A n n u a l R e p o r t - squ.edu.om Annual Report 2014.pdf · Tariq Mohiuddin ollege Academic...

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Annual Report

College of Science

2014

2014

His Majesty’s Visionary Support of Sultan Qaboos University

Reaping the rewards: The College is developing in leaps and bounds

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

5

6 Dean’s Foreword

7 Editorial Board

7 Staff in Dean’s Office

8 Main College Committees

13

Assistant Dean (UGS)

14 Assistant Dean (TCS)

16 Department of Biology

22 Department of Chemistry

30 Department of Computer Science

38 Department of Earth Sciences

43 Department of Mathematics & Statistics

51 Department of Physics

59 Units in the College

Table of Contents

Annual General Report Committee

67

Research Preface

68 University Day Presentations (PhD Students)

75 Research Projects

86 Publications & Conference Presentations

106 Supervision of Postgraduate Students

109 Summary of Research Grants

Annual Research Report Committee

6

T he College of Science is continually striving

for excellence in all spheres of academic

life. It is a pleasure to look back on the past year

and marvel at the remarkable achievements made

by the College particularly in scholarly activities.

More often than not, tertiary institutions are rec-

ognized internationally by their research profiles.

The College made huge strides towards realizing

this goal. Research infrastructure was strength-

ened in virtually all departments and especially at

The Central Analytical and Applied Research Unit.

The relocation of the Departments of Biology and

Earth Science to the new College building opened

up much needed research space for both faculty

and postgraduate students. Now that the MSc and

PhD degree programmes are fully fledged in all the

departments of the College, there is a large in-

crease in postgraduate enrolment across a diverse

range of science disciplines, in line with the imple-

mentation of the College strategic plan.

Research funding in 2014 was a milestone,

with the total amount in excess of one million

Omani Riyals. Most of the funding was secured by

the Departments of Chemistry and Mathematics &

Statistics from The Research Council (TRC). There

were also sizeable research grants from external

sources for projects in the Departments of Biology,

Chemistry and Earth Sciences. With regard to the

internal grants (IG), 31 new research projects were

funded; the Department of Physics received the

lion’s share. It is gratifying that the culture of re-

search in the College of Science is well and truly

cultivated. The research output was also impres-

sive as evidenced by the number of publications in

international journals and the SQU Journal for Sci-

ence as well as conference presentations in keep-

ing with the improved research facilities and in-

crease in the number of postgraduate and postdoc-

toral researchers.

The College is currently in the throes of re-

viewing the undergraduate degree programmes to

elevate academic standards and meet accredita-

tion requirements. I am pleased that for some de-

partments this activity is already paying dividends.

I am also pleased to note that year on year the

quality of student activities is on the increase. Stu-

dents from different departments organised open-

day events to which the community was invited.

Some of these student events drew visits from high

school pupils. The student exhibitions at the Sci-

ence Festival were very professional and impres-

sive. The summer of 2014 saw large numbers of

students undergoing training at government minis-

tries and the private sector, thereby putting sci-

ence to practice. I would the Physics stlike to con-

gratulate udents who won the Physics Olympiad

competition and the Earth Sciences students who

won the Society for Exploration Geophysicists

(SEG) Student Chapter competitions in the Middle

East and in the United.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere

thanks and appreciation to all staff members of the

College for their hard work. In particular, I am

greatly indebted to the College Administrator, my

three Assistant Deans, the Executive Committee

and the College Board for their support. I do sin-

cerely hope that readers of this College Annual

Report will find it informative.

Professor Salma Al-Kindy

Professor Salma Al-Kindy PhD (Loughborough, UK), FRSC, CCHEM

Foreword from theDean of the College

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Professor Salma Al Kindy, Dean

Kimberly Galima, Coordinator

Raya Al Maawali, Clerk

Zahraa Al Lawati, Clerk

Dr Faizah Al Mjeni, Assistant Dean (UGS)

Saif Al Maawali, Clerk

Thelma Sequiera, Clerk

Fatma Al Farsi, Clerk

Dr Salim Al Harthy, Assistant Dean (PSR)

Qamariya Al-Mughairy, Coordinator

Ibrahim Al Abri, Coordinator

Dr Nasser Al Salti, Assistant Dean (TCS)

Janet Dela Cruz, Coordinator

Fathiya Al-Hamadani, Clerk

Masoud Al Hinai, Director

Said Al-Hinai, Assistant Director

Aysha Al Balushi, Clerk

Noora Al Ghafri, Clerk

Issa Al Hinai, Clerk

Salim Al Saidi, College Superintendent

Khalid Al-Zidjali, Clerk

Jamal Al-Aamri, Clerk

Saif Al Gharbi, Messenger

Haitham Awlad Thani, Messenger

Younis Al-Belushi, Photocopy Technician

Sultan Al-Aamri, Clerk

Prof Musa Shongwe

Editor

Mrs. Florida E. Nevado Editor’s Assistant

S. Al-Harthi (Chairman, Asst. Dean, PGSR)

R. Abed (Biology)

E. Khudaish (Chemistry)

N. Kraiem (Computer Science)

F. Mattern (Earth Sciences)

M. Boulbrachene (Math & Stats)

R. Singh (Physics)

Annual Research Report Committee

M. S. Shongwe (Chairman

E. Eltayeb (Biology)

A. Munam (Chemistry)

Y. Baghdadi (Computer Science)

N. Sundararajan (Earth Sciences)

E. Krishnan (Math & Stats)

N. Koca (Physics)

Annual General Report Committee

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2014 Committees of the College of Science

College Board College Postgraduate Studies Committee

Salma Al Kindy, College Executive, Salim Al Saidi, Abraham George (Observer), Atsu Dorvlo, (Observer), Mohab Al Hinai, Fakhr E. Suliman, Yassine Jamoussi, Ahmed Al Hadhrami, Mohammed El Ghali, Saleh Al Shedhani

Salim Al Harthy, Hassan Al Reasi, Aliya Al Ansari, Reginald Victor, Osama Abou-Zied, Abderazak Touzene, Atsu Dorvlo, Nirmal Sacheti, Aref Kamal, Mohammed El Ghali, Abraham George

College Executive Committee Student Training Committee

Salma Al Kindy Faizah Al Mjeni, Salim Al Harthy, Nasser Al Salti, Elsadiq Eltayeb, Haider Al Lawati, Zuhoor Al Khanjari, Khidir Abdelbasit, Salah Khirbash, Mujib Rahman, Masoud Al Hinai

Nasser Al Salti, Senan Baqir, Badriya Al-Shihi, Huda Al-Aamri, Ahmad Al Hadrami, Mohammed Al Wardi, Tariq Mohiuddin

College Academic Promotions Committee Community Services Committee

Salma Al Kindy, Reginald Victor, Muhammad Khan, Naoufel Kraiem, Pallath Chandran, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ram Singh

Nasser Al Salti, Hassan Al Reasi, Saleh Al-Busafi, Abderezak Touzene, Shamil Makhmutov, Mohammed Al Wardi, Carlo Carboni

College Curriculum Committee Student Activities Committee

Faizah Al-Mjeni, Sardar Farook, Hameed Sulaiman, John Husband, Abdullah Al-Hamdani, Pallath Chandran, Charles Bakheit, Talal Al Hosni, Nidhal Suleiman

Nasser Al Salti, Michael Barry, Wajdi Zoghaib, Amaal Hassan, Nadia Al Dhamri, Mohammed Al Wardi, Carlo Carboni

Choice of Major Committee Staff-Student Liaison Committee

Faizah Al Mjeni, Sardar Farook, Hameed Sulaiman, Badriya Al-Shihi, Hamad Al-Mamari, Abdelhamid Abdesselam, Ahmed Al-Hadrami, Anton Purnama, Abdul Razak Al Sayigh, N. Sundararajan, Nidhal Suleiman

Salma Al Kindy, Assistant Deans, Heads of Depart-ment, Lamya Al Haj, Nawal Al-Rasbi, Amal Hassan, Asmaa A Ghassani, Hesham El Kaliouby, Carlo Carboni

College Research Committee Computer Users Committee

Salim Al Harthy,Raeid Abed, Emad Khudaish, Naoufel Kraiem, Messaoud Boulbrachene, Frank Mattern, Ram Singh

Easwaran Balakrishnan, Mohab Al Hinai, Jahangir Ahmad, Suliman Al-Salmi, Sankaran Rajendran, Saleh Al Shidhani

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College Capital Equipment Committee E-Learning Committee

Salim Al Harthy, Elsadig Eltayeb, Haider Al Lawati, Zuhoor Al-Khanjari, Suliman Al-Salmi, Khidir Abdel-basit, Salah Al Khirbash, Mujib Rahman

Wasila Al Busaidi, IT Zone Members, Michael Barry Bushra Al-Wahaibi, Widad Rakhyoot, Mohamed Boudellioua,Talal Al Hosni, Saleh Al Shidhani

Strategic Plan Implementation Committee College Social Activities Committee

Salim Al Harthy, Michael Barry, Mohamed Aoudia, Yassine Jamoussi, Edamana Krishnan, Narissman Sundararajan, Azzouz Sellai

Masoud Al Hinai, Moza Al Jabri, Bushra Al-Wahaibi, Suliman Al Salmi, Kamel Nafa, Abdul Razak Al-Sayigh, Abey Issac

College Annual Report Committee Timetabling Committee

Musa Shongwe, Aliya Al Ansari, Abdul Munam, Youcef Baghdadi, Narissman Sundararajan, Edamana Krishnan, Nazife Koca

Faizah Al Mjeni, Aisha Al Khayat, Hamad Al-Mamari, Hamza Zidoum, Kamel Nafa, Talal Al Hosni, Imad Al-Omari

Library Committee Building/Space Committee

Aref Kamal, Nalussamy Sivakumar, Abdul Munam, Mohammed Sajeed, Kamel Nafa, Hesham El Kaliouby, Sayyadul Arafin

Cengiz Ercil, Salma Al Kindy, Masoud Al Hinai, Abdulkharid Elshafie, Ashraf Al-Hinai, Ibrahim Eltayeb, Osman Abdalla

College Safety and Security Committee Teaching & Learning Committee

El-Said El-Shafey, Salim Al Saidi, Nalussamy Siva-kumar, Ibrahim Dweib, Qamar Khan, Andreas Scharf, Sumesh Pillai, Ali Al Zaabi

Mehiddin Al Baali, Derek Roberts, Mohamed Aoudia, Basel Arafeh, Sankaran Rajendran

Examination Procurement

Charles Bakheit, Derek Roberts, Hamad Al-Mamari, Amaal Hassan, Talal Al Hosni, Rachid Sbiaa

Derek Roberts, Mahmoud Al-Azwani, Suliman Al-Salmi, Hamed Al Asmi, Sobhi Nasir, Rachid Sbiaa

Technical and Administrative Training Committee

Oman Accreditation Council (Quality Con-trol) Committee

Nasser Al Salti, Aziz Al Habsi, Salah Al-Shukairi, Raid A Jalil, Mahmood Al Azwani, Huda AlAmri, Widad Rakhyoot, Mohd Mansur Rahman, Hamad Al- Asmi, Hesham El Kaliouby, Abdullah Al-Fahdi, Tariq Mohiuddin, Ali Mansoor, Masoud Al Hinai, Ahlam Al-Azkawi, Ahmed Al Wahaibi

Fakhr-Eldin Suliman, Hameed Sulaiman Lebbai, Abdel-hamid Abdesselam, Medhat Rakha, Salah Al-Khirbash, BRS Babu

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College Textbook Committee Seminar

Anton Purnama, Nalussamy Sivakumar, Emad Khudaish, Mohammed Sajeed, Gerald Wanjala, An-dreas Scharf, Sayyadul Arafin

Senan Baqir, Rengaraj Selvaraj, Mohammed Sajeed, Qamar Khan, Mohammed El Ghali, Kazi Abedin

Superintendents Alumni

Salim Al Saidi, Salah Al Shukairi, Hassan Al-Lawati, Sulaiman Al Salmi, Hamad Al Asmi, Abdullah Al Fahdi, Ali Al Sulaimi

Nasser Al Salti, Aziz Al Habsi, Bushra Al-Wahaibi, Widad Rakhyout, Fatma Al Kharousi, Abdul Razak Al Sayigh, Carlo Carboni

International Academic Co-operation Committee

Central Analytical and Applied Research Unit (CAARU)

Raid Abdel-Jalil, Hassan Al Reasi, Abderazak Touzene, Nirmal Sacheti, Narissman Sundararajan, Hisham Widatallah

Salma Al Kindy, Ahlam Al Azkawi, Saif Al Bahry, Fakhr-Eldin Suliman, Bernhard Pracejus, Hisham Widatallah

New Building Committee (B) IT Zone

Salma Al Kindy, Masoud Al Hinai, Abdulkadir El-shafie, Ashraf Al-Hinai, Zuhoor Al-Khanjari, Cengiz Ercil, Osman Abdalla

Wasila Al Busaidi, Anees Al Zadjali (Webmaster), Mo-hab Al Hinai, John Husband, Widad Rakhyoot, Saleh Al Hajri, Daniel Moraetis, Saleh Shidhani

SQU Journal for Science

Muhammad Khan, Derek Roberts, Aref Kamal, Me-hiddin Al-Baali, Atsu Dorvlo, Nasser Al-Zidi, Ab-dulhamaid Abdelsalam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Talal Al-Hosni , Aoudia Muhammad , Rangaraj Selvaraj, Ra-chid Sibaa, Carlo Carboni, Abdulkhadir Elshafie

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R unning the Office of the Assistant Dean for

Undergraduate Studies in one of SQU’s larg-

est colleges is a tall order, yet it is a tremendous

honour and privilege to have been entrusted with

this responsibility. The central role played by this

Office is to promote the success of our students in

their studies, and to facilitate the elevation of aca-

demic standards in the College in keeping with the

mission and vision of the University. The day-to-day

tasks and chores demand organisational and com-

munication skills, diplomacy, empathy with students

as well as tolerance and level-headedness in times

of academic strife. I am fortunate to be supported

by highly efficient clerks, namely Thelma Sequeira,

Saif Al-Maawali and Fatema Al-Farsi, who provide

quality service to students and academic staff. I am

also grateful for the Dean’s kindness and unwaver-

ing support.

The major duties undertaken by this Office

are wide-ranging and include overseeing admis-

sions, registration and orientation of new students,

managing selection of majors, promoting curriculum

design and development, overseeing and supporting

the establishment and review of degree and minor

programs, helping to facilitate accreditation of de-

gree programs, assisting with timetabling of College

courses and mid-semester exams, overseeing aca-

demic advising in the College, liaising with counter-

parts in the other SQU colleges and University Ad-

missions and Registrations as well as providing

counselling and succour to probation students.

Many of these duties are performed with the assis-

tance of College committees such as the College

Curriculum Committee and the Choice-of-Major

Committee. I owe a debt of gratitude to the mem-

bers of all the committees that are working closely

with me. I would also like to take this opportunity

to thank Dr Charles Bakheit for acting as Assistant

Dean during my summer vacation, and to those who

on other occasions have acted as Assistant Dean on

my behalf.

The College of Science is indeed a large

college and the bar graph below shows the major

programs in the College and the corresponding ca-

pacity for student intake in each degree program.

The number of seats in a given major program is

influenced by several factors including popularity of

the degree program, availability of resources to sup-

port the program and the job market.

Of all the responsibilities of the Office of

the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies, it is

the overseeing of the ceremony honouring the stu-

dents named in the annual Dean’s List that gives me

the most satisfaction.

Dr Faizah Al-Mjeni PhD (Massachusetts, USA)

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T he role of the Office of the Assistant

Dean for Training and Community Ser-

vices is five-pronged: student training, commu-

nity services, alumni, student activities, and

technical and administrative training. My assis-

tants Janet Dela Cruz (coordinator) and Fathiya

Al-Hamadani (clerk) perform sterling work to

meet the demands of this Office which caters

for students and ancillary staff (technical and

administrative).

The essence of summer training or in-

dustrial placement is to apply acquired scien-

tific knowledge to everyday practical experienc-

es. Not only does this exercise equip students

with a new set of skills but it also introduces

them to real-life work conditions and maximis-

es opportunities on the job market. Student

training is a compulsory component in some

degree programmes such as health statistics,

applied chemistry, computer science and geolo-

gy, necessitating involvement of the Student

Training Committee to seek out training oppor-

tunities that best meet the stipulated degree

requirements. Students in other degree pro-

grams usually make their own initiatives to se-

cure training opportunities. The figure below

shows a summary of training opportunities in

the summer of 2014; the places where training

took place are displaced on the relevant SQU

webpage. PDO, ORPIC-MAF and several Gov-

ernment Ministries provided the largest num-

bers of training opportunities to our students.

Dr Nasser Al-Salti PhD (St Andrews, UK)

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As part of community service, amongst

other activities, an academic training pro-

gramme was conducted for teachers by the

Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and

mathematics & Statistics. Short courses in

Physics and Chemistry were also offered to mili-

tary personnel (Ministry of Defence) as is al-

ways the case every year.

Finally, student activities in 2014 were

too numerous to mention all in this report. The

Departmental Student Groups provide a

platform to demonstrate everyday science,

have fun and reach out to the community. The

student activities are well organized by student

committees and include workshops, seminars,

displays, industrial visits and field trips. The two

most important events are Departmental Open

Days and the Science Festival. Year on year the

quality of the creative exhibitions gets more

professional and sophisticated. These two

events draw visitors from the community in

droves. The Departmental Open Days are very

popular with school pupils. Science students at

SQU develop self-confidence and self-esteem

when presenting their demonstrations to the

public. Some of the key skills acquired and de-

veloped by the students are working in a team

and effective communication.

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High

ligh

ts

Department of Biology

Dr Elsadig Eltayeb PhD (Exeter, UK)

A s usual our Department has been active in all areas of academic

life in the College, the University and the community at large. One

of the highlights of the year 2014 was welcoming Dr Lamya Adnan Al-

Haj and Dr Aziz Ahmed Al-Habsi back to the Department as Assistant

Professors. In academia it is pure joy when brilliant former students be-

come colleagues. Lamya, well-known for her cheerfulness and abundant

youthful energy, earned her PhD degree from University College London

(UCL), UK, for her research on biofuels from cyanobacteria, which was

carried out under the supervision of Professor Saul Purton. Lamya re-

sumed her duties in the Department in April 2014.

On another note, we are pleased that Dr Raeid Abed was awarded a

research grant by BAUER Nimr LLC., Oman, amounting to OMR 47,000

for his collaborative research project entitled Minimizing the effect of

hydrolyzed polyacrylamide on the bioremediation performance of the

Nimr Water Treatment Plant (NWTP). This research endeavour is intend-

ed to evaluate the effect of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM)

polymer on the bioremediation performance of the Nimr Water Treat-

ment Plant (NWTP) operated by the company BAUER Nimr LLC and to

find ways to minimize its drastic effects if detected.

Aziz conducted doctoral research on the effects of statin and fibrate on

cholesterol metabolism and steroid production in two fish species and

his work was directed by his supervisor Professor Thomas W. Moon in

the Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Canada. Aziz attained

his doctorate in 2014 and returned to the Department in September

2014.

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PROMOTIONS

Prof. Taher Ba-Omar was promoted to the rank of Full Professor. Professor Ba-Omar is the Vice-Chancellor Advisor for Academic Affairs and a specialist in embryology and histology. Amongst nu-merous other SQU administrative responsibilities, he is the Chairman of the University Accredita-tion Executive Committee; he also oversees the course and teaching survey which is conducted electronically by students throughout the University towards the end of the spring and autumn semesters.

Dr Aliya Alansari (immunogenetics and molecular biodiversity) and Dr Michael Barry (freshwater ecology and ecotoxicology) were promoted to the rank of Associate Professor.

SCHOLARSHIP & OVERSEAS STUDIES

Ms. Buthaina Suleiman Al-Shueili: In September 2014 Buthaina, a Demonstrator in the Depart-ment, left for Scotland to pursue one-year MSc studies in Biomedical Sciences (Cell Engineering) at the University of Glasgow.

Ms. Khalsa Badar Al-Husaini: Khalsa, a Demonstrator in the Department, went to Canada in Sep-tember 2014 to undertake two-year MSc studies in Chemical Engineering (nanotechnology), MASc, Transitional at the University of Waterloo.

AWARD & RECOGNITION

Dr Nallusamy Sivakumar was awarded the Best Teacher Award at the College Weekend Retreat, 2014.

EXTERNAL EXAMINER

Professor Prakash Kumar, Department of Biological Science, National University of Singapore

Finally, at the dawn of 2014 the Department of Biology relocated to the new building of the College of

Science across the main road. Moving to spacious offices (second floor) and modern research laborato-

ries (first floor) in the New Science Annex Building is a tremendous privilege. It is anticipated that

these new research labs and equipment will boost our research output in the long run. However, we

are still hanging on to our teaching laboratories in the College main building where our technical staff

still occupy offices.

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VISITING CONSULTANTS

The Department received the following academic staff as Visiting Consultants in both the spring and fall semesters of the year 2014:

Dr Neelam Sherwani, Punjabi University, India, PhD in Botany, 2004

Dr Sheji Mary, Bharathiar University, India, PhD in Botany, 2006

Dr Geetha Joshi, Maharaja Sayaji Rao University, India, PhD in Microbiology, 2008

Dr Sofia Tahseen, Kakatiya University, Warangal, AP, India, PhD in Zoology 1998

VISITORS

Prof. Muhammad Iqbal, PhD External Examiner, Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Jamia Hamdard (Hamdard University), New Delhi, India (Jan 2014).

Dr Saul Purton, Department of Structural and Molecular Biology, University College London (UCL), UK (Dec 2014).

Prof. Kamaruddin Bin Mohammed Yusoff, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Arts and Science, Canik Basari University, Samsun, Turkey (Aug 2014).

Prof. Tenalem Ayenew, Professor of Hydro-Geology, College of Natural Sciences, School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Sept 2014).

STAFF TRAINING

Salah Salim Al-Shukairi received in-house training on how to deal with difficult personalities in the work environment. This two-day workshop (11–12 May, 2014) was organized by the Center for Staff Development (CSD).

Moza Mohamed Al-Jabri took a training course on animal cell culture offered by Sri Raghavendra Biotechnologies Pvt. Ltd, a biotechnology company, in India in the period 4–25 June, 2014.

STUDENT SUMMER TRAINING

Training opportunities were available to five students as indicated in the table below:

Establishment No. of Students

Five Oceans LLC 2

Ministry of Environment 1

Royal Court Affair 1

Sohar Hospital 1

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Dr Aliya Alansari, Dr Aisha Al-Khayat, Dr Elsadig Eltayeb, Dr Hassan Al-Reasi and Dr Aziz Al-Habsi conducted the training programme for teachers from the Ministry of Education.

Dr. Sardar Farooq acted as an internal examiner for a PhD thesis Examination in the Department of Crop Science, College of Agriculture & Marine Sciences, SQU. He also acted as external examiner for the PhD thesis of K. Mohan Kumar at Annamalai University, India.

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NEW EQUIPMENT

Programmable cell freezing machine Real Time PCR Portable Photosynthesis System Growth Chambers (2 units) Bench Top Centrifuge (1.5 ml) Centrifuge (15-50 ml falcon tubes) CO2 incubator Electrophoresis (Horizontal) sub-Cell Model 96 Cell (6 units) Nanodrop Freezer -20 °C Microplate reader Incubator shaker

Eltayeb, Elsadig A Associate Prof. &HoD

PhD (Exeter, UK, 1982) Plant Biochemistry

Al-Bahry, Saif N Professor

PhD (New Hampshire, USA, 1994) Bacteriology and Biotechnology

Ba-Omar, Taher A Professor

PhD, (Glasgow, UK, 1989) Embryology and Histology

Clayton, David A Professor

PhD (Leicester, UK, 1971) Environmental Biology

Elshafie, Abdulkadir A Professor

PhD (Exeter, UK, 1980) Mycology and Microbiology

Victor, Reginald Professor

PhD (Waterloo, Canada, 1979) Limnology, Freshwater and Coastal Ecology

Abed, Raeid Associate Professor

PhD (Bremen, Germany, 2001) Environmental Microbiology

Al-Ansari, Aliya A Associate Professor

PhD (Manchester, UK, 2002) Immunogenetics and Molecular diversity

Barry, Michael J Associate Professor

PhD (Monash, Australia, 1991) Limnology and Ecotoxicology

Farooq, Sardar A Associate Professor

PhD, (Osmania, India, 1979) Biotechnology, Plant Genetics and Tissue Culture

BIOLOGY STAFF

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Roberts, Derek M Associate Professor

PhD (Durham, UK, 1974) Medical Entomology

Adham, Sirin Assistant Professor

PhD (Leon, Spain 2002) Biotechnology in Plants and Microorganisms

Al Habsi, Aziz A Assistant Professor

PhD (Ottawa, Canada, 2014) Ecological Physiology

Al-Haj, Lamya A Assistant Professor

PhD (UCL, UK, 2014) Technology in Environmental Science

Al-Hinai, Mohab A Assistant Professor

PhD (Delaware, USA, 2013) Biological Sciences

Al-Reasi, Hassan A. Assistant Professor

PhD (McMaster, Canada, 2012) Environmental Biology

Al-Shihi, Aisha H Assistant Professor

PhD (Michigan State, USA, 1997) Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology

Baqir, Senan Assistant Professor

PhD (Montreal, Canada 2002)

Reproductive Biotechnology, Stem cells, Cryobiology

Sivakumar, Nallusamy Assistant Professor

PhD (Bharathidsan, India, 2004) Bioprocessing, Bioactive compounds

Suleiman, Hameed Assistant Professor

PhD (Tamilnadu, India 2000) Environmental Science

Yaish, Mahmood Assistant Professor

PhD (Leon, Spain 2002) Engineering Drought and Salinity Tolerance in Plants

*Al-Riyami, Bahja Z Lecturer

MSc (McGill, Canada, 2009) Biotechnology

**Al Husaini, Khalsa B Demonstrator

BSc (SQU, Oman 2013) Biotechnology

**Al Shueili, Buthaina Z Demonstrator


Florida Nevado Coordinator

BSc (Baguio, Philippines 1986) Commerce, Accounting

Al Bahlani, Sabri S Lab Supervisor

BSc (Arizona, USA, 1995) Environmental Science

Al Belushi, Jamila S Lab Supervisor

BSc (Wales Bangor, UK, 1999) Biology

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Al Dhafry, Khamis S Lab Supervisor

MSc (SQU, Oman 2011) Biology

Al Harthy, Asila H Lab Supervisor

MSc (Manchester, UK, 2002) Medical and Molecular Microbiology

Al Jabri, Moza M Lab Supervisor

BSc (SQU, Oman 1997) Biology

Al Salmi, Suleiman N Lab Supervisor

BSc (SQU, Oman 1998) Animal Science

Al Siyabi, Fatma A Lab Supervisor

BSc (SQU, Oman 1997) Biology

Al Shukairi, Salah S Superintendent

BSc (SQU, Oman 1996) Fisheries Science

Al Azri, Iman M Technician C

Diploma (Nizwa, Oman 2011) Biotechnology

Al Brashdi, Nadya S Technician C


Al Balushi, Halima A Technician B


Al Falahi, Manal K Technician C


Al Habsi, Munira S Technician B

Diploma (HCT, Oman 2002) Laboratory Science

Al Qassabi, Rasha S Technician B

BSc (Nizwa, Oman 2011) Biotechnology

Al Rawahi, Kamla K Technician B


Al Shaqri, Badriya R Technician C


Al Sharji, Amal H Technician B


Al Yarabi, Manal M Technician C

BSc (HCT, Oman 2014) Applied Biology

* On study leave for PhD ** On study Leave for MSc

22

T he year 2014 witnessed several remarkable achievements in the Department of Chemistry.

First and foremost, the fundamental Chemistry Degree Programme received full academic ac-

creditation from the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC) in recognition of the high academic stand-

ards in the Department of Chemistry at SQU, which are comparable with those anywhere in the devel-

oped world. The Department was rewarded inter alia for meticulously restructuring the degree pro-

gramme, reviewing the curriculum and the degree of professionalism. Professor Horton (Queen’s Uni-

versity) and Professor Boyd (Dalhousie University), representatives of the CSC, expressed effusive

praise for the Department of Chemistry.

Professor J. Hugh HortonQueen's University

CANADA

Professor Russell J. BoydDalhousie University

CANADA

On the research front, the De-

partment secured unprecedented sums

of money from The Research Council

(TRC) and the private sector to fund re-

search projects. Congratulations are ex-

tended to Professor Muhammad Khan,

Professor Osama Abou-Zied, Dr Haider

Al-Lawati and Professor Mohamed

Aoudia on their awards of large research

grants. We are also delighted that Dr

Nawal A-Rasbi, Dr Selvaraj Rengaraj and

Dr Abdul Munam received internal

grants.

High

ligh

ts

Recipients

of

large grants

H. Al-LawatiTRC, OMR 168,950

M. KhanTRC, OMR 234,400

O. Abou-ZiedTRC, OMR 320,700

M. AoudiaPDO, OMR 44,812

Department of Chemistry

Dr Haider Al-Lawati PhD (Hull, UK)

23

DEPARTING STAFF

Mr Hassan Al-Lawati: Hassan left the Department for early retire-

ment in November 2014 after having spent nearly two-and-a-half dec-

ades at SQU. In the latter years of his service at SQU, Hassan rose to the

rank of Superintendent in the Department, a position that he thorough-

ly relished. His business acumen stood him in good stead, especially

when dealing with procurement of Department materials and facilities.

Apart from his BSc degree in Chemistry with Management Science

which he attained from Kent University (Canterbury, England), Hassan

boasts a string of qualifications in business and management. No won-

der then that when he left SQU he joined Bank Sohar where he holds a

managerial position.

