Arabian Peninsula Countries Research Articles

The epidemiological declining in the human fertility rate in the arab world for 10 years period 2011–2021

Recently, there has been worldwide growing interest on profiling the human fertility of populations because there has been a noticeable global decline in fertility rate, leading to increased attention toward reproductive health and fertility.The decline in fertility of population of the Arab World was investigated for the 10 years period between 2011–2021. The Arab World was classified into three regional blocks; Block-1 Arabian Peninsula countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yemen. Block-2 Fertile Crescent Arab countries: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and Gaza. Block-3 African Arab countries: Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia. Data on fertility rates for the 10 years period between 2011–2021 were collected from the World Bank for Arab countries. Statistical analysis along with decline in the fertility rates were determined. Results: Fertility rates varied across Arab countries in 2011 and 2021, with notable decline ranging from 24.3% to 3.8%, except for Algeria, with zero decline. Countries that exhibited significant decline were Jordan (24.3%) followed by Iraq (22.2%) then Yemen (19.1%); Whereas, countries that exhibited slight fertility decline were Libya (3.8%), followed by Tunisia (4.5%), Lebanon (4.5%) and Kuwait (4.5%). On another note, lowest fertility rate was observed in UAE as maintained between 1.7% and 1.5% and the highest fertility rate was observed in Somalia as maintained between 7.3% and 6.3% for 2011 and 2021 respectively. Conclusion: The present study reveals the declining-trend in fertility rate across Arab countries, influenced by variable factors. Therefore, we recommend to the Council of the Health Ministries in the Arab-League to focus on investigating the fertility decline as an important parameter for public health in the Arab world to maintain natural balanced fertility rate.As some non-biological factors surrounding the Arabian region, such as instability, war, migration, the present study did not aim to include the influence of war and migration on fertility because both war and migration are non-biological external factors and both are not among the WHO criteria for fertility determination which based of the population growth rate of population under normal living conditions.

Quantifying groundwater depletion in Arabian Peninsula transboundary aquifer systems: Understanding natural and anthropogenic drivers

Groundwater is the primary source of freshwater for domestic, agricultural, and industrial usage in the Arabian Peninsula countries. It is increasingly becoming a limited resource due to human activities leading to excessive depletion and contamination. Thus, sustainable management of groundwater resources in this region is critical. The groundwater in the Arabian Peninsula countries is primarily found in transboundary systems such as the Wajid, Umm Er Radhuma, and Wasia Aquifers shared between Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Oman. These systems have no groundwater-sharing agreements, which leads to a lack of data sharing, unsustainable and uncoordinated development, rapid water depletion, water quality deterioration, and land subsidence. This study examines the Wajid, Umm Er Radhuma, and Wasia aquifer systems from April 2002 to May 2021 by analyzing monthly gravity field solutions from GRACE and GRACE-FO satellite data, other remote sensing observations, information from the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), as well as field data to determine how regional water resources are changing over time and to identify the factors that influence these resources. The sharp decline in Total Water Storage Anomalies (TWSA) and the Groundwater Storage Anomalies (GWSA) across all three systems is caused by a combination of climatic and human factors. The observed decline in Total Water Storage can be partly attributed to a decrease in regional rainfall, whereas the depletion of Groundwater Storage has a strong correlation with the rise in groundwater extraction for irrigation purposes in the 2010s. The recent rise is groundwater depletion in specific areas of central Saudi Arabia may be attributed to agricultural irrigation and rapid urban development. The results are insightful for monitoring water storage in management plans and decision-making processes to preserve and efficiently use groundwater resources.

