litters was lost by the end of the third week. Hence, the decay order of these litter types was in the following sequence: Leucaena > Eucalyptus > Benjamina. Besides, the decomposition rates of these litters were among the fastest in the semi-arid region
A study of the Restartability and Hydraulics of GNPOC Pipeline
No full textThis paper presents the experimental and analytical study performed at the Fluids
Engineering Section of the Mechanical Engineering Department, in partnership with China
University of Petroleum to predict the restart behavior of the GNPOC blends in the case of a
prolonged shutdown. The results obtained reflected that the safe shutdown windows for the
pipeline depend mainly on the blend’s constitution, shutdown season and the specific pipeline
segment in consideration. The study’s results had significant consequences on the pipeline’s
safety, economics and operation pattern
Performance of two commercial CFD packages in laminar flow predictions
No full textThe CFD packages: ALGOL FEA version 12.01 and PHOENICS version 1.4 were used to predict development of a plane flow at a Reynolds number of 500. The predicted velocity profiles at half and full length were compared. The two softwares were found to give predictions within 1 and 5 %, respectively, of the analytically calculated value. Entry length predictions were also compared for the two packages
Utility of Fine-Needle Aspiration As a Diagnostic Technique in Breast Lumps
No full textFine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a simple, accurate,
and safe procedure for the diagnosis of palpable breast lumps.
The purpose of this study is to emphasis the utilization of FNAC
in the Sudan and to evaluate our experience to identify the types
of various breast lesions. A one year descriptive longitudinal
study was conducted in Khartoum, Sudan. We obtained information
(patient’s personal data) and Fine-Needle Aspiration (FNA)
samples, for 200 patients with palpable breast lesions. Subsequent
tissue biopsies were taken from 131 patients of the 200
studied patients. Data were analyzed using a computer’s SPSS
program. Pearson chi-square test was used for statistical analyses.
The diagnoses of the 200 breast FNAs were as follows: 61
(30.5%) were malignant, 5 (2.5%) were suspicious, and 134
(67%) were benign lesions. Subsequent histopathological examination
was performed on 61 (100%) patients with malignant
lesions, 5 (100%) of suspicious, and 65 (48.5%) patients of 134
patients with benign lesions. FNAC revealed a 92.6% sensitivity,
a 95.2% specificity, a 95.5% positive predictive value, and a
92.2% negative predictive value. Of the 65 benign cases on cytology,
five cases were found malignant on histopathology.
FNAC of breast lesions is sensitive, specific, and highly accurate
as the initial investigation of palpable breast lesions in a population
of low resources and without screening program to diagnose
breast cancer
Evaluation of the study on Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for Kinyeti Hydropower Project
No full textAs similar to the other two studies (for Sue and Juba hydropower projects) Kinyeti Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Study is composed of thirteen chapters following the same sequence from Chapter one (Introduction) to chapter 13 (Conclusion) and ended the report by the list of references. The first four chapters are almost identical in contents for the three projects except in specific information concerning the project name and location map mentioned in the “Project Overview”. The Kinyeti Project is located in Eastern Equatoria State of Southern Sudan
Macro-minerals in the milk of healthy and mastitic cows.
No full textThis paper had been presented for promotion at the university of Khartoum. To get the full text please contact the other at [email protected] values were obtained using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technique for chlorine, potassium and calcium levels in milk from subclinical and clinical mastitis-infected cows. Concentration values for sodium were determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Comparisons were made with healthy cow's milk. Subclinical mastitic milk had significantly higher levels of sodium and chlorine and significantly lower levels of potassium and calcium than the milk from healthy cows. Comparison between clinical mastitic milk revealed a significant increase in sodium and chlorine levels for clinical mastitic milk, while levels of potassium showed a non significant change and calcium levels decreased significantly