Dr Sarim Dastgir: Dr Dastgir left in June 2014 after a period of about three years in the Department.

He was a faculty member in the Applied Chemistry Division with specialization in Inorganic Chemistry.

Dr Hisham Abdul-Khader: The year 2014 was marred by the sudden passing away of Dr Hisham

after having been part of the furniture at SQU since 1998. Dr Hisham was a specialist in natural prod-

ucts in the Organic Division. He joined SQU from India as an Assistant Professor and, subsequently,

earned a promotion to the rank of Associate Professor. He supervised a number of student projects

and collaborated with faculty and technical staff on the analyses of extracts from numerous plant spe-

cies from India and the Sultanate of Oman. He also had expertise in NMR spectroscopy. His research

findings were reported in a number of peer-reviewed journal publications.

APPOINTMENTS

Dr Haider A. J. Al-Lawati: Dr Al-Lawati took up the position of Head

of Department in the autumn of 2014. Prior to joining SQU, he held high

positions and played key roles in pharmaceutical industries and the Min-

istry of Health. In 2002, he joined SQU as a lecturer; soon after, he un-

dertook doctoral studies at the University of Hull (UK) where in 2007 he

attained the PhD degree for his research work on lab-on-a-chip micro-

fluidic chemiluminescence system. On returning to SQU as an Assistant

Professor, Dr Al-Lawati focused his research on the analyses of pharma-

ceutical products and attracted prodigious sums of money for research

and a number of research students at all levels. His excellent research

output led to his promotion to the rank of Associate Professor in the

spring of 2013. Subsequently, Dr Al-Lawati was honoured with the

Headship in the Department.

24

Dr Jahangir Ahmad Rather: Dr Jahangir is an analytical chemist with

specialization in electroanalytical chemistry and biosensors. He obtained

his PhD degree from Jiwaji University (Gwalior, India) after which he had a

15-month stint in the Department of Chemistry at Antwerp University

(Belgium) as a postdoctoral fellow. Dr Jahangir joined SQU initially as a Vis-

iting Consultant in the spring semester of 2014, but later in the autumn of

the same year got appointed as a regular faculty member of the Depart-

ment.

Mr Mahood Al-Azwani: Mahmood was appointed on merit as Laboratory

Superintendent in the Department. It has been delightful to watch

Mahmood grow up in the Department since Year 1 of his BSc studies

through the MSc programme until now. At the final stage of his undergradu-

ate studies, Mahmood was appointed Leader of the Chemistry Student

Group. His performance in the MSc programme was exceptionally good: he

graduated at the top of the class with an astounding GPA! Mahmood has

had ample training opportunities, particularly in NMR spectroscopy

(Germany and Switzerland). His research experience under the supervision

of the late Dr Hisham and the HoD, Dr Al-Lawati, in natural products and

analytical chemistry has exposed him to a number of physicochemical tech-

niques and provided him with skills to handle a wide range of instruments.

He has two publications and has given several conference presentations.

Ms Ahood Al-Naamani: Ahood is a member of the technical staff in the Department and holds a BSc

degree with specialization in Applied Chemistry (2013) from the Higher College of Technology. She

joined SQU in May 2014.

Mrs Reem Al-Shidhani: Reem was appointed as Demonstrator in the Department in the fall semester

of 2014.

PROMOTIONS

Dr El-Said El-Shafey (Analytical Chemistry) and Dr Wajdi Zoghaib (Organic Chemistry) were promoted to the rank of Associate Professor.


Mrs Budoor Al-Omiri: Budoor received a scholarship in 2014 and went to the University of Birming-ham (UK) for her MSc studies.

25

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Dr Osama Abou-Zied was awarded the Best Researcher Award ( University Day, 2014) Dr Rengaraj Selvaraj was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pacific Basin Con-

sortium for Environment and Health, Hawaii, USA. Dr Rengaraj Selvaraj acted as Manuscript Editor for Desalination and Water Treatment Journal. Dr Faizah Al-Mjeni and Mr Salim Al-Saidi were recognized for their 20 years of service to SQU. Prof. Salma Al Kindy was awarded a medal for her contribution to Science at the 13th General Con-

ference and 26th General Meeting of The World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Sci-ence in Developing Countries (TWAS) which was held in Muscat from 26th to 29th of October 2014.

EXTERNAL EXAMINER

Professor Fernando Rei Ornellas, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, visited the Department in May 2014 for the last time as External Examiner.


The Department received the following academic staff as Visiting Consultants: Spring 2014:

Dr Yathrib Ajaj, Physical Chemist Dr Nashiour Rohman, Physical Chemist Dr M’hamed Chahma, Physical Chemist Dr Indumathi Muthukumar, Organic Chemist Dr Ali Loukkaci, Organic Chemist Dr Ahmed Mahal, Applied Chemist Dr Jahangir Ahmad Rather, Analytical Chemist

Fall 2014:

Dr Yathrib Ajaj, Physical Chemist Dr Nashiour Rohman, Physical Chemist Dr Indumathi Muthukumar, Organic Chemist Dr Ali Loukkaci, Organic Chemist Dr Abdalla Elbashir, Analytical Chemist Dr Kifah Saleh, Applied Chemist Prof. Seyedhosein Mousavipour, Physical Chemist

RESEARCH VISITORS

Professor Osama Abou-Zied hosted the following research visitors:

Dr Thomas Steinbrecher, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Schrödinger, Inc., Germany (5–16 May 2014): delivered a Departmental Seminar under the title "Schrödinger: Technologies for in silico Drug Design."

Dr Kyril Solntsev, Georgia Institute of Technology, U.S.A. (1–4 April 2014): delivered a Depart-mental Seminar under the title "Excited-State Proton Transfer: From "Super" Photoacids to the Green Fluorescent Protein."

26

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS

Prof. Muhammad Khan conducted research and held discussions with Prof. Paul R. Raithby at the University of Bath, UK.

Dr. Rengaraj Selvaraj visited Kwangwoon University, Seoul, South Korea to establish a research link on photocatalysis. He also gave an oral presentation on his research. Dr Rengaraj also visited Prof. Wook-jin Chung’s Laboratory at Myongji University to forge research ties. In addition, he gave a research lecture. Dr Rengaraj also made time to visit Prof. Jeong Gil Seo’s Energy Science Laboratory for future collaboration.

Dr. Younis Baqi continued his collaboration with the University of Bonn, Germany. As part of this collaboration, he visited the University of Bonn in January 2014 and June–August 2014. He also continued collaborating with Prof. Dr. John D. Salamone, Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, De-partment of Psychology, University of Connecticut (USA).

Prof. Osama Abou-Zied continued his collaboration with the University of Malaya, Malaysia. As part of this collaboration, he visited the University of Malaya in January and August 2014. He also continued his external collaboration with Dr. Thomas Steinbrecher, Universität Karlsruhe (KIT), Germany.

Prof. Musa Shongwe maintained his long-standing collaborative work with Professor Masahiro Mikuriya (School of Science and Technology, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan), Dr Eckhard Bill (Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Energiekonversion, Mülheim an der Ruhr), Professor Ekkehard Sinn (Department of Chemistry, Western Michigan University), Michael J. Morris and Mr Harry Ad-ams (University of Sheffield, UK).

STAFF EXTERNAL TRAINING

Training opportunities for students in the summer of 2014 are tabulated below:

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Prof. Salma All-Kindy served as one of the organizers of the 13th General Conference and 26th Gen-eral Meeting of The World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (TWAS) which was held in Muscat from 26th to 29th of October 2014.

Dr Saleh Al-Busafi served as a member of a team formed by the Ministry of Education to prepare for Omani participation in the International Chemistry Olympiad.

Dr Raid Abdel-Jalil conducted a workshop for Chemistry Teachers, Ministry of Education, (February & June 2014).


Biyaq Laboratories LLC 2

Halliburton 1

Lonestar laboratories 3

Oman Aluminium Rolling Company 1

Oman LNG 1

Oman Methanol Company 1

ORPIC – MAF 10

PDO 2

Royal Court Affair 1

Royal Oman Police 1

27

Dr Raid Abdel-Jalil gave a seminar in the International Chemistry Olympiad training program or-ganized by Ministry of Education April 2014.

Dr John Husband organized a visit of 60 kindergarten children (3 groups of 20) from a local school to a chemistry lab. The children performed some simple fun experiments with the help of mem-bers of the SQU Chemistry Group.

Prof. Mohamed Aoudia delivered two seminars at PDO on enhanced oil recovery. Dr Haider Al-Lawati was a technical member of an inspection team in the Ministry of Commerce;

the team inspected Oman Insecticides & Air Freshener Co. L. L. C laboratory (2/1/ 2014). Dr Haider Al-Lawati featured on the Oman Radio Program: Dialogue with a researcher

(22/5/2014 and 29/5/2014).

NEW EQUIPMENT

Steady State Fluorescence Spectrometer UV-Visible Spectrophotometer Calorimeter Bench Top NMR Spectrometer Flash Chromatography Online GC (FID/TCD) MS FT-IR Spectrophotometer Flame Photometer

CHEMISTRY STAFF

Al-Lawati, Haider Associate Professor Head of Department

PhD (University of Hull, UK, 2007) Analytical Chemistry

Fatope, Majekodunmi Professor

PhD (University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 1980) Organic Chemistry

Khan, Muhammad S. Professor

PhD (University of Cambridge, 1983) Inorganic Chemistry

Al-Kindy, Salma M. Professor

PhD (Loughborough University, UK, 1987) Analytical Chemistry

Aoudia, Mohamed Professor

PhD (University of Texas at Austin, 1980) Physical Chemistry

Suliman, Fakhr-Eldin O. Professor

PhD (King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, 1996) Analytical Chemistry

Abdul-Khader, Hisham Associate Professor

PhD (University of Antwerp, Belgium, 1990) Phytochemistry

Shongwe, Musa Associate Professor

PhD (University of Cambridge, UK, 1990) Inorganic Chemistry

Al Mandhary, Muna Associate Professor

PhD (University of Cambridge, UK, 1994) Inorganic Chemistry

28

Abou-Zied, Osama Associate Professor

PhD (University of Saskatchewan, Canada 1995) Physical Chemistry

Khudaish, Emad Associate Professor

PhD (Massey University, New Zealand, 1999) Physical Chemistry

El-Shafey, El-Said Associate Professor

PhD (University of Hertfordshire, UK, 2000) Analytical & Environmental Chemistry

Zoghaib, Wajdi Michael Associate Professor

PhD (University of Saskatchewan, Canada, 1996) Organic Chemistry

Al-Shihi, Badriya Assistant Professor

PhD (Loughborough University, UK, 2001) Chemical Engineering

Al-Busafi, Saleh Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Reading, UK 1999) Organic Chemistry

Al-Mjeni, Faizah Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Massachusetts, USA, 2002) Inorganic Chemistry

Abdel-Jalil, Raid Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Tübingen, Germany, 1999) Organic Chemistry

Husband, John Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Massachusetts, USA, 2001) Physical Chemistry

Al-Hinai, Ashraf Talib Assistant Professor

PhD (Pennsylvania State University, USA, 2002) Physical Chemistry

Al-Mamari, Hamad H. Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Oxford, UK, 2006) Organic Chemistry

Munam, Abdul Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Waterloo, Canada, 2007) Polymer Chemistry

Dastgir, Sarim Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Oxford, UK, 2005) Inorganic/Organometallics

Al-Rasbi, Nawal, Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Sheffield, 2008) Inorganic Chemistry

Baqi, Younis Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Bonn, Germany, 2008) Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry

Selvaraj, Rengaraj Assistant Professor

PhD (Anna University, India, 1999) Analytical & Applied Environmental Chemistry

Al-Wahaibi, Bushra Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Strathclyde, UK, 2012) Analytical Chemistry

Rather, Jahangir Ahmad Assistant Professor

PhD (Jiwaji University, India, 2011) Analytical Chemistry

Al-Suti, Mohammed Research Associate

PhD (University of Bath, UK, 2006) Organometallic Chemistry

Al-Saadi, Sultan Lecturer

MSc (Old Dominion University, USA, 1999) Inorganic Chemistry

Al-Moqbali, Laila Lecturer

MSc (York University, UK, 2008) Physical Chemistry

Al-Jabri, Mitha Lecturer

MSc (Swansea University, UK, 2013) Chemical Engineering

29

Al-Omiri, Budoor Demonstrator

BSc (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2012)

Al-Shidhani, Reem Demonstrator


Al-Nafai, Isehaq Demonstrator


Al-Saidi, Salim College Superintendent

M.Sc. (Leeds University, UK 1998)

Al-Lawatia, Hassan Laboratory Superintendent

BSc (University of Kent, UK, 2001)

Morris, Lovie Coordinator

Diploma (Vimalayalam, India, 1975)

Al-Sheibani, Safiya Coordinator

Diploma (OTIC, Oman, 1995)

Khan, Farook Lab Supervisor

BSc (Aligarh Muslim University, India, 1969)

Al-Bulushi, Muhammed Lab Supervisor

BSc (Hons) (University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, 2009)

Al-Naaby, Mona Lab Supervisor

Diploma (OTIC, Oman, 1989)

Al-Hamdi, Abdullah Chief Technician

MSc (Northern Arizona University, USA, 1990)

Al-Kindi, Ali Chief Technician

Diploma (Sunderland Polytechnic, UK, 1988)

Al-Ajmi, Ibtisam Senior Technician


Al-Jabri, Fawzia Senior Technician


Al-Lamki, Sharifa Senior Technician


Al-Belushi, Muna Senior Technician

BSc (Loughborough University, UK, 2013)

Ajzoon Adel Glassblowing Technician

Associate Degree in Scientific Glass Technology (Salem College, 2003)

Al-Azwani, Mahmoud Technician

MSc (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2011)

Al-Maqbali, Khalid Technician


Al-Mahruoqi, Taiba Technician

BSc (HCT, Oman, 2008)

Al-Jahwari, Maryam Technician

Diploma (HCT, Oman, 2011)

Al-Hashemi, Shareef Technician


Al-Naamani, Ahood Technician


30

T he year 2014 witnessed the graduation of the very first PhD stu-

dent in the Department of Computer Science. Dr Hussein Al-

Maqbali earned the doctorate for his research work under the title New

Grid-based Routing Protocols for Mobile Ad-hoc Networks, which was su-

pervised by Professor Khaled Day (Dean of Research). Dr Al-Maqbali gave

highlights of his work in a seminar during the 2014 University Day celebra-

tions. He developed a mathematical model for studying the performance

of Tree-based Grid Routing (TGRP) compared to other grid-based routing

protocols (GRID and EGRP). The results showed the superiority of TGRP

especially in terms of reduced overhead and end-to-end packet delays.

Currently, Dr Al-Maqbali is the Head of the Support Services Sector at the

International College of Engineering & Management.

With regard to teaching facilities, the Department was pleased to receive a substantial number of new

computers. Fifty-five new computers were installed in Computer Lab 18, 35 new computers were in-

stalled in the network lab and 20 new computers were installed for staff. We also acquired the web-

sphere. On the research front, we congratulate Hon. Dr Zuhoor Al-Khanjari, Prof. Youcef Baghdadi and

Dr Mohammed Al-Badawi on receiving internal grants for their research projects as principal investi-

gators.

DEPARTING STAFF

Dr Ahmed Al-Hosni: Dr Al-Hosni left SQU in 2014 after well over two decades

of dedicated service in various structures of the University. He began his career

at SQU in 1991 as an engineer at the SQU Hospital, with a bachelor’s degree in

engineering (Seattle University, Washington, USA) and subsequently got promot-

ed to Head of the Department of Hospital Information System. After attaining his

MSc degree from George Washington University (USA) in 1997, Dr Al-Hosni

joined the Department of Computer Science (College of Science) as a lecturer. In

1999 he returned to the same university in Washington D. C. for his doctoral

studies. On returning to SQU in 2004 with a PhD degree, he was promoted to the

rank of Assistant Professor. In 2009 he was appointed as Assistant Dean for Train-

ing and Community Services and in 2011 he was appointed as Director of the

Centre of Information Systems. Currently, Dr Al-Hosni is the CEO of Tekween

Technology, an IT company which he founded in 2014.

Hig

hlig

hts

Department ofComputer Science

Hon. Dr Zuhoor Al-Khanjari PhD (Liverpool, UK)

31

Ms. Nida Omar Shihab joined the Department of Computer Science as Lecturer in 2002 and left in August 2014.

Ms. Ghada Sabeeh Nasir joined the Department of Computer Science as FP-IT Lecturer in 2011 and left in June 2014.

APPOINTMENTS

Dr Yassine Jamoussi, from the University of Menouba, Tunisia, joined the Department as Assistant Professor in Software Engineering in Fall 2014. Ms Hiba Al-Busaidi joined the Department as Clerk in October 2014. The following staff joined the Department as IT lecturers in the Foundation Programme in the fall se-mester of 2014: Mr Mohammad Ghaleb Ali Mr Mohammad Hadra Mr Mohammed Taj Elsir Ali Awad Ms Rasha Sami Al-Jarrah The Department had six and eleven part-time staff in Spring and Fall 2014, respectively. In addition, there were eight and ten student teaching assistants in Spring and Fall 2014, respectively.


Ms Hanaa Al-Zadjali started her PhD studies at the University of Sheffield, UK, in January 2014.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Dr. Abderezak Touzene was awarded the Best Teacher Award (University Day, 2014.

Dr. Youcef Baghdadi received the Best Researcher Award (College Weekend Retreat, 2014).

Dr. Zuhoor Al-Khanjari and Assad Abdulrahman Alani were recognized for their high-quality re-

search paper entitled “Testability of Information Leak in the Source Code for Independent Test

Organization by Using Back Propagation Algorithm” presented at AIIC 2014 Conference, July 2014,

Azores, Portugal.

The final-year BSc project “Mobile Application for Waiting Queues” supervised by Dr Abdullah Al-

Hamdani won the Golden Model in global competition inventions in Geneva (forty-second ver-

sion), the spectrum for the category of computer science and software, electronics and communi-

cations, 2014.

EXTERNAL EXAMINER

Prof. John Impagliazzo, Department of Computer Science, Hofstra University, New York, USA, visited

the Department during the period 18–22 May, 2014.


Dr Yassine Jamoussi from University of Menouba, Tunisia, joined the Department as a Visiting Consult-

ant in Spring 2014.

32


Dr Bassel Arafeh is collaborating as an investigator with Dr. Mohamed Aissa in an internal grant project

(A/13-14-UoN/02/CAS/IF), from the University of Nizwa (2014-2016).

Dr Bassel Arafeh served his sabbatical leave during the Fall 2014 as a visiting Faculty in the Department of

Computer Engineering and Computer Science, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.

Dr Naoufel Kraiem conducted a research visit to his research collaborator Prof. Camille Salenisi at the Uni-

versity of Paris 1- La Sorbonne (France) during the period 22-26 December 2014. They worked on the Soft-

ware Product lines.

Dr Yassine Jamoussi collaborated with Pr Bernard Coulette, as a co-supervisor for the PhD Thesis of Mr.

Manel Jelliti (In progress – Tunisia/France).

Dr Youcef Baghdadi conducted a research visit to his collaborators in the Center of Research in Informatics

(Internal Grant IG/SCI/COMP/13/04), during the period 7-18 September 2014.

Dr Zuhoor Al-Khanjari and Mr Asaad Al-Anee involved in writing a chapter entitled: “Real Time Internal In-

trusion Detection: A Case Study of Embedded Sensors and Detectors in E-Government Website”. This chap-

ter has been accepted for publication as a chapter in the book entitled: Threat Detection and Countermeas-

ures in Network Security, IGIBook series, Publisher: IGI Global (www.igi-global.com). Editors are: Prof. Dr.

Alaa Hussein Al-Hamami & Dr. Ghossoon Al-Sadoon. Publisher: IGI Global, October 2014

Dr Zuhoor Al-Khanjari was involved in co-supervising one international PhD student from the established

link with the RIADI Lab, ANSI at Manouba University, Tunisia.

Dr Zuhoor Al-Khanjari visited Dr Muna Al-Jepoori in the School of Computing at Kent University, UK, from 15

June, 2014 to 3 July, 2014. This visit was approved as part of her research grant number IG/SCI/

COMP/14/01.

Mr Asaad Abdul Rahman Nayyef conducted a visit to Portugal to attend the AIIC 2014 conference and meet

the rector of the University of the Azores during the period 7–13 July, 2014. During this visit he met Dr. Jo-

van Shopovski, the president of European Scientific Institute, and discussed with him ongoing research col-

laboration. He also met Dr Jose Noronha Rodrigues, the Chief of International Legal Studies Center, and dis-

cussed with him research collaboration in Digital Investigation by using security of Metadata.

Mr Asaad Abdul Rahman Alani collaborated with Dr. Mariah Gilbert, Editorial Assistant of International Pub-

lisher of Progressive Academic Research in Hershey to publish a new book about “Digital Investigation in the

Security of Metadata", Pennsylvania, USA.

Mr Asaad Abdul Rahman Alani served as a Professional Ambassador for Information Security in Information

Technology Authority (ITA), Muscat, Oman.

Mr Asaad Abdul Rahman Alani has been selected as a member in the Center of Excellence in Information

Assurance in King Saud University, October 2014.

Prof. Khaled Day conducted research work with his collaborator Dr. Mohammad Al-Towaiq (from Jordan

University of Science and Technology) on the Design of a Parallel Gauss-Seidel Algorithm on a 3D Torus Net-

work-on-Chip and produced two publications (one journal and one conference) from this joint work.

Dr Ibrahim Dweib collaborated with Mr. Mamoun Awad, Prof Joan Lu, and Dr. Christopher Newman from

University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom, as local supervisor (in Oman) of the PhD student Mr. Mamoun

Awad (in progress).

Dr Ibrahim Dweib collaborated with Prof Joan Lu, and Dr. Qianag Xu from University of Huddersfield, United

Kingdom, as a local supervisor (in Oman) for the PhD student Mr. Elmak Almusad (in progress).

Dr Ibrahim Dweib collaborated with Mr. Mohammed Yasin, Dr. Pothula Sujatha, from Pondicherry Universi-

ty, India, as local supervisor (in Oman) for the PhD research of Mr. Mohammed Yasin (in progress).

http://www.igi-global.com

33

STAFF TRAINING

Mrs. Wasila Al-Busaidi attended the training Project Management Professional provided by the Cen-ter for Staff Development, SQU & Al Awai Training Center from February 16th to February 27th, 2014.

STUDENT TRAINING & INDUSTRIAL PLACEMENT


COMMUNITY SERVICE

Dr Abdelhamid Abdesselam:

1. Conducted a Department workshop on ABET Accreditation on 1st May 2014. 2. gave a talk on OAAA Accreditation during the College of Science retreat on 19th May 2014 3. Participated in a radio program: Dialogue with a Researcher, organized by The Research

Council, April 2014. The topic of the discussion was about the research project “Efficient and Robust Face Recognition System Based on Subspace Analysis Methods” completed in July 2013.

4. Participated in a workshop on Quality Assurance ” Driving Institutional Effectiveness through Performance Assessment” organized by Sultan Qaboos University Quality Assurance Office in coordination with LiveText, March 19 2014.

5. Reviewed papers for the following international conferences ISCAS15. 6. Served as a member of the college ad-hoc committee for Best Administrator Award, March

2014. 7. Served as a reviewer for two international Journals, The IET Image Processing Journal and The

International Arab Journal of Information Technology IAJIT. 8. Was an invited speaker in a TRC-sponsored workshop on Digital Image Processing and Its Ap-

plications, 10-12 February 2014, College of Applied Science, Sohar.


Central Bank of Oman 2

Ibextech Company 6

Ministry of Education 6

Ministry of Manpower 7

Ministry of Tourism 1

Nizwa College of Technology 1

Oman LNG 1

Oman Airport Management Company 2

OmanTel 1

OXY 1

PAOCA 2

PDO 5

Rock International Engineering 1

Shell 2

University of Nizwa 1

4 الشركة العمانية للسماد

34

Dr Abderezak Touzene:

1. Served as technical committee for ICON2014 (IEEE conference on networking, Singapore). 2. Offered a short course on Computer and network security, Centre for Community Service and

Continuing Education Sultan Qaboos University June 2014. 3. Served as a member in both the program and steering committees of International Confer-

ence on Advanced Networking, Distributed Systems and Applications INDS, 2014. 4. Served as a reviewer for three papers submitted to IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distribut-

ed Systems (international Journal), and one paper submitted to IEEE Transactions on Comput-ers (international Journal).

5. Served as reviewer for 3 papers for the Supercomputing journal (International Journal). 6. Served as session chair in the session “Mobile/Ad hoc wireless networks, mobicast, sensor

placement, target tracking” for the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Model-ing and Simulations (AIMS2014). Madrid, Spain, November 2014.

Dr. Asma Al-Busaidi:

1. Served as a member of the college ad-hoc committee for Best Technician Award, March 2014.

Dr. Bassel Arafeh:

1. Served as a member of the Technical Program Committee for the 2014 10th International Conference on Innovations in Information Technology (IIT), November 9-11, 2014, Al Ain, UAE.

2. Served as a representative of the Sultanate of Oman in the Arab Network for Ethics in Science and Technology (ANEST), Arab League for Education, Culture, and Sciences Organization (ALECSO), 2014.

3. Was invited to give a seminar in the Department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (Computer Science Section) at the University of Nizwa, Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman, April 16, 2014.

4. Was invited to give a seminar on, “Multi-Layer Task Graph Clustering for Mapping and Sched-uling onto Embedded Systems.” University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, October 23, 2014.

Dr Hamza Zidoum

1. Served as a reviewer for both The International Arab Journal of Information Technology IAJIT, and Sultan Qaboos University Journal for Science.

Dr Ibrahim Dweib

1. Served as a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Computer Science and Telecommunications (IJCST) – USA.

2. Served as a regular reviewer for the International Journal of Information Retrieval Research (IJIRR), IGI Global Disseminator of Knowledge - USA.

Dr Naoufel Kraiem

1. Served as a PC member of 3rd International Conference on Information Systems Post-implementation and Change Management, RE (Requirements Engineering Conference), FSIC (Software First International Conference), RCIS (International Conference on Research Challenges in Information Science), INFORSID, CAiSE (International Conference on Advanced Information Sys-tems Engineering) and ICCSIT.

2. Served as a Reviewer of journals: KES Journal, Journal of Software Engineering.

http://www.softwarefirst.org/

http://www.softwarefirst.org/

35

Dr Yassine Jamoussi

1. Served as a reviewer for the international conferences CAISE’2014, INFORSID’2014 and IS-KO’2014

2. Served as a reviewer for two papers submitted to International Journal of Software Engineer-ing and its applications (Scopus), and one chapter submitted to Advances in Intelligent Web Mastering (Springer).

3. Served both as a supervisor and as defense committee member of the PhD thesis of Mr Youssef Ben Halima (Tunisia).

Dr Youcef Baghdadi

1. Served as Associate Editor in Int. Journal of Computer Applications in Technology (IJCAT: In-dersience)

2. Served as referee for several journals 3. Served as technical committee member in several international conferences

Dr. Zuhoor Al-Khanjari

1. Served as an IT specialist to participate in the Conference on Technology Evolutions & Bank-ing. Organized by Bank of Muscat, Muscat Oman.

2. Served as IT specialist in the Academic Promotion Committee, Mazoon College, Muscat, Oman, 2014.

3. Served as IT specialist in the Academic Promotion Committee, Ministry of Higher Education, IT specialist, Muscat, Oman 2014.

4. Served as IT specialist in the Arab Open University Advisory Committee for ITC program 2014. 5. Served as IT specialist in the IT Programms Advisory Committee (PAC), External Academic

Peer Representatives, Ministry of Higher Education, since 2014 until present. 6. Served as referee for several journals. 7. Served as technical committee member in several international conferences. 8. Served as the chairperson of the Trustee Council, Waljat College. 9. Served in the editorial boards of several conferences. 10. Served in writing several general articles for the Horizon newsletter, SQU. 11. Served the MOHE as a degree programs reviewer.

Mr Asaad Abdul Rahman Alani:

1. Served as a Professional Security Ambassador in First Cyber Security Ambassadors Gathering 2014, January 19 2014, Muscat, Oman.

2. Served as a Professional Security Ambassador in Information Technology Authority (ITA) in Regional Cybersecurity Summit 2014, April 20-22 2014, Muscat, Oman.

NEW EQUIPMENT

55 new computers were installed in computer lab 18. 35 new computers were installed in network lab 20 new computers installed for staff The Websphere was acquired

36

Al-Khanjari, Zuhoor Associate Professor, HOD

PhD (Liverpool University, UK, 1999) Software engineering, software analysis and design, software testing, database management, object oriented programming, e-learning and e-government

Day, Khaled Professor, Dean of Research

PhD (Minnesota, USA, 1992) Parallel Computing, Distributed Systems, Interconnection Networks, Wireless Networks, and Networks-on-Chip

Abdesselam, Abdelhamid Assistant Professor

PhD (Institute National Poly-technique de Toulouse, France, 1991) Image Processing, Computer Vision, and Pattern Recogni-tion

Al-Hamdani, Abdullah Assistant Professor

PhD (Case Western Reserve U. USA, 2004) Querying web resources, web databases, digital library, e-learning, data mining, object-oriented databases and multi-media databases

Touzene, Abderezak Associate Professor

PhD (Institute National Poly-technique de Grenoble, France, 1992), Parallel computing and distributed systems, Network on chip interconnection networks, Wireless Networks, per-formance evaluation, and numerical methods, Network on Chip.

Arafeh, Bassel Associate Professor

PhD (Texas A& M University, USA 1986) Parallel and distributed computing systems, cluster and grid computing, wireless and mobile networks, automatic paral-lelization, computer architecture

Zidoum, Hamza Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Franche-Comte, France, 1996) Constraint programming, combinatorial search problems, automated software engineering, computational linguistics.