Green hydrogen, electricity, and heat multigeneration via using solar, wind and hybrid RE systems: Comprehensive case studies in Arabian Peninsula Countries

This paper aims to assess the impact of solar and wind renewable energy (RE) potentials on the performance and economics of different RE systems located in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arabian Peninsula Countries (APC) to meet hydrogen, electrical, and thermal energy requirements. Techno-economic studies were carried out to evaluate the performance of a solar Photovoltaics (PV), a wind turbine (WT), and a hybrid solar/wind (PV/WT) system. The performance of different configurations of the considered systems are simulated and optimized in hourly basis at various locations in the APC region using a developed MATLAB computer code. The findings showed that the hybrid PV/WT system is more effective than PV or WT systems. In Riyadh, for the hybrid PV/WT system, Net Present Cost (NPC), Cost of Electricity (COE) and Cost of Hydrogen (COH) are 97.792 K$, 0.137 $/kWh and 2.01 $/kg, respectively. However, for the PV system, the findings showed that NPC, COE and COH increased by 30, 27 and 32%, respectively. For a standalone WT system NPC, COE and COH values increased by 53, 52, and 54%, respectively. In Saudi Arabia, it is obsereved that the minimum costs of both electricity and hydrogen productions are achieved for the hybrid standalone PV/WT system in Neom City with values of COE = 0.128 $/kWh and COH = 1.881 $/kg. For the APC region, the most cost-effective hybrid standalone PV/WT system is found in Kuwait City with COE = 0.120 $/kWh and COH = 1.765 $/kg. Furthermore, COE and COH contours of PV, WT, and PV/WT systems economics are developed which give the decision makers a full vision about solar and wind potentials in the region and identify the locations that minimize the cost of production.

TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF CABBAGE (BRASSICA OLERACEA) GROWING FARMS- AN OPPORTUNITY TO STABILIZE AGRICULTURE ECONOMY

Vegetables have potential significance in terms of their use not only for their food and nutrition but also for affordable sources of essential vitamins and minerals globally. Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) is an economically important vegetable crop with the potential to increase the incomes of the farmers not only in open fields but also in greenhouses in Oman as Cabbage is more popular among customers throughout Arabian Peninsula countries and valuable with moderate retail prices than other vegetables. Hence, a survey was undertaken to investigate the technical efficiency of cabbage-growing farms in the Sultanate of Oman. The research estimated and examined the technical efficiency of okra-growing farms of different governorates of Oman. A sample of 89 cabbage-growing farms was selected, adapting the multistage sampling method. The interview schedules were followed for data collection in 2016 and 2017. The maximum likelihood method was used, and the Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier production model was applied to the data collected. After performing various econometrics of software, the output of the Frontier 4.1 was found to be a good fit. The results of the investigation indicated that the mean technical efficiency for cabbage farms in Oman is estimated to be 85%, with a wide range from as low as 63% to as high as 100%. There exists a considerable possibility of increasing cabbage output by 15% with the current level of inputs employed by cabbage farmers. Cabbagegrowing farms had enormous scope to improve their efficiency and increase productivity by following regular extension programs involving farmers in cultivating Cabbage.

Modeling spatial-temporal variability of PM2.5 concentrations in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) region via functional adaptive density approach.

The rapid development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has led to severe air pollution dominated by PM2.5 concentrations which can cause a profound negative impact on human health and economic activity. This problem poses a critical environmental challenge to efficiently handling large-scale spatial-temporal PM2.5 data in this extended region. Functional data analysis (FDA) technique offers powerful tools that have the potential to enhance the analysis of spatial distributions and temporal dynamic changes in high-dimensional pollution data. However, modeling the spatial-temporal variability of PM2.5 concentrations by FDA remains unrevealed in the BRI region. To address this research gap, our study aimed to achieve two main objectives: first, to model the spatial-temporal dynamic variability of PM2.5 in 125 BRI nations (1998-2021), and second, to identify the underlying clusters behind the variations. We employed the recently developed functional adaptive density peak (FADP) clustering approach to solve the current problem. The proposed method is based on the joint use of functional principal components (FPCs) and functional cluster analyses. The main results are as follows: (i) The first three FPCs almost captured 99% of the total variations involving all valuable information on PM2.5 concentrations. (ii) PM2.5 pollution was highly concentrated in the developing countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria) and the developed countries (Arabian Gulf countries: Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman), and the least developed countries (Yemen and Chad). (iii) Three optimal clusters were identified and thus classified the PM2.5 into three distinct degrees of pollution: severe, moderate, and light. (iv) Cluster 1 had a severe pollution effect degree with a high rate of change, and it covered the Arabian Peninsula countries, African countries (Cameroon, Egypt, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Sudan, Senegal, Chad), Bangladesh, and Pakistan. (v) About 62 BRI countries belonged to cluster 2 showing a light pollution degree with annul average of less than 20 [Formula: see text]; this pointed out that the PM2.5 concentration remains stable in the cluster 2-related countries. The findings of this research would benefit governments and policymakers in preventing and controlling PM2.5 pollution exposure in BRI. Furthermore, this research could pay attention to sustainable development goals and the vision of the Green BRI policy.

