Improving the Process of Preventive Maintenance for Critical Telecommunications Stations in Qatar

Critical public safety telecommunications networks in Qatar shall be secure, reliable, and fast response networks. These networks are serving the security teams and forces of Qatar. As a result, these networks shall be maintained on the highest standards in order to meet the basic requirements of providing an available and reliable Mission Critical Communications Networks (MCCN). Hence, the goal of this project is to improve the process of preventive maintenance by the Field Maintenance Teams (FMT) in the Ministry of Interior (MOI). Several limitations and challenges are facing these teams while planning and performing the Preventive Maintenance (PM) tasks. This project shall be used to increase the productivity of the FMT by improving the current practices of performing PM activities. A detailed literature review on the areas of lean thinking and scheduling maintenance tasks has been conducted. Then, it was decided to use the VSM (one of the lean thinking tools) to enhance and improve the current PM execution system. There were multiple non-value adding activities that can be planned for and executed before each day of preforming the PM tasks. These activities have been identified and then eliminated, and hence a future state was proposed in this project. This future state system will be implemented directly by the FMT management as it can save almost 40.3% of the total lead time of the system (192 minutes improvement from current to the future system)

International branch campuses in Qatar: Qatari students' experience of campus life

A priority for Qatar’s National Vision for 2030 is the development of its indigenous population. To help achieve this, universities have been invited to establish international branch campuses (IBCs) in Qatar. To ensure the success of this strategy, it is important to understand how the cultural background of Qatari students interacts with a Western campus-life environment. Literature on the benefits and challenges of importing education is reviewed. The study is influenced by postcolonial theories. Where the sending nation is in the West and the hosting nation is in the East, is highlighted. In many cases, as pointed out by Said (2003), the West views the East as ‘other’, and therefore a postcolonial lens is required to view the existing research in context. This study exploring the campus experiences of Qatari students uses a qualitative method involving thirteen interviews with Qatari alumni of the IBCs as well as four interviews with non-Qatari staff within the IBCs. Key themes emerging from the study included the importance of family influences in choosing a higher education pathway and the tensions faced by Qatari students as they negotiate being a ‘home’ student on an international campus. Efforts are made by IBCs to accommodate the Qatari culture, as reported by Dumbre (2013) and Karam (2018). Both these authors indicate, however, that improvements can still be made, and this viewpoint is also indicated by the study reported here. This study also confirms the view in current literature (for example, Bakken (2013) and Rehal (2015)) that family has a particularly important role to play in the Qatari culture and in the thinking of Qataris. The study demonstrates the differences among Qataris themselves, and the reader is provided with a tool in the form of an innovative multilayer spectrum which facilitates understanding. The study sheds new light on the silence of Qatari student voices in the literature and is one of the first studies to give some voice to Qatari students in IBCs. It is also the first to be undertaken by a Qatari researcher. The study’s findings culminate in an original model that takes the form of a figurative ‘combination lock’ providing a mechanism through which institutions can assess the interaction of factors influencing participation and how they open or close opportunities for students. This model has the potential to enable current IBC staff and those who are planning to set up IBCs in Qatar to improve inclusivity for Qatari students based on their culture and religion. Finally, recommendations are made for future research

Occurrence of Mycotoxins and Toxigenic Fungi in Cereals and Application of Yeast Volatiles for Their Biological Control

