Knowledge of Risk Factors, Symptoms and Barriers to Seeking Medical Help for Cervical Cancer among Omani Women Attending Sultan Qaboos University Hospital

Objectives: This study aimed to assess knowledge and attitudes among Omani woman regarding cervical cancer risk factors and symptoms as well as barriers to them seeking medical help. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2017 and March 2018 at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) in Muscat, Oman. A validated Arabic-language version of the Cervical Cancer Awareness Measure questionnaire was used to collect data from 550 Omani women visiting SQUH during the study period. Results: A total of 490 women participated (response rate: 89.1%) in this study. Overall, the women demonstrated low levels of knowledge of cervical cancer risk factors and symptoms (28.5% and 45.0%, respectively). The most frequently recognised risk factor was having many children (36.1%), while the most recognised symptom was unexplained vaginal bleeding (69.8%). Women reported that being too scared was the greatest barrier to seeking medical help (68.0%). Various factors were significantly associated with greater knowledge of cervical cancer signs and symptoms including education level (odds ratio [OR] = 2.85; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0–8.22; P <0.05), income (OR = 4.34; 95% CI: 1.70–11.12; P <0.05), parity (OR = 3.59; 95% CI: 1.38–9.36; P <0.05) and a family history of cancer (OR = 1.71; CI: 1.0–2.90; P <0.05). Conclusion: Overall, Omani women demonstrated poor knowledge with regards to cervical cancer; in addition, they identified several emotional barriers to seeking medical help. Healthcare practitioners should reassure female patients to encourage care-seeking behaviour. A national screening programme is also recommended to increase awareness and early diagnosis of cervical cancer in Oman.Keywords: Cervical Cancer; Knowledge; Awareness; Risk Factors; Health Care Seeking Behavior; Women; Oman

Awareness and Attitude Towards the Premarital Screening Programme Among High School Students in Muscat, Oman

Objectives: This study aimed to explore high school students’ awareness and attitude towards premarital screening (PMS). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 10 public high schools in Muscat, Oman from May to July 2016. A three-part self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from grade 12 students. The first part focused on respondents’ sociodemographic characteristics, while the second part dealt with awareness of the national PMS programme and the third part explored attitudes towards the national PMS programme. Results: A total of 1,541 participants (response rate: 91.1%) completed the questionnaire. Most participants (78.1%) were aware of the availability of the PMS programme and their main source of information was family and friends (34.3%). The majority of students (87.4%) believed that PMS is important and most students (87.2%) indicated that they would undergo PMS. Over half of the students (55.3%) agreed that PMS should be mandatory before marriage and approximately one-third (38.3%) were in favour of having laws and regulations to prevent consanguineous marriages. Females were significantly more in favour of making PMS mandatory (P = 0.002) and enforcing PMS laws (P = 0.010) compared to males. Conclusion: Most respondents had good levels of knowledge about the PMS programme and half thought it is important to be tested. However, some students were not in favour of PMS. Increasing awareness about Oman’s PMS programme is important and motivating students could contribute significantly to increasing the utilisation of the PMS programme and to limiting genetic blood disorders.Keywords: Awareness; Knowledge; Attitude; Secondary School; Students; Premarital Examinations; Genetic Carrier Screening; Oman

Clinical Spectrum of Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia in Children : A study of 74 cases

Objectives: The aim of the study was to explore the spectrum of hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) in children in Oman. Methods: This retrospective study was carried out between January 1994 and August 2011 on children with delayed development, gait disorders and motor handicaps, with signs of symmetrical pyramidal tract involvement. A detailed perinatal and family history, including the age of onset of symptoms, was recorded. The children were labelled as having either the pure or complicated form of HSP based on the established diagnostic criteria. In families with more than one affected child, parents and all other siblings were also examined. Results: Within the study, 74 children from 31 families were diagnosed with HSP. Parental consanguinity was seen in 91% of cases, with 44 children (59.4%) experiencing onset of the disease under one year of age. Complicated HSP was the most common type, seen in 81.1%. Speech involvement, mental retardation, and epilepsy were the most common associated abnormalities. Nonspecific white matter changes and corpus callosum abnormalities were noted in 24.3% of cases on magnetic resonance imaging. Conclusion: The study described clinical features of 74 children with HSP. Autosomal recessive complicated HSP was seen in 81.1% of cases.

