UNIVERSITY - zu.ac.ae · The following highlights are a testimonial to our success, CNHS produced good number of publications in Scopus indexed journal. The psychology team from CNHS

1 Spring 2020 | Issue 1 1College of Natural and Health Sciences Newsletter

College of Natural and Health Sciences - CNHS Newsletter

Issue 11 | Spring 2020

ZAYEDZAYEDUNIVERSITYUNIVERSITYZAYEDUNIVERSITY

RESEARCH

CONFERENCESWORKSHOPS & LECTURES

CLUBS & FIELD TRIPS

RESEARCH


CLUBS & FIELD TRIPS

Spring 2020 | Issue 1 1

MANAGING EDITOR

Dr. Jibran Iqbal

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Cijo Xavier

COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES NEWSLETTER


College of Natural and Health Sciences - CNHS Newsletter

Issue 11 | Spring 2020

ZAYEDZAYEDUNIVERSITYUNIVERSITYZAYEDUNIVERSITY

RESEARCH


CLUBS & FIELD TRIPS

RESEARCH


CLUBS & FIELD TRIPS

11

09 12

13

1815

Events & Activities .............................................................................................................. 4

Research ............................................................................................................................................... 8

Clubs and Field Trips .................................................................................................. 12

Achievements ........................................................................................................................... 13

Conferences, Workshops & Lectures ............................................ 15

Publications ................................................................................................................................. 18

In This IssueSPRING 2020 | ISSUE 11


Dear Reader,

Welcome to the CNHS newsletter for Spring 2020, where we reflect on our growth and achievements over the past

semester.

There is no doubt that the last few months have made us all appreciate the invaluable role of teamwork during times of crises and led us to realize the need to stand and work together for a better future. We are presently witnessing and living an unprecedented situation, which, as a global community, we are all doing our very best to understand and overcome. In spite of the difficulties, I am humbled by the show of strength, resilience and compassion shown by each and every one of us. After a few weeks of initial stress and working our way through a new system of “online” teaching and engagement, we can now proudly enjoy a sense of settlement and achievement. Looking back over the past few weeks, we can undoubtedly see that we are becoming more and more in control of the situation. We can also pride ourselves over our newfound skills and successes having ventured outside our comfort zone. As we approach the end of the semester, we might stop and be grateful for having successfully, and at short notice, adapted to exceptional circumstances, whilst continuing to strive for excellence and the achievements of our goals.

Despite the challenges we faced, we continue to be productive and committed to our work while being aware of the changes in our environment. The following highlights are a testimonial to our success, CNHS produced good number of publications in Scopus indexed journal. The psychology team from CNHS have been busy engaged in research projects aimed at better understanding the psychological consequences of

the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to research, the team have also been busy lending support in the community, through tutoring the children of healthcare professionals (a ZU initiative). PSY, LES and PHN Departments provided online community presentations. CNHS team continue to represent ZU in various national and international conferences and events.

We made it through the semester, and we are now ready for final exams. The online platform for Distance Teaching has been tested and is ready to operate, and we are ready to welcome you back in the Summer and Fall 2020.

Let’s continue to transform the current challenges into opportunities for growth and learning, like we always do!

Finally, I’m sure you will join me in wishing good luck to all our graduating students, who made it through a trying final semester. Also, to all of our exceptional CNHS graduates, who will continue to make us proud as they embark on their professional careers, I say well done.

Enjoy the newsletter and stay safe.

Fares Howari

Dean'sWORDS

Spring 2020 | Issue 1 14College of Natural and Health Sciences Newsletter

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Professor James Terry was an invited guest speaker at the WION Global Summit: Navigating and Negotiating Global Imperatives, Dubai 2020. The summit was held on 5th March at The Oberoi in Dubai. Over 200 dignitaries, national leaders and members of the business community attended the event. Other guest speakers included the Former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe)—First Female Prime Minister of Greenland (HE Aleqa Hammond)—First Female President of Latvia (HE Dr. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga)— Minister of Defence of the Maldives (HE Mariya Didi)—Former Ambassador to the UN for South Africa (Hon. David Steward)—

Former Chiefs of the Army and Air Force Staff, India (General Joginder Singh and Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Naik)—Former Foreign Minister, Ambassador to the UN and Foreign Secretary of Pakistan (Hon. Khurshid Kasuri, Hon. Syeda Hussain-Imam and Hon. Salman Bashir, respectively). Coverage of the event was broadcast live by the WION TV news corporation (https://www.wionews.com/globalsummit/dubai-2020).

Prof. Terry was one of three panelists on stage for the session “At the Frontline of Climate Change”. Among other themes, the session

answered questions on the topics

of understanding vulnerable

countries, climate change threats

to island nations, and overcoming

the climate crisis. On the discussion

of Women & Climate Change, Prof.