Statistical Analysis of the People Fully Vaccinated against COVID-19 in Two Different Regions.

Motivation. Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic represents a critical issue all over the world. On May 11, 2020, at 05 : 41 GMT, approximately 0.28 million individuals had perished because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the figure is continuously growing rapidly. Unfortunately, millions of people have died due to this pandemic. As a result, this issue forced governments and other corresponding organizations to take significant action, such as the lockdown and vaccinations. Furthermore, scientists have developed several vaccinations, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has urged governments and people to get vaccinated to eradicate this pandemic. Consequently, the findings of any scientific research into this phenomenon are highly interesting. Problem Statement. To enhance individual protection, it is now critical to analyze and compare the percentage of people fully vaccinated against COVID-19. It is constantly of interest in the field of big data science and other related disciplines to provide the best analysis and modeling of COVID-19 data. Methodology. Through this paper, we aimed to compare individuals who have been completely vaccinated against COVID-19 in two locations: North American countries and Arabian Peninsula countries. Simple techniques for comparing individuals who have been completely vaccinated against COVID-19 have been applied, which may be used to generate the foundation for conclusions. Most significantly, a modern statistical model was created to present the best assessment of individuals completely vaccinated against COVID-19 data in nations in North America and the Arabian Peninsula. Some of the suggested statistical model features were proposed. Furthermore, the estimate of the model parameters was driven using the maximum likelihood estimation method. Results. The flexibility provided by the proposed statistical model is useful for describing the percentage of the individuals completely vaccinated against COVID-19, which provides a close fit with the COVID-19 data. Implications. The proposed statistical model can be used for statistics and generate new statistical distributions that can be used to compare and predict the process of people's willingness to vaccinate and take the vaccine to try to eliminate COVID-19.

Preponderance of bla KPC-Carrying Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales Among Fecal Isolates From Community Food Handlers in Kuwait.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) are pathogens that have been found in several countries, with a significant public health concern. Characterizing the mode of resistance and determining the prevailing clones are vital to the epidemiology of CRE in our community. This study was conducted to characterize the molecular mode of resistance and to determine the clonality of the CRE fecal isolates among community food handlers (FHs) vs. infected control patients (ICPs) in Kuwait. Fecal CRE isolates obtained from FHs and ICPs from September 2016 to September 2018 were analyzed for their resistance genes. Gene characterization was carried out by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays and sequencing. Clonality of isolates was established by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Of the 681 and 95 isolates of the family Enterobacterales isolated from FHs and ICPs, 425 (62.4%) and 16 (16.8%) were Escherichia coli, and 18 (2.6%) and 69 (72.6%) were Klebsiella pneumoniae, respectively. A total of 36 isolates were CRE with a prevalence of 5.3% among FH isolates and 87 (91.6%) among the ICPs. Of these, carbapenemase genes were detected in 22 (61.1%) and 65 (74.7%) isolates, respectively (p < 0.05). The detected specific genes among FHs and ICPs were positive for blaKPC 19 (86.4%) and 35 (40.2%), and blaOXA 10 (45.5%) and 59 (67.8%), in addition to blaNDM 2 (9.1%) and 32 (36.8%), respectively. MLST assays of the E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates revealed considerable genetic diversity and polyclonality as well as demonstrated multiple known ST types and eight novel sequence types. The study revealed a relatively high number of CRE harboring predominantly blaKPC-mediated CRE among the community FH isolates vs. predominant blaOXA genes among the ICPs. Those heterogeneous CRE isolates raise concerns and mandate more efforts toward molecular surveillance. A multinational study is recommended to monitor the spread of genes mediating CRE in the community of Arabian Peninsula countries.

