SACM - United Kingdom
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://drepo.sdl.edu.sa/handle/20.500.14154/9667
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Item Restricted Shaping Minds: A Critical Discourse Analysis of George W. Bush’s Use of Imagery in His Speeches Leading to the Iraq War(Saudi Digital Library, 2024-08) Alhamami, Tahani; Mazzola, FranciscoThis study investigates how the use of imagery in President George W. Bush’s speeches from the aftermath of 9/11 to the onset of the Iraq War had an impact on the public’s emotions and opinion, eventually leading them to support the military intervention. It argues that employing imagery in political discourse can create mental images in the mind of the audience which can stir their emotions and impair their critical thinking, and thus make them susceptible to manipulation. Through van Dijk’s framework of CDA and Le Bon’s theory of the crowd, the study identifies instances of imagery in six speeches by Bush and analyzes the mental images they evoke to assess the emotive effect on the audience. The research also uses secondary source polls to measure the public perception of the Iraq War. The findings reveal that Bush strategically employed imagery to revive past fears and traumas, reinforce preexisting ideologies, and warn of impending threats, thereby manipulating public perception to justify the war. Finally, the study discusses the ethical implications of using imagery in political discourse to manipulate people.3 0Item Restricted STRIVING TO CONTROL ASTHMA SYMPTOMS: A CONSTRUCTIVIST GROUNDED THEORY STUDY OF BEING A MOTHER OF A CHILD WITH ASTHMA IN SAUDI ARABIA(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alsunitan, Randa; Susan, Kirk; Christie, JaniceIntroduction: Asthma is a common chronic lung disease among children in Saudi Arabia. Parents play an important role in recognising, monitoring, and managing their children’s symptoms, which depends on their knowledge and skill, especially for young children. Yet, no study has been identified that explores mothers’ experiences of caring for a child with asthma in Saudi Arabia. Aim: To generate a Grounded Theory to explain the experiences and perceptions of being a mother of a child with asthma in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A Constructivist Grounded Theory approach was adopted, and 24 in-depth semi- structured interviews (n=22 mothers) were used to collect data from May 2022 to September 2023. Mothers in Saudi Arabia whose children were attending one of three hospitals in Qassim were initially convenience sampled, progressing to theoretical sampling until theoretical saturation was reached. Interviews were transcribed and translated into English and analysed using Charmaz’s principles: initial, focused, and theoretical coding, constant comparison, theoretical sampling and sensitivity, and memo-writing and diagramming. Results: The Grounded Theory, ‘Striving to Control Asthma Symptoms,’ was constructed from the data, which consists of a core category, ‘striving to control asthma symptoms,’ and two sub-categories: ‘managing the triggers of asthma symptoms’ and ‘using treatments to manage and prevent asthma symptoms.’ The theory explains mothers' experiences and the cultural beliefs and social influences that underpin their experiences. Mothers control asthma symptoms by preventing triggers and using preventive treatments, such as inhalers or traditional and religious methods. When symptoms appear, they manage them with either traditional or modern treatments. Conclusion: The emergent theory suggests that striving to control asthma symptoms is central to the mother’s experience in the Saudi context. It highlighted how cultural beliefs and social influences impact the management of asthma symptoms in Saudi Arabia. This study provides an in-depth understanding of Saudi mothers' experience of being a mother of a child with asthma. This understanding could assist healthcare professionals and policymakers in supporting mothers and providing better culturally tailored care.6 0Item Restricted Preventive Strategies and Health Promotion Initiatives for Osteoporosis in the United States(Saudi Digital Library, 2024) Aldekhayel, Marwan; Verma, ArpanaThis review critically examines the preventive strategies and health promotion initiatives implemented to mitigate osteoporosis in the United States (US). Osteoporosis, a progressive bone disease characterised by low bone mineral density, poses a significant public health challenge due to its association with an increased risk of fractures, particularly in the elderly and postmenopausal women. In a high-income country like the US, with population ageing becoming a major public health concern, the prevention and control of osteoporosis and its related health consequences have become paramount. This review highlights the rising prevalence of osteoporosis, leading to substantial healthcare costs in the US, where it impacts approximately 54 million adults over the age of 50, contributing to over two million fractures annually. It also details various initiatives and organisations working to address this problem. These include the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation (BHOF), which focuses on public education and advocacy, and government-led programs such as Healthy People 2030 and initiatives by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). These efforts aim to enhance screening, promote bone health, and support osteoporosis prevention and treatment research. Despite such efforts for several decades, the burden of osteoporosis does not seem to have declined. Many initiatives operate independently, leading to overlapping activities, redundant research, and fragmented outreach efforts. By fostering stronger partnerships and creating a more unified national strategy, these organisations could pool resources, share data more effectively, and streamline their health promotion activities. The review's findings underscore the importance of continued investment in public health strategies to manage the growing burden of osteoporosis in the US population, with a particular focus on addressing the needs of the vulnerable and marginalised.1 0Item Restricted Enhancing Project Resilience through project Management -Driven Stakeholder Communication; A Case Study of Sainsbury’s COVID-19 Response in the UK.