Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF FACULTY MEMBERS AT TAIBAH UNIVERSITY TOWARD CHALLENGES FACING DEAF AND HARD-OF HEARING STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Almutairi, Hammam A; John L, HospThis dissertation examines the knowledge and attitudes of faculty members at Taibah University toward the challenges faced by Deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) students in higher education. As Saudi Arabia moves toward greater inclusivity in its educational system, understanding how faculty perceive and support D/HH students is critical. Using mixed-methods, research design, the study collected both quantitative survey data and qualitative interview insights from faculty across the Humanities and Science colleges. The research aimed to assess the faculty's awareness of D/HH students' needs, their attitudes toward inclusivity, and the degree of training or experience they possessed in working with students with hearing impairments. The findings of the present study revealed that there was no significant influence of demographic characteristics and D/HH experience on the knowledge and attitude toward the challenges of teaching D/HH students. However, a significant inverse moderate correlation was found between knowledge and attitude (r = -0.647, p < 0.01). Importantly, this correlation demonstrated that higher levels of knowledge about D/HH students were associated with more positive attitudes toward teaching them. This indicates that as faculty members' knowledge about D/HH students increases, their attitudes become more positive, resulting in lower attitude scores on the scale used. While many faculty members expressed positive attitudes toward inclusion, significant knowledge gaps and inconsistent support strategies remain. Issues such as limited awareness of effective communication techniques, inadequate use of assistive technologies, and a lack of specialized training were identified as barriers to full participation for D/HH students. The study emphasizes the urgent need for comprehensive faculty development programs focused on inclusive teaching practices, particularly in relation to D/HH students. It also highlights the necessity for institutional policies that mandate accessible classroom environments and ongoing professional training. Recommendations are provided for improving faculty readiness, enhancing assistive services, and fostering a university-wide culture of inclusion. By focusing on Taibah University as a case study, this research offers valuable insights for other higher education institutions in KSA and the broader Middle Eastern region. It contributes to the growing body of literature on disability inclusion in higher education and aims to inform future educational policy and practice improvements that promote equity, access, and success for D/HH students.21 0Item Restricted TRANSLATING FEMINIST TEXTUAL ACTIVISM IN POST-ARAB SPRING LITERARY DISCOURSE: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF DIMA WANNOUS'S THE FRIGHTENED ONES AND SHAHAD AL-RAWI'S THE BAGHDAD CLOCK(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alshamran, Sarah Abdulaziz; Alshammari, Ali KhalidAt the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, the Arab Spring, an anti-government revolution, emerged in Tunisia and spread across the Arab region. Arab nations were affected by that event and women, in particular, showed active engagement in the uprising. The current study looks at the literary discourse after the Arab Spring and offers critical discourse analysis of the feminist-political discourse in Arabic novels and their English translations. It investigates the textual activism in literary discourses and the translation process and provides a reading on how Arab feminist ideologies move across cultures. The study, therefore, selects novels written by young contemporary Arab women that reflect on the impact of the Arab Spring. The first novel is Al-Khā’ifūn الخائفون by Syrian author Dima Wannous (born 1982), daughter of renowned Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous, and its English translation The Frightened Ones (2020) by Elizabeth Jaquette. The second novel is Sāʿat Baghdād (2016) ساعة بغداد, the debut novel by Iraqi writer Shahad Al Rawi (born 1986), which is translated into English by Luke Leafgren as The Baghdad Clock (2018). Both authors emerged as significant voices in post-Arab Spring literature, with Wannous writing about the Syrian conflict and Al Rawi reflecting on Iraq's post-2003 transformation through the lens of the Arab Spring uprisings. The study's main objective is to systematically identify the strategies translators use to convey the political feminist discourse. In addition, the study explores whether the strategies used have led to any change in the original meaning of the source text. To bring a new perspective to translation studies that deal with gender and political issues by offering a feminist reading, the study employs a combination of CDA frameworks and Feminist Translation theory to reveal the ideological manipulation in the translation of literary works. The findings demonstrate that Arab women writers express their political engagement through textual activism, employing various textual devices and literary practices. Through comparative analysis of English translations and original texts, the study reveals frequent ideological manipulation in the representation of Arab feminist ideology. This manipulation is attributed to multiple factors, primarily the structural limitations of the English language and the challenges in representing Arab feminist textual activism.4 0Item Restricted New dosimetry methods for radiological