SACM - United Kingdom
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://drepo.sdl.edu.sa/handle/20.500.14154/9667
Browse
26946 results
Search Results
Item Restricted The Role of Wearable Technology in Sustainable Fashion: Legal and Policy Implications for Environmental Compliance in England and Wales(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alhazmi, Basmah; Binjamen, MayfieldWearable technology is rapidly transforming the fashion sector, yet environmental law in England and Wales has not kept pace with the emergence of hybrid textile–electronic products. This dissertation examines how current UK environmental and waste regulations—particularly the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013—fail to accommodate the material complexity, lifecycle impacts, and disposal challenges of wearable technologies. As the dissertation notes, “wearable technology now operates in a legislative void, where legal responsibilities are limited, inconsistent or absent” (para. 1.1.5). This regulatory gap contributes to misclassification, inadequate producer accountability, and increased e‑waste, undermining national sustainability and circular economy goals. To analyse these shortcomings, the study applies environmental principles such as Polluter Pays and the Precautionary Principle, alongside regulatory theories including responsive regulation and the pacing problem. The research also employs a functional comparative method to evaluate international models. Germany’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) offer more coherent frameworks that integrate lifecycle responsibility, eco‑design, and mandatory sustainability reporting. As highlighted in the dissertation, France’s eco‑modulated EPR fees and medical device regulation demonstrate how hybrid wearables can be effectively classified and governed (para. 4.2.6). Two case studies—Turning Over Pyjama in the UK and the Chronolife Smart Vest in France—illustrate the practical consequences of regulatory ambiguity. The UK example reveals fragmented oversight and unclear compliance pathways, while the French model shows how legal clarity can support innovation, safety, and environmental stewardship. The dissertation concludes that England and Wales require targeted reforms to regulate wearable technology effectively. These include establishing a legal definition for hybrid products, implementing EPR tailored to wearables, mandating ESG disclosure, and introducing eco‑design requirements. Without such reforms, the UK risks continued regulatory fragmentation, environmental harm, and barriers to sustainable innovation. With them, the UK can align wearable technology with circular economy principles and future‑proof its environmental governance.16 0Item Restricted Gradient Variation and Change from Affricates to Stops in Qassimi Arabic: A Sociophonetic Study(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alrajhi, Ayman; Strelluf, ChristopherThis sociophonetic study investigates consonantal variation in Qassimi Arabic (QA) by examining the variations between local affricates (i.e., [t͡s] and [d͡z]) and supralocal stops (i.e., [k] and [ɡ]), respectively. The study specifically explores the influence of social factors (i.e., age, gender, mobility, and local identity) on patterns of variation and change using combined auditory and acoustic analysis. It also investigates how QA speakers use the studied consonants to index various social meanings. The acoustic analysis measures fine-grained consonantal properties, including the closure duration, voice onset time (VOT), frication duration, and centre of gravity (CoG), to reveal the differences between the studied sounds while capturing the transition phase from affricates to stops in QA. The findings show that the affricate [t͡s] in stem position and the affricate [d͡z] are near the completion of change towards the stops [k] and [ɡ]. However, the affricate (t͡s) in the suffix undergoes a sound change in progress while remaining at an early stage. These changes are primarily led by female, middle-aged, high-mobility, and supralocally oriented speakers. Moreover, speech style influences sound variation, with careful speech encouraging the use of the affricate [t͡s] and the stop [ɡ]. Furthermore, the acoustic analysis shows that voicing, the manner of articulation, and social differentiations are statistically significant in influencing the acoustic properties of different sounds. Gender significantly influences the closure duration, VOT, and CoG. Age also influences VOT and CoG. However, micro-social factors (i.e., mobility and local identity) only influence CoG. Beyond providing evidence for differences between various linguistic and social factors when producing affricates and stops, the acoustic analysis reveals that the affricates progressively approximate the CoG values of the stops before fully transitioning into them. Hence, the change from affricates to stops in QA is gradual and follows a merger-by-transfer mechanism. This research, which extends Arabic sociophonetic studies beyond auditory analysis, contributes to our understanding of consonantal variation and change, particularly in contexts such as Saudi Arabia, where socioeconomic landscapes are transforming.13 0Item Restricted An Exploration of Parental Perceptions of Dental Caries and Sugar Consumption in Children: A Review of Qualitative Studies(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alharbi, Khawlah; Heilmann, AnjaBackground:Childhood dental caries remains widespread in high-income countries, driven by frequent exposure to free sugars and uneven preventive routines. Parents’ day-to- day decisions occur within family, service, and commercial environments that can enable or undermine healthy practices. This review synthesises qualitative evidence on how parents perceive caries and sugar, and how those perceptions translate into behaviours shaping children’s oral health outcomes. Aim:To synthesise qualitative evidence from high-income countries