May 2013
‫علمي‬
An occasion to review research
accomplishments and set
future plans
Rewarding active researchers
and stimulating further work
A new study: Muscat’s urban
environment is prone to air
quality degradation
Al-Khod Dam: Subsurface Soil
Properties, Infiltration, and
Recharge Efficiency
May 2013
His Highness Sayyid Shihab Bin Tariq Al-Said
TRC is keen to invest in
SQU’s scientific potentials
1
Dr. Ali Saud Al-Bimani
Vice-Chancellor
study
Editorial Supervision
Kahled Neji Day
12 6 Interview
study
16 20 Feature
Manging Editor
Basma Yahya Al Shabibi,
Editor
Salim Rabia AL Ghailani
Hassan Ali AL Hosni
Translated by
Hisham Jawad
Design and Production
Scientific Publishing and
Outreach Department
Photography
Mohd. Zayed AL-Habsi
Center Educational
Technology
May 2013
2
Female hormones play an important role in fat
deposition
10
The Department opens up new prospects for excellence
Novel ideas, IPs and Patents
18
A new study provides a better understanding of the
interaction between aquifers and recharge in the Samail 20
Catchment.
Setting strategic plans for research and postgraduate
studies
22
Conference Attendance Section is a gateway to the
world
Over 600 conferences were attended by SQU
academics in 2012
27
26
study
Dedication and
Commitment
Dr. Ali Saud Al-Bimani
Vice-Chancellor
developing research teams, promoting the exchange
of scientists and researchers, being committed
to developing employees, and implementing
and enhancing international expertise exchange
programs.
The University has sought to build bridges of
collaboration with The Research Council (TRC)
by holding joint conferences and symposiums
generously funded from TRC’s annual budget.
In addition, it has encouraged its academics to
apply for TRC research funding, a system offering
opportunities to finance research projects through
the Open Research Grant Program and H.M.
Strategic Research Projects Grant Program. One
of the latest forms of such cooperation is the TRCapproved Students Research Support Program
which would contribute to preparing a generation
of young researchers to conduct studies having
positive impact in different areas.
Finally, we should underline that these distinct
scientific activities are testament to what the
University can offer to the society. This is how
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said – may Allah
protect him – the builder of this glorious landmark
of knowledge has envisioned the University, a torch
of light and guidance. The University is still worthy
of the great trust which His Majesty has placed upon
it to shoulder the responsibility of disseminating
knowledge and become a guiding beacon of science
and culture.
May 2013
Sultan Qaboos University is proud of a quarter
century of great achievements. Since its inception
in 1986, the University has been a lighthouse of
thought and renewable human knowledge, advancing
society towards higher scientific and research levels.
Throughout its history, the University has continued to
supply the community with skilled professionals and
conducted scientific studies with fruitful outcomes.
On its glorious Day, the University steps up its
sustained efforts to keep pace with the current
scientific developments, innovations and discoveries.
Thus, it constantly updates its study plans, educational
programs, research projects, and diverse activities.
No doubt research is one of the main factors which
determines world university rankings, which is why
the University has paid careful attention to supporting
research projects, putting in place various forms of
funding. Accordingly, the Deanship of Research has
been established to become a major guiding unit
responsible for promoting and supporting research
extensively.
The Deanship of Research has been designed to
develop an effective research environment in the
University by creating a stimulating academic
atmosphere. This consists in supporting research with
flexible administrative services, a solid infrastructure,
increased spending on research from local and external
sources, and service contracts and consultancies,
as well as applying a system of fairly allocating
grants. The Deanship also seeks to build capacities
through opening training and postgraduate programs,
3
Main news
SQU celebrates 13th anniversary of H.M. the Sultan’s visit
The Sultan Qaboos University (SQU)
is celebrating today the 13th anniversary of the Royal visit of His Majesty
Sultan Qaboos bin Said under the patronage of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasir Al Bakri. During the celebration
ceremony, strategic research projects
funded by the Royal grants of His
Majesty the Sultan will be announced.
These projects are of paramount importance for the development plans in
the Sultanate as they address different
issues. The event will include a speech
by Dr. Ali bin Saud al-Baimani, SQU
Vice Chancellor and another speech
by Dr. Amir bin Ali al-Rawas, SQU
Deputy Vice Chancellor for Higher
Studies and Research. A number of
distinguished researchers, academics,
employees and students at SQU will be
rewarded.
An exhibition for research and scientific activities of all colleges will be inaugurated. Seven books published by the
Academic Publication Board will be
launched. Meanwhile, all colleges will
mark this occasion by organizing exhibitions and holding seminars covering
diverse academic achievements.
Physiological Lipids of Low Plasma
Abundance as Modulators of
Thrombin Generation
May 2013
4
A medical study is under way at SQU to investigate specific domains and residues of
clotting factors that bind novel anticoagulant lipids and delineate the importance of
lipid structures in mediating anticoagulation. Dr. Yajnavalka Banerjee, of the College
of Medicine and Health Sciences, says the research project will evaluate both the anticoagulation mediated by the lipids in in vivo systems specifically pertaining to cerebral ischemia/hemorrhage and the effects of the lipids on the prothrombinase (Factor
Xa-Factor Va-Prothrombin-PL) assembly using atomic force microscopy. Other goals
have to do with identifying the residues in the lipid binding domain of FXa (from 1)
involved in PCN/LSF interaction using NMR spectroscopy and examining the levels
of Palcar and LSF in individuals pertaining to the Omani population. Ultimately, the
research will seek an effective procedure for the successful use of these lipids as biomolecular markers to detect thromboembolic disorders.
Lipids modulate activities of blood clotting factors by specific lipid protein interactions. The researcher points out that the long-standing paradigm for such interactions
posits that a phosphatidylserine-containing phospholipid(PL) membrane provides a
surface for assembly of clotting factor complexes. Specifically, complex formation
involves binding of the amino-terminal gammacarboxyglutamic acid (Gla)-containing
domains of clotting factors to membrane surfaces. However, lipids of minor physiological abundance can significantly affect blood coagulation. In preliminary studies, the
academic has identified two physiological lipids – palmitoyl-L-carnitine and lysosulfatide – with substantial anticoagulant properties due to their ability to inhibit thrombin generation by factor Xa-factor Va complex. Surprisingly, the researcher remarked,
anticoagulation mediated by both lipids requires factor Xa but is independent of the
N-terminal Gla domain of clotting factor Xa, suggesting a very unusual mechanism by
which regulatory lipids bind to clotting factor structures that are not the Gla domain.
Dr. Banerjee underlined that this application not only advances a novel paradigm for
lipid-clotting factor interactions that could ultimately be translated to the design of
novel anticoagulation leads/strategies, but also aims at designing an effective procedure where physiological lipids can be used as predictors of life threatening cardiovascular disorders.
Investigating Chromium Pollution
of Fresh Water in Oman
A research work has been launched at the College of Engineering, SQU, to investigate
the relationship between secondary chromite deposits and the pollution of fresh water
in Oman. The study is only a seed project for a large-scale follow-up research. Being in
its initial form, the attempt is designed to identify primary chromite-rich zones within
the ophiolite sequence of Oman that act as source area for potential secondary sedimentary placer deposits in adjacent wadis. It will also seek to locate and examine such
placer deposits, being possible targets for future exploration and industrial exploitation. For this purpose, HD Satellite imaging will be used and geological and geo-morphological mapping will be in place to explore any possible primary chromite deposits.
Water samples will be analyzed for potential chromium pollution. The ultimate goal is
to identify local processes, often microbial, that lead to a chromium pollution of drinking waters. Previous work has detected this problem in the Batinah region of Oman. It
is expected that the research will look into ways and means to develop concepts which
would remediate polluted waters.
News
Impact of on- and off-campus
housing on students’
performance
The relationship between SQU students’
accommodation and academic performance is the subject of a new research
work conducted by Dr Mizhil Islam at
SQU. The study is expected to provide
a comparative picture of the on-campus
and off-campus life style of SQU students and evaluate students’ needs and
satisfaction regarding existing housing
accommodation. The data will be collected from all groups of students through a
designed sample survey and analyzed using different statistical techniques.
The study will engage under- and
post-graduate students in developing
survey instruments, field data collection,
data management, data analysis and tabulation, report writing and dissemination
of findings. Students will be able to use
the data for their projects and Masters
theses.
Students from all over the country
get enrolled in SQU on a competitive basis. However, it is not a fully
residential university. It has a limited
residential facility for female students,
while male students live off-campus.
Living in two different environments
might impact their academic life differently. In recent years, one important
phenomenon of the students’ academic performance is that on the average
female students have performed better
than male students. According to the
researcher, this might be due to the fact
that female students live on-campus.
Identification of camel meat
quality parameters
Bioactive compounds from
Oman marine organisms
A new study is seeking to screen Oman
marine organisms for anti-microbial,
anti-quorum sensing and anti-tumour
activities. Mainly, it will focus on isolation of bioactive compounds from
marine microorganisms, fungi and soft
corals. Marine organisms are a rich
source of new bioactive molecules
that exhibit anti-microbial, anti-viral,
anti-tumour, anti-inflammatory, and
anti-fouling properties.
Commenting on possible benefits of
bioactive compounds, Dr. Sergey Piontkovski, conducting the project at
the College of Agricultural and Marine
Sciences, SQU, said the compounds
might have applications in medicine,
biotechnology and industry. Only few
bioactive compounds were isolated
from marine organisms inhabiting the
Arabian Gulf and Oman Sea. He added that these organisms were selected
because of their high biotechnological
potential and existence of chemical
extracts as well as bacterial and fun-
gal cultures obtained by the researcher
and co-investigators at previous projects.
“Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-quorum sensing and anti-tumour compounds
will be purified using a bioassay guided
fractionation”, he said. Identification and
structure elucidation of bioactive compounds will be done in cooperation with
scientists from Germany and USA. Also,
the mode of action for some bioactive
compounds will be determined. Throughout the project, emphasis will be placed
on capacity building especially through
the training of young Omani scientists.
Education benefits will occur through
scientific publications in peer review
journals and knowledge transfer. He concluded that his work would help explore
the marine resources in Oman, train SQU
students and discover novel anti-microbial, anti-quorum sensing and anti-tumour
compounds from Oman marine organisms that could be used in aquaculture,
agriculture, and medicine.
Urban Primacy of Muscat
A new research project is under way to
examine the urban primacy of Muscat,
the capital city of the Sultanate, and
shed light on the factors behind the
dominance and its effects on various
aspects of life. Urban primacy has to do
with dominance of the largest city on
the rest of the cities of a State through
its size of population, functions, share
of infrastructure elements, aspects of
socio-economic and political life, its
impact on the rest of the cities, and the
extent of the spatial mutual relationship between the capital city and other
cities in a country. Dr. Lutfi Kamal, of
the Department of Geography, SQU, is
approaching this topic along four main
themes. The first one deals with the
concept of urban primacy and reviews
some of the methods of Urban Primacy measurement. The second theme is
about the characteristics of the urban
system of Oman, whereby Muscat ex-
ercises its dominant role as a primate city.
The third theme addresses population
growth and urbanization of the city especially after 1970s. This includes tracking
the evolution of its relative contribution
to the total population of the Sultanate
of Oman, and in the total urban population. In addition, the evolution of Muscat dominance in the urban system of
Oman will be monitored, alongside the
growing population pressures and their
impacts on the urban system. The fourth
theme focuses on the application of Urban Primacy measurement methods and
the foundations of urban domination of
the city through intensive field studies.
The most important consequences of the
dominance of the city and its effects on
the other areas in the Sultanate shall be
highlighted. The researcher will develop
recommendations to address this issue
within the urban system in Oman.
Chemical pollution effects on
Arabian toad
ness. This will involve developing an
optimized protocol for camel meat protein extraction that provides sufficient
amounts of relatively pure proteins.
The researcher argues that identification of such proteins could help predict
the tenderness and juiciness of camel
meat at a time that decisions in the
slaughterhouse can be made, i.e. during the time period between killing of
the animal and chilling of the carcass.
A more general aim is the assessment
of proteomics as a method for the identification of marker proteins that can
predict meat quality. A combination
of two-dimensional electrophoresis
and mass spectrometry will be used
to study metabolic alterations of various proteins in one-humped camel six
muscles.
