Public Relations & Information DepartmentSultan Qaboos University

Thursday,20 September 2018 Issue #005

As Female Physicians Outnumber Males

Physically Active Lifestyle for Mental Well-being

SQU Hybrid Renewable Energy System Pilot Project

Growth in Demand for IP Right: A Good Indicator

Internationally, there is a strong agreement that innovation is the key factor in promoting eco-nomic diversification and increased competitive-ness in a globalizing knowledge economy. It is a fact that in the long run, diversified economies perform better than mono-sector economies. Having an entrepreneurial and innovative capacity is very important in order to facilitate competitive-ness and growth in a region such as that of GCC countries.

An article, titled “Innovation and Entrepreneur-ship for the growth and diversification of the GCC Economies” that appeared in “Munich Personal RePEc Archive” two researchers recom-mend that the GCC countries need to expand the private sector, create job opportunities and improve competitiveness. “It is important build the conditions for an environment conducive to innovation, and to stimulate entrepreneurship with a particular focus on the small and medium enterprises”.

Education is very important for innovation and promoting entrepreneurship among the citizens. Improving the education system is vital for the diversification and growth in the GCC countries. The researchers articulate the view that the GCC countries must boost SMEs (Small Medium Enter-prises) to open to global markets and high-tech start-ups.

The Sultanate has been giving solid support to SMEs in order to nurture the entrepreneurial culture and enhance the contribution of SMEs to the socioeconomic development of the country. However, there is an opportunity for SMEs in the Sultanate to further diversify and expand their businesses into international markets. Neverthe-less, we have reasons to cheer: Oman has jumped eight places this year, reaching the 69th in the Global Innovation Index among 126 countries compared to 77th spot in 2017.

Innovation for Economic Growth

Editorial SupervisionJamal Said Al-Riyami

Editor in ChiefHilal Saif Al-Badi

Senior EditorSanthosh Muthalath Kunhiveettil

EditorsNasebah Said Al MuharramiSara Mohammed Al GhailaniFatema Salim Al Ajmi

Design & LayoutAhlam Shaaban Al WahaibiNajah Saif Al HarthiIbrahim Mohammed Al Hajri

General ServicesSalim Said Salim Al Sadairi Ali Musallam Al Mukhaini Khalifa Musabah Al Salehi

PhotographyCentre for Educational Technology

C 2018 Sultan Qaboos University.

The reduction in oil prices and, in general, their high volatility pose strong challenges to the GCC econ-omies. The GCC nations are cur-rently keen on strengthening their economic diversification strategies to achieve sustainable economies

Perspective

3Spotlight

SQU and Oman Environmen-tal Services Holding Company (be’ah) have joined hands in pre-disposal waste diversion mindset promoting the concept of 3Rs ‘Reduce, Reuse & Recy-cle’ through the establishment of a joint ‘Reuse Center’ on campus at SQU. This initiative is part of the efforts be’ah to ex-plore opportunities to promote its sustainable development culture and practices within the campus community. This ini-tiative will encourage university staff and students to be actively involved in waste reduction and minimization activities. The Re-use Center will provide environ-mental, financial, economic and social benefits for all stakehold-ers involved and will become a centralized hub promoting sound environmental practices across the country.

The project will include con-struction and design of the Re-use Center which will comprise of item receiving and sorting areas, item repair facilities, item display area and staff offices. The Center will be managed by joint team from be’ah and SQU and will be run and operated by a third party. SQU staff and students will be encouraged to donate reusable items to the Center and to volunteer work-ing at the Center and partici-pate actively in SQU’s strategy for promoting sustainable devel-opment practices.

The scope of work statement issued by be’ah says that a virtual reuse platform based on an online exchange of items can be established to facilitate transaction and redistribution of items. The online platform will provide listings of all the reusable items posted by university staff and students and will include dates of reuse conferences, workshops, training opportunities and open day events for the public to understand the reuse concept, participate in events and an opportunity to purchase quality items at reduced prices.

In line with SQU’s drive towards sustainability and environ-mental stewardship, the Reuse Center will be of utmost importance to facilitate sustainability goals of the Universi-ty. All departments within the campus have surplus items that are either kept, stored or disposed of, promoting a wasteful and inefficient system. With effective cam-paigns, social media initiatives and awareness programs, the impact of the reuse activities within SQU will promote nation-wide practices of eliminating unnecessary purchase of goods (i.e. waste reduction mindset) which should be-come a final resort rather than an initial action.

