SACM - Ireland
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://drepo.sdl.edu.sa/handle/20.500.14154/9656
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Item Restricted The Representation of Gender in Emirati Women Novelists Discourse Between 1992 and 2022(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alrashdi, Mona; Ahmad, Mohamed; Fazaeli, RojaThis dissertation examines the representation of gender in Emirati women’s novels published between 1992-2022, a period that witnessed both the rise of the Emirati novel and rapid social transformation in the UAE. It analyses 26 novels authored by Emirati women, each of which engages with questions of women’s status, rights, and identity in a society negotiating the tensions between state-led modernisation and enduring tribal and familial authority. The study argues that these works provide a sustained examination of patriarchal structures and gender relations by documenting women’s struggles in both private and public spheres, and by exposing the contradictions between progressive legislation and restrictive social customs. The analysis demonstrates a clear shift in thematic focus across the three decades being focused on. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Emirati women novelists often used fiction as a platform to demand access to education and employment, echoing state narratives that framed women’s participation as central to modernisation. Yet, these themes also revealed the conditional nature of empowerment, as women’s achievements were continually judged against expectations of marriage and family. After 2010, with the sharp increase in literary production, Emirati narratives shifted towards more intimate and socially sensitive concerns. This saw writers begin to foreground issues such as forced and consanguineous marriages, cross-national unions, spinsterhood, divorce, and women’s search for love and fulfilment. This shift unfolded alongside legal reforms in personal status law and debates over custody and citizenship, while tribal and familial authority continued to regulate women’s lives and shape their choices and freedoms. Education and employment, though less central in this later period, remained double-edged; it offered opportunities for autonomy while reinforcing patriarchal anxieties about mixed-gender environments or fields deemed socially inappropriate. Through these themes, Emirati women novelists reveal how women’s lives are simultaneously shaped by state-provided opportunities and enduring social constraints. Their works present the novel as a space of resistance, highlighting the tensions between modernity and tradition. By addressing these woman-centred issues, they effectively shed light on issues that have received limited attention in public discourse.32 0Item Restricted The Impact of FinTech Adoption on the Operational Efficiency of SMEs in the Middle East(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alotaybi, Ayied; Ehtisham, YasinThis paper will examine how the adoption of Financial Technology (FinTech) impacts the operational efficiency of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Middle East. The major challenges facing SMEs are limited access to finance, poor processes, and dependence on conventional banking systems. FinTech solutions, such as digital payments, mobile banking, and automated accounting, provide opportunities to enhance efficiency by increasing transaction speed, lowering prices, and improving financial accuracy. The study has taken a quantitative methodology based on survey data gathered among the owners, managers and financial experts of SMEs. The relationship between the adoption of FinTech and its operational performance is evaluated using statistical analysis, including correlation and regression. The results show that FinTech positively influences efficiency, especially in the cost reduction, productivity, and decision-making. Nonetheless, the issues of expensive implementation costs, a lack of digital skills, and cybersecurity-related concerns remain. The research offers information to SMEs, policy makers and financial institutions to aid successful FinTech adoption.6 0Item Restricted NORM-BMI: Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) in Construction Materials(University of Galway, 2025) AlQthanian, Najla Saad; Foley, MarkNORM, Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials, Medical Physics, Building Materials, Gamma Index, Radiation Protection, Ireland, European Union2 0Item Restricted A Lifecycle-Based Metadata Model for Improving Documentation, Reuse, and Generation of Declarative Mappings(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alzahrani, Sarah; O'Sullivan, DeclanDeclarative mappings play an essential role in knowledge graph construction and data integration, enabling data transformation, alignment and interlinking of heterogeneous data sources. Despite their importance, mappings as semantic artefacts are rarely accompanied by the contextual documentation needed to understand why and how they were created. As a result, finding, assessing, maintaining and reusing these mappings becomes difficult. Existing standards such as PROV-O, DCAT, and SSSOM address aspects of provenance and alignment documentation but do not capture the full lifecycle of declarative mappings across different mapping types. This gap limits the ability to reuse, store and discover mappings in repositories, and also limits the ability of automated tools, including Large Language Models (LLMs), to generate reliable mappings without sufficient context. This thesis addresses this gap through the design and evaluation of the Lifecycle-Based Metadata Model for Declarative Mappings (LMMD). LMMD organises metadata according to five phases of the mapping lifecycle: analysis, design, development, testing, and maintenance. The model is designed to apply across mapping types including uplift mappings, ontology alignments, and entity interlinking, and can be used and extended accordingly. LMMD is then formalised as the Mapping Metadata Vocabulary (MMV), an OWL ontology aligned with established vocabularies including PROV-O, DCTERMS, and MQV. MMV is operationalised through MetaSEMAP, a web-based annotation tool that enables practitioners to document and export metadata for mapping artefacts. The thesis presents five evaluation studies. The first study is a community survey that validated the relevance of proposed metadata fields with semantic web community members. The second study assessed usability of MetaSEMAP through task-based testing. The third study examined the conceptual clarity, lifecycle coverage, and modelling quality of MMV through expert review and automated validation. The fourth study investigated whether lifecycle-based metadata supports more informed mapping reuse decisions. Finally, a use case explored whether metadata guided prompting improves semantic correctness and completeness of LLM generated mappings. The results demonstrate that LMMD provides a relevant, usable, and valuable foundation for mapping documentation and reuse decisions. The findings indicate that a lifecycle-based metadata model addresses a genuine need in the knowledge graph and data integration community, with broader implications for FAIR data practices, mapping governance, and AI-assisted mapping.10 0Item Restricted Johne’s disease in farmed sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Ireland(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alotaibi, Nasser Mathkar; Hanne, JahnsAlthough Johne’s disease (JD), caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), has been described in several deer species, this thesis provides the first comprehensive characterisation of MAP infection in farmed sika (Cervus nippon) worldwide. The aim of this study was to characterise MAP infection in farmed sika deer at different stages of infection using histopathology, liquid culture and whole genome sequencing (WGS). Rapid commercially available diagnostic tests such as IS900 qPCR, and ELISA assays were evaluated for their use in diagnosing JD in this species for the first time. Tissue, faecal and / or serum samples were collected from 119 farmed sika deer at various stages of disease in an MAP affected herd. The VetMAX MAP 2.0 IS900 qPCR assay, correlated well with results from liquid culture and is an effective method for detecting MAP faecal shedding in sika deer. Whole genome sequencing of four isolates collected from different years, and disease stages showed that all belonged to the Cattle-type strain and were genetically identical, suggesting the presence of a highly clonal strain within the herd. One third of subclinically infected sika deer had no microscopic lesions in the ileocaecal lymph node or ileum, while the remainder showed mild to moderate focal granulomatous lesions with few or no detectable acid-fast bacilli. In contrast, the clinical cases were dominated by diffuse granulomatous lesions, high lesion severity scores, and abundant acid-fast bacilli in both tissues. Of the two commercial ELISA assays (ID.VET and IDEXX), and the Paralisa™, all three assays showed excellent specificity (100%), but Paralisa™ (48%) and ID.VET (43%) were considerably more sensitive than IDEXX (4%). An eight year-monitoring study of a small sika deer herd found no detectable spread of infection from an intermittently moderately-shedding stag. Overall, this thesis provides important insight into the progression, diagnostics, and transmission of JD in sika deer, that with inform the future detection, monitoring and management of this disease in this species.9 0Item Restricted A Comparative Study of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ahmad Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) ALBASHEER, ABDULAZIZ ZAID; MORIN, CHRISTINAThis dissertation undertakes a comparative analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad (2013). It positions the novels in a contrapuntal relationship, applying Edward Said’s methodology to read them against and through one another. The study argues that Saadawi’s work exemplifies Harold Bloom’s “anxiety of influence,” engaging not merely with Shelley’s text but with the broader cultural archetype of Frankenstein to assert its own creative autonomy and postcolonial voice. The comparative analysis is organized through three primary discursive clusters. The first cluster contrasts the Gothic discourse of supernatural fear with the modern discourse of political terror. Shelley’s novel operates within a Gothic framework, generating terror through scientific transgression and the supernatural. Saadawi’s novel transposes fear into the realm of terrorism, where horror stems from the tangible violence and collective trauma of war-torn Baghdad. The second cluster investigates the Promethean discourse of creation. Shelley’s “Modern Prometheus” reflects a modernist faith in, and anxiety about, scientific ambition and individual genius. Saadawi’s “Postmodernist Prometheus” deconstructs this narrative, presenting a fragmented, collective creation that critiques grand narratives of progress and agency. The third cluster examines colonial and postcolonial discourses. Shelley’s text can be read as encoding imperial anxieties and the dynamics of Othering. Saadawi’s novel writes back to this legacy, reconfiguring the monster as a symbol of resistance against neo-colonial intervention and sectarian fragmentation. Through this tripartite framework, the dissertation demonstrates how Saadawi’s hypertext creatively misreads and recontextualizes Shelley’s hypotext. It