Dr. Barry will use tadpoles of the Arabian
toad (Bufo arabicus) as a model organism
to study interactions between chemical
pollutants and anti-predator responses
in this species. The Arabian toad (Bufo
arabicus) is the only amphibian found in
Northern Oman and is thus an important
iconic national species, a key sentinel
species and a potential indicator of ecosystem health. He will test whether sublethal exposures to the toxicants suppress
the development of anti-predator behaviours or decrease survival rates, and most
importantly identify underlying physiological mechanisms that may cause such
changes. The academic believes that his
research will lead to a greater understanding of the ways in which anthropogenic
pollution can affect freshwater ecosystems and develop B. arabicus as a model
organism for environmental testing and
monitoring in the region.
May 2013
The demand for camel meat appears to
be increasing due to health reasons, as
they produce meat with relatively less
fat than other animals. However, camel
meat has been associated with low quality attributes because it comes mostly
from old camels, which were primarily
kept for racing, milk and transportation
rather than meat. Proteomic technology
is a powerful tool to identify proteins that
reflect the important mechanisms and
contributions to development of a satisfactory meat quality.
Dr. Issam Kadhum, of the College of
Agricultural and Marine Sciences, is embarking on a research project aimed at
analyzing the proteome of camel muscle
tissue collected immediately after slaughter, and search for individual proteins that
correlate with meat tenderness and juici-
A research project is in the pipeline to
document behavioural, morphological
and physiological responses of the
tadpoles to predators and the effects
of two reference toxicants (Malathion
and cadmium) on their expression. The
researcher Dr. Michael James Barry,
of the College of Science, SQU, says
that pollution from pesticides, metals, and organic chemicals is a major
threat to freshwater resources in Oman
and worldwide. Understanding the
effects on these man-made chemicals
on natural ecosystems is a major goal
of ecotoxicology. Recent research
demonstrates that natural stressors
such as predation pressure can synergistically increase the effects of pollutants on sensitive species, but these
effects remain poorly documented and
their underlying causes have not been
investigated.
5
Interview
His Highness Sayyid
Shihab Bin Tariq AlSaid, TRC Chairman, to
Tawasul:
TRC is keen to invest in SQU’s scientific
potentials
May 2013
The emergence of The Research Council (TRC) in
2005 was a new turning point in research at all
levels in the Sultanate, as it encourages scientific
activities, supports research projects, and serves
as an important source of research funding in the
country. SQU has been favored to receive generous funds through TRC’s grant programs
launched in 2010. Various public academic institutions compete to win such funding. Up until
2012, the university has received funds worth
over three million rials for forty research projects.
Funded projects are one key factor for generating
wealth and promoting social progress. They are
likely to produce novel ideas which would ultimately pave the way for future applications and inFruitful Collaboration
How does TRC evaluate the
role of SQU?
6 On the directives of His Majesty
Sultan Qaboos Bin Said – May Allah guard and protect him, SQU has
been established to be the first ever
national university in the Sultanate.
Thanks to the cumulative experience and continued development,
the university has become a vigorous academic and research environment with huge potentials. Thus, it
sights into socio-economic problems. TRC has risen to the challenges of achieving its goals, and
specifically raising social and cultural awareness.
Therefore, it constantly strives to provide solid
ground for scholarship in a way that would meet
expectations and underscore its role as a proactive academic institution. During the last five years,
TRC has made several successes in applying its
strategic development plans, and thus boosting its
role. Tawasul had the following interview with H.H.
Sayyid Shihab Bin Tariq Al-Said, Advisor to His Majesty the Sultan and Chairman of TRC, in which he
elaborated on the TRC’s aspirations, challenges,
vision, and relations with SQU and other academic
institutions.
has become the focus of TRC and
other institutions. In this regard,
TRC has been keen to build up the
university’s capabilities in order to
promote research projects and address existing challenges, working
hand in hand with the university.
Do you think that the current
research efforts in the university meet TRC’s expectations
as to promoting research in
the Sultanate?
At the beginning of their career, academic institutions, including SQU,
in building capacity and benefiting
from other international models in
this respect. Further, the cooperation
between TRC and SQU has culminated in sponsoring a chair of nanotechnology for water desalination
proposed and carried out by SQU.
How do you see the outcomes
of the joint collaboration between SQU and TRC as to the
projects being undertaken by
the university’s academics?
Sustained efforts are under way between the two parties to promote the
current collaboration. Presently,
there are research teams from SQU
working on research projects funded
by TRC. These teams include some
assistant researchers who build on
their team work to pursue their postgraduate studies. According to figures, TRC is funding twelve SQU
research projects in the health sector
and community service, six in education and human resources, two in
culture, social sciences and humanities, three in communications and
information systems, eight in the
environmental and biological resources, and eleven in the areas of
energy and industry. At the same
time, there are twenty-three master’s students and twenty-two doctoral candidates doing research
within these projects.
Partnerships
In regard to relations with other institutions, a research agreement has
been signed between TRC and SQU
in collaboration with the Queensland University of Technology to
carry out strategic research projects
within the Road Safety Research
Program. This is so significant as it
addresses an important issue in the
society as well as promoting cooperation between SQU and other world
universities, which would help SQU
No doubt TRC functions as an umbrella for research and innovation,
supporting all academic and research institutions in this regard. It
has sought to build partnerships
with all service organizations and
even with the private sector. As I
said earlier, SQU has had the knowhow and good institutionalized
structure which provide solid
ground for such partnerships. TRC
has been keen to progressively activate the programs included in the
research strategy, based on available
resources, priority or importance,
and the achievement of its goals.
Top on the list of programs is that of
the open research grants which are
open to all researchers who come
from different institutions looking
for some sort of funding. They can
submit their research proposals according to their own domains. Another program is the strategic research grant program which deals
with strategic societal matters defined according to different sectors.
Another one is the program of re-
system of research and innovation
programs, which would achieve diverse purposes. We are confident
that the programs are on the right
track, but we need some time to see
the results so we can say that we truly have a stimulating environment.
Also, institutions and researchers
need to cooperate in order to achieve
this goal. TRC has made several
strides in this regard besides the programs in support of researchers.
Constant efforts were made to build
the Research and Innovation Complex, whose first stage was approved
by the Board of Tenders. It is hoped
that the Complex will be the robust
catalyst or fruitful territory that
brings together significant research
institutions, companies, and the
government. We will seek to transfer knowledge generated by research institutions to industry.
Another relevant project endorsed
by TRC is the Oasis of Research and
Innovation, which would be the
place for translating Omani youth’s
creative ideas into products or companies that can serve the society and
add new value to the Omani economy.
TRC’s Contributions
What are the most important
research contributions of
TRC to the Omani society?
One of the strategic objectives of TRC is to introduce a
stimulating research environment. What are the mechanisms for attaining this goal?
Is the current situation encouraging for researchers?
Is the stimulus satisfactory?
Indeed, having an encouraging research environment is one of the
challenges of research. The first
phase of the blessed Omani renaissance focused on education as it underpins research; then, more attention was given to research itself.
Drawing up its strategy, TRC was
keen to put in place an integrated
With a view to the missions stipulated in the royal decree on the formation of TRC, we see that the most
important mission is to establish and
develop a scientific strategy and a
complete national plan for research,
define the priorities of the national
plan for research, and design programs for implementing these priorities and make sure they are carried
out properly. On the other hand,
there are the duties of providing
funds for both individual innovations and the publishing of valued
academic manuscripts. Since its inception, TRC has made a lot of
achievements for the society. Briefly, a national plan for research was
set, the priorities of research defined, and the strategic fields identified so as to find appropriate solu-
May 2013
focused their attention on teaching
with a certain level of interest in research. SQU must be proud of receiving an annual direct support
from H.M. the Sultan for strategic
research projects. This kind of support will contribute to building research capacity in the university and
pave the way for a dynamic research
movement. This has been shown in
the ability of SQU to compete effectively with other universities in the
Sultanate for winning TRC funding.
Some 22 research projects have
been funded through the open research grant program.
Is there any plan to expand
the partnership between TRC
and SQU through promoting
the university’s research resources, like establishing specialized research centers or
chairs or furnishing its labs
with modern equipment?
search centers and chairs. This program serves strategic goals at the
forefront of which are technology
and knowledge transfer, excellence
in research, and building research
capacity in the Sultanate. Nowadays, the Research Council is putting the final touches to important
research programs such as the strategic social observatory research
program, the student research support program, and the researcher
award program. Most of these programs in addition to other innovative and proposed ones will expand
TRC’s cooperation with SQU and
other research institutions in the
Sultanate.
7
Interview
tions
by
research.
Other
accomplishments include the Road
Safety Research Program that addresses road accidents, the dubas
research program, and the strategic
social observatory research program
that detects social changes in the
Omani society. Another important
area has to do with addressing the
challenges of research such as the
lack of research capacity and incentive environment and the mechanisms necessary to overcome these
problems. One final accomplishment of which we feel proud has
been to go into genuine and meaningful partnerships with various institutions covering research activities, civil service and the private
sector.
has a team including Omanis from
academic, public and private sectors. The drafting of a research strategy was the key project. We invited
everyone to take part in four symposiums and one international conference to discuss the drafting of the
project. In an attempt to mirror the
reality, the Council has formed several committees that include representatives for different institutions.
Are there any programs for
supporting Omani researchers, who are neither academics nor PhD holders, to conduct research work?
The idea of supporting researchers
is based on several important elements, such as the engagement of
researchers in a research environment, usually a university or college, but possibly the institutions
that can carry out specialist studies
like the ministries of agriculture and
health. TRC intends to invest in
such researchers. At the moment,
we are working on a program to
support student research in different
academic institutions.
Challenges
Generally the society is unaware of TRC’s scientific
achievements at all levels. Is
there any mechanism to sort
this out?
The Council is eager to connect to
the community through different
channels. It has engaged various institutions in its research programs
and linked up with the community
through the media on a weekly basis. The Council has created other
programs to raise awareness in the
society about research achievements. These include giving lectures, holding seminars, and funding
conferences. Hopefully, our future
programs should be more focused
on the outcomes of the programs
and research funded by the Council.
Standards
Are there specific standards
as to the quality and themes
of TRC-funded research?
The Research Council is currently
financing the research through two
programs: the open research grant
program and the strategic research
grant program. The former receives
research proposals from investigators in all areas and then specific
standards are applied to select the
best. As to the latter program, the
Council has identified certain strategic research areas of national interest. Appropriate mechanisms are in
place in terms of forming committees and defining the research topics
and methodologies of research projects. This is indicative of the systematic approach we follow at the
Council and its immediate relevance
to the Omani society, an approach
that achieves more than one purpose
at the same time.
GCC Summit Statement
The statement of the last
GCC summit underlined the
importance of research activities. How do you see that?
How can TRC translate that
so as to achieve the aspirations of the Sultanate, given
the key challenges in the
growing competition between
the countries in the region to
assume a leading position in
science and research?
As I said, TRC is known to have
drawn up a long-term national research strategy which is considered
to be a road map for us. We have
closely examined the message of the
concluding statement of the Gulf
Cooperation Council’s (GCC) summit. It does conform to our strategy,
since we have already identified the
challenges in this regard and set our
strategic aims as to the building of
research capacity, excellence in research, research linkages, knowledge transfer, and incentive research
environment. Therefore, we have
established an integrated system of
research and innovation programs
which would correct the research
and innovation track. We have also
addressed the challenges, achieved
the goals, and got access to global
scientific developments and their localized and useful applications in
the Sultanate. This is promising for
the research activities in the country.
To realize our aims, it is imperative
that no effort be spared and that
scholars in various fields be keen to
generate world-class quality research outputs that address national
issues.
What is your opinion of Omani researchers? What aspects do you think they need
to develop?
There are some challenges facing
research in the Sultanate. These include the lack of research capacity
in regard to the number of researchers, publications, and refereed journal papers as well as the quality of
research output. TRC is working
through the system of research programs to overcome these obstacles.
No doubt these issues need a lot of
attention and hard work.
May 2013
8
Some say TRC seems distant
from the community problems. What do think about
that?
TRC has as its goal to be an umbrella for supporting research. Since its
inception, it has been dedicated to
societal issues. I can confirm that the
bulk of the Council’s present outputs are attributed to the planning
and decision-making by Omanis.
