Effects of Drying TIME on Yield and Moisture Content of “Sumahe” Powdered Drink Using Spray Dryer

As people today are becoming more health-conscious, various efforts have been made to keep up one's health, such as by consuming highly nutritious food and drinks. One of the nutritious food sources produced from bees is honey, bioactive compounds of polyphenols, glyoxal and methylglioxal. Honey could be used as a health drink by mixing with ginger. This health drink is also produced as powdered drink to simplify storing, reduce the use of plastic packaging, and to add product value to increase market share. The aim of this research was to analyze the effects of drying time for 5, 15, and 25 minutes with an addition of maltodextrin on the yield, density, and moisture content of “Sumahe” instant powdered drink, made from cow's milk, honey, and ginger. The results showed that the longer the drying time, the lower the moisture content of the drink. Meanwhile, the longer the drying time, the higher the yield became. A taste test of “Sumahe” also indicated that from 25 minutes of drying time, most of the panelists rated the drink as tasteful and delicious

Eosinophilic Pneumonia in a Patient with Bronchial Myiasis : Case report and literature review

Pulmonary myiasis is an unusual form of myiasis in humans and has been recently identified as a cause of eosinophilic pneumonia. We report the case of a 13-year-old Omani boy who presented to the Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman, in October 2014 with respiratory distress. Bronchial aspirates revealed features of eosinophilic pneumonia. Possible larvae identified in the cytology report, a high immunoglobulin E level and the patient history all indicated bronchial myiasis. The patient was treated with steroids and ventilation and has since been diseasefree with no long-term side-effects. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first case of bronchial myiasis in Oman

Neuroblastoma Among Omani Children: Clinical characteristics and survival outcome from a dedicated centre

Objectives: A limited number of publications from the Middle East have focused on neuroblastoma, a common childhood malignancy. This study describes the clinical characteristics and survival outcome of Omani children with neuroblastoma treated at the National Oncology Centre, Oman, between 2010 and 2017. Methods: From January 2010 to December 2017, data on Omani children aged less than 13 years with neuroblastoma were retrospectively collected. Survival data were statistically correlated with known prognostic factors, including age, stage of disease, MYCN profile and presence of metastasis. Results: A total of 56 Omani children were included. in this study. The male to female ratio was 1:1. The mean age at presentation was one year and 10 months. The two most common presenting complaints were body masses (48.2%) and constitutional symptoms (33.9%). Approximately, 54.5% were high risk, 35.7% were intermediate risk and 9.8% were low risk. High-risk neuroblastoma was mainly found in children older than one year (76.6%), with low risk mainly observed in children less than one year of age (80%). The overall survival of all groups combined was 74% (P <0.05); the event-free survival (EFS) was 67% (P <0.05). The overall survival rates over five years for the high-risk, intermediate-risk and low risk groups were 60%, 88% and 100%, respectively, and the EFS was 51%, 79% and 100%, respectively. Conclusion: Omani children with neuroblastoma mainly presented with masses or constitutional symptoms and had an advanced disease at presentation which was associated with inferior survival. The survival outcomes were reasonably similar to published international data. Keywords: Neuroblastoma; Survival; Event-Free Survival; Oman