The e-government implementation directions in Oman: A preliminay investigation

Electronic government has established itself as the primary enabler for transforming the way government services are offered to citizens. In the gulf countries, public sector transformation efforts are focused towards increasing accessibility, availability, competitive advances and enhancing services in civil administration. The Sultanate of Oman is one such example of the Gulf countries where large investments have been made since 2003 to implement electronic services in the public sector. Using a qualitative research approach, this research investigates the improvements that have been made to facilitate these electronic services in three public organisations, and their resulting impact within the organisations. The empirical results reveal that among others, top management support, integration and IT staff skills and capabilities are the most important factors that facilitate e-government initiatives in the Omani public sector

Molecular identification and characterization of two proposed new enterovirus serotypes, EV74 and EV75

Fil: Oberste, M. Steven. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Branch; Estados Unidos.Fil: Michele, Suzanne M. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Branch; Estados Unidos.Fil: Maher, Kaija. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Branch; Estados Unidos.Fil: Schnurr, David. California Department of Health Services. Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory; Estados Unidos.Fil: Cisterna, Daniel. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas; Argentina.Fil: Junttila, Nina. Swedish Institute for Disease Control. Department of Virology; Suecia.Fil: Uddin, Moyez. Institute of Public Health; Bangladesh.Fil: Chomel, Jean-Jacques. Centre National de Référence des Entérovirus; Francia.Fil: Lau, Chi-Shan. Queen Mary Hospital. Department of Health; China.Fil: Ridha, Walid. National Polio Laboratory; Irak.Fil: Al-Busaidy, Suleiman. Ministry of Health. Department of Laboratories; Oman.Fil: Norder, Helene. Swedish Institute for Disease Control. Department of Virology; Suecia.Fil: Magnius, Lars O. Swedish Institute for Disease Control. Department of Virology; Suecia.Fil: Pallansch, Mark A. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Branch; Estados Unidos.Sequencing of the gene that encodes the capsid protein VP1 has been used as a surrogate for antigenic typing in order to distinguish enterovirus serotypes; three new serotypes were identified recently by this method. In this study, 14 enterovirus isolates from six countries were characterized as members of two new types within the species Human enterovirus B, based on sequencing of the complete capsid-encoding (P1) region. Isolates within each of these two types differed significantly from one another and from all other known enterovirus serotypes on the basis of sequences that encode either VP1 alone or the entire P1 region. Members of each type were greater than or equal to 77(.)2% identical to one another (89(.)5% amino acid identity) in VP1, but members of the two different types differed from one another and from other enteroviruses by greater than or equal to 31% in nucleotide sequence (25% amino acid sequence difference), indicating that the two groups represent separate new candidate enterovirus types. The complete P1 sequences differed from those of all other enterovirus serotypes by greater than or equal to 31% (26% amino acid sequence difference), but were highly conserved within a serotype (< 8% amino acid sequence difference). Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that isolates of the same serotype were monophyletic in both VP1 and the capsid as a whole, as shown previously for other enterovirus serotypes. This paper proposes that these 14 isolates should be classified as members of two new human enterovirus types, enteroviruses 74 and 75 (EV74 and EV75)

Standardization and international multicenter validation of a PulseNet pulsed-field gel electrophoresis protocol for subtyping Shigella flexneri isolates

Fil: Pichel, Mariana. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas; Argentina.Fil: Brengi, Silvina P. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas; Argentina.Fil: Cooper, Kara L. F. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Estados Unidos.Fil: Ribot, Efrain M. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Georgia.Fil: Al-Busaidy, Suleiman. Central Public Health Laboratory; Omán.Fil: Araya, Pamela. Instituto de Salud Pública de Chile; Chile.Fil: Fernández, Jorge. Instituto de Salud Pública de Chile; Chile.Fil: Vaz, Tania Ibelli. Instituto Adolfo Lutz; Brazil.Fil: Kam, Kai Man. Public Health Laboratory Centre; Japón.Fil: Morcos, Myriam. Regional Center at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit #3 (NAMRU-3). Global Disease Detection (GDD); Egipto.Fil: Nielsen, Eva M. Statens Serum Institut; Dinamarca.Fil: Nadon, Celine. National Microbiology Laboratory; Canadá.Fil: Pimentel, Guillermo. Regional Center at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit #3 (NAMRU-3). Global Disease Detection (GDD); Egipto.Fil: Pérez-Gutiérrez, Enrique. PAHO/WHO. Health Surveillance; Panamá.Fil: Gerner-Smidt, Peter. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Georgia.Fil: Binsztein, Norma. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas; Argentina.Shigella flexneri is one of the agents most frequently linked to diarrheal illness in developing countries and often causes outbreaks in settings with poor hygiene or sanitary conditions. Travel is one of the means by which S. flexneri can be imported into developed countries, where this pathogen is not commonly seen. A robust and discriminatory subtyping method is needed for the surveillance of S. flexneri locally and regionally, and to aid in the detection and investigation of outbreaks. The PulseNet International network utilizes standardized pulsedfield gel electrophoresis (PFGE) protocols to carry out laboratory-based surveillance of foodborne pathogens in combination with epidemiologic data. A multicenter validation was carried out in nine PulseNet laboratories located in North and South America, Europe, and Asia, and it demonstrated that a new protocol is highly robust and reproducible for subtyping of S. flexneri. This protocol, already approved for PulseNet laboratories, applies NotI and XbaI as primary and secondary restriction enzymes, respectively, under electrophoresis conditions of initial switch time of 5 s to final switch time of 35 s, at 6 volts/cm

Epidemiological studies on arboviruses in the Arabian Peninsula with special reference to the Sultanate of Oman.