So, how come such people are not
considered close to the problems of
society? Also, we have been keen to
engage all community groups in our
projects. So each research project
‫قمنا بتحديد منظومة‬
‫متكاملة من الربامج البحثية‬
‫واالبتكارية التي من شأنها‬
‫أن تصحح مسار البحث‬
‫العلمي واالبتكار‬
News
New techniques in producing
petrochemicals
An SQU research team is carrying
out a research project aimed to develop a way of producing polymeric
materials with tailored properties
and controlled amount of polar
monomers by coordinating polymerisation. Producing polyolefinic
materials is a challenging goal for
both local and international industry. The properties of these petrochemicals entirely depend on the
types of sterocenters on the polymer
backbone and their regularities.
Thus, there is an enormous demand
to develop a synthetic methodology
to control the microstructure of the
polymer by using tacticity as a technique or incorporating comonomers
such as acrylates. Developing such a
methodology will help tailor the
properties of some critical materials,
in terms of glass transition, melting
and heat deformation temperature
along with other chemical features.
These have considerable impact on
the industrial applicability of the
materials.
The findings are expected to have
effective applications and positive
economic contributions to Omani
industry, like oil refineries and other
petrochemical areas. Hopefully, the
project will attract external funds
from both local and international industry, such as Shell.
RDI TO ENHANCE WATER
PRODUCTIVITY
An SQU academic is investigating the effects of various levels
of regulated deficit irrigation
(RDI) on the water productivity
in horticultural crops. Dr.
Mumtaz Khan, of the Agricultural and Marine Sciences College, will also try to identify the
sensitive growth stages of various crops with regards to RDI,
and the detrimental impact on
crop yields and fruit quality.
Other goals are to monitor physiological and biochemical responses
to deficit irrigation regimes, determine optimum water use efficiency
for major horticultural crops with
RDI and explore the economic feasibility of using RDI levels.
One of the options to minimize the
colossal loss of precious water is to
use deficit irrigation with efficient
irrigation systems that deliver high
water use efficiency. Farmers in
Genetics of SLE in the Sultanate
A new study has been carried out at
SQU Hospital to examine the systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a
multisystem, autoimmune, connective tissue disorder. The disease has
a broad range of clinical presentations. It has no single diagnostic
marker and the natural history of
SLE among different ethnic and geographical groups is highly variable.
Dr. Reem Abdawani says that “the
interaction between genetic and environmental factors is believed to
influence the pathogenesis of SLE
through abnormal immune responses.” However, she adds, “the genetic
factors identified so far only explain
a small proportion of the heritability
of this multifactorial disorder.” Certain characteristics of the Omani
population namely inbreeding and
consanguinity make it attractive to
consider studying the genetics of
SLE among Omani population, and
yet no studies to date have been published in this regard.
Oman do not practice optimum use
of irrigation water. The crops are
usually over-irrigated with a false
thinking of a way to enhance agricultural production. The excess irrigation can result in water and nutrient losses below the root zone
resulting in the low irrigation water
and nutrient use efficiency.
Dr. Khan underlines that efficient
irrigation practices can optimize
water use thereby reducing agricultural input costs and increasing water productivity. In the wake of advances and changes in irrigation
practices, physiological response of
crop, soil water potential monitoring
techniques, delivery of deficit water
to the agricultural fields, equipment
required to control and handle deficit water, and technology transfer
for above practices require in-depth
and integrated approach.
In addition to technology adaptation, relevant standards for the use
of deficit water for agricultural sustainability
need
identification
through experimentation and the
applied research suitable to the environmental conditions of the Sultanate of Oman.
The researcher has identified a number of families with high degree of
clustering of SLE especially within
the Sharqiya region of Oman. She is
applying the latest molecular techniques to search for the underlying
genetic defect in these families.
Identified genes will then be tested
in a larger cohort of sporadic SLE
cases to further clarify the role they
play in the more common form of
this disease. Dr. Abdawani underlines that her study could improve
the understanding of the molecular
underpinning of SLE, an important
step toward the development of new
therapeutic strategies.
An SQU researcher is investigating
the academic English writing needs
and challenges of postgraduate students at SQU. The study involves
students and teachers in different
postgraduate programs and courses.
It addresses research questions concerning the types of academic writing tasks required of learners, skills
needed to accomplish these tasks,
main challenges learners face in accomplishing writing tasks and how
these challenges might be addressed.
Dr. Ali Al Zafiti underlines that Academic English writing is one of the
most crucial requirements of postgraduate studies. Academic English
is of critical importance to any effective effort to support postgraduate students and ensure higher rates
of successful completion.
He added that there are growing expectations and requirements for
SQU not only to attract but also support significant numbers of new local and international postgraduate
students. More effective support for
these students is likely to be needed
to ensure that there are reasonable
standards of research design and
writing, and rates of completion and
low dissatisfaction levels. This is especially the case since postgraduate
researchers will be a central focus of
SQU in the near future. Effective
academic English courses will be
important to achieving such goals
since assignments and dissertations
are often expected to be produced in
English, he concluded.
May 2013
Assessing Academic Writing of SQU Postgraduate Students
9
Study
A new study warns against a possible link to
cardiovascular risk in women
Female hormones play an important role in
fat deposition
Obesity and other associated diseases are on the rise in western countries as well
as in Arab gulf countries whereby fast fat food is ubiquitous. Many attempts have
been made to find solutions to this growing problem, but in vain due to the diversity of factors leading to obesity.
Dr. Jumana Saleh
May 2013
10
The major fat storage hormones known
are insulin and cortisol. Interestingly, a
hormone produced from adipocytes; the
acylation stimulating protein ((ASP)) was
shown to exert potent fat storage effects
that were superior and independent to insulin function in the adipose tissue microenvironment and in animal studies.
Previous studies showed that plasma
(ASP) levels were increased in obesity,
with greater increases observed in women
than in men. This has prompted Dr. Jumana Saleh, of the Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, SQU, to conduct research on the relationship between
(ASP) and obesity in men, women, and
children. She has come up with interesting findings that were published in scientific journals and specialized online websites. In an interview, she talked about her
work and the latest developments in this
regard.
She said that “obesity is one of the major
public health challenges of this century. It
has been described as a leading cause of
preventable death as it is associated with
major health risks including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Obesity prevalence continues to increase at alarming
rates raising major public health concerns. The increasing prevalence of obesity among women is of particular concern.
Severe obesity is becoming more preva-
lent in women than in men especially as
they become older. International surveys
have shown that 1 in 3 women die from
heart disease, compared to 1 in 30 of cancer. Omani women are not an exception to
this obesity epidemic and its associated
risks.”
She added that “according to the most recent survey obesity prevalence in Omani
women is higher than in men. 26% of
Omani women are obese compared to
22% of Omani men, and women overwhelmingly exceeded men considering
abdominal obesity prevalence and metabolic complications accounting for 53.5%
women classified as abdominally obese
compared 19.7% men. In spite of these
findings, the association of obesity with
metabolic complications especially heart
disease is commonly perceived as a male
problem, and risk in women is often underestimated, however with devastating
outcome.”
Obesity Mystery
Dr. Jumana Saleh explained that “researches are actively investigating factors
that contribute to increased obesity prevalence in women compared to men. Female hormones play an important role in
fat deposition and its metabolic consequences. It is therefore important to understand the effect of female hormones on
specific fat storage factors and their association with cardiovascular risk. Several
studies have investigated the role of sex
hormones on lipid metabolism, yet no
clear gender related connection was established considering women. Many factors have been identified to affect lipid
metabolism and weight regulation.”
Reasons of Obesity
As to the factors behind this problem, she
said “I decided to focus on the role of
(ASP) and metabolic risk factors in women. My theory was that female hormones
particularly progesterone triggers (ASP)
production which may directly enhance
female type fat storage. When I joined the
Biochemistry lab in the College of Medicine at SQU in 2004, I conducted several
projects, along with graduate students, to
investigate (ASP) and other metabolic
risk factors in women, particularly Omani
women. Fortunately, our investigations to
date have met our expectations considering the role of (ASP) in Women. We recently found that (ASP) levels show a
strong correlation with female hormones
during a normal healthy cycle, a feature
that was not established for insulin.
Growing evidence in our lab suggests an
enhanced effect for (ASP) in females particularly in subcutaneous fat.”
New Evidence
She carried on: “recently, we have shown
novel findings relating (ASP) to fat metabolism and hormonal changes in females. As a result several papers were
published from Oman in reputable international journals, two papers in Obesity
and one in the European Journal of Endocrinology, on novel findings on (ASP) and
its association with fat metabolism and
physiological hormonal changes in females. We found a strong in vivo association with fluctuating progesterone levels
whereas no association was found with
insulin. Also increased triglyceride levels
at late gestation were the main predictors
of (ASP) levels in pregnant women sug-
gesting a role for female hormone changes. We recently published a review in the
renowned journal»Obesity reviews» collating in vivo and in vitro evidence relating (ASP) to female fat storage, including
our findings in Oman. Recently, we published evidence showing that abdominal
obesity in men was the main predictor of
increased plasma (ASP) levels which significantly associated with biochemical
markers of atherogenic risk including
highly oxidizable small dense lipoproteins, and that (ASP) levels were associated with known cardiovascular risk factors. This study suggested that (ASP) may
contribute to CAD risk in abdominally
obese subjects. These findings were presented in the international DALM conference in Qatar, and were recently published in ISRN Obesity.”
New Study
Dr.Jumana Saleh concluded her interview
by disclosing her next work: “the association of abdominal obesity with (ASP) levels and cardiovascular risk in Omani
women is our next target. We are also
currently conducting animal and tissue
culture studies confirming the role of female hormones on (ASP) levels and function in rats showing promising results that
confirm our hypothesis of a specific role
for (ASP) in females. We therefore suggest that (ASP) may largely contribute to
obesity prevalence in women. Increase in
adipose tissue mass under the influence of
(ASP) may therefore contribute to increased production of inflammatory mediators and cardiovascular risk factors including atherogenic adipokines that may
significantly increase cardiovascular risk
and stroke in women.”
A new study: Muscat’s urban
environment is prone to air quality
degradation
An ambient air monitoring network is
necessary for reducing air pollution
A research team from the Department of Geography, SQU, has carried out a research project to observe,
measure, model and analyze how the rapid growth of Muscat city since 1970s has impacted the region climate
and air quality. The team was headed by Dr. Yassine Charabi and included academics and postgraduate students. The work had as its main goals to explore the combined effects of topography, mesoscale circulation,
urban form and landscape variability on air temperature at 2 m above the ground and provide a quantitative
assessment of the air pollution dispersion regimes in Muscat, Sohar, Sur and Salalah based on the concepts
of stagnation, recirculation and ventilation. It also sought to simulate the impact of the land-sea breeze circulation in Muscat and its impact on the depth of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) and air pollution concentrations.
Methods
Results
The findings have indicated that the
peak UHI magnitude occurs from 6 to 7
hours after sunset and it is well developed in the summer season. The warm
core of the UHI is located in the Highland zone of Muscat, along a narrow
valley characterized by low ventilation,
high business activities, multi-storied
buildings and heavy road traffic. Topographically, this valley is surrounded by
mountains formed of dark-colored
rocks such Ophiolites that can absorb
short wave radiation and contribute,
herewith, to the emergence of this warm
urban core. In addition, this mountainous terrain tends to isolate this location
from the cooling effect of the land-sea
breeze circulation during the day time.
In this warm valley the hottest temperature are encountered in the compact districts of old Muscat. Conversely, the
urban thermal pattern in Lowland zone
of Muscat is fragmented and the urban-rural thermal difference is reduced
because of the lower urban density of
the residential quarters. In addition, the
flat alluvial terrain on which these residential quarters are located are consistently exposed to the land breeze circulation. The nature of the rural baseline
was underlined when assessing the ur-
ban effect on an area’s climate. For
Muscat, irrespective of the rural baseline used, a significant difference in the
value of the urban heat island was registered.
The Northern Coast
The results also show that in the northern coast of Oman, along the bay of Sea
of Oman, where 56% of the total population is concentrated and the main
heavy industries of the country are
amassed, the atmosphere is prone to
stagnations in 74.4% of the time, while
they occur only in 21% in Salalah and
51% in Sur. The bay of sea of Oman is
high affected by land-sea breeze circulation that plays a substantial role in the
simultaneous occurrence of recirculation equally to stagnation. This meso-scale effect is altered gradually during the passage of the synoptic scale
flow of the southeasterly summer monsoon that enhances the occurrence of
the ventilation in Salalah (24.6% of
time) and Sur (15.5%). In the, northern
coast of Oman, where the Hajir mountains suppressed the effect of the summer monsoon, a very weak tendency
towards ventilations is observed (less
than 6%). The southern summer monsoon over Oman is a source of life in
this arid area and as well a source of
clean air.
