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•Nuba Mountains carbonatite is a high-Sr composed of calcite, feldspars, quartz and fluorite.•Texture, δ13CV-PDB, δ18OV-SMOW, and high (La/Yb)N ratio suggest a magmatic origin.•Nuba ...carbonatite is much more enriched in Sr and REE compared with other ANS ones.•The enrichment in Sr and REE could be taken place during the sub-solidus metasomatism.
Carbonatite from the Arabian-Nubian Shield of Sudan occurs as dykes in the Nuba Mountains. It is composed of calcite with some feldspars, quartz and fluorite. CaO is the major constituent in this carbonatite and accordingly, it is classified as calico-carbonatite. The studied carbonatite shows exceptionally high concentrations of SrO (4.4 to 5.9 wt%). Ba, Pb and Y occur in relatively higher concentrations compared to other trace elements. Concentration of rare earth elements (ΣREEs) is relatively low (average 1550 ppm) compared to many primary igneous carbonatites. The chondrite-normalized REE patterns display higher light rare earth elements (LREEs) compared to heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) with slight negative Ce/Ce* and Eu/Eu* anomalies. The δ18OV-SMOW values range between 7.48 and 10.05‰, while δ13CV-PDB values vary from −6.24 to −7.38‰, which is close to the primary carbonatites values.
Occurrence of carbonatite as dykes with cumulate and triple junction textures, plot of the carbonatite in the true carbonatite fields of the Ba-Sr and Ba + Sr-REE + Y diagrams, igneous-derived δ13CV-PDB and δ18OV-SMOW values and high (La/Yb)N ratios indicate its primary igneous origin. The strong positive correlation between REEs and Sr suggests the occurrence of these elements as secondary strontianite, which was confirmed by SEM and EDX analyses. This might indicate that the enrichment of REEs and Sr in the studied carbonatite is not from the primary magma and most probably took place during a sub-solidus metasomatic process after the carbonatite emplacement.
The bustard genera Neotis and Ardeotis are generally considered to comprise four species each, but a 2002 molecular phylogeny found N. heuglinii interposed between two pairs of Ardeotis, with N. nuba ...basal to all seven others. In the absence of a new molecular study one approach to clarifying relationships in the Otididae is to examine the degree of difference in their self-advertisement displays (as performed solitarily, i.e., with no nearby conspecifics). In this regard N. nuba emerges as unique for possessing a strutting parade with its tail raised in a vertical fork, in complete contrast to the neck-inflation displays of other Neotis (which involve no use of the tail) and of all Ardeotis. The tail-fork in N. nuba, unknown in any other bustard, results from the outer rectrices being longer, stiffer and more pointed than the central ones. The species is also unique among bustards in its long broad sandy-rufous crown-stripe; and unlike all other Neotis the sexes are virtually alike in plumage. We consequently propose a new genus Nubotis for N. nuba. Furthermore, we suggest that confirmation of all components of the displays of N. heuglinii, N. denhami and N. ludwigii might precipitate a new genus for N. heuglinii. Fuller review of the distinctions between the Afrotropical A. arabs and A. kori on the one side and the non-Afrotropical A. nigriceps and A. australis on the other might also lead to the reinstatement of Austrotis for the latter two.
Myiasis, the invasion of live human tissue by larva of Diptera, is reported in the nasal cavity of a 5.5- year-old Iranian girl. She was referred from Golestan Province to the Shaheed Rajaei Heart ...Center in Tehran. In the 41th day after admission, a live parasite was found in her nasal secretions suction identified presumably as a second instar larvae of a facultative myiasis, Woholfartia nuba (Diptera: Sarcophagidae), on the basis of mtDNA-COI and morphological characteristics. Since presence of the larva was recorded after hospitalization, by definition, this infestation is considered a nosocomial myiasis.
