47 research outputs found
National Prevalence of Micronutrient Deficiencies, Anaemia, Genetic Blood Disorders and Over- and Undernutrition in Omani Women of Reproductive Age and Preschool Children
A national cross-sectional survey was conducted to estimate the prevalence of anaemia, micronutrient deficiencies, haemoglobin disorders and over- and undernutrition in children and women of reproductive age in Oman. Wasting and stunting were found in 9.3% and 11.4% of children aged 0â59 months, respectively, while 4.2% were overweight or obese. In addition, 23.8% were anaemic and 10.2%, 9.5% and 10.6% had iron, vitamin A and vitamin D deficiencies, respectively. Sickle cell and ÎČ-thalassaemia genetic traits were present in 5.3% and 4.2% of children and 4.7% and 2.8% of women, respectively. Overall, 9.1% of Omani women were underweight and 59.2% were overweight or obese. The prevalence of anaemia was 27.8%, while iron, folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin D deficiencies affected 24.8%, 11.6%, 8.9% and 16.2%, respectively. Anaemia among both children and women and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in women are the most concerning nutritional problems in Oman.Keywords: Nutrition Disorders; Malnutrition; Micronutrients; Iron-Deficiency Anemia; Avitaminosis; Vitamin D Deficiency; Vitamin B 12 Deficiency; Oman
Preliminary Report on 2014 Fieldwork in Southwest Saudi Arabia by the DISPERSE Project : (2) Jizan and Asir Provinces
Recent trends in wind speed across Saudi Arabia, 1978â2013: a break in the stilling
We analyse recent trends and variability of observed near-surface wind speed from 19 stations across Saudi
Arabia (SA) for 1978â2013. The raw wind speed data set was subject to a robust homogenization protocol, and the stations
were then classified under three categories: (1) coast, (2) inland and (3) mountain stations. The results reveal a statistically
significant (
p
<
0.05) reduction of wind speed of
â
0.058 m s
â
1
dec
â
1
at annual scale across SA, with decreases in winter
(
â
0.100 m s
â
1
dec
â
1
) and spring (
â
0.066 m s
â
1
dec
â
1
) also detected, being non-significant in summer and autumn. The coast,
inland and mountain series showed similar magnitude and significance of the declining trends across all SA series, except for
summer when a decoupled variability and opposite trends of wind speed between the coast and inland series (significant
declines:
â
0.101 m s
â
1
dec
â
1
and
â
0.065 m s
â
1
dec
â
1
, respectively) and the high-elevation mountain series (significant
increase:
+
0.041 m s
â
1
dec
â
1
) were observed. Even though wind speed declines dominated across much of the country
throughout the year, only a small number of stations showed statistically significant negative trends in summer and autumn.
Most interestingly, a break in the stilling was observed in the last 12-year (2002â2013) period (
+
0.057 m s
â
1
dec
â
1
; not
significant) compared to the significant slowdown detected in the previous 24-year (1978â2001) period (
â
0.089 m s
â
1
dec
â
1
).
This break in the slowdown of winds, even followed by a non-significant recovery trend, occurred in all seasons (and months)
except for some winter months. Atmospheric circulation plays a key role in explaining the variability of winds, with the North
Atlantic Oscillation positively affecting the annual wind speed, the Southern Oscillation displaying a significant negative
relationship with winds in winter, spring and autumn, and the Eastern Atlantic negatively modulating winds in summer.C. A-M. has received funding from the European Unionâs
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under
the Marie SkĆodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 703733
(STILLING project). This research was supported by
the research projects: Swedish BECC, MERGE, VR
(2014-5320)