Psychological Symptoms of COVID-19 Pandemic Among Community-Dwelling Older People in Oman and Associated Risk Factors.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human lives worldwide.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the psychological factors of the COVID-19 pandemic in the community-dwelling older population.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study of older people aged ≥60 years with no mental or psychological illnesses.

Exploring Factors Associated With Depressive Symptoms Among Patients With Chronic Pain: A Cross-Sectional Multicenter Study.

This cross-sectional study examined the factors associated with depression among people with chronic pain (PwCP) attending specialized pain clinics in Muscat, Oman. Two-hundred eighty-seven participants were recruited for the study, and univariate analyses were used to investigate the difference between individuals who scored above/below the cutoff points for depressive symptoms. A multiple regression analysis was used to detect the independent predictors.

Awareness of Breast Cancer Risk Factors, Symptoms and Breast Self-Examination Among Omani Female Teachers: A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess knowledge of breast cancer (BC) risk factors, warning signs and symptoms and breast self-examination (BSE) practice among Omani female teachers in Al-Dhahira Governorate.

Methods: A cross-sectional sample of female teachers aged 20-50 years was collected from January to December 2018 from three (provinces) in Al-Dhahira-Ibri, Dhank and Yunqal. A questionnaire that included the Breast Cancer Awareness Scale and demographic characteristics was administered.

Diversity, distribution and conservation of the terrestrial reptiles of Oman (Sauropsida, Squamata).

In the present work, we use an exceptional database including 5,359 records of 101 species of Oman's terrestrial reptiles together with spatial tools to infer the spatial patterns of species richness and endemicity, to infer the habitat preference of each species and to better define conservation priorities, with especial focus on the effectiveness of the protected areas in preserving this unique arid fauna. Our results indicate that the sampling effort is not only remarkable from a taxonomic point of view, with multiple observations for most species, but also for the spatial coverage achieved. The observations are distributed almost continuously across the two-dimensional climatic space of Oman defined by the mean annual temperature and the total annual precipitation and across the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the multivariate climatic space and are well represented within 17 out of the 20 climatic clusters grouping 10% of the explained climatic variance defined by PC1 and PC2.

Writing a Research Proposal to The Research Council of Oman.

Writing a research proposal can be a challenging task for young researchers. This article explains how to write a strong research proposal to apply for funding, specifically, a proposal for The Research Council (TRC) of Oman. Three different research proposal application forms are currently used in TRC, including Open Research Grant (ORG), Graduate Research Support Program (GRSP), and Faculty-mentored Undergraduate Research Award Program (FURAP).