and nuclear emergency management(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alghamdi, Hamdan Mahmal Saad; Alghamdi, HamdanDuring all phases following a nuclear or radiological incident analyses of doses received by members of the public and responders are required. Rapid and reliable dose assessment is critical for the effective management of radiological emergencies; for medical triage, understanding exposure levels, directing protective actions, and conducting subsequent analyses of the impact of the incident. Current practice has been reviewed, highlighting the potential for near real-time luminescence dosimetry to assist with such assessments, including low dose response that supports public reassurance below doses of medical significance, using common materials present at the time of the incident. A number of materials which might be found in the immediate vicinity of people have previously been investigated with regard to their potential to act as radiation dosimeters. The work in this thesis investigates the properties of common household salt and talc, using portable Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and Infra-Red Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) instruments capable of rapid measurements in the field. The potential of these materials to measure radiation levels and provide rapid, cost-effective insights into exposure patterns using new methods is explored. This approach aims to support emergency response strategies by leveraging accessible materials to improve decision-making in radiological incidents, bridging a key gap in large-scale radiation measurements and initial triage support. Common salt has previously been shown to have the potential for retrospective dosimetry in the mGy dose range using laboratory instrumentation. This thesis investigates the use of portable instruments, with unprepared commercially sourced salt, in dose ranges below mGy. Responses from pulsed IRSL laboratory systems and portable OSL instruments were compared. For OSL measurements, detection limits of 7µGy have been demonstrated, with detection limits of 30-340µGy for the other instruments investigated. Linear dose responses in the 0-500µGy range were determined over this dose range. This work examines the effects of signal stability and sample storage conditions. The OSL signals initially show a brief decrease in luminescence during the first few days after irradiation, followed by a gradual increase with longer storage periods. Between days 8 and 64, the results remain relatively stable, which is crucial for dose estimation during both the early and later stages of responding to radiological emergencies, and methods for correcting for these signal variations at shorter and longer periods have been developed and demonstrated. However, exposure to light and moisture leads to a rapid loss of OSL signals. Three practical experiments were conducted using salt to simulate real accident scenarios, measure radiation, estimate dose, and compare the results with gamma systems (backpack). The first experiment was conducted under controlled laboratory conditions. The second mapped natural and artificial radiation fields in an outside environment. The final experiment mapped complex radiation fields within an accelerator laboratory. The results demonstrate that salt has considerable potential for use in dosimetry below mGy and that measurements can be conducted with portable OSL instruments. Furthermore, the results of the first two experiments compared well to theoretical doses and measurements with different systems. The results confirmed that this approach can provide reliable dose estimates for radiological accidents. The salt system has demonstrated its ability to map the spatial boundaries of radiation fields, serving as a low cost radiation mapping tool. Protocols must be instituted for testing and assessment during exercises, taking into account variables such as zeroing, ambient conditions, and the necessity for fading adjustments The studies of talc focused on the optimal conditions for measuring the radiation-induced OSL signal using the SUERC Portable OSL Reader. It also addressed the inherent complexities associated with geological residual signals observed in talc sourced from Luzenac Pharma's packing line. This residual signal can be removed through thermal treatment, specifically at 400°C for 1 hour, after which the talc exhibits sufficient sensitivity to detect doses in the mGy range through to the radiologically significant range of 0.5 to 3 Gy, making it a promising candidate for field-deployable radiation assessment, such as in emergency response scenarios following radiological incidents. However, the observed fading and zeroing behaviours of talc introduce critical considerations that must be addressed to ensure reliable dose estimation. The fading data exhibit a complex decay pattern, suggesting the presence of multiple trap depths, with an initial signal loss of approximately 6% within 24 hours post-irradiation, escalating to a substantial 65% reduction of the original OSL signal within 128 days at ambient temperature. Such behaviour necessitates the incorporation of fading correction factors tailored to the time elapsed between irradiation and measurement, as an uncorrected signal loss could lead to systematic underestimation of doses, particularly in retrospective dosimetry applications. Additionally, the zeroing behaviour poses further challenges. Incomplete zeroing could leave residual signals that overlap with those induced by a recent radiation event. This overlap complicates the ability to accurately distinguish between background dose contributions and acute doses from a