Terry promoted the unique role

of Zayed University in educating

female Emirati leaders of the future,

especially those concerned with

global issues of climate change and

environmental sustainability – issues

that are tackled as part of the CNHS

Environmental Science program.

International media events


Commitment to Careers and Professional Development:

THE CASE OF PSYCHOLOGYBy Ehab W. Hermena, Assistant Chair

of the Psychology Department,

Dubai Campus.

Internship is a milestone in our

students’ learning and development

journey. Our success in preparing

our students for the job market does

not depend only on our academic

input and guidance, but also on

the partnerships and opportunities

our professional connections can

provide them with. We started

Spring 2020 with establishing such

connections with one of the biggest

and most respected institutions in

Dubai, Al Amal Hospital. On January

23, a team composed of Drs. Jigar

Jogia, Mariapaola Barbato, Mazna

Patka, and Ehab Hermena hosted

the new Head of the Psychology

and Social work at Al Amal, Dr.

Mandy Sharpely at our lab to

discuss future directions for our

students’ professional involvement

at Al Amal as interns and beyond.

Our joint planning aims at helping

our students prepare for a career

in both providing psychological

services to the community, as well

as contributing to the evidence-

based practices through research

collaborations. Our collaboration

with Al Amal team and their positive

and forward-thinking leadership

is going to continue in future

semesters.

Our conversations with students

about careers in psychology, and

the future of psychology in the UAE

is always a big part of Majors Day

activity. And Majors Day on January

27 was no exception.

We cannot talk about internships

without talking about the great

work and support of the psychology

students by both Dr. Sharifa

AlBlooshi and Dr. Mazna Patka.

The organization and coordination

between our teams is incredible.

On March 1 we hosted a lunchtime

induction and preparation session

for our prospective internship

students, to build on the valuable

input our colleagues in the Edad

team provide.

| EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Majors Day on January 27, 2020. Student and faculty participation. All our psychology faculty took part in greeting and guiding prospective Major and Minor psychology students

(and, no, the person in the long white coat is not a psychology team member).


This semester (Spring 2020) has been a particularly successful one, with healthy and encouraging levels of student satisfaction with their internship experiences (the current pandemic circumstances not withstanding!) The supervision and guidance provided by our faculty (the entire team) is highly appreciated by the students. Our team has collaborated with professionals in sites that included Al Amal hospital (Dr. Mariapaola Barbato); Alef Center (Drs. Mona Moussa and Jigar Jogia); Emirates Down Syndrome Association, Ajman Court, and our own psychology lab (Dr. Mona Moussa);

Dubai Foundation for Women (Dr. Mazna Patka); Dubai Police (Drs. Kyle Msall and Jigar Jogia), Canon Dubai (Dr. Kyle Msall); Erada Center for Rehabilitation, DEWA, Community Development Authority, and Du (Dr. Jihane Ghorayeb).

The doors of our classes and labs are open for the future. Our very own ZU

psychology graduate, and currently Ph.D. candidate at Leicester University (UK), Miss Maryam AlJassmi wrote: “On the 24th of February 2020 the Alumni and Student Careers Office organized the second themed Career Spotlight in Dubai. One of the main goals of the event was to familiarize the employers with the facilities that are provided to students of Zayed University. Therefore, the organizers of the event arranged for a visit to the Cognition and Neuroscience Research Laboratory. The visitors, who were employers from a few private and government sectors, listened to a few psychology students who are currently working on various research projects introduce the lab rooms, facilities and talk about the research projects that the team is working on currently. The visitors were very impressed by the facilities that are available in the lab and were very eager to know more about the future research activities and even offered support.” As our lab assistant, she welcomed, accompanied, and guided these distinguished visitors, who left our lab with very positive impressions about our team, our work, and our college and university enlightened leadership.

Our plans for the coming semesters at the psychology department? Continued and increasing commitment to the future. In psychology, as in the rest of CNHS, we are not only interested in the future—we actively contribute to making and shaping it.

Miss Maryam Aljassmi guiding the lab visitors in the second themed Career Spotlight in Dubai.

Career Spotlight

Dr. Sharifa AlBlooshi addressing our Internship students of Fall 2020, following from Drs. Ehab Hermena and Mazna Patka. The students had to wait a long time before they could get their hands on that lunch!


MICROBI Club at the Spring 2020 Clubs FairOn the 13th of February 2020, the Microbi club supervised by Dr Carole Ayoub Moubareck was part of the Clubs fair organized by Zayed University in Courtyard of Dubai Campus. Microbi ambassadors decided to prepare probiotic chips out of radishes and eggplants harvested in Kulna garden. Delicious mushrooms stuffed with parmesan cheese and herbs were also offered during that event.

Students highlighted the benefits of consuming probiotics sprayed over the freshly prepared vegetables and succeeded in raising awareness about the importance of consuming beneficial microorganisms for a healthy life.