Loss of UGP2 in brain leads to a severe epileptic encephalopathy, emphasizing that bi-allelic isoform-specific start-loss mutations of essential genes can cause genetic diseases.

Developmental and/or epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs) are a group of devastating genetic disorders, resulting in early-onset, therapy-resistant seizures and developmental delay. Here we report on 22 individuals from 15 families presenting with a severe form of intractable epilepsy, severe developmental delay, progressive microcephaly, visual disturbance and similar minor dysmorphisms. Whole exome sequencing identified a recurrent, homozygous variant (chr2:64083454A > G) in the essential UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGP2) gene in all probands. This rare variant results in a tolerable Met12Val missense change of the longer UGP2 protein isoform but causes a disruption of the start codon of the shorter isoform, which is predominant in brain. We show that the absence of the shorter isoform leads to a reduction of functional UGP2 enzyme in neural stem cells, leading to altered glycogen metabolism, upregulated unfolded protein response and premature neuronal differentiation, as modeled during pluripotent stem cell differentiation in vitro. In contrast, the complete lack of all UGP2 isoforms leads to differentiation defects in multiple lineages in human cells. Reduced expression of Ugp2a/Ugp2b in vivo in zebrafish mimics visual disturbance and mutant animals show a behavioral phenotype. Our study identifies a recurrent start codon mutation in UGP2 as a cause of a novel autosomal recessive DEE syndrome. Importantly, it also shows that isoform-specific start-loss mutations causing expression loss of a tissue-relevant isoform of an essential protein can cause a genetic disease, even when an organism-wide protein absence is incompatible with life. We provide additional examples where a similar disease mechanism applies

Seasonal variability of size-classes of phytoplankton biomass in a sub-tropical embayment, Muscat, Sea of Oman

The contribution of three different cell size classes of picoplankton: 0.74-2 μm, nanoplankton:2–20 μm and microplankton:>20 μm of the phytoplankton population and their relationship to environmental conditions were studied over two annual cycles at one station in Bandar Khyran Bay, Sea of Oman, from May 2006 to August 2008. Nanoplankton was the most important class contributing 54.4% to total Chl a (range 6-82%). Its seasonal highest concentrations was during the cold periods when temperature ranged from 28-29°C in fall and near 24°C in winter when the supply of nutrients was sufficient to sustain their growth. Picoplankton had the second level of the contribution, comprising 23.5% (range 4-74%) of the total Chl a, and their concentration was generally constant (0.04-.06 μg l–1) throughout the study period. The drop of picoplankton population coincided with an increase in the microplankton and nanoplankton populations indicating a high grazing pressure exerted on the picoplankton population. Microplankton size-class occupied the third level of the contribution comprising 22.2% (range 3-65%). Their general concentration was below 0.1 μg l^-1 and only dominant when temperatures were lowest and nitrate, nitrite, silicate and phosphate concentrations were the highest. The temporal variability observed was associated with changes in the nanaoplankton indicating that in some cases, it is the small fraction of phytoplankton that drives changes in abundances and productivity

Mesoscale and Nutrient Conditions Associated with the Massive 2008 Cochlodinium polykrikoides Bloom in the Sea of Oman/Arabian Gulf

