Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted The Relations Between Tinnitus, Speech in Noise Performance, and Auditory Brainstem Response in Normal Hearing Teenagers(The University of Manchester, 2024) Alghamdi, Rahaf; Plack, ChrisObjective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between tinnitus, speech in noise thresholds, and auditory brainstem response (ABR) in teenagers with normal hearing, while controlling for pure tone audiometry (PTA) and extended high-frequency (EHF) thresholds. Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted on normal-hearing teenagers. The participants underwent testing, including PTA, EHF audiometry, ABR testing, and digits in speech-shaped noise (SSN), in addition to evaluations for tinnitus presence. Multiple linear regressions were performed to analyse the relationships between these variables Sample: 84 participants aged 16-17 years, with 42 having tinnitus (18 females) and 42 without (18 females). Results: Regression analyses showed that tinnitus presence, PTA mean, and EHF mean did not significantly predict variation in ABR amplitudes or digits in SSN thresholds in this cohort. Moreover, PTA mean, and EHF mean and ABR amplitudes, did not significantly predict variation in digits in SSN. Conclusion: The study found no link between the presence of tinnitus, performance in speech in noise, and ABR amplitude in teenagers with normal hearing thresholds. This lack of association could be due to the young age and lower lifetime noise exposure of the cohort, or the potential insensitivity of the methods used to detect subtle cochlear dysfunctions that might connect these variables in the normal hearing population.8 0Item Restricted STRATEGIC NAVIGATION IN SAUDI ARABIA’S EVOLVING DENTAL MARKET: BALANCING GROWTH, COMPETITION, AND REGULATION UNDER VISION 2030(University College London, 2024-08-28) Alrushaid, Abdullah; Catena, RodolfoThe dental service industry in Saudi Arabia is experiencing rapid growth, driven by demographic expansion, increased public awareness of oral health, and substantial government reforms under Vision 2030. This study examines the challenges faced by dental service providers in this evolving market, focusing on the competitive landscape and the complex regulatory environment. Using Porter’s Five Forces framework and a systematic literature review, the research identifies key factors influencing the operational and growth strategies of dental providers. The findings highlight the need for continuous innovation, strategic differentiation, and robust compliance with regulatory standards. The study also emphasizes the importance of workforce development, particularly in addressing the challenges posed by reliance on expatriate labour. Additionally, the research suggests that strategic geographic expansion into underserved regions and service diversification are crucial for mitigating market saturation in urban areas.2 0Item Restricted Dissecting Symbiosis Permissiveness in Parasponia andersonii(Wageningen University and Research, 2024-12-17) Alhusayni, Sultan Awwadh Sultan; Geurts, ReneNutrient limitations often constrain plant growth, leading to the use of chemical fertilizers, which can harm the environment. Biological nitrogen fixation, involving nitrogen-fixing bacteria in plant roots, provides a sustainable alternative. My research aligns with this goal, focusing on non-legume plants, particularly the non-nodulating Trema orientalis RG33 and the nodulating Parasponia andersonii species. One key gene I investigated was SYMRK, essential for root nodules and AM symbioses in legumes. In T. orientalis RG33, I identified a point mutation in this gene, and when introduced into the P. andersonii SYMRK gene, it did not disrupt the gene's function, successfully restoring both root nodule formation and AM symbiosis in a P. andersonii symrk mutant. I also explored the ectopic expression of NSP2, which enhanced AM mycorrhization but inhibited nodulation in Parasponia. Lastly, I discovered that the autoregulation of nodulation (AON) pathway, which regulates nodule numbers, is conserved in both legumes and non-legumes, providing a promising strategy for engineering nitrogen fixation in non-nodulating plants.0 0Item Restricted Decoding Apology Terms in Anglo-American English and Saudi Arabic: Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM)(Unoversity of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2024) Alotaibi, Jwahr; Honegger, MarkThis dissertation proposes explications for the most used apology terms in American and Saudi cultures within the framework of Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM). I present key American terms, such as sorry, apologize, and excuse me, alongside their Saudi counterparts, including a'atather, a'asif, and ma'alish, examining their meanings and functions. These explications provide insight into the cultural scripts of American and Saudi societies. The examples are drawn from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), Saudi Arabian literature, the Arabic Corpus, and Google, offering a comparative analysis of how apology is expressed across these two cultures.3 0Item Restricted How Does Transformational Leadership Influence Employee Creativity Through Psychological Empowerment in the Health Industry? Lessons from Existing Theoretical and Empirical Literature(Queen’s Business School, 2024-09-13) Bin Jower, Aisha; Makowski, PiotrThis dissertation investigates the effect of transformational leadership on psychological empowerment and creativity in healthcare settings. The study addresses how leadership styles affect innovation and the performance of organisations in an industry that is chronically stressed, where rules are strict and ever-changing, and where patients’ needs are in constant flux. It uses a mixed-methods approach to existing data to explore several pertinent themes. One of these is how the behaviours of transformational leaders influence empowerment and how empowerment, in turn, mediates creativity among healthcare professionals. Furthermore, this research combines a quantitative analysis with a thematic qualitative review of the relevant literature to shed light on the association between leadership, empowerment, and creativity. The