Baghdadi Youcef Associate Professor

PhD (University of Toulouse, France, 1997) Service-oriented computing, Web services, Service-Oriented Software, e-business and e-commerce applica-tions, Databases and Information Systems

Alzeidi, Nasser Assistant Professor, Director of CIS

PhD (University of Glasgow, UK, 2007) Parallel, distributed and embedded systems, Interconnec-tion networks, Network-on-Chip, wireless networks, perfor-mance evaluation and analysis of computer networks

Al-Busaidi, Asma Assistant Professor

PhD (Cardiff University, UK, 2008) Web Computing

Al-Badawi, Mohammed Assistant Professor

PhD (The University of Sheffield, UK, 2010) Databases, XML database processing, AI, Computer Aided Systems. Computation Theory, E-Learning, Programming Languages

Al-Kharousi, Farha Assistant Professor

PhD (University of London, 2011) Algorithms

COMPUTER SCIENCE STAFF

37

Kraiem, Naoufel Associate Professor

PhD (University Paris VI, laboratory MASI- France, 1995) Software Engineering

Jamoussi, Yassine Assistant Professor

PhD (University, Tunis II and Paris I, 1998) Software Engineering

Al-Amri, Huda Assistant Professor

PhD (Wollongong University, 2013) Systems

Dweib, Ibrahim Lecturer

PhD (University of Huddersfield, UK, 2010) XML Database and Relational Database

Al-Raisi, Fatima Lecturer

MSc (Rochester Institute of Technology, USA, 2007) Natural Languages

Rakhyoot, Widad Administrator

MSc (Webster, USA, 1993) Computer Resources & Information Management

Sajeed, Mohammed Lecturer

MSc (Bharathidasan University, India, 1999) Computer Sci-ence

Al-Zadjali, Hanaa Lecturer

MSc (Ball State University, USA, 2002) Computer Science

Al-Amri, Huda Lecturer

MSc (Monash University, Australia, 2004) Computer Sci-ence

Hassan, Amal Lecturer

PhD (University of Malaya Sarawak, 2013)

Al-Hajri, Abir Lecturer

MSc (University of Wollongong, Australia, 2005) Computer Science

Ahmed, Nauman Lecturer

MSc (Gomal University, Pakistan, 2000) Computer Science

Bani-Ismail, Basel Lecturer

MSc (Yarmouk University, Jordan, 2006) Computer Infor-mation Systems

Alejandro, Sherwin Lecturer

MSc (Saint Paul University Philippines, 2003) Information Technology

Ali, Sali Lecturer

MSc (University of Technology, Iraq,1999) Information Technology

Awad, Mamoun Lecturer

MSc (University of Technology, Australia, 2003) Infor-mation Technology

Noor, Mohamed Yasin Lecturer

MCA (Bharathidasan University, India, 2001)

Abraham, Francis Ramos Lecturer

MSc (AMA Computer University, Philippines, 2004)

Alani, Asaad AbdulRahman Lecturer

MSc (Iraqi Commission for Computers and Informatics Insti-tute for Postgraduate Studies, Iraq, 2005) Data Security

Masri, Kamal Lecturer

MSc (Yarmouk University, Jordan, 2008) Information Tech-nology

Hadra, Mohammad Lecturer

MSc (University of Khartoum, 2004) Information Technolo-gy

Thomas, Reena Coordinator

BSc (University of Kerala, India, 1986)

Al-Busaidi, Wasila Department Superintendent

BSc (Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman, 1998)

Al-Salmi, Suliman Technician

BSc (Arkansas State University, United States of America, 1997)

Salialam, Ronnie Technician

BSc (CCP Philippines, 1995)

Al-Oreimi, Saud Technician

BSc (Franklin University, Columbus, Ohio, USA, 2009)

All-Busaidi, Hiba Clerk

BSc (Higher College of Technology, Muscat, Oman, 2011) Information Systems

38

High

ligh

ts

The Department of Earth Sciences completely vacated the ground

floor of the main College building and relocated to the new Science

Annex Building with much excitement. The staff offices are on the

second floor whereas the research laboratories (sedimentary, hy-

drogeology, thin section, geochemistry, paleontology, microscopy,

digital and geophysical processing) are located on the ground floor.

We are very grateful for the research facilities that we have ac-

quired recently. The views from our new offices compared with

those from our old offices are spectacular.

Digital laboratory

Finally, we express a word of appreciation to our highly competitive

students who always put us on the map of the world by their excel-

lent achievements. SQU students from the Department of Earth

Sciences participated in the Society of Exploration Geophysicist

(SEG) Student Chapter competitions held in Bahrain in April 2014

and were ranked first. In October 2014 our students won the

“summit” chapter, which is the highest category of student chap-

ters at the SEG. This event took place in Denver, Colorado in the

USA. We are very grateful to Dr Hesham El-Kaliouby for advising

the students for these reputable international competitions.

Department ofEarth Sciences

Dr Salah Al-Khirbash PhD (Nebraska, USA)

W e are pleased for Dr Daniel Moraetis to have won a research grant

(amounting to about OMR 12,400) from PDO to fund his research.

Daniel is a specialist in environmental geology and geochemistry. His current re-

search, which is carried out in collaboration with PDO, is focused on boron as a

pollutant in groundwater. Boron in the environment is becoming a critical chemi-

cal parameter for groundwater quality due to its release from anthropogenic ac-

tivities. Geogenic release of boron in groundwater is a topical issue worldwide

and new cases of natural boron release are under investigation. Boron has been detected in several

areas of Oman. PDO requires adequate quality water supplies for its personnel and activities in various

plants in the country. Thus the present project is devoted to identifying the natural origin of boron in

groundwater in several localities in Oman.

39

DEPARTING STAFF

Dr Abdelmoneam Elsyed Raef, Assistant Professor in Geophysics, left the Department in the spring

of 2014.

NEW FACULTY

Dr Andreas Scharf joined the Department as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2014. He is a geologist with

a doctorate from Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. His current research interest is wide-ranging and

includes structural geology, tectonics, geochronology, mineralogy, petrology, physical geology and

sedimentology.


The Department received the following academic staff as Visiting Consultants in both the spring and

fall semesters of 2014:

Dr Mohammed Abdullah Al-Wosabi, Geologist, Sana'a University, Yemen.

Dr Khadija Semhi, Geochemist, France.


Dr Bernhard Pracejus worked with Prof. Frank Riedel et. al., Palaeontology Department, Malteser-str. 74-100, 12249 Berlin, Germany, on "Correlation of present-day environment with fossil geological records to identify constraints for paleo-climates."

Dr Salah Al-Khirbash collaborated with the University of Adelaide (Australia), Swedish Museum of Natural History, University of Stockholm

Dr Talal Al-Hosni collaborated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) via Oman IWAVE Project.

Dr Osman Abdalla collaborated with Prof. Ian Clark at Ottawa University on the project "estimating groundwater recharge and discharge in North Oman".

Dr Osman Abdalla collaborated with Prof. Liedel at the University of Dresden on the modelling of groundwater in Al-Batinah area (supervision of a PhD thesis).

Dr Osman Abdalla collaborated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) via Oman IWAVE Project.

Dr Iftikhar Ahmed had a joint project with Dr. Osman Salad Hersi, Department of Geology, Uni-versity of Regina, Canada.

Dr Iftikhar Ahmed collaborated with Prof. Ercan Ozcan, Faculty of Mines, Department of Geologi-cal Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey.

Dr N. Sundararajan collaborated with Dr V. Ramesh Babu, Atomic Minerals Directorate of Re-search and Exploration, Hyderabad, India on "Uranium Exploration".

Dr N. Sundararajan collaborated with Dr T. Seshunarayana, Engineering Geophysics Division, Na-tional Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India on" Surface wave studies from MASW".

Dr N Sundararajan collaborated with Prof. E. Chandrasekhar, Department of Earth Sciences, Indi-an Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, India on "Wavelet analysis of Geophysical signals".

Dr Frank Mattern collaborated with Prof. Dr Stephan van Gasselt & BSc Annette Leuschner, FU Berlin, Germany on "Sedimentology of Fandeltas, Lake Baikal, Siberia J" and "Sedimentology of alluvial fans of Oman"

40

Dr Frank Mattern collaborated with Prof. Dr Wang PuJun, Jilin University, Changchun, China on "Tectonics of the Songliao Basin, Jilin, China”.

Dr Frank Mattern collaborated with Prof. Dr Li Xianghui, School of Earth Sciences and Engineer-ing, Nanjing University, China on "Sedimentology of Triassic Flysch in Tibet".

Dr Frank Mattern collaborated with Dr Mit Wang Pujun, Jilin University, Changchun, China on "Angudan unconformity, Oman".

Dr Frank Mattern collaborated with Prof. Dr Frank Riedel & PD Dr. Annette Kossler, FU Berlin, Germany on "Baobab trees of southern Oman as high resolution paleoclimate".

Dr Frank Mattern collaborated with Prof. Dr Eugenio Carminati & Dr. Luca Aldega, Sapienza Uni-versity of Rome on "Paleothermometry based on vitrinite reflectance and smectite crystallinity and ooid deformation of the Oman Mts. related to the Semaill Ophiolite obduction".

Dr Frank Mattern collaborated with Prof. Dr. Timothy Kusky, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan on "Geology and uplift of the marine terraces between Timi and Fins, Oman".

Dr Sankaran Rajendran collaborated with Dr Timothy M. Kusky (State Key Lab for Geological Pro-cesses and Mineral Resources, Ministry of Education China University of Geosciences, Wuhan Chi-na) on remote sensing studies.

STUDENT TRAINING

Training opportunities for students in the summer of 2014 were provided as shown below:


Abraj Energy Services LLC 1 Adnan International LLC 1

CGG Veritas 4 Daleel Petroleum 1

MEDCO 4 OXY 2 PDO 21

Schlumberger 2

Weatherford 2

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Dr N. Sundararajan contributed an article on "Ozone depletion- Causes, consequences and correc-tive measures" to Horizon, Issue: 283, January, 2014.

Dr N. Sundararajan carried out gravity, magnetic and very low frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM) geophysical surveys in a residential colony, Waadi Shaab for detecting subsurface cavities.

Dr Mohamed El-Ghali, Advisor, Geo Group, Sultan Qaboos University. Dr Mohamed El-Ghali, Steering Committee of the EAGE forum for students and young profession-

als, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.

41

NEW EQUIPMENT

Olympus stereo microscope with camera Polished machine 5 Workstations Petro-thin machine Auger pH meter Water pump

Al-Khirbash, Salah Associate Professor, Head of Department

PhD (Nebraska, Lincoln, USA, 1987) Economic Geology and Geochemistry

Nasir, Sobhi Professor

PhD (Wuerzburg, Germany, 1986) Mineralogy and Petrology

Ahmed, Iftikhar Associate Professor

PhD (Cambridge, UK, 1989) Clastic Sedimentology

Sundararajan Narisimman Associate Professor

PhD (Osmania University, India, 1983) Exploration Geophysics

Pracejus, Bernhard Associate Professor

PhD, Geochemistry, Berlin, Germany, 1990) Mineralogy, Geochemistry & Economic Geology

Abdulla, Osman Associate Professor

PhD (Technical University of Berlin, Germany, 2000) Hydrogeology

El-Ghali, Mohamed Assistant Professor

PhD (Sweden, 2005) Petroleum Geology

Rajendran, Sankaran Assistant Professor

PhD (Bharathidasan University, India, 1996) Remote Sensing

Al-Sayigh, Abdulrazak Assistant Professor

PhD (Wales, Aberystwyth, 1998, UK) Paleontology (Micro-)

Al-Hosni, Talal Assistant Professor

PhD (Melbourne, Australia, 2007) Hydrogeology

Al-Wardi, Mohammed Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Leeds, UK< 2006) Structural Geology

El-Kaliouby, Hesham Assistant Professor

PhD (University of Arizona-Cairo University (Joint Pro-gram, 2001), Geophysics

Moraetis, Daniel Assistant Professor

PhD (Technical University of Greece, 2006) Environmental Science and Geochemistry

Scharf, Andreas Assistant Professor

PhD (Free University of Berlin, 2013) Geology

*Al-Abri, Amani Lecturer

MSc (New South Wales, Australia 2010

EARTH SCIENCES STAFF

42

*Al-Hooti, Khalid Lecturer

MSc (London, UK, 2011)

Al-Fahdi, Abdullah Superintendent

MSc (SQU, Oman, 2011)

Al-Zidi, Hilal Technician

MSc (SQU, Oman, 2009)

Al-Zidi, Hamdan Technician

BSc (SQU, Oman, 1999)

Al Shaqsi, Bader Technician


Al-Maamari, Saif Technician


Al-Kharousi, Samira Technician


Al Awai’ly, Bader Technician


Al-Belushi, Shahira Coordinator

Diploma (HTC, Oman, 1998)

*On study leave for PhD

43

Hig

hlig

hts

By the very nature of the research undertaken in DOMAS, the great majority of research projects in the

Department are funded from SQU’s Internal Grants. Hence it was a remarkable achievement for Dr

Nasser Al-Salti and Dr Mohammad Mansur Rahman to be each awarded a large research grant from

the TRC. Dr Al-Salti’s research project is entitled Fractional Differential Equations: Theory, Methods and

Appplications (co-investigator: Dr Sebti Kerbal) whereas that of Dr Rahman is Nanofluid: Emerging Ap-

plications in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (co-investigators: Dr Nasser Al-Salti, Prof. Ibrahim

Eltayeb and Prof. Mohamed Al-Lawati).

Recipients

of

TRC grants

N. Al-SaltiTRC, OMR 81,500

M. RahmanTRC, OMR 158,000

Department ofMathematics

& Statistics

Dr Khidir Abdelbasit PhD (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK)

O ne of the major events of the Depart-

ment of Mathematics and Statistics

(DOMAS) in the year 2014 was the hosting of the

Third International Conference on Numerical

Analysis and Optimization (5–9 January) which

was a resounding success. Distinguished guests

included the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of

Higher Education, Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed

Al-Sarmi, the Vice-Chancellor of SQU, His Excel-

lency Dr Ali bin Saud Al-Bemani, and the Ambas-

sador of Italy, Ms Paola Emedeo. The conference

was organised by a 16-member international

committee presided over by Professor Mehiddin

Al-Baali. The conference drew 169 participants

from 27 countries across the globe.

44

DEPARTING STAFF

Prof. Stefan Veldsman and Dr Valery Covachev left the DOMAS in Fall 2014. Prof. Veldsman had been

at SQU for 16 years, and during the early years had served as Head of the Department. Prof. Velds-

man, well known for his high academic standards, has recently been appointed as Professor in the De-

partment of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port

Elizabeth, South Africa.

APPOINTMENTS

Dr Khidir Abdelbasit: Dr Abdelbasit took over the Headship of DOMAS from Prof. Mohamed Al-

Lawati in the autumn of 2014. He holds a doctorate in Statistics from the University of Newcastle-upon

-Tyne, UK, and has current research interests in applied statistics and data analysis, experimental de-

sign and statistics education. Dr Abdelbasit served as Assistant Head of the Department from Septem-

ber 2008 to January 2012. He also acted as Head of DOMAS in Fall 2011 and on several other occasions

with much success. Hence his appointment as Head was a natural career progression. He has been in

DOMAS virtually since the inception of the College of Science, and he has played a diverse range of

roles in the growth and development of the Department.

The following members of the academic staff of DOMAS took up their faculty positions in the De-

partment in the fall semester of 2014: Drs Faisal Ababneh, Marwan Al Quran, Hanifa Nasir, Ibrahim Elmojtaba, Amadou Sarr and Amina

Al-Sawaii.

The following members of staff in the Foundation Programme joined the Department in the fall

semester of 2014:

Mr Gopakumar Nair and Mr Muhammad Ashfaq.

PROMOTIONS

Professor Nirmal Sacheti was promoted to the rank of Full Professor.

Dr Tayfour El Bashir and Dr Ziyad Al Sharawi were promoted to the rank of Associate Professor.


Amani Al-Rubkhi commenced her MSc studies at the University of Glasgow, Scotland (UK), in the au-

tumn of 2014.

EXTERNAL EXAMINER

Mathematics: Professor Robert Sharpley, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA

Statistics: Dr Alan Charles Kimber, School of Mathematics, University of Southampton, UK

45


Spring 2014

Drs. Ahmed Ghaleb, Hanifa Nasir, Amadou Sarr, Md. Shahjahan, Abdulhassan Siddiqui, Ronald We-

songa; and Mr/Ms Damian Kajunguri, Fatma Al Musalhi, Muhammad Ashfaq (FP)

Fall 2014

Drs. Shariful Alam, Joydev Chattopadhyay, Md Hasinur Rahaman, Abdulhassan Siddiqi, Ronald We-

songa; and Ms. Fatma Al Kharousi (FP)

VISITORS

Prof. Alfredo Noel Iusem, IMPA - National Institute of Mathematics Pure and Applied, Rio de

Janeiro, Brazil (Seminar: 27 October, 2014), (Visited Prof. Mehidin Al-Baali).

Dr Dongdong Shao, Beijing Normal University, China (Seminar: 1 December, 2014).


Prof. Mehiddin Al-Baali, collaborated with researchers from China, Japan and Italy.

Dr. Nasser Al-Salti collaborated with Prof. Mokhtar Kirane, Department of Mathematics, Images

and Applications, La Rochelle University, France in the area of Fractional Differential Equations.

Dr. E. Balakrishnan continues his collaboration with Dr. Mark Nelson, University of Wollongong,

Australia. Dr. Nelson visited the department from 18th November to 27th November 2014.

Prof. Pallath Chandran and Prof. Nirmal Sacheti continued their collaborations with Prof. A. K.

Singh and Prof. B. S. Bhadauria, Banaras Hindu University, India, and Prof. R. P. Jaju, University of

Swaziland, Swaziland.

Dr. Sanjiv Kumar Gupta collaborated with Prof. K. Hare, Department of Pure Math, University of

Waterloo, Canada.

Dr. Sebti Kerbal collaborated with Professor Nasser-Eddine Tatar, Department of Mathematical

Sciences, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Sebti Kerbal collaborated with Prof. Mokhtar Kirane, Department of Mathematics, Images and

Applications, La Rochelle University, France.

Prof. Q. J. A. Khan collaborated with Dr. David Greenhalgh of Strathclyde University, Glasgow, U.K.

and with Prof. J. Chattopadhyay of I.S.I, Calcutta, India.

Professor Mohammad Saeed Khan collaborated with Prof. S. M. Kang, Gyeongsang National Uni-

versity, Jinju 660-701, Korea; Prof. Dinu Teodorescu, Valahia University of Targoviste, Bd. Unirii 18,

130024, Targoviste, Romania; Prof. M. Berzig, Tunis College of Sciences and Techniques, Tunis Uni-

versity, 5 Avenue Taha Hussein, Tunis, Tunisia ; Prof. C. Vetro, University of Palermo, Italy, Prof. M.

Abbas, University of Pretoria, South Africa, S. Chandok, Panjab Technical University, India , Prof.

Erdal Karapinar , Attilim University, Turkey , Prof. P.K. Jhade , NRI Institute of Information Science

& Technology, India.

Prof. Edamana Krishnan collaborated with Dr. Anjan Biswas, Delaware State University, USA on

Solitary Wave Solutions of Non-linear Schrodinger type equations appearing in Optics.

46

Dr. Jasbir S. Manhas collaborated with Prof. Ruhan Zhao, Department of Mathematics, State Uni-

versity of New York, Brockport, USA.

Dr. A. Purnama collaborated with Dr. DD Shao, Beijing Normal University, China on the model

studies for brine discharges through marine outfall systems.

Dr. Mohammad Mansur Rahman collaborated with Prof. J. H. Merkin, University of Leeds, UK;

Prof. Ioan Pop, Dr. Alin V. Rosca, & Dr. Tudor Grosan, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania; Prof. M.

A. Sheremet, Tomsk State University, Russia; Prof. Kuppalapalle Vajravelu, University of Central

Florida, USA , Dr. M. S. Alam, Jagannath University, Bangladesh, Dr. ATM Mahabubur Rahman,

Dhaka International University, Bangladesh.

STUDENT TRAINING

Training opportunities for students in the summer of 2014 were available as shown below:

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Prof. Mehiddin Al-Baali acted as an External Assessor for BSc and MSc programmes at Caledonian

College of Engineering, Oman.

Prof. Mehiddin Al-Baali examined (as External Examiner) Master’s theses for College of Arts, 2013

-present.

Dr Sebti Kerbal established a Research Group in Mathematics named Fractional Differential Equa-

tions Group and holding a weekly regular seminar at the Department of Mathematics and Statis-

tics.

Dr. Sebti Kerbal is acting as a member of internal Reviewers at Oman Academic Accreditation Au-

thority, OAAA.

Dr. Mohammad Mansur Rahman acted as an Auditor for SQU Staff Club and as a Member of the

Board of Directors for SQU Daycare Center and Creche.

Dr. Pallath Chandran served as external expert on the appointment committee (Mathematics) at

the Waljat College of Applied Science, Muscat.

NEW EQUIPMENT

Computers (27)

Printers (3)


Ministry of Health 4

National Center for Statistics & Information 4

47

MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS STAFF

Abdelbasit, Khidir Head/Associate Professor

PhD 1980, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne University, UK Applied statistics and design of experiments

***Al-Lawati, Mohamed Professor

PhD 1997, South Carolina, USA Computational mathematics

Chandran, Pallath Professor

PhD 1979, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India, Porous media flow, MHD

Eltayeb, Ibrahim A Professor

PhD 1972, Newcastle University, UK Fluids dynamics, Mathematical modeling.

Khan, Mohammad S Professor

PhD 1982, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia Fixed Point Theory

Khan, Qamar Jalil A Professor

PhD 1980, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, In-dia, Bio-mathematics

Krishnan, Edamana V Professor

PhD 1979, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India Non- linear waves

Sacheti, Nirmal Chand Professor

PhD 1976, Rajasthan University, India 1976 Free convection, porous media, magnetohydro-dynamical flows

Vladimir Vladimirov Professor

PhD 1979, USSR Academy of Sciences, Russ Fluid Dynamics.

Al-Baali, Mehiddin Associate Professor

PhD 1984, University of Dundee, UK Numerical optimization

Ali, Majid Associate Professor

PhD 1994, Kaiserslautern, Germany 1994 Commutative ring theory

Al-Khaled, Kamel Associate Professor

PhD 1996, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA Applied Differential equations

Al-Sharawi, Ziyad Associate Professor

PhD 2006, Central Michigan University, USA Discrete Dynamical systems.

Anchouche, Boudjemaa Associate Professor

PhD 1994, Paris Sud, Orsay, France Differential geometry

Balakrishnan, Easwaran Associate Professor

PhD 1996, Massey, New Zealand Dynamical Systems and Mathematics of combustion.

Bakheit, Charles Saki Associate Professor/Asst. HoD

PhD 1982, University of Durham, UK Data analysis and Stochastic Process

Boudellioua, Mohamed Salah Associate Professor

PhD 1986, Nottingham University, UK Control theory and multidimensional systems theory

Boulbrachene, Messaoud Associate Professor

PhD 1987, Besancon, France Applied Analysis, Numerical analysis.

Chentouf, Boumediene Associate Professor

PhD 1998, University of Metz and INRIA-Lorraine, France, Control of PDE’s

Gupta, Sanjiv Associate Professor

PhD 1993, IIT, Kanpur, India Harmonic analysis on lie groups

48

Islam, Mazharul Associate Professor

PhD 1992, Banaras Hindu University, India Statistical Modeling of Human Fertility (Demography)

Kamal, Aref Associate Professor

PhD 1983, University of Newcastle, Upon Tyne, UK Function analysis and abstract approximation theory

Karaa, Samir Associate Professor

PhD 1996, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France Iterative methods for solving large sparse systems and applications

Kerbal, Sebti Associate Professor

PhD 1998, University of Ottawa, Canada Optimal control theory

Makhmutov, Shamil Associate Professor

PhD 1985, Moscow State University, USSR Spaces of analytic functions

Manhas, Jasbir S Associate Professor

PhD 1991, Jammu University, India Special classes of operators on function spaces

Purnama, Anton Associate Professor

PhD, 1988, Cambridge University, UK Sediment transport and pollutant transport

Rahman, Mohammad Mansur Associate Professor

PhD 2003, University of Glasgow, UK Magnetohydrodynamics, Mathematical Fluid Mechan-ics, Nano-Fluidic Phenomena, Heat and Mass Transfer

Rakha, Medhat Associate Professor

PhD 1998, Texas A&M USA- Suez Canal University, Egypt, Lie algebra and special functions

Ababneh, Faisal Assistant Professor

PhD 2006, University of Sydney Australia Mathematical Statistics

Ahmed, Mohd Idrees Assistant Professor

PhD 1988, St. Andrews University, UK Statistical modeling

Al-Dhamri, Nadia, Assistant Professor

PhD 2013, LaTrobe University, Australia Natural Duality and Semigroups

Al-Ghassani, Asma Assistant Professor

PhD 2010, Loughborough University, UK Difference equations and discrete dynamical systems

Al-Hadhrami, Ahmed Assistant Professor

PhD 2010 , University of South Carolina, USA Applied Statistics

Al-Hinai, Magda Assistant Professor

PhD 2001, Ains Shams University, Cairo, Egypt Mathematical physics

Al-Kharousi, Fatma, Assistant Professor

Ph D 2011, Queen Mary , University of London , UK Coding Theory

Al-Quran, Marwan Assistant Professor

PhD 2003, Central Michigan University, USA Partial differential equations

Al-Salti Nasser Assistant Professor

PhD 2010, University of Saint Andrews, UK MHD and Magnetic Reconnection

Al-Sawaii, Amina Assistant Professor

PhD 2010, Bradford University, UK Applied Mathematics

Al-Shamsi, Hamed Assistant Professor

PhD 2011, University of Manchester, UK 2011 Anomalous random walk models.

Dinar, Yassir Assistant Professor

PhD 2007, The International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Italy Geometry of Integrable Systems.

49

El-Bashir, Tayfour Associate Professor

PhD 1995, University of Leeds, UK Computational fluid mechanics

Elmojtaba, Ibrahim Assistant Professor

PhD 2011, University of Khartoum, Sudan Mathematical Epidemiology

Nasir, Haniffa Mohamed Assistant Professor

PhD 2003, University of Electro-Comm.,Tokyo, Japan Numerical Analysis of Wave propagation

Makhmutova, Marina Assistant Professor

PhD 1989, Russian Academy of Science Parallel Numerical Methods

Nafa, Kamel Assistant Professor

PhD 1989, Manchester University, UK Mixed Finite element methods

Sarr, Amadou Assistant Professor

PhD 2006, University of Geneva, Switzerland Generalized Multivariate Analysis & Distribution Theory

Wanjala, Gerald Assistant Professor

PhD 2005, University of Groningen, The Netherlands Operators on Spaces with and Indefinite Metric.

Yallaoui, El-Bachir Assistant Professor

PhD 1992, Polytechnic University, Brooklyn NY, USA Topological Measure Theory.

Yashiro, Tsukasa Assistant Professor

PhD 1999, University of Auckland, New Zealand Topology, Low dimensional topology, Knot Theory

Ziad, Muhammad Assistant Professor

PhD 1992, Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan General Relativity; Symmetry Methods for Solving Differential Equations

*Al-Abri, AlJalila Lecturer

MSc 2009, Manchester University, UK

Al-Ghabshi, Bushra Lecturer

MSc University of New South Wales, Australia

Al-Hasni, Eman Lecturer

BSc SQU, Oman

Al-Alawi, Mariam Lecturer

M.Sc. 2013, University of St-Andrews, UK

Al-Hinai, Thuriya Demonstrator

Bed 2014, SQU, Oman

**Al-Rubkhi, Amani Demonstrator

BSc, SQU, Oman

Al-Sariri, Tahani Demonstrator

BSc, SQU, Oman

Al-Anboury, Laila

Coordinator to the Scientific Journal Editor

Al-Asmi, Hamad

Lab Supervisor High National General Science Diploma, UK 1986-1987

Al-Jahwari, Zwaina

Coordinator

Fortajada, Benilyn

Coordinator

50

Al-Hajri, Saleh Technician

BSc 1997, SQU, Oman

Al-Siyabi, Abeer

Technician

Ahmed, Mohiuddin M. FP Lecturer

MSc 1983, Hyderabad University, India

Alam, Masood FP Lecturer

MSc 1998, Alighar Muslim University, India

Anwar, Dilnawaz FP Lecturer

MSc 1996, Islamabad, Pakistan

Ashfaq, Muhammad FP Lecturer

MSc 1984, Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan

Engwau, Godfrey FP Lecturer

MSc 1998, Uganda, 1998

Essefi, Afifa FP Lecturer

MSc 2011, SQU, Oman

Gopakumar, Nair FP Lecturer

MSc1999, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India

Haider, Iftikhar FP Lecturer

MSc 1994, Peshawar, Pakistan

Kwikiriza, Kenneth FP Lecturer

MSc 2002, Kampala, Uganda

Lubis, Rostina FP Lecturer

MSc 1995, Colorado, USA

Siddiqui, Ahsan FP Lecturer

MSc 1992, Lahore, Pakistan

Skhomenko, Irina FP Lecturer

MSc 1984, Donetsk, Ukraine

*On Study leave for PhD **On Study leave for MSc ***On Sabbatical leave

51

Hig

hlig

htsI t is most uplifting and rewarding when our students excel at international competitions and

raise the profile of the Department; this is indeed a reflection on the quality of education pro-

vided to them by the Department and the College at large. The two Physics students Rahma

Khalfan Al-Busaidi and Aaisha Salim Al-Ghaithi made us proud by securing the first and second po-

sitions, respectively, in the Physics Olympiad which was held on 8 April, 2014, at Sultan Qaboos Uni-

versity. This event was jointly organized by the College of Science (SQU) and the Association of the

Science Colleges of the Arab Universities. We would like to express a word of appreciation to Ms

Zamzam Al-Khalili (Demonstrator) who, in conjunction with several Physics faculty members, as-

sisted the candidates with the preparation for this competition.

