Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted CROSS-BORDER TRANSACTIONS AND CHOICE OF LAW RULES IN SAUDI ARABIA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHOICE OF LAW RULES BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES, ARAB COUNTRIES, AND THE CISG(CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, 2025-05) Alhussain, Ammar; Mansfield, CathyThis dissertation explores the lack of choice of law rules in Saudi Arabia and the possibility of adopting choice of law rules for cross-border transactions in Saudi Arabia. Establishing choice of law rules for Saudi Arabia is important in that it will attract private international transactions with Saudi Arabian parties. These laws will protect Saudi Arabia from unfair practices and foreign parties from legal ambiguities and achieve justice by making the law clearer. This research analyzes Sharia principles and the Saudi legal system. It also investigates any existing provisions on choice of law rules and possible challenges in Saudi law. The dissertation compares the choice of law rules in the United States and Arab countries, and under the Convention on the International Sale of Goods (“CISG”). The aim is to establish standards that allow Saudi Arabia to adopt appropriate choice of law rules. These suggested standards are based on international treaties, international practices, and regional laws.14 0Item Restricted Macromolecules For Protein Binding Using Dendrimer and Graphene Oxide(The University of Sheffield, 2024) Alageel, Amal; Twyman, LanceThis research explored non-covalently functionalized dendrimers and graphene oxide as macromolecular ligands for protein binding. Their structures were functionalized with amino acids to modulate protein recognition and binding. Developing macro-ligands to target large protein binding surfaces is an effective strategy for inhibiting protein-protein interactions. While covalently functionalized macromolecules have shown potential, their synthesis and control over the positioning of binding groups can be challenging. Therefore, in the first area of research, dendrimers that had been functionalized using non-covalent methods were examined. This involved synthesizing neutral PAMAM dendrimers that could not bind to the surface of α-chymotrypsin (Chy) and a series of linear chains that could bind the protein. These chains were originally synthesised using a simple Boc protection strategy that involved a considerable amount of aqueous workup. However, the use of water resulted in very low yields and poor purity. This thesis describes a new CBz protection method that avoids the use of aqueous workup and was able to generate the required chains in excellent yield and high purity. Linear chains with either tyrosine or valine were prepared and up to 6 of these could be encapsulated within the G3.5 OH ended dendrimer, with a further 4 or 5 remaining dissolved in the bulk water. The resulting complexes were tested for their ability to bind the protein cytochrome-c. To facilitate a quantitative analysis, the quencher zinc tetra(4-hydroxyphenyl) porphyrin (Zn-THPP) was also encapsulated. Using a fluorescence titration technique a dissociation constant (Kd) of 33 nM was measured for the G3.5 dendrimer encapsulated with the tyrosine chains. In contrast, no binding could be detected using the dendrimer alone, or the dendrimer encapsulated with the valine chains. The next part of this project examined a similar “dynamic” approach to protein binding, using graphene oxides (GO) functionalized through both covalent and non-covalent approaches. This involved synthesising a series of anthracenes modified with various amino acids. These could be added to GO covalently, via a Diels-Alder reaction. In this case the functional groups were fixed in specific positions on the GO surface, and any biding would involve the protein moving around, which would limit the binding efficiency. The same anthracenes could also be added to the GO surface using non-covalent π-π interactions (by simply mixing the GO and functionalized anthracenes together in water). In this case the functional groups were free to move around the surface of the GO, allowing for maximum binding efficiency. As expected, the non-covalently functionalized anthracenes demonstrated enhanced binding to chymotrypsin through a series of inhibitory experiments. The research was extended to the study of GO systems functionalized with a mixture of functional groups (using covalent and non-covalent methods). Subsequent binding studies indicated that these mixed systems were more effective than corresponding systems functionalised with a single functional group, highlighting the benefits of combining amino acids for better binding affinity. Overall, the work described presents a proof of principle that addresses the difficulties in controlling functional group placement in precise 3D locations on the surface of protein binding ligands.11 0Item Restricted The Impact of Business Analysis on the Analysis of Investment Portfolios (UK and US Stock Market)(University of Aberdeen, 2025) Alqadhibi, Sulaiman; Lee, SeunghoBusiness is dynamic