Attitude of Medical Students at Sultan Qaboos University toward Psychiatry

Objectives: To examine the attitude of medical students at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) toward Psychiatry and the impact of factors such as age, gender, curriculum, clinical level, Psychiatry training, and experience of mental illness in self or family. Methods: This is a cross sectional study conducted among medical students at the college of Medicine at Sultan Qaboos University, muscat, Oman. All students from the Pre–clerkship, junior–clerkship and 7th year students were invited to participate in this study. The 30 items Attitude toward Psychiatry survey (ATP–30) was used. Data was analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 19. Results: A total of 269 students participated in the study (37% males and 63% females). The Attitude towards Psychiatry (ATP) was moderately positive and the positivity increased among the students who completed psychiatry rotation. The impact of demographic factors on the attitude was not statistically significant. Conclusion: This study showed that medical students at Sultan Qaboos University have a positive attitude toward psychiatry

Perception of Preparedness for Clinical Work Among New Residents: A Cross-sectional Study from Oman.

Objectives: To evaluate new residents’ perceptions of their own preparedness for clinical practice and examine the associated factors. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted on August 20−23, 2016. New residents accepted for postgraduate training by Oman Medical Specialty Board were asked to complete the Preparation for Hospital Practice Questionnaire (PHPQ). Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 22. Results: A total of 160 residents were invited to participate in this study. Out of 160, 140 residents participated (87.5%), 70.7% were female and 59.3% were graduates from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). Ninety-nine percent of the graduates were either ‘well prepared’ or ‘fairly well prepared’ for hospital practice. Male residents scored higher in the confidence scale, while residents who did a post-internship general practice placement scored higher in understanding science. Graduates from Oman Medical College felt more prepared compared to graduates from SQU. Conclusions: Most of the new residents were well prepared to clinical work. Factors such as place of undergraduate study, training, and duration of internship significantly influenced the residents’ perception of preparedness. Addressing these factors will enhance residents’ preparedness for clinical work

Development of a selective fluorimetric technique for rapid trace determination of zinc using 3-hydroxyflavone

AbstractA sensitive and a selective spectrofluorimetric method have been developed for the rapid determination of trace levels of zinc. The method is based on complex formation between zinc and 3-hydroxyflavone (3HF), which displays an intense emission signal around 478nm. The analytical performance of the method was examined by considering the factors that affect the complex formation such as pH, mole ratio of the metal and solvent type. The optimum conditions for the complex formation were metal to ligand stoichiometric ratio of 1:1 at pH 7.5 with 0.1M Tris buffer. Under these conditions the detection limit attained was 1.5ppb. The method was appropriately validated and yielded relative standard deviations of less than 2% (n=5), which was considered acceptable. It was successfully applied to the trace determination of zinc in drinking water, hair shampoo and pharmaceutical samples

The Effect of Antepartum Depression on the Outcomes of Pregnancy and Development of Postpartum Depression: A prospective cohort study of Omani women

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the relationship between antenatal depression and pregnancy outcomes, including the risk of developing postpartum depression in Oman. Methods: This follow-up prospective longitudinal cohort study included pregnant women attending primary healthcare institutions in Muscat, Oman from January to November 2014. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to screen for antenatal and postnatal depression. Pregnant Omani women with a gestational age ≥32 weeks attending 12 local health centres for antenatal care in Muscat were invited to participate. Recruited women were followed-up at 6–8 weeks after delivery. The following pregnancy outcomes were assessed: mode of delivery (normal or Caesarean section [CS]), gestational age at delivery (preterm or fullterm), baby’s birth weight and development of postnatal depression. Results: A total of 959 women participated in this study (response rate: 97.3%). In total, 233 women (24.4%) had antenatal depression with a score of ≥13 on the EPDS. Of the 592 participants (61.7%) who attended postnatal clinics at 6–8 weeks post-delivery, 126 (21.3%) were positive for postnatal depression. Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that antenatal depression was associated with increased risk of CS (odds ratio [OR] = 1.79; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.20–2.66) and postnatal depression (OR = 8.63; 95% CI: 5.56–13.39). Conclusion: Screening women for antenatal depression and providing appropriate management may reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes and the risk of developing postnatal depression.Keywords: Depression; Postnatal depression; Women Health Services; Maternal Health Services; Pregnancy; Primary Health Care; Oman

Investigate a Gas Well Performance Using Nodal Analysis

Gas condensate well has unique reservoir characteristics and ups and downs in well behaviour affect the production rate significantly. A proper optimization can reduce the operating cost, maximize the hydrocarbon recovery and increase the net present value. Well level optimization can be achieved through optimizing well parameters, such as wellhead, tubing size, and skin factor. All of these factors have been investigated using a real field of Thrace Basin and PROSPER simulation program. The history matching data are validated to identify the future performance prediction for the same reservoir deliverability following the period changes. Therefore, predicted results are compared and validated with measured field data to provide the best production practices. Moreover, the results show that the skin factor has a large influence on the production rate by 45% reduction. The reduction in the reservoir pressure declines the production rate dramatically resulted in 70% decline. While manipulating the wellhead pressure shows minor decline compare to tubing size that does not show any significant change to production rate

Microbially mediated reduction of FeIII and AsV in Cambodian sediments amended with 13C-labelled hexadecane and kerogen

Microbial activity is generally accepted to play a critical role, with the aid of suitable organic carbon substrates, in the mobilisation of arsenic from sediments into shallow reducing groundwaters. The nature of the organic matter in natural aquifers driving the reduction of AsV to AsIII is of particular importance but is poorly understood. In this study, sediments from an arsenic rich aquifer in Cambodia were amended with two 13C-labelled organic substrates. 13C-hexadecane was used as a model for potentially bioavailable long chain n-alkanes and a 13C-kerogen analogue as a proxy for non-extractable organic matter. During anaerobic incubation for 8 weeks, significant FeIII reduction and AsIII mobilisation were observed in the biotic microcosms only, suggesting that these processes were microbially driven. Microcosms amended with 13C-hexadecane exhibited a similar extent of FeIII reduction to the non-amended microcosms, but marginally higher AsIII release. Moreover, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis showed that 65 % of the added 13C-hexadecane was degraded during the 8-week incubation. The degradation of 13C-hexadecane was microbially driven, as confirmed by DNA stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP). Amendment with 13C-kerogen did not enhance FeIII reduction or AsIII mobilisation, and microbial degradation of kerogen could not be confirmed conclusively by DNA-SIP fractionation or 13C incorporation in the phospholipid fatty acids. These data are, therefore, consistent with the utilisation of long chain n-alkanes (but not kerogen) as electron donors for anaerobic processes, potentially including FeIII and AsV reduction in the subsurface