Taking over the offices and research laboratories vacated by the Department of Biology when they

relocated to the new Science Annex Building has given us a new lease of life. We have used our in-

genuity to restructure and refurbish these newly acquired labs along with our old labs. This expan-

sion of lab space and development of research facilities is opportune given the increase in the num-

ber of new faculty members in the Department coupled with the growing number of research stu-

dents. The following research labs have undergone a facelift: Chemical vapor deposition lab (Dr

Tariq Mohiuddin), thin-film and nano-magnetism lab (Prof Hisham Widatallah), optical spectroscopy

& microscopy lab (Dr Abey Issac), lasers & optoelectronics lab (Dr Kazi Abedin), petroleum & geosci-

ence lab (Prof A K George & Dr Sayyadul Arafin), astronomy & space science lab (Dr Saleh Al-

Shidhani and Dr Zach Ioannou) and multipurpose computational lab (Dr Saleh Al-Shidhani).

Finally, the Department of Physics is working earnestly towards academic accreditation of its under-

graduate degree program by the British Institute of Physics. A consultant on IOP accreditation, Pro-

fessor Richard Abram of Durham University, was invited by the Department in Spring 2014. A two-

day workshop led by the consultant was organized, where the Department staff went over the IOP

requirements for accreditation. The areas of strength and weakness of the physics program were

discussed. The consultant submitted a report to the University Administration pointing out the are-

as which need addressing in preparation of the IOP accreditation. A second workshop was to be

conducted in 2015.

Department of Physics

Prof Sheikh M. Mujibur Rahman PhD (Bristol, UK), DPhil (Dhaka, Bangladesh)

52

APPOINTMENTS

Dr Kazi Monowar Abedin joined the Department as an Associate Professor in Fall 2014. His area of

specialization is optoelectronics and laser physics. Previously, he was a faculty member at the Univer-

sity of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Ms. Rahma Al-Busaidi took up her position as Demonstrator in Fall 2014.

PROMOTIONS

Prof Imaddin Al-Omari was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in June 2014.

Dr Mudhahir Al-Ajmi was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in June 2014.

SABBATICAL VISIT

Dr Mudhahir Al-Ajmi spent almost a year (September 2014–August 2015) with the Theoretical Particle

Physics Group at the University of Sussex, UK, on his sabbatical leave.


Ms Kawther Al-Rasbi, Demonstrator, left in Fall 2014 for Imperial College London, UK, to pursue MSc

studies in theoretical physics.

EXTERNAL EXAMINER

Professor Mohamed Babiker (Theoretical Nuclear Physics), Department of Physics, University of York,

UK visited the Department in the period 18–22 May, 2014.


Spring 2014: Dr Laila Musaab Alabdali, Astrophysics (PhD, Lancaster University, UK, 2007) Dr Milan Bogosavljevic, Optical and Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy (PhD, California Institute of

Technology, USA, 2010) Dr Mukesh Kumar, Electronics (PhD, Kurukshetra University, India, 2002) Dr Vinoy Thomas, Condensed Matter Physics (PhD, Mahatma Gandhi University, India, 2004) Dr Brian Francis Usher, Semiconductor Materials Devices (PhD, University of Western Australia,

Australia, 1981)

Fall 2014: Dr Milan Bogosavljevic, Optical and Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy (PhD, California Institute of

Technology, USA, 2010) Dr Brian Francis Usher, Semiconductor Materials Devices (PhD, University of Western Australia,

Australia, 1981) Dr Moncef Deouich, Astrophysics (PhD, Paris-Meudon Observatory, 2004) Dr Amr Mohamed Radi, Computational Physics (PhD, University of Birmingham, 2000)

Part-Time Visiting Consultants Dr Maya Al-Azri (Spring/Fall 2014), Magnetism and Condensed Matter Physics (PhD, Sultan Qa-

boos University, Oman, 2013) Dr Afaf Al-Lawati (Fall 2014), Theoretical Biophysics (PhD, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2014).

53


Dr Abbasher Gismelseed:

Dr Peter Jenniskens, ETI Institute & NASA USA, on identification of meteorites Dr Yassir Abdu, University of Manitoba, Canada, on Meteorites characterization Dr H C Verma, IIT Kanpur, India, on Studies of Iron bearing minerals in meteorites Dr Said Mazin, Zaggazeeg University, Egypt, on materials science

Prof Abraham George:

Dr V. P. N. Nampoori, International School of Photonics, Cochin University of Science and Tech-nology, India, on photo acoustic studies of liquid crystals

Dr D. M. Potukuchi, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakkinada, India, on dielectric studies of liquid crystals

Prof Ali Yousif:

Dr J. Amighian, Islamic Azad University-Najafabad Branch, Iran Dr M. Mozaffari, Razi University, Iran

Dr Azzouz Sellai:

Prof Mohamed Henini, University of Nottingham, UK, on characterization of PIN structures based on low dimensional semiconductors

Prof Abdelmadjid Mesli and Prof Vinh Le Thanh, The University of Aix-Marseille, France, on prop-erties of Schottky barrier devices based on Ge for spin injection

Prof Pierre Berini, University of Ottawa, Canada, on plasmonic devices

Dr B R S Babu:

Prof A. M. Vinod Kumar, Dr. E. Prasad and collaborators, University of Calicut, Central University, Kasargod, IUAC, New Delhi, India, on Nuclear Reactions–Studies on Evaporation Residues

Prof P. Sreekumar and Dr. S. Seetha, Indian Space Research Organization, Bangalore, India, on De-velopment of X- ray detectors–SCD Black hole Binary Studies

Prof R. Misra, Dr. C D Ravikumar, Dr. Sini R, Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophys-ics, Pune & Univ. of Calicut, India, on Optical variability of X-ray points sources, Gamma ray inter-action studies

Dr Carlo Carboni:

Prof T J Slukin, University of Southampton, UK, on theory of surface tension in liquid crystals and on Devries phases

Prof M A H McCausland, The University of Manchester, UK, on hyperfine interactions in rare earth elements

Prof Mohamed Elzain:

Prof Mourad Cherif, Paris 13 University, France, on Study of Mn Implanted 6H-SiC. Prof K. Bouziane, Pôle Energies renouvelables Environnement et Etudes Pétrolières, Université

Internationale de Rabat, Morocco.

54

Prof Hisham M Widatallah:

Dr E. A. Moore, The Open University, UK on ab initio and atomistic simulations of magnetic oxides Dr N. Seriani, The Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy on ab initio

studies of inorganic oxides Prof G. Amolo, University of Eldoret, Kenya, on ab initio electronic structure studies of some oxides

and fluorites

Dr Issam Ali:

Dr Julia Yeomans, Rudolph Pierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, Oxford, UK, on translocation of biopolymers through molecular sieves in nanopore.

Prof Mehmet Koca:

Prof Ramazan Koc, Gaziantep University, Turkey, on symmetry breaking of SO(3) by Higgs Mecha-nism and quasicrystals.

Dr Mudhahir Al-Ajmi:

Prof A.I. Arbab, University of Khartoum, Sudan, on Using quaternion and other mathematical ap-proaches to generalize fundamental physics equations

Prof Mark Hindmarsh and Dr Stefan Huber, Sussex University, UK, on particle cosmology

Dr Nazife Koca:

Prof Ramazan Koc, Gaziantep University, Turkey, on polyhedra and coxeter groups and quasicrys-tals.

Prof Ram Singh:

Dr F. Sommer, Max Plank Instutut fuer Metalforschung, Germany, on (i) Interface thermodynam-ics of nano-sized amorphous system; (ii) viscosity of liquid alloys.

Prof S M Mujibur Rahman

Dr A. Ben Abdellah and Prof Khalid Bouziane, Abdelmalek Essadi University, Tangier, Morocco, on thermodynamic properties and electron transport in metals and alloys

Prof B. Grosdidier and J G Gasser, Paul Verlaine University, Metz, France, on (i) electron transport (ii) thermal properties in liquid metals and alloys

Dr Kazi M Abedin, Department of Physics, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh on optics and laser simulations

Dr Sayed Osman:

Prof Grosdidier and Prof Jean Georges Gasser, LPLI, Metz University, France, on Liquid-Liquid inter-face of immiscible Ga-Pb alloy

55

Dr Sayyadul Arafin:

Professor Bao Sheng Li, Mineral Physics Institute, Stony Brook University, New York, USA, on Ultra-sonic velocities and diffusivity of rocks and minerals at high temperature and high pressure

Professor G. Gwanmesia, Delaware State University, USA, on Thermo physical properties of rocks and minerals at the Earth’s Mantle’s conditions

Dr Rachid Sbiaa:

Dr Kilian Lenz, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany, on Ferromagnetic res-onance for materials with perpendicular anisotropy

Prof Johan Åkerman and Dr Mojtaba Ranjbar, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, on Investigation of magnetic materials for random access memory

Dr Sumesh Sofin Pillai:

Prof Igor Shvets, School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, on Magnetic oxides growth char-acterization

Prof. Han Chun Wu, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China, on Magnetic oxides (Theory)

TECHNICAL STAFF TRAINING

Turkiya Al-Shahumui: Variious applications of nuclear and nano techniques (16–21 June, 2014), Bi-zette, Tunisia. Fadhila Nasser Hamed Al-Mabsali: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Fellowship in SSDL (15 September–14 November, 2014), Greek Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Department of Licensing and Inspection.

STUDENT TRAINING


COMMUNITY SERVICE

Dr Ahmed Al-Rawas gave the lectures in Arabic to: Defense College on the Nuclear Treaties College of Arm Commands: Nuclear Energy and its Applications. College of Arm Commands: Solar Energy

Dr Carlo Carboni gave a lecture on Liquid Crystals at the ABA international School on 24 November,

2014.


Ministry of Regional Municipalities & Water Resources 8

Sohar College of Applied Sciences 1

College of Science, SQU 19

56

Dr Issam Ali conducted a training workshop for the Ministry of Education physics teachers from 26/1/2014 to 6/2/2014.

Prof Mehmet Koca acted as an external examiner for a PhD oral examination in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, SQU, in October 2014.

Prof S. M. Mujibur Rahman chaired two MSc Examination Committees in the College of Science, SQU, in 2014.

Ms Turkiya Al-Shahumi participated in the fifth and sixth academic programs for the teachers in June, 2014.

NEW EQUIPMENT

Maskles photolithography: MicroWriter Telescope: MAX2-ACF 20" f/8 HD projectors Impedance analyzer Current pulse and nanovoltmeter Keitley 2182A + 6221 AC +DC Optical Chopper CVD furnace Compact RTP for 4" sample Radiation source

PHYSICS STAFF

Rahman, Sheikh M. Mujibur Professor, Head of Department

PhD (Bristol, UK, 1980), DPhil. (Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1979) Condensed Matter Theory

Elzain, Mohamed Professor

PhD (Birmingham, UK, 1978) Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics (Magnetism)

Singh, Ram Nandan Professor

PhD (Bhagalpur, India, 1977) Non-Crystalline Materials

Yousif, Ali Awadh Professor

PhD (Sussex, UK, 1979) Condensed Matter Physics

Koca, Mehmet Professor

PhD (METU, Ankara, Turkey, 1971) High Energy and Mathematical Physics

George, Abraham K. Professor

PhD (Baroda, India, 1980) Condensed Matter Physics and Liquid Crystals

Widatallah, Hisham Professor

PhD (Nanjing, China, 1996) Condensed Matter Physics; Materials Science

Al-Omari, Imaddin Professor

PhD (Nebraska, USA, 1996) Experimental Condensed Matter Physics

Ercil, Ahmet Cengiz Associate Professor

PhD (Brown, USA, 1979) Physics Education and Nuclear Physics

57

Al-Rawas, Ahmed D. Associate Professor

PhD (Liverpool, UK, 1994) Mossbauer Spectroscopy and Condensed Matter Physics

Osman, Sayed M. Associate Professor

PhD (East Anglia, UK, 1988) Density Functional Theory

Sellai, Azzouz Associate Professor

PhD (Nottingham, UK, 1991) Physical Electronics Devices

Ali, Issam Sadiq Associate Professor

PhD (Wisconsin, USA, 1995) Condensed Matter Physics

Carboni, Carlo Associate Professor

PhD (Manchester, UK, 1986) Liquid Crystals

Arafin, Sayyadul Associate Professor

PhD (Science University of Malaysia, Malaysia, 1989) Geophysics

Gismelseed, Abbasher Associate Professor

PhD (Khartoum, Sudan, 1991) Condensed Matter Physics (Mossbauer Spectroscopy)

Babu, B. R. S. Associate Professor

PhD (University of Mysore, India, 1988) Nuclear Physics

Sbiaa, Rachid Associate Professor

PhD (University of Paris 7, France, 1996) Materials Science

Al-Harthi, Salim H. Associate Professor

PhD (Warwick, UK, 2001) Experimental Condensed Matter Physics

Monowar Abedin, Kazi Associate Professor

PhD ( University of Tsukuba,1994) in Engineering (Applied Physics)

Al-Ajmi, Mudhahir Associate Professor

PhD (Manchester, UK, 2005) High Energy and Mathematical Physics

Al-Lawati, Nidhal Assistant Professor

PhD (Oxford, UK, 2006) Condensed Matter Physics

Al-Shidhani, Saleh S. Assistant Professor

PhD (Sussex, UK, 2004) Astronomy and Astrophysics

Koca, Nazife Assistant Professor

PhD ( Cukurova University, Turkey, 1992) High Energy and Mathematical Physics

Tariq, Mohiuddin Ghulam Assistant Professor

PhD (Manchester, UK, 2009) Nano-Science

Ioannou, Zacharias Assistant Professor

PhD (Keele Univ., 2000) Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Science

Pillai, Sofin R. G. Assistant Professor

PhD (Trinity College, Ireland, 2006) Condensed Matter Physics

Issac, Abey Assistant Professor

PhD (Chemnitz University Germany 2006) in nanophoton-ics and experimental physics.

Souier, Mohammed Tewfik Assistant Professor

Ph.D. (Institut National Polytechnique de Greno-ble,France,2007) Laboratory of Thermodynamics & Met-allurgical Physics

Al-Harthi, Rahma Lecturer

BSc, MSc (Alberta, Canada, 2008) Experimental Condensed Matter Physics

*Al-Maamari, Fatma Lecturer

BSc, MSc (Loughborough, UK, 2010) Experimental Condensed Matter Physics

58

*Al-Saqri, Noor Al-Huda Lecturer

BSc, MSc (Loughborough, UK, 2010) Experimental Condensed Matter Physics

Al-Hamrashdi, Hajir Demonstrator

BSc (SQU, Oman, 2010) Nuclear Physics

**Al-Rasbi, Kawther Demonstrator


Al-Khalili, Zamzam Demonstrator


Al-Busaidi, Rahama Demonstrator


Al-Saleemi, Ali Senior Engineer (A)

B Eng. (Portsmouth, UK, 2001) Electronics Engineering

Al-Khusaibi, Ahmed Senior Engineer

B Eng (Bradford, UK, 2007)

Al-Zadjali, Nasser Senior Engineer

B Eng (Portsmouth, UK, 2005) Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Al-Mufagri, Younis Electronic Engineer

B Eng (Nottingham, UK, 2009) Electronics Engineering

Al-Farsi, Abdullah Lab Supervisor B

BSc. (Caledonia, UK, 2003) Medical Physics Technology

Al-Zaabi, Ali Lab Supervisor B

BSc (Caledonia, UK, 2003) Medical Physics Technology

Al-Shahumi, Turkiya Supervisor B

MSc. (SQU, Oman, 2009) Physics

Al-Belushi, Saleh Senior Technician A

BETC (Oman Technical College, Oman, 1988)

Al-Hajri, Sheikha Technician


Al-Mabsali, Fadhila Technician


Al-Mahrazi, Samia Technician


* Al-Shueili, Amina Technician (B)


Al-Marooqi, Zulaikha Coordinator

High Diploma (Business Admin & Acctg, Oman, 2005)

Penero, Prudencio Jr. Coordinator

BSc (Technological Institute of the Philippines, Phils.,1986) Chemical Engineering

*On Study leave for PhD

**On study leave for MSc

60

The primary mission of CAARU is to de-

velop into a focal point of analytical ap-

plications of applied research in the Col-

lege of Science by making our services

readily available and to establish a

strong link between the College of Sci-

ence and the corporate sectors in Oman.

The team working for CAARU provides

services including sample analysis, con-

sultation, training and supervision for

undergraduate and postgraduate re-

search. Mrs. Ahlam Al Azkawi

In-Charge

61

Abdullah Al Shereiqi

In-Charge

Mission Statement:

To assemble, curate, and maintain a fully documented international renowned collection of

living topical, and sub-topical plant species for the purpose of research, teaching, public dis-

play and conservation.

62

Ms. Wasila Al Busaidi

E-Learning Coordinator

Mr. Anees Al Zidjali

College Webmaster

63

IT Zone is a service unit

that provide Infor-

mation Technology (IT)

services to College of

Science community. Its

mission is to provide

high quality of IT ser-

vices to end users in

College of Science and

raise the awareness

about ethics in IT. Its

main objectives is to

provide wide range of

IT technical support for

end users and educate

and train users for

better utilization of IT.

1. Develop local programs that help the college

in the education and research process and

to ease the work process of the college ad-

ministration as well.

2. Develop and enhance policies and proce-

dures to properly use computers inside offic-

es and (teaching, projects and research) labs

in the college.

3. Maintain College Website with updated in-

formation in respect to employee’s pages

and set of program catalogues, etc.

4. Train and educate college end users

(administrative & Technical staff, academic,

students) for best practice in IT field. This

include protect computer using: strong pass-

word, backup, license software purchased by

SQU, use open source software, etc.

5. Educate postgraduate students in better us-

ing the IT system (best practice of software

and hardware during their experiment in the

lab).

6. Encourage faculty members to use E-

Learning management tools.

7. Cooperate with CIS for better utilizing the

hardware and software in the college and for

any IT troubleshooting.

8. Cooperate with other colleges to better uti-

lize SQU IT resources.

9. Cooperate with college CUC committee in

purchasing IT hardware equipment’s that is

needed by all departments.

10. Help in Inventory of software and hardware

list in the college.

11. Implement college share directory for all the departments where they can share files and folders locally.

64

Approved by the Academic CouncilApproved by the Academic CouncilApproved by the Academic Council

VisionVisionVision

To become an internationally recognized Center of Excellence for research in Earth Sci-To become an internationally recognized Center of Excellence for research in Earth Sci-To become an internationally recognized Center of Excellence for research in Earth Sci-

ences.ences.ences.

Mission Mission Mission

The Center will conduct strategic research on geological resources, provide consulta-The Center will conduct strategic research on geological resources, provide consulta-The Center will conduct strategic research on geological resources, provide consulta-

tion services, disseminate earth information, and enhance links with international re-tion services, disseminate earth information, and enhance links with international re-tion services, disseminate earth information, and enhance links with international re-

search centers.search centers.search centers.

ObjectivesObjectivesObjectives

The Center will conduct basic and applied research in earth sciences in general, and in The Center will conduct basic and applied research in earth sciences in general, and in The Center will conduct basic and applied research in earth sciences in general, and in

petroleum geology and mineral resources in particular. It will coordinate a collabora-petroleum geology and mineral resources in particular. It will coordinate a collabora-petroleum geology and mineral resources in particular. It will coordinate a collabora-

tive, and interdisciplinary applied research programs through partnership with industry, tive, and interdisciplinary applied research programs through partnership with industry, tive, and interdisciplinary applied research programs through partnership with industry,

government and international agencies. Moreover, close contact between colleges, de-government and international agencies. Moreover, close contact between colleges, de-government and international agencies. Moreover, close contact between colleges, de-

partments and research centers at SQU will enhance its ability to provide multidiscipli-partments and research centers at SQU will enhance its ability to provide multidiscipli-partments and research centers at SQU will enhance its ability to provide multidiscipli-

nary expertise in applied research over a broad range of research areas.nary expertise in applied research over a broad range of research areas.nary expertise in applied research over a broad range of research areas.

66

Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Muhammad Khan (PhD, Cambridge) Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Muhammad Khan (PhD, Cambridge) Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Muhammad Khan (PhD, Cambridge) Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Muhammad Khan (PhD, Cambridge)

67

L ooking back over the years since the

inception of Sultan Qaboos Universi-

ty one can’t help admiring the phenomenal

strides made by the College of Science on

the research front. The College has been

catapulted to prominence in part by the

relative ease with which research funding

is currently available to strengthen the re-

search infrastructure and the academic

programmes, particularly postgraduate

studies. The major sources of research

funding are internal grants (IG), His Majes-

ty’s strategic grants (SR), The Research

Council grants (TRC) and contract research

grants (CR). In 2014 research funds in the

College totted up to about OMR 1,037,912.

Summary of Research Funding & Publications

Table 1 Research projects funded in 2014

GRANTS

IG HMTF TRC CR OMR

BIOL 12,700 0 0 47,000 59,700

CHEM 18,600 0 724,050 33,111.54 775,762

COMP 11,300 0 0 0 11,300

ERSC 16,400 0 0 12,200 28,600

DOMAS 56,400 0 81,500 0 137,900

PHYS 24,650 0 0 0 24,650

TOTAL 140,050 0 805550 92,312 1,037,912

Salim H. Al-Harthy PhD (Warwick)

69

E chinococcus granulosus (E. granulosus) is the

causative agent of cystic hydatid disease, a

worldwide zoonosis that affects the public health and

economy. Domestic livestock, wild animals and hu-

mans infected with the larval stage of the parasite

and develop cysts in the liver and lungs. However,

dogs are definitive hosts and the parasite eggs shed in

their feces become the source of infection to human

and animals. In addition, the detection of E. granu-

losus in dogs is important for epidemiological surveil-

lance and evaluation of cystic hydatid disease control

programs.

This presentation will focus on the comparison of four

different methods used to detect E. granulosus in the

final host. In this study, E. granulosus antigens were

detected in 3.3% (4/121) of stray dog faecal superna-

tants by copro-antigen ELISA. However, eggs of the

family Taeniidae were detected in 2.5% (3/121) of

faecal samples examined by copro-parasitological

(flotation and sedimentation) tests. The molecular

detection was based on amplification of fragments of

mitochondrial genes (Cox1). A PCR method has de-

tected E. granulosus 5.0 % (6/121) even when micro-

scopic observation of eggs resulted negative in fecal

samples. In addition, adult larvae of E. granulosus

were detected by the necropsy of 17 stray dogs.

434 bp

PCR products of E. granulosus showing bands

of 434 bp from final hosts (L0: DNA marker

100bp, L1- L6: positive dog’s isolates)

Eggs of E. granulosus from faecal sample

of a final host

Necropsy of a final host for the isolation of

adult E. granulosus

Detection of Echinococcus granulosus in the Final Host

Fadya Al-Kitani

Department of Biology, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University PO Box 36, Al-Khod 123, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

70

I n this work, we investigated the effect of

temperature on the compatibility of an al-

kyl ether sulfonate (AES: nC17-O-CH2CH2O)10-

SO3Na, 30% active material) surfactant with a

petroleum formation brine having high salinity

and hardness (total salinity: 181 g/L, Ca2+: 10.3

g/L, and Mg2+: 4.0 g/L), typical reservoir condi-

tions prevailing in challenging Omani oil fields.

The degree of sulfonation is 85%, (0.85 wt%

AES/0.15 wt% AE). These types of surfactants

are widely used in enhancing oil recovery due

to their stability at high T and tolerance to elec-

trolyte. Surfactant-brine solutions in the con-

centration range 0.025-1.0 wt% showed turbid

solutions at 22 oC which eventually separate

into two phases, a gel-like suspension and a

lower clear phase. Upon heating, a turbid-to-

clear transition is first observed, followed by a

clear-to-turbid transition. These observations

appear to indicate that AES, usually considered

as essentially anionic surfactants, exhibit both

clear (anionic property and cloud (nonionic

property) point. Adding iC9-O-(CH2-CH2O)14-H

and iC9-O-(CH2-CH2O)10-H nonionic AE surfac-

tants (100% active) to nC17-O-CH2CH2O)10-

SO3Na at different weight fractions (fw) resulted

in an increase in the cloud point, whereas the

clear point remain practically invariant. This

dual nature of AES is of great significance in

surfactant formulation for EOR, where clouding

may affect the process efficiency.

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

44

48

52

56

60

64

68

72

76

T/

oC

wt%

Turbid

Turbid

Clear

Figure 1. Temperature-concentration phase diagram

for (nC17(EO)10SO3Na) in Lekhwair brine

Temperature-Concentration Phase Diagram of EOR Alkyl Ether Sulfonate (AES) in Petroleum Formation having High

Salinity and Hardness

Said Al-Faraji

Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University PO Box 36, Al-Khod 123, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

71

A Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET) is

defined as a collection of autonomous

mobile nodes which communicate with each

other in the absence of access points. A MA-

NET is an attractive type of networks where

any group of nodes can communicate any-

where without any network infrastructure.

Most of MANET routing protocols suffer from

low scalability because of the high number of

overhead messages and high network latency,

especially with high node mobility. The availa-

bility of cheap instruments for estimating the

position of nodes in a network, like global po-

sitioning system (GPS) receivers, motivated

many researchers to study grid-based routing

protocol

This presentation will draw attention to a

new proposed routing approach uses shortest-

path trees to build the routing paths between

source and destination nodes. We design a

new protocol based on this approach called the

Tree-based Grid Routing Protocol (TGRP). The

main gain from this approach is to have high

stability routing paths by providing readily con-

structed alternative paths.

The stability of the TGRP paths lead to a

substantially higher performance compared to

other protocols in terms of end-to-end delay,

delivery ratio and normalized control overhead

packets. Simulation results show that TGRP

outperforms GRID (well-known protocol) in

terms of these measures.

A New Hybrid Tree-Based Grid Routing Approach for MANETs

Hussein Al-Maqbali

Department of Computer of Science, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University, PO Box 36, Al-Khod 123, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

72

A compositional plume is a fluid flow in a directional channel of finite width in another fluid of different

material composition. The interest in the mathematical modelling of the dynamics of compositional plumes is motivated by its relevance to many real life applications (Figure 1). The dynamics of the plumes have been investi-gated experimentally and theoretically (Figure 2). The experimental works observed that the plume flow seems to be stable. The theoretical works showed that the plume is unstable. The theoretical studies are conducted in unbounded domains. In this study, we investigate theoretically the influence of boundaries on the dynamics of plumes. The stability is governed by the parameters: (i) the Grashof number,

, (ii) the Prandtl number, , (iii) the plume thick-ness, (iv) the distance between the vertical walls and (v) the distance between the plume and the nearest wall. In the absence of the boundaries, the plume was unsta-

ble with a growth rate of . In the presence of the boundaries, a region of instability with a growth rate

of appears when the plume is thin and lies close to the wall. Moreover, a region of stability appears when the plume is close to the wall but has a large thick-ness and the material diffusion is present. For other regions of the plane, the plume has a growth rate of the same order of magnitude as in the absence of the boundaries (Figure 3).

R

O R

1O

(ii)

(i)

(iii)

Figure 1: Plumes occur in many real applications including (i)

geophysics, (ii) industry, and (iii) environment.

(i) Compositional plumes of light materials rise from the ICB

(Inner Core Boundary) of the Earth to the outer core, (ii) Freck-

les appear on the surface of an iron bar due to compositional

plumes during casting process, and (iii) Salt fingers appear in the very cold regions when heat diffusion is much faster than

salt diffusion.

Figure 2: Illustration of plumes

in experiment. (a) Plumes rise

from the mushy layer through

channels called chimneys. (b)

Enlarged view of plume.

(a) (b)

Figure 3. The regime dia-gram of the bounded plume

in the plane

where is the width of

the plume and is the distance between the plume and the nearest wall. The regions labelled

and refer to instabilities with growth

rates of . is present when material diffusion is absent and

is present when diffusion is important. The

region marked is stable. The area labelled

refers to instability with .

0 2 0( , )x a x

02x

2a

1LU dU

(1)O 1LU

dU

dS

2LU

( )O R

The dynamics of compositional plumes in a bounded region

Khaled S. M. Al-Mashrafi

Department of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Science Sultan Qaboos University, PO Box 36, Al-Khod 123,

Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

73

E nvironmental isotopes is became an

effective tool to identify the origin and

date of groundwater and trace the flow paths

in addition of dating of groundwater. Oman

water resources are limited and face challeng-

es in their sustainability due to rainfall scarcity

and hot climate nature. This critical situation

needs to be investigated and assessed for most

proper management. Aflaj are traditional wa-

ter resources represent more than 33% from

available water resources in the Sultanate. 53

samples of different aflaj types (spring, daoodi,

ghaily) have been collected representing all

hydrological catchments in the study area,

which comprises an area of 82259 km2.

This presentation aim to demonstrate the pre-

liminary results of isotopic signature mainly

(18O and 2H) of precipitation and aflaj waters

combined with the geochemical results of

those aflaj in order to identify the source and

the geochemical evolution in addition of hy-

draulic interconnection between different aq-

uifers.

The preliminary evaluation of the results sug-

gests different sources of participations. ghaily

aflaj originate from Ophiolite while daoodi aflaj

are recharged mainly from Hajar limestone

while the mixing processes has a significant

impact in water quality.