results indicate that transformational leadership has a strong, direct, and positive effect on psychological empowerment, which serves as a mediator for employee creativity, leading to improved innovation and job satisfaction. Also, it underscores ’the importance of context, demonstrating that effective healthcare leadership strategies should be tailored to the particulars of the environment if they are to achieve the desired effect. The dissertation concludes by recommending that healthcare organisations develop leadership programs that empower and nurture adaptability in their leaders: essential qualities that enable an organisation to meet the many challenges currently facing the healthcare industry. Future research should explore the specific kinds of leadership that serve the healthcare context and the support systems needed to create a culture of creativity within organisations4 0Item Restricted THE IMPACT OF ONLINE REVIEWS AND RATINGS ON CONSUMER TRUST IN E-COMMERCE: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW(Aston University, 2024-09) Alsheikh, Maram; Marvi, RezaThis systematic literature review investigates the role of online reviews and ratings in shaping consumer trust and purchasing decisions in e-commerce platforms. The study synthesizes existing research to identify key factors influencing consumer trust, such as review credibility, valence, visibility, and reviewer characteristics. Positive reviews with high ratings are found to increase consumer trust and purchase intentions, while negative reviews act as deterrents, though they are scrutinized more carefully as valuable for risk reduction. The research also identifies a gap in understanding how consumers attribute the causes of negative reviews and how these attributions impact trust recovery. The findings have significant theoretical and practical implications, offering businesses guidance on managing online reviews to foster long-term consumer trust and enhance e-commerce success. Future research should explore the impact of new forms of online reviews and address challenges like fake reviews and their implications for consumer trust.12 0Item Restricted Cardiometabolic Genomics and Pharmacogenomics in Filipino Americans: A Cross-Sectional Study(VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY, 2024-12) Alrajeh, Khalifa Yousef; Price, Elvin; McClay, Joseph; Dixon, Dave; Diallo, Ana; Prom-Wormley, ElizabethHeart disease (HD) remains a leading cause of death in the country, with significant ethnic disparities. Filipino Americans (FAs), the third-largest Asian subgroup in U.S., face an elevated burden of dyslipidemia, a primary modifiable risk factor for HD. This community-based study addresses critical knowledge gaps by characterizing the cardiometabolic and genetic factors contributing to dyslipidemia among FAs and implications for personalized cardiovascular drug therapies, particularly statin pharmacogenomics (PGx). The first aim characterized the dyslipidemia prevalence in FAs and major ethnic subgroups using nationally representative NHANES data. FAs had the highest rates of elevated triglycerides. Particularly, middle-aged FA adults had the highest rates of elevated triglycerides, TC, and overall dyslipidemia compared to other ethnic groups. The lipid profiles of FA men was worse than FA women as well as men from other ethnic groups for all though FAs generally demonstrated higher HDL-C levels. Secondly, we examined associations between uric acid (UA) levels and lipid profiles, adjusting genetic and non-genetic factors. While elevated UA showed initial associations with adverse lipid profiles, these relationships largely diminished after adjustment, except for a threshold effect on TG at moderate UA levels. Furthermore, we identified significant associations between the APOE-e2 variant and lipid variations. Traditional risk factors including age, BMI, metabolic syndrome, and statin use emerged as strong predictors of lipid parameters. Thirdly, we characterized the allele frequencies of genetic variants with PGx relevance, including statin exposure/response. FA participants had the highest frequencies of decreased function ABCG2 among Europeans and African Americans, while the no function SLCO1B1*15 was common. Conversely, FAs had more normal function CYP2C9 variants with rare no function alleles. These distinct allele distributions indicate that FAs are more likely to require genotype-guided statins, based on their higher genetic risk for statin-related myopathy than other populations. This is the first application of the predesigned PGx (120-SNP) TaqMan® OpenArray® panel in FAs, though its design based on non-FAs may have limited detection of population-specific variants affecting statin response. This dissertation provides insights into cardiovascular health challenges in FAs and supports incorporating PGx data into clinical decision-making to optimize statin therapy. This work contributes to the broader mission of reducing health disparities by promoting PGx research in underrepresented populations and advancing personalized medicine approaches that account for ethnic diversity.14 0Item Restricted Harnessing the Synergy of Copper Nanoparticles and Ascorbic Acid for Wound Healing(KENT STATE UNIVERISTY, 2024-05) Alhussain, Ahmed Ojaym; Min-Ho, KimWound healing is a meticulously orchestrated biological process characterized by a harmonious interplay of various cellular and molecular elements aimed at restoring tissue integrity and function1. This intricate symphony involves immune cells, growth factors, extracellular matrix components, and signaling molecules working collaboratively to facilitate antimicrobial activity and stimulate vascular formation1. The journey of wound repair typically follows a well-defined sequence encompassing inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling phases, ensuring efficient tissue restoration2,3. However, this progression can be disrupted, leading to the development of chronic wounds characterized by persistent inflammation, impaired angiogenesis, and the presence of bacterial biofilms4,5. Chronic wounds present multifaceted challenges, with traditional antibiotic therapies often proving inadequate due to bacterial resistance, especially in