Imaging Technology for Analysis of Date Fruits’ Quality
Panorama
M-learning: Omani Undergraduate Students’ Perspective
Mind Over Matter
SQU Celebrates 15th Week of Italian Language in the World
News Update
Increasing Incidence
of Infants with
Low Birth Weight
Department of Public
Relations and Information
Sultan Qaboos University
Issue 323
View Point
Language: the Road
Map of a Culture
Mohamed Salem Al Ghailani
Editorial Supervision
Santhosh Muthalath
Senior Editor
Sara Al Gheilani
Nasebah Al Muharrami
Translation
Ahlam Al Wahaibi
Design & Layout
Photography Dept., CET
Photography
Salim Al Sudairi
Circulation
SQU-info
“The Week of the Italian Language in the World” promotes Italian as a great
language of classical and contemporary culture. Every year the diplomatic and
cultural network of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation chooses a theme for this initiative and organizes a series of events in the
third week of October. Though SQU introduced Italian language as a university elective course just one year back, the enthusiasm of students towards
this language is overwhelming. Until now, more than 140 students enrolled
for Italian language course from across all colleges at the university. Of late,
SQU celebrated the 15th Week of Italian Language in the World, with a simple
but elegant function in the presence of H.H. Sayyiah Dr. Mona bint Fahad Al
Said, Assistant Vice Chancellor for International Cooperation, and H.E. Paola
Amadei, Ambassador of Italy to the Sultanate of Oman.
On the occasion, the Italian Ambassador gave very valid reasons why one
should learn Italian. Over the centuries, Italy and Italians abroad have produced some of the finest works of art and culture that the world has ever seen.
Most of the world’s cultural heritage sites (over 60%) are in Italy, ranging from
Roman aquifers and theaters to medieval castles, Renaissance palaces, Baroque
churches and more. Italian literature boasts some of the world’s most famous
writers and thinkers, from Dante, father of the Italian language, Petrarch and
Machiavelli, to Manzoni, Verga, Svevo, Pirandello, just to name a few. The relationship between Italy and music is also a very close one. From the sixteenth
century onwards, the Italian music has spread across Europe, and Italian musicians have performed and taught music in every corner of the world.
Since a language is a doorway to a particular culture, learning a new language
enables us to have a broader understanding of that race or culture. Opening
up to a culture allows us to be more flexible and appreciative of other ways of
doing and looking at things. As a result, if we become multilingual, we have
the advantage of seeing the world from different vantage points. In today’s
interconnectedness, this is a valuable tool. In this context, the Ambassador’s
words “studying a foreign language requires great efforts but yields great results” becomes relevant.
@SQU-info
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.
The views and opinions expressed in the articles published in this newsletter are those of the authors
and are not to be construed as the official views of the publication. 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
10 November 2015 P2
Fax: +968 24413 391
Website: www.squ.edu.om
News Update
Conference Addresses
Coastal Ecosystems
The opening ceremony of the Fifth International Conference on Estuaries and Costs, organized by Sultan Qaboos University was held
under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Fuad bin Jaafar Al Sajwani, Minister
of Agriculture & Fisheries. The event was organized by Civil and
Architectural Engineering Department, Sultan Qaboos University,
in cooperation with the Research Council, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Wealth, the Special Economic Zone Authority in
Duqm, the International Research and Training Center on Erosion
and Sedimentation (IRTCES), and the International Association for
Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR).
Delivering the organizing committee address, Hon. Prof. Khalifa Al
Jabri, Head of the Department of Civil & Architectural Engineering
at SQU, said that the organization of this conference comes as an
assurance to the importance of research and development between
the university and relevant scientific institutes. “51 papers will
be presented in this conference, 7 keynote speeches and 44 scientific paper presented by participants from more than 20 countries
around the world”, he said.
Christopher George, Executive Director of IAHR, said that his organization was happy to see Oman hosting this event, as this region is not only the cradle of civilizations but also the domain of
hydrological engineering. “The Great Dam of Marib in Yemen, the
oldest dam from its era currently surviving, dates back to at least
the 8th century B.C., and the Aflaj irrigation systems of Oman, etc.,
are classical examples of water resources engineering in the region.
Oman has a long tradition of coastal navigation. At the same time,
the country is facing challenges such as possibility of floods and
tsunamis, and coastal pollution and oil spill. It is good to see that
the conference addresses these issues along with other related topics”, he said.
