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The archaeology and history of the Red Sea area of eastern Sudan during the Medieval period has been receiving increased attention in recent years. This paper reviews the observations of the recent archaeology and landscape surveys and integrates them with the ongoing work undertaken by The Suakin and the Red Sea Project for Archaeological Environmental and Cultural Studies directed by Ahmed Adam and undertaken by the Department of Archaeology, University of Khartoum. To date, important information has been uncovered by the expedition relating to the earliest Medieval occupation and the forms and impact of Islamic trade activity. The majority of the new data come from Suakin, 'Aydhâb (Aidab) and Badi', principal ports along the Sudanese Red Sea coast that played a major role in this trade. Previously, little was known about the area beyond these ports. The work done by the expedition so far lays the foundation for future field seasons to better understand long-term human settlements during the Medieval period of eastern Sudan by integrating archaeological surveys with excavations and oral histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background The Erythrocyte Binding Antigen (EBA) 175 has been considered as one of the most important Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) merozoite ligands that mediate invasion of the erythrocytes through their sialated receptor: Glycophorin A (GPA). The effect of the EBA 175 dimorphic alleles (F and C) on the severity of the disease is not yet fully understood. Therefore this study was designed to assess the distribution of the divergent dimorphic alleles of P. falciparum EBA-175 (F and C) in three different geographical areas in Sudan and the possible association of this dimorphism with the severity of the disease. Methods A sum of 339 field isolates of P. falciparum obtained from patients in three different geographical areas in Sudan were screened for the dimorphic alleles (F, C) of the EBA-175 using nested PCR. Results The percentage of F, C, and mixed F/C alleles were; 41%, 51%, and 8% respectively. F and C alleles showed significantly different distributions in the various geographic areas (p = 0.00). There was no significant association between malaria clinical manifestation and P. falciparum EBA-175 F and C alleles frequencies Conclusions This study showed a significant differential distribution of F and C alleles in different geographical malaria endemic areas. No significant association was observed between F and C alleles and different malaria phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]