work aimed at achieving the objective of generating profits. In order to achieve this goal, a company must initially gather a range of resources and utilise them for financial gain, guided by managerial choices. When considered in a broader context, managerial decisions encompass various domains: the allocation of resources, the utilisation of these resources to operate the business, and the appropriate combination of finance . Business involves a wide range of sectors, including manufacturing, mining, trading, and financial services, among others. The underlying issue that unites all of these categories is the management and allocation of resources. These two characteristics are the primary influences on the overall structure of company. Financial management plays a crucial role in the overall structure of the organisation. In the creation of our investment portfolio, we prioritised two objectives: diversification and companies that present substantial growth. We selected companies that we believe will drive the future in a variety of sectors, including renewable energy, healthcare, technology, and artificial intelligence. The objective of our diversification strategy is to mitigate and spread risks.12 0Item Restricted REALIZATION OF SIMPLE SMALE FLOWS IN S^3 USING 3-BAND TEMPLATES(Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2025) Alshamrani, Mohammed M; Sullivan, MichaelThis dissertation investigates non-singular Smale flows with saddle sets modeled by specific templates, focusing on their structural configurations. In particular, we examine the linking relationships between the attractor and repeller in simple Smale flows, especially when chaotic saddle sets are represented by various template models. By analyzing these template-based structures, we aim to provide new insights into the organization and behavior of Smale flows on the 3-sphere.1 0Item Restricted Mental Health on Social Media: AI-Driven Detection and Response(Arizona State University, 2025) Alghamdi, Zeyad; Liu, HuanMental health issues are increasingly prevalent, with stress playing a critical role in the development of severe mental and physical health conditions. Early detection and effective intervention are essential for mitigating these challenges. In an increasingly digital world, social media serves as a valuable repository of large-scale data on how individuals vent and express stress. This data source captures two critical dimensions or perspectives: the individual and the social. The individual dimension is revealed through direct expressions of stress in users’ posts, where emotional states and linguistic patterns provide important indicators. In a synergistic manner, the social dimension is discerned from the reactions of others, offering contextual cues that reflect the broader environment’s influence on the user’s mental state. My dissertation builds on this dual perspective by integrating social science and psychological theories to inform a methodologies,that strengthens AI’s capacity to recognize stress-related cues and also to engage with mental health discourse in a refined and contextaware manner. To achieve this, I propose three innovative detection strategies that capture the individual and social dimensions. The first strategy focuses on analyzing the finegrained linguistic and emotional features to identify stress within individual posts, directly addressing the individual perspective. The second strategy extends this analysis by examining the broader contextual nuances embedded in these posts, thereby deepening the understanding of individual stress expressions. The third strategy shifts attention to the social perspective by incorporating emotional cues from community responses as auxiliary signals to enhance the stress classification. Finally, drawing on the insights from these works, I established a data-supported refinement process that improves AI’s ability to produce more supportive responses that are both contextually aware and socially attuned. This research exemplifies how interdisciplinary innovation can redefine AI’s role in addressing complex challenges in mental health.12 0Item Restricted Defining The Role of PRPF8 in Congenital Heart Diseases(The University of Manchester, 2025) Althali ,Nouf; Ray O’Keefe, Kathryn Hentges andCongenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth abnormality, impacting over 1% of live births worldwide and representing a major cause of infant mortality and morbidity. Despite advances in genetic studies identifying several causal variants, the molecular mechanisms behind many congenital heart defects (CHDs) remain insufficiently elucidated. We have discovered a mutant mouse line with laterality and cilia defects accompanied by cardiac abnormalities caused by a missense mutation in the spliceosome gene Prpf8. The role of PRPF8 in congenital heart defects has not been investigated prior to this thesis research. In this project four PRPF8 missense variants: V250M, P372L, T589M and M1730T, that have been found in CHD patients, were studied to determine if PRPF8 function is altered by these variants. These PRPF8 variants were