A Systematic Review of the Selected Evidences on the Effectiveness of Inter-professional Education (IPE) in Developing Interprofessional Learning Environment

Purpose: This systematic review aimed to provide available evidence in determining for the effectiveness of IPE as a modality in developing interprofessional learning environment for healthcare students.Methods: The computerized searches from 2009-2015 in ten electronic databases were performed. Two independent reviewers were consulted to assess the eligibility, level of evidences and methodological quality in each study. Result: nine out of ten studies were retrieved. These studies include (a) two RCT studies; scored eight and seven out of eight, (b) Three quasi-experimental pretestposttest design; scored seven, six, and six out of eight, (c) Three controlled before and after study; scored six, six, five and five out of eight, and (d) one controlled longitudinal; scored six out of eight respectively.Conclusion: Based on the systematic review, evidence showed that IPE was effective in building strong interprofessional learning environment. On the other hand, the authors recommend considering conduct of similar systematic review grounded on IPE with larger sample size within the health allied discipline

Biotic and Abiotic Stresses of Major Fruit Crops in Oman: A Review

Oman is located in an arid region of the world that is characterized by adverse climatic conditions, including heat and drought. In recent years, it has also been affected by climate turbulence and the occurrence of severe weather, such as cyclones and heat/cold waves affecting large agricultural areas of the country. Fruit cultivation area represents 31% of the total cultivated area (97,239.58 ha) in the country. However, the production share is only 17% of the total crop production in the country (2.6 million tons). About 90% of the fruit cultivation area is dominated by date palm, banana, lime, and mango. In addition to the abiotic stresses, such as drought, heat, and salinity, major fruit crops have declined in recent years due to various biotic stressors, primarily insect pests, and diseases. For several decades, the date palm has suffered from the Dubas bug and in recent years from Red Palm Weevil. Lime has been infected with Witch’s Broom Disease of Lime (WBDL) caused by ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia’ that has led to the decline of production to 25% from its peak in the nineties. Banana is Oman`s second-largest fruit crop in production and export. It has also been the subject of studies due to losses incurred by farmers during pre-and post-harvest stages, in addition to several pests and diseases that affect bananas in Oman. Mango is another major fruit crop that is primarily cultivated in northern Oman. Severe infection with mango decline has led to the eradication of mango orchards from many regions of Oman, particularly in Batinah Coast, where increased salinity has led to a decline in mango yield. Research conducted in Oman has investigated several aspects of these challenges. This review paper summarizes the outcome from studies conducted in the country and proposes directions towards resolving current and future challenges to the fruit industry

Potential Lifespan Increase of Membranes used for Wastewater Treatment by Electrocoagulation

Electrocoagulation technology can treat pollutants without the need for coagulants. Coagulation takes place when current is applied and is capable of eliminating small particles. Additionally, electrocoagulation may reduce waste residue accumulation. In this project, treatment of domestic wastewater (DWW) by electrocoagulation (EC) was investigated. The samples were supplied from the HAYA domestic wastewater pretreatment plant. Experimental studies were conducted to determine the optimum operating conditions, that achieved the maximum removal, such as electrode type, treatment time, turbidity. This study focusses on having electrocoagulation process treatment within the process of membrane using iron Fe electrode. Water treatment using electrocoagulation will be conducted before going to membrane to improve the efficiency of the membrane and facilitate the process of the treatment. The nitrate and phosphate removal reached 59% and 45% respectively at 60 min in a continuous process. The highest removal of iron was in continuous process around 90% at 5 min. And for Mg removal, it reached 20% at 60 min with digestion with a currant of 220 mA and 1 cm electrode distance. The % Removal of metals increase with the increase in the voltage. The removal of Fe, Mg, phosphate reached to 41%,89% and 98% respectively

Estimation of geostrophic current in the Red Sea based on sea level anomalies derived from extended satellite altimetry data