The simulations show differences in the
onset, strength and inland penetration of
the sea breeze. The simulated PBL
height varied at 1600m in summer and
700m in the winter case. The Vertical
Mixing Coefficient during the summer
simulated case is approximately 4 times
larger than the respective one during the
winter case. Consequently, during the
advection of winter sea breeze a shallow dome less than 100m is shaped and
forms an obstacle to the air-pollutant
dispersion.
Recommendations
The team’s investigation in Muscat has
pointed out that the urban environment
is prone to the degradation of air quality.
Therefore, an Ambient Air Monitoring
Network is recommended to assess air
quality in Muscat. Such an instrument
would enable to set priorities for reducing air pollution and to draw up an air
quality management plan.
May 2013
The team examined the spatio-temporal
variability of the canopy-level urban
heat island (UHI) of Muscat on the basis
of meteorological observations and mobile measurements for one year. The
conditions of stagnation, recirculation
and ventilation factors in the main industrialized and urban areas in Oman,
developed a long the coastal area were
investigated. Four sites, i.e. Sohar, Muscat, Sur and Salalah, were selected. For
the calculation of the integral quantities
of the ability of the atmosphere dilution,
hourly data of the wind velocity measured at a height of 10 m during five
years (2000-2005) were used in the
analysis. COSMO numerical weather
prediction model was used to simulate
land-sea breeze circulation in the north
coast of Oman and to analyze the variability of the PBL depth. Typical summer
day 1st August 2009 and winter day 1st
January 2009 were simulated and verified by surface observations.
11
Feature
It is a turning point for
research in the Sultanate
An occasion to review research accomplishments and
set future plans
Rewarding active researchers and stimulating
further work
May 2013
12
Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) is celebrating today the 13th
University Day, an annual tradition to commemorate the honorable visit of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said to the University
on 2 May 2000. The University Day celebrations accord great
importance to research activities at SQU. On this occasion, SQU
academics have been interviewed to reflect on the efforts made
to promote a culture of research at the University.
‫ قيقحت‬: ‫ينسوحلا يلع نسح‬
Turning Point
Dr. Thuwayba Al Barwani,
Dean of Education College, has
labeled the University Day as a
turning point, whereby the academia celebrate H.M.’s first visit to the University thirteen
years ago. Since then, many research achievements had been
made, which could be considered as a source of pride, she
underlined. “Such developments in kind and degree would
never have been attained without the direct support of H.M.
the Sultan for research being the
infrastructure of sustainable development.” She added that the
University Day is an opportunity to locally enhance research
activities and open up new horizons for integrated collaboration
and partnership between diverse
disciplines and society. Education-focused strategic research
projects funded by H.M’s grants
have been a significant shift in
the role of research to promote
the educational system in general and develop human resources
in particular. The College of Education has received H.M. fund-
ing grants for three strategic research projects. These concern
teacher performance assessment
and development, evaluation of
basic education outcomes, and a
qualitative evaluation of education at the kindergarten level in
the Sultanate.
Dr. Mohammad Al Balushi, Assistant Dean for Postgraduate
Studies & Research, College of
Arts & Social Sciences, underlined the significance of this occasion for research at the University as it “summarizes and
shed lights on the research
achievements made during a
whole year, introducing the local community with the University’s future research goals. One
of the most important landmarks
of this occasion is the announcement of strategic research projects that have won royal funding. Such in-depth studies are of
high importance as they aim to
examine the society’s present
and future needs and develop
solid research-based strategic
visions for diverse institutions
in the country, and thus assuming a major role of promoting
‫ ثويبة الربوانية‬.‫د‬
‫البحث العلمي الذي‬
‫يعد اللبنة األساسية‬
.‫للتنمية المستدامة‬
‫يتيح فرصة للمجتمع‬
‫للتفاعل مع الممارسني‬
‫للتطورات األكاديمية‬
Supporting Research
‫ عامر الرواس‬.‫د‬
Sponsoring research is a basic element in the structure of Sultan
Qaboos University. It is of paramount importance for promoting
academic studies and supporting scientific and societal development. The University has paid special attention to research funding programs through establishing the Deanship of Research
which is responsible for overseeing the handling of administrative, financial and technical aspects of research. Still, the Deanship of Postgraduate Studies is another productive resource for
research through developing postgraduate programs (both master’s and PhD) which have an immediate positive impact on the
University’s research output. In addition, there are nine research
centers which address diverse issues of strategic importance for
the Sultanate and of global research interest. Research covers oil
and gas, communications, biotechnology, earthquakes, environment, water, renewable energy and the humanities.
Research at the University is also enhanced through research
chairs covering strategic domains such as marine biotechnology,
carbonate geosciences, and desalination and nanotechnology.
This stimulating research environment is promoted with research grants such as H.M. grants for strategic research and consultancies funded by the private and public sectors willing to
benefit from the University’s expertise. Other research grants
open to the University’s academics are those offered by The Research Council (TRC) in addition to the internal grants offered
by the University to its researchers for conducting research. The
University has five academic journals that publish and disseminate research work in the areas of medicine, engineering, science, agriculture and fisheries, humanities, and education. Furthermore, the Academic Publication Board has put in place the
resources to support the publishing of academic books. In addition to organizing on-campus annual conferences, the University supports its academics to participate in international conferences with research papers.
Currently, there are plans set for building a complex for research
centers that includes all the facilities necessary to enhance their
research missions. The University also considers forming an international advisory research committee of world-class researchers to assess the research performance at the University’s
colleges and research centers and draw up a road map for the
University to follow in its future efforts so as to strengthen its
position within regional and international research circles.
Hopefully, full-time researchers will be appointed soon for each
research center, an idea which could be applied in the colleges,
if proved successful. The University will also offer financial incentives for researchers who publish papers in refereed journals
or are involved in research projects funded by H.M. grants, internal grants, and TRC grants. Through all of these pursuits, the
University seeks to achieve cutting-edge research development
which would enhance its position as a lighthouse of knowledge,
locally, regionally and internationally.
May 2013
‫ جوديب‬.‫د‬
Tawasul
13
Feature
research.” He added that “celebrating this Day to extol the value of research indicates that the
University imparts a priority to
research and shoulders a huge
responsibility for contributing to
the enhancement of society in
different fields.”
Significant Event
Professor
Joydeep
Dutta,
TRC-funded Chair in Nanotechnology and Desalination in the
Water Research Center, said that
the University Day is very important for all higher education
institutes to showcase academic
achievements,
developments
and curricula changes. He added
that it gives the society an opportunity to interact with the
practitioners of academic developments who are predominantly
based in universities and research institutes. “For government held universities, like
SQU, this also is a service to the
stakeholders of the country to
find out the marvels of development that have taken place in the
Sultanate. For the youth, the
University Day gives an opportunity to learn realistically about
the possibilities of how they
could shape their future and
what areas they are really attracted to peruse in their life.”
May 2013
14
Panorama of Research
Activities
The researcher went on saying
that “upon showcasing the research and development in the
University, the latter attempts to
give a panorama of the research
activities which the relevant
economic forces in the country
can get to see by themselves and
decide about the possible areas
in which joint efforts could be
made to develop newer processes, products or services.” Professor Dutta remarked that they
could also take home possibilities of integrating modern practices into their everyday work.
Above all, by interacting with
the economic forces and the society at large, practitioners of
education, research and training,
who make the majority of university staff, can reorient themselves to the needs of the hour
which would contribute to the
development of the University.
Thus the University Day is a
realm for multifaceted benefits
to the society, he concluded.
Professor Hadj Bourdoucen, Director of the Communication
and Information Research
Center, characterized the University Day as a large window
through which we can have a
look at the past year’s research
achievements and scientific
products in different colleges
and centers. Accordingly, efforts
are valued and goals are set as
part of the University’s research
strategy, with a view to the local, regional and international
developments.
Stimulating progress
He added that the Day marks an
important occasion as it highlights material and moral support for research activities conducted by academic and
technical staff at the University.
It is also an occasion to bring to
focus the scientific accomplishments and encourage researchers to develop a vision for enhancing research at the
University being a lighthouse of
knowledge for the society, he
explained.
Dr. Shahid Mahamoud Al Balushi, Assistant Dean for Postgraduate Studies & Research,
College of Economics & Political Science, hailed the University Day as it commemorates the
royal visit of H.M. to the University in 2000. “H.M.’s speech
then was the beacon that lights
up the academic path of the University’s scientists; it has underlined the infinite support for research and original thinking,
opening up new horizons for
enriching research output.” He
added that the Day has become
a landmark for researchers
whereby strategic projects winning H.M.’s funding and other
achievements are announced.
“Last year, our research team at
the College of Economics & Political Science was honored by
H.M.’s funding which had a
great impact on accomplishing
important stages in our research
project and creating training opportunities for many national
staff,” Dr. Al Balushi concluded.
Appreciated efforts
Mr. Zahir Al Gheseini, instructor at the Arabic Department,
pointed out that the occasion is a
significant turning point in the
history of the University, where-
‫ حاج بردوسن‬.‫د‬
‫يوم الجامعة مهم لدعم‬
‫الجهود البحثية وتشجيع‬
‫الطاقات وتحفزيها‬
‫ محمد البلويش‬.‫د‬
‫اإلعالن عن المقرتحات‬
‫البحثية اإلسرتاتيجية‬
‫الفائزة بالتمويل السامي‬
‫يعد من بني أهم ما‬
‫يتضمنه هذا اليوم‬
‫ شاهد البلويش‬.‫د‬
‫يوم الجامعة يمثل يف‬
ً
‫األساس تخليدا للزيارة‬
‫السامية التي تفضل بها‬
‫صاحب الجاللة السلطان‬
‫قابوس‬
‫زاهر الغسيني‬
visions
‫ال ننىس جهود إدارة‬
‫الجامعة ممثلة يف مكتب‬
‫نائب الرئيس للدراسات‬
‫العليا والبحث العلمي‬
‫التي تضع نصب عينيها‬
‫توفري التسهيالت‬
Calculated Steps
The academic believed that the
University’s carefully calculated steps to enhance research
would yield positive results
sooner or later, now that there
are diverse forms of incentives
and awards for distinguished ac-
ademics and students and for
publishing research papers. He
added that public and private
sectors benefit from what the
University could offer in terms
of service contracts and consultancies so as to address existing
challenges. He concluded his
remarks saying “the University,
being the lighthouse of knowledge in the country, assumes a
huge role in promoting research
through developing scientific
facilities, research centers and
chairs, and postgraduate programs. This is a source of optimism and belief that this integrated system would lead to a
pioneering research and scientific development, locally, regionally, and internationally.”
‫السيدة منى بنت محمود‬
In the early stages of the Sultanates› renaissance there was a massive
need of skilled local professionals to take up positions in the market
place. As soon the first students enrolled and then graduated from Sultan Qaboos University this need was being realized. In order to excel
in serving such a large responsibility for the whole country, the university aimed to achieve excellence in teaching and developing skills in
the beginning. Upon realizing this goal, it was important for the university to take the next step of developing research efforts and establishing
a foothold in the path of human quest for discovery and invention. The
Royal visit of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said - may Allah protect
him – to the University on 2 May 2000 ushered the university into a
new era, where research became a top priority. In the years after the
visit, the University managed to overcome many challenges and hurdles associated with the establishment of full-fledged quality research
based on a clear vision, this later triggered many scientific achievements in economic, industrial, and social fields in the Sultanate as well
as significant discoveries and innovations made by the University’s
academics.
The Office of External Cooperation is entrusted with responsibility of
defining the Universities external policies. Among other things our office seeks to strengthen the University’s research efforts by consolidating its relations with other academic institutions. We take pride in
viewing ourselves at the gateway through which the University connects with the world and vice versa. We have been able to able to make
the world learn and see the University’s achievements at all levels,
particularly those related to research activities, as well as its research
centers, facilities and scientists. We have been able to facilitate setting
up of distinguished collaboration with prestigious universities around
the world, and agreements of understanding. Being on a path of constant development the office continuously makes efforts to open up
new channels through which the University can grow further and project its image as a globally reputable higher education institution. Our
rigorous program of foreign visits to universities in Europe, Asia and
the Americas provide us interaction with well-known institutions
where we can benefit from their vast experiences. We have seen that in
this way the university can consolidate its relations with them by building partnerships and exchanging expertise. There have been occasions
that these activities helped in laying down the foundation of collaborative research projects which are of strategic importance to the Sultanate.