Islamic Solidarity Games (ISG): Historical perspective

The beauty of philosophy and approach in Islam is that it wants to provide a dignified and decent life for all human beings regardless of their race, ethnic or their nationality. To uplift humanity and protect their honour, Islam introduces the concept of solidarity in jurisprudence and solidarity regulated in Islamic law. In order to strengthen solidarity in the field of sports, the Islamic Solidarity Sport Federation (ISSF) was formed to serve the needs of Muslims in sports. For the first time the biggest sporting event for Muslims was held outside the Middle East region, precisely in the city of Palembang, Indonesia. The Islamic Solidarity Games (ISG) event aims to strengthen relations for countries that are predominantly Muslim. This article aims to provide an overview of the implementation of the Islamic Solidarity Games 1st, 2nd, 4th, and especially in the 3rd edition in Palembang, Indonesia, covering the background, objectives, implementation, and real impact for the host of the event as well as the dynamics of the strength of the international sports system. This study uses a literature review to support the achievement of the objectives of writing this article. The findings from this literature study are that the ISG as a form of sport can be a solution behind the tensions between the Arabian Peninsula countries. ISG has the potential to become a new force in the international sports system

Countrywide Monitoring of Ground Deformation Using InSAR Time Series: A Case Study from Qatar

Over the past few decades the country of Qatar has been one of the fastest growing economies in the Middle East; it has witnessed a rapid increase in its population, growth of its urban centers, and development of its natural resources. These anthropogenic activities compounded with natural forcings (e.g., climate change) will most likely introduce environmental effects that should be assessed. In this manuscript, we identify and assess one of these effects, namely, ground deformation over the entire country of Qatar. We use the Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) InSAR time series approach in conjunction with ALOS Palsar-1 (January 2007 to March 2011) and Sentinel-1 (March 2017 to December 2019) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) datasets to assess ground deformation and conduct spatial and temporal correlations between the observed deformation with relevant datasets to identify the controlling factors. The findings indicate: (1) the deformation products revealed areas of subsidence and uplift with high vertical velocities of up to 35 mm/yr; (2) the deformation rates were consistent with those extracted from the continuously operating reference GPS stations of Qatar; (3) many inland and coastal sabkhas (salt flats) showed evidence for uplift (up to 35 mm/yr) due to the continuous evaporation of the saline waters within the sabkhas and the deposition of the evaporites in the surficial and near-surficial sabkha sediments; (4) the increased precipitation during Sentinel-1 period compared to the ALOS Palsar-1 period led to a rise in groundwater levels and an increase in the areas occupied by surface water within the sabkhas, which in turn increased the rate of deposition of the evaporitic sediments; (5) high subsidence rates (up to 14 mm/yr) were detected over landfills and dumpsites, caused by mechanical compaction and biochemical processes; and (6) the deformation rates over areas surrounding known sinkhole locations were low (+/−2 mm/yr). We suggest that this study can pave the way to similar countrywide studies over the remaining Arabian Peninsula countries and to the development of a ground motion monitoring system for the entire Arabian Peninsula.

Factors influencing livestock export in Somaliland\u2019s terminal markets

Livestock export from Somaliland to the Arabian Peninsula countries is an important economic activity and the main source of Somaliland’s foreign exchange earnings. We have employed multiple regression time series analysis of secondary data to understand factors that influence the monthly volumes of small ruminants (sheep and goats) and cattle traded for export in three terminal markets in Somaliland. Results show that the Hajj season, number of livestock exporters active in the markets, market location and livestock ban imposed by the import countries are the main factors that influence the monthly volume of livestock transacted for export. Further, the results indicate that though drought does not influence the volume of small ruminants, it has an influence on the volume of cattle, while the implementation of quarantine stations has a significant influence on the volumes of livestock exports. Finally, border restrictions imposed by Ethiopia do not influence the volume of livestock transacted for export in the study markets. Most of the factors analysed to have influence on monthly volume livestock transacted for export are institutional and policy-related hence can be corrected though requisite regulatory, institutional and policy reforms in consultations with stakeholders.