General view about isotopic signature of Aflaj water in North Oman

Rashid Y. Al-Abri

Department of Earth Sciences, College of Science Sultan Qaboos University, PO Box 36, Al-Khod 123

Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

74

W et chemistry has been used to pre-pare manganese ferrite nanoparti-

cles (free manganese ferrite nanoparticles) and multi wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) func-tioned and filled with manganese ferrite (encapsulated manganese ferrite). The Trans-mission Electron Microscopy (TEM) confirmed the size of the free manganese ferrite nano-particles to be 15 nm. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) has confirmed the introduction of the manganese ferrite in-side CNTs of 10 nm inner diameter and 30 nm outer diameter. The shift observed in the x-ray diffraction reflection peaks of the encapsulat-ed manganese ferrite compared to free man-ganese ferrite nanoparticles reveals considera-ble stress on the former. The values of strain of the encapsulated manganese ferrite are three times the order of magnitude of the val-ues of the strain of free manganese ferrite na-noparticles. Mossbauer spectra shows larger magnetic hyperfine splitting in the encapsulat-ed manganese ferrite compared with the mag-netic hyperfine field in the free manganese ferrite nanoparticles. Equally the encapsulated manganese ferrite show higher magnetization

compared to free manganese ferrite nanopar-ticles. The enhanced magnetic properties of the encapsulated manganese ferrite has been explained by the decrease in the inter-atomic distances resulted from the strained system.1

[1] S. Pal, S. Chandra, M.H. Phan, P. Mukher-jee, H. Srikanth, Nanotechnology 2009, 20.

Synthesis and Magnetic Properties of Carbon Nanotubes Filled With Manganese Ferrite

Saja Al-Khaburi

Department of Physics, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University, PO Box 36, Al-Khod 123, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

75

2. RESEARCH PROJECTS

2.1 THE RESEARCH COUNCIL (TRC)

Towards a Better Understanding of Protein-Ligand Interaction: Its Relation to Biological Function and Drug Binding

O. K. Abou-Zied,

1 Y. Baqi,

1 J. Husband,

1 R. Abdel-Jalil

1 and A. Al-Ansari

2

1Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University

2Department of Biology, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University

Project Code: RC/SCI/CHEM/14/01 Budget: OMR 320,700 Duration: 3 Years (2014–2016)

Summary: Clarification of the mechanism of protein-ligand binding is important not only to understand criti-

cal biological functions, but its importance extends to explaining the function of drugs when bound to enzymes

and receptors. Such clarification is an essential step towards optimizing drug formulae and maximizing drug po-

tency and efficacy. Herein, we propose to investigate the flexibility of protein binding sites and the role of this

flexibility in protein-ligand recognition. We will investigate the binding sites of proteins that are important as

carrier and delivery tools in the body such as serum albumins, antibodies, and enzymes. We will use novel as

well as well-studied small drug-like molecules as molecular probes to investigate the nature of the protein bind-

ing sites. Binding of newly proposed potential anti-Parkinson and anti-cancer drugs to proteins will then be stud-

ied. The goal of the investigation is to understand the different mechanisms of binding (in particular lock-and-

key and induced-fit modes of binding), their relation to protein flexibility and their effect on drug potency and

efficacy. The study will be conducted using experimental techniques and theoretical modeling. The experi-

mental part will be carried out by measuring the change in the steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectra

as well as the change in the fluorescence lifetime (femtosecond to nanosecond range) upon binding of the

probe in the protein binding site. The change in the spectra of both the protein and the probe will be followed

in order to obtain a comprehensive picture about the nature of binding. The change in the protein fluorescence

should reflect the local environment in the binding site upon ligand recognition, while the spectral change of the

guest probe is anticipated to provide information about the mode of binding (rigidity vs. flexibility of the binding

site). The existence of water in the binding site and its role in molecular recognition and binding will also be in-

vestigated. Theoretical modeling will be performed using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simula-

tions and the results will be valuable in understanding the details of the binding mechanism. Focused studies

will then be performed on the interaction of novel drug-like small molecules with targeted ecto-enzymes and

purinergic receptors in order to provide new insights into drug-receptor inhibition. We anticipate the proposed

work will contribute towards a better understanding of the different mechanisms of protein-ligand recognition

and its implication on protein biological function in general.

76

Conjugated Organometallic & Organic Polymers for Light-Emitting Devices and Solar Cells

M. S. Khan,

1 M. K. Al-Suti

1 and P. R. Raithby

2


2Department of Chemistry, Bath University, UK


Summary: The main thrust of the project is to develop new conjugated polymers for converting solar energy

into electricity. Photovoltaic electricity represents now an appealing solution for our growing need for energy.

Conjugated polymer solar cells are viewed as one of the most promising candidates for low-cost solar cells. This

research will promote the establishment of cost-effective solar cell manufacturing in the country. Solar cells pre-

sent not only a viable alternative to non-renewable fossil fuels but will also provide clean energy, thus protecting

the environment.

This is a multi-disciplinary project involving the following key areas: (i) Synthesis of Donor-Acceptor type conju-

gated Pt(II) poly-ynes and organic poly-ynes (PAEs) incorporating thienopyrazine-based spacers for light-emitting

devices and solar cells, (ii) Fabrication of efficient solar cells by mechanical blending of perylene dye crystals and

Pt(II) poly-ynes & PAEs incorporating thienopyrazine-based spacers, (iii) Covalent attachment of a fullerene (C60)

derivative to Pt(II) poly-yne and use the hybrid material for the construction of efficient solar cells, (iv) Develop-

ment of Pt(II) poly-ynes, PAEs and bis(ferrocenylethynyl) complexes incorporating azobenzene spacers for photo-

switches and (v) Synthesis of multi-ferrocenylethynylpyridyl copper complexes for opto-electronic and multi-

ferroelectric materials. The ultimate goal is to develop new materials for photovoltaic devices and enhance the

efficiency of the devices for light-to-electricity conversion.

The new materials will be characterized by diverse physico-chemical techniques (IR, UV-Vis, high-field multi-

nuclear NMR, Raman, Mössbauer spectroscopy, SEM, EDX, etc.) and photo-physical measurements (UV-Vis ab-

sorption, photoluminescence and lifetime of excited states, electroluminescence, current-voltage characteristics,

complex impedances, etc.). Structure of selected organometallic and organic model compounds will be deter-

mined so that structure-property relationships will be ascertained. Electrochemistry of the molecules will enable

the assessment of electronic communication between the metals centers. The research will also be underpinned

by DFT calculations on key compounds in order to understand the relation between the energy levels of singlet

and triplet excited states and the nature of the spacer groups.

77

Rapid Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Methods for Monitoring Synthetic Adulterants in Herbal Medicines and Dietary Supplements

H. A. J. Al-Lawati,

1 F. O. Suliman,

1 S. M. Z. Al-Kindy

1 and I. E. Noor

2


2Ministry of Health, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman


Summary: There is a wide concern among the public regarding herbal medicines (HMED) and dietary supple-

ments (DS) products and their impact on the health of the customers. Users have no means of knowing what the

products really are, nor can they attribute adverse events to the use of that product. Therefore, adulterated

HMED and DS are in the highest health risk category. Most of the available methods for screening for adulterants

in HMED and DS are difficult to implement in quality control laboratories. This is because they are based on ex-

pensive instrumentation or they suffer from being slow and time consuming. The bottle neck step in these meth-

ods is the slow separation step. In this project we would like to implement the latest HPLC columns technology

to develop rapid HPLC separation methods followed by MS/MS for qualitative and quantitative analysis. The

HPLC column technology is known as core shell technology. Using this column technology, highly efficient and

rapid separation methods can be developed. Once the methods are developed and characterized, samples from

local market can be tested and evaluated. Initially a method for screening HMED and DS for synthetic phos-

phodiesterase type-5 inhibitor (pd5) adulterants and their analogue as a prototype compounds will be devel-

oped. Further, we will embark on developing screening methods for other systems such as slimming drugs in

HMED and DS. These two types are selected because of their popularities and wide distribution.

Fractional Differential Equations: Theory, Methods and Applications

N. S. Al-Salti,1 S. Kerbal

1 and M. Kirane

2

1Department of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University

2MIA Laboratory and Department of Mathematics, La Rochelle University, France

Project Code: RC/SCI/DOMS/14/01 Budget: OMR 81,500 Duration: 3½ Years (2014–2018)

Summary: The subject of fractional differential equations is emerging as a powerful tool for studying many

applications of real-life phenomena. One of the main objectives of this project is to make a study of some of the

properties of ordinary and partial fractional differential equations and systems thereof. The study will address

both theoretical and numerical aspects. We plan to develop new tools (inequalities) needed for stability theory

of fractional differential equations (for example, obtain a priori estimates needed for global existence), study the

existence and uniqueness of solutions, obtain regularity results for certain fractional differential reaction-

diffusion systems, examine the asymptotic behaviour of the significant solutions, develop efficient fast numerical

algorithms (variational integrators: finite elements, finite volumes and finite differences, other iterative meth-

ods) for a broad class of equations and systems containing non-integer derivatives either in time only or in time

and in space modeling anomalous behaviours. The second objective of the project is to use the knowledge

gained from the theory and numerical properties to study some aspects of underground water with relation to

flows in karstic aquifers and seawater intrusion.

78

2.2 INTERNAL GRANTS (IG)

Toxicity of Manufactured Nanoparticles to Omani Freshwater Fish

M. J. Barry1 and J. Dutta

2

1Department of Biology, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University

2Nanotechnology Centre, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University

Project Code: IG/SCI/BIOL/14/02 Budget: OMR 3000 Duration: 2 Years (2014–2015)

Summary: Nanoparticles (NP) are materials with at least one dimension less than 100 nm and with physico-

chemical properties that differ from their larger counter-parts. Nanoparticles have been incorporated into more

than 800 products or materials in fields as diverse as computer chips, medical diagnostics, building materials,

cosmetics, paints, and building products. It is estimated up to 15% of all consumer products will eventually con-

tain nanoparticles. Due to the increasing use of NPs, there will inevitably be an increase in the release of these

particles into the environment. It is likely that soil and water will be final repositories for many particles. The aim

of this project is to study the toxicity of manufactured nanoparticles to native freshwater vertebrates in Oman.

Specifically our goals are as follows:

measure the acute and chronic toxicity of Zn NPs to a key aquatic organism in Oman

determine the effects of sunlight and dissolved organic matter on the toxicity of ZnO NPs

measure the effects NPs on the behaviour and physiological energetics of an Omani species.

2.2

.1 B

IOLO

GY

Development of Nanostructured Photocatalytic Materials for the Treatment of Toxic Organics and Dyes Containing Water and Wastewater

R. Selvaraj,

1 S Al-Kindy

1 and Y. Kim

2


2Department of Chemical Engineering, Kwangwoon University, South Korea

Project Code: IG/SCI/CHEM/14/02 Budget: OMR 5000 Duration: 3 Years (2014–2016)

Summary: Solar light utilization process is gaining much more importance due to increasing energy demand

and to avoid environmental pollution. Photocatalytic treatment of toxic pollutants represents a very promising

but challenging contribution to a clean, sustainable and renewable energy system. As Oman receives sunlight for

longer time (> 8 hours per day) throughout the year, we can apply this technology for the treatment of water

and wastewater. Application of photocatalysis for the treatment of wastewater containing organic contaminant

is of great interest for the scientists around the world. Recently, US-EPA organization has recognized this photo-

catalytic technology as potential route for the removal of pollutants in wastewater. The photocatalyst material

plays a key role in treatment of water containing toxic compounds into clean water, and it has proven difficult to

obtain corrosion resistant, chemically stable, visible light harvesting, economically viable and highly efficient pho-

tocatalysts, which have their band edges matching the oOH radicals and super oxide radical anion. These reactive

species are responsible for decomposition of toxic pollutants. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are opening a

new vista in the development of highly active, nanostructured photocatalysts with large surface areas for opti-

mized light absorption and catalytic reaction, minimized distances (or times) for charge-carrier transport, and

further favorable properties. This project proposal is focusing on the development of nanostructured materials

2.2

.2 C

HEM

ISTR

Y

79

Developing Extendable E-Learning Software Architecture

Z. Al-Khanjari, Y. Baghdadi and N. Kraiem

Department of Computer Science, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University

Project Code: IG/SCI/COMP/14/01 Budget: OMR 1500 Duration: 2 Years (2014–2015)

Summary: Higher education based on the Information Technology is found to be a feasible and economical

model in improving the traditional education model. Consequently e-Learning portals have been used to design

online courses according to the course goals and students’ needs. A basic goal of on-line course design is to pro-

vide almost a complete course environment including a virtual lab related to each course if needed. This allows

students to access the entire course environment in on-line at any time, and from anywhere.

This research focuses on the development of a feasible system architecture prototype that extends the services

of a portal by integrating software tools as part of the designed on-line courses. This architectural framework is

expected to be simple, scalable, secure, distributed resources and cost effective to work in any existing e-

learning platform (e.g. Moodle).

Specification and Implementation of a Sound and Complete Set of Web 2.0 Operations as Web Services: Towards a Uniform Interface of the Enterprise

Y. Baghdadi,

1 N. Kraiem,

1 A. Al-Hamdani,

1 Z. Al-Khanjari,

1 C. Salinesi

2 and C. Hanachi

3

1Department of Computer Science, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University

CRI, University of Paris 1, France

IRIT, Toulouse, France


Summary: Social and collaborative technologies such as Web 2.0 technologies assist individuals to create and

share rich social media, namely for a collaborative purpose through a well-known set of operations referred to as

Search/Link/Author/Tag/Extend/Signal (SLATES).

Enterprise 2.0 is an enterprise architecture that promotes fundamental transformation of businesses and the

way they operate. It promotes integration of social media generated by Web 2.0 with the day-to-day business

solutions.

Objectives: This project aims at long term in providing an integration framework for Enterprise 2.0 with Service

Oriented Architecture (SOA), Web services (WS) and Web 2.0 technologies. Yet, it starts by specifying and imple-

menting Web 2.0 operations in terms of interfaces. These interfaces are first realized by components, then de-

ployed as Web services to be further (re-)used for an integration purpose, namely within Enterprise 2.0.

The research method consists first in an empirical study that explores Web 2.0 operations followed by an

analytical study that compares the operations in different Web 2.0 tools within a comparison framework that

consists mainly of SLATES operation and types of social media. Next, consolidates the operations in a sound and

complete set of Web 2.0 operations. Then, specifies the consolidated operations. Finally, validates by using

some Web 2.0 tools.

2.2

.3 C

OM

PU

TER

SC

IEN

CE

and narrowing its band-gap to suit for visible light or solar light harvesting using various techniques like doping,

composites, sensitizers etc.

80

The expected results are:

A framework for a sound and complete set of Web 2.0 operations. Each operation is specified and real-

ized with a component

A set of practical and theoretical implications of the consolidated Web 2.0 operations with the prospec-

tive of integration with the current business operations towards Enterprise 2.0

Limits of the study (if any)

Challenges and open issues of Enterprise 2.0

Road map towards enterprise architecture that encompasses enterprise social interactions

The 3D XML Benchmark: Adding the Data Dimension

M. Al-Badawi, A. Al-Hamdani and Z. Al-Khanjari

Department of Computer Science, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University


Summary: The project aims to investigate the role played on the evaluation process when adding the Data

Dimension to the 3D XML Benchmark test environment.

Sedimentology and Depositional Setting of the Lower Amdeh Formation, Saih Hatat, North Oman: Surface Analogue of Ordovician Siliciclastic Hydrocarbon Producing System of Oman Basin

I. A. Abbasi, F. Mattern and M. El-Ghali

Department of Earth Science College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University

Project Code: IG/SCI/ETHS/14/01 Budget: OMR 3300 Duration: 3 Years (2014–2016)

Summary: Over 3500m of sandstone interbedded with siltstone and clay belonging to the Amdeh Formation

is well exposed in the Saih Hatat area. It is one of the thickest sedimentary successions of early Paleozoic age

having potential to unravel the evolutionary changes associated with early life in the Arabian Peninsula. This

very thick sedimentary sequence is important to understand the depositional system of such deposits consti-

tuting a large part of the Paleozoic succession in Oman mountains and also its age equivalent hydrocarbon bear-

ing siliciclastic rock sequences in Oman basin. This proposal was submitted to study the lower part of the Amdeh

Formation rocks systematically along various sections in Saih Hatat area in order to describe its lithostratigraphy

by studying lithological variations across the formation. A major emphasis of the proposal is to study lithofacies

association of the formation to interpret its depositional system, particularly in its lower part. Such study will

help greatly in understanding the basin evolution during early Paleozoic time hosting such large depositional

systems in the Arabian Peninsula. The Amdeh Formation is very thick and makes high ridges in the area which

are difficult to approach. It is therefore proposed to map various lithostratigraphic units of the formation with

the help of satellite data which is readily available now. Rock samples collected from the study area will be ana-

lyzed in lab for their composition and diagenetic changes. The rocks of the Amdeh Formation are host to pre-

served frag-ments of the armoured, jawless fish Sacabambaspis, an earliest known fossilized fauna from the

Arabia (Alan Heward, 2008). The proposed study will attempt to find preserved remains of more fauna from the

area.

2.2

.4 E

AR

TH S

CIE

NC

ES

81

2.2

.5 M

ATH

EMA

TIC

S &

STA

TIST

ICS

Mapping of Gold Potential Areas and Mineralized Zones in Parts of Sohar-Shinas

region of Sultanate of Oman

S. Rajendran, S. Al-Khirbash and A. Al-Abri

Department of Earth Science College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University

Project Code: IG/SCI/ETHS/14/02 Budget: OMR 5650 Duration: 3 Years (2014–2016)

Summary: The present research study is on mapping of gold potential areas and mineralized zones of parts of

Sohar-Shinas region of Sultanate of Oman proposed important with the economic importance and wealth of the

Sultanate of Oman. The study analyzes the gold potential areas and mineralized zones qualitatively and quantita-

tively by remote sensing, field work and geochemical analytical techniques and methods and will submit the re-

ports. The results of project study are useful to the applicable user communities.

Model Studies for Brine Discharges through Marine Outfall Systems

A. Purnama and M. Al-Baali

Department of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University

Project Code: IG/SCI/DOMS/14/01 Budget: OMR 1350 Duration: 2 Years (2014–2015)

Summary: Research collaboration on the research project have been established with Dr. Dongdong Shao

from the School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, China. Two papers have been accepted for publica-

tions in Desalination and Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering. Dr. Shao visited SQU during

the period 29 November to 5 December 2014.

Some results were presented at the International Congress of Mathematicians 2014 at Seoul, Korea, and a paper

was published in Applied Mathematics.

The project also produced a BSc project thesis on “Analytical Solution of Advection Diffusion Equation with Multi-

ple Point Sources”, and a MSc project thesis on “Model Studies of Sea Outfalls Effluent Discharge”.

Stabilization of a Rotating Flexible Structure System

C. Boumediene


Project Code: IG/SCI/DOMS/14/03 Budget: OMR 750 Duration: 1 Year (2014)

Summary: Most of the systems modeling physical, mechanical, biological or economical phenomena are gov-

erned by partial differential equations. Such systems are called distributed parameter systems. The theory of

distributed parameter systems is becoming a more and more complete theory, containing all the topics that are

well known from finite-dimensional systems theory or lumped parameter systems described by ordinary differ-

ential equations. One direction of research in the theory of distributed parameter systems consists of studying

their stability, stabilization, that is, the design of feedback controls to stabilize or to enhance stability.

In this project, we intend to investigate the stabilization of some distributed parameter systems arisen in

aerospace engineering. More precisely, the aim of this project is to study the stabilization problem of rotating

flexible structures by means of torque and special types of boundary controls.

82

Analysis of Substrate Inhibition Models

E. Balakrishnan



Summary: The techniques of applied non-linear dynamical systems theory will be applied to investigate math-

ematical models for substrate inhibition. Many industrial processes in the field of bioprocess engineering are

subject to substrate inhibition and many models have therefore been developed to account for these phenome-

na. The aim of this work is to determine whether these models predicted fundamentally different behavior or

whether they only differ in minor details.

Nonlinear Fractional Reaction-Diffusion Systems

H. Al-Shamsi,1 S. Kerbal

1 and M. Kirane

2


2MIA Laboratory and Department of Mathematics, La Rochelle University, France


Summary: In this project, we intend to extend the studies of classical differential equations to a more general

class of problems involving fractional derivatives in time or space. We want to address important questions relat-

ed to nonlinear fractional reaction-diffusion systems. Mainly we will be dealing with the studies concerning glob-

al existence of meaningful solutions, large time behavior of globally bounded solutions, and blowing-up solutions.

A Study on Iteration Method for Fixed Point Pseudo-Contractive

Mappings and Their Variants

M. S. Khan



Summary: Pseudo-contractive mapping is an important mapping which has many applications in nonlinear

analysis. Study of fixed point theorems for this mapping has been initiated by Browder [1] in 1967, since then

several authors have studies fixed point theorem for pseudo-contractive mappings in various aspects.

In this study we plan to study weak and strong convergence theorems for pseudo-contractive mappings using

various iterative algorithms. We also explore possibility of constructing new iteration scheme for iterative ap-

proximation of fixed points of pseudo-contractive family of mappings.

83

2.2

.6

PH

YSI

CS

Investigation of Resistive Switching in Oxides

S. R. P. G. Pillai, S. Al-Harthy, A. Sellai, R. Sbiaa and H. Widatallah

Department of Physics, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University

Project Code: IG/SCI/PHYS/14/02 Budget: OMR 6350 Duration: 2 Years (2014–2015)

Summary: The aim of the project is to study Resistive switching (RS). RS is a phenomenon observed in materi-

als, where a significant change in their electrical resistance state occurs due to the application of voltage, current

or an electric field. The system can be reversibly switched between high-resistance (or insulating) OFF state and

low-resistance ON state. This proposal aims to establish and utilize various nano scale techniques such as synthe-

sis of nano materials, Nano gap fabrication, SEM, and various characterization techniques for structural, mag-

netic and electrical properties to study different oxides such as Cu: ZnO, Sn:Fe3O4 etc for its applicability in fu-

ture memory devices.

Extension of Fourier Analysis to Lie Groups and Symmetric Spaces

S. K. Gupta



Summary: Throughout the nineteenth century Fourier series was studied and applied to solve problems in

natural sciences. Kelvin used Fourier series to predict tides, to estimate the age of earth. Fourier series is used to

solve differential equations which occur in the study of natural sciences (e.g. heat equation, wave equation, La-

place’s equation). In the earlier part of twentieth century, it was realized that Fourier series and Fourier trans-

forms can be studied on Lie groups (real line, unit circle and matrix groups are examples of Lie groups). My re-

search proposal is concerned with the study of Fourier series and Fourier transform on Lie groups.

Release of Breeding Suppression Time Delay Predator-Prey Model

Q. J. Khan,1 E. V. Krishnan

1 and D. Greenhalgh

2


2Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, UK


Summary: A theoretical model where prey due to short term heavy predation pressure temporarily suppress

breeding and restart breeding when in future predator pressure becomes less. The predator consumes both sup-

pressor and breeder of the prey and this prey population is more prone to predation at higher densities. Equilib-

rium and stability analysis will be carried out. Taking time delay as a bifurcation parameter it will be analyzed

that Hopf bifurcation could occur.

84

Structural, Electric, Magnetic, Atomistic and Electronic Structure Studies of Cation-Doped Bulk and Nanocrystalline Iron-Containing Spinels and Perovskites

H. M. Widatallah, A. Al-Rawas, A. Sellai, S. R. P. G. Pillai



Summary: The electric and magnetic properties of iron-containing oxides with spinel and perovskite structures

are attractive both scientifically and technologically. These properties can be tailor-made for specific applications

when the materials are suitably doped or when their particle size is reduced to the nanometer scale. Cation dop-

ing is mostly performed using the conventional ceramic technique where high temperatures (>1000ºC) are used.

These high temperatures affect the electric and magnetic properties of the materials considerably due formation

of other impurity phases or the reduction of ions within the materials (e.g. Fe3+ to Fe2+) thus posing a limit to

their technological usefulness. To avoid such drawbacks, we intend here to synthesize bulk and nanocrystalline

pure and doped spinel and perovskite materials at low temperatures by combining hydrothermal and mechano-

chemical (ball milling) preparation techniques followed by mild sintering. Our previous research has shown this

approach to result in the production of the desired materials in the form of nonparties or bulk material depend-

ing on the sintering temperature and duration. We also intend to experimentally investigate the structural mag-

netic and electric propertiesof the prepared materials using the available techniques such as x-ray diffraction, x-

ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electron and atomic force microscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, magnetometer

and electric measurements. In certain cases we intend to use computer codes to perform atomistic and ab initio

electronic structure calculations to rationalize structures and the observed properties and also predict others.

Probing the Properties of the Fastest Spinning White Dwarf in the Galaxy

Z. Inoannou and S. Al-Shidhani



Summary: This project aims to study the magnetic interacting binary star system AE Aqr, one of the most in-

teresting binary stars due to its extreme physical properties. AE Aqr hosts the fastest spinning white dwarf star

known in the galaxy with a period of just 33 seconds. Furthermore, it is found that this period is increasing, indi-

cating that the white dwarf is spinning down with time. Determining the rate at which the white dwarf spins

down will help to distinguish between different physical models and provide insights into the underlying physics

of the spinning down mechanism. For example, it might be possible to distinguish between models that require a

magnetic propeller in order to expel large amounts of energy from the binary system, or models that require an

erratic flow of material from the companion star. Due to the relatively low brightness of the source we request

the purchase of a new telescope instrument to be able to carry out the required observations. The new instru-

ment will greatly enhance the capabilities of the Physics Department to conduct world class astronomical re-

search and teaching and will help establish the role of SQU as a leading institution in astronomy in the GCC re-

gion.

85

Quasi Crystallography from the Projection of Higher Dimensional Lattices

N. Koca,

1 M. Koca,

1 M. Al-Ajmi,

1 S. Al-Shidhani

1 and R. Koç

2

1Department of Physics, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University

2Department of Physics, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey


Summary: Mathematical modeling of the quasicrystallographic structures will be studied by projecting the

higher dimensional lattices described by the affine Coxeter groups. First we will study the lattices defined by the

affine Coxeter groups A4 and D6 in detail which describe the decagonal and icosahedral quasicrystals respective-

ly. Later the same technique will be extended to some members of the An series of the Coxeter groups. The se-

ries Dn, E6, E7, and E8 need a special concern. A conjecture proposed by one of us (Prof. M. Koca) will be tested

whether the quasicrystallographic structures with h-fold symmetry can be described by the Coxeter systems with

the Coxeter number h.

Experimental Measurement of Evaporation Residue (ER) Cross-Sections Using Heavy Ion Reaction Analyzer (HIRA)

R. Babu

1 and A. M. Vinaodkumar

2

1Department of Physics, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University

2Department of Physics, University of Calicut, India


Summary: ER cross-section measurements close to Coulomb barrier are important in understanding the possi-

ble formation of Super Heavy Elements (SHE). The cross-sections are sensitive to the form of nuclear potential

usually determined by the usual Standard Statistical Model (SSM). Extensive research has been going on all over

the world to understand the formation of SHE. Very little experimental data is available around nuclear mass

region 200 in this direction. As an attempt to make a systematic study of these processes, we have been trying to

produce several nuclei in this region by bombarding suitable targets with appropriate projectiles and in the pre-

sent proposal we will be using targets such as Ta, Pt, W with projectiles such as oxygen, sulphur, magnesium, etc.

with varying combinations of projectile-target masses.

86

Magnetic Materials with High Stability and Low Power for Random Access Memory Application

R. Sbiaa and S. Al-Harthi



Summary: Magnetic random access memory (MRAM) that can be stable, uses low power for writing the infor-

mation and scalable (can be used for many generations) are desirable. In this project, we will investigate new

structures which can provides high perpendicular magnetic anisotropy Ku and low damping constant α. The first

parameter is related to thermal stability of the recorded bit while the second one is related to the magnetization

dynamics which itself affects the writing current and scalability. A deep understanding of materials growth in

atomic level is necessary in order to optimize the crystallographic structure and intrinsic magnetic and electrical

properties. First, as materials of choice, Fe/Pt and Co/Pt superlattices will be studied with the objective to opti-

mize Ku to values larger than 6 ´ 106 erg/cm3. This value is larger than commonly used materials with Ku could not

exceed 3 ´ 106 erg/cm3. Secondly, a combination of superlattice with other ferromagnetic materials will be inves-

tigated for low α. These new materials are of great importance for future MRAM and other spintronic devices.

3. PUBLICATIONS & CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

3.1 JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS

1. Abed, R. M. M.; Al-Kharusi, S.; Prigent, S.; Headley, T. (2014). “Diversity, Distribution and Hydrocarbon Bio-

degradation Capabilities of Microbial Communities in Oil-Contaminated Cyanobacterial Mats from a Con-

structed Wetland,” PLoS One 9(12): e114570. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0114570.

2. Abed, R. M. M.; Polerecky, L.; Al-Habsi, A.; Oetjen, J.; Strous, M.; de Beer, D. (2014). “Rapid Recovery of

Cyanobacterial Pigments in Desiccated Biological Soil Crusts Following Addition of Water”, PLoS One 9(11):

e112372. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0112372.

3. Muthukrishnan, T.; Abed, R. M. M.; Dobretsov, S.; Kidd, B.; Finnie, A. A. (2014). “Long-Term Microbial Foul-

ing on Commercial Biocidal Fouling Control Coatings,” Biofouling, 30: 1155–1164.

4. Abed, R. M. M.; Al-Sabahi, J.; Al-Maqrashi, F.; Al-Habsi, A.; Al-Hinai, M. (2014). “Characterization of Hydro-

carbon-Degrading Bacteria Isolated from Oil Contaminated Sediments in the Sultanate of Oman and Evalua-

tion of Bioaugmentation and Biostimulation Approaches in Microcosm Experiment,” International Biodeteri-

oration & Biodegradation, 89: 58–66.