transforms the Frankenstein archetype into a potent critique of contemporary Iraqi realities. The study ultimately reveals the enduring power of the Frankenstein archetype to articulate the ethical and existential crises of its time, from nineteenth-century European modernity to twenty-first-century postcolonial conflict.9 0Item Restricted Examining the effectiveness of Using GenAI (ChatGPT) to Enhance EFL Students’ Writing Skills(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Aldulaylan, Fahad Saleh; Murray, LiamWriting is widely regarded as a complex and demanding skill for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students because it requires the integration of cognitive, affective, and linguistic resources. With the recent and rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence, there has been growing interest in its potential as a useful aid to language learning, particularly in writing instruction. However, empirical research investigating the nature of AI tools' long-term support for writing development under guided pedagogical instruction remains limited. This thesis explores the effectiveness of integrating GenAI (ChatGPT) into EFL writing instruction with attention to students’ perceptions and writing development. The study employed a mixed-methods approach to conduct a case study in the Saudi EFL context among university students. Quantitative data were collected through pre- and post-surveys examining students’ attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of the use of ChatGPT in writing classes. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and a descriptive comparison of students’ pre- and post-writing tests. The intervention was based on guided use of ChatGPT during writing activities over one semester, along with explicit teaching in writing processes. The findings showed that many students demonstrated enhancement in writing performance, particularly in lexical choices, grammatical accuracy, and cohesion and organisation. Students also reported increased motivation, reduced anxiety, and enhanced confidence when using ChatGPT. The findings assert that real improvement in students’ writing skills depends on a gradual reduction in the use of AI tools during the learning process. However, writing improvement was not equal among students, as some challenges remained. The findings also indicated that perceived improvement in task performance does not necessarily reflect internalisation and increased competence. Thus, guided use of AI tools is necessary in teaching and learning practices to avoid overreliance on them. The study asserts the need for long-term research to examine effective strategies for enhancing students’ independence while using AI tools.14 0Item Restricted Investigating The Potential Effectiveness of Implementing the Flipped Classroom Approach on Grammar Learning of Saudi EFL Male University Students; Students’ Attitudes, Achievements and Perceptions(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alenazi, Majed Eissa; Murray, LiamEnglish grammar is a fundamental component of language learning, yet it remains one of the most challenging areas for many learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), particularly in contexts where opportunities for meaningful practice are limited. This study investigated the effectiveness of the flipped classroom approach in teaching English grammar to Saudi EFL university students. It aimed to examine the impact of this approach on students’ grammar achievement and to explore their perceptions of learning through a flipped classroom model. The study was motivated by the continuing challenges Saudi learners face in grammar learning and the growing need for more student-centered and technology-supported teaching methods in higher education. A mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design was adopted. The study involved Saudi male university students and used a range of data collection tools, including tests, questionnaires, and a group interview, to evaluate both academic achievement and student perceptions. The flipped classroom approach was implemented by assigning instructional materials before class and using class time for practice, interaction, discussion, and teacher support. This design allowed students to engage with lesson content in advance and use classroom time more actively and meaningfully. The findings indicated that the flipped classroom approach had a positive effect on students’ grammar learning and was generally well received by the participants. Students showed clear improvement in their grammar achievement after the implementation of the approach, suggesting that the flipped model supported better understanding and application of grammatical structures. The findings also revealed that students developed positive attitudes towards this method of instruction and appreciated the opportunity to prepare before class and participate more actively during lessons. The results also suggested that the approach promoted greater engagement, and created a more supportive and motivating learning environment. These findings highlight the potential of the flipped classroom approach to enhance both academic performance and learner experience in grammar instruction. In general, the study concludes that the flipped classroom approach can be a useful method for supporting grammar instruction in Saudi EFL higher education contexts and may offer practical value for teachers and curriculum designers seeking to improve classroom practice.9 0Item Restricted Exploring The Effective Use of AI Tools (Copilot) in the Teaching of English Grammar to First Year Saudi Undergraduate Students in Saudi Arabia(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Almeshal, Ziyad Abdulaziz M; Murray, LiamThis