Tremendous Improvement of the Functional Capacity in Patient with Chronic Heart Failure after 12-Weeks of Exercise Training Program

Cardiac rehabilitation is recommended for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) with preserved, or reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). A cardiac rehabilitation program generally includes physical exercise, diet counseling, educational classes on lifestyle changes, and disease management as well as psychosocial support for patients and their families. Exercise training is a core component of the comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program and is strongly recommended in combination with pharmacological treatment to patients with CHF, due to cardiorespiratory, metabolic, and autonomic cardiac response. Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation affects positively functional capacity, exercise tolerance, and quality of life in CHF patients. The physical inactivity rate in Arabian Peninsula countries is extremely high, and exercise training of habitually physically inactive individuals should result in marked improvements of physical capacity. We present a case that demonstrates such a significant improvement in the physical capacity of a patient with CHF and a review of literature.

Transboundary Groundwater Cooperation among Countries of the Arabian Peninsula

AbstractPopulation growth, socioeonomic development, and climate change will add pressures on limited water resources, especially in the arid Arabian Peninsula countries, where overutilization of r...

Genetic Diversity of Indigenous Mungbean ( Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) Germplasm Collection in Oman

Mungbean ( Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) is a grain legume crop grown all over Arabian Peninsula countries including Oman often as a dual crop for both food and fodder during summer. Consumers and farmers prefer large size seed for food. This paper highlights the results of collecting missions of mungbean germplasm undertaken between 2008 and 2011 and analysis of genetic diversity of collected accessions based on seed traits. 25 seed samples/accessions were collected with the largest number from South Batinah coastal governorate represented by wilayat Rustaq (9) followed by southern Dhofar governorate (6), eastern Sharqiyah governorates (4), Dhahira & Buraimi governorates (3), interior Al-Dakhliyah governorate (2) and North Batinah coastal governorate (1). The seed samples of the accessions collected were highly diverse with respect to all the characters associated with seed such as seed length (cm) and width (cm), 100-seed weight (g) and seed color. Seed length varied from 0.35 cm to 0.76 cm; seed width ranged from 0.245 cm to 0.495 cm; 100-seed weight varied from 1.8 g to 7.3 g. The accessions were grouped into 16 genetically diverse clusters based on the Principal Component Analysis, which indicated the major contribution of seed width and 100-seed weight to the total variation existing in indigenous germplasm collected from all the governorates of Oman. With respect to seed color, six accessions numbering OMA 284, OMA 295, OMA 313, OMA 335, OMA 341 and OMA 345 were homogenous (pure) with their characteristic green color. The remaining 19 seed accessions were heterogeneous (mixture) with seeds of various colors such as green, brown and black. Critical analysis of seed colors of these samples indicated the presence of 4 groups of which the largest group had 12 seed accessions with green, black seed color followed by one group of three seed accessions with green, brown and black seed color and two groups of two accessions, each with green, black, brown, and green, brown seeds, respectively.

Hydroponics: Innovative Option for Growing Crops in Extreme Environments-The Case of the Arabian Peninsula (A Review)

The inexorable movements of growing population, increasing water stress, urbanization, and persistent global warming are greatly responsible for the reduction in the availability of cultivable land in the Arabian Peninsula countries where successful soil crop cultivation practically depends on scarce resources - water for irrigation. Consequently, the stakeholders are battling global food security and how to conveniently feed the persistent growing global population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Overcoming this predicament to have a bountiful harvest, improved technology as hydroponic systems is needed. The hydroponic systems result in higher yield and mitigate environmental issues associated with productions. The system’s advantages include cleanliness, pests and drought control, and year round production. The concerned issues alongside benefits and limitations are evaluated in this review.