(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Benqadeb, Ziad Fahad A; Agroudy, Mohamed ElThis dissertation explores how using project management-driven stakeholder communications influenced Sainsbury’s and contributed to the success of its Online Delivery Expansion and In-Store Safety Implementation Projects during the COVID-19 crisis. Analysing secondary information from the company’s reports, news and industry material, the research investigates the relation of communication to cost, time and quality. To analyse the situation, the IRCRF, supported by Situational Crisis Communication Theory, the Resilience Engineering concept and PRINCE2 Agile, was used. The results show that Sainsbury’s clear communication allowed for quick growth in delivery services by adding 600,000 slots and ensuring customers’ \safety with over 40,000 plexiglass screens, despite struggles with 30% shortage of stock. The company managed the strong online sales by using flexible strategies which cut down on employee absenteeism by 15% and drove digital sales growth to 117%. Sainsbury’s way of operating gave it an edge, allowing for fewer issues reported by a 18% decrease in complaints when compared to Tesco and Asda. This research points out the importance of organised communication in successful projects and it provides valuable tips for retail crisis management. It provides tools for improved future resilience, highlights the value of involving all stakeholders and helps develop frameworks for managing crises which is significant for retail project outcomes.12 0Item Restricted Nonparametric Predictive Inference for Multivariate Data using Copulas(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Almasoud, Taghreed; Coolen, Frank; Coolen-Maturi, ThahaniModelling dependence among random quantities is a core aspect of multivariate data analysis. Copulas provide a flexible and powerful approach to capturing the dependence structure between random quantities. Several dependence models have been proposed in the literature, including classical copulas, vine copulas, and fully nested Archimedean copulas (FNAC). In parallel, several statistical methods have been developed within the imprecise probability framework, including nonparametric predictive inference (NPI). NPI is based on minimal modelling assumptions and quantifies uncertainty using lower and upper probabilities. Recently, NPI has been applied to bivariate data using both parametric and nonparametric copulas. This thesis contributes to the use of NPI for multivariate data by presenting different approaches for prediction. The focus is on copulas for modelling dependence, as they provide high flexibility for modelling complex dependency patterns. A generalization is proposed for the method that combines NPI with bivariate data, using a parametric copula with a single parameter to model dependence. The approach is further extended by introducing a fully nonparametric version that uses a nonparametric copula. A novel method for combining NPI with vine copulas is also presented, motivated by the vine copulas ability to capture several dependence structures in a model. In addition, a new method integrating NPI with FNAC is developed, where FNAC is a promising model for capturing different dependencies within a model using Archimedean copulas. The proposed methods are illustrated using examples from the literature. Simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the predictive performance of the proposed methods and to compare the methods, highlighting their strengths and differences. The results indicate that the methods with either vine copulas or FNAC perform well compared to other methods.6 0Item Restricted Investigation of Novel Type III Secretion System Protein Effectors of Aeromonas veronii(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alfaify, Abdulkhaleg; Shaw, JonathanThe type III secretion system (T3SS) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of various Gram-negative bacteria, enabling them to directly inject effector proteins into host cells. This study focuses on the identification, characterization, and functional analysis of putative T3SS effector proteins (AopX, PteB, and PteA) in Aeromonas veronii. Insertional gene mutants were generated and evaluated using the Galleria mellonella larvae infection model, showing significant alterations in virulence phenotypes. Transcriptomic analysis of an exsD mutant strain provided insights into the regulation of these novel effectors and demonstrated that they were part of theT3SS regulon. The study further characterized these proteins through expressing them in both Saccharomyces cerevisiae and A549 mammalian cells. Fluorescence imaging analysis showed that these proteins had significant impacts on host cell morphology and cytoskeletal organization. Additionally, BioID proximity labelling combined with mass spectrometry proteomics analysis identified host protein interactions and key cellular pathways that influenced by these bacterial effectors. Furthermore, protein purification was optimized using various chromatography approaches and computational modelling via AlphaFold and Phyre2 was used to predict and align protein structures. Overall we found that AopX, PteB, and PteA are regulated by the T3SS regulon. AopX primarily disrupts the actin cytoskeleton in both yeast and A549 cells, most probably through interacting with Filamin A, while PteB prevents bud formation and affects cell cycle progression by interacting with Serine/Threonine phosphatases. This comprehensive investigation enhances our understanding of T3SS effector proteins in A. veronii pathogenesis and provides insights into their regulation, structural features, and specific mechanisms of host cell manipulation.21 0Item Restricted Design and Analysis of Next Generation Wireless Networks(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Altuwairgi, Khaled Humaid; Hamdi, KhairiRecent advancements in wireless communications have increased the demand for high data rates, massive connectivity, high spectral