on how parents perceive childhood dental caries and sugar consumption, and how these perceptions shape everyday practices. Methods:A narrative review of qualitative and mixed-methods studies was undertaken (searches August 2025) across Ovid Medline, CINAHL, and Dentistry & Oral Science Source, using PCC eligibility criteria (Population–Concept–Context) and predefined inclusion/exclusion rules. Data were extracted into a structured table and synthesised narratively. Results:Twenty-five studies from seven high-income settings (Australia n=11; USA n=7; UK n=3; Netherlands n=2; Belgium, Canada, France, Qatar n=1 each) were included. Most used interviews and/or focus groups with thematic or related analyses. Across studies, parents strongly valued children’s oral health but struggled to maintain twice-daily supervised brushing and consistent sugar limits amid time pressure, fatigue, mixed advice, and service barriers (costs, eligibility/navigation, limited paediatric capacity, rigid hours). Decisions were negotiated within families-partners and grandparents often loosening rules-and were shaped by food environments that normalised frequent sugary snacks/drinks and confusing labelling. Knowledge gaps were common; when to start brushing, fluoride use, first-visit timing; interpretation of “no added sugar”. These patterns map onto high motivation, uneven capability, and constrained opportunity, suggesting information alone is insufficient to shift behaviour. Conclusions: Improving children’s oral health requires aligning clear, consistent guidance with practical, family-centred supports and easier access to prevention. Priority actions include establishing early dental homes linked to maternity/early-years contacts, navigation help and flexible child-friendly appointments, and settings-based programmes in nurseries/schools-alongside upstream measures that curb the availability, promotion, and routine presence of high-sugar products3 0Item Restricted Novel Antimicrobial Agents Targeting Flap Endonuclease(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Aldajani, Reem Baker A; Sayers, JonStreptococcus pneumoniae (Sp) is considered a major global health concern causing a wide range of diseases mainly to vulnerable populations. As the threat of antimicrobial resistance is increasing, the need to investigate new therapeutic targets are pivotal. Bacterial flap endonuclease (FEN) domains of DNA polymerase I enzymes are structure-specific nucleases that are essential in DNA replication and repair as they are responsible for cleaving 5′ flap structures arising during Okazaki fragment processing. This project aimed to assess SpFEN domain protein-DNA interactions. Two pUC57-Kan vectors containing the synthetic SpFEN genes, wildtype (active) and mutant (inactive), were cloned into a suitable expression vector pJONEX4 using EcoRI and HindIII restriction enzymes and transformed into competent M72 Escherichia coli cells. The expression of recombinant protein was optimised to maximise the soluble yield and produce functional SpFEN protein. The harvested and lysed cells, containing the wildtype vector, were then subjected to ion exchange chromatography and affinity chromatography using the AKTA pure purification system followed by size exclusion chromatography to ensure purity of target protein and homogeneity. Chromatographic analysis was displayed on software where it indicated a highly pure preparation of target protein and confirmed by SDS-PAGE. The nuclease activity of recombinant SpFEN wildtype was then evaluated by conducting zymogram to detect enzyme cleavage efficiency. A robust endonucleolytic activity of enzyme was exhibited compared to the mutant SpFEN type where no degradation of DNA substrate was observed indicating lack of enzymatic activity; which was consistent with previous studies on a bacteriophage FEN (Feng et al., 2004). To identify inhibitors of SpFEN activity, a Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) activity assay was performed to screen a collection of chemical compounds. Together, such data contribute to understanding the promising antimicrobial target FEN interactions which is essential for the development of new, safe and effective therapeutic agents.8 0Item Restricted The role of transporters in antibiotic uptake into Escherichia coli(University of Leeds, 2025) Almadani, Abdulmenem; O'Neill, AlexThe widespread use of antibiotics in human health and agriculture has driven the development of antimicrobial resistance, and there is an urgent need to develop new antibiotics. An important challenge in doing so is the lack of a granular understanding of how such compounds actually gain entry to bacterial cells, to reach their intracellular targets. The prevailing view is that drugs almost invariably cross the cytoplasmic membrane (CM) by diffusion directly across the lipid bilayer (“passive lipoidal diffusion”). However, the O’Neill laboratory has recently shown that a number of structurally-distinct antibacterial drug classes actually reach the cytoplasm of the Gram-positive pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus, by “hitch-hiking” on membrane transporters. The present study sought to establish whether this phenomenon also holds true in a Gram-negative bacterium, using a similar approach to that employed for S. aureus. A library of strains (“ECMKO”) independently deleted for most of the membrane transporters in E. coli, was screened in a competition-growth assay, on the basis that strains deleted for a transporter involved in antibiotic uptake would likely exhibit improved competitive fitness over the parent strain in the presence of that antibiotic. To facilitate this screening process, a fluorescence-based competition-growth assay was first established and validated. Initial hits from the screen were confirmed by more traditional (colony-counting) competition-growth assays, and antibiotic accumulation into these strains was then measured by LC-MS. Nine confirmed hits were identified from the