4

As Female Physicians Outnumber Males

The feminization of medical doctors in Oman is steadily rising. Studies are being done to address the issue of health workforce feminization among doctors in the Sultanate of Oman as well as exploring the health system readiness in dealing with this phenomenon. Recently a paper titled “The trend of feminization of doctors’ workforce in Oman: is it a phenomenon that could rouse the health system?” was published in the journal Human Resources for Health (201816:19). The paper, authored by Nazar Mohamed, Nadia Noor Ab-dulhadi, Abdullah Al-Maniri, Nahida Al-Lawati and Ahmed Al-Qasmi from the Ministry of Health, Oman, analy-ses the feminization trends in detail and possible implications.

5Scope

When you consider the gender ration of medical students at the SQU, the number of females compared is higher compared to males (64% females in 2015 compared to 54% in 2009). A similar trend was observed regard-ing the postgraduates as 61.5% of the graduated residents doctors were females. Regarding active workforce, the Ministry of Health 2015 report reveals that female doctors represent 42% of the total doctors compared to 27% in 1990. It increased 4% from 1990 to 2000, doubled to 8% from 2000 to 2010. The proportion of specialized female doctors reached 31% in 2015 compared to 21% in 1990. There were also gender variations among specialties. The proportion of female general practitioners reached 50% in 2015 compared to 30% in 1990 (4% increase every 5 years). This indicates that the feminization of medical doctors in Oman is steadily rising. The number of applicants and accepted postgraduate doctors for the specialty training programmes was higher among women doctors than men doctors.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Develop-ment (OECD), changes in the extent of female participation can have im-portant consequences for the planning of the supply of health care human resources, given that female health care workers tend to differ from males in how they participate in the workforce. In Oman, evidence is required to be made available on whether female doctors differ from male counter-parts in terms of the soft skills that males and females bring into a work environment.

As shown in this study and beyond the feminization trend in Oman, there are still marked difference in the preferences among medical specialities both in postgraduates and active doctors workforce, i.e. some specialities were preferred and dominant by females, e.g. family medicine, paediatrics, biochemistry, psychiatry and microbiology, in addition to the obstetrics and gynaecology. On the contrary, orthopaedics and oral and maxillofacial sur-gery (OFMS) were preferred by males. In the context of Oman, an in-depth study is required to examine the preferences among medical specialities.

These variations may potentially contribute to a shortage in service supply due to difference in preferences. “Specialities with very low rates of female participation may experience critical shortages in the future. In addition, the uneven distribution across medical specialities has its ramification on the work-related conditions such as skill-mix imbalance, types of contracts, increased risk of stress-related suffering, burnout and productivity”, the study indicates.

The feminization of the medical workforce is expected to become more important and could rouse an alarm to the health system in Oman if not well prepared to cope with this phenomenon in the future.

The number and percentage of female medical workforce in Oman is pro-gressively increasing. Although it is not an inconvenient situation, it might be if not tackled appropriately. The authors are emphasizing that the femi-nization phenomenon of medical workforce in Oman requires more atten-tion in order to assess the health system capability and readiness of meet-ing the needs and accommodating the females as the main care providers.

Evidence is required to be made available for the decision makers in order to measure the implications of the feminization of the health workforce in a country like Oman, bearing in mind the cultural, social context and fab-ric, and explore the options to provide adequately and timely interventions whenever required. It is also important to study and compare the overall career duration, working patterns and conditions, engagement in public and private sectors, practice style, as well as level of productivity among male and female physicians, and whether there is a need to adjust the health human resources modeling and planning, public health, patient care and management policies.

6Physically Active Lifestyle for Mental Well-being

Health is one of our greatest assets, yet we often neglect our physical health. A study was carried out at SQU with the aim to understand how a physically active lifestyle could lead to higher levels of mental well-being and life satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to assess the life satisfaction, mental well-being and body mass index (BMI) of employees at SQU. The study revealed that par-ticipants, who were more physically active, compared to those who were less active, experienced higher levels of mental well-being and were generally more satisfied with their lives. The findings also indicated that participants with a healthy body mass index (BMI = 20 to 25) enjoyed higher levels of life satisfaction than those classified as overweight or obese (BMI > 25).

The findings of this research were published in Cogent Psychology journal Volume 5, 2018 - Issue 1, under the title “The mediating role of exercise behavior on satisfac-tion with life, mental well-being and BMI among univer-sity employees”. The research group included Dr. Kashef N. Zayed from the Department of Physical Education, College of Education at Sultan Qaboos University, Md. Dilsad Ahmed and Walter King Yan Ho from the Faculty of Education at the University of Macau, China, and Ru-dolph Leon Van Niekerk from the University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa.