Fungal infections in cereals lead to huge economic losses in the food and agriculture industries. This study was designed to investigate the occurrence of toxigenic fungi and their mycotoxins in marketed cereals and explore the effect of the antagonistic yeast Cyberlindnera jadinii volatiles against key toxigenic fungal strains. Aspergillus spp. were the most frequent contaminating fungi in the cereals, with an isolation frequency (Fr) of 100% in maize, followed by wheat (88.23%), rice (78.57%) and oats (14.28%). Morphological and molecular identification confirmed the presence of key toxigenic fungal strains in cereal samples, including A. carbonarius, A. flavus, A. niger, A. ochraceus and A. parasiticus. Aflatoxins (AFs) were detected in all types of tested cereal samples, with a significantly higher level in maize compared to wheat, rice, oats and breakfast cereals. Ochratoxin A (OTA) was only detected in wheat, rice and maize samples. Levels of mycotoxins in cereals were within EU permissible limits. The volatiles of Cyberlindnera jadinii significantly inhibited the growth of A. parasiticus, A. niger and P. verrucosum. The findings of this study confirm the presence of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins in cereals within the EU permissible limits and the significant biocontrol ability of Cyberlindnera jadinii against these toxigenic fungi

Statistical downscaling of air quality models using Principal Fitted Components

Statistical downscaling is a technique that is used to extract high-resolution information from regional scale variables produced by Chemical Transport Models (CTMs). The aim of this thesis is to shade light on the advantages of statistical downscaling in improving the forecasting ability of air quality models. Many statistical downscaling methods in geophysics often rely on dimension reduction techniques to reduce the spatial dimension of gridded model outputs without loss of essential spatial information. In this thesis we developed a new downscaling methodology that relies on using Principal Fitted Components (PFCs) to downscale an air quality model. The main advantage of employing PFCs in downscaling relies in the fact that PFCs represent space-time variations associated with a particular location through the use of inverse regression. This means that PFCs will emphasize on location related regional information. We illustrate our proposed method by both simulation and application on ground level ozone over southeastern U.S region to downscale the Regional ChEmical TrAnsport Model (REAM). Both simulation and applications results indicate that PFC downscaling appears to yield more accurate forecasts. Moreover, we accommodate the fact that covariance matrices that are used to compute PFCs might be unstable due to the fact that they have a relatively large dimension. This issue has motivated us to regularize the covariance matrices by thresholding prior to computing the PFCs and then proceed with the downscaling using thresholded PFCs. We illustrate the modified downscaling approach by simulation and application to ground level ozone. Simulation results suggest that employing thresholded PFCs in downscaling have improved the downscaling results, however, the application results do not agree with the simulation results. Finally, we extend our PFC downscaling method to downscale an ensemble of air quality models. We propose a new two-stage dimension reduction approach to reduce the dimension of an ensemble. The proposed methodology reduces the spatial dimension in each ensemble member, and then the reduced variables are reduced further across the ensemble models. We illustrate our proposed methodology by simulation and application to downscale ground level ozone ensemble outputs in France. Both simulation and application results suggest that our proposed technique seem to show an adequate predictive performance

Diagnostic value of fine needle aspirates processed by ThinPrep® for the assessment of axillary lymph node status in patients with invasive carcinoma of the breast

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101854/1/cyt12022.pd

Contribution of citizen science to improve knowledge on marine biodiversity in the Gulf Region

Monitoring marine biodiversity is costly and practical solutions have to be implemented to identify species and their preferred habitats, particularly in this era of rapid global change. Citizen science has proven to be effective and with high potential for monitoring efforts, and has been extensively applied to biodiversity. We have used the citizen science approach to engage the general public and stakeholders to contribute improving the current knowledge of sea snake biodiversity in Qatar and the Gulf Region. Logistic regression analysis using demographic data from interview surveys conducted in Qatar has indicated that the people having seen more sea snakes are older than 30 years and are Qatari citizens and/or fishermen from India. Of the ten species of sea snakes listed in the literature to be present in the Gulf Region, most of them have been reported for Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. However, the number of species present is often assumed based on their occurrence within the Arabian Gulf rather than on actual captures and appropriate identification. The creation of marine reference biological scientific collections to properly identify the species and make accurate biodiversity inventories is an urgent priority for the countries in the Gulf region. To this end, contributions by stakeholders and the general public for this study have proven to be very useful. However a larger networking with local and international scientists and stakeholders is still needed to adequately survey the country''s current biodiversity, identify research priorities and eventually provide the scientific input needed to assist biodiversity management related to renewable resource management and marine conservation in the Arabian Gulf Region