Sentinel herds were used to study the epidemiology of arboviruses in Oman and North Yemen. The results indicate that bluetongue virus (BTV) is fairly widely distributed and is enzootic in Northern Oman, all year round. Virus type specific antibodies to five BTV serotypes (3, 4, 17, 20 and 22) were detected. Antibodies to epizootichaemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) type 2 and EHDV318 were also present although to a lesser extent. No EHDV1 antibodies could be detected among the sentinel animals during the entire period. Prevalence of neutralizing antibodies against Akabane virus was found in a wide range of domestic animals in all countries of the Arabian Peninsula but the virus does not seem to be enzootic there. The possibility of windborne, infected vectors, from virus enzootic areas initiating these incursions into the Arabian Peninsula is discussed. A total of four arboviruses were isolated and identified (two BTV4 and two Akabane virus). Three of them from vertebrate hosts and one was from a species of Culicoides. This isolation of Akabane virus from C. imicola is the first record of this virus from this species of midge. Entomological investigations were undertaken, into the population dynamics of potential Culicoides vectors and the results correlated with the climatic conditions. Sixteen species of Culicoides were identified among which four were new to science, these included C. arabiensis, C. ibriensis, C. bueltikeri and C. neoschultzei. Vector competence studies have shown that the Omani virus isolates multiply in C. variipennis after oral ingestion and that both viruses are maintained for at least 10 days post-infection. Biochemical analysis and comparison of the proteins induced in infected cells and genomic profiles of the Omani virus isolates were analysed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and formaldehyde-agarose gel electrophoresis and compared with several other prototype reference strains. Minor differences in BTV specific proteins and dsRNA profiles between various strains were observed. Akabane virus specific proteins were indistinguishable between the different Akabane strains, but minor differences were observed in their genomic profiles and that their RNA was polyadenylated

Epidemiological studies on arboviruses in the Arabian Peninsula with special reference to the Sultanate of Oman.

Sentinel herds were used to study the epidemiology of arboviruses in Oman and North Yemen. The results indicate that bluetongue virus (BTV) is fairly widely distributed and is enzootic in Northern Oman, all year round. Virus type specific antibodies to five BTV serotypes (3, 4, 17, 20 and 22) were detected. Antibodies to epizootichaemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) type 2 and EHDV318 were also present although to a lesser extent. No EHDV1 antibodies could be detected among the sentinel animals during the entire period. Prevalence of neutralizing antibodies against Akabane virus was found in a wide range of domestic animals in all countries of the Arabian Peninsula but the virus does not seem to be enzootic there. The possibility of windborne, infected vectors, from virus enzootic areas initiating these incursions into the Arabian Peninsula is discussed. A total of four arboviruses were isolated and identified (two BTV4 and two Akabane virus). Three of them from vertebrate hosts and one was from a species of Culicoides. This isolation of Akabane virus from C. imicola is the first record of this virus from this species of midge. Entomological investigations were undertaken, into the population dynamics of potential Culicoides vectors and the results correlated with the climatic conditions. Sixteen species of Culicoides were identified among which four were new to science, these included C. arabiensis, C. ibriensis, C. bueltikeri and C. neoschultzei. Vector competence studies have shown that the Omani virus isolates multiply in C. variipennis after oral ingestion and that both viruses are maintained for at least 10 days post-infection. Biochemical analysis and comparison of the proteins induced in infected cells and genomic profiles of the Omani virus isolates were analysed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and formaldehyde-agarose gel electrophoresis and compared with several other prototype reference strains. Minor differences in BTV specific proteins and dsRNA profiles between various strains were observed. Akabane virus specific proteins were indistinguishable between the different Akabane strains, but minor differences were observed in their genomic profiles and that their RNA was polyadenylated

Digitally-enabled service transformation in the public sector: The lure of institutional pressure and strategic response towards change

NoDigitally-Enabled Service Transformation (DEST) projects in public sector institutions are viewed as a choice of strategic response towards changes in policy. Such transformation can destruct institutional stability and legitimacy and result in failure if the complex institutional setting of the public sector is not comprehended in the change-institutionalisation effort. Through a multiple case enquiry, this study examines how institutional pressures contribute towards the emergence of DEST in public agencies and how newly introduced transformation is implemented and diffused within the institutional setting. The findings highlight that as a form of technology driven change, DEST is characterised and shaped dominantly by continuous interplay with institutional elements and the impact of these interactions define the institutionalisation, deinstitutionalisation and re-institutionalisation of DEST. Ability to recognise such stages and provide the required support will determine a public institution's ability to effectively manage DEST and attain its strategic goals