MICROBI Club at the CAREER SPOTLIGHT dayMicrobi ambassadors participated to the “Seed Saving” workshop that was headed by Dr Carole Ayoub Moubareck and other members of the Food Revolution for Social Change on the 24th of February 2020 during the career spotlight day.

The students had the opportunity to show future employers how to harvest vegetable and flower seeds from kulna garden and offered African Basil, Butterfly pea and Hollyhock seeds to the visitors. They discussed the advantages of saving heirloom seeds, covered the correct time to collect them, how to extract the seeds from the pods and lastly the best ways to store them.

The students and visitors thoroughly enjoyed the event and were inspired to go home and plant their own seeds.

| EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES


Research Challenge at The Federal Competitiveness and

Statistics AuthorityA promising research work, titled «Application of a new prepared agrochemical formulation for effective and safe agriculture” was performed in the College of Natural and Health, Department of Environmental Science and Sustainability as senior project research by the student Shamma Khamis Almheiri, under supervision of Dr. Maisa El Gamal.

The research is interested in the field of control release technology which is developed as an effective

method for solving the problems of the application of conventional agrochemical and reduced the resulted pollution hazards. The research has been accepted and published in the Arab Youth Research Platform. Moreover, the research is recommended by the Research Challenge Initiative that was launched within the activities of the Emirates Innovation Month 2020 in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Education, to achieve the goals of the National Agenda 2021.

We are pleased to announce that the research has been qualified by the Research Challenge at The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority for the last stage of the challenge and is eligible to obtain intellectual property rights (IP rights) due to the accuracy and the extent of its contribution to the specific field and the potential impact on agriculture in the United Arab Emirates. In support of this initiative, the Ministry of Economy will exempt the participants from the intellectual property registration fees.

RESEARCH


Publisher recognises research disseminationThe international publishing house Wiley recently recognised the achievement of Prof. James Terry, Dr Robert Boldi and Dr Sarah Khan for the wide interest in their research paper “The Delhi ‘gas chamber’: smog, air pollution and the health emergency of November 2017” (co-authored with Prof Gensuo Jia from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing). Their paper, published in the journal Weather in 2018 (DOI:10.1002/wea.3242) was among the top downloaded papers over 2018-2019.

CYCLONE KYARR impacts around MuscatIn October 2019, Cyclone Kyarr set new records by becoming the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Arabian Sea. Flooding and wave damage was observed in Oman and even in parts of the UAE. In February 2020, Prof. James Terry carried out a short reconnaissance field visit to investigate some effects of Cyclone Kyarr on the coastline in and around Muscat, the capital of Oman. Observations of wave damage were made at site of particular cultural heritage - the corniche at Mutrah. Prof. Terry was joined by two faculty members of Sultan Qaboos University for discussion at the site. Structural damage at

Mutrah included the dislocation of heavy granite sections of the upper seawall. Wave deposition of sediment debris also occurred at the entrance to wadis and outlets of the Qurum Nature Reserve area of protected mangroves. The timing of the storm surge was important because it coincided with high wadi flow, exacerbating the duration and height of flooding. However, discussion with senior Omani residents who remembered Cyclone Gonu in 2007 unambiguously confirmed that Gonu caused much worse problems than Kyarr. The experience during Gonu over a decade ago resulted in bridges being destroyed and coastal roads

closed. Part of the reason for the better experience during Kyarr was that improvements in coastal defences post-Gonu had prevented similar large scale damage of coastal infrastructure in the 2019 storms.

As part of his visit to Muscat, Prof. Terry presented a research seminar at Sultan Qaboos University on 13th February, titled How to estimate the magnitude of prehistorical tsunamis and tropical cyclones, for future disaster risk reduction on exposed coasts? The talk was kindly hosted by Dr Amna Al-Ruheila (Deputy Director of the Remote Sensing and GIS Research Center), and was attended by the Dean (College of Agriculture and Marine Sciences), Head of Department (Soils, Water and Agricultural Engineering) and 15 faculty from various colleges and departments at SQU.

| RESEARCH


RESEARCH |

The national campaign for Mental supportThe psychology team from CNHS have been busy engaged in research projects aimed at better understanding the psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This valuable survey work may help identify vulnerable groups and help us better support people during the challenging time and during future periods of mass

contagion and lockdown. In addition

to research, the team have also

been busy lending support in the

community, through tutoring the

children of healthcare professionals

(a ZU initiative) and providing online

community presentations in line with

the National Program for Happiness

and Wellbeing, UAE.