We believe that the gradual but careful development pursued by the
University since its inception, which started off by focusing on teaching, followed by building a research base, and finally forging solid international relations, guarantees that the University will deliver quality
educational and research outcomes., We are already seeing the benefits
of this is the our position in the world university rankings.
To avoid complacency we are always in search for new steps to promote research in the University. Along with the administration of the
university we have taken proactive steps to ensure that our academics
are well versed and gain more experience in utilizing and setting up
international relations. Lastly we would like to conclude with the
pledge to do much more in order to achieve our university›s and nations› research objectives and assist in further elevating the university›s academic position in the world.
May 2013
by scientific achievements and
innovations are highlighted.
Thanks to the government’s
continued support for research,
he said, nine research centers
have been established to address
vital strategic issues in the Sultanate. The University has long
realized the importance of research for developing the country’s potentials and finding solutions to problems in different
fields. He stressed the dynamic
role of the office of Deputy
Vice-Chancellor for Postgraduate Studies & Research in providing facilities, creating a stimulating environment for the
teaching staff and students to
conduct research, and promoting a culture of research through
diverse research activities in the
University.
Dr. Haitham Al Sinani, a visiting Assistant Professor in the
Department of Computer Science, highly praised the University’s administration for fostering research and academic
activities. He remarked that the
University Day is an opportunity to review research accomplishments and launch pioneering initiatives in this regard,
such as the strategic projects
which would provide solutions
to major industrial, environmental, health and social problems.
Another step forward
15
Study
Growing the
Jatropha Plant in
Oman
A new study explores
ways of utilizing the plant
seeds to produce biofuel
under Omani Conditions
May 2013
16
In a context of growing interest for
renewable energy sources, liquid bioenergy production from vegetable
oils has been proposed as one of
the possible options to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. Bio-diesel production from the plant Jatropha has thus become a booming
business. The hardy Jatropha is resistant to drought and pests, and
produces seeds containing up to
40% oil. When the seeds are
crushed, the resulting Jatropha oil
can be processed to produce a
high-quality biodiesel that can be
used in a standard diesel car, while
the residue can also be processed
into biomass to power electricity
plants. This has been the focus of a
study conducted by a team led by
Dr. Ahmed Al Busaidi and Dr.
Ahmed mushtaq, of the College of
Agricultural and Marine Sciences.
offer additional advantages. First,
as an additional crop to the current
set of farmers’ activities, applicable
in different cropping systems, farmers can diversify their income
sources. Second, Jatropha produces
woody by-products such as pruning
waste and fruit hulls which are useful as combustible, which will reduce pressure on remaining forests
and woodlots.
Biofuel is eco-friendly
The chief investigator, Dr. Ahmed
Al Busaidi, characterizing the plant
as perennial, says it can grow in arid
conditions, on any kind of land, and
does not require irrigation or suffer
in droughts. It is fast growing and
begins yielding oil in the second
year and for the next forty to fifty
years. It absorbs large amounts of
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and therefore earns carbon
sequestration credits. The plant can
grow in wastelands, fertilizes the
soil that it grows in, and yields more
than four times as much fuel per
hectare as soybean, more than ten
times that of corn.
The Objectives
Commenting on the work, Dr. Al
Busaidi said that the Jatropha plant
was tested in Oman as to its suitability for commercial production.
Four kilograms of seeds were received from National Biodiversity
Authority, National Bureau of Plant
Genetic Resources and Central Salt
& Marine Chemicals Research Institute, India, and a research project
was initiated. The purpose of this
study was to evaluate the ability of
Jatropha plant to grow under different saline and water stress conditions. Moreover, the study investigated the ability of this plant to
grow and survive under Oman conditions of heat, water and salinity
stresses. At the end of the study, the
quality of bio-fuel was evaluated
according to international standards.
promising characteristics for a
quick establishment of the species
on degraded or unvegetated sites
and for high production on suitable
sites, whilst not consuming too
much water.”
The findings of this preliminary
study were used as the basis for a
further study with different parame-
ters. The objective of that task was
to evaluate Jatropha growth under
field conditions in Oman and examine the quality of oil produced from
those plants.
Benefits
Dr. Al Busaidi emphasized that the
approach of small scale Jatropha
production for local oil use could
The researcher underlined that management of soil and water salinity in
Oman is direly needed if agriculture
of the country has to be kept alive
and the ever increasing desertification is to be mitigated at all. Growing salt tolerant crops should be the
focus of research in Oman at present. Experience shows that different
crops will behave differently if they
are grown under different saline and
water stress conditions. Pot and
field trials will clarify their ability to
grow and produce, he concluded.
May 2013
Important Findings
The team concluded that the Jatropha plant can grow well under
saline and drought stress conditions.
The growth of Jatropha under 2 and
4 days irrigation intervals was almost the same and the heights of 6
days irrigation plants were the lowest. “Since Jatropha is a drought
tolerant plant, in some cases we
found that 6 days irrigation treatment was as good as 2 and 4 days
irrigation in term of plant growth
and water use efficiency. The role of
the succulent stem in the water
economy of Jatropha seems confined to balance the small water
losses of the leaves during drought.
The conservative transpiration rate,
high growth rate, transpiration efficiency and water productivity are
He added that the Jatropha, planted
as a hedge, could be used as a living
fence, to exclude browsing animals
for ecological restoration or food
crop protection because it is unpalatable to livestock. Further, the
plant could also be planted in contour hedgerows to reduce soil erosion and to improve soil quality in
degraded ecosystems. One more
important merit is that locally organized oil extraction will keep
seed cake, which is useful as combustible or as a soil amendment,
available for the local farmers,
which is more difficult in centralized processing setups, often used
for large scale projects.
17
First Steps towards Innovative University
The Department opens up new prospects for excellence
Novel ideas, IPs and Patents
The Innovation Affairs Department (IAD), one of
the Deanship of Research units, is part of SQU’s
research network that focuses primarily on innovation policy matters and promoting scientific discoveries. Being the innovation arm of the University, it seeks to achieve its mission of sustaining
plans for scientific research and community service by investing in research outputs and fostering links with industry.
The IAD comprises three sections: a)
Intellectual Property (IP) which is concerned with IP valuation, protection and
patent registration, b) Students Initiative Support providing guidance and
advice to student inventors on successful IP protection and commercialization, and c) Marketing responsible for
commercializing SQU intellectual
properties, inventions and research expertise.
The IAD underlines the powerful position of SQU as a public academic institution concerned with sustaining local
community development and generating creative ideas, knowledge and inventions.
May 2013
18
Responsibilities
The IAD maintains a commitment to
exploring innovations and protecting
intellectual properties of SQU in the research collaboration with other agencies. It also cultivates close relationships with the market and explores
potentials for supporting local industry
by research know-how, which would
offer applied research opportunities for
both researchers and students. The IAD
provides advice and consultation as to
IP policies and assists SQU to develop
technology incubators for inventors in
coordination with other parties. It pur-
sues the twin goals of invention and
technology transfer to the community
and marketing university innovations
and research expertise locally, regionally and internationally. It strives towards
transferring research-based discoveries
of both academics and students to the
market, protecting their IP rights and
preserving SQU rights for that matter.
Furthermore, it serves as a link between
SQU departments and other parties benefiting from SQU research expertise,
offering those parties technical information and advice to promote mutual cooperation. It also negotiates licensing
agreements with industry taking into
account the licensing profits and shares
of both inventors and SQU.
Mechanism
The IAD is in charge of handling the
process of IP disclosure and patentability. It starts with the inventor presenting
the invention to the IAD for consideration with respect to merits and potential
acceptance pursuant to relevant university regulations. In order for an invention to be patentable, it has to be characterized of novelty, inventiveness and
industrial applicability. An invention is
novel if it is not found at a previous date
or anywhere in the world. This requires
a novelty search by the patent applicant
in patent databases and other documents. Inventiveness involves an inventive step where an invention must not be
obvious to anybody having ordinary intelligence and knowledge on the subject
matter. And an invention must have an
industrial application and utility.
As for the incentives for inventors, SQU
has an obligation to devote resources to
covering IP and patenting costs, marketing the invention, and providing guidance for appropriate commercialization.
Having found licensees for the invention, it will split profits with the inventor. Recently, the IAD has evaluated the
patentability of some research ideas and
innovations submitted by SQU researchers.
Reaching out
The IAD has put a great deal of effort
into raising SQU community awareness
of existing resources, the importance of
IP and mechanism of scientific innovation protection. It has managed established links with a number of bodies
including the Research Council, Industrial Innovation Center, Knowledge Oasis Muscat, Directorate General of Information Technology and Ministry of
Commerce and Industry. The IAD is
concerned exclusively with the innovative output of SQU faculty members,
technicians and students.
Academic Innovation
The Department is in first stage of executing the Academic Innovation Assistance Program (AIAP) funded by The
Research Council. The (AIAP) is an
offshoot of the Innovation Hub Project
designed to drive innovation at academic institutes in Oman. Sultan Qaboos
University (SQU) has agreed to host
and pilot the program for three years
and its outcome shall aid an introduction of similar programs in other higher
academic institutions by activating the
following five key tasks: Promote
awareness on innovation at university
level, engender innovation and entrepreneurship in research, curricula and
programs, build capacity at SQU to efficiently manage its Innovation Affairs
Department, establish a functional innovation policy for SQU including governing rules and regulations, work on
commercialization of innovation driven
projects to generate spin-offs
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Established in spring 2013 under direct
supervision from the Innovation Affairs
Department aims to develop a platform
to support an innovation-driven society
among SQU students through its three
sub-groups: Awareness, Industrial Outreach and Competitions. The membership is open to all SQU students and that
creates the richness of multidisciplinary
student projects.
The activities include seminars and
workshops on topics related to innovation and entrepreneurship, exploring
potential partners in the industry and
linking them with innovative students,
providing support logistic and financial
for student applied research or developing prototypes which add value to the
market needs, providing support to students to participate in innovation competitions and equip them to compete
globally.
The working mechanism of INOVENT
is through complementing the science
and arts groups’ activities in SQU having a representative from all these
groups in the Advisory Committee. INOVENT act as one channel for all initiatives and competitions related to innovation & entrepreneurship which will
be circulated fairly to all societies from
different disciplines.
Examining Gene Signatures
for Colorectal Cancer
A new study is under way to investigate prognostic and predictive gene
signatures for colorectal cancer in Omani patients using whole genome expression microarray analysis. A research team headed by Dr. Marwa Bint
Abdullah Al Riyamiyya is to study the
differential expression of genes from
50 patients from tumour mRNA samples using microarray technology. Dr.
Al Riyamiyya says that cancer is a genetic disease that results from the progressive accumulation of multiple
genomic alteration, and thus identification of differences in the expression
profile of tumour cells in comparison
to their normal counterpart would provide a better platform for understanding of many concepts related to cancer
formation including discovery of novel genes and pathways related to tumour development, and prognostic indicators.
Colorectal cancer is common in the
Western world and usually ranks high
in incidence and mortality among malignancies in those countries. In Oman,
the incidence is lower compared to the
Western population. However, a very
young age of diagnosis (younger than
40) has been noted.
News
Dune Sands as Construction
Material
A fresh study is being conducted at
the College of Engineering, SQU, to
explore effective ways of utilizing
dune sands in construction. Desert
sands cover vast areas in Oman. In
this work, Dr. Mohammad Bin
Yousif Al Aghbari will address issues
related to improving the engineering
properties of desert sands in Oman
by using different methods of soil
stabilization and reinforcement of
such sands to improve their bearing
capacity. The use of desert sands in
concrete application will also be addressed. To accomplish these objectives, laboratory tests will be made.
The research is expected to provide
guidelines for safe and economical
means for use of desert sand as a construction material and as a foundation soil for infrastructures.
Characterization of
Pharmacologically active proteins
from the Venoms of Snakes
Mass Media and People with
Intellectual Disability
suggestions and recommendations
as to how to encourage the intellectually disabled to participate in society.