In his address, Dr. Liu Ning, Vice Minister of Water Resources,
China, outlined the complex and sensitive ecosystems of estuaries and coasts, and exacerbated ecological pressures and resource
constraints in estuaries. “Sharp decline in sediment flux discharged
into the oceans and shore erosion are becoming common across the
coastal regions in the world. Sea level rise is accelerated, threatening
safety of coastal cities. More pollutants are discharged and water
environment is worsening. Inadequate estuaries and coasts management, lack of protective infrastructure is another challenge”, he
said. Liu Ning elaborated on the measures and regulations adopted
by China to safeguard the coastal zones and estuaries.
The conference discussed several themes related to coastal zone
management such as coastal erosion, seawater quality, tsunamis
and storm surges, integrated coastal zone management, estuaries:
water quality observations and modeling, integrated coastal zone
management, coastal hydrodynamics, and shoreline change and
seawater intrusion.
SQU Celebrates 15th Week
of Italian Language
The Department of Tourism of the College of Arts & Social Sciences
at Sultan Qaboos University celebrated the “15th Week of the Italian Language in the World” under the patronage of H.H. Sayyidah
Mona bint Fahad Al Said, SQU Assistant Vice Chancellor for International Cooperation. The event was in the form of a regular class
activity in which SQU students from all the colleges, who study
Italian language as an elective course, read selected parts of Italian literature and travelogues. Anna Barbaresco, Italian language
instructor at SQU, led the session. The students recited poems and
prose written by famous Italian writers and poets such as Ibn Hamdis, Dante Alighieri, Marco Polo, and others. H.E. Paola Amadei,
Ambassador of Italy to the Sultanate of Oman, Dr. Abdullah bin
Khamis Al Kindi, Dean of the College of Arts & Social Sciences, and
other academicians from SQU attended the function.
Speaking on the occasion, H.E. Paola Amadei, said that all over the
world, people are getting more and more aware of the importance
of the Italian language. “The demand for Italian is growing almost
everywhere at a fast pace, and so are the enrolment rates in Italian schools and courses. From the Americas and Australia, where
huge Italian communities exist, to Africa, east Asia and the Middle
East, hundreds of thousands of students, both young and old, male
and female, are starting to learn Italian or taking classes to improve
their skills”, she noted.
The Ambassador added that love for both the Italian culture as a
whole and the musicality of the Italian language, such an amazingly beautiful and melodious language, is not, however, the only
driver of the sharp increase in the demand for Italian that we are
witnessing today. “Italy is also one of the world greatest industrial
countries and a leading economy in many sectors: infrastructure,
machinery, robotics, engineering, pharmaceutical, services, just
to mention few. Fashion, design, and of course culinary arts and
the food industry including Italian chefs are renowned all over the
world and one would have a hard time trying to find a restaurant
whose menu does not contain any Italian word. Knowing Italian
is therefore greatly beneficial in several career fields and learning
it might turn out to be an excellent investment in the future”, H.E.
Paola Amadei said.
Dr. Galal Mohamed Afifi, Head of the Department of Tourism of
the College of Arts & Social Sciences at SQU, said that the university launched Italian language course due to its long association with
the Embassy of Italy in Oman. “The decision to start a university
elective course in Italian language was made a year ago. Over two
semesters, four language sessions were available and more than
140 students from all SQU colleges enrolled in those sections. This
figure testifies that the course was well received by the students”,
he observed.
“The Week of the Italian Language in the World” is an event of promoting Italian as language of classical and contemporary culture.
P3 10 November 2015
Insight
Increasing Incidence of Infants
with Low-Birth-Weight
Weight at the time of birth of a new born baby is an important biomarker
of health, survival, and the future development of the infants. Recent studies have demonstrated that low-birth-weight (LBW), defined by the World
Health Organization (WHO) as birth-weight less than 2,500 grams (or 2.5
kg or 5.5 lb), is not only associated with a higher risk of neonatal (under
one month of age) and childhood mortality and morbidity, but also linked
with many adverse health and development outcomes in later life including delays in cognitive and behavioural development, growth retardation,
poor academic performance and neurological problems in childhood, and
chronic diseases such as hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease (and
related disorders) and diabetes in adulthood. LBW children have 20 times
higher risk of mortality than those born with a normal weight (weight ≥
2,500g). As LBW is largely preventable, it provides a target for intervention
to improve the child health and survival.