cases involving biofilm-associated infections6. While strategies targeting angiogenesis have historically relied on bioactive molecules or growth factors7, the economic feasibility of such interventions remains a hurdle8. Moreover, the traditional focus on addressing antimicrobial and pro-angiogenic aspects separately underscores the need for an integrated approach that combines these facets within a unified drug delivery framework9. To comprehensively address these challenges, this study proposes an innovative strategy harnessing the unique properties of copper ions to develop a cost-effective scaffold tailored for chronic wound management10. Copper, recognized as a vital trace element essential for various physiological processes (Field 11), possesses inherent antimicrobial properties while exhibiting reduced toxicity to host cells (Field 12). This dual functionality positions copper as a promising candidate for both topical and systemic wound care interventions (Field 13). Incorporating L-ascorbic acid, or Vitamin C (VC), further enhances the antibacterial efficacy of copper nanoparticles while potentially reducing the required dosage (Field 14). Notably, copper also serves as a crucial co-factor for angiogenic promoters and mediators, implicating its role in regulating angiogenesis—a pivotal process for successful wound healing15,16. Consequently, the proposed scaffold not only addresses antimicrobial challenges but also actively participates in orchestrating angiogenic processes, offering a holistic approach to enhancing wound repair. The objective of this study is develop copper nanoparticles for wound healing application by means of harnessing the antibacterial and pro-angiogenic properties of copper ion17. Controlled release of copper ions during distinct wound repair phases will be achieved through tailored copper nanoparticle synthesis18. The proposed strategy involves synergistically integrating copper nanoparticles and VC elements within a hydrogel platform, presenting a cohesive approach that harnesses copper's antimicrobial prowess, exploits its pro-angiogenic potential, and leverages the scaffold functionality of hydrogels19.5 0Item Restricted Effect of Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) Channels on G Protein- Coupled Receptors (GPCRS).(University of Nottingham, 2024) Kotbi, Maryah; Canals, MeritxellPain and nociception are two closely related terms that almost affect us all at one point in our lives. Nociceptors are nerve fibers that conduct pain, on these nociceptors we have different G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) such as opioid receptors and transient receptor potential (TRP) channels such as TRPV1 and TRPA1. These receptors and channels are co-expressed in some areas of the body and this project studies the effect of these two TRP channels on the function of opioid receptors. In this project, a BRET (bioluminescence resonance energy transfer) assay was used to detect the protein-protein interaction between the four opioid receptor subtypes and -arrestin2 (Arr3). The findings of this study is that when TRP channels are activated they inhibit the recruitment of Arr3 to the opioid receptor. This will lead to desensitization occurring at a lesser rate and thus may prevent tolerance and addiction to opioids. Understanding the detailed mechanism of how this happens might lead to many advancements in pain management and to understand how GPCRs are affected by TRP channels in more detail.12 0Item Restricted POSITIONING AND PLACE CONSTRUCTION IN YOUTUBE TRAVEL VLOGS: A MULTIMODAL STUDY OF SAUDI ARABIA'S EMERGING IDENTITY(The University of Memphis, 2024-12) Alghamdi, Hind Saeed; WrightFollowing Saudi Arabia’s 2019 launch of tourism—amidst decisive social and cultural shifts—there was an influx of international travelers, many of whom documented their first visits on video blogs (vlogs). The present study provides an in-depth analysis of nine popular YouTube ‘vloggers’ from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. Through a fine-tuned examination of the multimodal data, the research offers a novel expansion of Van Langenhove & Harré’ positioning Theory (1999b) by integrating Kress and Van Leeuwen’s Visual Grammar’s Interactive Framework (2006). This integration allows for examining meaning formation which accounts for visual cues that support verbal mode in vlog content. The study captures how these vloggers navigate their identities in relation to the newly accessible Saudi Arabia, while also balancing the distinctiveness of their personas with elements that enhance their reach in social media. Three themes—religion, gender, and hospitality—emerged as recurrent from the data as those that vloggers commonly use in shaping their online identities and collectively constructing Saudi place identities. The research illustrates how each aspect shapes these collective positioning practices, exploring the broad discursive and multimodal choices the vloggers make in negotiating local meanings. These practices reveal the interplay between the vloggers’ idealized identities and their use of identity markers—especially those aligned with qualities valued in social media culture. The study concludes that place identity is constructed in digital environments at the nexus of circulated place discourses, social media dynamics, and high- profile identity strategies that emphasize valued authenticity. Findings indicate complex identity formations which reinforce a place’s core religious status, engage with evolving gender norms, and converge in immersive participation with Saudi locals’ acts of hospitality—all while aligning with social media’s attraction and popularity formulas. This study crosses academic boundaries and provides multidisciplinary insights related to tourism and place identity, as well as linguistic and discourse analysis. The research contributes to our understating of the social phenomena that comes with place identity construction in newer social settings—social media—which influences and helps to shape values. It highlights different modes of construct that emerged within this digital space, underscoring the performative nature of identities and offers insights into the broader impact of meaning formation.5 0