5. Adham, S. A.; Al Rawahi, H.; Habib, S.; Al Moundhri, M. S.; Viloria-Petit, A.; Coomber, B. L. (2014). “Modeling

of Hypo/Hyperglycemia and Their Impact on Breast Cancer Progression Related Molecules,” PLoS One 9:

e113103.

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6. Adham, S. A.; Al Harrasi, I.; Al Haddabi, I.; Al Rashdi, A.; Al Sinawi, S.; Al Maniri, A.; Ba-Omar, T., Coomber,

B.L. (2014). “Immunohistological Insight into the Correlation between Neuropilin-1 and Epithelial-

Mesenchymal Transition Markers in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer,” J Histochem. Cytochem. 62: 619–631.

7. Ali, B. H.; Al-Salam, S., Al Za'abi, M., Al Balushi, K. A.; Ramkumar, A.; Waly, M. I.; Yasin, J., Adham, S. A.,

Nemmar, A., (2014). “Does Swimming Exercise Affect Experimental Chronic Kidney Disease in Rats Treated

with Gum Acacia?” PLoS One, 9: e102528.

8. Manickavasagan, A.; Chandini, S. K.; Sivakumar, N.; Prathibha, R. (2014). “Effect of Dates on Fermentation of

Appam Batter,” Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology, 8: 305–311.

9. Al-Bahry S. N.; Mahmoud I. Y.; Al-Musharafi S. K.; Sivakumar, N. (2014). “Staphylococcus aureus Contamina-

tion During Food Preparation, Processing and Handling,” Int J Chem Eng Appl. 5: 388–392.

10. Al-Mukhaini, N.; Ba-Omar, T.; Eltayeb, E. A.; Al-Khayat Al-Shehi, A. (2014). “Determination of Heavy Metals

in the Common Smokeless Tobacco Afzal in Oman,” Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal, 13(3), 320–

327.

11. Al-Sinani, S. S.; Eltayeb, E. A. (2014). “Effect of Salinity on Solamargine and Solasonine Contents of Solanum

incanum Plants Grown in Oman,” Sultan Qaboos University Journal for Science, 19(2): 1–7.

12. Barry, M. J.; Roberts, D. M. (2014). “Indirect Interactions Limit the Efficiency of Odonata as Natural Control

Agents for Mosquito Larvae,” Journal of Insect Behaviour, 27: 626–638.

13. Barry, M. J. (2014). “The Energetic Costs of Foraging Explain Growth Anomalies in Tadpoles Exposed to

Predators,” Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 87:829–836.

14. Barry, M. J. (2014). “Fluoxetine Inhibits Predator Avoidance Response in Tadpoles,” Toxicological and Envi-

ronmental Chemistry, 96: 641–649.

15. Roberts, D. M. (2014). “Mosquito Larvae Change Their Feeding Behaviour in Response to Kairomones from

Some Predators,” Journal of Medical Entomology, 51: 368–374.

16. Roberts, D. M. (2014). “Rapid Habituation by Mosquito Larvae to Predator Kairomones”, Journal of Vector

Ecology, 39: 355-360.

17. Sajwani, A.; Farooq, S. A.; Bryant, V. M. (2014). “Studies of Bee Foraging Plants and Analysis of Pollen Pellets

from Hives in Oman,” Palynology, 38: 207–223.

18. Sivakumar, N. (2014). “Production of Microbial Lipase Enzyme,” International Journal of Advanced Research

in Biological Sciences, 1: 1–12.

19. Waly, M. I.; Al-Rawahi, A. S.; Al-Riyami, M.; Al-Kindi, M. A.; Al-Issaei, H. K.; Farooq, S. A.; Al-Alawi, A.; Rah-

man, M. S. (2014). “Amelioration of Azoxymethane Induced-Carcinogenesis by Reducing Oxidative Stress in

Rat Colon by Natural Extracts,” BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 14: 60 http://

www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/14/60.

88

1. Abou-Zied, O. K.; Sulaiman, S. A. J. (2014). “Site-Specific Recognition of Fluorescein by Human Serum Albu-

min: A Steady-State and Time-Resolved Spectroscopic Study,” Dyes and Pigments, 110: 89–96.

2. Abou-Zied, O. K.; Husband, J.; Al-Lawatia, N.; Steinbrecher, T. B. (2014). “Ground State Spectroscopy of Hy-

droxyquinolines: Evidence for the Formation of Protonated Species in Water-Rich Dioxane/Water Mixtures,”

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 16: 61–70.

3. Abou-Zied, O. K.; Al-Busaidi, B.; Husband, J. (2014). “Solvent Effect on Anthranilic Acid Spectroscopy,” Jour-

nal of Physical Chemistry A 2014, 18: 103–109.

4. Al-Faraji, S.; Al-Maamari, R. S.; Aoudia, M. (2014). “Sodium Alkyl Ether Sulfonates (SAES): Dual Anionic-

Nonionic Behavior in Synthetic Brine Having High Salinity and Hardness,” J Surfact Deterg, DOI 10.1007/

s11743-014-1593-2.

5. Al-Haddabi, B. A.; Aoudia, M. (2014). “Solubilization of Pyrene Using Dodecyl Ether Sulfates (CS130, CS230,

and CS330) and Polyethylene(23) Lauryl Ether (Brij 35) Mixed Micelles,” Colloids and Surfaces A: Physico-

chem. Eng. Aspects, 459: 82–89.

6. Al-Hinaai, M. S.; Al-Harthy S. H.; Khudaish E. A. (2014). “A Solid-State Sensor Poly(4-aminodiphenylamine):

Construction, Characterization and Environmental Applications,” SQU Journal for Science, 19: 43–53.

7. Al-Kindy, S. M. Z.; Al-Sinedi, A; Suliman, F. O.; Al-Lawati, H. (2014). “Determination of Amlodipine Using

Terbium Sensitized Luminescence in the Presence of Europium(III) as a Co-Luminescence Reagent,’’ Lumines-

cence Journal, 29: 657–662.

8. Al-Kindy, S. M. Z.; Al-Ghazali, A.; Suliman, F. O.; Al-Lawati, H. (2014). ‘’A Terbium Sensitized Luminescence

Method for the Assay of Flubiprofen in Pharmaceutical Formulations,’’ SQU Journal for Science, 19(1): 54–

63.

9. Al-Lawati, H. A. J.; Al-Nadabi, M. M.; Varma, G. B.; Suliman, F. O.; Al-Abri, H. (2014). “A lab-on-a-chip device

for analysis of amlodipine in biological fluids using peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence system,” Lumines-

cence, DOI: 10.1002/bio.2675.

10. Al-Lawati, H. A. J.; Kadavilpparampu, A. M.; Suliman, F. O. (2014). “Combination of capillary micellar liquid

chromatography with on-chip microfluidic chemiluminescence detection for direct analysis of buspirone in

human plasma,” Talanta, 27: 230

11. Al-Lawati, H. A. J.; Al Haddabi, B.; Suliman, F. O. (2014). “A novel microfluidic device for estimating the total

phenolic/antioxidant level in honey samples using a formaldehyde/potassium permanganate chemilumines-

cence system,” Analytical Methods, 6: 7243

12. Al-Mamari, H. H.; Diers, E.; Ackermann, L. (2014). “Triazole-Assisted Ruthenium-Catalyzed C-H Arylation of

Aromatic Amides,” Chem. Eur. J., 20: 9739–9743.

13. Al-Rasbi, N. K.; Adams, H.; Suliman, F. O. (2014). “Synthesis, structure and tunable white-light emission of

dinuclear Eu(III) Schiff base complex,” Dyes and Pigments, 104: 83–88.

14. Al Rasbi, N. K.; Adams, H.; Al Shabibi, I.; Al Amri, F. (2014). “Structure, aggregation and spectroscopic prop-

erties of self-assembled Zn(II) Schiff base complexes,” Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chem-

istry, 285: 37–43.

15. Al-Rasbi, N. K.; Al Wahaibi, B.; Al Nofali, N. (2014). “Synthesis and spectroscopic properties of a fluorosensor

for Zn2+ ions,” SQU Journal for Science, 19: 8–14.

16. Baqi, Y.; Alshaibani, S.; Ritter, K.; Abdelrahman, A.; Spinrath, A.; Kostenis, E.; Müller, C. E. (2014) “Improved

synthesis of 4-/6-substituted 2-carboxy-1H-indole-3-propionic acid derivatives and structure–activity rela-

tionships as GPR17 agonists,” MedChemComm, 5: 86–92.

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17. Cerri, S.; Levandis, G.; Ambrosi, G.; Montepeloso, E.; Antoninetti, G. F.; Franco, R.; Lanciego, J. L.; Baqi, Y.;

Müller, C. E.; Pinna, A.; Blandini, F.; Armentero, M. T. (2014). “Neuroprotective potential of adenosine A2A

and cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonists in an animal model of Parkinson disease,” J. Neuropathol. Exp.

Neurol. 73, 414–24.

18. El-Shafey, E.; Al-Lawati, H. A. J.; Al-Hussaini, A. Y. (2014). "Adsorption of fexofenadine and diphenhydramine

on dehydrated and activated carbons from date palm leaflets,” Chemistry and Ecology,

10.1080/02757540.2014.894986.

19. Gu, Q.; Al Mamari, H. H.; Graczyk, K.; Diers, E.; Ackermann, L. (2014) "Iron-Catalyzed C(sp2)-H and C(sp3)-H

Arylation by Triazole Assistance," Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 53: 3868–3871.

20. Hoffmann, K.; Lutz, D. A.; Straßburger, J.; Baqi, Y.; Müller, C. E.; von Kügelgen, I. (2014). “Competitive mode

and site of interaction of ticagrelor at the human platelet P2Y12-receptor,” J. Thromb. Haemost. 12: 1898–

1905.

21. Horváth, G.; Gölöncsér, F.; Csölle, C.; Király, K.; Andó, R. D.; Baranyi, M.; Koványi, B.; Máté, Z.; Hoffmann, K.;

Algaier, I.; Baqi, Y.; Müller, C. E.; Von Kügelgen, I.; Sperlágh, B. (2014).“Central P2Y12 receptor blockade alle-

viates inflammatory and neuropathic pain and cytokine production in rodents,” Neurobiol. Dis., 70C: 162–

178.

22. Jerónimo-Santos, A.; Batalha, V. L.; Müller, C. E.; Baqi, Y.; Sebastião, A. M.; Lopes, L. V.; Diógenes, M. J.

(2014). Impact of in vivo chronic blockade of adenosine A2A receptors on the BDNF-mediated facilitation of

LTP,” Neuropharmacology, 83: 99–106.

23. Khan, M. S.; Al-Rasbi N. K.; Constable, E. C. (2014). “Dioxygen Binding by Cobalt(II) Complexes, ” SQU Journal

for Science, 19(2): 21–28.

24. Khudaish E. A.; Al-Ajmi K. Y.; Al-Harthi S. H. (2014). “A solid-state sensor based on ruthenium(II) complex

immobilized on polytyramine film for the simultaneous determination of dopamine, ascorbic acid and uric

acid,” Thin Solid Film, 564: 390–396.

25. Khudaish E. A.; Al-Hinaai M. S.; Al-Harthy S. H; Laxman K. (2014). “Electrochemical oxidation of chlorphenira-

mine at polytyramine film doped with ruthenium(II) complex: Measurement, kinetic and thermodynamic

studies,” Electrochim. Acta, 135: 319–326.

26. Nunes, E. J.; Randall, P. A.; Estrada, A.; Epling, B.; Hart, E. E.; Lee, C. A.; Baqi, Y.; Müller, C. E.; Correa, M.;

Salamone, J. D. (2014). “Effort-related motivational effects of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 1-

beta: studies with the concurrent fixed ratio 5/ chow feeding choice task.” Psychopharmacology, 231: 727–

736.

27. Pinna, A.; Bonaventura, J.; Farré, D.; Sánchez, M.; Simola, N.; Mallol, J.; Lluís, C.; Costa, G.; Baqi, Y.; Müller,

C.E.; Cortés, A.; McCormick, P.; Canela, E.I.; Martínez-Pinilla, E.; Lanciegoc, J.L.; Casadó, V.; Armenterog, M.-

T.; Franco, R. (2014). “L-DOPA disrupts adenosine A2A–cannabinoid CB1–dopamine D2 receptor heteromer

cross-talk in the striatum of hemiparkinsonian rats: Biochemical and behavioral studies,” Exp. Neurol. 253:

180–191.

28. Qi, K.; Wang, Y.; Fu, J.; Selvaraj, R.; Wang, G. (2014), “Solution Phase synthesis and Morphology-Controlled

Mechanism of Flower-like Indium Sulfide Hierarchitectures,” Gaodeng Xuexiao Huaxue Xuebao, 35 (12):

2523–2528.

29. Randall, P. A.; Lee, C. A.; Nunes, E. J.; Yohn, S.E.; Nowak, V.; Khan, B.; Shah, P.; Pandit, S.; Vemuri, V. K.; Ma-

kriyannis, A.; Baqi, Y.; Müller, C. E.; Correa, M.; Salamone, J. D. (2014). “The VMAT-2 inhibitor tetrabenazine

affects effort-related decision making in a progressive ratio/chow feeding choice task: reversal with antide-

pressant drugs,” PLoS One, 9: e99320.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02757540.2014.894986

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02757540.2014.894986

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30. Rengaraj, S.; Qi, K.; Jeong, U.; Al-Kindy, S. M. Z.; Sillanpää, M.; Kim, Y.; Cheuk-Wai Tai. C.-W. (2014). ”A

simple Surfactant-free Solution Phase Synthesis of Flower-like In2S3 Hierarchitectures and their Photocata-

lytic Activity,” SQU Journal for Science, 19(2): 29–36.

31. Sassi, Y.; Ahles, A.; Truong, D.-J .J.; Hulot, J.-S.; Baqi, Y.; Lee, S.-Y.; Müller, C. E.; Husse, B.; Dendorfer, A.;

Laggerbauer, B.; Engelhardt, S. (2014). “Paracrine actions of the intracellular second messenger cAMP se-

creted from cardiac myocytes,” J. Clin. Invest., 124: 5385–5397.

32. Selvaraj, R.; Qi, K; Al-Kindy, S. M. Z.; Sillanpaeae, M.; Kim, Y.; Tai, C.-K. (2014). “Hydrothermal Route for

Preparation of HgS Nanoparticles and Photocatalytic Activity,” RSC Advances, 4(30): 15371–15376.

33. Selvaraj, R.; Al-Kindy, S. M. Z.; Silanpaa, M.; Kim, Y. (2014), “Nanotechnology in environmental remediation:

degradation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) over visible-light-active nanostructured materials,” Re-

views on Environmental Health, 29 (1-2): 109–112.

34. Shah, H. H.; Al-Balushi, R. A.; Al-Suti, M. K.; Khan, M. S.; Marken, F.; Sudlow, A. L.; Kociok-Kohn, G.; Woodall,

C. H.; Raithby, P. R.; Molloy, K. C. (2014). “New di-feroocenylethynylpyridinyl triphenylphosphne copper hal-

ide complexes and related di-ferrocenyl electro-crystallized materials,” Dalton Trans, 43: 9497–9507.

35. Shah, H. H.; Al-Balushi, R. A.; Khan, M. S.; (2014). “Ferrocenylethynyl – A Versatile Platform for New Mole-

cules to Novel Materials”, SQU Journal for Science, 19(1): 15–42.

36. Shongwe, M. S.; Al-Barhi, K. S.; Mikuriya, M.; Adams, H.; Morris, M. J.; Bill, E.; Molloy, K. C. (2014). “Tuning a

Single Ligand System to Stabilize Multiple Spin States of Manganese: A First Example of a Hydrazone-Based

Manganese(III) Spin-Crossover Complex,” Chemistry: A European Journal, 20: 9693–9701.

37. Sim, J. H.; Umh, H. N.; Shin, H. H.; Sung, H. K.; Oh, S. Y.; Lee, B.-C.; Selvaraj, R.; Kim, Y. (2014). “Regeneration

of Aged-AgNPs via Density Gradient Ultracentrifugal Nanoseparation,” Journal of Industrial and Engineering

Chemistry, 20: 3157–3162.

38. Sim, J. H.; Umh, H. N.; Shin, H. H.; Sung, H. K.; Oh, S. Y.; B. Lee, B.-C.; Rengaraj, S.; Kim, Y. (2014).

“Comparison of Adsorptive Features between Silver Ion and Silver Nanoparticles on Nanoporous Materials,”

Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 20: 2864–2869.

39. Suliman, F. O.; Al-Nafai, I. S.; Al-Busafi, S. N. (2014). “Synthesis and photohysical properties of aluminium

complexes of fluorophenyl-substituted 8-hydroxyquinoline,” Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and

Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 118: 66–72.

40. Zhang, Y.; Selvaraj, R.; Sillanpää, M.; Kim, Y.; Tai., C.-W. (2014). “Coprecipitates Synthesis of CaIn2O4 and its

Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue by Visible Light Irradiation,” Industrial & Engineering

Chemistry Research, 53: 11720–11726.

41. Zhang, Y.; Selvaraj, R.; Sillanpää, M.; Kim, Y.; Tai, C.-W. (2014). “The influence of Operating Parameters on

Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Mineralization of Phenol over BiPO4,” Chemical Engineering Journal, 245: 117

–123.

42. Zebisch, M.; Baqi, Y.; Schäfer, P.; Müller, C.E.; Sträter, N. (2014). “Crystal structure of NTPDase2 in complex

with the sulfoanthraquinone inhibitor PSB-071,” J. Struct. Biol., 185: 336–341.

91

1. Al-Badawi, M.; Al-Hamadani, A.; Baghdadi, Y. (2014). “A Comprehensive Evaluation of a Bitmapped XML

Update Handler,” International Journal on Advances in Internet Technologies, 7(1/2): 1–16.

2. Al-Khanjari, Z. (2014). “Proposing a Systematic Approach to Verify Software Requirements,” Journal of Soft-

ware Engineering and Applications, 7(4): 218–224.

3. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Alanee, A. (2014). “Developing Secured Interoperable Cloud Computing Services,” European

Scientific Journal, 10(24): 341–350.

4. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Alanee, A. (2014). “Testability of Information Leak in the Source Code for Independent Test

Organization by Using Back Propagation Algorithm,” European Scientific Journal, 3: 447–457.

5. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Al-Roshdi, Y. (2014). “Extending the Functionality of LMS to Support Computer Science Edu-

cation Using Plug-in Tools,” Journal of Emerging Technologies in Web Intelligence, 6(2): 220–225.

6. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Kutti, N. S. (2014). “Re-Engineering Learning Objects for Re-Purposing,” International Journal

of Engineering Research and Applications, 4(8): 103–111.

7. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Alanee, A.; Al-Hermizy, S. (2014). “A Proposed Security Architecture for Establishing Privacy

Domains in e-Health Cloud,” European Scientific Journal, 2: 322–330.

8. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Al-Hosni, N.; Kraiem, N. (2014). “Developing A Service Oriented e-Government Architecture

Towards Achieving E-Government Interoperability,” International Journal of Software Engineering and Its

Applications, 8(5): 29–42.

9. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Al-Kindi, K.; Al-Zidi, A.; Baghdadi, Y. (2014). “M-Learning: The New Horizon of Learning in

SQU,” The Journal of Engineering Research (TJER), SQU, 11(2): 14–25.

10. Al-Khanjari, Z. (2014). “Proposing a Systematic Approach to Verify Software Requirements,” Journal of Soft-

ware Engineering and Applications, 7(4): 218–224.

11. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Al-Hosni, N.; Kraiem, N.; Jamoussi, Y. (2014). “Developing E-Government Interoperability

Driven Methodology,” Journal of Emerging Technologies in Web Intelligence, 6(3): 318–323.

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CE

12. Al-Maqbali, H.; Day, K.; Ould-Khaoua, M.; Touzene, A.; Al-Zidi, N. (2014). “A grid-based manet routing proto-

col with simple cell-head election,” International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing, 7(2): 159–170.

13. Arafeh, B.; Day, K.; Touzene, A.; N. Alzidi, N. (2014). “Multipath Grid-Based Enabled Geographic Routing for

Wireless Sensor Networks,” Wireless Sensor Network, 6: 265–280.

14. Baghdadi, Y. (2014). “SOA Maturity Models: Guidance to Realize SOA,” International Journal of Computer

and Communication Engineering, 3(5): 372–378.

15. Baghdadi, Y. (2014). “A Multifaceted Web Services Architecture: Toward a Meta-Service Framework for Ser-

vice and Composition Development,” Journal of Computer and Information Science, 7(1): 172–185.

16. Baghdadi, Y. (2014). “Modeling Business Processes with Services: Towards Agile Enterprises,” International

Journal of Business Information Systems, 15(4): 410–433.

17. Bouzid, C.; Kraiem, N; Al-Khanjari, Z. (2014). “Towards a Dynamic Software Product Line: Analysis of the

Background and State of the Art,” International Journal of Research in Business and Technology, 4(2): 489–

501.

18. Jamoussi, Y.; Al-Khanjari, Z.; Kraiem, N. (2014). “A Framework to Evaluate E-learning Based on Social Net-

working,” International Journal of Current Research and Academic Review, 2(4): 26–42.

19. Kraiem, N.; Kaffela, H.; Dimassi, J.; Al-Khanjari, Z. (2014). “Mapping from MAP Models to BPMN Processes,”

Journal of Software Engineering, 8(4): 1–13.

20. Touzene, A. (2014). “A New Parallel Algorithm for Solving Large-scale Markov Chains,” The Journal of Super-

computing 67(1): 239–253.

http://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=KHm1DDEAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=KHm1DDEAAAAJ:NhqRSupF_l8C

http://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=KHm1DDEAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=KHm1DDEAAAAJ:NhqRSupF_l8C

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11227-013-0997-5

92

21. Touzene, A.; AlKhathiri, A. (2014). “Performance, Analysis of an Extended Grid Based Broadcast Algorithm in

Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks,” Wireless Networks, DOI: 10.1007/s11276-014-0809-8.

22. Touzene, A. (2014). “All-to-All Broadcast in Hexagonal Torus Networks On-Chip,” IEEE Transactions on Paral-

lel and Distributed Systems.

23. Touzene, A.; Day, K. (2014). “All-to-All Broadcasting in Torus Network on Chip,” The Journal of Engineering

Research, 11(2): 79–88.

24. Touzene, A.; Day, K. (2014). “On Directed Edge-Disjoint Spanning Trees in Product Networks, An Algorithmic

Approach,” The Journal of Engineering Research, 11(2): 79-88.

1. Abbasi, I. A.; Al-Harthy, A.; Al-Subhi, Y. K. (2014). “Late Cretaceous Sub-Marine Fan System in Batain Mé-

lange Zone, the Fayah Formation in Northeastern Oman,” SQU Journal for Science, 19: 62–71.

2. Al-Khirbash, S.; Semhi, K.; Richard, L.; Nasir, S.; Al-Harthy, A. (2014). “Rare Earth Element Mobility during

laterization of mafic rocks of the Oman Ophiolites,” Arabian Journal of Geoscience, DOI 10.1007/s12517-013

-1189-6.

3. Chandrasekaran, A.; Mukesh, M. V.; Chidambaram, S.; Singarasubramanian, S. R.; Rajendran, S.; Muthuku-

marasamy, R.; Tamilselvi, M. (2014). “Assessment of heavy metal distribution in the sediments of Tamiraba-

rani river and estuary, east coast of Tamil Nadu, India,” Environ Earth Sci., DOI 10.1007/s12665-014-3593-y.

4. Heikal, M. T. S.; Al-Khirbash, S.; Hassan A.; Al-Kotbah, A.; Al-Selwi, K. (2014). “Lithostratigraphy, deformation

history, and tectonic evolution of the basement rocks, Republic of Yemen: an overview,” Arabian Journal of

Geoscience 7: 2007–2018. (DOI 10.1007/s12517-013-0951-0).

5. Nayak, B.; Halbach, P.; Pracejus, B.; Münch, U. (2014). “Massive sulfides of Mount Jourdanne along the su-

per-slow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge and their genesis,” Ore Geology Reviews, 63: 115–128.

6. Rajendran. S.; Nasir, S. (2014). “Mapping of high pressure metamorphics in the As Sifah region, NE Oman

using ASTER data,” Advances in Space Research. DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2014.11.026.

7. Rajendran, S.; Nasir, S. (2014). “Recognition of minerals using multispectral remote sensing data: A case

study in Sultanate of Oman,” SQU Journal for Science, 19(2): 5–25.

8. Rajendran, S.; Nasir, S., Kusky, T. M.; Al-Khirbash, S. (2014). Remote sensing based approach for mapping of

CO2 sequestered regions in Semail Ophiolite Massifs of the Sultanate of Oman, Earth-Science Reviews, 135:

122–140.

9. Rajendran, S.; Nasir, S. (2014). “Hydrothermal altered serpentinized zone and a study of Ni-magnesioferrite-

magnetite-awaruite occurrences in Wadi Hibi, Northern Oman Mountain: discrimination through ASTER

mapping,” Ore Geology Reviews, 62: 211–226.

10. Rajendran, S.; Nasir, S. (2014). “ASTER Spectral Sensitivity of Carbonate Rocks - Study in Sultanate of

Oman,” Advances in Space Research, 53: 656–673.

11. Rajendran, S.; Nasir, S. (2014). “ASTER mapping of limestone formations and study of caves, springs and

depressions in parts of Sultanate of Oman,” Environ Earth Science, 71: 133-146.

12. Sanakaran, S.; Sundararajan, N. (2014). “Hydrogeological Investigations in some Selected Major Lakes: A

Case Study,” Journal of Geological Society of India, 84: 449-454.

13. Stern, R. J.; Minghua, R.; Kamal, A.; Safarjalani, A.; Nasir, S.; Whitehouse, M.; Leybourne, M. (2014). “~350

Ma Rift-related crust beneath southern Syria: Tales from Tell Thannoun,” Earth and Planetary Science

Letters, 393: 83–93.

14. Sundararajan, N.; Seshunarayana, T. (2014). “Surface wave studies for shear wave velocity and bedrock

depth estimation over basalts,” Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 7: 3791–3799.

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1. Ahmad, M. I.; Alsaadi M. K.; Almamari. (2014). “Statistical Models for Mobile Telephony Growth in Oman,”

Information management and Business Review, 6(3): 121–127.

2. Ahmad, M. I.; Altoobi A. I.; Alsaadi M.S. (2014). “Monitoring Air Quality by Statistical Control Charts,” J. Sci &

Technol MSU, 33(2).

3. Ahmed, B. S.; Morris, R. M.; Krishnan, E. V.; Leech, P. G. and Biswas, A. (2014). “Shock-waves and other solu-

tions to the Sharma-Tasso-Olver equation with Lie point symmetry and travelling-wave approach,” Applied

Mathematics and Information Sciences, 8: 2675–2681.

4. Ahmed, M.S., (2014). “Some improved estimators in double sampling using two auxiliary variables,” SQU

Journal for Science, 19(2): 97–100.

5. Alam, M. S.; Hossain, S. M. C.; Rahman, M. M. (2014). “Effects of temperature dependent fluid properties

and variable Prandtl number on the transient convective flow due to a porous rotating disk,” Meccanica, 49:

2439–2451.

6. Al-Baali, M. (2014). “Damped techniques for enforcing convergence of quasi-Newton methods,” Optimiza-

tion Methods and Software, 29: 919–936.

7. Al-Baali, M.; Grandinetti, L.; Pisacane, O. (2014). “Damped techniques for the limited memory BFGS Method

for large-scale optimization,” Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, 161: 688–699.

8. Al-Baali, M.; Narushima, Y.; Yabe, H. (2014). “A family of three-term conjugate gradient methods with suffi-

cient descent property for unconstrained optimization,” Computational Optimization and Applications, 60:

89–110.

9. Al-Baali, M.; Spedicato, E.; Maggioni, F. (2014). “Broyden's quasi-Newton methods for nonlinear system of

equations and unconstrained optimization: a review and open problems,” Optimization Methods and Soft-

ware, 29: 937–954.

10. Al-Dhamri, N. (2014). “Dualities for quasi-varieties of bands,” Semigroup Forum, 88: 417–432.

11. Al-Khaled, K.; Al-Safeen, M. (2014). “Homotopy Perturbation Method for Fractional Shallow Water Equa-

tions,” SQU Journal for Sciences, 19(1): 74–86.

12. Al-Khaled, K. (2014). Existence of solutions to nonlinear advection-diffusion equation applied to Burgers'

equation using sinc methods,” Applications of mathematics, 59(4): 441–452.

13. Al-Khaled, K. (2014). “Cardinal-Type Approximations for Conservation Laws of Mixed Type,” Nonlinear Stud-

ies, 21(3): 423–433.

14. Al-Khaled, K. (2014). “Sinc-Legendre Collocation Method for the Non-Linear Burgers' Fractional Equation”,

Annals of the University of Craiova-Mathematics and Computer Science Series, 41(2): 234–250.

15. Al-Kharousi, F.; Kehinde, R.; Umar, A. (2014). “Combinatorial results for certain semigroups of partial isom-

etries of a finite chain,” Australasian Journal of Combinatorics, 58(3): 365-375.

16. Al-Mashrafi, K. S; Eltayeb, I. A., (2014). “The Influence of Boundaries on the Stability of Compositional

Plumes,” Open Journal of Fluid Dynamics 4(01): 83.-

17. Al-Mashrafi, K. S, Eltayeb, I. A. (2014). “The Stability of a Rotating Cartesian Plume in the Presence of Verti-

cal Boundaries,” Open Journal of Fluid Dynamics 4(02): 207.

