Researchers Develop ‘Smart’ Distribution Board
News Round Up
On Cancer Patients Seeking Second Opinion Abroad
Mind Over Matter
Focus on Seismic Hazard Assessment
News Update
An Inspiration
to Do Better
Department of Public
Relations and Information
Sultan Qaboos University
Issue 231
View Point
The Real Wonderland
Learning about Oman’s geological heritage will lead you to love this country
more, and to support its sustainable development. In the prehistoric years,
the landmass that was to eventually become Arabia was covered by water,
hemmed in by moving continents, carved by ancient rivers and scoured by
monstrous glaciers. Those geological processes, occurring over hundreds of
millions of years, left behind a spectacular legacy in ophiolites, anticlines,
unconformities, and other anomalies that makes Oman in many ways a geological wonderland.
Humaid Abdullah Al Adwani
Editorial Supervision & Editor in Chief
M.K. Santhosh
Senior Editor
Ahlam Al Wahaibi
Design & Layout
Rashad Al Wahaibi
& Photography Dept., CET
Photography
Understanding and appreciating this splendid heritage is key to preserving it
for future generations. Water has played a significant role in Oman’s geological history. A visit to any major wadi system will provide a geological record
of major flood events of the past, evident in the layers of erosion seen along
the edges of the wadi. Studying past flood trends, was indispensable to planning any developmental activity in the area.
A geological marvel is the Rimal al Sharqiyah, the formation of which is attributed to climate change after the last Ice Age. The vast sand sea, consists
of big and small dunes, with the big dunes underlying the smaller ones. The
dunes of Rimal al Sharqiyah, provide useful insights for those looking to
study the hydrocarbon potential of a given area.
An equally significant geological curiosity is the ophiolite, a mass of rock that
was once part of the ocean crust and obducted on to the landmass millions
of years ago. Entire mountains made up of this dark looking rock can be
found in north Oman. While ophiolites can also be found in other parts of the
world, the Oman phenomenon is notably unique because of the existence of
pillow lavas — the product of molten lava that solidified when the Arabian
landmass was still under water in times bygone.
The sessions of the recently concluded International Conference on the Geology of the Arabian Plate and the Oman Mountains held at SQU provided
meaningful insights into the geological heritage of the country. Since geology
is of utmost importance to the Sultanate, organising these kinds of events are
vital for a leading university like SQU.
Horizon invites contributions from SQU members of staff and faculty. Contributions in the form of articles,
news, travelogues, stories of unique and interesting experiences, encounters, etc., are welcome. Contributions
may be edited for the sake of clarity and length. Please send your contributions to horizon@squ.edu.om preferably, as MSWord attachments. Authors will be suitably credited.
Horizon is published three times a month by the Department of Public Relations and Information,
Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 50, P.C. 123, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
Phone: +968 24141045
E-mail: horizon@squ.edu.om
20 January 2012 P2
Fax: +968 24413 391
Website: www.squ.edu.om
Focus on Seismic Hazard
Assessment
The Earthquake Monitoring Centre at Sultan Qaboos University recently organised a workshop on “Seismic Hazard Assessment for
Oman” under the patronage of HE Dr. Ali bin Saud al Bimani, Vice
Chancellor of the University. This event is part of a comprehensive
seismic hazard assessment project for Oman led by the Earthquake
Monitoring Centre. This national strategic project, sponsored by the
government of the Sultanate of Oman, is supported by international
institutions like Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University in Turkey, and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA.
In his opening speech, Hon. Prof. Khalifa al Jabri from the Department
of Civil & Architectural Engineering at SQU, said that the unique location of Oman on the southeast corner of the Arabian Plate makes it
susceptible to earthquakes over the years. “For many years, the authorities in the Sultanate have realized the importance of monitoring
seismic activities in Oman and its neighbouring areas in order to set
out rules, regulations and emergency plans in case major earthquakes
might occur in future. Safety of people and properties in the country
should be ensured by civil engineers and planners by designing safe
and robust structures that resist earthquakes”, Prof. Al Jabri added.
