Human health risk assessment from potentially toxic elements in the soils of Sudan: A meta-analysis.

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in soils threaten human health through several exposure pathways. However, health risks posed by PTEs in soils in developing countries have not yet been comprehensively investigated. Thus, such countries lack important information that is needed to implement sustainable solutions.

Prevalence and determinants of goitre among children of South Kordofan state, Sudan, 2021: an urgent need for effective implementation of universal salt iodisation.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants of goitre among children aged 6-12 years at South Kordofan state.

Design: This was a cross-sectional facility-based study.

Setting: The study was conducted in twenty villages of South Kordofan state during a medical mission.

Readiness of managers and health care workers for e-Health: a cross-sectional study in Khartoum primary health care centers, Sudan.

Background: e-Health is defined as "the use, in the health sector, of digital data- transmitted, stored and retrieved electronically-for clinical, educational and administrative purposes, both at the local site and at a distance". In Primary health care (PHC), the role of e-Health in promoting PHC systems defines its need to achieve the PHC aims. This literary work aims to study the readiness of managers and healthcare workers for e-Health at Khartoum state PHC centers.

Chatbot features for anxiety and depression: A scoping review.

Chatbots can provide valuable support to patients in assessing and guiding management of various health problems particularly when human resources are scarce. Chatbots can be affordable and efficient on-demand virtual assistants for mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression. We review features of chatbots available for anxiety or depression.

Handheld echocardiographic screening for rheumatic heart disease by non-experts in rural South Kordofan, Sudan: Supporting task shifting for control of a serious disease.

Background: Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a major and preventable cause of cardiac morbidity in Sudan. It can be detected early with a handheld echocardiography (HHE) machine. Our study aimed to screen for RHD in rural South Kordofan and to investigate the ability of non-experts to obtain good quality HHE records.

Evaluating the Antagonistic Potential of Actinomycete Strains Isolated From Sudan's Soils Against .

Soil microorganisms play crucial roles in soil fertility, e.g., through decomposing organic matter, cycling nutrients or through beneficial interactions with plants.

Design and Evaluation of Interprofessional Training Program for Healthcare Students from Collectivistic Culture.

Background: Healthcare is team-based, and with increased mobility of healthcare workers, most of them will work with team members from all over the globe. Interprofessional education (IPE) research has mostly focused on specially designed programs in academic health institutions to prepare students for multidisciplinary work. Few IPE programs aim to integrate students with mixed disciplines from collectivist cultures.

An Evolutionary Bootstrapping Development Approach for a Mental Health Conversational Agent.

Conversational agents are being used to help in the screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of common mental health disorders. In this paper, we propose a bootstrapping approach for the development of a digital mental health conversational agent (i.e.

Developing a Digital Mental Health Platform for the Arab World: From Research to Action.

Individuals within the Arab world rarely access mental health services. One of the major reasons for this relates to the stigma associated with mental disorders. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), untreated and undiagnosed individuals living with moderate to severe mental health disorders are more likely to die 10-20 years earlier than the estimated life expectancy of the general population.

Prevalence of current patterns and predictive trends of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Typhi in Sudan.

Background: Enteric fever has persistence of great impact in Sudanese public health especially during rainy season when the causative agent Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi possesses pan endemic patterns in most regions of Sudan - Khartoum.

Objectives: The present study aims to assess the recent state of antibiotics susceptibility of Salmonella Typhi with special concern to multidrug resistance strains and predict the emergence of new resistant patterns and outbreaks.

Methods: Salmonella Typhi strains were isolated and identified according to the guidelines of the International Standardization Organization and the World Health Organization.

Complete genome sequence of datura leaf curl virus, a novel begomovirus infecting Datura innoxia in Sudan, related to begomoviruses causing tomato yellow leaf curl disease.

Several species in the genus Datura (family Solanaceae) are hosts for begomoviruses (family Geminiviridae), both in the New World and the Old World. Here, we report the genome characterization of two isolates of a novel Old World monopartite begomovirus infecting Datura innoxia in Sudan, which we propose to be named "datura leaf curl virus" (DaLCV). Pairwise sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analysis showed that DaLCV isolates are related to begomoviruses causing tomato yellow leaf curl disease, a global menace for tomato crops.

Comparison of artesunate and quinine in the treatment of severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria at Kassala hospital, Sudan.