Despite dramatic improvement in health and survival of people in Oman,
a recent study in Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) revealed that Oman
sees increasing incidence of LBW children in recent time. The study was
conducted by Dr. M. Mazharul Islam, department of Mathematics and
Statistics, college of science
at SQU, and the report was
published in a recent issue
of the SQU Medical Journal
2015 (Vol. 15, No. 2: 1611670).
Dr. Islam pointed out that
compared to any developed country, Oman has a
relatively high rate of LBW,
which is around 10% since
2010. “LBW rates have
shown increasing trends
since 1980. According to the
National Health Information
Statistics (NHIS), the prevalence of LBW was 4.2% in
1980, which doubled (8.1%)
in 2000. Since then it has
shown a slow but steady
increase reaching 10.2% in
2013. Over the last decade, LBW rate has increased substantially,” he observed. The incidence of LBW in Oman was found to be higher than that
in many Arab countries with similar socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. According to the joint UNICEF and WHO study of global, regional and country estimates of LBW in 2000, Oman had a higher incidence
of LBW than Lebanon (6%), Syria (6%), Algeria (7%), Kuwait (7%), Libya
(7%), Tunisia (7%) and Bahrain (8%).7 However the incidence was lower
than Jordan (10%), Qatar (10%), Morocco (11%), Saudi Arabia (11%), Egypt
(12%), Nigeria (14%), Sudan (31%) and Yemen (32%).
Dr. Islam further pointed out that there are significant regional variations
in LBW in Oman. “The highest rate of LBW was observed in the Al-Batinah region (~12%) followed by Al-Dhahirah and Al-Sharqiyah North (11%
each). The lowest level of LBW was observed in the Muscat region” he observed. Low birth weight (LBW) of a baby is either the result of premature
or preterm birth (i.e. birth before 37 weeks of gestation) or of intrauterine
10 November 2015 P4
growth problem (i.e. growth problem during pregnancy period). There
are many factors that affect the duration of gestation and of foetal growth
during pregnancy, and thus, the birthweight. They relate to the infant, the
mother or the physical environment and play an important role in determining the infant’s birthweight and future health.
Dr. Islam identified many plausible underlying causes for increased incidence of LBW in Oman, which can be summarized as follows: (1) High
incidence of preterm births in Oman; (2) High incidence of consanguineous marriage and associated genetic disorder and congenital anomalies
are linked with the high prevalence of LBW in Oman. (3) Increasing age at
marriage and childbearing at an advanced maternal age of 35 and above
also linked with increasing LBW rate in Oman. (4) With recent advances
in modern obstetric and neonatal care and technological development in
Oman, more and more foetus with restricted growth and pregnancy complications are taking place as live births. This also causes an increase in the
rate of LBW infants, and subsequently an increased rate of long-term neurological problem. (5) As a newly developing country, Oman is facing the
“double burden of morbidity”. It carries the burden of the present epidemiological changes and the
health problems resulting
from unhealthy lifestyles
typical of the developed
countries. With the development of its economy
and the growth of personal
wealth, there have been
changes in the life style and
food habits of the population. Recent modernization
has led to changing nutritional habits and a decrease
in habitual physical exercise and the sedentary lifestyle has become a norm.
As a result, the country
is passing through epidemiological transition from
communicable to non-communicable diseases. The
main diseases resulting due
to these changes are: obesity, cardiac and coronary diseases, hypertension,
diabetes, cancers, chronic kidney diseases, brain stroke, and geriatric diseases.
Dr. Islam concluded, “Since the LBW children have economic and social
consequences that go beyond the immediate health care and special education costs and may have lifetime effects, an attempt should be made to
reduce or prevent poor pregnancy outcomes. In turn, this would reduce
the cost of health, education, and social services. Intensive monitoring during the course of pregnancy by providing adequate prenatal medical care
might be one means of prevention of adverse pregnancy outcomes like
LBW. Also, early intervention programs or special care for LBW children
could be an effective means of improving their health, survival and educational outcome. It is also important to increase awareness among parents
and the community about the causes and consequences of LBW in Oman
and intensify the antenatal care in all health acre outlet.”
