The role of information professionals in global economic crisis

It is now generally agreed that better information use in the financial services sector might have helped to avert the economic crisis which originated in the U.S. in 2007. Similarly, it is clear that improved availability and communication of good information could have helped prevent the types of consumer and investor reactions which spread the crisis around the globe today. Drawing on a range of existing sources, this paper considers the impact of information failure and the role of information professionals in the economic crisis. It then examines how information professionals can make an important contribution to economic recovery and sets out recommendations for the profession. The paper concludes that unless information professionals play a more proactive role in making good economic and financial information readily accessible, the risk of recurrent economic crises will be increased

Mobilizing Learning: Using Moodle and Online Tools via Smartphones

The emergence of smart devices such as smartphones (e.g., iPhone) and tablets (e.g., iPad) may enhance e-learning by increasing communication and collaborative learning outside the classroom. These devices also facilitate the use of online technologies such as Facebook. However, the adaptation of Learning Management System (LMS) services to mobile devices took longer than social networks or online tools such as Facebook and Twitter have already been long used via smartphone. The main purposes of this study are to explore students’ skill levels of LMS (Moodle) and their knowledge of online tools or technologies and then examine if there is a correlation between smartphone use and using of online tools and Moodle in learning. The study conducted among 173 students in the Department of Information Studies (DIS) in Oman, using online survey. The study found that most students demonstrated high levels of accessing course/subject materials and regularly engaging with studies of using LMSs. YouTube, Wikipedia and Facebook were clearly recorded as the most popular sites among students while LinkedIn and Academia.edu were two online tools that had never been heard of by over half of the 142 participants. Emailing and searching are recorded the most popular online learning activities among students. The study concluded that students prefer to use smartphone for accessing these tools rather than using it to access LMSs, while a positive correlation was found between the use of these tools and smartphones, but there was no correlation between smartphones and using LMSs

Apolipoprotein A1 Gene Polymorphisms at the 75 bp and 83/ 84 bp Polymorphic Sites in Healthy Omanis Compared with World Populations

The relative frequencies of the *A allele of the APOA1 gene at - 75 bp (M1- ) and the C or T+83/ 84 bp allele (M2- ) varied significantly between populations. We found the frequencies of M1- and M2- to be 0.22 and 0.067, respectively, in 150 healthy Omanis. These frequencies were compared to frequencies found in other world populations

Apolipoprotein E Polymorphism in Omani Dyslipidemic Patients With and Without Coronary Artery Disease

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) polymorphism is a predictor of interindividual variability in plasma levels of lipids and lipoproteins and a predictor of risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). We studied the relationship between APOE polymorphism and lipid profiles and risk of CAD in Omani dyslipidemic patients. This retrospective study included 244 dyslipidemic patients, of whom 67 had CAD. Fasting blood glucose, lipids, and plasma lipoprotein levels were measured using standard methods, and APOE genotypes were detected by PCR-RFLP. The dyslipidemic patients had the following APOE allele frequencies: APOE*2, 0.030; APOE*3, 0.894; and APOE*4, 0.076. APOE allele frequencies between patients with and without CAD showed no significant differences. Compared to APOE*3/*3 homozygotes, APOE*4 allele patients had higher mean levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (p = 0.014), apoB (p = 0.031), lower mean levels of apoA1 ( p = 0.043), and a trend of higher mean level of total cholesterol ( p = 0.084). Thirty-one percent of patients with CAD had the APOE*4 allele compared to 26% with the APOE*3 allele, but this difference was not significant. Compared with APOE*3/*3 homozygotes, patients with the APOE*4 allele had 1.3 times higher risk for CAD after ignoring dyslipidemia, but this risk was modified after adjusting for dyslipidemia. In conclusion, among dyslipidemic patients, carriers of APOE*4 compared to homozygous carriers of APOE*3 had significantly higher levels of LDL cholesterol and apoB, but no relationship with CAD was found

The data file consists of microsatellite allele lengths for 11 high informative microsatellites loci described in the paper

A data set based on 11 high informative microsatellites loci genotypes from nine populations was used to estimate the population genetic parameters. The first column is the data file of each individuals organized in rows, whereas the abbreviation name of the goat populations in the second column. The subsequent columns correspond to microsatellite data (two columns per locus). The markers in color were excluded from further analysis. Missing data are coded by zero. Abbreviations for the names of the goat populations as follows: Jabal Akhdar (JKH), Batinah (BTN), Dhofar (DHR), Ash Sharqiyah (SHR), Musandam (MSN), Somalia (SOM), Iran (IRN), Pakistan (PAK) and India (IND)

A novel founder MYO15A frameshift duplication is the major cause of genetic hearing loss in Oman

The increased risk for autosomal recessive disorders is one of the most well-known medical implications of consanguinity. In the Sultanate of Oman, a country characterized by one of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages worldwide, prevalence of genetic hearing loss (GHL) is estimated to be 6/10\u2009000. Families of GHL patients have higher consanguinity rates than the general Omani population, indicating a major role for recessive forms. Mutations in GJB2, the most commonly mutated GHL gene, have been sporadically described. We collected 97 DNA samples of GHL probands, affected/unaffected siblings and parents from 26 Omani consanguineous families. Analyzing a first family by whole-exome sequencing, we identified a novel homozygous frameshift duplication (c.1171_1177dupGCCATCT) in MYO15A, the gene linked to the deafness locus DFNB3. This duplication was then found in a total of 8/26 (28%) families, within a 849\u2009kb founder haplotype. Reconstruction of haplotype structure at MYO15A surrounding genomic regions indicated that the founder haplotype branched out in the past two to three centuries from a haplotype present worldwide. The MYO15A duplication emerges as the major cause of GHL in Oman. These findings have major implications for the design of GHL diagnosis and prevention policies in Oma

Autozygosity-driven genetic diagnosis in consanguineous families from Italy and the Greater Middle East

Autozygosity-driven exome analysis has been shown effective for identification of genes underlying recessive diseases especially in countries of the so-called Greater Middle East (GME), where high consanguinity unravels the phenotypic effects of recessive alleles and large family sizes facilitate homozygosity mapping. In Italy, as in most European countries, consanguinity is estimated low. Nonetheless, consanguineous Italian families are not uncommon in publications of genetic findings and are often key to new associations of genes with rare diseases. We collected 52 patients from 47 consanguineous families with suspected recessive diseases, 29 originated in GME countries and 18 of Italian descent. We performed autozygosity-driven exome analysis by detecting long runs of homozygosity (ROHs > 1.5 Mb) and by prioritizing candidate clinical variants within. We identified a pathogenic synonymous variant that had been previously missed in NARS2 and we increased an initial high diagnostic rate (47%) to 55% by matchmaking our candidate genes and including in the analysis shorter ROHs that may also happen to be autozygous. GME and Italian families contributed to diagnostic yield comparably. We found no significant difference either in the extension of the autozygous genome, or in the distribution of candidate clinical variants between GME and Italian families, while we showed that the average autozygous genome was larger and the mean number of candidate clinical variants was significantly higher (p = 0.003) in mutation-positive than in mutation-negative individuals, suggesting that these features influence the likelihood that the disease is autozygosity-related. We highlight the utility of autozygosity-driven genomic analysis also in countries and/or communities, where consanguinity is not widespread cultural tradition