The Sources of the History of Omani- East African Relations: 1624 – 1936: A
Critical and Analytical Study
Project Code
Funds
: (SR/ ART/ HIST/ 09/ 01)
: 30,000 OMR
Funding Source: His Majesty’s Trust Fund
Start Date
: 02 May 2009
Duration
: 4 years.
Team Members:
Researchers
Prof. Ibrahim Soghayroun (P.I.)
Dr. Abdullah Al Kindi
Dr. Khamis Al Busaidi
Dr. Jokha Al Harthi
Dr. Ibrahim Al Busaidi
Research Assistants
Ms. Olga Andriyanova
Dr. Omer Sulaiman
Ms. Ayisha Al Barwani
Mr. Mohammed Al Busaidi
Dr. Mahdi El Tayyib
Mr. Said Al Harasi
Students
Ms. Rana Hamdan Al Dawiyani
Ms. Suad Abdullah Bait Fadil
Ms. Maymouna Yousif Al Bulushi
Ms. Khuloud Hamdan Al Khateri
Executive Summary:
Objectives:
The main objective of this study is providing primary source materials on this subject both local and
foreign. This objective is, however, examined and explained briefly in the following:
1) To shed light on the role of archives and local and foreign centres that possess scientific
material pertaining to the subject matter of the project.
2) Providing postgraduate students and researchers with annotated bibliographies of
important documentary sources
3) Providing students and researchers with the most important articles in scholarly journals that
deal with the historical relations between Oman and East Africa
4) Providing research data on relevant studies presented to conferences and symposia both in
Oman and abroad
5) Providing the Specialized Omani libraries and Research Centres with a scientific study as
an important reference and research guide.
Methods:
This research project depended on descriptive analytical approach, made by reviewing the
primary archival sources and giving background about their objectives and the scientific value of
their data for future research on different aspects of the history of Omani East African Relations.
Results:
The Collection of more than four thousand copies, digital and photocopies of documents and
reports related to the different aspects of the area of study. This resulted from research visits to
a number of international Archives and research centres which provided diverse source
materials as follows (1) The British Archives and the British Library provided documentary
material relating to political and economic aspects (2) The French Archival material provided the
project with documentary material relating to the social and commercial activities of the Omani
traders in the Indian ocean especially in the Island territories which used to be ruled by France
in colonial times. These are the Comoro Islands, Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion. This is an
extremely important new area of research with rare historical data on the social and economic
history of Omani – East African Relations 3/ The American Consular Archives from 1836 – 1906
reporting mainly on commercial activities and trade in the Sultanate of Zanzibar and her
dominions and among other events on political scenarios encompassing European trade,
European military and political influence on the Sultans of Zanzibar 4/ The Zanzibar and the
Church Missionary (CMS) Archives are both important in providing documentary source
materials on the role of the Omani traders of Zanzibar in the spread of Islam and their political
and cultural activities in the interior of East Africa. The two Archives are equally important in
providing materials relating to the British colonial policy and the C.M.S efforts to combat Muslim
influence in Uganda and East Africa in general. 5/ The Portuguese Archive in Lisbon providing
historical documents relating to the Omani struggle and confrontation against Portugal’s sea
power and military stations in the East African coast (Fort Jesus – Mombasa) and the Indian
Ocean. 6/ Finally the research project explored new research material of the Arabic press
introduced by Omani editors of papers issued in Zanzibar such as Al Falag (Dawn), Al Najah, Al
Nahadha, and Al – Murshid _ The Omani contribution in this field is an invaluable source in
writing about the role of the Omanis in the political, economic, social and cultural aspects in East
Africa.
Conclusions:
The scientific documentary data provided in this study of the Sources of the History of Omani –
East African Relations confirms that the study of the material in the European and American
Archives and that of Zanzibar and Uganda should be an obligatory stage. The meticulous work
of the American consuls and the French and British colonial personnel in East Africa and the
Indian Ocean provided us with an abundant material open for research. Part 3 of this study,
however, consists of annotated bibliographies and indexes (Arabic and English) to serve as a
reference and research guide.