Many developed countries encourage social participation of individuals with intellectual disability
through adapting strategies to
achieve this purpose. This project,
then, will seek ways and means
that would develop the use of mass
media in Oman in order to engage
disabled people in society.
zilian arrowhead viper venom) which is
clinically used to treat hypertension.
Similarly, exanta purified from cobra
venom is exploited as a blood thinner.
However, the immense pharmacological
potential of venom proteins in the form
of proteins isolated from venomous
snakes belonging to various species still
remains untapped. He added that proteins isolated from individual snake
venom mediate simultaneous assault on
the different physiological systems of
the human body, providing the researcher with manifold leads whose pharmacological potential could be harvested to
identify novel therapeutics against multiple physiological disorders.
He stressed that the outcome of the
study could not only be beneficial in
terms of generating novel therapeutic
leads, but since all the three depicted
snakes are from the Sultanate, the research aims could be of translational
significance in understanding the venom
toxicity of these snakes thereby facilitating the generation of successful anti-venom strategies, in turn of pivotally
benefiting the Omani population.
May 2013
An SQU academic is investigating the
impact of mass media in Oman on individuals with intellectual disability.
Relevant practices of different media
will be examined from the perspective
of parents, the public, and professionals in the field. Dr. Sahar El Shourbagi, of the College of Education, will
use a set of research tools including
questionnaires and interviews with
parents and experts. The work is expected to benefit the media, government organizations, and individuals
with disabilities. The ultimate goal is
to provide the media in Oman with
A research team at SQU is investigating novel pharmacologically active
proteins from the venoms of three
snakes native to the Sultanate of
Oman, namely Hydrophis lapemoides (Arabian Gulf Sea snake); Bitis
arietans (Omani Puff adder) and
Echis omanensis (Oman Carpet viper). The first major objective of the
research is to identify and investigate
the structure-activity relationship of
proteins possessing anticoagulant/
procoagulant from the above snake
venoms. The second aim is to generate cDNA libraries from the venom
glands of the above snakes, which
will facilitate the identification of
novel proteins with multifarious biological functions.
Dr. Yajnavalka Banerjee, of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, has said that snake venoms are
complex mixtures of physiologically
active polypeptide and proteins,
which act as veritable gold mines for
novel pharmacological leads. Case in
point is captopril, isolated and purified from the Bothrops Jaracusa (Bra-
19
Study
An
ew
of stu
the dy
rec int pro
ha era vid
rge ct es
in ion b a b
the et ett
Sa wee er u
ma n nd
il C aqu ers
atc ife tan
hm rs a din
en nd g
t.
May 2013
It includes valuable information about the effects of
.human activities on groundwater resources
20
Water availability in the world will continue to
remain problematic and a potential source of
conflict as fresh water is limited, and in increasing demand as world population increases.
Therefore, it is vital to take all required actions
to protect this resource. In many semi-arid to
arid parts of the world, water demand is met
generally by groundwater, which is often the
most important long-term water resource. A
significant part of rural and urban Oman depends on groundwater extracted from the alluvial deposits for agricultural and domestic use.
Problems such as salinisation and depletion of
groundwater resources are already occurring
in Oman and major regions of North Africa,
Australia, the Middle East, South and Central
Asia, North Chain and North America and localized areas throughout the world.
News
ered/fractured ophiolite and the Quaternary alluvium in the upper and
middle catchment. Regional groundwater flows are generally from south
to north and lateral hydraulic gradients are highest in the south. Groundwater salinity varies between 507 and
1,812 µS/cm in the upper part and
generally increases towards the Oman
Sea in the north.
Findings
Groundwater wells and springs samples (total 38) were analyzed for a
number of elements. Carbon-14 dating (18.9 ka to modern), wells hydrographs, 87Sr/86Sr data (0.70810 –
0.70895) and 2H, O18 suggest two
main sources of recharge: direct infiltration through stream bed and recharge from carbonates lineaments
and fissures. The homogeneous
87Sr/86Sr, water level changes in all
locations, downstream enrichment of
2H and 18O and the presence of
younger groundwater throughout the
catchment suggest that groundwater
recharge takes place across the entire
catchment and that the three aquifers
are hydraulically connected. However, delayed response to recharge is
observed downstream suggesting the
dominance of recharge from direct infiltration over recharge.
Methods
He explained that the study uses
groundwater chemistry and groundwater elevations to identify and understand the primary processes controlling groundwater quality and
salinity in the aquifers within the Samail Catchment region. It investigates
the present status of groundwater
quality in the region and its enhancement or degradation with time, and
establishes current groundwater quality conditions that will be valuable for
comparison of subsequent monitoring
data. It examines flow systems and
their development with time, the
sources and age of groundwater and
its solutes, aquifer characterization,
interaction between shallow and deep
water bodies, and the impact of anthropogenic activities such as irrigation and pumping. This approach,
combining physical hydrogeology,
water chemistry, stable isotopes and
radiogenic isotopes, is transportable
and has been applied and tested in
other arid and semiarid regions showing the value of using multiple tracers
that probably offer the best potential
for reliable results.
He added that the main aquifers in the
study across the catchment are the Hajar carbonates at the elevated areas of
North Oman Mountains, the weath-
Additionally, groundwater in the
southern part of the catchment is isotopically depleted water indicating a
high altitude recharge source. So,
large amount of groundwater are
moving from the Hajar mountain region through fissures and lineaments
and feeding to the Samail catchment.
The seawater intrusion along the coast
is the consequence of intensive
groundwater pumping from the coastal plain. Al-Khodh recharge dam and
the 2005 pumping reduction (by 11
Mm3) were effective measures to
cease the inland progress of the fresh/
saline water interface in the coastal
area, which started in 1980s. This
study would provide a basis for understanding the groundwater response to
rainfall and pumping in other catchments.
This research provides an improved
understanding of the long-term
groundwater flow paths, interaction
between aquifers and recharge in the
Samail Catchment. This understanding also provides valuable information about the effects of human activities on groundwater resources,
thereby providing much of the data
needed for effective and sustainable
management of these resources in the
region.
Bioactive compounds from Oman
marine organisms
A new study is seeking to screen
Oman marine organisms for anti-microbial, anti-quorum sensing and anti-tumour activities. Mainly, it will
focus on isolation of bioactive compounds from marine microorganisms,
fungi and soft corals. Marine organisms are a rich source of new bioactive molecules that exhibit anti-microbial,
anti-viral,
anti-tumour,
anti-inflammatory, and anti-fouling
properties.
Commenting on possible benefits of
bioactive compounds, Dr. Sergey Piontkovski, conducting the project at
the College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, SQU, said the com-
pounds might have applications in medicine, biotechnology and industry. Only
few bioactive compounds were isolated
from marine organisms inhabiting the Arabian Gulf and Oman Sea. He added that
these organisms were selected because of
their high biotechnological potential and
existence of chemical extracts as well as
bacterial and fungal cultures obtained by
the researcher and co-investigators at previous projects. “Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-quorum sensing and anti-tumour
compounds will be purified using a bioassay guided fractionation”, he said. Identification and structure elucidation of bioactive compounds will be done in
cooperation with scientists from Germany
and USA. Also, the mode of action for
some bioactive compounds will be determined. Throughout the project, emphasis
will be placed on capacity building especially through the training of young Omani
scientists. Education benefits will occur
through scientific publications in peer review journals and knowledge transfer. He
concluded that his work would help explore the marine resources in Oman, train
SQU students and discover novel anti-microbial, anti-quorum sensing and anti-tumour compounds from Oman marine organisms that could be used in aquaculture,
agriculture, and medicine.
Screening Omani Patients with
Idiopathic Mental Retardation
A new study is under way at SQU to
examine subtelomeric chromosomal
imbalance in Omani Patients with idiopathic mental retardation (MR), a
common developmental disorder with
myriad of negative, social and health
repercussions. MR is defined as a significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive
behavior, and manifested during the
developmental period.
In this age of neurogenetic determinism, genetic contribution to some subtypes of MR has been charted in particular to those that are often
associated with particular dysmorphic
features. There is dearth of studies on
‘idiopathic’ forms of MR. In Oman,
there are many anecdotal reports suggesting that there are many children
who fail to thrive in academic setting.
This, in turn, would suggest that the
presence of learning disorder or something akin to mental retardation is rife
among school age population in Oman.
Despite the preponderance of such unexplained, idiopathic forms of MR, there are
few empirical studies that have been
forthcoming on such populations in
Oman.
This disease is being investigated by Dr.
Udaya Kumar, at SQU. The research
goals include the evaluation of the prevalence of subtelomeric deletions in Omani
population with idiopathic MR, assessing
the feasibility of establishing this methodology in routine workup of this sub-population, identifying any specific cryptic
subtelomeric rearrangements by chromoprobe-multiprobe-T FISH method and
MLPA in Omani patients, and comparing
the accuracy of these methods and reconfirming the aberrations using specific telomeric probes. The researcher will also
detect possible genetic rearrangements in
other disease conditions where there is no
straightforward genetic diagnosis and establish and introduce this technique as a
routine screening test for detecting cryptic genetic aberrations which are not
picked up by conventional techniques.
The net outcome of such undertaking is to
establish evidence-based database that
would have direct bearing on prevention,
remedial services and increasing quality
of life for those who succumb to such
types of MR, Dr. Kumar concluded.
May 2013
As population grows the demand of
water will also increase and so ongoing development will rely on the longterm sustainability of the groundwater
resource. Salinity due to low recharge
rates, over-exploitation and saltwater
intrusion have been increasingly recognized to play a major role in the
deterioration of groundwater and are
considered to be a serious long-term
environmental problem in the coastal
areas of Oman. This has been the focus of a study by Dr. Talal al Hosani,
of the Department of EarthSciences,
College of Science. It was aimed at
examining the sustainable use of
groundwater and assessing the potential effects of over-exploitation and
consequent salinisation in the Samail
Catchment region, which requires a
thorough knowledge of its hydrogeology. The researcher said that “groundwater elevations allow us to understand modern flow systems; however
these might be significantly different
from those of the past due probably to
the impact of human activity, climate
change and recharge differences because of land use. By contrast,
groundwater chemistry is a window
on the past providing an indication of
the long-term flow system and evaluation of groundwater over time.”
21
Academic Boards, Development and Modernization
Setting strategic plans for research and
postgraduate studies
May 2013
22
SQU has established three academic boards
chaired by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Postgraduate Studies & Research Professor Amer
Al Rawas. These are the Postgraduate Studies
Board, Research Board and Academic Publishing Board. They are responsible for devising
rules and regulations for the functions of Deanship of Postgraduate Studies and Deanship of
Research at the university. They also consider
proposals by the two deanships, make relevant
decisions and set sub-committees formed by
members from the two deanships or other deIn addition, the Academic Boards seek
to adopt full-fledged strategies to develop ways of organizing research activities and accomplish a leadership of research at the university that meets the
needs of the national economy and
makes cutting-edge contributions to human knowledge. Other goals consist in
expanding the postgraduate programs
so as to increase the academic potentials
and promoting academic publishing and
journals.
Research
Since its inception in 2009, the Research Board has been entrusted with
handling SQU research matters in terms
of drawing up strategic research plans,
introducing proposals for achieving excellence in research, and enhancing the
research environment in the university
and local community. The Board is presided over by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Postgraduate Studies & Research
and consists of members including the
partments. In achieving their duties, they can
also solicit other experts. Specifically, the
Boards are in charge of formulating criteria
necessary to maintain the academic standards
of the postgraduate studies and research,
drawing up future plans, proposing regulations
for the postgraduate studies and research and
reviewing them periodically, publishing manuscripts, research work and refereed journals at
the university, and advising about budget matters and annual reports as to the postgraduate
studies and research.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic
Affairs & Community Service, Deputy
Vice Chancellor for Administrative &
Financial Affairs, Dean of Research,
two of the colleges› Assistant Deans for
Postgraduate Studies & Research appointed by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor
for Academic Affairs & Community
Service for a period of two years, two
faculty members (Associate Professor
or Professor) and two directors of research centers appointed by the Deputy
Vice-Chancellor for Postgraduate Studies & Research for a period of two
years, Research Department Director,
and Innovation Affairs Department Director.