predicted that may cause aberrant splicing and/or altered biochemical interactions between PRPF8 and the other spliceosomal proteins, leading to developmental heart malformations likely due to aberrant splicing or expression of cardiac genes. PRPF8 variants were investigated using multiple bioinformatics prediction tools to predict the impact of PRPF8 variants found in human CHD patients on protein function. Moreover, PRPF8 variant protein-protein interactions and protein stability were assessed. We also generated the analogous missense variants in yeast Prp8 to study their effect during splicing. Moreover, a Prpf8 mouse model was used to evaluate the expression of Prpf8 in cardiac and neural crest cell markers. Our bioinformatics analysis revealed some of these variants were predicted to be damaging and affect protein functions while others were not. Significantly, although the most highly predicted damaging variant, PRPF8 T589M, did not interfere with PRPF8 interactions with its binding partners, EFTUD2 and PPIL2, it, and other PRPF8 variants, adversely impacted PRPF8 protein stability. This suggests a specific mechanism in which decreased protein stability, rather than a loss of physical interactions, accounts for the impact of these mutations. Our splicing reporter assay findings indicate that all examined mutations impair PRP8's splicing efficiency, causing remarkable gene expression alteration and splicing defects. The Prpf8 mutant mouse displays reduced neural crest marker expression, suggesting a vital role for PRPF8 in cardiac development via the regulation of neural crest cell development. Novel insights gained from this work may aid our ability to understand the role of PRPF8 in CHD and its links with cardiac defects, informing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.12 0Item Restricted A Comparison of Suicide Rates Among Male Farmers and Construction Workers in Minnesota: An Analysis Using Minnesota Violent Death Reporting System (2015–2021)(University Of Minnesota, 2025) Bin Jumaiah, Norah; Alexander, Bruce; GingerichMS, Stefan; Jewett, PatriciaThis study examined suicide rates among farmers and construction workers. Specifically, suicides in the Animal Production and Agriculture (0170) and Crop Production (0180) industries were used to identify farmers, while construction workers were classified based on the Census code 0770 (Construction). The analysis indicated that the overall suicide rate among farmers was 29.9 per 100,000 (95% CI: 24.93–35.64), whereas construction workers had a significantly higher rate at 50.9 per 100,000 (95% CI: 47.04 55.18) The age-adjusted rate ratio was 2.27 (95% CI: 1.87–2.75), indicating that suicide rates among construction workers were about two times higher than those of farmers. This contradicts the initial hypothesis that farmers would have a higher suicide rate than construction workers. The rate ratios varied significantly across different age groups. The highest suicide rate ratio was observed among the 70+ years age group, where construction workers had a suicide rate of 409.9 per 100,000 (95% CI: 316.3-522.4), and farmers’ suicide rate was 77.5 per 100,000 (95% CI: 53.71–108.4). The rate ratio of 5.28 (95% CI: 3.49–8.00) highlights a dramatically greater risk of suicide among older construction workers compared to farmers of similar age. In contrast, the age group of 50–59 had a rate ratio of 1.28 (95% CI: 0.83- 1.96). Firearm-related suicides were also analyzed. The overall firearm-related suicide rate among construction workers was 26.0 per 100,000 (95% CI: 15.49–24.18), higher than that of farmers at 19.4 per 100,000 (95% CI: 15.49–24.18), with a rate ratio of 1.34 (95% CI: 1.05–1.71). After adjusting for age, the rate ratio was 1.93 (95% CI: 1.53–2.45), confirming that construction workers were at a higher risk of firearm-related suicide. The most pronounced difference in firearm-related suicide rates was in the 70+ years age group, in which construction workers had a firearm-related suicide rate of 283.8 per 100,000 (95% CI: 207–379.70), compared to 59.3 per 100,000 (95% CI: 38.78–86.92) for farmers.9 0Item Restricted Sustainable water management: Practices, challenges and benefits: A case study of hospitality sector in Alula, Saudi Arabia.(University of Gloucestershire, 2025) Aljohani, Manar; Abd Razak, AzleySustainable management is becoming increasingly relevant globally, with resource management as a key element. Businesses faces critical issues related to water, making effective management essential for businesses like hospitality. This study examines sustainable water management (SWM) in Alula's hospitality sector, a new case that has not yet been thoroughly investigated. It combines three elements: 1- Practices applied in Alula's hospitality sector – Which practices are most used, and are they primarily low-cost and simple? 2- Challenges and barriers – Are costs, lack of awareness, resource limitations, technical difficulties, expert shortages, and guest behaviours the biggest barriers affecting practice choice? 