Multidrug-resistant pathogens have become ubiquitous, and effective treatment alternatives are urgently required. Maggot therapy is a promising agent that is being studied to overcome ...antibiotic-resistant pathogens. This study evaluated the antibacterial activity of the larvae extract of the
Wohlfahrtia nuba
(wiedmann) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) flesh fly on the growth of five pathogenic bacterial species (methicillin-sensitive
Staphylococcus aureus
ATCC 29213, methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
ATCC BAA-1680,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
ATCC 27853,
Escherichia coli
ATCC 25922, and
Salmonella typhi
ATCC 19430) in vitro by using different techniques
.
Resazurin-based turbidimetric assay demonstrated that the
W. nuba
maggot exosecretion (ES) was potent against all the bacterial species tested, and according to the determined minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for each bacterium, gram-negative bacteria were more sensitive than gram-positive bacteria. Additionally, colony-forming unit assay showed that maggot ES was able to inhibit bacterial growth rate for all bacterial species tested, where the highest bacterial reduction was observed with methicillin-sensitive
S. aureus
(MSSA) followed by
S. typhi
. Moreover, maggot ES was shown to be concentration-dependent, where 100 μL of ES at 200 mg/mL was bactericidal towards methicillin-resistant
S. aureus
(MRSA) and
P. aeruginosa
compared with 100 μL at the MIC of the ES. Moreover, based on the result of agar disc diffusion assay, maggot extract was more efficient against
P. aeruginosa
and
E. coli
than the remaining reference strains tested. Furthermore, the combination between regular antibiotics with maggot ES at different concentrations indicated that ES acts synergistically with the tested antibiotics against the five bacterial models.
A large proportion of endangered species lack good-quality data for assessing population trends. Obtaining these data is especially challenging in remote arid ecosystems, in part because these desert ...environments have historically attracted less scientific attention and funding than more mesic areas. The Sahara-Sahel biome in northern Africa is home to over 1000 species of terrestrial vertebrates, of which 79 have been classified as threatened or near-threatened by the IUCN Red List. This includes the Nubian bustard (Neotis nuba), a species with deficient ecological information and unknown population trends. In this study we used non-systematic data collected over a 10-year period (2008–2017) across the Termit and Tin-Toumma National Nature Reserve in Niger to i) study the temporal trend in the proportion of areas occupied, ii) map occurrence, and iii) assess how vegetation productivity, elevation, and surface roughness affect species occupancy. We implemented a single-species, multi-year site-occupancy model with an intrinsic conditional autoregressive structure to account for detection probability and the spatial autocorrelation nature of the non-systematic patrolling dataset. Our results showed that birds were imperfectly detected, and detection probability increased for longer transects. Occupancy probability was higher in higher elevated areas and in smoother terrain. Contrary to expected, occupancy probability decreased with increasing vegetation productivity. However, all parameters presented high uncertainty. We found a small positive trend in the proportion of areas occupied by Nubian bustards across the study area and mapped the spatial distribution after accounting for the spatial autocorrelation. Our study provides a better understanding of the population status of Nubian bustards across the ecosystem and will serve as a guide to target and improve surveys for future conservation efforts. Systematic data collection is always advisable for monitoring biodiversity. However, our analysis demonstrates that combining advanced modeling with observations from non-systematic patrolling activities in protected areas can be used for assessing population trends of other endangered and data-deficient species across remote areas.
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•Abutulu low-grade terrane lies west of the medium-grade gneiss of the Nuba Mountains, Sudan.•This terrane is of Neoproterozoic age 778±90Ma.•It is considered as remnants of a ...continental back-arc basin.•The high-grade rocks of the Saharan Metacraton must lie further west.