Developing Microfluidic Systems for Routine Analysis of
Pharmaceutical samples
Project Code:
Funds:
Funding Source:
Start Date:
Duration:
Team Members:
(SR/SR/CHEM/09/01)
90,323 OMR
His Majesty’s Trust Fund
02 2009
4 years
Research Assistants
Graduate Students
Dr. Haider A. J. Al Lawati
(P.I.)
Dr. FakhrEldin Suliman (CoP.I.)
Prof.. Salma Al Kindy
Mrs.Gouri Bijoy Varma
Mr. Mahmood AlAzwani
Mrs. Eiman AlGharibi
Mr. Suleiman AlSalimi
Dr. Ali Al Lawati
Mr. Sharif Fadhl Al
Hashmi
Mrs. Sara Al Rubai
Researchers
Mr. Imad Eldin Mohamed
Mr.Daniel A. Autwun
Ms. Manal Ali Al Matr
Noor
Prof. Stephen J Haswel
Executive Summary
Objectives:
The hazard chemical waste generated from the growing number of various chemical
laboratories in the Sultanate is becoming a major challenge facing these laboratories. One
of the most promising approaches to minimize this problem is to miniaturize the chemical
systems, such that the amount of chemicals used in these systems is of minimal quantities.
The latest development in microabrication techniques permits miniaturization of the
analytical system and reduction of the generated waste by a factor of thousand to hundred
thousand. In addition to the advantages inherent in miniaturizing the analytical systems,
other merits are associated with the enhanced efficiency with respect to sample and
reagent size, response time, cost, analytical throughput and automation. Taking into
account these merits we are aiming to develop environmentally safe cost effective,
sensitive and highly selective analytical techniques for routine analysis. Various chips will
be designed and fabricated to develop complete microfluidic systems for the assay of
drugs in pharmaceutical and clinical samples. These samples were selected as model to
test the efficiency of the developed systems. Furthermore, the developed method will be
validated and compared with the standard methods used in Central Quality Control
Laboratories for drug analysis in the Ministry of Health.
Methods:
Most quality control laboratories in the Sultanate, due to their nature and the heavy sample
load, consumes significantly large amount of chemicals and generates considerable
chemical hazard waste. The large quantity of the used chemicals has also an economical
impact as it increases the cost of analysis. Moreover, in some cases, the standard methods
used are labor intensive and time consuming. Additionally, on site analysis maybe required
as in some process analysis however; this is usually difficult with the standard analytical
methods used.
Most of these disadvantages can be eliminated or reduced considerably by replacing the
current methods with microfluidics methods. Microfluidics refers to any devices where fluids
(2)
can be driven in a network of micron sized channels etched into a solid substrate. Using
micromachining, a network of channels is fabricated in a planar substrate that can perform
sample injection, processing, pretreatment, and separation. Flow of fluids through the
channels can be achieved hydrodynamically using syringe pump or electroosmotically by
applying an electrical field along the channels. The miniaturized techniques uses micro or
nano liter of solvents compared to millimeters used in the standard methods; hence it
reduces the chemical consumption by a factor of thousand to hundred thousand. This
leads to generation of minute hazard wastes and reduces the cost of analysis considerably.
Additionally, microfluidics has many unique advantages afforded by the reduced
dimensions of microfluidic systems compared to the standard methods. The reduction in
the reaction vessel dimensions leads to a high degree of control, higher purity and
sensitivity, better selectivity and reduced analysis time.
Results:
Several instrumental setups have been designed and tested. These include three chip set
up, two chip setup, multi-function chip setup and parallel chip setup. Several drugs have
been tested including chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM) [1], fexofenadine HCl (FEX) [2],
cetrizine HCl (CET) [3], phenylephrine HCl (PEH) [4], lisinopril (LIS) [5], venlafaxine (VEN)
[6],levofloxacin (LVO) [7] and others such as escitalopram [8] and triprolidine [9]. Some of
these drugs were tested in pharmaceutical formulations and in biological fluids.