3- Sustainable practises benefits and look if they have benefit in reduce operational cost and water consumption. It applied three assumptions. The study applied three assumptions and used a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative data from questionnaires with qualitative insights from interviews with industry professionals. The findings conclude that while basic SWM practices are, like low flow showerhead, adopted in Alula's hospitality sector, significant barriers hinder the implementation of more advanced measures. Addressing these challenges through enhanced stakeholder engagement, increased awareness, and improved access to resources and expertise is crucial. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of SWM in emerging tourist destinations and provides sight for policymakers and industry stakeholders to promote SWM33 0Item Restricted Perceptions And Reported Practices of Teacher Leadership by Saudi Teachers, Principals and Supervisors in Saudi Arabia(The University of Nottingham, 2024) Alhumaid, Musaad; Bush, Tony; Taylor, PhilThis research investigates teacher leadership in selected public schools within Riyadh's Educational Directorate, Saudi Arabia. It explores the perceptions of key stakeholders: principals, supervisors, and teachers, concerning teacher leadership, the factors that empower or inhibit teachers to lead, and the professional development and nurturing of teacher leadership. The study is framed by Grant’s teacher leadership model and three related theories, communities of practice, distributed leadership, and professional learning communities. A nested case study approach was adopted to select two contrasting schools, assessed through their annual evaluations. The qualitative research design combined interviews, observations, focus groups, and reflective essays, involving participants with at least two years of teaching experience. The findings show very different understandings of teacher leadership across the two schools. Gold school appears to adopt a broad view of teacher leadership, within and beyond classrooms, while Silver school has a narrow perspective, limited to classroom leadership. Supervisors, principals, and teachers have different perceptions about teacher leaders. These differences are influenced by culture as well as the school system. The targeted professional development and school environment promoting empowerment and collaboration is closely related to the effective promotion of teacher leadership. The identified obstacles to fostering teacher leadership include limited autonomy, unclear roles, and a lack of consistent support mechanisms. The study findings indicate the need to structure programmes and policies so that teachers can enact leadership and play more meaningful roles in school improvement.3 0Item Restricted Impact of Toothbrush Head Configuration and Dentifrice Abrasivity on Non-Carious Cervical Lesions Development In-Vitro(Indiana University, 2025) Alzahrani, Lina; Hara, AndersonObjective: To investigate the effect of toothbrush head configuration and dentifrice slurry abrasivity on the development of simulated non-carious cervical lesions (NCCLs) in vitro. Methods: Extracted premolars were randomly allocated into 15 groups (n = 16) generated by the association between toothbrush head configuration (flat-trimmed, rippled, cross-angled/multilevel/rubbers added, cross-angled/multilevel/flex head, feathered) and dentifrice slurry abrasivity (low/medium/high). Teeth were mounted on acrylic blocks and had their roots partially covered with acrylic resin, leaving 2-mm root surfaces exposed. Toothbrushing was performed for 35,000 and 65,000 double-strokes. Specimens were analyzed using non-contact profilometry for dental volume loss (mm3) and lesion morphology. Data was analyzed using ANOVA with pairwise comparisons and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: The two-way interaction between toothbrush head configuration and slurry abrasivity was significant (p = 0.02). At 35,000 strokes, the flat-trimmed and cross-angled/multilevel/rubbers added toothbrushes caused the highest loss, when associated to the high-abrasive slurry (p<0.05); whereas cross-angled/multilevel/flex head showed the least loss, when associated to the low-abrasive (p<0.05). At 65,000, more dental loss was observed for all toothbrushes when associated to the high-abrasive slurry, with flat-trimmed causing the highest loss (p < 0.05). Lower dental loss rates were observed for cross-angled/multilevel/flex head associated to the low-abrasive slurry when compared to the other toothbrushes (p < 0.05), except to feathered (p = 0.14) and rippled (p = 0.08). Flat lesions (mean internal angle ± standard-deviation: 146.2°± 16.8) were mainly associated with low-abrasive slurry, while wedge-shaped lesions (85.8°± 18.8) were more frequent with medium- and high-abrasive slurries. Conclusion: The development, progression and morphology of simulated NCCLs were modulated by both toothbrush head configuration and dentifrice abrasivity. Clinical significance: Dental professionals should consider both the type of toothbrush and dentifrice abrasivity in the management plan of patients at risk of developing NCCLs.7 0