ECMKO; six for ciprofloxacin, two for tetracycline and one for trimethoprim. These single gene deletion mutants showed around 10-15% reduction in accumulation of the corresponding antibiotic, suggesting that there may be multiple carriers of ciprofloxacin. The six hits for ciprofloxacin were therefore used to engineer poly mutant strains carrying up to four deletions for genes identified as being involved with uptake of this drug, on the basis that increased number of deletions should show a decreased accumulation, even allowing for redundancy in transporters. Quadruple mutants showed up to 50% reduction in accumulation and elevated MIC. The results from this study confirms that some antibiotics traverse the Gram-negative CM by transporters, and underscores the idea of designing new drugs that mimic the metabolites for these transporters.5 0Item Restricted ISG15 signalling in coronary microvascular endothelial cells as a key determinant of adverse remodelling in diabetic cardiomyopathy(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alsaggaf, Mohammed; David, GrieveObjective: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a progressive metabolic disorder associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), characterised by subclinical diastolic dysfunction, microvascular injury, and heightened susceptibility to cardiac stress, is a major contributor to chronic heart failure. Preventive and therapeutic strategies for DCM remain limited due to incomplete understanding of its underlying mechanisms. Emerging evidence implicates endothelial microvascular dysfunction as a central pathogenic process. This PhD thesis aimed to identify key pathological signalling pathways driving coronary microvascular endothelial dysfunction in DCM. Methods: Differential gene expression analyses were performed on cardiac tissue from an established mouse model of DCM using single nuclei and total RNA sequencing. Integration with the human cardiac cell atlas identified capillary endothelial-enriched genes, which were analysed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis to identify pathogenic pathways, highlighting interferon signalling. Key pathway intermediates were examined in human cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (HCMECs) exposed to high glucose to model diabetes-associated endothelial dysfunction, with endothelial junctional integrity as the primary functional endpoint. ISG15 was selected for further investigation using pharmacological inhibition of JAK/STAT signalling, ISG15 siRNA knockdown in vitro, and siRNA nanoparticle targeting in vivo. Results: Integrated transcriptomic and protein analyses identified ISG15 as a central mediator of endothelial interferon signalling in experimental diabetes with translational relevance for DCM. In vitro studies confirmed ISG15 as a key driver of hyperglycemia induced endothelial inflammation and dysfunction, which were attenuated by JAK/STAT inhibition and ISG15 silencing. Endothelial ISG15 expression also promoted cardiac fibroblast differentiation through altered cytokine secretion, implicating paracrine signalling in pathological remodelling. In vivo ISG15 siRNA nanoparticle delivery reduced adverse structural and functional remodelling in DCM mice. Conclusion: ISG15 is a key regulator of interferon-mediated endothelial microvascular dysfunction in DCM. Targeting ISG15 represents a promising therapeutic strategy to limit cardiac remodelling and functional decline in DCM.5 0Item Restricted Sustaining Fire Safety: A Comprehensive Framework for the Continuous Monitoring and Control of Building Fire Safety Measures(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Aldossary, Mubarak Saad; Yacine, RezguiBuilding fires remain a critical challenge in the built environment, resulting in substantial loss of life, injury, and property damage worldwide despite decades of advancements in fire safety engineering, regulation, and technology. This persistent problem is not due to the absence of technical solutions, but rather the failure to sustain, adapt, and integrate fire safety measures throughout the operational life of buildings. The degradation of compliance, fragmented responsibilities, policy inconsistencies, and limited digital adoption contribute to a situation where buildings may appear compliant at design but become unsafe in practice. This thesis develops, validates, and refines a comprehensive Fire Safety Sustainability Framework (FSSF) for the continuous monitoring, control, and assessment of fire safety measures across the building life. The research adopts a mixed-methods approach, beginning with a systematic and integrative literature review to identify current practices, limitations, and knowledge gaps. Qualitative expert interviews further explore operational challenges and digital opportunities in the field of building fire safety. The resulting findings inform the design of the FSSF, which is aligned with international codes, standards, and contemporary digital infrastructure. The framework is subjected to rigorous validation through a two-round Delphi consultation with industry experts, followed by applied testing in operational buildings to examine the practicality, clarity, and usability of the validated framework dimensions and criteria. This combined validation approach ensures that the framework is both conceptually robust and operationally applicable across diverse building types and contexts. Key innovations include the explicit integration of digital tools such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), IoT sensors, and digital twins into the framework, supporting structured documentation, continuous monitoring, and informed decision-making throughout building operation. The validated FSSF offers a practical, scalable solution for sustaining fire safety performance, providing measurable indicators and structured guidance for regulators, facility managers, and policymakers. The findings contribute to theory, professional practice, and