Pioneering hydroponically grown Quinoa; a step towards smart grain cultivation practices

Chenopodium quinoa is a halophytic flowering plant belongs to the Amaranthaceae family, and produce edible seeds that are rich in fibers, proteins, minerals, and B vitamins. Nowadays the world’s attention has been centered on growing Quinoa as it contains a high nutritional value that is potentially higher than other cereals, where the number of countries growing quinoa crop has increased from 8 to 75 countries in 2014. Since it is naturally gluten-free grain, Quinoa showed the biggest spike in popularity with the gluten-free trend. The advantages of growing Chenopodium quinoa is more than just growing a plant with high nutritional value, it also includes the adaptation of growing in the harsh climatic conditions and the high resistance to the abiotic stress and drought. Owing to high temperature and desiccation as well as hostile severe climate for crop production in the UAE, we began to optimize hydroponic conditions for growing Quinoa at the ZU hydroponics system in

our greenhouse. We are among the pioneers at the global level who successfully grown various

genotypes of Quinoa through hydroponic system. These findings will be patented at a higher level.


| RESEARCH

Atmospheric, Topographic, Geological and Chronological Based Crater Counting Analysis (CSFD) of Mars

The study area (Latitude 0°N-45°N, Longitude 60°E-120°E) is shown in below with different scales. The region of interest is near to the landing site of Viking 2 and MSL (Mars Science Laboratory). The topography of the study area is investigated using the digital elevation model (DEM) data of the Mars Orbiter Laster Altimeter (MOLA), an instrument on NASA’s Global Surveyor (MGS) Spacecraft, downloaded from the USGS.

The study area (Latitude 0°N-45°N, Longitude 60°E-120°E) is shown in below with different scales. The region of interest is near to the landing site of Viking 2 and MSL (Mars Science Laboratory). The topography of the study area is investigated using the digital elevation model (DEM) data of the Mars Orbiter Laster Altimeter (MOLA), an instrument on NASA’s Global Surveyor (MGS) Spacecraft, downloaded from the USGS.

Detailed Analysis of RSL in Hale and Asimov Crater on Mars

Hale Crater is having total elevation difference of 5.35 Km, and having slope angle variation from 0-46.630 degrees whereas Asimov Crater is having total elevation difference of 3.72 km, and having slope angle variation from 0- 57.76 degrees. Candidate RSL Site is observed in Hale crater where lengthening and fading imaged, but no reoccurrence . Site available data site is showing early development of widespread RSL activity. Candidate RSL Site in which the dark albedo feature lengthen but no fading or reoccurrence imaged in the Asimov crater. Due to because of limitation of data, we explored only one year of data in South-East of Asimov crater.

Hale Crater Asimov Crater

TV InterviewSky News Arabia Channel have visited our Space Agency Lab. They interviewed Prof. Fares. He explained our Mission, Vision and Targets in the space sector. It will be broadcasted soon.

MER A

Viking 2


CLUBS AND FIELD TRIPS

As part of the course ENV477 Environmental Hazards, students are taught about various types of natural hazards in the physical environment and their consequences for society. These include droughts, landslides and river flood hazards. In the UAE, factors that create the potential for such hazards include arid climate, monsoon rains, weather extremes, hydrological short-circuiting, steep mountain geomorphology, tectonics, weathering processes, slope processes, rocky terrain and sparse vegetation cover. These features can be best understood if students view their environmental characteristics in the field. In February, Prof. James Terry took the Dubai class of ENV477 students for a field excursion to Wadi Shawka on the border between

the Emirates of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. Through this field trip, students were able to observe the various features of the region that create drought, flood and landslide hazards. They learnt about what can be done to reduce hazard risks, e.g., through reservoir management, wadi hydrological control and slope stabilization against failure. Water preservation to mitigate drought was also discussed.

Dubai Well being club activitiesThe Dubai Wellbeing club supervised by Dr Jigar Jogia presented at the clubs fair and held a follow up event online via Adobe connect discussing mental health and wellbeing during lockdowns and the role of the DXB Wellbeing club. The club aims to reduce the possible stigma associated with different aspects of wellbeing. By creating a space wher psychological and mental health conversations are as natural as talking about our physical health. See below wellbeing flyer with a newly designed logo.

STUDENT Activities


ACHIEVEMENTS

1. Prof. Ahmed Al-Taani was honored as a representative of Zayed University.

Under Her Excellency Mariam bint Mohammed Harib Al Muhairi, Minister of State, the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi organized a ceremony under the slogan “With you, our environment thrives”, during which it honored its strategic partners and clients from 85 governmental and non-governmental bodies in appreciation of their support to the authority in achieving its mission of protecting and preserving the environment. Prof. Ahmed Al-Taani was honored as a representative of Zayed University. During the ceremony, the EAAD highlighted the achievements made by the agency since its inception in preserving the environmental heritage of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God rest his soul, twenty-five years ago, during which the EAAD succeeded in achieving important environmental achievements on all levels locally, regionally and internationally and contributed to enhancing the vision adopted by Abu Dhabi Government to achieve sustainable development. The activity was held on Thursday 27th of Feb 2020.

