A Muslim Perspective of Leadership – Insights from Oman

This paper presents a Muslim perspective of leadership as viewed from observing leaders in Muscat, Oman – the capital city of the Middle East country that has grown at the rate of just under 4% per year since 2000 and is awash with residents from places throughout the world. With this rate of growth and rich diversity, leadership designed to make an equitable impact is required to govern

Vortex shedding in oscillatory flow.

Measurements of the response to inline flow oscillations of vortex shedding from certain bluff bodies have been made. Four cylinders with fixed separation points were exposed to a mean stream with controlled sinusoidal oscillations at defined frequency ratios and amplitudes. Attention was concentrated on the highly sensitive reduced velocity regime around the inverse of twice the Strouhal number, 1/2S. Synchronisation of vortex formation was first established; then, for conditions at which synchronisation occured, threshold amplitude was measured. In order to determine the common and distinguishing features of bluff body shape the response from cylinders having 'zero' and finite afterbody were investigated. Finally, for a selected cylinder, the influence, in the presence of oscillations, of turbulence intensity (of defined scale), solid blockage and aspect ratio to the synchronous range were examined. Of particular interest were the changes that occur in the characteristic period of vortex formation and base pressure, relevant to the design and application of vortex flowmeters and self induced excitations of structures in general. The experiments were carried out in two separate blower tunnels under various oscillatory flow conditions in the Reynolds number range (0.5-5.0) X 104 and amplitudes of velocity fluctuation (+/-AU/U) of up to 0.3. It was found that amplitudes of oscillations of the order of 0.025 were sufficient to induce frequency lock-in when the reduced velocity was close to 1/2S and, provided the amplitude was sufficiently large, limited synchronisation could also be induced near the upper and lower reduced velocities of 1/S and 1/4S. Synchronisation is accompanied by enhanced vortex shedding which, in turn, can lead to increased base suction (and therefore increase in drag force). Flow visualisation revealed that the near wake vortex arrangement can vary a great deal depending on the ratio of Strouhal numbers at the forced and self-excited frequencies (N/no). It was concluded that the behaviour of the base pressure reflected this situation and that the range of synchronisation depended strongly on the stability of the prevailing mode of vortex shedding. The precise details of the flow were found to be highly dependent on body geometry and the frequency ratio N/no. The production of oscillatory flow in the wind tunnels did not proved to be an easy task. A review of the various methods that have been used in the past is presented. The advantages and disadvantages of different techniques are highlighted and details are given of a further method developed for use with the present open circuit blower tunnels of differing sizes. In the smaller tunnel, having a working section size of 0.3x0.3m, it was possible to produce sinusoidal variations of the working section flow, having peak to peak amplitude of up to 60% of the mean flow speed and frequencies up to, typically, that corresponding to the acoustic quarter-wavelength frequency determined by the tunnel length. Over the viable working range, the device is shown to produce high quality periodic flow with negligible harmonic distortion or acoustic noise difficulties

A Muslim Perspective of Leadership – Insights from Oman

This paper presents a Muslim perspective of leadership as viewed from observing leaders in Muscat, Oman – the capital city of the Middle East country that has grown at the rate of just under 4% per year since 2000 and is awash with residents from places throughout the world. With this rate of growth and rich diversity, leadership designed to make an equitable impact is required to govern

Coronavirus Disease Incidence Resonance with Coastline Dynamics: An Evaluation on Global Resurgence of the Pandemic