thesis investigates the role of Copilot in helping first-year Saudi undergraduate students to understand and use English grammatical items more effectively. The study investigates familiar challenges in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms, where many students study grammar for years but still struggle to apply correct forms accurately and confidently in context. In Saudi Arabia, this difficulty is shaped by teacher-centred instruction, limited communicative practice, and restricted exposure to English outside the classroom. Based on this background, the study examines whether Copilot, as a GenAI tool, can provide useful support for grammar learning without replacing the teacher's role. A mixed methods design was used to explore both measurable change and students’ experiences. Quantitative data were collected through pre- and post-tests and questionnaires, whereas qualitative data were collected through open-ended responses, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. This design allowed the researcher to examine not only whether improvement occurred but also students’ views and experiences regarding the use of Copilot, what they found helpful, and where difficulties persisted. The findings revealed that Copilot supported student learning in several ways. Test results showed an overall improvement in grammatical accuracy, with clear enhancements revealed with English verb tenses, such as in the present continuous, past continuous, and past simple. Students also reported that Copilot provided simple explanations, immediate feedback, and opportunities to ask the same questions repeatedly without embarrassment or fear of judgment. Over time, many students became more focused in their interactions with the tool and more confident in discussing grammar problems. At the same time, the study also provided limitations related to the use of the tool. Some students faced technical problems, unclear explanations, misunderstandings, and uncertainty about the reliability and trust of responses. These results suggest that Copilot can support grammar learning, but its impact depends on guided use, classroom structure, and students’ ability to engage with it thoughtfully rather than passively accepting its suggestions. The study argues that Copilot is best understood as a supportive pedagogical tool rather than a substitute for teaching, with both potential and limitations in learning English grammatical tenses and language learning in general. Moreover, it suggests that AI tools should be integrated in a balanced way to prevent students’ overreliance while maintaining their supportive nature.16 0Item Restricted Nanoimprinted Hybrid Platforms for Sensing, Optical Modulation, and Multifunctional Interfaces(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alotaibi, Aeshah Farhan M; James, RiceThis thesis investigates the design, fabrication, and functional evaluation of nanoimprinted platforms for sensing, optical modulation, and multifunctional interfacial applications. Nanoimprinting is employed throughout as a unifying strategy for generating deterministic nanoscale architectures across multiple material systems, enabling systematic investigation of the relationships between surface geometry, materials integration, and measurable performance. The thesis first establishes the theoretical and methodological framework underpinning nanoimprinted functional surfaces and their Raman, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and optical behaviour. It then presents a connected series of nanoimprinted composite and hybrid platforms based on graphene oxide/cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate/titanium dioxide (TiO2), piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), poly(vinylidene fluoride)/multi-walled carbon nanotube (PVDF/MWCNT) nanocomposites, and humidity-responsive 9- fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl-L-phenylalanine/polydimethylsiloxane (Fmoc-Phe- OH/PDMS) films. Across these systems, the effects of nanoscale patterning on structural fidelity, optical response, interfacial behaviour, analyte accessibility, and signal reproducibility are examined using complementary spectroscopic, microscopic, and thermo -mechanical characterization methods. The graphene oxide/cellulose acetate and cellulose acetate/TiO2 platforms demonstrate that nanoimprinted biopolymer-based and hybrid semiconductor- containing substrates can improve Raman enhancement, analytical sensitivity, and reproducibility through the combined effects of surface structuring, plasmonic coupling, and interfacial charge-transfer processes. The piezoelectric PVDF and PVDF/MWCNT platforms extend this approach by integrating mechanically tunable Raman enhancement, nanotube-induced surface roughening, UV-assisted signal amplification, and flexible label-free sensing. The final experimental stage develops humidity-responsive Fmoc-Phe-OH/PDMS nanocomposite films that retain patterned vii submicron features after prolonged water exposure, exhibit hydration-induced swelling, produce a reversible reflectance red shift of approximately 30 nm, show a surface potential increase of more than 500 mV under humid conditions, and support SERS enhancement factors of up to 108 after silver coating. Overall, this thesis shows that nanoimprinted geometry is not merely a pattern-transfer route, but a powerful design variable for controlling optical response, interfacial function, spectroscopic enhancement, and stimulus-responsive behaviour across multiple material platforms. It therefore establishes a coherent framework for the development of reproducible, multifunctional, and environmentally responsive nanoimprinted interfaces for sensing, optical modulation, and advanced surface- based applications13 0