The seismic hazard assessment project for Oman is divided into four
phases: development of probabilistic and deterministic seismic hazard maps for Oman; seismic microzonation and site effects for Muscat;
development of shake and risk maps for Muscat; and development of
earthquake design provisions for buildings in Oman. The outcomes
and results of the first two phases and the fourth phase were discussed in detail in the workshop. It is anticipated that the project will
be completed by the end of this year. Prof. Khalifa al Jabri revealed
that an international conference will be organized towards the conclusion of this project to discuss the final results of it.
The outcomes of this project will be useful not only to those dealing
with seismic hazard assessment and loss estimation such as structural
engineers, designers, geophysicists, etc, but also to other administrators in the country such as traffic planners, emergency response
teams, utility departments and land use planners. Prof. Khalif al Jabri
hoped that this project would provide the authorities concerned with
a better understanding of the seismicity of the region and the ways to
mitigate the effects of earthquakes that might occur in future.
In his address, Prof. Nafi Toksoz, Professor, Department of Earth,
Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT, USA, congratulated the
seismic hazard assessment team of Oman for efficiently planning and
executing the project. Delivering a presentation on the geology, tectonics and seismicity of Oman during the opening session, Dr. Ali Al
Lazki from the Earth Sciences Department of SQU, said that Oman
is under the threat of small to moderate earthquakes. According to
him, the country is under the threat of tsunamis from distant sources
such as the Sunda-Java Trench in Indonesia and closer sources such as
the Makran Subduction Zone in the northern Arabian sea. In the first
session, Dr. Issa El Hussain, from the Earthquake Monitoring Centre
at SQU delivered a presentation on Probabilistic and Deterministic
Seismic Hazard Assessment for Oman.
News Update
Indonesian Institute Seeks
Ties with SQU
HE Dr. Ali bin Saud al Bimani, Vice Chancellor of SQU recently received
in his office, a delegation from the State Institute of Islamic Studies, North
Sumatra in Indonesia, headed by Prof. Nur Ahmad Fadhil Lubis, Rector of
the Institute. The two sides discussed on the possibilities of collaboration
between the two institutions in terms of student and faculty exchanges in
different disciplines such as Islamic Studies, Arabic language and literature
and History. The delegation later visited the College of Education and held
discussion with Dr. Thuwayba Al Barwani, the Dean of the college and other
academicians with regard to of academic ties with the Islamic Sciences Department.
SQU to Establish Ties with
University of Pretoria
A delegation from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, headed by Prof
Cheryl de la Rey, Vice Chancellor and Principal, visited Sultan Qaboos University recently. The delegation was received by HE Dr. Ali al Bimani, Vice
Chancellor of SQU and other senior officials. Prof Cheryl de la Rey presented
copies of the annual report and research report of her university to Dr. Al Bimani and explained its teaching, research and community services activities.
She said that the University of Pretoria offers the widest range of academic
programs in South Africa in different disciplines including science, medicine
and allied health humanities, arts and law.
The University of Pretoria offers more than 1800 academic programs and it
is the university with the highest research output in South Africa. The academic programmes of the University are offered in the nine faculties, as well
as a business school. The faculties comprise a total of 140 departments and
85 centres, institutes and bureaus. The university is at the forefront of tertiary
education in South Africa and collaborate with world-class partners to ensure
continued excellence in learning and teaching.
A video documentary on SQU was screened for the delegation in addition to
SQU officials elaborating on its teaching and research programs. They agreed
of establishing close ties between SQU and the University of Pretoria by way
of promoting student exchange, joint activities and collaborative research in
different fields such as agriculture, engineering, basic and applied sciences,
law, education, medicine and health sciences, and nursing. The University of
Pretoria delegation held separate discussions with academics in the colleges
of Education and Agricultural & Marine Sciences to work out specific collaboration outlines. They also visited the SQU Cultural Centre.