Mind Over Matter
M-learning: Omani Undergraduate
Students’ Perspective
integrated in M-learning, changes the way our students learn and educate to
be more interesting, interactive, flexible and widely available. M-learning is
cost efficient technique that encourage students to learn and get knowledge
without traditional education system restrictions.
By: Dr. Mohamed Sarrab
Communication & Information Research Centre
Sultan Qaboos University
The traditional learning in short T-learning and education
systems are normally made in the classrooms in which
teachers are responsible for providing students with their
study materials. The T-learning has three main components: learners, teachers and study materials where all of
them must be physically represented in the learning place.
The T-learning has many drawbacks such as learning in
specific location and the availability of learning material.
Generally, T-learning is not suitable for different learning
and education style such as online exams, discussion ports,
collaboration, animation, video, listening and knowledge
searching. The ICT and the use of electronic media in education have introduced the E-learning which allows the educators to learn at any time and in different locations. The
E-learning refers to the use of technology in different learning activities and to help people to learn
remotely. The E-learning concept covers different models such as webbased learning, virtual classrooms, computer-assisted
learning and digital
communication.
C u r r e n t l y,
most of education
systems prohibit
students
using
their mobile devices during school work and,
students are very rarely allowed to use mobile devices
web browser to find information during lessons or
exercises. Other students
may allowed to use their
mobile devices as bilingual dictionary or using
their mobile cameras to
capture photograph of
PowerPoint
presentation slides. In fact, that
realize of M-learning is
impossible without the
use of mobile devices.
The very important
and common abilities
are their mobility, availability and easily wireless
connecting. Using modern mobile technology
We conducted a research to analyze and evaluate students’ knowledge and
awareness about M-learning. This empirical study includes 56 university students from the Department of Computer Engineering of the College of Engineering and the Department of Computer Science of the College of Science
at Sultan Qaboos University. This study consists of two parts. The first part
involved studying overview presentation and students’ discussion about
M-learning. The second part included a survey study that consists of three
phases: general information, M-learning knowledge and M-learning perception. Based on the study survey questions regarding the knowledge, acceptance and use of M-learning, the students responses are analyzed and evaluated. The study initial findings indicated good M-learning awareness and
acceptance level and showed students positive attitude that reflect students
interesting in the use of mobile devices as learning tools.
Most of the M-learning mechanisms are concentrating on students of different higher education providers. The article reports an empirical research
study about student’s’ M-learning knowledge that was conducted with the
purpose of defining the meaning of M-learning and evaluates the student’s
acceptance of M-learning within university undergraduate students. This research study was conducted on undergraduate students in the departments
of Computer Engineering and Computer Science at Sultan Qaboos University,
Oman. The main contribution of this research is the discussion of M-leaning
concept, providing some examples of M-learning and empirically studying
students’ knowledge and perspective of M-learning and how students see
mobile tools incorporate into their study classes as M-learning tools.
In order to accurately analyse and evaluate student’s knowledge and perspective about mobile device as M-learning tools in the learning process this
research was designed depending on the students’ action. The study methodology consists of two phases: the first phase includes three parts, the first part
involved introduction of M-learning and discussed the research purpose and
steps. In this research, 29 female and 27 male students within the age group
of 18 to 26 participated. The second part introduced the target of the study
and showed the importance of this empirical experiment study. The third
part is about the study procedure, in which, a set of methodology steps are
explained to the participated students. The second phase is the survey study
which includes five parts: (1) general information, (2) E-learning knowledge,
(3) E-learning perception, (4) M-learning knowledge, and M-learning perception.
From this six months research study it can be concluded that M-learning can
be used to solve the T-learning issues and difficulties and both students and
instructors require a proper M-learning system to facilitate and improve their
learning process. The M-learning different mechanisms are not designed to
replace T-learning different approaches but M-learning mechanisms can be
used to overcome the limitations in the learning process of different learning providers. Although most of the participated students are interesting and
familiar with the use of M-learning, they claimed that the study policy of the
higher education providers should encourage different M-learning initiatives
to provide more interactive and flexible learning process. For future research,
more empirical in depth research study needs to be conducted in all aspects
of M-learning in Oman. The initial results of this M-learning research study
encourage the researchers for more comprehensive study about the acceptance and adoption of M-learning including students from different departments, colleges and universities. Finally, M-learning should not be seen as a
replacement for traditional learning system but as a complementary tool in
colleges and universities.