specific incident, potentially compromising the method’s specificity. The work presented here has demonstrated that the novel approach of using salt or talc with portable OSL systems is capable of delivering dose estimates in the range from a few µGy to several Gy in near real-time, complementing existing techniques. To optimize this approach, comprehensive protocols should be developed for both testing exercises and evaluations, which could lead to wider acceptance of these approaches offering a robust, low-cost solution for rapid dose assessment for both emergency response and environmental dosimetry.7 0Item Restricted evelopment of a Reporter Toolkit to Study Transcriptional Dynamics in Marchantia polymorpha(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alhammad, Ahmed; Weijers, Dolf; Borst, Jan Willem; García, Jorge HernándezTranscriptional regulation is pivotal for plant development and adaptation, yet mechanistic insights remain limited in liverwort plants. To bridge this, we developed a modular fluorescent reporter toolkit to enable real-time quantitative exploration of chromatin accessibility and polymerase recruitment in Marchantia polymorpha. Using a modular Golden Gate Cloning strategy, we engineered constructs tagging Histone 2B variants and RNA Polymerase II subunits with fluorescent proteins to monitor chromatin organization and polymerase activity. Furthermore, we designed a dCas9-based system coupled with the MpARF1 activation domain developed for targeted gene activation studies. Subsequently, stable transgenic lines expressing H2B.3-mScarlet-I exhibited nuclear-localized fluorescence, validating chromatin-specific labelling. While constructs for several RNAPII subunits were successfully assembled and transformed into Marchantia polymorpha, microscopy validation remains ongoing. Collectively, this toolkit provides a foundational resource for quantifying transcriptional dynamics, chromatin behavior, and RNAPII activity in non-vascular plants, thereby advancing synthetic biology applications and evolutionary studies of gene regulation. This adaptable toolkit provides essential molecular instruments for quantitative live-cell imaging and synthetic biology approaches in Marchantia polymorpha.6 0Item Restricted Effectiveness and Safety of Nitric Oxide in Paediatric ECMO Circuits: A Systematic Review.(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alamri, Ahmed Ali; Alqarni, Abdullah Abdulgani; Wang, Justin Qi YueeIntroduction: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) supports neonates and children with severe cardiac or respiratory failure, but clot formation in the circuit remains a major complication. Nitric oxide (NO), with known antiplatelet and vasodilatory effects, is being explored as an adjunct to reduce thrombosis. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of NO delivered via ECMO sweep gas in paediatric populations. Methods: This PROSPERO-registered systematic review searched Medline, PubMed, and TRIP for published studies on nitric oxide (NO) delivered via ECMO sweep gas in paediatric patients. The primary outcome was circuit clotting. Eligible designs included RCTs, cohort, pilot, and relevant animal studies. References were screened in EndNote, with duplicates removed. Quality was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale for clinical studies and SYRCLE’s Risk of Bias tool for animal studies. Results: Four studies were included: three clinical and one preclinical. The addition of nitric oxide (NO) to the sweep gas in the ECMO circuit was associated with fewer clotting events, fewer circuit changes, and reduced use of fresh frozen plasma (FFP). Red blood cell and platelet transfusion requirements did not differ significantly between the NO-treated patients and the control group. Methaemoglobin levels were slightly elevated in the NO group but remained within safe clinical limits. Conclusion: NO may improve ECMO circuit performance and reduce clotting without increasing bleeding risk. However, existing studies are limited by small sample sizes and a lack of randomised controlled trials. Further high-quality trials are needed to confirm its clinical benefit.19 0Item Restricted Bacterial sensing and response mechanisms in interspecies interaction(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alanazi, Maher; Schilcher, KatrinAbstract Bacterial interspecies interactions are fundamental to microbial community dynamics, involving complex sensing and response mechanisms that mediate co-existence or competitive behaviours. Coinfection with Staphylococcus aureus and Burkholderia cenocepacia is a significant concern in cystic fibrosis, as both pathogens colonise the lung environment in these patients. However, their bidirectional interactions remain poorly characterised, necessitating further investigation. S. aureus produces phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs), surfactant-like cytolytic peptides implicated in modulating the behaviour of neighbouring bacteria, including B. cenocepacia. This study aimed to investigate whether surfactants produced by S. aureus influence the B. cenocepacia surface motility and fitness, aiming to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying these interspecies interactions. A motility assay was established using B. cenocepacia H111 wild-type on AB minimal medium with optimised agar concentrations (0.3% and 0.5%). Responses to S. aureus cell-free supernatants (CFS) and synthetic PSM peptides (PSMα2, PSMα3, PSMβ; 0.1 and 1 mM) were assessed. Motility parameters (colony, swarm, and total colony+swarm) areas and directional motility indices were quantified. B. cenocepacia fitness was evaluated by monitoring growth kinetics over 24 hours in the presence of PSMs using a microtiter-based optical density assay. CFS from S. aureus did not induce detectable motility in B. cenocepacia on 1.5% agar. After assay optimisation, synthetic PSMα2 significantly enhanced surface motility in a dose-dependent manner, with local suppression at the peptide site. Although PSMα3 and PSMβ did not significantly enhance B. cenocepacia motility, a trend toward increased motility was observed for both peptides. PSMα2 and PSMβ did not induce directional motility in B. cenocepacia toward the PSM peptides, while PSMα3 induced concentration-dependent directional motility, with 0.1 mM showed strongest response (p < 0.05). Growth kinetics and overall fitness remained unaffected by synthetic PSMs. This study identifies PSMs as interspecies signalling molecules that selectively modulate B. cenocepacia motility. Moreover, it highlights the role of surfactant-mediated interactions in microbial community dynamics and competitive sensing22 0Item Restricted A Novel Role for Phytosulfokine Signalling in Regulating Arabidopsis Responses to Fumonisin B1(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alqarni, Ali; Chivasa, StephenDeveloping effective solutions to the challenge of plant diseases threatening global food security requires understanding pathogen-host interactions. Perception of pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) activates PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI). Some fungal pathogens secrete mycotoxins to disable host defences and trigger cell death. Reports have shown that PTI activation blocks mycotoxin-induced cell death. The mechanism by which mycotoxins disable plant defences is poorly understood and how PTI protects plants from phytotoxic effects of mycotoxins has been unknown until now. To address this knowledge gap, we used an experimental system employing pathogen-free mycotoxin purified from Fusarium verticillioides and a synthetic 22 amino acid-long peptide (flg22) matching the conserved sequence found in bacterial flagella. We show that fumonisin B1 (FB1) disables Arabidopsis thaliana defences by downregulating the gene encoding BAK1 (Brassinosteroid insensitive 1-Associated Kinase 1), which dimerises with PAMP-specific receptors. These results suggest that mycotoxins weaken host defences by disrupting formation of functional receptor complexes for PAMP binding and PTI activation. However, when flg22 activates PTI prior to or concurrently with FB1 treatment, BAK1 expression is restored, and cell death is averted. This implies that timing of PAMP detection in relation to mycotoxin secretion is critical to the outcome of pathogen-host interactions. We also show that phytosulfokine (PSK) signalling, which is activated when the extracellular PSK peptide binds to PSK RECEPTOR 1 (PSKR1)-BAK1 receptor complex, blocks FB1-induced cell death. Co-treatment of Arabidopsis with FB1 and PSK blocked cell death in wildtype, but not loss-of-function bak1 or pskr1 mutants. Importantly, flg22 activated PSK signalling to protect Arabidopsis from FB1. Multi-omics analyses placed the Calvin cycle and iron homeostasis at the epicentre of FB1 and PSK signalling in controlling Arabidopsis defences. These findings advance our understanding of mycotoxin destruction of plant defences and highlight the importance of extracellular peptide signalling in stress-adaptive responses.13 0Item Restricted Sensing, Scheduling, and Learning for Resource-Constrained Edge Systems(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Bukhari, Abdulrahman Ismail Ibrahim; Kim, HyoseungRecent advances in Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have sparked significant interest in developing learning-based sensing applications on embedded edge devices. These efforts, however, are challenged by adapting to unforeseen conditions in open-world environments and by the practical limitations of low-cost sensors in the field. This dissertation presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of resource-constrained edge systems that address these challenges through time-series sensing, scheduling, and classification. First, we present OpenSense, an open-world time-series sensing framework for performing inference and incremental classification on an embedded edge device, eliminating reliance on powerful cloud servers. To create time for on-device updates without missing events and to reduce sensing and communication overhead, we introduce two dynamic sensor-scheduling techniques: (i) a class-level period assignment scheduler that selects an appropriate sensing period for each inferred class and (ii) a Q-learning–based scheduler that learns event patterns to choose the sensing interval at each classification moment. Experimental results show that OpenSense incrementally adapts to unforeseen conditions and schedules effectively on a resource-constrained device. Second, to bridge the gap between theoretical potential and field practice for low-cost sensors, we present a comprehensive evaluation of a sensing and classification system for early stress and disease detection in avocado plants. The greenhouse deployment spans 72 plants in four treatment categories over six months. For leaves, spectral reflectance coupled with multivariate analysis and permutation testing yields statistically significant results and reliable inference. For soils, we develop a two-level hierarchical classification approach tailored to treatment characteristics that achieves 75–86\% accuracy across avocado genotypes and outperforms conventional approaches by over 20\%. Embedded evaluations on Raspberry Pi and Jetson report end-to-end latency, computation, memory usage, and