2. Provost’s Research Fellowship

Dr. Munawwar Khan received prestigious Zayed University Provost’s Research Fellowship for the academic year 2020-2021. Dr. Khan will be availing spring 2021 semester to work on his awarded Provost’s Research Fellowship project topic «Understanding arid soil microbiome for creating healthy soil ecosystem to tackle food security in the UAE».

3. Journal Reviewer

Prof. James Terry served as a reviewer for the journals International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (Elsevier), Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (Wiley) and Natural Hazards (Springer)

3. Community Outreach

Vogue Arabia interviewed Prof. James Terry for his opinions on the question “Could There Be A Silver Lining To The Covid-19 Pandemic?” NASA satellite images show how air pollution rates dropped over several large cities in Europe and Asia, following ‘lockdowns’ to slow the virus spread, that resulted in closure of industries and reduced vehicular transport. Prof. Terry commented “We are seeing first-hand how a change in behavior can improve our air quality. If this changes people’s mindsets, it can have a sustainable effect. Part of disaster risk reduction is trying to prepare mitigation and adaptation options. One form of adaptation is potentially capitalizing on the positive impacts in air quality. How long this can be sustained we don’t yet know, but the fact we can see these benefits for ourselves could have a lasting impact.” The comments appeared as part of an article in the April issue of Vogue Arabia magazine.


4. IPCC

Professor James Terry completed his expert review in November 2019 for the draft Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Sixth Assessment Report (IPCC WGII AR6: https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/). He was a reviewer for Chapter 15 Small Islands.

5. Fellwoship

Dr. Teresa Arora applied for the Fellowship to the Higher Education

Academy and her application was successful without revision. This

demonstrates her excellence in

teaching skills and she will attend an

awards ceremony to acknowledge this prestigious

achievement in Fall 2020, which is hosted by the CEI.

Teresa was also invited to run a live Q&A session for the PMO about sleep behaviours during the recent COVID-19 outbreak. She is also working on multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses as well as original data to unravel the relationships between sleep and a range of psychological and social factors. Teresa has also been approached to do a live Q&A session about sleep and COVID-19 with the British School of Al Khubairat parents, teachers, staff and students to support the community and provide expert advice to a diverse range of individuals during the pandemic.

Teresa is regularly tutoring children whose parents are frontline healthcare workers to support the requests of ADEK. She is voluntarily tutoring 5 students per week to help them to develop their English language skills.

Dr. Naseem’s article on synthetic biology approaches towards doubling plant biomass production and hyper- CO2-sequestration got vast attention in German media.

Appeared in the prestigious Cell Press Journal,” Synthetic rewiring of plant CO2-sequestration galvanizes plant biomass production Muhammad Naseem, Özge Osmanoglu and Thomas Dandekar. Trends in Biotechnology”. DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2019.12.019, Dr Naseem article got huge media attention. Nearly 123 Gt carbon per year (C yr–1) are absorbed as CO2 by terrestrial vegetation through photosynthesis. Soil and vegetation respiration release CO2 back to the atmosphere (120 Gt C yr–1). Anthropogenic emissions of 10 Gt C yr–1 imply 7 Gt C yr–1 as net carbon emissions, suggesting and supporting carbon hypersequestration in plants. Synthetic rewiring of plant carbon-assimilatory pathways and synthetically designed circuits in plants may enhance yield in crop plants as well as boost the CO2-sequestartion. Carbon concentration mechanisms (CCMs) and bypassing the futile photorespiratory cycle in plants can double the plant yield with positive impact on lowering the CO2 levels.

6. Invitation to Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

Prof. Fares Howari and Mr. Manish Sharma were invited for the Lunar

and Planetary Science Conference conducted by NASA. Two of their

posters were accepted for the program.

Prof. Fares Howari and Mr. Manish Sharma were invited for the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference conducted by NASA. Two of their posters were accepted for the program.

ACHIEVEMENTS |


The Asia Pacific Association of Hydrology and Water Resources

Between 21–24 November 2019, Prof. James Terry attended the 8th International Conference of the Asia-Pacific Association of Hydrology and Water Resources, which addressed the theme “Urban Water Management”. The

Asia Pacific Association of Hydrology and Water Resources (APHW) was established in 2002 to facilitate the

exchange of knowledge and experience in water

resources, water research activities and education. The APHW conference is held on a quadrennial basis. The 2019 event was organised by the Centre of Excellence in Disaster Mitigation and Management, at the Indian Institute of

Technology (IIT), Roorkee, India.

With co-authors from the University of

Southampton and CATRISX Ltd based

in the UK, Prof. Terry presented an oral

paper titled: “Re-examining Bangkok’s

historical floods of AD 1785 and 1983”. He

also chaired the session on Ecosystem-

Based Urban Water Management. The

organisers from IIT Roorkee took the

conference participants on an evening

field excursion to the River Ganges at

Haridwar to see the start of the Upper

Ganges Canal, originally constructed in

the mid-1800s, which makes irrigation

possible across nearly 9,000 km2 of

agricultural land.