A group of 320 SQU employees (176 males and 144 females) with a mean age of 46.14 ± 9.32 years partici-pated in this study. While 221 (69.1%) employees were citizens of Oman, 99 (30.9%) were from other countries. The sample included Administrative, Academic and Tech-nical personnel.

The overarching aim of the study was to examine the role of exercise in the life satisfaction, mental well-being and body mass index (BMI) of university personnel, including differences between gender groups and groups with different activity levels (sedentary, mild, moderate and vigorous lifestyle employees). When the results for the in-dividual dependent variables were examined, satisfaction with life and mental well-being showed no significant differences between gender groups. Thus, the well-being and life satisfaction of employees does not depend on the gender of the workers. A statistically significant difference was found only for body mass index (BMI), indicating that male employees had higher BMIs than female employees working at the university did. This finding is an indica-tion that men might be more overweight or obese than women.

7Vista

The findings also suggest that the awareness of physical activity could be lower among male employees. It is noteworthy, that women in Oman are often responsible for the household’s chores, such as cooking, shopping, caring for children and washing clothes, apart from their jobs at the univer-sity.

This study also found statistically significant differences in the mental well-being of em-ployees with different activity levels. Em-ployees with a sedentary lifestyle had much lower levels of mental well-being than those who had mild, moderate and vigorous life-styles. The finding is supported by research showing that physical activity enhances self-esteem, reduce stress and provide higher quality of life.

The assessment of satisfaction with life and mental well-being are particular important components of the self-care management model and show a significant moderate correlation between the two constructs. Increase in well-being is associated with

increases in life satisfaction. This study concluded that although these measures doesn’t depend on the gender of the uni-versity employees, a physically active lifestyle was associated with higher levels of mental well-being, but could not show the same for life satisfaction. Thus, university employees who exercise (regardless of the intensity lev-el) seem to benefit from the effect of exer-cise on their well-being.

This study showed the benefit in Well-being University employees can get from exercise. Based on the finding of the study it is highly recommended that, this type of research is conduct frequently by the university, to pro-mote employees’ health awareness. Public awareness of the health concerns associat-ed with low levels of physical activity and increased sedentary behavior, and required health interventions aimed at changing life-style behaviors. The researchers recommend promoting exercise among the employees, and encouraging them to know more about their health status.

8

Electrical energy from renewable sources will certain-ly expand in Oman. It is expected that in addition to large-scale renewable energy power plants, many small-scale Distributed Energy Resources (DER) will be connected to the low-voltage, i.e., 415 volts three-phase distribution network. This will change the way that electrical power flows in the system and will re-quire a more sophisticated monitoring and control sys-tem in the distribution network. It is understood that the technology for producing electricity from renewa-ble energy sources is now mature, and the installation of renewable generators is not a showstopper. How-ever, the integration of these generators to the grid, and their monitoring and control, are major issues that ought to be solved before the country can get the real benefits of renewable energy sources.

Hybrid Renewable Energy System (HRES) combines two or more renewable energy sources such as wind turbine and solar system, along with a storage unit in most cases. A laboratory-scale HRES, which includes solar energy, wind energy, and battery storage, was

designed, implemented and installed in one of the laboratories of the College of Engineering at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). The system can be upgraded to a small-scale microgrid, which may be used as a stand-alone renewable energy system for remote rural applications or may be connected to the low-voltage power network, capable of importing or exporting electrical energy. In the latter application, it is suitable for residential homes. The wind micro-turbine may only be used in places that are usually exposed to rela-tively strong wind flows.

The installed HRES at SQU is comprised of a solar energy converter, a wind energy converter, a battery storage unit, a metering system similar to an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), a data acquisition system, a human-machine interface system, power quality analyzer, and a two-way wireless communi-cation channel through a modem between the HRES and the control center. The system is able to work on-grid or off-grid, and is capable of importing or exporting power from or to the grid. The storage unit

9In focus

Dr. Nasser HosseinzadehHead of Department of Electrical& Computer Engineering, SQU

SQU Hybrid Renewable Energy System Pilot Project

is mainly charged from the solar energy system, but if the production of energy is not enough from the solar system, it may be charged using the grid. The storage unit provides support to the system by discharging its stored energy when the total load and losses are more than the available supplied power.

The installed HRES at SQU includes PV panels, wind micro-turbine, and the battery bank of the HRES are installed on the roof of the building and are hard-wired to the converters and inverters in the laboratory. The local low-voltage electricity network is used as the power grid. A custom-made monitor provides a display for monitoring various quantities of interest, such as voltages, currents, power flows with their directions, exchange of power between the HRES and the grid, and the transient state of power flows between the elements of the HRES.