P5 10 November 2015
News Round Up
Experts Discuss Prospects
of Biochar in Agriculture
The Department of Soils, Water and Agricultural Engineering at Sultan Qaboos University, recently organized a workshop on “biochar and compost:
prospects for use as dual facet technologies for sustainable agriculture and
environments in the arid climate of Oman”. Biochar is charcoal used as
a soil amendment made from biomass. Biochar is under investigation as
an approach to carbon sequestration to produce negative carbon dioxide
emissions. According to the workshop organizers, in the Sultanate, the
prospects of using compost and biochar are very bright, as the soil organic
matter is less than 1% due to high temperature that accelerate the decomposition of organic matter. The water availability in Oman is very less as
the annual rainfall is less than 100 mm and strategies that can improve
water use efficiency are the need of the day. Any soil amendment that increases soil organic matter, water holding capacity, and nutrient retentions
in the soil could help to improve water and nutrient use efficiency and
ultimately agricultural productivity.
Prof. Muhammad Arshad, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of
Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan, who gave a talk on composting, underscored the need to replenish our exhausting soils due to intensive cropping
system with balanced nutrients. “Chemical fertilizers alone cannot do this
job; there is a need for integration of chemical, organic, bio-fertilizers to
meet the challenge”, he said.
Dr. B. Shaharoona and Dr. Ahmed Al Busaidi from SQU, spoke about the
prospects of using compost and biochar for sustainable agriculture and
environment in Oman. Wasfi Mohammad Abumughli from Haya Water,
explained, his company’s composting project that converts sewage sludge
into environment-friendly products. Mr. Miles Bly of Enrich Environmental Limited of Ireland gave about a talk on various large scale composting
activities in Ireland and ongoing research activities with Dublin City University.
SQU Marks Omani
Women’s Day
To celebrate the achievements of Omani women, Sultan Qaboos University marked Omani Women’s Day with a ceremony held under the patronage of H.H. Sayyida Dr. Mona bint Fahad Al Said, Assistant Vice Chancellor for International Cooperation. This ceremony comes in recognition
of the women’s efforts and contributions in different fields that help in
the development of the society. The theme of the celebration was “Omani
women: Inspiration to generations”.
In her address, H.H. Sayyida Dr. Mona Al-Said said: “Islam appreciates
women since the beginning of Islam, women’s status in society has been
duly recognized and women were given their rights”. She emphasized
that the Omani women has always excelled in society and are comparable
to successful women in other societies and they enjoy good stature in society, opportunities and hold important responsibilities. It is due to their
qualifications and capabilities that Omani women could reach high-level
positions in career and social spheres.
The Assistant Vice Chancellor said that 1726 Omani women are working
in various positions at Sultan Qaboos University. “The number of female
students at SQU as of 2015-2016 is 9632 and the number of female students graduated this year is 1608. The number of Omani women who obtained PhD this year is 193. Apart from that, 190 women graduated with
master’s degree and 1113 females with bachelor’s degree. These figures
show the motivation of Omani women in achieving the highest positions
in both career and education. In Oman, there are no obstacles to women
in achieving success in social and professional spheres. Ambitious women
who grab opportunities can reach heights. If ambitious, any woman can
occupy leading posts in political, social, economic and cultural fields in
the country”, she observed.
Conference to Focus on Nanotechnology
Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) with the support from the Research
Council of Oman (TRC) and the US Office of Naval Research Global
(ONRG) is organizing a conference entitled “Nanotechnology for
Water Treatment and Solar Energy Applications”. This conference
will serve as a forum for distinguished researchers in the aforementioned fields, offering them an avenue for knowledge dissemination
and capacity building, as well as setting the stage for future collaborations between institutes, centers and industries worldwide. The
conference will take place 15-16th December 2015 in Golden Tulip
Hotel, Muscat, Oman. The objectives of the conference is to bring
together scientists and professionals especially from the Arab World
and their counterparts to communicate and exchange knowledge on
nanotechnology applications in water and energy as well as to develop and provide a platform to discuss future research for applications pertinent to the Middle East.