Prof. Ahmed Al-Taani participation in “Foresight to achieve a Sustainable Future” Forum.In its celebration for the «Emirates Innovation Month», the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAAD) organized a forum entitled «Foresight to achieve a Sustainable Future», during which knowledge and

practical experiences were shared and presented with attendees, in a bid to translate them into programs and activities that promote the achievement of a sustainable future. During the forum, the EAAD launched its initiative «Environmental Future Observatory», which is the first observatory that explores the environmental future at the regional level and contributes to enhancing its role as an official source of environmental information at the local and international level. This forum was held at the headquarters of EAAD in Ma’moura Building on Tuesday 25 January 2020.

CONFERENCES, WORKSHOP & LECTURES


CONFERENCES, WORKSHOP & LECTURES |

On 16th April, Prof. James Terry engaged as a participant in the webinar «Combating the dual challenges of climate-related disasters and COVID-19», organised by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). This webinar was the third in a series of webinars on Covid-19, hosted by UNDRR’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. The webinar shared lessons from the recent devastating Cyclone Harold in the Pacific (affecting the island nations of Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga) and emerging recommendations on how to address climate-related and other disaster risks in the Asia-Pacific region in the face of Covid-19.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND PREVENTION

HEALTH RESEARCH EXHIBITION

Dr. Jogia presented at the UAE Ministry of Health and prevention Health Research Exhibition 2020 in February. He showcased his findings from a study titled Characterization of Mental Health of Students in Higher Education in the UAE.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BENEFICIAL MICROBES AND SUSTAINABLE CROP PRODUCTION

Dr. Naseem gave a talk on Harnessing the signaling effects of plant cytokinin two-component systems into sustainable crop production in the International Conference on Beneficial Microbes and Sustainable Crop Production at Peshawar Pakistan on 19th February 2020.

Cytokinins are small molecule plant hormones that control every aspect of plant growth and development. Their function in mediating plant susceptibility to plant pathogens is well known. We studied the contrary and found that the interaction between cytokinins and salicylic acid pathways promote plant resistance to pathogen infection. We explored ways in which cytokinin signaling could crosstalk with plant immune networks. Some of these networks are modulated by pathogens to propagate disease, whereas others help the host to mitigate an infection. Besides salicylic acid, cytokinin also crosstalk with auxin and thus module immune dynamics of plants. Cytokinins are also secreted by many different type of beneficial as well as pathogenic microbes. Few of these pathogens have been shown

to harbor CHASE-domain and LOG-domain proteins, which perceive and convert inactive cytokinins into active species. Besides plants, cytokinins are also shown to be involved in animal/human microbial pathogenesis and thus raise questions about food-security and cross-kingdom regulations. We also showed that spatiotemporal homeostasis of cytokinins metabolism has pertinent consequences for plant response to abiotic stresses such as prolong drought exposure. I highlighted these interesting developments in the field of plant cytokinin biology and discuss the overall role of cytokinins in sustainable crop production.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATESMINISTRY OF HEALTH & PREVENTION


Poster presentationKhan, M. A. et al. (2019). Usual and Unusual Features of Microbial Community of a Full-scale Wastewater Treatment Plant Anaerobic Digesters in Dubai; a Next Generation Sequencing Based Analysis. Poster presentation, 8th Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering (MEWE 2019), November 17-20, Hiroshima, Japan.

Oral presentationCarole Moubareck & Muawwar Khan (2019). UAE-case studies: National overviews of AMR surveillance and research in aquatic and terrestrial environments and agriculture in the GCC states and the UK. Oral presentation, Gulf Workshop on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in the Marine Environment: A One Health Perspective, November 12-13, Muscat, Oman.

13th Dubai International Food Safety ConferenceAisha Hassan Meer & Khan, M. A. (2019). Onsite Food Waste Management Using Rotary Drum Composting Vessel, 13th Dubai International Food Safety Conference, 11-13 November, Dubai, UAE.

ESIG MeetMr. Manish Sharma and Mr. Cijo Xavier were attended the ESIG meet held at Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi. Manish shared the activities of ZU in the space sector.