20 January 2012 P3
Insight
An Inspiration to Do Better
Rayhanah Al Mjeni
For Rayhanah Abdul-Munim Mohammad Al Mjeni, the winner of
the UNESCO-L’OREAL Pan Arab Regional Fellowship for Young
Women in Life Sciences, her achievement is an inspiration to perform better in her field of activity. Rayhanah Al Mjeni, a senior
biomedical scientist in the Genetics Department of the College of
Medicine & Health Sciences, is the first Omani scientist to win this
fellowship. She hopes that this award would inspire more Omani
women to take up science and contribute to the advancement of
knowledge in their fields. Through sciences, she hopes to contribute further to its advancement by actively continuing research
within the field of her interest. Her expectation is to contribute to
the well-being of communities through improvement of diagnosis,
treatment and therapy.
UNESCO-L’OREAL fellowships program was instituted to accentuate examples of scientific excellence and encourage young women to select scientific careers. The fellowship is aimed at celebrating
the phenomenal achievements of the region’s women scientists including their contributions to the advancement of field of science;
and, empowering Arab women scientists. The program extends to
17 Arab countries. Rayhanah Al Mjeni is the first Omani scientist to
win this fellowship.
Rayhanah, who is also pursuing a PhD at SQU, is currently studying the genetics of glaucoma in adults and pediatric stages. This
disorder affects the optic nerve, is usually undetected until more
than 40% of the peripheral vision is impaired and eventually leads
to irreversible blindness. It is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness. It has a prevalence of about 5% in individuals aged
30 years and above within the Omani population. A family history
of the disorder puts the members at a risk ranging from 7-10 times
higher than that of the general public. The cause of the deterioration of the optic nerve is unknown. Additionally, current treatment
management does not stop the degeneration but reduce the rate at
which it occurs. Therefore, in order to preserve and maintain sight
for glaucoma affected individuals, treatment should be initiated
during the earlier stages of optic nerve damage. Considering that
vision loss is not noticed until more than 40% of peripheral sight
is affected, the disorder needs to be diagnosed earlier and at risk
individuals need to be identified.
According to Rayhanah, the genetic knowledge of this disease in
Oman will allow for better diagnosis and prognosis of the disorder along with an impact on the prospects of therapy. “Hopefully
this study will provide the fundamental Omani glaucoma genetic
knowledge by examining the candidate gene and indentifying the
relevant mutations that might contribute to its pathogenesis using
advanced molecular genetics techniques”, she said.
Rayhanah obtained her B.Sc. and M. Sc. in Human Genetics at the
University of Leeds, UK. She has participated in genetics projects
related to leukemia and cancer including neurology and has published scientific articles within these fields and presented the outcomes in different conferences. This year, nine Arab women scientists were selected and were provided with support in recognition
of their contribution to the advancement of science and to assist in
further progressing their career. The ceremony was held on the 4th
of October in Lebanon under the patronage of the Lebanese Minister of Education and Higher Education and in collaboration with
the Lebanese National Commission of UNESCO.
20 January 2012 P4
Rayhanah came to know about the 2011 L’OREAL-UNESCO Pan Arab Regional Fellowships through University email. It took her a couple of days
to apply as she was aware that Glaucoma is an important neurodegenerative disorder that affects the eye and is of great significance worldwide.
The genetics of neurological and neuromuscular disorders including regeneration studies is what interests Rayhanah.
Narrating her experience after having being selected for the fellowship,
Rayhanah said: “When I received the email regarding winning the award,
I was ecstatic. This confirmed that my project is of considerable interest
to the rest of the world. Winning gave me a sense of confidence, enablement and pride that I have won an award sponsored by a well-recognized
group and organizations. It was not until I went to Beirut that I truly felt
the weight and status of wining the award. It made me feel privileged and
honored. I belonged to a group of people, who are in my view, elite and
are actively working to make a difference to science and society. Now that
I am a fellow, I am obliged to apply myself so as to achieve my ambitions
and advance the knowledge in this specific field. I recognized the challenges lying ahead of me are not easy and I have prepared myself and my
attitude to face them. In this connection I received encouragement from
my supervisors, academic staff, colleagues including family and friends
and I am thankful to them for their support”.
Rayhanah further said: “Foremost I would like to thank His Majesty Sultan Qaboos for his great foresight. He has shown tremendous value in education and within a very short period of time established a good primary,
secondary and tertiary education. In addition he supported and encouraged postgraduate studies, and has placed great emphasis on research at
university level. He has provided grants to support research. His leadership is an inspiration to all of us”.