Introduction: There is a need to investigate the treatment (artesunate and quinine) of severe malaria, as this will influence the outcome of morbidity and the mortality of the disease.

Methodology: An open randomized trial conducted at Kassala, Sudan. Patients with severe P.

Poor practice and knowledge among traditional birth attendants in Eastern Sudan.

To identify and understand knowledge and practice among traditional birth attendants (TBAs), a total of 111 TBAs were interviewed at Kassala, Eastern Sudan between March and April 2011. Hand-washing prior to the delivery was a universal practice but only 25.2% of the interviewed TBAs used sterilised equipment.

Diagnosis of ruptured ectopic pregnancy is still a challenge in Eastern Sudan.

This was a cross sectional prospective study carried out in Kassala Maternity Hospital, Eastern Sudan (2008-2011) to investigate the incidence rate and factors associated with delayed presentation in ruptured ectopic pregnancy. The total number of deliveries during the study period was 9578. The total number of ectopic pregnancy was 199 yielding an incidence rate of (1 in 48 deliveries or 20.

Anaemia among adults in Kassala, Eastern Sudan.

Background: The increased heterogeneity in the distribution of social and biological risk factors makes the epidemiology of anaemia a real challenge. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Kassala, Eastern Sudan during the period of January-March 2011 to investigate the prevalence and predictors of anaemia among adults (> 15 years old).

Findings: Out of 646, 234 (36.

The significance of blood levels of IgM, IgA, IgG and IgG subclasses in Sudanese visceral leishmaniasis patients.

We developed an ELISA test using leishmania antigenic extracts to detect antigen-specific antibody responses, including subclass and isotype analysis, in visceral leishmaniasis (VL) patients from the Sudan. A total of 92 parasitologically proven patients were compared with cutaneous leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, malaria, onchocerciasis and tuberculosis patients, as well as with healthy endemic and non-endemic controls. Some VL patients were examined before and after chemotherapy.

Interleukin 10 production correlates with pathology in human Leishmania donovani infections.

We have found that an important Th2 cytokine, IL-10, is produced by tissues from patients acutely infected with Leishmania donovani. In all individuals tested, IL-10 mRNA production was increased in lymph nodes taken during acute disease over that observed in postacute samples. In contrast, both pre- and posttreatment lymph nodes had readily detected mRNA for IFN-gamma and IL-2.

A rapid and simple diagnostic test for active visceral leishmaniasis.

We have developed an immunodot assay for the serodiagnosis of active visceral leishmaniasis (AVL) which utilizes protein A colloidal gold as the visualizing agent. The test is simple, requires few reagents, and can be completed in two hours. It is sensitive and specific for active visceral leishmaniasis, and generally correlates with the ELISA.

An improved serodiagnostic procedure for visceral leishmaniasis.

The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a sensitive and specific serodiagnostic method for leishmaniasis. In this report, we describe how this versatile assay can be improved by the use of protein A or protein G conjugates for the specific detection of Leishmania antibody in the sera of patients with visceral leishmaniasis. In direct comparisons with anti-immunoglobulin conjugate, enzyme-linked protein A gave significantly higher absorbance values for positive sera without a corresponding increase in absorbance values for sera from normal individuals or from patients with other diseases known to cross-react with leishmaniasis.

Visceral leishmaniasis in Sudan. Clinical features.

Kala azar is a disease endemic to the Sudan and a cause of major morbidity and mortality to affected patients when the diagnosis or treatment has been delayed. In this report we described the clinical features of 99 parasite proven patients with visceral leishmaniasis. The Sudanese kala azar patient is young in age (teens to 20's), has marked weight loss despite a continuous, excellent appetite and suffers from insomnia, epistaxis and abdominal pain.

Visceral leishmaniasis in the Sudan: comparative parasitological methods of diagnosis.

Patients with suspected kala-azar had aspirations of spleen, lymph node and bone marrow performed to compare the relative merit of each procedure. Splenic aspiration remains the method most likely to provide microscopic proof of leishmanial infection (18 of 19 samples) and was the only site positive in 5 patients. Lymph node aspirates contained parasites in 20 of 29 patients, whereas bone marrow aspirates provided the diagnosis in 18 of 28.

New mutational variants of Neurospora NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase.

The am locus of Neurospora codes for NADP-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). Four new am mutants that produced mutationally altered GDH have been characterized. Mutant am119 is a CRM-negative, complementing mutant that maps between am2 and am1.