Neoproterozoic, Pan-African low-grade metavolcanic rocks and associated mafic and ultramafic rocks of ophiolitic origin have long been identified within the pre-Neoproterozoic Saharan Metacraton (SMC). These low-grade rocks within generally high-grade (upper amphibolite facies) gneiss and schist have not yet been fully investigated, and their geological and geotectonic significance have been recognised only in a very few localities: (1) the Delgo–Atmur ophiolite and low-grade volcano-sedimentary belt, (2) the Rahib ophiolite and low-grade sedimentary fold and thrust belt, both in northern Sudan along the eastern boundary of the Saharan Metacraton and (3) the low-grade volcano-sedimentary rocks in the Central African Republic.
Dismembered and low-grade metamorphosed occurrences of mafic extrusive and intrusive and minor ultramafic rocks, grouped as the Arid unit, similar to those of the Arabian Nubian Shield (ANS), are reported here for the first time in the westernmost part of the Nuba Mountains, southeastern Sudan. These occurrences are interpreted to represent part of an ophiolite sequence with a lower cumulate layer composed of layered gabbro and minor cumulate hornblendite and a top layer of thick massive gabbro, pillowed basalt and basaltic andesite. The Arid unit is structurally underlain by basaltic-andesite and andesite and a metasedimentary sequence identified as turbidite and both grouped as the Abutulu unit. All of the rocks are slightly sheared, deformed and metamorphosed under low-grade greenschist facies to epidote amphibolite sub-facies. New geochemical and Sr–Nd isotope data reveal that the low-grade metavolcanic rocks of the westernmost Nuba Mountains represent a Neoproterozoic oceanic arc/back-arc assemblage. The massive gabbro and pillowed basalt of the Arid unit show the geochemical characteristics of HFSE-depleted tholeiitic basalt while the co-genetic and more evolved meta-andesite of Abutulu unit show a calc-alkaline signature. Both units display a REE pattern characterized by LILE enrichment indicating formation in an arc/back-arc environment. This arc was active at around 778±90Ma (Sm–Nd 12 WR isochron) that is similar in age to the arc magmatism in the ANS. The close interval between the TDM Nd model age (average of 10 metavolcanic samples is 814Ma) and the crystallization age (778±90Ma) is indicative of little or no involvement of older material. The western Nuba Mountains metavolcanic rocks have εNd values of +5.9 at 778Ma (average of 12 samples) indicating a depleted mantle source similar to that of the ANS (published range from +6.5 to +8.4). The εNd values of the metavolcanic rocks are different from previously published ages of high-grade basement rocks that occupy the area west of the Kabus suture and east of Abutulu (+2.2 and +3.5 for the Rashad and Abbassyia).
It is proposed that the metavolcanic and associated plutonic mafic rocks represent a unique Neoproterozoic entity named the Abutulu terrane that developed in a marginal back-arc basin west of the medium-grade gneiss of the Nuba Mountains. If the Abutulu terrane is included as a part of the ANS, then the eastern boundary of the SMC is adjacent to the western edge of the ANS along the Abutulu suture.
This study was conducted in 2010 in Eastern Nuba Mountains, Sudan to investigate ethnobotanical food and non-food uses of 16 wild edible fruit producing trees. Quantitative and qualitative ...information was collected from 105 individuals distributed in 7 villages using a semi-structured questionnaire. Also gathering of data was done using a number of rapid rural appraisal techniques, including key informant interviews, group discussion, secondary data sources and direct observations. Data was analysed using fidelity level and informant consensus factor methods to reveal the cultural importance of species and use category. Utilizations for timber products were found of most community importance than food usages, especially during cultivated food abundance. Balanites aegyptiaca, Ziziphus spina-christi and Tamarindus indica fruits were asserted as most preferable over the others and of high marketability in most of the study sites. Harvesting for timber-based utilizations in addition to agricultural expansion and overgrazing were the principal threats to wild edible food producing trees in the area. The on and off prevailing armed conflict in the area make it crucial to conserve wild food trees which usually play a more significant role in securing food supply during emergency times, especially in times of famine and wars. Increasing the awareness of population on importance of wild food trees and securing alternative income sources, other than wood products, is necessary in any rural development programme aiming at securing food and sustaining its resources in the area.
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