Mind Over Matter
A significant number of patients diagnosed with cancer
in Oman have a tendency to bypass the tertiary care or
specialist hospitals in the country and go abroad for
opinion and treatment. Raising his comments on the
tendency of cancer patients in Oman seeking a second
opinion abroad, Dr. Ikram Ali Burney, Oncologist and
Senior Consultant in the Department of Medicine at
SQU Hospital, says that “once overseas, they may not
be provided with an opinion, but instead are started on
the first stage of treatment, sometimes even when it is
not solicited. Patients invariably return home to continue the treatment. Although the off-shore clinics are
very quick to commence ‘treatment’, valuable time, not
to mention savings or borrowed money, is often lost in
the making of travel arrangements”.
On Cancer Patients Seeking
Second Opinion Abroad
In an article “The Trend to Seek a Second Opinion Abroad
amongst Cancer Patients in Oman: Challenges and opportunities” published in SQU Medical Journal recently, Dr. Burney
says that the tendency to seek a second opinion abroad can endanger the patient’s health. “The clinical condition may not be
fully known to the patient or his family members, and urgent
clinical attention is sometimes delayed. Any delay in travel arrangements may lead to a progression of the disease; this in
turn leads to an increased burden of disease and a decline in
performance status, both conditions decreasing the chances of
successful treatment and a subsequent cure”.
He further adds that with regard to seeking a second opinion
abroad, the patient’s selection of country or medical centre is
often not informed by prior knowledge of expertise, excellence
in the field or familiarity with the type of cancer, but rather by
geographical proximity, convenience of travel or simply by a
verbal recommendation. “Some patients are known to have arrived at centres in which they have received less than adequate
treatment or been the victim of experimental or investigational
treatment without their knowledge. In both cases, the chances
of any subsequent standard treatment being effective are reduced. On other occasions, patients end up in good centres
where standard treatment is offered or advised for straightforward cases, but there are complications as a result of travel-related delays. Additionally, cancer treatment overseas is seldom
cheaper”.
Dr. Burney says that there is absence of published data concerning Omani cancer patients seeking second opinion abroad.
“The motives may be intrinsic or extrinsic, or a combination
of both. Intrinsic motives could include: seeking reassurance
and more certainty about the diagnosis; seeking a treatment
other than the conventional one ‘usually’ offered to cancer
patients; the desire to be treated in a different environment perhaps to maintain ‘confidentiality’, or the belief that ‘paying more’ will produce better treatment. Extrinsic motives are
more varied. These could include: experiences from the patient’s past; doubts about the health care services in the home
country; market forces, such as dynamic advertisements by external health care organisations; social and societal pressures;
or merely word of mouth information that a ‘cure’ is available
elsewhere, and hence borrowing or spending large amounts of
money might bring positive results”.
Dr. Burney opines that common extrinsic motivators for seeking a second opinion may not be applicable in the case of several patients, since a ‘first’ opinion has not yet been sought.
These factors may be the lack of effective communication by
and with the oncologist; dissatisfaction with the primary oncologist; seeking an opinion on a rare cancer; and concern
about the side-effects of a particular type of treatment; A lack
of communication between health care providers, a delay in
diagnosis, or simply the unavailability of resources may contribute to the need for a second opinion. These could be easily
rectified by better utilisation of our material resources. On the
other hand, if the major motivations are intrinsic (or social),
then the solution may lie in sustained and concrete efforts
aimed at enhancing public awareness and confidence-building
through a process of education and information dissemination.
The ultimate winners should and would be the patients and
society at large.
Dr. Burney points out that seeking a second opinion amongst
cancer patients in Oman poses certain challenges for the health
of the patients and provides the health care profession with
opportunities to study the problem and to aim for practical
solutions. “Oncologists themselves should support patients in
their efforts to obtain an opinion. However, seeking a patientinitiated second opinion abroad, especially in the case of cancer
management, may have an adverse effect on the outcome of
the disease, both because of the delay it causes in diagnosis,
and because of the chance of receiving sub-optimal treatment
or advice elsewhere. In order to overcome the challenge, there
is an urgent need to study patients’ or their decision makers’
motives and expectations”, opines Dr. Burney.