10 November 2015 P6
The scope of the conference includes the use of nanotechnology for
environmental applications and invites stakeholders and researchers working in the fields of: environmental science and engineering; waste water treatment; desalination; pollution control; solar
cells, fuel cells and batteries; nanotechnology for the prevention of
biofouling; nanomaterials in chemical sensors, biomass applications
and catalysis.
The following keynote and invited speakers from academia and industry will participate at the conference: Dr. Jérôme Perrin, Scientific
Director of Renault company; Prof. Gilbert M. Rios, The Chairman
and Executive Director (CEO) of the “European Membrane House”;
Prof. Yves Blache, University of Toulon; Prof. Tahir Husain, Memorial University of Newfoundland; Prof. Amitava Patra, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.
Panorama
Imaging Technology for Analysis of
Date Fruits’ Quality
CAMS PhD student wins TRC National Research Award for a paper on Imaging technology
Dates is the most important fruit crop in the Sultanate of Oman.
Fungal spoilage is considered the prominent microbial spoilage of
date fruits at all ripening stages and during storage and processing. Aspergillus sp., a mold that grows well in warm and humid
environments is found to be the most common fungi infecting date
fruits. Recent studies indicate that if undetected, there could be a
huge risk of human exposure to mycotoxins (produced by certain
toxigenic fungi) by consuming fungal contaminated dates.
Presently, manual inspection and microbial culturing are widely
used to detect fungal infected dates, which however is subjective
and time consuming, laborious and expensive. Moreover, detection
of fungal infection in its early stages by visual inspection is tedious
and inconsistent and is not appropriate for real time inspection in
dates handling facilities. Hence, a non-destructive, fast and accurate technique such as computer vision (includes image acquiring,
processing, analyzing and understanding images of food samples)
should replace the present techniques. The development of non-destructive techniques to detect microbial contamination preferably at
early stages would be highly beneficial for real time inspection in
dates handling facilities.
Teena Ann Mathew
Dr. A. Manickavasagan
Teena Ann Mathew, a PhD student at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) received the national research award (Information & Communication Technology section) from The Research Council (TRC) in the annual research forum
held on October 26 and 27. Teena is a doctoral student under the supervision
of Dr. A. Manickavasagan, Associate Professor, at the Department of Soils,
Water and Agricultural Engineering, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences. The award was given for the completed and published work on “Near
infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging to classify fungal infected date fruits”.
This research was conducted in the Postharvest Technology & Computer Vision Lab, SQU and Optical Lab, University of Manitoba Canada. The Authors of this publication are A.M. Teena (SQU), A. Manickavasagan (SQU), L.
Ravikanth (University of Manitoba) and D.S. Jayas (University of Manitoba).
This research work is part of the project (No. RC/AGR/SWAE/11/01-Development of Computer Vision Technology for Quality Assessment of Dates in
Oman) funded by The Research Council (TRC) of Sultanate of Oman. Dr. A.
Manickavasagan is the Principal Investigator (PI) of this project.
Computer vision is a technique in which the image of any object is captured
using a camera (such as RGB, NIR, X-ray and so on) and analyzed to obtain
useful information. This is a non-destructive, objective, fast and accurate
method. It is becoming popular in various food industries for internal and
surface qualities of foods. In North America, food sector is one of the top ten
industries using this technique for quality assessment.
The potential of near infrared hyperspectral imaging (NIR-HSI)
technique to detect fungal infection in Khalas variety dates was
investigated in this study. Near infrared hyperspectral imaging
can simultaneously acquire both spatial and spectral information.
Hyperspectral images of control samples and Aspergillus flavus inoculated date fruits were acquired using an area scan hyperspectral
imaging system from 75 image slices at 10 nm intervals between
960 and 1700 nm after every 48 h of inoculation for 10 days. The
top four most significant wavelengths corresponding to the highest
factor loadings of the first principal components (PC) were selected
and used for feature extraction. A total of 64 features (16 features
from each selected wavelength) were extracted and applied in the
statistical classifications (linear discriminant and quadratic discriminant analyses). The classification accuracies for infected and control samples were 90 to 100% in different classification models. Furthermore it was possible to detect the fungal infection in 48 h using
this technique (before visual symptoms occur). This technique has
great potential to adopt in date factories for on-line quality monitoring applications.