Competences and Objectives
The Research Board is responsible for
formulating criteria so as to maintain
the academic standards of research, setting future plans for research, proposing
the periodic review of research regula-
tions, examining and advising on the
research funding system, reviewing the
budget estimate for research and annual
report on research, and setting policies
and regulations for innovation. As to the
goals, the Board seeks to develop the
university’s research capacity building,
achieve excellence in research, promote
a research environment for maximizing
research productivity, and encourage a
culture of innovation within the university and beyond.
Postgraduate Studies
In 2009 the Postgraduate Studies Board
was set to pursue the university’s goal
of implementing the strategic plans for
enhancing the postgraduate programs.
This involves designing policies, drafting proposals, reviewing study plans,
and exerting all efforts to improve the
academic quality of postgraduate programs.
The Board is chaired by the Deputy
Vice-Chancellor for Postgraduate Studies & Research and consists of members
including the Dean of Postgraduate
Studies (Board›s Deputy Chair), Dean
of Admissions & Registration, the colleges› Assistant Deans for Postgraduate
Studies & Research, and two faculty
members (Associate Professor or Professor) selected by the Deputy
Vice-Chancellor for Postgraduate Studies & Research for a two-year term.
Competences and Goals
Academic Publishing
The Academic Publishing Board was
established in 2003 to oversee the university’s academic publishing affairs
that cover all kinds of publications such
as books, translated and documented
manuscripts, articles, and research findings submitted to journals in both Arabic and English. It also reviews and
proposes policies and procedures of academic publishing of books, defines the
rules of publishing journals and responsibilities of the editorial board mem-
Microscope
Success in Research
‫ خالد داي‬. ‫د‬
‫جامعة السلطان قابوس‬
It goes without saying that to be successful in research an
academic institution ought to have good planning and provide
enough resources in terms of funding, equipment and infrastructure. However, probably the most important ingredient
for successful research is attracting good researchers and
good research support staff (post-docs, research assistants,
technicians, and graduate students). If an institution aims at
becoming a leader in research locally, regionally and internationally, it has no choice but to become a leader in attracting
and retaining the best researchers and the best research support staff and students. Many Asian universities have moved
in few decades from being mainly teaching universities with
most faculty and students drawn from the local population to
internationally reputable research universities attracting faculty and students from all over the world.
Equally important is to provide an adequate working environment for them. This includes not only research funding and
infrastructure but also ensuring that researchers can allocate
enough of their focus, time and efforts to do research work. It
does not help research much to attract good researchers and
then overload them with non-research work such as heavy
administrative and service work. A faculty member should be
able to allocate a good percentage of his/her time to research
work. It is important to give faculty members the opportunity
to devote themselves to research work during certain periods
of time. This can be achieved by means of paid sabbatical
leaves and by allowing research grants to cover the cost of
releasing faculty members to work on research projects.
Another important factor is to encourage multidisciplinary
research. Many of the real-life problems relate to more than
one area of science and require joint knowledge and skills of
researchers from different backgrounds. When researchers,
from different disciplines, work together they are better
equipped to solve a wider range of real-life problems relevant
to specific needs.
Last but not least, in order to engage in relevant research, an
academic institution needs to open communication channels
with industry and society so as to address their needs and
market its plans, facilities, activities and output. An effective
publication and outreach department helps fulfilling this
need.
With good planning, adequate resources, high caliber research staff and students, adequate work load, relevant multidisciplinary projects, and effective communication with industry and society, an academic institution will be well
positioned to achieve success in research.
May 2013
The Board is in charge of examining
and periodically reviewing academic
regulations, evaluating and recommending postgraduate programs proposed by various colleges, and developing standards necessary to maintain the
academic quality of postgraduate programs. Other functions have to do with
drafting future plans for postgraduate
studies, assessing the annual report for
postgraduate studies prior to submission to the Vice-Chancellor, and evaluating the annual budget for postgraduate
studies. At the request of the Chair, the
Board convenes at least once a semester
and whenever deemed necessary. The
Board may form subcommittees from
its members or others to help deliver its
duties.
The Board aspires to achieve excellence
in the academic quality of postgraduate
programs, maintain a positive university environment for postgraduate students, and align postgraduate programs
with advanced academic levels.
bers, as well as licensing procedures for
cultural and informative bulletins and
journals. Achieving the objectives as
delineated in the law of the university,
the Board seeks to contribute to the promotion of social progress through authorship, research and scientific
achievements, develop solutions to existing problems, and disseminate research results for the benefit of the Omani society, in particular, and mankind
as a whole.
The Board is chaired by the Deputy
Vice-Chancellor for Postgraduate Studies & Research and consists of members
including editors-in-chief of Journal of
Educational and Psychological Studies,
SQU Medical Journal, SQU Journal for
Science, Journal of Agricultural and
Marine Sciences, SQU Journal for Arts
and Social Sciences, and Journal of Engineering Research, Dean of Research,
as well as Director of the Department of
Academic Publishing and Outreach.
Competences and Objectives
The Academic Publishing Board reviews and proposes policies and procedures of academic publishing of books
and responsibilities of authors, translators, and editors. It also defines the rules
of publishing journals, responsibilities
of the editorial board members, and licensing procedures for cultural and informative bulletins and journals.
The Board has as its main goals to enrich scientific, cultural and informative
knowledge in all areas that the university promotes within its academic disciplines, and transfer, accommodate, and
develop modern information technology so as to meet local Omani demands
and thereby contributing to the comprehensive development in the Sultanate. It
also aims at conserving, investigating,
and studying Omani, Arab, and world
heritage and introducing it to humanities researchers. Further, it endeavors to
enhance skills in the areas of research,
translation, and authorship by stimulating authors and scholars through facilitating the publication of their works so
as to enjoy their benefits, and increase
specialized knowledge for the benefit of
society in a way that would consolidate
the role the university plays in the society.
In addition, the Board attempts to document academic and human production
with a view to encouraging faculty
members and their equivalent to produce original and creative research,
write and translate books, and draw up
scientific reports, and encourage authorship, translation, and scientific investigation being effective channels for scientific communication. Other objectives
have to do with collaborating with local
and foreign publishing companies and
organizations through exchanging relevant expertise and skills, communicating the university’s research achievements to the scientific circles, both
inside and outside the Sultanate, as well
as fostering scientific links with other
universities and participating in electronic publishing.
23
Study
Researchers investigated
cyanide pollution of
groundwater at Yangul gold
mine
The use of cyanide (CN), which is characterized by volatility, toxicity and
high odor, in gold mining is scarcely
addressed by researchers or experts
and remains controversial. Environmentalists oppose CN usage as it potentially poses serious environmental
threats including the pollution of
groundwater, whereas economic and
mining geologists are in favor of its
usage for its extracting capacity and
‫ عثمان عبدالخالق‬.‫د‬
Commenting on the problems facing the gold mining industry, Dr. Osman Abdalla, the chief investigator, said it
has a fundamental challenge, for its target metal is usually present in very small quantities in the host rock, and it
is insoluble. Thus, the search for a technology suitable
for gold extraction has led to the cyanide process – a
technique which is now widely used within the mining
industry, although of course potentially hazardous.
The cyanide process
May 2013
He went on saying: finely ground gold ore is mixed with
sodium potassium – or calcium cyanide and the otherwise insoluble gold is leached from the ore by a chemical
reaction in which the gold forms a water soluble Au–cyanide complex. The reaction is facilitated by the addition
of air or pure oxygen to the mix. The gold is eventually
removed from solution by adsorption onto activated carbon. This then is separated from the ground rock and the
gold chemically removed into solution, and then removed from this solution by electrolysis. Clearly, the
high poisonous nature of cyanide compounds makes this
process at the least contentious and worst highly dangerous. One potential danger is the release of hydrogen cyanide into the air as a gas and so solutions are kept alkaline
through the addition of sodium- or calcium hydroxide,
thus, maintaining a high pH.
24 Dr. Abdallah added that, in the natural environment, cya-
nide ions break down rapidly in sunlight, although if the
cyanide forms cyanide compounds these may persist in
the environment for some years. To minimize any potential danger many mines use a chemical process to convert
the residual cyanide after leaching to cyanate before it is
discharged into tailing ponds, where it is subsequently
converted to nitrate. Nevertheless, there is much concern
that even low levels of cyanide ions may escape from the
mine processing plant and tailings ponds into water used
by humans and animals.
Site description
The area under investigation lies within the North Oman
Mountains covering an area of about 6 km2. Yanqul
town makes the residential center in the region and is
characterized by a steep gradient formed due to its location on the foothill of North Oman Mountains. Elevated
plateaus in the northern part of the area mark a water divide from which water flows to the north into the plain of
the Batinah or to the south into the area of investigation.
Consequently, seasonal wadies draining these highlands
flow into the southern part extending tens of kilometers
to eventually reach the desert plains of the west Oman.
The climate in the area is semiarid with long hot summers and short mild winters. Seasonal rainfall varies between 50 and 200 mm/year with anomalous records on
decadal basis.
Samples and results
Sixteen groundwater samples, collected from monitoring
piezometers sited around the mine, were analyzed for
CN. The samples were bailed, using a stainless steel bailer, and collected into 500 mL plastic bottles. Time sensitive parameters: pH, EC, TDS and temperature were
economic feasibility. In this context, a
new study has been conducted by an
SQU research team to investigate the
potential of cyanide pollution of
groundwater as a result of 15-year
gold mining and cyanide leaching in
the area of Yanqul in North Oman.
The team has sought to examine the
behavior of cyanide in an arid environment in general.
measured instantaneously then the samples were carefully sealed, labeled and taken for CN and heavy metals
analyses. A buffer solution was prepared by dissolving
9.53 g of sodium tetraborate decahydrate in 1.0 L Milli-Q
water. The pH of this buffer was adjusted to 10.8 with 0.5
M sodium hydroxide prior to making the solution to volume. The color developing reagent solution was prepared by adding the reagents to a 100 mL volumetric
flask and a stabilizing solution was made.
The same procedure was applied for the well water samples. Linear calibration curves in the concentration range
0.1–2 ppm were used to determine the concentration of
cyanide in these water samples. Moreover, the periodical
analysis of the cyanide ion in groundwater and tailings
conducted by Oman Mining Company and overseen by
the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources were also used to see the evolution of the cyanide
ion in the study area. The heavy metals were analyzed
using inductively coupled plasma in the laboratory of the
Ministry.
CN was found below detection limit in all samples and
no violation of standards could be reported, the researcher revealed. The insignificant minor concentration of
heavy metals in the groundwater samples found during
this study together with the levels of CN obtained, which
are below the detection limits, indicate the absence of
contamination of the groundwater samples with CN.
Several hundreds of groundwater samples analyzed
since the inception of the gold mining have also indicated CN concentration below detection limits.
Al-Khod Dam: Subsurface Soil Properties,
Infiltration, and Recharge Efficiency
A study provides solutions to
improve water use efficiency
in arid areas
Oman is an arid country where drought
conditions prevail and water is precious.
Oman experiences a severe water shortage problem that threatens the national
plans for developments in different sectors. Government agencies and other
research institutions have been actively
addressing different ways of augment-
ing water resources, mainly groundwater. One effective measure is enhancing
groundwater artificial recharge by
means of intercepting floodwater after
rainfall events and infiltrating this water
into the soil and aquifers, in excess of
natural recharge.
‫ ععيل المكتومي‬.‫د‬
In this regard, a research team at SQU has conducted a
study aimed at examining the Al-Khod Dam in terms of the
effects of the anthropogenic activities on the evolution of
soil properties and consequently the hydraulic properties of
the subsurface soil which is important for the augmentation
of water resources of the underlying aquifers.
The principal investigator, Dr. Ali Al Maktoumi, says that
the common practice for intercepting the floodwater in arid
and semi-arid zones is by constructing dams, so-called recharge dams, across stream channels (Wadies). Recharge
dams play an important role in augmentation of water resources in arid countries. While desalination provides an
unlimited but costly water supply, recharge dams provide a
limited water supply but relatively cheaply. Additional benefits of recharge dams are flood protection and deceleration
or even reversing of seawater intrusion in coastal areas by
creating groundwater mounds and, correspondingly, excess
seaward oriented hydraulic slopes in the aquifers. Therefore, maintaining dam efficiency is necessary to achieve the
optimum use of catchment-scale water resources.