A Pilot Study On Cognitive-behavioral Approach For Combatting Childhood Obesity In Qatar

Levels of overweight and obesity have reached alarming proportions in Qatar and other Gulf nations. In Qatar, the need to establish national strategies for the prevention and treatment of obesity was recognized in the National Health Strategy 2011-2016, which stresses the need for prevention. The treatment and prevention of childhood obesity is largely through lifestyle changes- encouraging health eating and physical activity. However, changing such behaviors is complex and requires integrated approaches to tackle such a multifaceted problem. In this study, we sought to implement and evaluate a novel weight management program for Qatari school children at the vulnerable age of 9-12 years. The program uses a cognitive-behavioral approach that involves developing social and emotional competences, promotion healthy dietary habits, and development of physical literacy, while enlisting family involvement in an attempt to maintain long term weight loss. This study also sought to take things further by integrating cutting edge insights from behavioral economics. The pilot study was conducted by an interdisciplinary team of collaborators from Qatar (Qatar University, Supreme Education Council, Aspire, Hamad Medical Corporation) and external partners (Imperial College and Leeds Metropolitan University/MoreLife, UK). The study was branded Agdar/???? and involved development of intervention materials, questionnaires, neuropsychological measures, and other study components such as training manuals and virtual world program. A sample of 100 overweight or obese Qatari children (age 9-12) from 5 independent schools participated in the intervention along with a control group. The intervention was conducted in Arabic and consisted of three phases (1) intensive weight loss camps, (2) after-school clubs as consolidation phase, and (3) a maintenance phase using virtual world program. Variables measured included anthropometric (BMI, Fat composition, and Waist circumference, and Blood pressure), Lifestyle (Physical Activity and Dietary questionnaires), and Psychometric assessments (Self-esteem, Subjective well-being, and Impulsivity, including heart monitoring). Overall, 100% of children who participated in the camp lost weight with a significant reduction BMI-SDS (p<0.001). The camp led to a significant improvement in subjective wellbeing in all five dimensions (p<0.01). The afterschool clubs showed a synergistic effect on children who lost weight at camp where further weight loss was achieved in the after school club phase. The overall percentage BMI-SDS reduction (-8.7%) was significantly higher than the required reduction for health benefits in both adolescents (-3%) and adults (-5%). Girls continued to outperform boys in terms of weight loss reduction and maintenance (-11.9 vs. -5.6%, respectively). This success occurred despite pre-camp surveys showing nearly two thirds of children not meeting their daily requirements of fruits and vegetables while consuming calorie-dense fast foods and over half of the participants not engaging in physical activity. Physiological parameters such as standard deviation of the heart beat-to-beat intervals, used as proxy for impulsivity, correlated significantly with BMI-SDS (p<0.035). Children with a higher BMI were less able to withhold their choices (proxy for impulsivity) and the physiological control of their heart rate correlated with this. These findings could help in segmentation of intervention participants into groups to which tailored programs could enhance impact on behavior change.qscienc

Predictors of the Uptake of A (H1N1) Influenza Vaccine: Findings from a Population-Based Longitudinal Study in Tokyo