Geostrophic current data near the coast of the Red Sea have large gaps. Hence, the sea level anomaly (SLA) data from Jason-2 have been reprocessed and extended towards the coast of the Red Sea and merged with AVISO data at the offshore region. This processing has been applied to build a gridded dataset to achieve the best results for the SLA and geostrophic current. The results obtained from the new extended data at the coast are more consistent with the observed data (conductivity–temperature–depth, CTD) and hence geostrophic current calculation. The patterns of SLA distribution and geostrophic currents are divided into two seasons: winter (October–May) and summer (June–September). The geostrophic currents in summer are flowing southward over the Red Sea except for narrow northward flow along the east coast. In winter, currents flow to the north for the entire Red Sea except for a small southward flow near the central eastern and western coast. This flow is modified by the presence of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, which are more concentrated in the central and northern Red Sea. The results show anticyclonic eddies (AEs) on the eastern side of the Red Sea and cyclonic eddies (CEs) on the western side during winter. In summer, cyclonic eddies are more dominant for the entire Red Sea. The result shows a change in some eddies from anticyclonic during winter to cyclonic during summer in the north between 26.3 and 27.5∘&thinsp;N. Furthermore, the life span of cyclonic eddies is longer than that of anticyclonic eddies.</p

Molecular Characterization of the 16S rRNA Gene of Phytoplasmas Detected in Two Leafhopper Species Associated with Alfalfa Plants Infected with Witches' Broom in Oman

Two leafhopper species, Austroagallia avicula and Empoasca sp., were consistently found in alfalfa fields infected with witches’ broom phytoplasma (OmanAlfWB) in the Al-Batinah, Dakhliya, North and South Sharqiya, Muscat, and Al-Bureimi regions of the Sultanate of Oman. Phytoplasmas from both leafhoppers were detected by specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the 16S rRNA gene and the spacer region in direct PCR using P1/P7 primer pairs. Comparative RFLP profiles of the amplified rRNA gene and the spacer region from leafhopper phytoplasmas and from 20 phytoplasma controls yielded patterns referable to phytoplasmas belonging to the peanut witches’ broom group (16SrII group). In particular, extensive RFLP analyses with the endonucleases HpaII, Tru9I, Tsp509I, and RsaI indicated that the phytoplasmas in A. avicula and Empoasca sp. were identical but showed some differences from OmanAlfWB; however, RFLP patterns obtained with TaqI showed the OmanAlfWB and the phytoplasmas from the two leafhoppers to be identical. Direct PCR products amplified from phytoplasma leafhopper DNA using the P1/P7 primer pair were cloned and sequenced yielding 1758 bp and 1755 bp products from A. avicula and Empoasca sp. respectively; the homology of these sequences with OmanAlfWB and papaya yellow crinkle phytoplasmas was more than 98%. A phylogenetic tree based on the 16S rRNA gene and spacer region sequences from 44 phytoplasmas revealed that the phytoplasmas from the leafhoppers clustered with OmanAlfWB, papaya yellow crinkle, and gerbera phyllody phytoplasmas, all belonging to 16SrII group, but were distinct from lime witches’ broom phytoplasma, the most commonly found phytoplasma in the Sultanate of Oman

Large-Scale Mode Impacts on the Sea Level over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

Falling between seasonal cycle variability and the impact of local drivers, the sea level in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has been given less consideration, especially with large-scale modes. With multiple decades of satellite altimetry observations combined with good spatial resolution, the time has come for diagnosis of the impact of large-scale modes on the sea level in those important semi-enclosed basins. While the annual cycle of sea level appeared as a dominant cycle using spectral analysis, the semi-annual one was also found, although much weaker. The first empirical orthogonal function mode explained, on average, about 65 of the total variance throughout the seasons, while their principal components clearly captured the strong La Ni&ntilde;a event (1999&ndash;2001) in all seasons. The sea level showed a strong positive relation with positive phase El Ni&ntilde;o Southern Oscillation in all seasons and a strong negative relation with East Atlantic/West Russia during winter and spring over the study period (1993&ndash;2017). We show that the unusually stronger easterly winds that are displaced north of the equator generate an upwelling area near the Sumatra coast and they drive both warm surface and deep-water masses toward the West Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, rising sea level over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. This process could explain the increase of sea level in the basin during the positive phase of El Ni&ntilde;o Southern Oscillation events

Clinical risk factors and atherosclerotic plaque extent to define risk for major events in patients without obstructive coronary artery disease: the long-term coronary computed tomography angiography CONFIRM registry.