The waveforms of power flows are identifiable by the color code in the on-line monitor: green for wind pow-er, black for load, blue for power exchange to grid, orange for solar power, and purple for power from

batteries.

The monitor gives the power flow values and direc-tions in one scenario when the HRES is connected to the grid and only a resistive load is applied. Resistive load could represent load of a village, where no indus-try plant is installed. At no load, there is excess of sup-ply from the HRES, a part of which is used to charge the storage unit (batteries) and the rest is exported to the grid. When the load is applied, as the load increas-es, the power exported to the grid reduces and reach-es a point where no power is exported to the grid. In this case, the supply matches the load and losses. Load includes charging of the battery.

The HRES installed at SQU is suitable for stand-alone applications and on-grid mode of operation. For ex-ample, it may be used for rural or remote applications in its stand-alone mode or can be used for residen-tial homes in an urban area. The tested system is a low-power HRES, which is used for proof of concept. However, it can be upscaled for practical applications.

10

Francis Gurry is the Director General of the World Intellec-tual Property (WIPO), which is the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, infor-mation and cooperation. It is a self-funding agency of the United Nations, with 191 member states. The mission of WIPO is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international intellectual property (IP) system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all.As part of his official visit to the Sultanate, Francis Gur-ry met on March 7, 2018 with the Vice Chancellor of Sultan Qaboos University and other senior offi-cials. Gurry hailed the long-stand-ing cooperation between Oman and WIPO in a number of fields pertaining to intellectual property rights, policies and information.

Growth in Demand for IP Right: A Good Indicator

11Face to Face

Could you comment on your visit to Oman and SQU?

The visit to Oman consolidates and builds on the excellent cooperation between WIPO and Oman in the field of intellectual property. I met with a number of senior Omani officials, including the Minister of Commerce and Industry and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Discussions centered on the oppor-tunities and challenges related to intellectual property rights and policies in the backdrop of efforts of Sultanate in adapting an innovation strategy to become an innovation power-house in the region. We are pleased to enjoy a strong collaboration with SQU and we are looking forward to extend this cooperation through a variety of different activities. In our meeting with SQU officials; we discussed the possibility of organizing a summer program in intellectual property rights and innovation. The discussions with the University authorities were fruitful and we are grateful for the warm welcome in Oman and SQU.

What are the major strategies that WIPO adapts to encourage innovation and crea-tivity across the developing countries?

Innovation strategies are key to the econom-ic well-being of states and WIPO has been actively supporting the development of such strategies with its member states.. In today’s world, everyone is looking for ways to add value in their respective sectors of the economy ranging from the primary industry sector, through the agricultural and industry sector to the services sector. Intellec-tual Property is an important instrument in doing this.

What are the challenges in managing in-ternational patent and copyright systems in the backdrop of rapid technological advancements?

It is certainly the case that there are great differences in technological capacity across the world. I would say two things about this. One is that the global innovation landscape is changing; we see a different geography of

innovation emerging. For example, the region that powers the most international patent ap-plications is Asia, not Europe or North Amer-ica. Asia files about 47% of all international patent applications whereas the share of the United States of America (USA is 25% and that of Europe is around 25%. Worldwide filings for patents, trademarks and industrial designs reached record heights in 2016 amid soaring demand in China, which received more patent applications than the combined total for the USA, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the European Patent Office. China gained this achievement within a very short period.

For any country, it requires a very careful strategy to acquire foreign technology in various ways such as investment, cooperation, partnerships and so on in order to develop the technological capacity at the micro level. Oman has adopted this strategy. Promoting innovation across society requires a compre-hensive strategy that combines education, availability of support systems for staff, and so on with the primary objective being value addition to the products or services; and to increase the knowledge component in the production process.

Could you offer some global statistics on the increased demand for intellectu-al property rights and copyrights in the current era?

Global statistics show that innovators around the world filed 3.1 million patent applications in 2016, up 8.3% the seventh straight yearly increase. Trademarks applications jumped by 16.4% to about 7 million, and worldwide industrial design applications grew by 10.4% to almost 1 million – both also driven by growth in China. The increase in demand for patents and trademarks in the past 10 years is a clear indicator of the emergence of knowl-edge economy. IP registrations are growing at a faster pace than the rate of growth of the world economy, which is roughly 3.5%.

Growth in Demand for IP Right: A Good Indicator