BACKGROUND: Overall pandemic A (H1N1) influenza vaccination rates remain low across all nations, including Japan. To increase the rates, it is important to understand the motives and barriers for the acceptance of the vaccine. We conducted this study to determine potential predictors of the uptake of A (H1N1) influenza vaccine in a cohort of Japanese general population. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: By using self-administered questionnaires, this population-based longitudinal study was conducted from October 2009 to April 2010 among 428 adults aged 18-65 years randomly selected from each household residing in four wards and one city in Tokyo. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed. Of total, 38.1% of participants received seasonal influenza vaccine during the preceding season, 57.0% had willingness to accept A (H1N1) influenza vaccine at baseline, and 12.1% had received A (H1N1) influenza vaccine by the time of follow-up. After adjustment for potential confounding variables, people who had been vaccinated were significantly more likely to be living with an underlying disease (p = 0.001), to perceive high susceptibility to influenza (p = 0.03), to have willingness to pay even if the vaccine costs ≥ US$44 (p = 0.04), to have received seasonal influenza vaccine during the preceding season (p<0.001), and to have willingness to accept A (H1N1) influenza vaccine at baseline (p<0.001) compared to those who had not been vaccinated. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: While studies have reported high rates of willingness to receive A (H1N1) influenza vaccine, these rates may not transpire in the actual practices. The uptake of the vaccine may be determined by several potential factors such as perceived susceptibility to influenza and sensitivity to vaccination cost in general population

Attitudes toward and Uptake of H1N1 Vaccine among Health Care Workers during the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic

BACKGROUND: Though recommended by many and mandated by some, influenza vaccination rates among health care workers, even in pandemics, remain below optimal levels. The objective of this study was to assess vaccination uptake, attitudes, and distinguishing characteristics (including doctor-nurse differences) of health care workers who did and did not receive the pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccine in late 2009. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In early 2010 we mailed a self-administered survey to 800 physicians and 800 nurses currently licensed and practicing in Minnesota. 1,073 individuals responded (cooperation rate: 69%). 85% and 62% of Minnesota physicians and nurses, respectively, reported being vaccinated. Accurately estimating the risk of vaccine side effects (OR 2.0; 95% CI 1.5-2.7), agreeing with a professional obligation to be vaccinated (OR 10.1; 95% CI 7.1-14.2), an ethical obligation to follow public health authorities' recommendations (OR 9.9; 95% CI 6.6-14.9), and laws mandating pandemic vaccination (OR 3.1; 95% CI 2.3-4.1) were all independently associated with receiving the H1N1 influenza vaccine. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: While a majority of health care workers in one midwestern state reported receiving the pandemic H1N1 vaccine, physicians and nurses differed significantly in vaccination uptake. Several key attitudes and perceptions may influence health care workers' decisions regarding vaccination. These data inform how states might optimally enlist health care workers' support in achieving vaccination goals during a pandemic

Assessing the performance of a serological point-of-care test in measuring detectable antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

This study investigated the performance of a rapid point-of-care antibody test, the BioMedomics COVID-19 IgM/IgG Rapid Test, in comparison with a high-quality, validated, laboratory-based platform, the Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 assay. Serological testing was conducted on 709 individuals. Concordance metrics were estimated. Logistic regression was used to assess associations with seropositivity. SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was 63.5% (450/709; 95% CI 59.8%-67.0%) using the BioMedomics assay and 71.9% (510/709; 95% CI 68.5%-75.2%) using the Elecsys assay. There were 60 discordant results between the two assays, all of which were seropositive in the Elecsys assay, but seronegative in the BioMedomics assay. Overall, positive, and negative percent agreements between the two assays were 91.5% (95% CI 89.2%-93.5%), 88.2% (95% CI 85.1%-90.9%), and 100% (95% CI 98.2%-100%), respectively, with a Cohen’s kappa of 0.81 (95% CI 0.78–0.84). Excluding specimens with lower (Elecsys) antibody titers, the agreement improved with overall, positive, and negative percent concordance of 94.4% (95% CI 92.3%-96.1%), 91.8% (95% CI 88.8%-94.3%), and 100% (95% CI 98.2%-100%), respectively, and a Cohen’s kappa of 0.88 (95% CI 0.85–0.90). Logistic regression confirmed better agreement with higher antibody titers. The BioMedomics COVID-19 IgM/IgG Rapid Test demonstrated good performance in measuring detectable antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, supporting the utility of such rapid point-of-care serological testing to guide the public health responses and vaccine prioritization. © 2022 Coyle et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited