Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted The Impacts of Western Theories: Application to Professional Social Work Practice in Saudi Arabia(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Barasayn, Nouf; Clark, JulieThis study examines the impact of western social work education on decision-making among Saudi Arabian social workers within an Islamic context. Specifically, it investigates the integration of theoretical frameworks learned at university into practical social work, exploring factors such as professional experience, religious beliefs, and cultural influences that may shape decision-making. Research questions address whether social workers recall and utilize theories from their studies, the influence of practicing in an Islamic society, and potential conflicts between Western theories and Islamic values. Findings reveal that while social work education has significantly shaped professional practices—particularly through problem-solving skills and systematic approaches—many social workers are also guided by religious values in their practice. The research highlights that, for the majority, Western social work principles, including client dignity, respect, and autonomy, align with Islamic values, suggesting successful integration of these frameworks into their professional identity. Approximately twenty percent of participants did experience some tension between academic education and real-world practice but those social workers with longer experience in the field felt more confident in their interventions and decision-making. The study underscores the universal applicability of social work values and professional processes and how they transcend cultural circumstances and world views. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of how non-western cultural and religious values intersect with Western social work-oriented education in a manner which leads to a selection of interventions by social workers which adhere to principles of competent practice. At the same time these values are deeply rooted in the culture of the society in which they are practiced and are adapted to fit within context specific agency policies. The findings provide a basis for curriculum enhancements that support culturally competent practice in Saudi Arabia and similar settings.9 0Item Restricted Developing an Evidence-Based Intervention to Improve Influenza Vaccination Rate Among Care Homes Staff(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alsaif, Faisal; Twigg, Michael; Patel, AmrishBackground Influenza poses a significant health risk to older people in care homes, who are particularly vulnerable to severe complications. Vaccination is an effective way to prevent influenza outbreaks in care homes. However, influenza vaccination rates among care home staff remain low. To address this public health issue, this thesis, as part of the FluCare study, explores the development and evaluation of an intervention designed to improve influenza vaccination uptake among care home staff. Methods This thesis includes three studies, all conducted within the context of the FluCare study. The first study was a systematic review conducted to identify barriers and enablers affecting influenza vaccine uptake among care home staff. The second study was a survey of local authorities (LAs) to identify current practices and interventions used to improve influenza vaccination rates among care home staff. The third study involved interviews with vaccine providers to identify the barriers and enablers related to implementing in-care home influenza vaccination clinics for care home staff. Results The systematic review identified key barriers and enablers to influenza vaccine uptake, such as doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccine, concerns about side effects, and lack of accessibility to the influenza vaccine. Enablers included free onsite vaccination, management encouragement, and reminder systems. These findings informed the FluCare intervention by highlighting the need to address both individual and organizational barriers. The cross-sectional survey of local authorities showed that most interventions aimed at enhancing influenza vaccination among care home staff focused on education (91.4%) and improving access to the influenza vaccine (63.8%), with fewer local authorities offering incentives to care homes or staff. Regression analysis suggested that certain interventions may be associated with higher vaccination rates, including informing staff about vaccination goals and policies (p = 0.063), sending email or text reminders (p = 0.080), and the availability of interventions to enhance access to the vaccine (p = 0.065). The interviews with vaccine providers identified barriers and enablers to delivering in-care home vaccination clinics. Key barriers included late timing of the clinics, lack of staff awareness about the clinics, and poor communication and coordination with care home managers. Key enablers included financial incentives for vaccine providers and effective communication and coordination with care home managers. Conclusion This thesis identifies the barriers and enablers to influenza vaccine uptake and the implementation of vaccination clinics in care homes, establishing a baseline for Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs) to effectively enhance influenza vaccine uptake and improve the implementation of vaccination clinics within care homes. The findings emphasize the need for continuous evaluation to refine interventions. The thesis also highlights areas warranting further investigation, such as identifying and selecting the most appropriate BCTs with key stakeholders to improve the implementation and adoption of vaccination clinics.1 0Item Restricted The Role of School Nutrition Policy in the Prevention of Dental Caries and Obesity in Public Primary School Children, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alsiwat, Areej; Goodwin, Michaela; Kitsaras, Georgios; Alayadi, Haya; Glenny, Anne-MarieBackground: School wellness programs aim to provide children with the knowledge and skills they need to make favorable lifestyle choices. The aim of this research was to provide further evidence on the impact of Saudi nutrition policy in schools on dental caries and obesity among public primary school children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A mixed-method approach was used to address the aim of this thesis. This included a cross-sectional study in which a random selection of public primary schools from Riyadh were assessed using a checklist to determine their adherence to the Ministry of Education school canteen guidelines. This was followed by an assessment of dental caries and overweight/obesity of students in schools who had either average adherence or poor adherence to the guidelines set by the Ministry of Education. In addition, structured questionnaires were used to evaluate children's dental health, as well as the nutritional knowledge, attitudes, and practices of teachers and parents, along with parenting style. The mixed method approach also included a qualitative study, using a semi-structured interview with headteachers and teachers to gather their insights into the school canteen guidelines in public primary schools. Results: The results indicated that school canteens were either average or poor in their alignment with the guidelines set by the Ministry of Education. The study found no evidence of a difference in the severity, prevalence of dental caries, or the prevalence of overweight/obesity with adherence to the Ministry of Education school canteen guidelines. Teachers were found to be limited in their nutritional knowledge, and no evidence was found between nutritional knowledge and sociodemographic factors. For parents, the predominant parenting style was authoritative, and their nutritional knowledge was also found to be limited and showed evidence of a relationship with their education level and family income. However, no evidence was found for the relationship between parenting style or parents' nutritional knowledge with their children's dental caries experience. Conclusion: This study found no evidence of an impact of school nutritional policy on dental caries and overweight/obesity in public primary schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, due to the level of school canteen compliance being either ‘poor’ or ‘average’ and none being found ‘good,’ a clear conclusion cannot be reached.7 0Item Restricted Manin’s conjecture for forms of additive groups(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alfaraj, Abdulmuhsin; Loughran, DanielThis thesis investigates two topics in the area of arithmetic geometry, particularly in the study of rational points on varieties over global fields. In the first part of the thesis, we study the asymptotic behaviour of rational points of bounded height on a class of equivariant compactifications of commutative unipotent groups over global function fields. More precisely, we prove the Batyrev–Manin conjecture for smooth equivariant compactifications of forms of additive groups, under suitable assumptions on the boundary divisor. To verify that the leading constant agrees with Peyre's prediction, we also show that a commutative unipotent group admitting a smooth equivariant compactification satisfies the Hasse principle for algebraic groups and weak approximation. To illustrate new phenomena appearing in the function field setting, we study in detail the case of projective space of dimension p-1, viewed as a compactification of a certain wound group, where p is the characteristic of the base field. The second part of the thesis concerns the study of Brauer groups of surfaces over a field k of characteristic zero, building towards the study of potential Brauer-Manin obstructions. First, we determine the Brauer group of regular conic bundles over elliptic curves, under the assumption that the singular fibres lie above k-points that are divisible by 2 in E(k), where the associated ramification fields are isomorphic. Second, we study affine surfaces obtained as complements of singular hyperplane sections of smooth cubic surfaces. We compute the transcendental Brauer group for the different possibilities of the hyperplane section. For the case when the hyperplane section is geometrically the union of three lines, we give explicit examples where transcendental elements of order 2 and 3 exist over Q.3 0Item Restricted Deposition and Evaluation of Hydroxyapatite-Containing Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation Coatings on 3D-Printed and Bulk Ti6Al4V Alloys(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alenezi, Fissal; Yerokhin, AlekseyDental and orthopaedic implants are implemented to restore mobility and quality of life on a global scale, but failures and revision surgeries are frequent. The problem is how to develop coating materials that will favour rapid integration of the bone and allow it not to degrade over a prolonged period of time. The standard material used in the implants is titanium alloy Ti6Al4V, but the bioinert surface slows down the bonding of the bone. Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) has been proposed as a viable solution to enhance the bioactivity and osseointegration of Ti6Al4V by producing porous TiO2 layers, which can add calcium and phosphate species to serve as nucleation sites of hydroxyapatite (HAp). AM Ti6Al4V is currently employed extensively in orthopaedic and dental implants to allow patient-specific shapes and porous lattices. As-built surface regulates the process of osseointegration, hence it requires bioactive modification. Its porous and rough topography, along with its unique microstructure, may alter the behaviour of PEO discharge and coating chemistry compared to wrought material. The hypothesis considered during this project was that coating formation and early bioactivity may depend significantly on substrate type (bulk versus AM Ti6Al4V) and particle-assisted electrolytes (NaOH/Na2HPO4; ±2 g/L HAp). The design was a complete factorial 2 x 2 design with a constant current density (1480 A/m²) and treatment time (11 min, 54 s). SEM and EDS analyses were used to examine surface morphology and chemistry, while XRD was used to determine the phase composition. Bioactivity was assessed through immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) over 1, 7, and 14 days. Findings indicated definite substrate effects. Total thickness by eddy current gauge after PEO was comparable on AM and bulk Ti (~26–27 µm). Cross-sectional SEM showed a more developed porous layer on AM surfaces, while bulk oxides were smoother and more uniform. HAp addition to the electrolyte promoted the cross-sectional porous layer thickness on bulk Ti by ~76% (9.27 to 16.36 µm) and increased the addition of Ca and P on both substrates, while the total gauge thickness remained ~26–27 µm. EDS showed that on AM Ti, Ca-P nucleation proceeded rapidly (up to 8 at% Ca and 12 at% P within 1 day), but on bulk Ti, the uptake was slower. The initial, Ca-deficient apatite was also indicated by Ca/P ratios (0.63-0.73, stoichiometric hydroxyapatite = 1.67). SEM showed different bioactivity mechanisms: faceted crystals grew on PEO-coated AM Ti on day 7, whereas bulk Ti developed a fine granular surface with subsequent plate-like outgrowths. XRD revealed weak anatase and rutile shoulders and a broad low-angle peak at 11 -12 2θ, typical of amorphous/nanocrystalline Ca0P; discrete HAp peaks at 31.7-34.1 2θ were not detected with Bragg Brentano geometry. These results indicate that AM substrates promote faster nucleation and coalescence of Ca-P phases, whereas bulk substrates promote slow and uniform deposition. HAp-containing PEO improved the incorporation of Ca and P (Ca–P species) into the porous oxide and surface chemistry consistent with the ~11–12° 2θ nano CaP peak and the absence of sharp HAp peaks at 14 days. It offers comparative information on the influence of substrate state on coating growth, bioactivity, and kinetics of Ca-P structural rearrangements. The broader implication is that AM implants can provide quicker short-term bioactivity when modified with PEO coatings; however, their uniformity and crystallinity must be optimized to make a clinical translation. Further studies are required to evaluate the effects of longer immersion times, mechanical adhesion, corrosion resistance and in vivo behavior. The present research work will help in designing an effective bioactive surface for future patient-specific implants.4 0Item Restricted Closing the MQTT Security Gap: An Assistant Tool for Secure-by-Default Mosquitto Deployments(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Aljabal, Fahad; Cambrun, Martin BarrereThe Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol has become a widely adopted communication standard in Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems, edge computing, and Industry 4.0 applications due to its lightweight design and low network overhead. However, MQTT is secure by design but not by default, leaving the responsibility of implementing security to those deploying it. This has created a significant gap in real-world practice, where the priority of operational ease and rapid deployment often outweighs security considerations, resulting in a large number of insecure, publicly exposed MQTT brokers vulnerable to unauthorized access, data interception and manipulation. This dissertation addresses the gap by introducing the MQTT Secure Assistant Tool, designed for Mosquitto, one of the most popular open-source MQTT brokers. The proposed tool enforces secure configurations by default and from the start of an IoT project by automating and simplifying the configuration process , making MQTT security accessible to non-cybersecurity specialists while ensuring robust protection for advanced users. The MQTT Secure Assistant Tool is a Python-based graphical application that automates the secure setup of Mosquitto brokers, including TLS configuration, password-based authentication, ACL enforcement, and user/topic management. It also features a one-click broker launch function, a validation system to prevent misconfiguration, and most importantly a logging and alerting system that surpasses standard manual secure deployments, which typically lack any built-in log analysis. This system continuously scans through large number of logs entries in real time, automatically detecting and alerting administrators to major security-related events such as brute-force login attempts or unauthorized publish actions. By enforcing secure defaults and automating configuration, the tool helps prevent insecure deployments and reduces exposed brokers, while the integrated logging and alerting system eliminates the operational blind spots common in MQTT environments.1 0Item Restricted Investigating the Efficacy and Efficiency of Rechargeable Layered Double Hydroxides for Dental Applications(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alaqil, Faten Essam; Patel, Mangala; Karpukhina, NataliaLayered Double Hydroxides (LDHs) are inorganic lamellar structures that can act as systems for absorbing and releasing anions repeatedly. Their biocompatibility, anion exchange capacity and compositional tunability make them promising candidates for controlled and sustained delivery of cariostatic ions, particularly in orthodontic patients. Given the ongoing challenge of preventing dental caries, especially for patients wearing orthodontic brackets, it is essential to have innovative materials like LDHs for sustained anti-caries ions delivery. This study explores LDHs for sustained release of fluoride and monoflurophosphate ions. The latter offers dual delivery of fluoride and phosphate, which is regulated by the local concentration of alkaline phosphatase enzyme in the oral environment, to enhance remineralisation. Two LDH types (2:1 ZnAl and MgAl) were synthesised and charged with 0.012 M sodium fluoride (NaF) or sodium monofluorophosphate (MFP). LDHs were characterised before and after anion intercalation using X-Ray Diffraction, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and electron microscopy. Ion release was evaluated over three charging/release cycles in deionised water using fluoride Ion Selective Electrodes (ISEs) for fluoride, and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) for phosphate and cations (Zn, Mg and Al). Results showed sustained fluoride release, with MgAl-LDH releasing more anions than ZnAl- LDH. NaF-charged LDHs released more fluoride, while MFP-charged LDHs additionally released phosphate. Cation release was higher in MFP-charged LDHs. Charged LDHs were incorporated into light-curable adhesive resin (AR) and tested for fluoride release over 10 days using fluoride ISEs. Degree of conversion (DC), water uptake, desorption and solubility were also assessed. LDH incorporation did not affect DC and enabled sustained fluoride release above recommended caries-prevention levels. AR-containing-LDH showed more water uptake (~13%) and desorption than control samples (without LDH, ~10%), however, all samples demonstrated low solubility. These findings underscore LDHs as versatile nanocrystals for developing multifunctional dental materials, offering sustained cariostatic effects for caries prevention.6 0Item Restricted The Impact of Supervisor Incivility on Subordinates’ Thriving at Work: The Role of Psychological Capital and Competitive Psychological Climate(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) ALJURAIBI, MOHAMMED; Almeida, ShamikaBackground: Supervisor incivility is increasingly prevalent in today's fiercely competitive business landscape. While numerous societies adhere to a general norm of civility, not all organisations or organisational members may share a uniform perspective regarding demonstrating respect for one another in the workplace. There may be increased supervisor incivility within organisations, as these supervisors can implement the strategies necessary for business success. This raises important questions about the implications of supervisor incivility for employees' mental health and job performance. This study specifically focuses on those employees who have experienced and witnessed incivility from their supervisors. Research suggests that supervisors' behaviour can influence employees' wellbeing. This study focuses on thriving at work, representing a more active state than wellbeing, emphasising continuous growth and learning. Wellbeing emphasises comfort and stability while thriving concerns adaptation and progress. This concept is especially relevant in competitive environments, where maintaining motivation and productivity involves feeling connected to growth and development and not just avoiding burnout. While existing literature has acknowledged the impact of supervisors on employees' wellbeing, there remains a gap in understanding how supervisor incivility— especially witnessed—affects employees' ability to thrive at work. Aim: The study examines the relationship between supervisor incivility and employee thriving at work. The study addresses three research objectives. First, it seeks to determine the differences among the types of supervisor incivility. Second, it examines the effect of supervisor incivility (experienced and witnessed) on employees thriving at work. Third, it seeks to investigate the indirect influence of the two types of supervisor incivility on subordinates' thriving at work through Psychological Capital (PsyCap) (mediator), with Competitive Psychological Climate (CPC) (moderator) as the boundary condition. The study utilises the Transactional Theory of Stress (TTS) to understand how individuals appraise and respond to workplace challenges and Social Learning Theory (SLT) to provide insight into how employees adopt behaviours based on observed interactions, underpinning the effects of managerial behaviours on employee thriving. Method: A mixed methods approach is used to collect and analyse the data, including surveys and interviews. Using an online survey approach in the main study, Phase One, data were gathered from 412 Junior Medical Officers (JMOs) in Saudi Arabia and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), regression, and PROCESS macro. Using the interview approach in Phase Two, data were gathered from 25 JMOs and analysed using thematic analysis to comprehend the findings of Phase One. Results: Phase one of the study showed that the levels of PsyCap and the thriving of subordinates vary in line with the type of supervisor incivility in increasingly competitive and pressured workplace environments. Specifically, the findings show that supervisor incivility affects employees' PsyCap. Further, the indirect effect of supervisor incivility on thriving at work through PsyCap is weaker when the CPC is low and stronger when it is high. In a highly competitive work environment, experiencing supervisor incivility results in lower PsyCap. However, it weakened the relationship between witnessed supervisor incivility and PsyCap. Hence, a subordinate appraised witnessing supervisor incivility as a challenge, increasing PsyCap and, in turn, thriving at work. Phase Two of the study explored why subordinates considered supervisor incivility as a challenge. The main reasons that participants highlighted were fear, personal agendas, desire to be in the in-group with their supervisor and cultural values such as respect. The findings also highlighted how JMOs learnt to adapt to incivility, used negative peer experiences as lessons on what to avoid at work with their supervisors and focused on long-term outcomes. All these mechanisms enabled them to thrive at work. Overall, the results showed that supervisor incivility has a bright side in competitive climates and helps employees thrive at work. Contributions and Implications: This study addresses gaps in the literature on supervisor incivility and how employees in high-stress environments, such as healthcare, appraise and manage uncivil behaviour. The present study contributes to knowledge