18. Al-Rawas, S. F.; Poothrikovil, R. P.; Abdelbasit, K. M.; Delamont, R. S., (2014). “The correlation between Elec-

troencephalography Amplitude and Interictal Abnormalities,” SQUMJ, 2014(4): 473–477.

19. Alsaedi A.; Alhothuali M. S.; Ahmad B., Kerbal S.; and Kirane M. (2014). “Nonlinear fractional differential

equations of Sobolev type,” Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences, 37: 2009–2016.

20. Al-Thihli, K.; Al-Murshedi, F.; Al-Hashmi N.; Islam, M. M.; Al-Yahyaee, S. A. (2014). “Consanguinity, Endoga-

my and Inborn Errors of Metabolism in Oman: A Cross Sectional Study,” Human Heredity, 77: 183–188.

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http://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=ycFW4t8AAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=ycFW4t8AAAAJ:JV2RwH3_ST0C

http://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=ycFW4t8AAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=ycFW4t8AAAAJ:JV2RwH3_ST0C

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http://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=ycFW4t8AAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=ycFW4t8AAAAJ:YFjsv_pBGBYC

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21. Berzig, M.; Chandok, S.; Khan, M. S., (2014). “Generalized Krasnoselskii fixed point theorem involving auxilia-

ry functions in bimetric spaces and application to two-point boundary value problem,” Applied Mathematics

Computation, 248: 323–327.

22. Boudellioua, M. S., (2014). “On the Decoupling of a Class of Linear Functional Systems", Applied Mathemati-

cal Sciences,” 8(35): 1747–1753.

23. Boudellioua, M. S., (2014). "Computation of a Canonical Form for Linear 2-D Systems", International Journal

of Computational Mathematics, ID 487465: 1–6.

24. Boulbrachene, M.; Al-Farei, Q. (2014). “Maximum norm error analysis of a nonmatching grids finite element

method for linear elliptic PDEs,” Applied Mathematics and Computation, 238, 21–29.

25. Chandok, S; Khan, M. S.; Abbas, M., (2014). “Common fixed-point theorems for non-linear weakly contrac-

tive mappings,” Ukrainian Mathematical Journal, 66: 594–601.

26. Chandok, S.; Karapinar, E.; Khan, M. S. (2014). “Existence and uniqueness of common coupled fixed point

results via auxiliary functions,” Bull. Iranian Math. Soc., 40: 199–215.

27. Chen, X.; Chentouf, B.; Wang, J. M. (2014). “Non-dissipative torque and shear force controls of a rotating

flexible structure,” SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization, 52: 3287–3311.

28. Chentouf, B. (2014). “Stabilization of the rotating disk-beam system with a delay term in boundary feed-

back,” Nonlinear Dynamics, 78: 2249–2259.

29. Chentouf, B. (2014). “On boundary stabilization of heat exchangers systems with non-smooth time-varying

coefficients,” Applied Math. Comput., 233: 398–403.

30. Choudhury, M. A.; Al-Muharrami, S.; Al-Gattoufi, S.; Ahmed, M. S. (2014). “A Circular Causation Model of the

Oil and Gas Sector Relative to the Non-Oil Sector in the Sultanate of Oman,” International Journal of Man-

agement Studies, 21(2)

31. Dinar, Y. I. (2014). “W-algebras and the equivalence of bihamiltonian, Drinfeld-Sokolov and Dirac reduc-

tions,” Journal of Geometry and Physics, 84: 30–42.

32. Eltayeb, I. A. and Elbashir, T. B. A. (2014). “The stability of two interacting compositional plumes under the

influence of inclined rotation,” Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn. 108: 437–462. (DOI:

10.1080/03091929.2013.879579).

33. Islam, M. M.; Bakheit, C. S. (2014). “Advanced Maternal Age and Risks for Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: A

Population-Based Study in Oman,” Health Care for Women International (Published online: DOI:

10.1080/07399332.2014.990560).

34. Islam, M. M. (2014). “Factors Influencing the Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students in Sultan

Qaboos University in Oman,” Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, 5(4):

396–404.

35. Islam, M. M. (2014). “Can maternal recalled birth size be used as a proxy measure of birth weight? An evalu-

ation based on a population health survey in Oman,” Maternal and Child Health Journal, 18: 1462–1470.

36. Jhade, P. K.; Khan, M. S. (2014). “Some coupled coincidence and common coupled fixed point theorems in

complex-valued metric spaces,” Facta Universitatis (NIS), 29: 385–395.

37. Khan, M. S.; Jhade, P. K. (2014). “PPF Dependent Fixed Point Theorem for Asymptotically Regular Non-self-

mappings in Razumikhin Class,” International Journal of Mathematical Analysis, 8: 2799–2807.

38. Makhmutov, S.; Makhmutova, M. (2014). “On p-Yosida Functions,” Complex Variables and Elliptic Equations,

59(12): 1696–1705.

39. Makhmutova, M.; Ibatullina, S.; Ibatullin, R. (2014). “A wider range of public services at the expense of opti-

mization models for waste management agriculture,” Vestnik UGATU, 18/66(5):105108.

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http://www.ams.org/mathscinet/search/journaldoc.html?cn=Appl_Math_Comput

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http://www.ams.org/mathscinet/search/journaldoc.html?cn=Bull_Iranian_Math_Soc

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95

40. Nafa, K. (2014). “Equal order approximations enriched with bubbles for coupled Stokes--Darcy problem,”

Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics, 270: 275–282.

41. Neethu, P.; Rakha, M. A., Rathie, A. K. (2014). “On Two Formulas Contiguous to a Transformation due to

Bailey,” Advances in Mathematics: Scientific Journal, 3(1): 1–7.

42. Purnama, A. (2014). “Effluent Discharges from Two Outfalls on a Sloping Beach,” Applied Mathematics, 5:

3117–3126.

43. Rahman, M. M.; Al-Mazroui, W. A.; Al-Hatmi, F. S., Al-Lawatia, M. A.; Eltayeb, I. A (2014). “The role of a con-

vective surface in models of the radiative heat transfer in nanofluids,” Nuclear Engineering and Design, 275:

382–392.

44. Rahman, M. M.; Al-Hatmi, F. S. (2014). “Hydromagnetic boundary layer flow and heat transfer characteris-

tics of a nanofluid over an inclined stretching surface in the presence of convective surface: a comprehen-

sive study,” SQU Journal for Science, 19(2): 53–76.

45. Rahman, M. M.; Rosca, A. V; Pop, I. (2014). “Boundary layer flow of a nanofluid past a permeable exponen-

tially shrinking surface with second order slip using Buongiorno’s model,” International Journal of Heat and

Mass Transfer, 77: 1133–1143.

46. Rahman, M. M.; Al-Mazroui, W. A.; Al-Hatmi, F. S.; Al-Lawati, M. A.; Eltayeb, I. A. (2014). “The role of a con-

vective surface in models of the radiative heat transfer in nanofluids,” Nuclear Engineering and Design, 275:

282–392.

47. Rahman, M. M.; Rosca, A. V; Pop, I. (2014). “Boundary layer flow of a nanofluid past a permeable exponen-

tially shrinking surface with convective boundary condition using Buongiorno’s model,” International Journal

of Numerical Methods in Heat and Fluid Flow, 25(2).

48. Rahman, M. M.; Pop, I. (2014). “Mixed convection boundary layer stagnation-point flow of a Jeffery fluid

past a permeable vertical flat plate,” Zeitschrift fuer Naturforschung A (ZNA), 69(a): 687–696.

49. Rakha, M. A.; Awad, M. M.; Rathie, A. K. (2014). “Extension of a Theorem due to Ramanujan”, Journal of

Interpolation and Approximation in Scientific Computing, Article ID jiasc-00072.

50. Rakha, M. A.; Rathie, A. K.; Ibrahim, A. K. (2014). “Generalization of A Transformation Formula due to Kum-

mer and Ramanujan with Applications,” Journal of Mathematics Research, 6(3): 62–80.

51. Rakha, M. A. and Rathie, A. K., (2014). “On an Extension of Kummer-Type II Transformation,” Turkic World

Mathematical Society Journal of Applied and Engineering Mathematics, 4(1): 88–85.

52. Saluja, A. S.; Khan, M. S.; Magarde, D.; Jhade, P. K. (2014). “Fixed Point Theorem for Weakly Contractive

Mapping on Generalized Soft Metric Spaces,” International Journal of Mathematical Analysis, 8: 2809–2825.

53. Sheremet, M. A.; Pop, I.; Rahman, M. M. (2014). “Three-dimensional natural convection in a porous enclo-

sure filled with a nanofluid using Buongiorno’s mathematical model,” International Journal of Heat and Mass

Transfer, 82: 396–405.

https://mail.squ.edu.om/owa/redir.aspx?C=qD5g1Ovm90Oo0qou-cqK97TvAGHQJtIIePcpPhmWSCRu5IGQPfHdia7ckQRQPux6O89-GNyBGUY.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.sciencedirect.com%2fscience%2fjournal%2f03770427%2f270%2fsupp%2fC

http://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=ycFW4t8AAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=ycFW4t8AAAAJ:O3NaXMp0MMsC

http://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=ycFW4t8AAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=ycFW4t8AAAAJ:O3NaXMp0MMsC


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1. Aleksic, J.; Bogosavljevic, M.; Ioannou, Z.; Mauche, C. W.; Palaiologou, E. V.; Perez-Torres, M. A.; Tuominen,

T. (2014). “MAGIC search for VHE γ-ray emission from AE Aquarii in a multiwavelength context,” Astronomy

& Astrophysics, 568: A109-A116.

2. Al-Harthi, S. H.; Widatallah, H. M.; Al-Hinai, A. T.; Elzain, M.E.; Nishiyama, H.; Myint, M. T. Z. (2014). “Copper

oxide nanorods assembly and their whisker transformation at liquid-liquid interface and on solid surfaces,”

Journal of Crystal Growth, 392: 41-48.

3. Arafin, S.; Rahman, S. M. M. (2014). “Velocity Profiles for Flow of Omani Crude Oils and Other Liquids,” SQU

Journal for Science, 19(1): 87-94.

4. Arafin, S.; Singh, R. N. (2014). “Melting curve of sodium at high pressure,” Appl. Phys. A, 117(3): 1055-1058.

5. Azri, M. A.; Bouziane, K.; Elzain, M.; Chérif, S.M.; Declémy, A.; Thomé, L.; Viret, M. (2014). “Annealing effect

on the structural and magnetic properties of MN-implanted 6H-SiC,” IEEE Trans. Magn., 50: 2401404 1-4.

6. Carboni C; Carboni D. G; Jozić, D; Bernstorff, S.; Rappolt M and Al-Mahrazi S. (2014). ”Synchrotron X-ray in-

vestigation of the layer spacing in a series of low molar mass bi-mesogen organosiloxane smectic materials,”

Phase Transitions, 87(8): 739-745.

7. Elzain, M.; Al-Harthi, S. H.; Gismelseed, A.; Al-Rawas, A.; Yousif, A.; Widatallah, H.; Al-Barwani, M. (2014).

“The magnetic and hyperfine properties of iron in silicon carbide,” Hyperfine Interactions, 226: 281-287.

8. Fleischer, K.; Verre R.; Mauit, O.; Sofin, R. G. S. ; Farrell, L.; Byrne, C.; Smith, C. M.; McGilp, J. F.; Shvets, I. V.

(2014). “Reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy of magnetite (110) surfaces,” Phys. Rev. B 89: 195118-1-

195118-9.

9. George, A. K.; Singh, R. N.; Abraham, R. T.; Arafin, S.; Al-Balushi, M. (2014). “Visco-elastic and Dielectric

Relaxation Studies of Crude Oil,” Petrol. Sci. Tech. 32: 889–896.

10. Gismelseed, A. M.; Mohammed, K. A.; Al-Rawas, A. D.; Yousif, A. A.; Widatallah, H. M.; Elzain, M. E. (2014).

“Structural and magnetic studies of the Zn-substituted magnesium ferrite chromate,” Hyperfine Interactions,

226: 57-63.

11. Gismelseed, A. M.; Abdu, Y. A.; Shaddad, M. H.; Verma, H. C.; Jenniskens, P. (2014). “Fe-bearing phases in a

ureilite fragment from the asteroid 2008 TC3 (Almahata Sitta meteorites): A combined Mössbauer spectros-

copy and X-ray diffraction study,” Journal of Meteoritic and Planetary Science, 49: 1485-1493.

12. Haider, A. F. M. Y.; Ullah M. H.; Khan, Z. H.; Kabir, F.; Abedin, K. M. (2014). “Detection of trace amount of

arsenic in groundwater by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and adsorption,” Optics & Laser Technolo-

gy, 56: 299-303.

13. Haider, A. F. M.; Ira, M.K.; Khan, Z. H; Abedin, K. M. (2014). “Radiative lifetime measurement of excited neu-

tral nitrogen atom by time resolved laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy,” Journal of Analytical Atomic

Spectrometry, 29: 1385-1392.

14. Haider, A. F. M.; Rahman, B.; Khan, Z. H.; Abedin, K. M. (2014). “Survey of the Water Bodies for Ecotoxic

Metals by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy,” Environmental Engineering Science, 32(4): 284-291.

15. Issac, A.; Hildner R.; Hippius C.; Würthner F.; Köhler J. (2014). “Step-wise decrease of fluorescence versus

sequential photobleaching in a single multichromophoric system,” ACS Nano, 8: 1708–1717.

16. Jithesh, V.; Misra; R.; Ravindranath, S.; Dewangan, G. C.; Shalima, P.; Jeena, K.; Ravikumar, C. D.; Babu, B. R.

S. (2014). "Long Term Optical variability of Bright X-ray point sources in Elliptical galaxies," Research in As-

tronomy & Astrophysics, 14: 1251-1263.

17. Khalafalla, M. A. H.; Mesli, A.; Widatallah, H. M. ; Sellai; A., Al-Harthi, S.; Al-Lawati, H. A. J.; Suliman, F. O.

(2014). “Size-dependent conductivity dispersion of gold nanoparticle colloids in a microchip: contactless

measurements,” Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 16: 2546.

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3.2 BOOKS AND BOOK CHAPTERS

1. Farooq, S. A.; Abed, R. M. M.; Baqir, S. (Editors). (2014). Biotechnology and Conservation of Species from

Arid Regions, Vol. I & Vol. II, Nova Science Publishers Inc., ISBN: 978-1-63117-869-6.

2. Al Bahry, S. N.; Sivakumar, N.; Al Musharafi, S. K. (2014). “Scope of Biotechnology in Oman”, in Biotechnolo-

gy and Conservation of Species from Arid Regions (Eds: Farooq, S. A.; Abed, R. M. M.; Baqir, S.), Nova Science

Publishers Inc., USA, pp. 3–22.

3. Al Dhafri, K. S.; Farooq, S. A.; Eltayeb, E. A.; Al-Bahry, S. N. (2014), “Antimicrobial Compounds from Ethano-

Medicinal Plants of Oman”, in Biotechnology and Conservation of Species from Arid Regions, (Eds: Farooq, S.

A.; Abed, R. M. M.; Baqir, S.), Nova Science Publishers Inc., USA, pp. 311–326.

4. Al-Sajwani, A., Farooq, S. A. (2014), “Determination of the Botanical and Geographical Origins of Honey in

Northern Oman”, in Biotechnology and Conservation of Species from Arid Regions (Eds: Farooq, S. A.; Abed,

R. M. M.; Baqir, S.), Nova Science Publishers Inc., USA, pp. 181–192.

3.2

.1 B

IOLO

GY

18. Koca, N. O.; Koca, M.; Koc, R. (2014). “12-fold Symmetric Quasicrystallography from the lattices F4, B6, and

E6,” Acta Crystallographica, A70: 605-615.

19. Koca, M.; Koca, N.O.; Koc, R. (2014). “Affine Coxeter Group Wa(A4), Quaternions and Decagonal Quasicrys-

tals,” International Journal of Geometric Methods in Modern Physics, 11(4): 1450031.

20. Koca, N. O.; Koca, M.; Al-Sawafi, M. (2014). “FCC, BCC and SC lattices derived from the Coxeter-Weyl groups

and quaternions,” SQU Journal for Science, 19 (1): 95-104.

21. Koca, N. O.; Koca, M.; Al-Sawafi, M. (2014). “Quasicrystals from higher dimensional lattices,” Symmetry:

Culture and Science, 25: 233-260.

22. Koca, N. (2014). “Regular and semi-regular polyhedra obtained from Coxeter groups and quaternions,” Sym-

metry: Culture and Science, 25: 211-232.

23. Ranjbar, M.; Sbiaa, R.; Dumas, R. K.; Åkerman, J.; Piramanayagam, S. N. (2014). “Spin reorientation via anti-

ferromagnetic coupling,” J. Appl. Phys., 115: 17C103-1–3.

24. Sbiaa, R. ; Piramanayagam, S. N. (2014). “Multi-level domain wall memory in constricted magnetic nan-

owires,” Appl. Phys. A, 114: 1347–1351.

25. Sbiaa, R. (2014). “Magnetization reversal driven by a spin torque oscillator,” Appl. Phys. Lett., 105: 92407-1–

3.

26. Sbiaa, R. (2014). “Magnetization reversal dependence on magnetic properties of a spin torque oscillator

with in-plane anisotropy free layer and orthogonal polarizer,” Curr. Appl. Phys., 14: 1521–1525.

27. Subrahmanyam, S. V.; Chalapathi, P.V.; Mahabaleshwara, S.; Srinivaslu, M.; George, A. K.; Potukuchi, D. M.

(2014). “Ferroelectric Response in a achiral non-symmetric bent liquid crystal: C12C10,” Physica B, 450: 173-

184.

28. Wahadoszamen, M.; Rahaman, A.; Hoque, N. M. R.; Talukder, A. I.; Abedin, K. M.; Haider, A. F. M. Y. (2014).

“Laser Raman Spectroscopy with Different Excitation Sources and Extension to Surface Enhanced Raman

Spectroscopy,” Journal of Spectroscopy (Article ID 895317), online, 2014.

29. Widatallah, H. M.; Al-Qayoudhi, M. S.; Gismelseed, A.; Al-Rawas, A.; Al-Harthi, S. H.; Khalafalla, M. E. H.;

Elzain, M.; Yousif, A.; Al-Omari, I. (2014). “Mechanosynthesis, magnetic and Mössbauer characterization of

pure and Ti4+-doped cubic phase BiFeO3 nanocrystalline particles,” Hyperfine Interactions, 226: 143–151.

98

5. Al Zadjali, A.; Al Bahry, S. N.; Sivakumar, N. (2014). “Microbial Cellulases and its Potential Applications in

Oman”, in Biotechnology and conservation of species from Arid Region (Eds: Farooq, S. A.; Abed, R. M. M.;

Baqir, S.), Nova Science Publishers Inc., USA, pp. 515–525.

6. Farooq, S. A., Al Rashdi, S. H.; Farook, T. T. (2014), “Biolistic Delivery of Plasmid DNA in Omani Date Palm” in

Biotechnology and Conservation of species from Arid Regions (Eds: Farooq, S. A.; Abed, R. M. M.; Baqir, S.),

Nova Science Publishers Inc., USA, pp. 237–240.Zair, A. I.; Al Shahrani, A. R.; Hussain, S.;

7. Farooq, S. A. (2014), “Distribution of Rh Blood Group in Tabuk, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” in Biotechnology

and Conservation of Species from Arid Regions (Eds: Farooq, S. A.; Abed, R. M. M.; Baqir, S.), Nova Science

Publishers Inc., USA, pp. 145–150.

1. Abbasi, I. A.; Hersi, O. S.; Al-Harthy, A. (2014). “Late Cretaceous Post-Obduction Conglomerates of the

Qahlah Formation, North Oman: Depositional System and Implications for Basin Configuration,” in Tectonic

Evolution of the Oman Mountains (Editors: Rollinson, H. R.; Searle, M. P.; Abbasi, I. A.; Al-Lazki, A.; Al Kindi,

M. H.), Geological Society London, Special Publication 392, London, pp. 325–341.

2. Hersi O. S., Abbasi, I. A., Al-Harthy, A., Cherchi, A., Schroeder, R. (2014). Stratigraphic evolution and deposi-

tional system of lower Cretaceous Qishn formation, Dhofar, Oman, in Tectonic Evolution of the Oman Moun-

tains (Editors: L Rollinson, H. R.; Searle, M. P.; Abbasi, I. A.; Al-Lazki, A.; Al Kindi, M. H.), Geological Society

London, Special Publication 392, London, 303–323.

3. Rollinson, H. R.; Searle, M. P.; Abbasi, I. A.; Al-Lazki, A. I.; Al Kindi, M. H. (2014). “Tectonic evolution of the

Oman Mountains: An Introduction,” in Tectonic Evolution of the Oman Mountains (Editors: Rollinson, H. R.;

Searle, M. P.; Abbasi, I. A., Al-Lazki, A.; Al Kindi, M. H.), Geological Society London, Special Publications 392,

London, pp. 1–7.

1. Al Kharousi, F. (2014). “Describing Quaternary Codes using Binary Codes”, LAP LAMBERT.

2. Boulbrachene, M. (2014). "Optimal L^{∞}- error estimate for a System of Elliptic Quasi -Variational Inequali-

ties with Non Coercive Operators,” in Advances in Applied Mathematics, Springer Series in Mathematics and

Statistics. ISBN 978-3-319-06922-7, pp. 89–96.

3. Heim, B.; Ibukiyama, T.; Al-Baali, M.; Rupp, F. (2014). Automorphic Forms: Research in Number Theory from

Oman, Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, Vol. 115, 242 pp.

4. Makhmutova M.; Ibatullina, S. (2014). Game theory, Bashkir Academy of Management and State Service,

Ufa, Russia, 30 pp.

5. Nadir, Z.; Ahmad, M. I. (2014). “RF Coverage and Pathloss Forecast Using Neural Network,” Advances in In-

telligent Systems and Computing, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, Volume 240, pp. 375–384.

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3.3 CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

1. Adham, S.; Al-Rawahi, H.; Al-Moundhri, M.; Viloria-Petit, A.; Coomber, B. L., “In vitro modeling of hyper/

hypoglycemia and their effect on the molecular profile of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells,” Mechanisms &

Models of Cancer, New York, USA, 12–16 August, 2014.

2. Adham, S. A.; Al Harrasi, I.; Al Haddabi, I.; Al Rashdi, A.; Coomber, B. L., “NRP-1 and its relationship with EMT

markers in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer,” Mechanisms & Models of Cancer New York, USA, 12–16 August, 2014.

3. Al-Farsi, A. H.; Sulaiman, H.; Al-Reasi, H.A., “Metal Transfer from Marine Coastal Sediment to Food Chain:

Evaluating Strombus (Conomurex) persicus for Monitoring Metal Bioaccumulation,” 5th International Confer-

ence On Sustainable Future for Human Security, SustaiN 2014, Bali, Indonesia, 19–21 November, 2014.

4. Barry, M. J., “Contrasting responses of fish and tadpoles to fluoxetine,” Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting,

Portland, Oregon, USA, 17–21 May, 2014.

5. Barry, M. J., “The energetic costs of foraging explain growth anomalies in tadpoles exposed to predators,”

99th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Sacramento, USA, 10–15 August, 2014.

6. Roberts, D. M., “Response of mosquito larvae to predator kairomones and habituation of this response,”

10th International Congress of Entomology, York, UK, 3–8 August, 2014.

7. Shaarika, S.; Sivakumar, N., “Biosynthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles produced by Bacillus

licheniformis,” 4th International Conference on Environment and BioScience (ICEBS 2014), Jinju, South Korea,

8–9 October, 2014.

8. Yaish, M. W; Al Harrasi, I.; Adham, S. A., “Epigenetic Profiling of the Methylation pattern of NRP-1 Promotor

in two Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines in Normaxia and Hypoglycemia,” Mechanisms & Models of Cancer, New

York, USA, 12–16 August, 2014.

1. Abou-Zied, O. K., “Characterization of the warfarin drug-binding site of human serum albumin using fluores-

cent probes,” 1st International Caparica Conference on Chromogenic and Emissive Materials, Costa de Capa-

rica, Portugal, 8–11 September, 2014.

2. Al-Balushi, R. A.; Shah H. H.; Khan, M. S., Al-Towaiq, M., “Novel Photo-active Poly-ynes and Poly(Metalla-

ynes)”, The 3trd European Symposium of Photopolymer Science, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna,

Austria, 9–12 September, 2014.

3. Al-Hinaai, M.; Khudaish, E. A. “A solid-state sensor based on tris(2,2’-bipyridyl)-ruthenium(II)/Polytyramine

modified electrode: Characterization and application for chlorpheniramine maleate analysis,” Pure and Ap-

plied Chemistry International Conference, Khon Kaen, Thailand, 8–10 January, 2014.

4. Al-Hinaai, M.; Khudaish E. A., “Electrochemiluminescence sensor based on tris(2,2’-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II)/

poly(AHNSA) for chlorpheniramine analysis,” The 18th International Symposium on Bioluminescence and

Chemiluminescence, Uppsala, Sweden, 23–28 June, 2014.

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5. Al-Kindy, S. M. Z.; Varghese, B.; Al-Busafi, S.; Suliman, F. O., “Synthesis, Spectroscopic Characterization and

Photophysics of a Novel Environmentally Sensitive Dye 3-Naphthyl-1-phenyl-5-(4-carboxyphenyl)-2-

pyrazoline,” XVI International Symposium on Luminescence Spectrometry Fundamentals and Application

(ISLS), Rhodes, Greece, 24–27 September, 2014.

6. Al Lawati, H. A. J.; Kadavilpparampu, A. M.; Suliman F. O., “Achieving ‘green’separation and sensitive detec-

tion through micellar-microbore sytems with microfluidic - chemiluminescence detector,’ Analytix, Dalian,

China, 25 April, 2014.

7. Al Mamari, H. H.; Ackermann, L., “Triazole-Assisted Ruthenium-Catalyzed C-H Arylation of Aromatic Amides,”

The 8th Asian-European Symposium on Metal-Mediated Efficient Organic Synthesis, Çeşme-Izmir, Turkey, 7–

10 September, 2014.

8. Aoudia, M.; Al-Faraji, S.; Al-Maamari, S. R., “AES-AE Mixed Micelles in High Salinity and Hardness: Dual AES

Clear Point-Cloud Point Solubilization Behavior,” 20th International on Surfactants in Solution, Coimbra, Por-

tugal, 22–27 June, 2014.

9. Aoudia, M.; Al-Faraji, S.; Al-Maamari, S. R., “Alkyl Ether Sulfonates for EOR in High Salinity reservoirs: Evi-

dence for Dual Anionic-Nonionic Solubilization Behavior,” Petroleum Industry and Environment, Kuwait, 9–

11 March, 2014.

10. Aoudia, M., Al-Faraji, S.; Al-Maamari, S. R., “Enhanced oil Recovery by Chemical Flooding: An Overview,” The

7th International Symposium on Hydrocarbons and Chemistry (ISHC7), Boumerdes, Algeria, 5–7 May, 2014.

11. Brückner, M.; Schnaars, M.; Baqi, Y.; Müller, C. E.; Halle, A., “Microglia purinergic receptors in Alzheimer’s

disease,” Purines 2014: Nucleotides, Nucleosides and Nucleobases International Conference on Signalling,

Drugs and Targets, Bonn, Germany, 23–27 July, 2014.

12. Hadji, M.; Aoudia, M., “Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer Formulation Design : A Case Study”, 1er Collogue Interna-

tional sur les Hydrocarbures, Energies et Environment”, University Kasdi Merbah, Ouargla, Algeria, 23–24

November, 2014.

13. Khan, M. S., “Structure-Property Relationships in Poly(Metalla-ynes),” The 3trd European Symposium of Pho-

topolymer Science, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria, 9–12 September, 2014.

14. Khan, M. S.; Al-Balushi, R. A.; Shah H. H., “Electrochemistry of covalently connected bis(ferrocenylethynyl)s

and coordination-driven self-assembled multi-ferrocenyl and multi-ferricenyl materials,” Electrochem. 2014:

Electrochemical Horizon, University of Loughborough, UK, 7–9 September, 2014.

15. Khan, M. S.; Al-Balushi, R. A.; Shah H. H., “Facile eletro-crystallization of ferrricenyl materials from coordi-

nation-driven self-assembled ferrocenyls,” Electrochem. 2014: Electrochemical Horizon, University of Lough-

borough, UK, September 7–9, 2014.

16. Khudaish, E. A.; Al-Hinaai M. S.; Al-Harthy S. H.; Laxman, K. “A solid-state sensor based on electrochemical

polymerization of polytyramine film doped with ruthenium (II) complex: Characterization and applications,”

10th International IUPAC Conference on Polymer-solvent Complexes and Intercalates, Salerno, Italy, 22–25

September, 2014.

17. Malik, E. M.; Baqi, Y.; Fiene, A.; Lecka, J.; Sévigny, J.; Müller, C. E., “Design, synthesis and structure-activity

relationship of anthraquinone derivatives as NTPDase3 inhibitors,” Purines 2014: Nucleotides, Nucleosides

and Nucleobases International Conference on Signalling, Drugs and Targets, Bonn, Germany, 23–27 July,

2014.

18. Pillaiyar, T.; Baqi, Y.; Alshaibani, S.; Abdelrahman, A.; Namasivayam, V.; Kostenis, E.; Müller, C. E., “Design,

synthesis and structure-activity relationship studies of 4/6-substituted 2-carboxy-1H-indole-3-propionic acid

derivatives as GPR17 agonists,” Purines 2014: Nucleotides, Nucleosides and Nucleobases International Con-

ference on Signalling, Drugs and Targets, Bonn, Germany, 23–27 July, 2014.