Variability in landfalling trends of cyclonic disturbances over North Indian Ocean region during current and pre-warming climate

Cyclonic disturbances (CDs) are one of the deadliest systems formed over ocean basins in the world. Impact of warming climate over these basins including that of North Indian Ocean (NIO) is quite prominent in terms of enhanced intensity and re-curvature of the cyclonic systems. However, the impact of warming climate on landfall activity is not yet studied for the NIO basin. Therefore, the current study is performed by dividing the climate into current and pre-warming periods based on sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly variation. The study reveals that Bangladesh, Andhra Pradesh (AP), and Tamil Nadu (TN) are more vulnerable to severe cyclones formed over Bay of Bengal (BOB) during the current warming climate. Gujrat is prone to severe cyclones and Arabian Peninsula countries are vulnerable to cyclonic storms formed over the Arabian Sea during the current warming climate as well. During CWP, Bangladesh and Arakan are more vulnerable to CD landfall in pre-monsoon season, whereas in post-monsoon months, AP, TN and Bangladesh are more prone coastal areas of BOB. Gujrat and IAA are more vulnerable coastal areas of AS irrespective of seasons considered. The enhanced genesis over southern and middle sector of BOB is mainly responsible for more landfall over AP, TN and Bangladesh. In addition, change in wind direction from NW to N-NW and increased meridional SST over BOB are found to be encouraging the landfall activity near AP and TN coasts. The W-SW and zonally distributed SST supports landfall over Gujrat. There is less impact of change in genesis location over AS landfalling CDs. Over AS near to 12° N, a well-organised wind circulation is observed enhancing the dissipation of the cyclonic systems over the basin during current warming period.

Germplasm Collection and Seed Diversity of Cowpea (&lt;i&gt;Vigna unguiculata&lt;/i&gt; (L.) Walp.)

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) is a legume crop cultivated in whole of Arabian Peninsula countries including Oman as a dual crop for both food and fodder during summer. Both consumers and farmers prefer large size seeds. This paper presents the results of collecting missions of indigenous cowpea germplasm and analysis of seed diversity of collected accessions. The collecting mission led to the accumulation of seed samples of 64 accessions with large number from the governorates of Sharqiya (North Eastern) (19), followed by Dhofar (Southern) (17), Al-Dakhiliyah (Interior) (10), South Batinah (South Coast) (9), North Batinah (North coast) (5) and Dhahira &amp; Buraimi (4). The accessions were diverse in respect to all the seed traits studied, i.e. seed length (cm) and width (cm), 100-seed weight (g) and seed color. The accessions were grouped into 14 genetically diverse clusters based on the Principal Component Analysis, which revealed the contribution of seed length and 100-seed weight to the total variation existing in indigenous germplasm collected from all the governorates of Oman. The results of critical examination of seed color pattern of these samples indicated the presence of as many as 31 groups of which the largest group had 16 accessions followed by a group with 4 accessions, 2 groups with 3 accessions each and 9 groups with 2 accessions. There were 19 accessions numbering 193, 197, 251, 269, 276, 280, 293, 297, 301, 303, 325, 327, 328, 331, 332, 333, 339, 343 and 347 which formed groups of their own due to a unique combination of seed coat colors.

Yield and Irrigation Water Productivity of Three Varieties of Buffel Grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.) in the Southern Coastal Plains of Yemen

Small stakeholder farmers in southern coastal plains of Yemen as in other Arabian Peninsula countries are fanciers and suffering from shortage of forages mainly during winter season. This study was carried out during three years (2012-2014) at farmers’ fields in the southern coastal plain in Bir Jabir, Lahej in Yemen on loamy-sand soil, to determine the best irrigation water productivity of two exotic and one indigenous (local) accessions of buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.), cultivated at two farmer fields. Irrigation water has been added by the quantity and dates according to the farmer experience without any intervention of the researcher. The amount of added irrigation water was measured. Statistical analysis emphasized significant differences in the number of tillers per plant, in the forage fresh yield and in the irrigation water productivity (IWP) among buffel grass accessions. The highest number of tillers was recorded at Gayandah whereas the USA accession has showed the lowest one. The average forage fresh yields have reached 230.5, 208.9 and 181.4 kg/ha for Gayandah, USA and local respectively. The average irrigation water productivity (IWP) was 39.1 kg/m3. The significant difference (P = 0.048) was in favor of Gayandah accession which registered the highest IWP (43.7 kg/m3). However, there was no significant difference observed in IWP between USA and the local accession, even though this latter has apparently produced the lowest value (36.2 kg/m3).