Dr. Burney points out that the World Health Organization has
ranked Oman as one of the most efficient health care systems.
“Patients should be advised that second opinions can be easily
and quickly sought at little or no cost through fax, email, and
telemedicine from places in Oman or abroad which are widely
perceived to be centres of academic and clinical excellence.
This will avoid the need for cancer sufferers to seek opinions
from more profit-oriented health care centres which may not
have the necessary expertise to provide the best advice, he concludes”.
20 January 2012 P5
News Round Up
Researchers Develop
‘Smart’ Distribution Board
Dr. Amer Al Hinai
Dr. Amer Al Habsi
A team consisting of nine researchers in the Department of
Electrical & Computer Engineering of the College of Engineering developed a ‘Smart’ Distribution Board which
is capable of saving energy and tailor-made to meet the
electricity transmission and distribution requirements in
the Sultanate. Dr. Amer Al Hinai and Dr. Amer Al Habsi,
academics in the Department of Electrical & Computer
Engineering, who led this consultative research project
said that this project was carried out for National Electrical Industries Company, which at the beginning, approached the Industrial Innovation Centre (IIC) to find a
research institution to take up this industrial research and
development project. After approaching various academic
institutes in Oman, IIC selected SQU, the leading research
institution in the field of Electrical Engineering. SQU was
chosen due to its positive response to the idea and sound
research proposal which demonstrated its expertise and
resources in this field.
Commenting on the work, Dr. Amer al Hinai said that in
Oman, electricity consumption trebles during summer
and this requires the utilities to expand generation, transmission and distribution capacities. “Besides the emission
problem and its impact to the environment, power generation expansion is limited to the availability of natural gas.
The expansion of transmission and distribution utilities
is costly and the revenue is restricted with the off-peak
demand during half of the year. The surge in demand can
create load shedding causing inconvenience to the general
public. This also leads to lower voltage which impacts the
life time of house hold electrical appliances”.
The project duration spanned eleven months, from approval to completion. Apart from Dr. Amer Al Hinai and
Dr. Amer Al Habsi, the research team comprised three
engineers and four Omani undergraduate final year students. This provided a unique opportunity to build capacity through the field of applied industrial electrical
engineering. In the ‘smart’ distribution board (SDB) they
designed, the voltage levels of all phases are periodically
measured by the sensors. When the voltages drop below
certain thresholds, appliances preselected by the user are
turned off one after another and remain off until the voltage levels improve. When the voltage improves the appliances are turned back on. The appliances can be remotely
controlled using GSM, GPRS or internet technologies. The
product has implemented cutting edge technology at extremely competitive prices. The SDB solves the core problems addressed.
20 January 2012 P6
SQU to Strengthen Ties with
US Healthcare Institute
A delegation from St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System (SLEHS), Texas, USA,
visited Sultan Qaboos University recently. The delegation consisted of Chester Jones, Chairman of the Board, SLEHS, David J. Fine, President & Chief Executive Officer, and two other senior officials. Dr. Said bin Ali al Yahyaee, SQU
Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Community Service, Dr. Hilal al Sabti, Deputy Director General of SQU Hospital for Medical Affairs, and
other SQU officials received the St. Luke’s delegation.
They discussed about further enhancing the collaboration between SLEHS and
SQU. Currently exchange of technicians and nurses are in place between SQUH
and the US institution. The two sides agreed on extending the scope of exchange
of people to the faculty members in the College of Medicine & Health Sciences
at SQU and clinical scientists in SQU Hospital and the college. Exchange of
technicians will be extended to cardiac care, cardiac computed tomography,
operating room technology and other units. They also agreed on enhancing
research collaboration in different medical and clinical areas including radiology, neuroscience, and other medical specializations. Later Dr. David Fine gave
lecture on health system reform at the College of Medicine & Health Sciences.