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19. Rafehi, M.; Baqi, Y.; Malik, E. M.; Müller, C. E., “Anthraquinone derivatives as potent and selective P2Y4 re-

ceptor antagonists,” Purines 2014: Nucleotides, Nucleosides and Nucleobases International Conference on

Signalling, Drugs and Targets, Bonn, Germany, 23–27 July, 2014.

20. Selvaraj, R.; Al-Kindy,, S. M. Z.; Al Fahdi, T.; Al Nofli, K.; Al Maadi, I.; Kim, Y., “Highly efficient photo catalytic

reduction of Cr(VI) over hierarchical like In2S3 hollow microspheres,” The 2014 world congress on Advances

in civil , environmental, metals research (ACEM 14), Busan, South Korea, 24–28 August, 2014.

21. Shongwe, M. S., “Iron(III)-Hydrazone Spin-Crossover Molecular Materials,” 41st International Conference on

Coordination Chemistry (ICCC-41), Singapore, 21–25 July, 2014.

22. Spanier, C.; Baqi, Y.; Malik, E. M.; Hausmann, R.; Müller, C. E., “Structure-activity relationships of anthraqui-

none derivatives as modulators of P2X3 receptors,” Purines 2014: Nucleotides, Nucleosides and Nucleobases

International Conference on Signalling, Drugs and Targets, Bonn, Germany, 23–27 July, 2014.

23. Zoghaib, W. M.; Carboni, C.; Al-Rawahi, J.; Al-Rubaiai, F., Al-Balushi, H., “Novel Fluorinated Ferroelectric Or-

ganosiloxane Liquid Crystals. Straight vs. Bifurcated Tail Monomesogens,”25th International Liquid Crystal

Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 30 June–5 July, 2014.

1. Abdesselam, A., TRC-Sponsored Workshop on Digital Image Processing and Its Applications, College of Ap-

plied Science, Sohar, Oman, 10–12 February, 2014.

2. Ahmad, N.; Lu, J.; Dweib, I., “Effects of the Podcast as a Communication Tool on the Elicitation of Tacit

Knowledge on Interview Techniques for Small Software Developments,” in Proceedings of the 2nd Interna-

tional Conference on Applied Information and Communication Technology (ICAICT), Middle East College,

Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, 28–29 April, 2014.

3. Leuschner, A. C.; Mattern, F.; van Gasselt, S., “Typology of Fan Delta Morphologies at Lake Baikal, Siberia,”

European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 27 April–2 May, 2014.

4. Aissa, M.; Arafeh, B.; Henchiri, M., “Safe Clustering Algorithm in Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks,” The 15th Inter-

national Arab Conference on Information Technology (ACIT'2014), University of Nizwa, Nizwa, Oman, 9–11

December, 2014.

5. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Alanee, A., “Developing Secured Interoperable Cloud Computing Services,” Proceedings of

The European Interdisciplinary Forum (EIF2014), Vilnius, 18–19 June, 2014.

6. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Alanee, A., “Testability of Information Leak in the Source Code for Independent Test Organi-

zation by Using Back Propagation Algorithm,” The Proceedings of The 2nd Annual International Interdiscipli-

nary Conference 2014 (AIIC 2014), Azores, Portugal, 8–12 July, 2014.

7. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Alanee, A.; Al-Hermizy, S., “Proposed Security Architecture for Establishing Privacy Domains

in e-Health Cloud,” Proceedings of The 1st Mediterranean Interdisciplinary Forum on Social Sciences and Hu-

manities (MIFS 2014), Beirut, Lebanon, 23–26 April, 2014.

8. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Nayyef , A. A.; Sally Al-Hermizy, S., “A Proposed Security Architecture for Establishing Privacy

Domains in Systems of e-Health Cloud,” European Scientific 1st Mediterranean Interdisciplinary Forum on

Social Sciences and Humanities, Beirut, Lebanon, 23–26 April, 2014.

9. Al-Khanjari, Z.; Nayyef, A. A., “Developing Secured Interoperable Cloud Computing Services: Drivers for pro-

gress in the global society,” International Scientific Forum, Vilnius, Lithuania, 18–18 June, 2014.

10. Al-Salti, F.; Alzeidi, N.; Arafeh, B., “A New Multipath Grid-Based Geographic Routing Protocol for Underwater

Wireless Sensor Networks.” Proceedings of the International Conference on Cyber-enabled Distributed Com-

puting and Knowledge Discovery (CyberC 2014), Shanghai, China, 10–12 October, 2014.

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11. Boutheina, G.; Baghdadi, Y.; Kraiem, N., “Toward a guidance framework for Service Oriented method engi-

neering”, the Computer Applications and Information Systems (WCCAIS), 2014 World Congress, Tunisia, 17–

19 January, 2014.

12. Gherib, B.; Baghdadi, Y.; Kraiem, N., “Toward a Guidance Framework for Service Oriented Method Engineer-

ing,” in Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Computer Information Systems.

13. Jamoussi, Y.; Coulette, B.; Mahmoud, N., “CSP Track Report”. 24th IEEE International Conference on Enabling

Technologies: Infrastructure for Collaborative Enterprises (Wetice’2014), Parma, Italy, 23–25 June, 2014.

14. Touzene, A.; Al-Yahyai, I., “Performance Analysis of a Grid-Based Route Discovery in AODV Routing Algo-

rithm for MANET,” in Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Modeling and

Simulations (AIMS2014), Madrid, Spain, November, 2014.

1. Abbasi, I. A., “Late Cretaceous post-obduction siliciclastic sediments of Oman Mountains, north Oman,” In-

ternational Conference on Earth Science, National Center of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar,

Peshawar, 29–31 August, 2014.

2. Bernecker, M.; Mattern, F., “Sedimentation on the Eocene Arabian Carbonate Platform: Outcrop studies

from Central Oman,” 19th International Sedimentological Congress, Geneva, Switzerland, 18–22 August,

2014.

3. Leuschner, A. C.; Mattern, F.; van Gasselt, S., “Typology of Fan Delta Morphologies at Lake Baikal, Siberia,”

European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 27 April–2 May, 2014.

4. Leuschner, A. C., Mattern, F., van Gasselt, S., “Morphometric Analysis of Lake Baikal Fan Deltas Aspects of

Sediment-Transport and Deposition,” GeoFrankfurt (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt), Frankfurt, Germany, 21–

24 September, 2014.

5. Vasudha, N., Sundararajan, N., “Detection of T-Wave Alternans in ECGs by Wavelet Analysis,” 2nd Interna-

tional Conference on Nanomaterials and Technologies, Hyderabad, India, 17–18 October, 2014.

6. Vasudha, N., Sundararajan, N., “Early detection of ischemia from ECG by Wavelet analysis,” IEEE sponsored

International Conference on Communication and Computation Technologies, Hyderabad, India, 11–13 De-

1. Ahmad, M. I., “Comparison of growth models,” 2nd International Conference on Economics and Social Scienc-

es (ICESS-2014), Bangkok, Thailand, 1–2 February, 2014.

2. Ahmed, M. S., “Class of estimator for finite population variance under two-phase sampling,” 11th Interna-

tional Conference Ordered Statistical Data, The Mathematical Research and Conference Center, Institute of

Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland, 2–6 June, 2014.

3. Al-Baali, M., “New damped-Broyden methods for unconstrained optimization,” ICM Satellite Fourth Asian

Conference on Nonlinear Analysis and Optimization (NAO-Asia), Taipei, Taiwan, 5–9 August, 2014.

4. Al Ghassani, A., “Enhancing the blended learning experience of Math2107 students poster,” International

Congress of Mathematicians, Seoul, Korea, 13–21 August, 2014.

5. Al-Hatmi, M. M.; Rahman, M. M., “Convective heat transfer in nanofluids,” 3rd International Conference on

Numerical Analysis and Optimization, Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman, 5–9 January, 2014.

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http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/search/searchresult.jsp?searchWithin=p_Authors:.QT.Boutheina,%20G..QT.&newsearch=true

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/search/searchresult.jsp?searchWithin=p_Authors:.QT.Baghdadi,%20Y..QT.&newsearch=true

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/search/searchresult.jsp?searchWithin=p_Authors:.QT.Kraiem,%20N..QT.&newsearch=true

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6. Al-Khaled, K., “Convergence of Sinc Methods Applied to Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation,” International con-

ference on Mathematical, Computational and Statistical Sciences and Engineering, Singapore, 11–12 Sep-

tember, 2014.

7. Al-Khaled, K., “Cardinal-type approximations for conservation laws of mixed type” 3rd international confer-

ence on numerical analysis and optimization, Muscat, Oman, 5–9 January, 2014.

8. Anchouche, B., “Symmetric spaces, spherical functions, and convolution of orbital measures,” The 3rd Abu

Dhabi University Annual International Conference: Mathematical Science & its Applications, Abu Dhabi, UAE,

27–30 December, 2014.

9. Anchouche, B., “Orbital Measures on SU(n)/SO(n),” The 8th Australia New Zealand Mathematics Conven-

tion, satellite workshop Differential Geometry, Complex Analysis and Lie Theory, Latrobe University, Austral-

ia, 5–7 December, 2014.

10. Balakrishnan, E., “Critical numbers in the theory of thermal ignition,” The Fourth Asian Conference on Non-

linear Analysis and Optimization, Taipei, Taiwan, 5–9 August 2014.

11. Boudellioua, M. S., “Reduction of Roesser’s 2-D Linear Discrete Systems using Symbolic Computation,”

Meetings on Computer Algebra and Applications (EACA), Barcelona, Spain, 2014.

12. Boulbrachene, M., Harbi, A., “Maximum Norm Analysis of a Nonmatching Grid Method for Semi linear el-

leiptic variational inequalities,” International Conference on Recent Advances in Pure and Applied Mathe-

matics, Antalya, Turkey, 6–9 November, 2014.

13. Chen, X.; Chentouf, B.; Wang, J. M., “Stabilization of a rotating flexible structure with shear force feedback

controls,” 21st International symposium on mathematical theory of networks and systems, Groninger, The

Netherlands, 7–11 July, 2014.

14. Dinar, Y. I. “Algebraic Frobenius manifolds, classical W-algebras and semiuniversal deformation of simple

singularties, ” Fifth International Conference and School Geometry, Dynamics, Integrable Systems – GDIS

2014, Italy, 16–27 June, 2014.

15. Dinar, Y. I. “Algebraic Frobenius manifolds, classical W-algebras and deformation of simple singularities,”

International Congress of Mathematicians, Korea, 9–21 August, 2014.

16. Dinar, Y. I. “The equivalence of Drinfeld-Sokolov, bihamiltonian and Dirac reductions,” 30th International

Colloquium on Group Theoretical Methods in Physics, Belgium, 14–18 July, 2014.

17. Elmojtaba, I. M., “The effect of climate changes on the dynamics of vector-borne diseases,” Hum-

boldt Colloquium: The Power of Excellence in Science – Enhancing Academia Capacities in Africa, Nairobi,

Kenya, 6–8 March, 2014.

18. Gupta, S., “The smoothness of convolutions of zonal measures on compact symmetric spaces,” International

Congress in Honour of Professor Ravi P. Agarwal, Uludag University, Bursa,Turkey, 23–26 June, 2014.

19. Islam, M. M., Dorvlo, A. S. S., “Recent Fertility Decline in Oman: Understanding Socio-economic, Demo-

graphic and Proximate Determinants,” Annual Meeting of Population Association of America (PAA), Boston,

USA, 1–3 May, 2014.

20. Islam, M. M., “An evaluation of use of maternal recalled birth size as a proxy measure of birth weight,” An-

nual Meeting of Population Association of America (PAA), Boston, USA, 1–3 May, 2014.

21. Karaa, S., “Stability and Accuracy of Time-Stepping Schemes for a Second-Order Wave Equation,” Interna-

tional Conference on Recent Advances in Pure and Applied Mathematics (ICRAPAM 2014), Antalya, Turkey, 6

–9 November, 2014.

22. Khan, M. S., “On Presic Type Fixed Point Theorems,” International Conference on Mathematics and Statis-

tics, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 29–30 August, 2014.

http://purebyteslab.com/workshop/

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23. Khan, Q. J. A., “A Predator-prey Model with Fatal Disease in the Prey,” 2nd International Conference on Ad-

vances in Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics, 4–5 May, Istanbul, Turkey, 2014.

24. Krishnan, E.V., Mapping methods to solve a modified Korteweg-de Vries type equation," London, United

Kingdom, 24–25 October, 2014.

25. Makhmutova, M.; Ibatullina, S.; Ibatullin, R., “On optimization model for the waste management,” The Third

International Conference on Numerical Analysis and Optimization, SQU, Muscat, Oman, 5–9 January, 2014.

26. Makhmutova, M.; Ibatullina, S.; Ibatullin, R., “Extension of the public services due to optimization models of

waste management in agriculture,” The 2nd International Conference on Information Technologies for Intelli-

gent Decision Making Support & International Workshop on Robots and Robotic System (ITIDS+RRS2014),

Ufa, Russia, 18–21 May, 2014.

27. Nafa, K., “Stabilized Finite Elements for Stokes-Darcy Problems,” 4th European Seminar on Computing (ESCO

2014), Pilsen, Czech Republic, 15–20 June, 2014.

28. Purnama, A., “Environmental Quality Standard for Brine Discharge from Desalination Plants,” International

Conference on Desalination, Environment and Marine Outfall Systems (ICDEMOS), Muscat, Oman, 13–16

April, 2014.

29. Purnama, A., “Modeling Effluent Discharge Plumes on a Sloping Beach using the Solutions of Advection

Diffusion Equation with Multiple point Sources,” International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM 2014),

Seoul, Korea, 13–21 August, 2014.

30. Rahman, M. M.; Pop, I., “Unsteady boundary layer flow and heat transfer over a permeable shrinking sheet

with non-uniform heat source,” 19th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference, RMIT University, Melbourne,

Australia, 8–11 December, 2014.

31. Rahman, M. M., “Heat transfer characteristics of a nanofluid over a permeable exponentially shrinking/

stretching surface with convective surface condition,” 3rd International Conference on Numerical Analysis

and Optimization, Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman, 5–9 January, 2014.

32. Rakha, M. A., “On a new hypergeometric identity deducible by using Beta integral method,” International

Conference on Advances in Applied Science and Environmental Engineering, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2–3

August, 2014.

33. Wanjala, G., “Sectorial Linear Relations and Associated Multi-Valued Linear Forms,” 25th International Work-

shop on Operator Theory and its Applications (IWOTA 2014), VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 14

–18 July, 2014.

34. Ziad, M., “Solving Differential Equations by Spacetime Symmetries,” International Conference on Symme-

tries, Differential Equations and Applications, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pa-

kistan, 27–30 January, 2014.

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1. Arafin, S.; Singh, R.N., “A Correlation between Specific Heat Capacity, Grüneisen Parameter and Phase

changes within 400–700 km of the Earth,” Goldschmidt Conference, Sacramento, USA, 8–13 June, 2014.

2. Gismelseed, M., “Spectroscopic Studies of the Fe-Phases in Almahatta Sitta: A meteorite coming from the

TC3 Asteroid,” International Conference on Spectroscopy and Applications, Hammamaet, Tunisia, 2–4 May,

2014.

3. Issac A.; Hildner R.; Hippius C.; Würthner F.; Köhler J., “Energy Transfer and Blinking Dynamics in Single Mul-

tichromophoric Assemblies,” Solar Technologies Go Hybrid Workshop, Wildbad Kreuth, Germany, 27–30

April, 2014.

4. Koca, N. O., Koca, M., “h-fold Symmetric Quasicrystallography from the Coxeter groups,” The XXIInd Interna-

tional Colloquium on Integrable Systems (ISQS-22), Prague, Czech Republic, 22–29 June, 2014.

5. Koca, M., Koca, N. O., “Quasicrystallography from Bn lattices,” The XXIInd International Colloquium on Inte-

grable Systems (ISQS-22), Prague, Czech Republic, 22–29 June, 2014.

6. Laveen, P. V.; Prasad, E.; Varier, K. M.; Thomas, R. G.; Vinodkumar, A. M.; Appannababu, S.; Sugathan, P.;

Golda, K. S.; Babu, B. R. S.; Saxena, A.; John, B. V.; Kailas, S., “Fission fragment angular distribution measure-

ment in 18O + 194Pt reaction,” Annual DAE Nuclear symposium, Govt. of India, December, 2014.

7. Ramos, R.; Anadón, A.; Lucas, I.; Farrell, L.; Aguirre, M. H.; Sofin, R. G. S.; Shvets, I. V.; Algarabel, P. A.; Morel-

lón, L.; Ibarra, M. R., “Influence of the substrate on the anomalous Nernst effect of magnetite thin films,”

Materials Research Society (MRS) Spring Meeting, San Francisco, California, USA, 21–25 April, 2014.

8. Sbiaa, R.; Ranjbar, M.; Akerman, J., “Domain Structures and Magnetization Reversal in Co/Pd and CoFeB/Pd

Multilayers,” 59th Conference on Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, Honolulu, USA, 4–8 November, 2014.

9. Sellai, A., "Analyses of Forward and Reverse Current in a Schottky Diode with InAs Self-assembled Quantum

Dots Embedded in GaAs," The 3rd International Conference on Nanostructures, Nanomaterials and Nanoen-

gineering (ICNNN 2014), Hong Kong, 26–28 December, 2014.

10. Shamlath, A.; Prasad, E., Shareef, M.; Thomas, R.G.; Sugathan, P.; Jhingan, A.; Appannababu, S, Varier, K. M.,

Vindokumar, A. M., Babu, B. R. S., Mohanto, G., Mukul, I., Yadav, C., Singh, D., Kailas, S., Nasirov, A. K.,

"Quasi_ssion in reactions forming 210Rn Nucleus," Annual DAE Nuclear symposium, Govt. of India, December,

2014.

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https://www.researchgate.net/researcher/2053214653_A_Anadon

https://www.researchgate.net/researcher/2004026358_I_Lucas

https://www.researchgate.net/researcher/2054260904_L_Farrell

https://www.researchgate.net/researcher/18648495_M_H_Aguirre

https://www.researchgate.net/researcher/32181264_R_G_S_Sofin

https://www.researchgate.net/researcher/34260078_I_V_Shvets

https://www.researchgate.net/researcher/10931890_P_A_Algarabel

https://www.researchgate.net/researcher/7644610_L_Morellon

https://www.researchgate.net/researcher/7644610_L_Morellon

https://www.researchgate.net/researcher/20340293_M_R_Ibarra

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Research Student

Supervisor & Department

PhD Thesis Title

Aliya Mohamed Sajwani

Sardar Farooq Biology

Differentiation between Omani Acacia (Acacia tortilis) and white Acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia) honeys using botanical, molecular, physicochemical, antioxidant and antifungal analysis

Sumaiya Abdul Al-Raisi Hameed Sulaiman Biology

Environmental suitability analysis of three un-engineered landfills in Muscat and leachate assessment of Al-Amirat landfill and its potential impact on groundwater

Sana Salem Al-Sinani Elsadig Eltayeb Biology

Studies on the steroidal glycoalkaloids from Solanum incanum plants grown in Oman and their anti-cancer activity

Hakikulla Hamidulla Shah Muhammad Khan Chemistry

Design, synthesis and chemistry of metalla-ynes and poly(metalla-ynes)

Hussein Ali Al-Maqbali Khaled Day Computer Science

New grid-based routing protocols for mobile ad-hoc networks

Khaled Suleiman Al-Mashrafi Ibrahim Eltayeb Mathematics & Statistics

The dynamics of compositional plumes in a bounded region

Afaf Ali Al-Lawati Issam Ali Physics

Simulations of packing and ejection dynamics of viral DNA in vitro and in vivo

4. SUPERVISION OF POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

4.1 PhD Students Graduated in 2014

107

Research Student

Supervisor

MSc Thesis Title

Huda Sultan Al-Battashi

Aliya Alansari

Microbial diversity in chromite of Wadi Fizh (Oman) and its potential on chromi-um(VI) remediation

Noura Salim Al-Zeheimi Senan Baqir Camel oocyte competency prediction by BCB staining, gene expression pattern and structural analysis

Rufaida Dhuhai Al-Breiki Aliya Alansari DNA barcoding of birds of Oman using cytochrome c oxidase Subunit I

Umkulthum Rashid Al-Maskari

Aliya Alansari The expression of CD39 on regulatory T cells (Tregs) and invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells in healthy and sickle cell dis-ease subjects and the identification of the functional/regulatory polymorphisms in the gene

BIO

LOG

Y

4.3 MSc Students Graduated in 2014

Research Student

Supervisor

Department

Mohamed Ahmed Gomaa Dr Raeid Abed Biology

Asma Nasr Al-Kindi Dr Raeid Abed Biology

Ahlam Said Al-Azkawi Dr Nallusamy Sivakumar Biology

Huda Sultan Al-Battashi Dr Nallusamy Sivakumar Biology

Noura Salim Al-Zeheimi Dr Sirin Adham Biology

Jayapal Maharaja Prof. Muhammad Khan Chemistry

Amal Hilal Al-Sabahi Prof. Salma Al-Kindy Chemistry

Supriya Pulparambil Prof. Youcef Baghdadi Computer Science

Basel Mohammad Baniismail Prof. Youcef Baghdadi Computer Science

Jokha Abdullah Al-Kalbani Dr Zuhoor Al-Khanjari Computer Science

Amjed Amer Al-Thuhli Dr Mohammed Al-Badawi Computer Science

Alaeddin Hosein Ebrahimi Dr Narasimman Sundararajan Earth Sciences

Khamis Saif Al-Kalbani Dr Mansur Rahman Mathematics & Statistics

Md Jashim Uddin Dr Mansur Rahman Mathematics & Statistics

Fatma Salim Al-Musalhi Dr Sebti Kerbal Mathematics & Statistics

Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Bahri Dr Rachid Sbiaa Physics

Nafeesa Inayath Ur Rahman Dr Rachid Sbiaa Physics

Amal Yaqoot Al-Sabhi Dr Rachid Sbiaa Physics

Khadija Said Al-Rashdia Prof. Hisham Widatallah Physics

4.2 PhD Research Commenced in 2014

108

CO

MP

UTER

SCIEN

CE

EAR

TH SC

IENC

ES

Research Student

Supervisor

MSc Thesis Title

Abdusalam Bakhit Al-Kathiri

Abderezak Touzene

Grid-based broadcast algorithm in mo-bile wireless ad hoc networks: a simula-tion study

Ahmed Saif Al-Shandoudi Zuhoor Al-Khanjari Simplified O-O Re-design approach: de-riving object oriented design from tradi-tional procedural design

Nasser Mohammed Al-Hosni Zuhoor Al-Khanjari Developing a service oriented e-government architecture towards achiev-ing e-government interoperability

Research Student

Supervisor

MSc Thesis Title

Samia Hilal Al-Abri

Abdelmoneam Raef

Geophysical rock property analyses of Gharif formation in north Oman

Research Student

Supervisor MSc Thesis Title

Aadel Awadh Al-Rubkhi

Mohamed Aoudia

Low tension polymer water flood (LTPWF) for EOR in Lekhwier Oil Field

Amal Said Al-Hadi El-Said El-Shafey Removal of Na+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ from brackish water using dehydrated and sulfonated dehydrated carbons from Omani date palm leaflets

Mahra Ali Al-Balushi Salma Al-Kindy Removal of ibuprofen and diclofenac from aqueous solutions on dehydrated and activated carbons from date palm leaflets

Mira Mohammed Al-Nadabi Fakhr-Eldin Suliman A lab-on-chip device for peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence system with applica-tion to pharmaceutical analysis

Reem Abdullah Al-Alawi Ashraf Al-Hinai Synthesis of zinc oxide nanorod support-ed platinum nanoparticles for transfer hydrogenation reaction

Thuraya Salim Al-Harthy Wajdi Zoghaib Synthesis and bioassay of 5-fluoro-2-methyl-6-(4-(substituted phenyl)piperazin-1-yl) benzoxazoles

CH

EMISTR

Y

109

5. SUMMARY OF RESEARCH GRANTS

Principal Investigator

Project Title Budget

(Grant Number)

Osama K. Abou-Zied

Chemistry

Towards a better understanding of protein-ligand interaction: its relation to biological function and drug binding

OMR 320,700

(RC/SCI/CHEM/14/01)

Muhammad S. Khan Chemistry

Conjugated organometallic and organic poly-mers for light-emitting devices and solar cells

OMR 234,400 (RC/SCI/CHEM/14/02

Haider A. Al-Lawati Chemistry

Rapid liquid chromatography-mass spectrom-etry methods for monitoring synthetic adul-terants in herbal medicines and dietary sup-plements

OMR 168,950 (RC/SCI/CHEM/14/03

Nasser S. Al-Salti Mathematics & Statistics

Fractional differential equations: theory, methods and applications

OMR 81,500 (RC/SCI/DOMS/14/01)

Mohammad M. Rahman Mathematics & Statistics

Nanofluid: emerging applications in nanosci-ence and nanotechnology

OMR 158,000 RC/SCI/DOMS/14/02

Table 1: The Research Council (TRC) Grants Awarded in 2014

Research Student Supervisor MSc Thesis Title

Muna Khalifa Al-Sawafi

Mehmet Koca

Quasicrystals from higher dimensions P

HY

SIC

S

Research Student

Supervisor

MSc Thesis Title

Mohammed Matar Al-Hatmi

Mohammad Rahman

Convective heat transfer in nanofluids

Afraa Awadh Al-Maamari Charles Bakheit

Investigations of methods of analysis of Likert-type scale data in surveys

Zainab Mohammed Al-Belushi Atsu Dorvlo

Fertility rate of ever-married women in Oman using world health survey 2008 data

MA

TH

EMA

TIC

S &

STA

TIST

ICS

110


Project Title Budget (OMR)

Zuhoor Al-Khanjari

Developing Extendable E-Learning Software Architecture

1500

Youcef Baghdadi Specification and implementation of a sound and com-plete set of Web 2.0 operations as Web services: Towards a uniform interface of the enterprise

1500

Mohammed Al-Badawi The 3D XML Benchmark: Adding the Data Dimension

3500 CO

MP

UTE

R S

CIE

NC

E C

HEM

ISTR

Y Principal

Investigator


Nawal Al-Rasbi

Synthesis and Photophysical Properties of Zn(II), Cd(II) and Ag(I) Complexes

750

Rengaraj Selvaraj Development of nanostructured photocatalytic materials for the treatment of toxic organics and dyes containing water and wastewater

5000

Abdul Munam Synthesis of pH-Responsive Natural Polymers 3000



Senan Baqir

Cryoconservation of the endangered Arabian tahr (hemitragus jayakari) semen

3900

Michael Barry Toxicity of manufactured nanoparticles to Omani freshwater fish

3000

Table 2: Internal Grants (IG) Awarded in 2014

BIO

LOG

Y

111

MA

THEM

ATI

CS

& S

TATI

STIC

S Principal Investigator


Purnama anton

Model Studies for Brine Discharges through Marine Outfall Systems

1350

Chentouf Boumediene Stabilization of a rotating flexible structure System

750

Anchouche Boudjemaa Orbital measures on compact symmetric spaces

750

Gupta Sanjiv Extension of Fourier Analysis to Lie groups and Sym-metric spaces

750

Khan Mohd Saeed A Study on Iteration Methods for fixed points of Psue-docontractive mappings and their variants

750

Balakrishnan Easwaran Analysis of substrate inhibition models

750

Khan Qamar J. A Release of Breeding Suppression Time Delay Predator-Prey Model

750

Al-Baali Mehiddin Numerical Algorithm for Nonlinear Optimization with Ap-plications to Nonmaterial Problems

2000

Manhas Jasbir Singh Differentiation operations and weighted composition op-erators on analytic function spaces

750

Chandran Pallath Natural convection in non-rectangular permeable enclo-sures with or without mass transfer

750

Al-Shamsi Hamed Nonlinear fractional reaction-diffusion systems

1250

Kamel Nafa Finite element methods for coupling surface flow with po-rous media flow

1250



Sankaran Rajendran

Mapping of gold potential areas and mineralized zones in parts of Sohar-Shinas region of Sultanate of Oman

5650

Iftihar Ahmed Sedimentology and depositional setting of the lower Amdeh Formation, Saih Hatat, north Oman: Surface ana-logue of Ordovician siliciclastic hydrocarbon producing system of Oman basin

3300

EA

RTH

SC

IEN

CES

112



Imaddin Al-Omari

Investigation of antiferromagnetic coupling in magnetic materials for spintronics device

1500

Zacharias Ioannou Probing the properties of the fastest spinning white dwarf star in the Galaxy

6750

Ahmed Al-Rawas Preparation and characterization of Magnesium-alloys

3750

Hisham Widatallah Structural, electric, magnetic, atomistic and electronic structure studies of cation-doped bulk and nanocrystalline iron-containing spinels and perovskites

3500

Rachid Sbiaa Magnetic Materials with High Stability and Low Power for Random Access Memory Applications

6100

Sumesh Investigation of Resistive switching in oxides

6350

Ram N. Singh Stability of interface(s) and surface(s) of nano-sized metal-lic system

750

BRS Babu Experimental Measurement of Evaporation Residue (ER) Cross-sections using Heavy Ion Reaction Analyzer(HIRA)

3000

Nazifa Koca Quasi Crystallography from the projection of Higher Di-mensional Lattices

3350

Table 3: Externally-Funded Research Projects in 2014



Raeid Abed

Minimizing the effect of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide on the bioremediation performance of the Nimr water Treatement plant (NWTP)

47,000

Mohamed Aoudia Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) Formulation Design for Nimr Reservoir Conditions

33111.538

Daniel Moraetis Water quality assessment and boron release in ground-water

12,200

PH

YSI

CS

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