policy, advancing the shift from static compliance toward sustained fire safety management in the built environment.7 0Item Restricted Architecture Beyond Shelter: A Critical Study of BIPV as a Redefinition of Facades in Saudi Arabia(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Ainousah, Esraa Adel; Kerr, JenniferThis thesis critically investigates Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) as both an energy system and an architectural expression in the Saudi Arabian context. While global research has primarily addressed technical performance, gaps remain in cultural integration and design-led approaches, especially in hot-arid regions. Adopting a qualitative methodology, the study combines architectural theory with three case studies: NEOM as a system-scale model of renewable urbanism, the NESR Oilfield Research and Innovation (NORI) Center in Dhahran, and the Giftedness & Creativity Center at King Faisal University in Al-Ahsa. These cases reveal how BIPV operates across multiple registers: as infrastructure, as a source of technical performance, and as a medium of symbolic expression. Findings highlight both opportunities and constraints. BIPV can deliver significant energy yield and contribute to sustainability credentials, but its ecological and cultural narratives are complicated by embodied energy, reliance on imports, and questions of local identity. Through the lenses of Hasan Fathy’s vernacular wisdom, Jane Bennett’s material agency, and Bill Dunster’s symbolic aesthetics, the study argues that BIPV façades in Saudi Arabia cannot be evaluated by efficiency alone. Their success depends on whether they can be adapted to resonate with local culture and architecture while advancing national sustainability goals.7 0Item Restricted An Exploratory Study on the Experience of Gender Inequality in the University in Saudi Arabia(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) ALsharif, Bashayr Nasser; Karunanayake, GeethaSaudi Arabia, a country with strong religious and cultural norms, is seen as lagging in terms of addressing gender equality issues. Many women still do not enter the workplace due to the patriarchal expectation that they should stay in the home. Women’s employment situations and opportunities within Saudi Arabia have been investigated by several researchers. This research is deeply rooted in the necessity to comprehend the nature and impact of gender inequality on women's employment in Saudi Arabia. It aims to identify the barriers women face in achieving success and to explore how they experience limitations shaped by prevailing perceptions of gender differences. Within this context, this research aims to explore how female academics at Red Sea University in Saudi Arabia experience the effects of gender inequality, especially regarding career leadership in workplaces, and to explore how women’s agency interpenetrate with diverse forms of structures. This research incorporates the philosophy and strategy of critical feminist theory. A qualitative research methodology was employed, which involved collecting data through semi-structured interviews. The data analysis used a narrative approach that aligned with the feminist perspective to identify key issues of inequality and determine how female academics face challenges and deploy female agency as a coping mechanism. The present study contributes to the existing literature by revealing the experiences of Saudi Arabian females in the academic workplace and presenting how gender inequality has affected their leadership careers. My findings reveal that Sudi women navigate a layered and multifaceted structure of constraints and opportunities. The two-identity strategy that emerges from my data corresponds to the simultaneous existence of projective, practical–evaluative and iterative forms of agency (Emirbayer & Mische’s,1998) These findings will be useful for those who are interested in feminist issues, managers and policymakers who contribute to equality policies and fair practises in academic institutions and younger women planning to pursue careers will also add to the newly growing body of work that seeks to determine the nature and value of feminist agency in modern society by making a point-in-time record of this agent for change, including how it is affecting the way women seek to negotiate obstacles to success that are caused by gender inequality.4 0Item Restricted Efficient Query Repair for Aggregate Constraints(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Algarni, Shatha Saad; Adriane, ChapmanIn many real-world scenarios, query results must satisfy domain-specific constraints such as fairness or financial stability. For example, selecting interview candidates based on their qualifications may require that at least a given percentage be female, or a report on purchase costs may need to ensure the average cost stays below a liability threshold. These requirements can be expressed as constraints over an arithmetic combination of aggregates evaluated on the result of the query. This thesis studies how to repair a query to fulfill such constraints by modifying the filter predicates of the query. These constraints are non monotone and more complex than those considered in prior work, such as query based explanations for missing answers or fairness enforcement in query results. The constraints considered in this thesis invalidate many existing optimizations considered in prior work. The work in this thesis introduces a novel query repair technique that computes the top-k candidate repairs with respect to their distance to the user query. These techniques leverage materialization and data clustering to avoid unnecessary computation. It also exploits bounds on sets of candidate solutions and interval arithmetic to efficiently prune the search space. Experimental evaluation on real-world and benchmark datasets shows that the proposed pruning technique significantly outperforms baselines that consider a single candidate at a time.18 0