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Fea ures
Saturday, July 16, 2011
The true significance
of this venture lies in
the fact that Oman
and the UAE have a
lot in common as to
social, geographical
and environmental
issues, and,
therefore, such a
partnership would
be of paramount
importance so that
they can address the
current challenges
of development
at all levels
SQU Vice-Chancellor receiving UAEU members of Joint Research Council
A joint research project of applying new techniques in addressing
challenges in mathematics instruction
SQU in research partnership with UAE University
These projects are part of a long-term ambitious strategy for sustaining research
T
he UAE University (UAEU) is one of the
leading academic institutions that have set
up ambitious research partnerships with
Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). Several scholars from both universities have carried out team
work in diverse areas of scientific research. At
present, there are four joint strategic projects under way, with a fifth endorsed, all of which being
the outcome of the partnership. The true significance of this venture lies in the fact that Oman and
the UAE have a lot in common as to social, geographical and environmental issues, and, therefore, such a partnership would be of paramount
importance so that they can address the current
challenges of development at all levels. Now, let
us have a closer look at the research projects as
reviewed here.
Human service management
Students with special needs in
mainstream schools
A joint research project has been initiated by
Omani and the UAE academics to examine the potentials of the educational system in Oman for the
inclusion of special needs students in mainstream
schools. The study, ‘the assessment of readiness
for educational inclusion in the UAE and Sultanate of Oman’, is designed to develop various
scales to measure the perceptions entertained
about inclusive education by schools’ principals,
teachers, social workers, parents, mainstream
students and special education teachers. Educational specialists Dr Ameen al Qaryooti, of SQU,
and Dr Mohammad al Zuwaydi, of UAEU, will
explore structural facilities and aptitudes of both
special education teachers and those in regular
schools. They will also evaluate the barriers to the
inclusion policy and try to identify key factors that
make it work. The academics will assess teachers’ skills and awareness as to how to address the
learning needs of students.
Reformed strategies for teaching
mathematics
Two other researchers at both universities have
started a joint research project of applying new
techniques in addressing challenges in mathematics instruction. Dr Mohammad bin Said al Ghafiri,
of SQU, and Dr Othman Alsawaie, of UAEU, are
examining ‘the impact of reform-based math-
Management
problems of
humanitarian
organisations
ematics instruction on students with learning
difficulties’. Their work has as its main goal to
investigate the effects of implementing reformbased mathematics instruction on achievement of
students in general, and those with math learning
difficulties in particular, in the first cycle of basic
education in both Oman and the UAE. The project
will help detect major math learning difficulties
and suggest better instruments for math teachers.
Reformed strategies for teaching mathematics together with other instructional aides will be made
available for math teachers to apply. The ultimate
aim of the study is to come up with results that
would enable educational decision-makers in
both countries to set measures necessary for the
development of math instruction. Still, educational administrators will build on the findings when
setting professional development programmes designed to improve math teachers’ skills and put in
place practical ideas that really work for students
with math learning difficulties.
Diagnosis of common inborn errors of metabolism disorders
Another joint study by two academics is ‘management of human service organisations: problems
and solutions’. It is a comparative investigation of
management problems faced by human service organisations, associations and centres in Oman and
the UAE. The project, by Professor Riad A Hamzawi, of UAEU, and Dr Magdi Mohammad Abid
Rabbu, of SQU, is designed to collect data about
the difficulties inhibiting performance and minimising administrative efficiency in all such operations as planning, organisation, co-ordination,
registration, report preparation and budget. It will
also focus on problems related to environmental
and cultural factors, leadership, decision-making,
execution, follow-up and assessment.
The study has as its main objective to identify
such problems so as to see any indications that
would facilitate effective mechanisms and solutions for them. Another goal is to carry out an overall assessment of the organisations, associations
and centres in order to achieve greater efficiency
through their national and human part in the comprehensive development process.
The research will attempt to answer the
following questions: what are the problems in
administrative planning faced by the above bodies, or so-called problems of goal identification,
setting out planning frameworks and priorities,
performance, assessment and follow-up? What
kind of obstacles do they encounter as to administrative organisation, or the so-called problems of
introducing regulations and organisational charts?
What are the problems in employment, human resources management, management orientation and
supervision, or problems of orientation of labour
elements, and how much are they applicable to
the norms that ensure efficiency in those bodies?
What are the hurdles faced in registration, report
preparation, data storage, vertical and horizontal
co-ordination, leadership, decision-making, funding and budget? And finally, the study will try to
address the problems associated with environmental and cultural factors that affect the management
of human service organisations.
The project will
use camel milk to
produce many value
added products
milk to produce many added value products such
as cheese, spray dried milk and condensed milk,
which will move the camel milk industry to a new
avenue of exploitation.
Metabolism disorders:
a database of cases
direct DNA sequencing of defective genes in affected individuals. Then, they correlate mutation
patterns with severity of the disorder and initiate
mutation detection analysis to establish the carrier
status of at-risk individuals.
For the purpose of this research work, individuals and families with metabolism disorders will
be selected from Tawam Hospital (UAE-Al Ain),
Al-Wasl Hospital (UAE-Dubai) and SQU Hospital. Blood samples will be collected from patients
and their parents, and mutational analysis will be
performed by direct DNA sequencing of defective
genes in affected individuals. Primers (small sequence of DNA) will be designed for all the genes
responsible for metabolic disorders and targeted
copies will be amplified by polymerase chain reaction method. The DNA sequence will be analysed
and compared to that stored in human genome databases so as to identify genetic mutations by using the multiple sequence alignment programme
ClustalW2.
The above efforts are only part of a longterm ambitious strategy the two institutions have
mapped out for sustaining research in different areas of knowledge.
Another important joint research by Omani and
the UAE academics is ‘diagnosis of common inborn errors of metabolism disorders’. It examines
inborn errors of metabolism which comprise a
wide range of autosomal recessive disorders that
show defects in metabolism of carbohydrates, amino acids, organic acids and fatty acids. The prevalence of this group of genetic diseases in Omani
and the UAE populations is believed to be high due
to first-cousin marriage, but the molecular causes
are not well established. Dr Said Ali al Yahyaee,
of SQU, and Dr Bassam Ali, of UAEU, jointly
seek to create a database of cases of inborn errors
of metabolism disorders in the two countries and
develop molecular diagnostic tests for those disorCamel milk protein isolates: economic and ders. Specifically, they want to characterise families and individuals with common inborn errors of
medical potentials
Investigating the benefits of camel milk, metabolism and perform a mutational analysis by
Dr Ahmed bin Ali bin Salem al Alawi, of SQU,
and Dr Louis Laleye, of UAEU, are conducting the
joint study, ‘characterisation of camel milk protein
isolates as nutraceuticals’. They look into ways of
separating and classifying camel milk proteins into
well defined fractions that could lead to a more
optimal use of their high valued functional properties. Their work will attempt to characterise low
molecular peptides and whey proteins and incorporate camel milk whey powder into food formulations such as ice cream formulation to be used as
a fat replacer, flavour enhancer or stabiliser. The
whey is the watery part of milk that separates from
the curds, as in the process of making cheese. The
research will also focus on the isolation, identification and characterisation of the small molecular weight of the proteins and peptide fractions of
camel milk proteins and relate their chemical structure with that of insulin which will ultimately provide a basis for controlling diabetes by camel milk
protein isolates. Due to their beneficial functional
properties, whey proteins are used as ingredients
A joint project will examine the potentials of the educational system in Oman for the
in many food products. The project will use camel
inclusion of special needs students in mainstream schools