and energy efficiency, and low latency, which cannot be met by existing systems. The sixth-generation (6G) wireless network is envisioned as the next step to support these demands by integrating technologies, including intelligent reflecting surface (IRS), backscatter communication, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), and terahertz (THz) communications. Specifically, the IRS enhances the energy and cost efficiency by controlling the propagation environment through an array of reflecting elements. Backscatter communication enables passive battery-free devices to communicate using external RF signals, offering an energy-efficient and low-cost solution for the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. NOMA improves spectral efficiency and massive connectivity by allowing multiple users to share the same time-frequency resources, while ISAC combines sensing and communication functionalities into a single system for efficient spectrum and hardware usage. Finally, THz communication addresses the current limited spectrum by providing extensive bandwidth that supports ultra-high data rates. This thesis studies the integration of these technologies with a special focus on IRS and backscatter communications, considering various system models and realistic scenarios. It evaluates the performance of IRS-aided backscatter communication in both dedicated and ambient configurations using different detection techniques and transmission schemes. It also investigates IRS-assisted THz to serve multiple users through NOMA and wireless powered communication under various practical scenarios. Moreover, it explores the integration of ISAC with ambient backscatter communication. The thesis identifies the potential benefits of these technologies and examines the adverse impacts of practical factors such as beam misalignment, co-channel interference, imperfect successive interference cancellation, phase shift quantization errors, and hardware imperfection. Accurate analytical expressions are developed for key metrics, including bit error rate, ergodic capacity, and outage probability, under various system models and transmission schemes. Numerical and simulation results are provided to validate the accuracy of the theoretical analysis and provide valuable insights into the system design.11 0Item Restricted Sustainable Waste Management of Date Palm Fronds in Saudi Arabia: Pyrolysis-Derived Biochar Integration into Construction Materials for Carbon Sequestration(Saudi Digital Library, 2024-09) Shaiban, Saad; Scott, BanksThis study focuses on integrating biochar derived from date palm fronds into cement production in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (KSA), to optimise carbon sequestration (CCS) and reduce carbon emissions. Employing a mixed-method approach, the research combines quantitative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using SimaPro software with qualitative sustainability analysis through the Bioeconomy Sustainability Indicator Model (BSIM) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators. Phase 1 compares the environmental impact of traditional open combustion versus pyrolysis for biochar production, revealing that pyrolysis significantly reduces carbon emissions from 3.5 tons CO₂-equivalent per ton of waste to 646 kg CO₂-equivalent. This substantial reduction supports Riyadh's climate goals and aligns with KSA’s Vision 2030 sustainability objectives. Phase 2 evaluates the integration of biochar into cement mortar, showing that a 20% substitution of cement with biochar reduces emissions by 24.81 kg CO₂-equivalent per ton of mortar, potentially saving up to 1,796 million tons of CO₂-equivalent annually based on current cement production levels. The sustainability analysis using BSIM highlights benefits such as job creation and economic growth while identifying transportation logistics risks and production efficiency risks. Additionally, the study assesses contributions to SDGs, particularly in climate action, sustainable cities, and responsible consumption and production. The study recommends optimising the supply chain, investing in advanced pyrolysis technology, and supporting market development through policy incentives. Future research should focus on the long-term performance of biochar, explore additional applications in agriculture and water treatment, and further integrate biochar into sustainable construction practices. This research provides valuable insights for advancing sustainable waste management and construction practices in Riyadh, contributing to climate action and supporting regional and global sustainability efforts.14 0Item Restricted Development of a home based resistance exercise programme for muscle strength and function during weight loss(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Binmahfoz, Ahmad; Gray, StuartThesis abstract Background The prevalence of obesity continues to increase, representing a major public health concern across the globe. While dietary interventions can reduce body mass, the concurrent loss of fat free mass and muscle strength is a potentially deleterious consequence. Resistance exercise may help preserve muscle mass and function during weight loss, yet its implementation remains challenging. This thesis investigated the potential of home-based resistance exercise to attenuate these deleterious effects of weight loss through three research studies. Methods Study 1 included a systematic review and meta-analysis examining the effects of resistance exercise on body composition, muscle strength, and cardiometabolic health during dietary weight loss. Study 2 employed qualitative methods to explore experiences and perceptions of resistance exercise among people living with overweight or obesity (n=11), informing a theory of change for intervention development. Study 3 evaluated the effects of a 12-week home-based resistance exercise intervention, during dietary weight loss, through a randomised controlled pilot trial (n=48). Results The systematic review and meta-analysis (25 RCTs) demonstrated that supervised resistance exercise during dietary weight loss preserved fat free mass (SMD: 0.40, p<0.001), increased fat mass loss (SMD: -0.36, p<0.001), and improved muscle strength (SMD: 2.36, p<0.001) relative to a no exercise control. The qualitative study identified multiple barriers, including pandemic-related limits, access to facilities and financial constraints to traditional gym-based resistance exercise, and indicated strong preferences for home-based alternatives. The pilot trial showed that, during weight loss, home-based resistance training improved grip strength (p=0.046), knee extensor maximal voluntary contraction force (p=0.019) and sit-to-stand performance (p<0.001), but did not have any effects on body composition (body mass index, total body mass, fat mass, fat free mass, muscle thickness) compared to dietary weight loss alone. Conclusions The current thesis demonstrates that supervised resistance exercise enhances the benefits of diet induced weight loss by preserving muscle mass and improving muscle function. The development and evaluation of a home-based programme showed promising results for overcoming traditional barriers to resistance exercise participation and improving muscle strength and function, but not muscle mass. These findings support the implementation of accessible resistance exercise interventions during weight loss for people living with overweight or obesity.13 0Item Restricted Exploring expression of neurodevelopmental susceptibility genes in the foetal human thalamus and other related structures(Newcastle University, 2024) Alhesain, Maznah; Fiona, LeBeau; Gavin, ClowryThe thalamus is a brain region consisting of neuronal clusters and with a large number of connections which are responsible for several important functions including cognitive functions. It serves as a major relay centre, transmitting and modulating information between the cerebral cortex and subcortical structures. Given its involvement in higher-order cognitive functions, abnormalities in thalamic development have been implicated in various neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. However, the developmental process of these nuclei in the human brain is still unknown. Understanding the developmental trajectory of the thalamus in humans is essential for several reasons. Firstly, while rodent models have provided insights into thalamic development, there are significant species-specific differences in the timing, organization, and molecular regulation of thalamic nuclei formation. These differences necessitate direct investigation of human developmental processes to bridge the gap between animal models and human neurodevelopment. Secondly, delineating how thalamic nuclei emerge during early foetal development may provide critical information on the origins of functional specialization within the thalamus, shedding light on how distinct neuronal populations are specified and how their connectivity is established. Finally, by identifying molecular markers and gene expression patterns specific to early thalamic development, we can gain a deeper understanding of the genetic and cellular mechanisms that may contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders, potentially informing future diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. This study aims to investigate gene expression patterns in the human thalamus, extending from 8 to 21 PCW, in order to track the development of each thalamic nucleus. Additionally, we focus on 14 PCW to identify distinct thalamic nuclei based on the expression of a unique combination of transcription factors and other genes/proteins. We also aim to investigate the expression of susceptibility genes linked to neurological diseases such as FEZ1, NRXN1 regarding their expression in specific thalamic nuclei. The methods we used are immunostaining and RNAscope in situ hybridisation, including double staining methods for multiple markers. Sections were taken from human early foetal brains (ethically sourced and supplied by the Human Developmental Biology Resource), in all planes and covering the extent of the diencephalon. Sections taken at 14 PCW were aligned with 3-D maps of the forebrain collected by structural MRI scanning. The expression of combinations of markers were localised to particular regions of the thalamus. We also analysed open source scRNAseq data with the aim of identifying clusters of cells grouped by shared gene expression patterns. We also investigated the expression of neurodevelopmental disease susceptibility genes in specific nuclei and cell types of the thalamus and telencephalon. This study provides significant insights into the early development of the human thalamus and telencephalon. The study highlights distinct gene expression patterns and the emergence of thalamic nuclei from a protomap. Our findings demonstrate that different transcription factors and molecular markers define specific thalamic regions, reinforcing the concept that a structured thalamic map begins to emerge by 14 PCW. Furthermore, we identified 15 distinct groups of cells with functional characteristics, supporting the notion that thalamic differentiation is an intricate and highly regulated process. It also implicates that neurogenesis and extensive cellular migration are critical processes during this crucial period. The differential expression of neurodevelopmental disease susceptibility genes in the thalamus further underscores the importance of studying early thalamic development in the context of neurological disorders. The high expression of FEZ1 in progenitor cells, transitioning to glutamatergic neurons, and the elevated presence of NRXN1 in the thalamus suggest potential roles in neuronal connectivity and function. These findings may provide critical clues for understanding the etiology of conditions such as schizophrenia, where thalamic dysfunction has been implicated. Overall, this study bridges a crucial gap in our knowledge of human thalamic development, and lay the foundation for future research into the molecular mechanisms underlying thalamic organization. Further investigations, including functional studies and longitudinal analyses, will be essential for uncovering how early developmental events shape thalamic function and its implications for neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders.7 0