AimsIn patients without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), we examined the prognostic value of risk factors and atherosclerotic extent.Methods and resultsPatients from the long-term CONFIRM registry without prior CAD and without obstructive (≥50%) stenosis were included. Within the groups of normal coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) (N = 1849) and non-obstructive CAD (N = 1698), the prognostic value of traditional clinical risk factors and atherosclerotic extent (segment involvement score, SIS) was assessed with Cox models. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were defined as all-cause mortality, non-fatal myocardial infarction, or late revascularization. In total, 3547 patients were included (age 57.9 ± 12.1 years, 57.8% male), experiencing 460 MACE during 5.4 years of follow-up. Age, body mass index, hypertension, and diabetes were the clinical variables associated with increased MACE risk, but the magnitude of risk was higher for CCTA defined atherosclerotic extent; adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for SIS &gt;5 was 3.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.3-4.9) while HR for diabetes and hypertension were 1.7 (95% CI 1.3-2.2) and 1.4 (95% CI 1.1-1.7), respectively. Exclusion of revascularization as endpoint did not modify the results. In normal CCTA, presence of ≥1 traditional risk factors did not worsen prognosis (log-rank P = 0.248), while it did in non-obstructive CAD (log-rank P = 0.025). Adjusted for SIS, hypertension and diabetes predicted MACE risk in non-obstructive CAD, while diabetes did not increase risk in absence of CAD (P-interaction = 0.004).ConclusionAmong patients without obstructive CAD, the extent of CAD provides more prognostic information for MACE than traditional cardiovascular risk factors. An interaction was observed between risk factors and CAD burden, suggesting synergistic effects of both

Percent atheroma volume: Optimal variable to report whole-heart atherosclerotic plaque burden with coronary CTA, the PARADIGM study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Different methodologies to report whole-heart atherosclerotic plaque on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) have been utilized. We examined which of the three commonly used plaque burden definitions was least affected by differences in body surface area (BSA) and sex. METHODS:The PARADIGM study includes symptomatic patients with suspected coronary atherosclerosis who underwent serial CCTA &gt;2 years apart. Coronary lumen, vessel, and plaque were quantified from the coronary tree on a 0.5 mm cross-sectional basis by a core-lab, and summed to per-patient. Three quantitative methods of plaque burden were employed: (1) total plaque volume (PV) in mm3, (2) percent atheroma volume (PAV) in % [which equaled: PV/vessel volume * 100%], and (3) normalized total atheroma volume (TAVnorm) in mm3 [which equaled: PV/vessel length * mean population vessel length]. Only data from the baseline CCTA were used. PV, PAV, and TAVnorm were compared between patients in the top quartile of BSA vs the remaining, and between sexes. Associations between vessel volume, BSA, and the three plaque burden methodologies were assessed. RESULTS:The study population comprised 1479 patients (age 60.7 ± 9.3 years, 58.4% male) who underwent CCTA. A total of 17,649 coronary artery segments were evaluated with a median of 12 (IQR 11-13) segments per-patient (from a 16-segment coronary tree). Patients with a large BSA (top quartile), compared with the remaining patients, had a larger PV and TAVnorm, but similar PAV. The relation between larger BSA and larger absolute plaque volume (PV and TAVnorm) was mediated by the coronary vessel volume. Independent from the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk (ASCVD) score, vessel volume correlated with PV (P &lt; 0.001), and TAVnorm (P = 0.003), but not with PAV (P = 0.201). The three plaque burden methods were equally affected by sex. CONCLUSIONS:PAV was less affected by patient's body surface area then PV and TAVnorm and may be the preferred method to report coronary atherosclerotic burden