Challenges and Opportunities for Public Health Service in Oman From the COVID-19 Pandemic: Learning Lessons for a Better Future

Despite the apparent challenges inflicted by COVID-19 globally, the pandemic provided an opportunity to utilize and expand existing public health capacities for a more adaptive and resilient system during and after each wave of the disease. This paper provides a narrative review of Oman's public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic from January 2020 to July 2021, and the challenges it faced for a more rapid and efficient response. The review demonstrates that the three main pillars influencing the direction of the pandemic and aiding the control are Oman's unified governmental leadership, the move to expand the capacity of the health care system at all levels, and community partnership in all stages of the response including the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. The opportunities identified during response stages in the harmonization of the multisectoral response, streamlining communication channels, addressing vulnerable communities (dormitories, residences at border regions), and providing professional technical leadership provide an excellent precursor for expediting the transformation of Oman's health care system to one with a multisectoral holistic approach. Some of the major challenges faced are the shortage of the public health cadre, lack of a fully integrated digital platform for surveillance, and the scarcity of experts in risk communication and community engagement. A future health system where the center for diseases surveillance and control acts as a nucleus for multisectoral expertise and leadership, which includes community representatives, is crucial to attain optimum health. The destruction inflicted by this prolong COVID-19 pandemic at all levels of human life had valued the importance of investing on preventive and preparedness strategies.

Particle energization in space plasmas: towards a multi-point, multi-scale plasma observatory

This White Paper outlines the importance of addressing the fundamental science theme “How are charged particles energized in space plasmas” through a future ESA mission. The White Paper presents five compelling science questions related to particle energization by shocks, reconnection, waves and turbulence, jets and their combinations. Answering these questions requires resolving scale coupling, nonlinearity, and nonstationarity, which cannot be done with existing multi-point observations. In situ measurements from a multi-point, multi-scale L-class Plasma Observatory consisting of at least seven spacecraft covering fluid, ion, and electron scales are needed. The Plasma Observatory will enable a paradigm shift in our comprehension of particle energization and space plasma physics in general, with a very important impact on solar and astrophysical plasmas. It will be the next logical step following Cluster, THEMIS, and MMS for the very large and active European space plasmas community. Being one of the cornerstone missions of the future ESA Voyage 2050 science programme, it would further strengthen the European scientific and technical leadership in this important field.

TP8.2.3 Horses for Courses – the Impact of Covid-19 on Surgical Training Courses

Aims Surgical training has been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Educational courses may be mandatory for training progression, complementing critical skills for surgical trainees. Previous work collated a first comprehensive database of available courses. The aim of this project was to determine the extent of disruption caused to courses by the current pandemic. Methods A snowballing approach was used to systematically search all online resources for courses available in 2021. This included websites of the Royal Colleges, sub-speciality societies, trainee organisations, regional centres, deaneries and surgical technology companies. Course target grade, price, provider and dates were collated and compared to matching data from 2020. Results 35 sources yielded 127 courses. Since 2020, 78 courses had been cancelled and 37 new courses had been introduced. Courses price ranged between £90-1260 (median £495), with 12 courses increasing in cost overall and 4 reducing in cost due to online delivery. Only 13/127 courses were delivered online, 9 of which were newly available in 2021. Technical, clinical and revision courses constituted the majority (115/127), with only 3 courses dedicated to leadership or research. Conclusions Educational courses supplement aspects of deanery-led teaching which are perceived to be lacking. However, course providers must respond to the need of trainees and adapt to the training restrictions necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic by improving the availability of online courses. Whilst technical skills are often the primary focus of surgical training, the importance of non-technical, leadership and research skills is arguably greater than ever and should be recognised.

Competitive Pressure and the Moderating Role of the Knowledge Network on Internationalization Intent of Indian State-owned Enterprises

The incumbent State-owned Enterprises (SOE) are dominant players in the home markets. New entrants’ arrival challenges the SOEs’ market dominance while the technology discontinuity challenges the technical leadership by obsoleting the existing technology. This study focuses on the effect of these competitive pressures on the internationalization intent of the Indian SOEs. The incumbent firms develop a knowledge network in technical and market aspects by working with the partners, the suppliers and the buyers. The study also focuses on the moderating effect of the knowledge networks. This study uses structured equation modelling using the partial least squares technique as the analytical technique. The results confirm the positive effect of technological discontinuity on the internationalization intent. In contrast, new entrants had no such effect. The study also confirms the positive moderating influence of the knowledge network on the effect of technological discontinuity on the internationalization intent.