5th Asian Symposium on WaterKhan, M. A. (2020). Heterotrophic Bacteria in Urban Water Cycle of Arid regions: Opportunities, Challenges and Approaches for Future Directions. Virtual Oral presentation, The 5th Asian Symposium on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH 2020), March 28-29, Osaka, Japan.

| CONFERENCES, WORKSHOP & LECTURES


CNHS NEW PUBLICATIONS

Short, M. A., Booth, S. A., Omar, M. O., Ostlundh, L., & Arora, T. (2020). The relationship between sleep duration and mood in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2020.101311

Farouk, S., & Camia, C. (in press). Narrative Identities of Teachers from the German Democratic Republic. Qualitative Psychology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/qup0000171

Camia, C., & Habermas, T. (in press). Explaining change in content of life narratives over time. Memory. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2020.1761397

El Gamal, M., Mohamed, A. M., & Hameedi, S. (2020). Treatment of Industrial Alkaline Solid Wastes Using Carbon Dioxide. In Sustainable Development and Social

Responsibility—Volume 1 (pp. 323-317). Springer, Cham.

Mahmoud, L., El Gamal, M., & Zoghbor, W. (2020) Students’ Assessment of Electronic Waste Environmental Management and Sustainability at an Emirati Federal. In Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility—

Volume 2: Proceedings of the 2nd American University in

the Emirates International Research Conference, (p. 263). Springer Nature.

Slimani, H., Bessous, N., Dagher, S., Hilal-Alnaqbi, A., El Gamal, M., Akhozheya, B., & Mohammed, M. (2020). Growth of ZnO nanorods on FTO glass substrate. Materials

Research Express, 7(2), 025026.

Iqbal, J., Noor S. Shah, Muhammad Naseem, Fares

M. Howari, Yousef Nazzal, Nabeel Khan Niazi, Kyriaki

Polychronopoulou, Synthesis of nitrogen-doped Ceria nanoparticles in deep eutectic solvent for the degradation of sulfamethaxazole under solar irradiation and additional antibacterial activities, Chemical Engineering Journal, Volume 394, 2020, 124869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.124869.

Nusrat Bashir, Rashid Saeed, Muhammad Afzaal, Ashfaq Ahmad, Nawshad Muhammad, Iqbal, J., Abdullah Khan, Water quality assessment of lower Jhelum canal in Pakistan by using geographic information system (GIS), Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 10, 2020, 100357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2020.100357.

Muhammad Imran, Zia Ul Haq Khan, Muhammad Mohsin Iqbal, Iqbal, J., Noor Samad Shah, Effect of biochar modified with magnetite nanoparticles and HNO3 for efficient removal of Cr(VI) from contaminated water: A batch and column scale study, Environmental Pollution, Volume 261, 2020, 11423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114231

Abida Kausar, Ramsha Shahzad, Iqbal, J., Nawshad Muhammad, Munawar Iqbal, Development of new organic-inorganic, hybrid bionanocomposite from cellulose and clay for enhanced removal of Drimarine Yellow HF-3GL dye, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 149, 2020, 1059-1071. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.02.012.

Tausif Ahmad, Mohamad Azmi Bustam, Alamin Idris, Iqbal, J., Asghar, Sami Ullah, Controllable phytosynthesis of gold nanoparticles and investigation of their size and

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2020.101311

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2020.101311

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/qup0000171

https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2020.1761397

https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2020.1761397

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.124869


https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2020.100357

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114231

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114231

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.02.012



morphology-dependent photocatalytic activity under visible light, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 392, 2020, 112429, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2020.112429.

Long Li, Ying Zhu, Feiyu Zhang, Hui Li, Iqbal, J., Ting Wu, Yiping Du, Rapid detection of sulfamethoxazole in plasma and food samples with in-syringe membrane SPE coupled with solid-phase fluorescence spectrometry, Food Chemistry, 320, 2020, 126612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.126612.

Ahmad, T., Bustam, M.A., Zulfiqar, M., Iqbal, J., Ullah, S., (2020) Controllable phytosynthesis of gold nanoparticles and investigation of their size and morphology-dependent photocatalytic activity under visible light, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry,112429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2020.112429.

Kausar, A., Shahzad, R., Iqbal, J., Muhammad, M., Ibrahim, S.M., Iqbal, M., (2020) Development of new organic-inorganic, hybrid bionanocomposite from cellulose and clay for enhanced removal of Drimarine Yellow HF-3GL, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.02.012

Iqbal, J., Shah, N.S., Sayed, M., Muhammad, M., Howari,

F.M., Nazzal, Y., Xavier, C., Polychronopoulou, K., (2020) Deep eutectic solvent-mediated synthesis of ceria nanoparticles with the enhanced yield for photocatalytic degradation of flumequine under UV-C, Journal of Water Process Engineering, 33,101012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2019.101012

Gul, I., Sayed, M., Shan, N.S., Khan, J.A., Polychronopoulou, K., Iqbal, J., Rehman, F., (2020) Solar light responsive bismuth doped titania with Ti3+ for efficient photocatalytic degradation of flumequine: Synergistic role of peroxymonosulfate, Chemical Engineering Journal, 384, 123255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.123255