Implementing this technique in the date handling facilities in Oman
will give more accurate detection of fungal infected dates and improve the overall quality of packed dates. Automated date inspection can also eliminate tedious human tasks and provide objective
and consistent results over long periods. Early detection of fungal
infection in dates can eliminate the risk of mycotoxins formation as
well. Therefore, Omani dates can fetch higher value in the domestic
and international market with guaranteed quality.
Commenting on her achievement, Teena said: “After enrolling in
the department of Soils, Water and Agricultural Engineering, my
supervisor, Dr. Manickavasagan Annamalai and my committee
members guided and mentored me to be an ideal PhD candidate.
They helped me cross all the hurdles easily during my study. Also,
my department provided with the research infrastructure required
for the successful completion of this study. I am also grateful to
SQU for permitting me to visit and do a short-term study on NIRHSI in the department of Biosystems Engineering, University of
Manitoba, Canada”, she said.
P7 10 November 2015
Straight Talk
Civil Engineers should
Provide Flexible and
Adaptable Solutions
David Balmforth
Professor David Balmforth is the immediate past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a global professional membership organisation with
over 86,000 members. He is an Executive Technical Director with the international engineering company MWH, which he joined in 1999. He is an accomplished civil engineer specializing in flood risk management and urban
pollution control. Prof. Balmforth recently visited Sultan Qaboos University
in connection with the Institution of Civil Engineers 2015 Middle East &
Africa Convention hosted by SQU. This interview is based on his address at
the opening ceremony of the Convention.
ing to the forefront of modern production. The civil
engineering industry has so far been insulated from
such change. Yet there is now evidence that it may not
continue in the future. Key technological, economic
and social developments are starting to impact on the
way that we civil engineers do business.
Horizon: In your view, how will technological and
social developments affect civil engineering in the future?
Prof. Balmforth: Key technological, economic and
social developments will impact civil engineering in
several ways. Digital engineering, which includes
BIM, big data, smart sensors, the internet of things,
3D visualisation and 3D printing, will revolutionise
the civil engineering profession. Imagine a future
where we can walk through a potential construction
project virtually, testing how a design will practically
fit together, trialling construction methods virtually,
and putting right potential mistakes before they occur. Secondly, off-site manufacturing is likely to replace conventional on-site construction by as much
as 80% in the future. This has already been seen in a
major office building in London and on a few infrastructure projects. Imagine a future where we sign off
a design and then press a button to start the manufacturing process, delivering finished infrastructure
to site in final commissioned form for installation at
precisely the right moment. Thirdly, changes in the
way infrastructure is owned, financed and operated
could radically shift the balance from project delivery
to asset operation, requiring a very different skill set
in the workforce. Imagine a future where infrastructure monitors its own condition and automatically repairs itself when broken – and adjusts its performance
because it can sense its user’s needs.
Horizon: Does the social media revolution have any
influence on civil engineering?
Prof. Balmforth: The way infrastructure inter-acts
with the public is likely to change as the power of social media and the internet is harnessed to foster adaptive infrastructure solutions when managing extreme
events. Imagine a future where the public become
a partner in the way we operate our infrastructure
systems. All the above said changes will have huge
implications for the civil engineering profession. The
skills and competences needed for future infrastructure delivery and operation are likely to look very different from today.
Horizon: How would you comment on the evolution of civil engineering over the years?
Prof. Balmforth: There have been huge developments in civil engineering over the generations as it has adapted to developing technology
and the needs of modern society. Yet, so far, it has not faced the disruptive change seen in other industries. Whilst civil engineering projects are
delivered in much the same way that they have been since the industrial
revolution, manufacturing and the aerospace industries have undergone a massive transformation. The disruption of modern manufacturing systems has been such that the nations that invented the motor car
are only just recovering from the associated knock-on effects and return10 November 2015
Horizon: How should the civil engineering curriculum change to keep pace with technological and social
change?
Prof. Balmforth: We are likely to have to rebalance
the whole curriculum and face the difficult question
of what we might need to leave out, to make space
for what we want to put in. The future is uncertain.
We know that a sound way of managing future uncertainty is to provide flexible and adaptable solutions. So perhaps this might provide some insight as
to how we might best proceed. What is certain is that
as we move forward it will be even more important
for all the various organisations in our profession to
work together, ensuring that the knowledge and understanding we gain is shared, and that we mutually
support each other. This is why conventions such as
ICE’s annual conventions are so important. And why
it is so important that the key organisations that need
to be involved are involved.