Incidence of First Time Stroke: A Saudi Experience

Background: Stroke is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. A number of studies were conducted in Saudi Arabia. However, there were no studies conducted in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah city. Objective: The aim of this study was to ascertain the incidence rate of first time stroke and the age-specific incidence in both genders in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah city. Methods: A prospective hospital based study was conducted over a 1-year period (2014). The cases were included in the study when they were admitted with a diagnosis of cerebrovascular accident. Results: A total 164 patients (91 men and 73 women) who had first time stroke were found in this study with no significant difference between them (p = 0.565). The crude incidence rate of stroke was 13.89 per 100,000 persons. The age-specific incidence rate increased with age in the current study, where the peak was in the age group of more than 75 years old for men and women. Conclusions: Total crude and the age-specific rates for first time stroke patients revealed in this study were markedly lower than the range reported from the developed countries. However, they were within the range that showed previously in Saudi Arabia and Arabian Peninsula countries.

Genetic diversity of 33 forage cactus pear accessions based on principal component analysis

The present research was undertaken to assess genetic diversity of 33 forage cactus pearaccessions introduced from different countries for their suitability in the existing fodderproduction system in Arabian Peninsula countries including Oman. These accessions wereevaluated in randomized complete block design with four replications for two consecutive years2014 and 2015 at Agriculture Research Center, Rumais in Oman. The characters cladodegreen and dry matter yields and their related traits plant height (cm), number of cladodes andcladode weight were considered for study. The results of principal component analysis (PCA)indicated that of the total four components, the first two components PC1 and PC2 accountedfor 97.65 and 2.27%, respectively which in combination contributed to 99.92% of the totalvariation among characters studied in fodder cactus pear accessions whereas remaining twocomponents PC3 (0.06%) and PC4 (0.02 %) contributed a meagre 0.08% to the total variation.The first principal component had high positive loading for only green matter yield with thehighest value of 0.993 whereas second principal component had highest loading for plantheight (0.998) in contributing to the diversity. However, PC3 and PC4 were accounted by higherpositive loading in respect of dry matter yield (0.853) and number of cladodes (0.855). Theresults of correlation analysis indicated that of 10 possible correlations from five charactersstudied, seven correlations which were found significant (p&lt;0.05) were also positive in natureof association. The scatter of accessions based on PC1 and PC2 scores resulted in groupingthem into six clusters consisting of accession ranging from 1 to 9. These results could beapplied in either selecting higher green matter yielding accessions from high yielding groups torecommend for either general cultivation or planning and execution of future breeding programfor higher forage productivity in cactus by selecting accessions from different clusters asparents for hybridization.

Infections in travellers returning to Turkey from the Arabian peninsula: a retrospective cross-sectional multicenter study.

Mass gatherings pooling people from different parts of the world—the largest of which is to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for Hajj—may impose risks for acquisition and dissemination of infectious diseases. A substantial number of pilgrims to Hajj and Umrah are Turkish citizens (456,000 in 2014) but data are lacking on scale of the problem. We did a retrospective cross-sectional multicenter study in Turkey to explore the range of infections among inpatients who had recently returned from the Arabian Peninsula. Our inclusion criteria were patients who had acquired an infection during their trip to an Arabian Peninsula country, or who became symptomatic within 1 week of their return. The data were collected retrospectively for January 1, 2013 and March 1, 2015. 185 Turkish patients were recruited to the study across 15 referral centers with travel associated infectious diseases after returning from Arabian Peninsula countries (predominantly Saudi Arabia 163 [88.1 %] for religious purposes 162 [87.5 %]). Seventy four (40.0 %) of them were ≥ 65 years old with numerous comorbidities including diabetes (24.3 %) and COPD (14.1 %). The most common clinical diagnosis was respiratory tract infections (169 [91.5 %]), followed by diarrheal diseases (13 [7 %]), and there was one case of MERS-CoV. Patients spent a median of 5 (3–7) days as hospital inpatients and overall mortality was 1.1 %. Returning travellers from the Arabian Peninsula present as inpatients with a broad range of infectious diseases similar to common community acquired infections frequently seen in daily medical practices in Turkey.