Problem of Siltation
Field Experiments
The researcher goes on: field and laboratory experiments
along with analytical and numerical modeling were used in
the study. The model will help to gain more insight into the
kinetics of filtration and evolution of infiltration fronts in
essentially heterogeneous porous media. In the experiments, 37 pedons have been already excavated (inside the
dam reservoirs and within the vicinity of the dam area) and
the soil has been studied in details at different depths and
areal loci. The change in the hydrological properties has
been investigated using infiltration and piezometer experiments in the field and column and pot experiments in the
laboratory and the SQU Agricultural Experiment Station.
Primary analysis of the results revealed that the soil genesis
is cumbersome and soils are evolving with a very short
time. This results in complicated and dynamic heterogeneities due to various factors. The resulting heterogeneities of
soil texture along with the incoming runoff water present
clearly the interaction between the pedology and the hydrology, which in the literature has been recently identified as a
new branch of science, hydropedology. The alterations of
the soil properties are found to significantly affect the infiltration and recharge patterns in the dam area. This increases
the potential hazards of flooding in the areas adjacent and
downstream of the dam. The experimentations and theoretical studies are continuing to better understand the physiochemical processes causing the alterations of the soil properties. Better understanding of the soil-water dynamics is
targeted, with the behavior of the infiltrating water as an
engineering application.
Fascinating Textures
The hydropedological study of the reservoir bed of AlKhoud dam revealed a fascinating sedimentation pattern
which evolved into an intricate composition of different soil
textures. The discovered soil morphology reflects the complex topology of water motion (infiltration-seepage-evaporation) through the naturally engineered soil structure both
during rare flood events with ensuing periods of ponding,
and long and common dry-dam periods. These naturally
morphed soils demonstrated the ability to preserve a large
quantity of water at a depth from 0.5 to 2 m, despite the high
temperature and dryness of the top soil. Dr. Al Maktoumi
pointed out that the hydrological optimality and “smartness” of these soils was attributed to the existence of a
unique matrix-crack harmonious system. Measurements of
soil moisture content confirmed hydrological immobility of
water within block-components of the smart design provided these blocks are not depleted by transpiration.
New Phenomena
The novel and smart phenomena discovered by the research
team unveils the possible alteration of soil heterogeneity for
optimization of the soil-water cosmos in arid zone soils.
The work was presented to an international conference and
accepted for publication in an international journal. The discovery has been viewed as a novel idea and the potential for
improving water use efficiency in arid zone farming is high.
May 2013
The researcher added that many studies around the globe
reported that recharge dams are experiencing the problem
of siltation, the deposition of detached and transported soil
particles that are brought as a sediment load by runoff water,
the researcher remarked. This adversely affects the storage
capacity of the dam along with other problems, the researcher stressed. Over time, layers of silt and/or other sedimented finer and coarser particles cover the bottom of the
dam reservoir. It is obvious that the infiltration rate decreases, water loss via evaporation increases, and hence groundwater recharge is reduced. As a common practice, this silt
layer is removed in an attempt to improve the infiltration
and hence the recharge efficiency. The anti-silt bulldozing
and drilling greatly improve the ability of the reservoir area
to act as a surface-to-subsurface hydrological sink. These
techniques are, however, costly, tedious and require recurring actions after each flood-deposition event, the researcher noted.
Hypothesis
The research team has hypothesized that a part of the fine
particles from the deposited load of flood water is carried
downward by seeping water into the parent soil/rock, especially through the large pores. Consequently, the surface
scraping cannot remove the clogging particulates, which
have already migrated deep into the parent bed material.
These fine particles may also gradually change the physiochemical properties of the original subsurface porous medium.
Dr. Al Maktoumi has stressed the importance of understanding the behavior and patterns of the percolating soil
particles and their effect on infiltration and recharge so as to
draw up better water resources management strategies. This
would provide the foundation for future decision making by
the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources and other governmental agencies as related to future dam
design and maintenance.
25
Study
Physical parameters affected the biolistic particle delivery
in target cells
The parameters were optimized
for gene delivery in date palm
Date palm is a major fruit plantation crop of the
Arabian Peninsula. It is a primary fruit crop in
Oman occupying 49% of cultivated area with a
yield of 238,000 MT. There are about 180 varieties of date palm grown in Oman. In recent
years the production has been declining due to
urbanization, desertification, heavy insect inGene Gun
May 2013
In this respect, Dr. Sardar Farook, of the College of Science, launched a research work using the so-called gene
gun, a device for biolistic gene delivery. The technology has been successfully used in several crop species. It
uses particle bombardment in which high density nano-particles of gold/tungsten are coated with DNA and
are accelerated to high velocity to deliver into living
cells. Successful transfer of foreign DNA into plant
cells could be achieved after optimizing physical and
biological parameters that effect DNA delivery. The parameters optimized for DNA delivery into plants are
helium pressure, distance from target tissue and the
concentration of DNA used per bombardment. The researcher said that there were few reports on transient
expression of transgene in date palm using gene gun. In
his study, he reported the optimization of physical and
biological parameters affecting DNA delivery into date
palm embryo genic calli and transient expression of the
genes in the cells using glucuronidase (GUS) reporter.
Materials and Methods:
26
Dr. Farook added that the study included a number of
elements. First, meristem explants from the offshoots of
date palm were obtained aseptically from three varieties
namely Aboedah, Mixed and Khalas. The callus was
initiated in MS medium with 2, 4-D, 2-ip and NAA and
the embryogenic callus was obtained with different
concentrations of 2-ip. Then, the cartridges were pre-
festation such as Dubas bug and Soil and water salinity. In vitro micro-propagation technology is successfully used to produce
thousands of young plantlets in a few selected varieties. Genetic improvement of date
palm through genetic transformation is still
at initial stage.
pared. Gold/Tungsten particles were washed with ethanol rinsed with sterile double distilled water before
coating with the plasmid DNA. The reporter gene constructs used in this study contain uidA gene encoding
β-glucuronidase under the control of the constitutive
CaMv 35S promoter. To precipitate plasmid DNA onto
the micro-carrier, particle suspensions were mixed with
spermidine and CaCl2 and injected in the tubing and
dried with helium. The tube was cut into 2 cm size cartridges.
After bombardment, he explained, the cultures were
maintained on the regeneration medium in 16 h photoperiod at 25°C for 24 h. Histochemical GUS assay: Histochemical assay for glucuronidase (GUS) was conducted on explants 24 h after bombardment. The callus
was incubated in X-Gluc staining at 37°C overnight.
The GUS expression was recorded in terms of number
of blue spots per explants.
Finally, the bombardment parameters, both biological
and physical, included the DNA concentrations (0.6,
1.2 and 1.8 μg per bombardment). Each of the treatments was conducted in three replicates and the experiment was repeated thrice.
Findings
The study showed that embryogenic callus is better
suited for biolistic mediated transformation in date
palm. The data on the five physical and biological parameters used for biolistic transformation, namely, helium pressure, micro-carrier to target tissue distance and
DNA concentration are recorded and analyzed. The use
of the appropriate amount of DNA is important in order
to produce efficient binding on gold particles. The
quantity of DNA coated with gold particles varied from
0.6 to 1.8 μg per bombardment. The concentration of
1.2 μg DNA per bombardment produced the highest
number of GUS spots per explant as compared to 0.6
and 1.8 μg. The maximum GUS expression was observed when the DNA-coated gold particles were propelled at 1100 psi helium pressure.
Dr. Farook observed little differences between the other
helium pressures used. The target distance between the
micro-carrier to the target tissue in the bombardment
chamber directly influence the penetration of the micro-carriers in to the target cells. The increase in the
target distance caused reduction in the average number
of GUS spots/callus and percentage of explants expressing GUS. The results showed that the target distance of 6 cm was significantly better than 9 and 12 cm.
Increased distance caused significant reduction in the
number of GUS spots. Finally, it is found that several
physical parameters significantly affected the biolistic
particle delivery in the target cells. The parameters were
successfully optimized for gene delivery in date palm.
‫تارمتؤملا‬
Conference Attendance Section is a gateway to the world
Over 600 conferences were attended by SQU academics in
2012
The section is in charge of regulating the process of
attending conferences using standing funding resources. Applications for attending conferences are
processed through an online electronic system accessible to all SQU academics, researchers, and employees. Attending local or international conferences
is funded by diverse sources including central budget
open to all academic staff and technicians, budgets
designed to encourage Omanis to benefit from such
Steady increase
The section has always been delivering services
through an effective online system which streamlines
the processing of applications. In recent years, there has
been a rise in conference attendance applications. In
2012, some 579 conference participations were reported compared to 255 in 2007, with an annual increase of
18%. This constant rising is natural, given the University’s sustained support for academic publishing and research. Consequently, there has been distinguished research work undertaken by SQU academics.
Goals
Responsibilities
•Regulate conference attendance by applying existing
rules and regulations as to different funding sources
available to applicants from colleges, centers, and units
in SQU; the section offers conference attendance regular reports and statistics, and assesses conference attendees based on their conference reports;
•Run an online electronic system and develop it based
on users’ feedback;
•Maintain the system and provide technical support to
its users as well as overseeing and updating the Academic Publication & Outreach Department’s homepage
on the main website.
Statistics
The section provides up-to-date information on a regular basis to all units in SQU about the efficiency of the
electronic system and financial support from various
budgets. In 2012, there were over 579 online conference attendance applications which received funding
from different sources in SQU.
High percentage
There was a higher number of approved conference
participation applications submitted by SQU Hospital
staff in 2012 compared to other units and colleges.
Some 149 applications from 25 departments were made
to attend international conferences in different areas,
with a 25.7% increase. The College of Science came
second with 81 applications including 29 from the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, followed by College of Arts & Social Sciences with 60 applications,
with the English Department and Geography Department topping the list. College of Engineering and College of Education scored 9% of the total number of
participations.
Further, there were 28 accepted requests from the Language Center, 6 from research centers, and similar number from the main library to attend the annual conference of the Federation of Libraries in Doha.
Main funding source
The central budget is the primary source of funding for
those who want to take part in conferences. Some 383
applicants received funding from this budget, while
there were only 39 research project-funded applications. Conference attendance involved 329 presentations and 40 guest participations.
Vision
The Section will soon establish a new system for conference attendance application by adding more options
in the fields of personal information and file attachments as well as possible access to previous applications.
May 2013
The section is responsible for regulating the process of
attending conferences by SQU academics through an
online electronic system accessible to everyone in
SQU. The system has been in place to cut red tape and
save time. Technical support is provided to all system
users and a database for conference papers has been
created. Moreover, the section provides colleges,
centers, and other concerned departments with conference attendance regular reports and statistics, and assesses conference attendees based on their conference
reports.
events, H.M. research project grants and funding
from other public organizations which support research production. Funding is also provided by organizers of conferences abroad.
27
ЇϋΊωχϊϋϓϏωΙϛψϒϏωχϚϏϕϔ΋ϕχϘϊχϚΜΚΞϝϋϒωϕϓϋϙϕϘϏύϏϔχϒχωχϊϋϓϏω
ϓχϔϛϙωϘϏϖϚϙϛψϓϏϙϙϏϕϔϙϝϘϏϚϚϋϔϋϏϚώϋϘϏϔΎϔύϒϏϙώϕϘΊϘχψϏωχϔϊωϕϜϋϘϏϔύ
χϔϟϚϕϖϏωϏϔϓϋϊϏωϏϔϋͥϋϔύϏϔϋϋϘϏϔύͥχύϘϏωϛϒϚϛϘϋͥϔχϚϛϘχϒϙωϏϋϔωϋϙϕϘϙϕωϏχϒ
ϙωϏϋϔωϋϙͨЇϋ΋ϕχϘϊϝϏϒϒωϕϜϋϘϚώϋϖϛψϒϏϙώϏϔύωϕϙϚϙχϔϊχϛϚώϕϘ΀ϖχϟϓϋϔϚ
όϕϘψϕϕϑϙχϖϖϘϕϜϋϊόϕϘϖϛψϒϏϙώϏϔύͨ
ΏϕϘόϛϘϚώϋϘϏϔόϕϘϓχϚϏϕϔͥϖϒϋχϙϋϜϏϙϏϚϕϛϘϝϋψϙϏϚϋͨ
ϝϝϝͨϙϗϛͨϋϊϛͨϕϓͿϙωϏϖϛψ΀χϘ
Νϋϒϒͧлнкнотмс
ΏχϞͧлннкмннт
ΝϋϘϓϙχϔϊωϕϔϊϏϚϏϕϔϙχϖϖϒϟ