Shah, N.S., Khan, J.A., Sayed, M., Iqbal, J., Imran, M., Murtaza, B., Polychronopoulou, K., (2020) Nano zerovalent zinc catalyzed peroxymonosulfate based advanced oxidation technologies for treatment of chlorpyrifos in aqueous solution: A semi-pilot scale study, Journal of Cleaner Production, 246, 119032. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119032

Li, L., Chen, W., Li, H., Iqbal, J., Zhu, Y., Wu, T., Du, Y., (2020) Rapid determination of fumonisin (FB1) by syringe SPE coupled with solid-phase fluorescence spectrometry, Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 226, 117549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2019.117549

Li, L., Iqbal, J., Zhu, Y., Wang, F., Zhang, F., Chen, W., Du, Y., (2020) Chitosan/Al2O3-HA nanocomposite beads for efficient removal of estradiol and chrysoidin from aqueous solution, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 145, 686-693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.12.223

Awual, R., Hasan, M., Iqbal, J., Islam, A., Khandaker, S., (2020) Ligand based sustainable composite material for sensitive nickel (II) capturing in aqueous media, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 8(1) 103591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2019.104585

Imran, M., Khan, Z., Iqbal, J., Shah, N.S., et al., (2020) Potential of siltstone and its composites with biochar and magnetite nanoparticles for the removal of cadmium from contaminated aqueous solutions: Batch and column scale studies, Environmental Pollution, 259, 113938, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.113938

Jogia, J., Wedawatta, G., Psychological vulnerability as an integral component of comprehensive vulnerability assessment: Informing policy and practice in disaster risk reduction. International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 10(3), 2019, pp. 232-245.

Terry, J.P. and Malik, S.A. 2020. Reconsidering the seawater-density parameter in hydrodynamic flow transport equations for coastal boulders. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. DOI:10.1080/00288306.2020.1716815.

Naseem M, Eman M. O, Fares M. H, Fatima A.A, Geema K., Helga S., Elena B., Dimitrios V., Thomas D. 2019. Of kinetin’s effective concentrations and targets within mammalian cellular systems. Scientific Reports. (Accepted) ID c2dc6688-6f7e-432c-abce-d974b4dd720f

| CNHS NEW PUBLICATIONS

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2020.112429


https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.126612



https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2019.101012

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2019.101012


https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119032

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2019.117549



https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2019.104585


Naseem M, Gun G, Osmanoglu O, AlRemeithi F.A, Iqbal.

J , Ullah I and Dandekar T. 2020. Bacterial Shoot Apical Meristem Inoculation Assay. Methods in Mol. Biol, 2094:17-22. PMID: 31797286.

Naseem M, Özge Osmanoglu O, and Dandekar T (2019) Synthetic rewiring of plant CO2-sequestration galvanizes plant biomass production. Trends in Biotechnology (TIBTECH-19-00157 Volume 38, Issue 4, April 2020, P 354-359

Naseem M, Mugdha Srivastava2 *, Ozge Osmanoglu2, Iqbal

J., Fares M. H., Fatima A.A, Thomas Dandekar (2020) Molecular dynamic simulation approaches applied to model stem cells peptide CLV3 interaction with immune receptor FLS2. Methods in Mol. Biol , 2094:67-77. PMID: 31797292.

Khan M A, Ashar N, N. Ganesh A. G., Rais N., Faheem S. M., & Khan S. T. (2019). Bacterial Community Structure in Anaerobic Digesters of a Full Scale Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant‒Case Study of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems, 7(3), 385-398.

Mandal R. K., Khan M. A., Hussain A., Akhter N., Jawed A., Dar

S. A., ... & Haque S. (2019). A trial sequential meta-analysis

of TNF-α–308G> A (rs800629) gene polymorphism and

susceptibility to colorectal cancer. Bioscience reports, 39(1),

BSR20181052.

Mandal R. K., Khan M. A., Hussain A., Dar S. A., Aloufi S.,

Jawed A., ... & Khan S. (2019). Association of MBL2 gene

polymorphisms with pulmonary tuberculosis susceptibility:

trial sequence meta-analysis as evidence. Infection and

drug resistance, 12, 185.

Krishna B. M., Khan, M. A., & Khan S. T. (2019). Next-Generation

Sequencing (NGS) Platforms: An Exciting Era of Genome

Sequence Analysis. In Microbial Genomics in Sustainable

Agroecosystems (pp. 89-109). Springer, Singapore.

Nadine B. O., Amna A. A., Mariam E., Fatima M. A., Yousef

N., Fares M. H, Fatima A. A., (2020). Advantages of first-

derivative reflectance spectroscopy in the VNIR-SWIR for

the quantification of olivine and hematite, Planetary and

Space Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2020.104957.

CNHS NEW PUBLICATIONS |

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01677799/38/4

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UNIVERSITY - zu.ac.ae · The following highlights are a testimonial to our success, CNHS produced good number of publications in Scopus indexed journal. The psychology team from CNHS