power consumption, demonstrating practical feasibility. In summary, the contributions are a generalized framework for dynamic, open-world learning on edge devices and an application-specific system for robust classification in noisy field deployments. These real-world deployments collectively outline a practical framework for designing intelligent, cloud-independent edge systems from sensing to inference.15 0Item Restricted Evaluating the Accuracy and Reliability of ChatGPT-4o Mini in Generating Academic References: Impact of Prompt Engineering and Comparative Analysis of Direct Questions vs. Guided Questions Approaches(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alqahtani, Asyah; Xavier, CarpentThe rapid development of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT attracts the attention of researchers and academics due to its advanced capabilities. However, this comes with controversy on whether it generates authentic academic references. Therefore, this dissertation investigates how use various prompt engineering techniques affect the accuracy and reliability of academic references that generated by ChatGPT-4o mini, by examining whether these references exist in academic databases. The academic disciplines included in this study: computer science, electrical engineering, biology, history, medicine, psychology, and geography. Two approaches are employed to ask the model: direct questions (without prompt engineering) and guided questions (using prompt engineering). A total of 700 questions are analyses, with 100 questions per discipline equally divided between the two approaches. The generation academic references are then checked using the CrossRef, Scopus, and OpenLibrary databases. The findings show differences in the performance of the model across disciplines with the use of prompt engineering techniques. The enhancements in the accuracy of the generated academic references vary, with a 10.75% increase observed in biology and a 2.48% increase in medicine. Conversely, psychology suffers a little decline of 1.08% in accuracy, and electrical engineering faces a significant drop of 8.42% point. These variations show how specific questioning techniques can improve the generated academic references accuracy in some fields yet prove less effective in other fields. The dissertation also examines non-existence academic references generated by ChatGPT-4o mini, discovering that 5% to 16% of these fake academic references include authentic author identities. It shows the model sometimes correctly associates writers with their relevant fields, but frequently connects them to other areas not relevant fields. Nevertheless, fake references with fake authors remain more prevalent. These findings reveal considerable difficulties in using LLMs for the generation of authentic academic references regards to accuracy and reliability. Although prompt engineering techniques have demonstrated improvements in certain domains, the total incidence of fake academic references remains substantial, this highlights the importance of human verification.11 0Item Restricted Parental Involvement in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Saudi Inclusive Primary Schools: Parents and Special Education Teacher's Perspectives(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alhamid, Sarah Mohammed; Barrow, Jill Clarke’sIn recent years, parental involvement has garnered significant attention, particularly in research concerning students with special education needs in inclusive educational settings. These environments integrate students with special needs alongside their peers. This study explored the perspectives of special education teachers and parents of female deaf and hard-of-hearing students regarding parental involvement in inclusive primary schools in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The research was structured around five specific objectives: (1) exploring the perspectives of special education teachers and parents of DHH female students regarding the importance of parental involvement; (2) examining the current practice of special education teachers and parents of DHH female students on parental involvement in Saudi inclusive primary schools; (3) identifying perceptions concerning their experience of parental involvement; (4) exploring respective roles regarding parental involvement; (5) determining perceptions of factors that impact as barriers to involve parents in Saudi Inclusive school. Moreover, the study was grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory and adopted a pragmatic paradigm. The study utilised a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design (QUAN-qual), involving survey data followed by interviews. A purposive sampling strategy was used. Data collection included a closed-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Participants comprised 79 teachers and 186 parents (questionnaire), and 11 parents and 10 teachers (interviews). Quantitative data were iii analysed using SPSS version 27 with descriptive statistics, t-tests, and One-way ANOVA. Qualitative data were thematically analysed. This mixed-methods approach addressed the research questions comprehensively and provided a more nuanced view of parental involvement in the education of DHH students. Key findings revealed shared recognition of the importance of involvement but differing understandings. Findings highlighted issues relating to communication, decision-making, lack of policy, and barriers such as attitudes, time constraints, and uncoordinated meetings. The findings resulted in targeted Implications and recommendations to enhance the involvement of parents in inclusive schools in Saudia Arabia.12 0