We are also engaged with developing analytical methods using microfluidics for chiral
drugs. The objective of this study is to use microfluidics reactor to develop pre-column
fluorescence derivatization for the analysis of commonly used chiral drugs. This is
expected to lead to significant reduction in the time and the cost of analysis.
Conclusions:
We developed several microfluidic devices for analysis of pharmaceuticals successfully.
The developed devices consume minute amount of chemicals and rendering
environmentally friendly devices. This also reduced the chemical hazard waste generated
from these devices. Several students worked in this project including three postgraduate
students that have already completed their M. Sc. degree.
SQU now is recognized in the region as one of the pioneers in this field. This is reflected
clearly, in the number of invitations we are receiving from various scientific conference
organizations (Analytix 2012 – China, Micro Flow Chemistry, Biology Workshop- Jordan,
International Innovation and Inventions exhibition, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran and
European Lab Automation, Hamburg, Germany).
Feasibility of Managed Aquifer Recharge Using Excess Treated Wastewater in
Oman
Dr. Mushtaque Ahmed,
Soils, Water and Agricultural Engineering, College of Agricultural & Marine Science
Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is practiced widely to store water during periods of surpluses
and withdraw during deficits from an aquifer. Aquifers are very good means of storing water.
Since the water is stored below the ground, there are no evaporation losses. With reasonable
care the water is protected from pollution. It uses minimum land area and causes no
environmental damage. On the other hand, MAR has some disadvantages. In most cases, only a
part of the recharged water is recovered in the short run. Quality of recharging water could lead
to changes in physical and chemical characteristics of the soil and aquifer. Use of MAR with
treated wastewater is being incorporated in several countries as part of overall water resources
management. Currently groundwater recharge in Oman is practiced using recharge dams only.
Similarly use of treated wastewater for irrigation is commonly practiced. It is thus likely that given
proper regulatory framework, MAR with treated wasterwater is likely to become one of the
acceptable water resources management strategies for Muscat region. Considering the
anticipated wastewater production and the likely need for recharge, there is a need i) to monitor
and ensure that the treated wastewater produced at the different plants meets quality constraints
of recharge water, ii) to evaluate the hydrogeology in the vicinity of treatment plants and
determine their aquifer potential for storage and iii) to evaluate recharge techniques and identify
suitable methods for recharge and recovery given the soil and aquifer characteristics. The
broader objective of this study would be to conduct a socio-economic and technical feasibility of
MAR schemes in Oman especially in the Muscat areas using tertiary treated wastewater.
Establishment of a national facility in stem cell translational research for novel
cellular-based therapies and tissue repair
Dennison David,
Haematology, College of Medicine & Health Sciences
Over the past decade the potential of stem cell therapy in the treatment of human disease has
generated intense research initiatives worldwide. Unlike embryonic stem cells which are
associated with ethical constraints, technology is now available to harvest multi-potential stem
cells from adult peripheral blood and bone marrow and to utilize them for research in tissue
repair. Laboratory studies have already shown the ability of stem cells from adults to differentiate
into specialized cells and preliminary animal and human studies have demonstrated evidence of
regeneration and restoration of function when these cells are injected into diseased nonhematopoietic tissue. Nevertheless much more work needs to be done before such therapy
becomes a practical reality. This project seeks to establish a facility for stem cell translational
research and thereby set the stage for stem cell-mediated novel therapies within the country.
Once the laboratory aspects of the stem cell laboratory have been set up, we propose to
investigate human osteogenic cell differentiation and the clinical utilization of stem cells in sickle
cell disease-related osteonecrosis. This disorder, which is a complication of sickle cell disease, is
highly prevalent in the country and accounts for a significant amount of disability in the young
Omani population. As conventional surgical treatment is not curative, it is one of the disorders for
which cellular therapy could have a potential role. The long term goal of this project is to provide a
platform for future basic science and clinical researchers to investigate the role of cellular therapy
for patients with other incapacitating disorders for which no adequate therapy exists to date.