by identifying coping responses, competitive climate, social process, and psychological capital as possible reinforcements of the supervisor witnessed incivility. As such, the study model can be used to understand the negative and positive findings concerning supervisor incivility. The study also provides a Middle Eastern perspective on the types of incivility and their effects on workplace thriving. Empirically, it examines the dual perspectives of victims and observers, offering new insights into how both experienced and witnessed supervisor incivility impact thriving at work. Theoretical contributions include applying TTS to clarify appraisal processes and conditions under which incivility affects subordinates and using SLT to understand why observed supervisor incivility helps employees thrive at work. Practically, the study guides organisations in creating supportive policies and strategies for enhancing employee thriving. It also gives supervisors insights into how their behaviour influences employee responses, ultimately improving organisational effectiveness.10 0Item Restricted Evaluating Static, Contextual, and End-to-End Embedding Techniques for Malware Detection on Dynamic API Call Data(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Basfar, Mohammed Raed; Joey, LamThe rate of malware development continues to challenge cybersecurity, with traditional signature- and heuristic-based techniques overwhelmed by polymorphic and zero-day attacks. Natural language processing (NLP) offers a promising direction by modeling dynamic API call sequences as semantic linguistic data, enabling sophisticated embedding and sequence-learning methods to be used for malware detection. This dissertation contrasts and analyzes three typical embedding methods static, contextual, and end-to-end task-learned representations—under a shared experimental framework. Specifically, it employs Word2Vec embeddings with a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), contextual BERT embeddings with a CNN, and a Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) network with a trainable embedding layer and weighted loss function to address class imbalance. The experiments were conducted on a dynamic API call dataset of around 44,000 malware and 1,000 benign samples, summarized by the first 100 API calls executed under sandboxed conditions. Results indicate that the Word2Vec + CNN pipeline had the highest overall accuracy and malware detection precision but the lowest benign recall. The BERT + CNN model provided more balanced class performance, but at the expense of added computational overhead. The BiLSTM had the highest benign recall, as it was able to easily distinguish from non-malicious activity, but the lowest precision and hugely added resource use. The findings point out the competing trade-offs among detection accuracy, benign recall, and processing efficiency, highlighting the issue of aligning model selection with actual security contexts' resource constraints and priorities. The study contributes by reporting a comparative systematic review of the embedding approaches for malware detection and offering informative insights into performance vs. efficiency trade-offs. Apart from its scientific significance, it proves the larger potential of NLP-based approaches to supporting malware detection systems and to informing the design of responsive, resource-aware cybersecurity systems.5 0Item Restricted اثر تطبيق الحكومة الالكترونية على تفعيل وظيفة الرقابة الداخلية في المستشفيات السعودية “دراسة ميدانية"(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) العنزي, عادل; عرابي, ابتهالمن خلال طبيعة ومشكلة البحث يتضح أن الهدف الرئيسي للدراسة يتمثل في دراسة أثر الحوكمة الإلكترونية على ضوابط وإجراءات الرقابة الداخلية في نظام المعلومات الإدارية الحكومي، وينبثق من هذا الهدف الرئيسي عدة أهداف فرعية وهي تحديد الآثار السلبية والإيجابية لإدخال نظام ميكنة العمل الحكومي واستخدام تكنولوجيا المعلومات في التطبيقات على تطوير نظام المعلومات الإدارية الحكومي، تحديد أثر إدخال نظام ميكنة العمل الحكومي على عناصر الرقابة الداخلية المطبق داخل نظام المعلومات الإدارية الحكومي، تحديد أوجه القصور في النظام الحكومي الحالي في السعودية والتي تشكل عقبة أمام تطبيق برنامج الحوكمة الإلكترونية بشكل ناجح وفعال، التعرف على التأثيرات المتوقعة والمفاهيم المستحدثة التي ستصاحب تطبيق برنامج الحوكمة الإلكترونية على نظام المعلومات الإدارية داخل الوحدات الحكومية. أهمية الدراسة تتمثل أهمية الدراسة الأساسية في تطوير نظام المعلومات الإدارية بالوحدات الحكومية وتفعيل وظيفة الرقابة الداخلية باستخدام الحوكمة الإلكترونية، وينبثق عن هذه الأهمية خفض الإنفاق الحكومي وما يستتبعه من خفض العجز الحكومي، سهولة تتبع حركة النفقات والإيرادات الحكومية، سرعة ودقة اتخاذ القرارات لمستخدمي المعلومات التي يفرزها النظام الإلكتروني، دعم المكتبات العلمية بأبحاث حديثة تتعلق بالحوكمة الإلكترونية وأثرها على وظيفة الرقابة الداخلية للوحدات الحكومية10 0