Introduction: Many studies were done earlier to understand the role of climatic, environmental, and sociodemographic factors in the transmission, spread, and viability of SARS-CoV-2. Objectives: While there are principal climatic factors that influence the transmission and spread, specific factors such as latitude and water body mass are not critically examined. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the role of latitude and heat flux from water body mass in coastal environs on the resurgence and incidence of COVID. Methodology: A study was conducted examining the cases reported per million population, latitude degrees, and coastline length in two criteria groups (n = 120 and 10) spanning five geographic continental regions. The collected data were statistically analyzed to validate the three prepositions of the study. Findings: The cases reported per million population were least in countries lying below 25˚-degree latitude, and countries in this range have the mean highest coastline length. Our analysis in the n = 120 group reveals a moderate relationship among rises in cases with latitude degrees (r = 0.425, p < 0.01, n =120) but is associated negatively with coastline length. From the top countries having the longest coastline length, the association among the variables reveals a weak relationship exists between cases and latitude (r = 0.356, p = 0.312, n = 10), while no correlation is observed with coastline length. Novelty:A rise in the incidence rate and the global resurgence of cases can be explained by previous researchers considering climatic variables and socio-demographic factors. However, other parameters, such as the latent heat of evaporation from water body mass in coastal zones in different latitudinal countries, on the incidence and resurgence patterns are examined in this study. Observations indicate that the disease incidence trend is not similar across all countries and that no single factor fully influences the rise in cases. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-024 Full Text: PD

A CVC Line Misadventure: “Doctor why do I have a humming sound in my ear?”

We report a 32-year-old female patient who was referred to a tertiary care hospital in Muscat, Oman, in 2021 with an iatrogenic arteriovenous fistula (AVF) that presented as a neck swelling which developed few weeks after an attempt of central venous catheterization through the right internal jugular vein (IJV). The fistula was corrected surgically at our institute with a successful outcome. AVF is an abnormal communication between an artery and vein which can occur as a congenital anomaly, after trauma or iatrogenic following central venous catheter (CVC) or endovenous thermal ablation. Keywords: Arteriovenous fistula, Iatrogenic, central venous catheter, critically ill, IC

Eating Epilepsy in Oman : A case series and report on the efficacy of temporal lobectomy

Eating epilepsy (EE), where seizures are triggered by eating, is rare and has not been reported in the Gulf region. In EE, the ictal semiology includes partial or generalised seizures. Focal brain changes on imaging, if present, are often confined to the temporal lobe or perisylvian region. Therapeutic options, especially in those patients who are refractory to pharmacotherapy, have not been well-established. We report a series of five patients with EE from Oman, a country located in the eastern part of the Arabian Gulf region, and highlight the usefulness of temporal lobectomy in one patient who had medically-intractable EE. Surgical intervention could be considered as a potential therapeutic option in carefully selected patients with medically-intractable seizures

Frequency of Dimethyl Fumarate Induced Lymphopaenia Among Omani Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Objectives: Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is known to cause lymphopenia in treated multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. There is a dearth of research on DMF therapy in the Arab world, especially in Oman. This study aimed to analyse the prevalence of lymphopenia among Omani MS patients and the reasons for discontinuing DMF. Methods: In this retrospective study, we reviewed the medical records of Omani MS patients who were treated using DMF at two tertiary hospitals in Muscat from the period 2017 February to 2023 February. Their demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were retrieved and analysed. Absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) values at baseline and at the last follow up, as well as the reasons for discontinuing DMF were collected. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used for data analysis. Binary-logistic regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors for DMF-induced lymphopenia. Results: The study included a total of 64 MS patients and the majority (40; 63%) were female. The DMF therapy was started at mean age of 33 7.7 years. After administration of DMF, 14 (21.9%) patients developed 1–3 grades lymphopenia with the following breakup: grade-1: 5/64 (7.81%) patients; grade-2: 8/64 (12.5%) patients; grade-3: 1/64 (1.6%) patient. DMF was discontinued in 23 (36.0%) patients, mainly in response to adverse events or confirmed pregnancy. Female sex was the only significant predictor of DMF-induced lymphopenia (p = 0.037). Conclusion: Most Omani MS patients had mild lymphopenia (grades 1–2), like other regional and international reports. Early adverse events and pregnancy were the main reasons provided for discontinuing DMF therapy. Keywords: Multiple Sclerosis; Dimethyl Fumarate; Absolute Lymphocyte Count; Lymphopenia; Oma

Expert consensus from the Arabian Gulf on selecting disease-modifying treatment for people with multiple sclerosis according to disease activity.

AbstractRecent research has expanded our understanding of the natural history and clinical course of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Arabian Gulf region. In addition, the number of available therapi..