Cochlodinium polykrikoides formed large blooms in the coastal waters of Oman from October 2008 through mid-January 2009, and satellite images from Aqua-MODIS and region-wide reports suggest that this bloom was found throughout the Arabian Gulf and Sea of Oman for more than 10 months. The unusual occurrence of this species appears to have supplanted the more regularly occurring bloom species, Noctiluca scintillans, in 2008–2009. For the first 2 weeks of the coastal Omani bloom, C. polykrikoides abundance was near monospecific proportions, with cell densities ranging from 4.6 × 103 to 9 × 106 cells L−1 and very high levels of chlorophyll a (78.0 μg L−1) were also recorded. The regional progression of the bloom likely began with stronger than normal upwelling along the Iranian and northern Omani coasts during the southwest monsoon in late summer, followed by discharge of unusually warm coastal plume water along the coast of Oman with the reversal of monsoonal winds in late October. The occurrence and persistence of high densities of C. polykrikoides in Oman coastal water were also significantly influenced by an elevated nutrient load and warmer than normal temperatures. Concentrations of nutrients, especially NH4 +, urea, PO4 3−, and organic nitrogen and phosphorus, were manyfold higher than observed in the year prior or since. These findings suggest that mesoscale features were important in bloom dynamics more regionally, but locally the bloom was sustained by nutrient enrichment supplemented by its mixotrophic capabilities

New Uses of Screens in Post-Lockdown Britain - Study Report and Findings

The ‘New Uses of Screens in Post-Lockdown Britain’ study (NUSPB) set out to discover the current lived experiences of British people and how screen technologies may or may not have become more permanently integrated within their day-to-day lives following the coronavirus lockdowns of 2020-2021

Understanding parental hesitancy toward children's COVID-19 vaccinations: The influence of government, media and interpersonal communication

In March 2022, the UK Health Security Agency and the National Health Service issued guidance for parents of children aged 5–11 concerning vaccinations. The guidance stated that parents of all children in this age bracket should be offered the chance to have their child vaccinated and that the procedure was particularly important for children who have health conditions that put them at high risk. However, expressions of child vaccine hesitancy rose steeply in the UK at the start of 2022 with 35.4% of primary school parents saying they were unlikely to vaccinate their children. Vaccination programmes are part of the global strategy for mitigating the effects of coronavirus disease, but their effectiveness is reliant upon high levels of uptake and administration. Vaccine hesitancy, for children in particular is an important concern, given that children can play a major role in coronavirus transmission within both families and schools. Listening to parental perspectives regarding the decision-making processes for vaccinating this age group, becomes fundamental in understanding childhood vaccine intentions. Through the analysis of semi-structured interviews, this paper is able to reveal detailed qualitative insights into the thoughts of UK parents and their attitudes toward children's vaccinations that quantitative statistics are otherwise unable to show. In the following article, we have identified a triangular relationship between government, media and interpersonal communication in shaping parental perspectives, leading to a mixture of both “pro-vax” and “anti-vax” attitudes [often simultaneously] in regards to the vaccination or non-vaccination of children. Our data provides original findings that will inform both policymakers and practitioners, building upon and extending the existing vaccination literature, furthering current debate and guiding future research

A systematic review on demand response role towards sustainable energy in the smart grids-adopted buildings sector

In the so near future, climate change caused by Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as a result of an increase in energy demand (ED) in the buildings sector becomes really hazard to our green environment. Both climate change and increase in ED are affected by each other. Such increase in ED would increase both climate change and global warming. Fortunately, there is, however, still plenty of time to address this issue. This increase might be significantly and effectively controlled. One of the effective solutions is to apply demand response (DR) strategies exploiting the smart grid (SG). Hence, SG contributes to help reduce both ED and CO2 emissions. Of importance is establishing SGs-adopted buildings in which DR role could act as an operating and management system aiming to reach energy sustainability. We review researches on DR strategies and technologies applied to SGs-adopted buildings. Unlike previous literature reviews considering certain types of buildings or strategies which therefore narrow the focus of review papers, this review has analyzed numerous types of buildings and a variety of technologies to expand the review&amp;#x2019;s scope. Concluded remarks, insights, challenges faced by researchers, and suggestions proposed by this review paper have been in detail discussed. Limitations, further gaps in future research on DR strategies, potential implications of DR in SG-adopted buildings have been also discussed. Towards sustainable energy in the buildings sector utilizing DR strategies, points of strength and weakness concluded from the reviewed articles have been highlighted and discussed to open trends that might potentially enhance future proposed DR strategies applied to SG-adopted buildings.</p