Shared Learning from the Implementation of a Technical Leadership Program

Capstone projects have been an established vehicle of student–industry engagement in a university setting. In engineering, capstone projects are a point of transition from student to professional, as student engineers gain practical work experience and apply their technical skills and knowledge for an industry-proposed design, research, and/or development challenge. In this paper, we report on a supplementary program—the Technical Leadership Program (TLP)—which was designed and delivered for students to hone their technical leadership skills within a capstone project. To report on the outcomes of this case study, we use a student-as-partners philosophy to share the case study as a series of vignettes from co-authors who participated in the TLP. These have been collated into four key thematic areas including building awareness through technical leadership; building a personal repertoire of leadership; creating a common platform for collaboration; and transitioning into a professional workplace environment. The reflections are then shown to map to relevant competencies in technical leadership. Alongside these themes, the paper shares the design of the TLP delivery and reflects on the challenges and benefits of this mechanism to enhance student experience.

Tamas I. Gombosi Receives 2020 John Adam Fleming Medal

Tamas I. Gombosi was awarded the 2020 John Adam Fleming Medal at the virtual AGU Fall Meeting in December. The medal is for “original research and technical leadership in geomagnetism, atmospheric electricity, aeronomy, space physics, and/or related sciences.”

Science and Theology for Everyone: How Climate Science is Shaping Christianity in the UK

This article analyses the growing participation of UK Christians in climate initiatives over the last five years. In many cases, climate science is cited as a necessary consideration for the fulfilment of already-existing Christian commitments. This represents a significant shift in the ways UK Christians understand the role of dialogue between theology and the sciences; previous science and theology dialogue has usually been treated as an area of expert concern, primarily offering insight into apologetics or specific ethical problems. By contrast, the dialogue between climate science and theology has seen the emergence of non-technical leadership amid the expectation that climate science plays a critical role in re-examining the meaning of Christian life, both for individuals and as communities.

Characteristic of Islamic Organizational Culture as An Effort to Improve Performance at University of Muhammadiyah Malang

This study aims to reveal the characteristics of Islamic organizational culture at University of Muhammadiyah Malang as an effort to improve employee performance. This study uses qualitative method by applying phenomenology approach. It is conducted by examining the experience realized by the informant (conscious experience) and the instruments of data collection are interviews, observation, and documentation so that researchers can obtain more complete data about the characteristics of Islamic organization culture at University of Muhammadiyah Malang. The research subjects are: (1) university board; (2) deans; (3) employees. Moreover, the qualitative data analysis techniques in this study uses 3 (three) analyzes, namely: data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion. The results of this study indicate that perceptions of Islamic organizational culture can be seen from the perception of university board, lecturers and employees on the value of leadership, norms and management practices, stories and figures, traditions and rituals, as well as perceptions on symbols. It can be concluded that the characteristics of Islamic organizational culture include: (1) Shiddiq (truthfulness) to achieve personal excellence that is honest, transparent, and accountable, (2) Amanah (trustworthiness) to achieve inter-personal capital that is unprejudiced and commitment, (3) Tabligh (advocacy) to achieve visionary and communicative leadership that is communicative and open, (4) Fathonah (wisdom) to achieve professionalism and technical leadership that is smart, competent, and innovative.

Mapping Analysis of Characteristics and Leadership Skills of Private Universities in Gorontalo City in the Era 4.0

This research aims to see the mapping of the traits and skills of leadership of private universities in Gorontalo City in Era 4.0. This research method uses qualitative research with data analysis techniques using the Interactive Analysis model from Miles and Hiberman. The results of this study reveal that the quality of leadership that must be possessed by PTS in Gorontalo City is integrity, while for the skills that must be possessed by the Leaders of Private Universities (PTS) in Gorontalo City are technical skills. The results of this study. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that the nature of skills that is the factor for the success of the leadership of private universities in Gorontalo City in Era 4.0 is integrity. Meanwhile, leadership skills of private universities in Gorontalo City are more likely to be technical leadership. Thus, it is hoped that the Leadership must be able to adapt to the current conditions, in the era of all digitalization, must be able to take advantage of the available IT and it is necessary to maintain and maintain a noble character as a noble image of leadership.