Show Highlights Road
Safety Practices
The road show which is part of the “Together For Accident Free Oman 2012”
campaign, organized by Shell Oman, camped at SQU for three days recently,
highlighting the importance of road safety practices to the university community. The road safety experts who were among the team gave advise to visitors
on road safety practices. The visitors were provided a platform to share their
road safety experiences. The campaign reinforced road safety in the mind of
road users in SQU.
The organisers said that show at SQU was successful in providing a platform
for discussion and dialogues between road safety advocates and the participating students and staff and also served as a forum to generate ideas through
feedbacks from road-users. The people who visited the show was provided
with a unique learning experience through special demos featured, like the
Seat-Belt Convincer and Car driving simulators. The show was put up near the
Sun Clock behind SQU Administration building.
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Straight Talk
Horizon: Could you share some information on
the activities and objectives of ITA Oman?
ITA (Information Technology Authority)
Oman is an autonomous government body which
was established in 2006 as part of a national strategy
regarding e-governance which was approved by the
cabinet in 2002 to be implemented. Part of this strategy
was to build a digital society and there were a number
of projects that were recommended as part of the strategy. ITA was established to undertake the infrastructure projects in addition to helping the government
provide its services online and equipping the public
and the government employees with the right skills to
benefit from technology.
Talal:
Horizon: How would you evaluate the outcome of
projects like the digital literacy training and certification for civil service workforce, which were undertaken by ITA?
One of the main tasks of the ITA has been to
equip and train the civil service employees, as well as
citizens so that they can benefit from technology. ITA
has two main projects, one is about providing IT skills
training to government employees. We are targeting
to train around 100,000 civil service employees. Until
now, over 45000 civil service employees have finished
the training. On the other hand, we are establishing
community knowledge centers (CKC). These centres
are distributed throughout the country in the main
cities of Oman. These centres provide free training of
basic IT skills. Anybody from the community is eligible
to take this training if he/she is above 18 years old and
is able to read and write, and these centres also serve
as an access point to internet for the general public.
Besides the training times, people can come and use
these centres to access internet or use the government
services online. We have managed to train over 24,000
people so far.
Talal:
Horizon: Could you elaborate on ITA’s partnership
with the private sector organization towards community service and related tasks?
Training the community and providing them
with the right skills requires partnership with the private sector as well. We have partnership with many
companies who have earmarked funds for corporate
social responsibility. We are also trying to work with
non-profit organizations or non-government organizations such as the Women’s Association to establish
more Community Knowledge Centres in different regions of the country to impart training to the community.
Talal:
Horizon:
Talal Sulaiman Al Rahbi
Talal Sulaiman Al Rahbi is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Operations at Information
Technology Authority (ITA), Oman. He is taking
care of the ITA divisions that implement training
programs and strategic awareness in support of
the Digital Oman Strategy and the e-Government
initiative, and directs programs and projects concerning development of the IT industry in the
Sultanate. Among his responsibilities is managing research work related to surveys, statistics and
indicators for ITA. Al Rahbi is also in responsible
for operations related to ITA contracts and investment. He is currently the 1st Vice Chairperson of
the Governing Board of the UNESCO Institute for
Statistics and is a member of the Technical Committee for Statistics in the Sultanate of Oman. He
participated in the Information Systems International Conference organized by SQU recently.
near future?
What are the major aims of ITA for the
As mentioned, we have a national strategy
called Digital Oman and E-governance strategy, and
now we call it short E-Oman initiative. This strategy
was developed in 2002, however, we got approval
from our board of directors early this year, approving
the five year plan. Government of Oman, usually carries out its projects according to five year plans. This
project has a time frame of 2011-2015. The government
have a vision of Oman in 2020, with this vision, they
have a number of five year plans taking place. ITA this
year developed its own plan, to develop the IT sector
in Oman. This plan has a number of initiatives regarding training the government employees and the public
as well as working with the private sector to establish
the ICT industry here in Oman. Besides that we are
also working with different government organizations,
such as the Ministry of Commerce or the Development
Bank of Oman and many others. There is another
project we are working on which is about continuing
Photo by: Seyad Farook
to develop the infrastructure in the country such as the
National Disaster Data Centre.
Talal: