Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted A Simulation Framework for Evaluating the Performance of Blockchain-based IoT Ecosystems(Newcastle University, 2024-09-05) Albshri, Adel; Solaiman, EllisRecently, it has been appealing to integrate Blockchain with IoT in several domains, such as healthcare and smart cities. This integration facilitates the decentralized processing of IoT data, enhancing cybersecurity by ensuring data integrity, preventing tampering, and strengthening privacy through decentralized trust mechanisms and resilient security measures. These features create a secure and reliable environment, mitigating potential cyber threats while ensuring non-repudiation and higher availability. However, Blockchain performance is questionable when handling massive data sets generated by complex and heterogeneous IoT applications. Thus, whether the Blockchain performance meets expectations will significantly influence the overall viability of integration. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the feasibility of integrating IoT and Blockchain and examine the technology readiness level before the production stage. This thesis addresses this matter by extensively investigating approaches to the performance evaluation of Blockchain-based IoT solutions. Firstly, it systematically reviews existing Blockchain simulators and identifies their strengths and limitations. Secondly, due to the lack of existing blockchain simulators specifically tailored for IoT, this thesis contributes a novel blockchain-based IoT simulator which enables investigation of blockchain performance based on adaptable design configuration choices of IoT infrastructure. The simulator benefits from lessons learnt about the strengths and limitations of existing works and considers various design requirements and views collected through questioners and focus groups of domain experts. Third, the thesis recognises the shortcomings of blockchain simulators, such as support for smart contracts. Therefore, it contributes a middleware that leverages IoT simulators to benchmark real blockchain platforms' performance, namely Hyperledger Fabric. It resolves challenges related to integrating distinctive environments: simulated IoT models with real Blockchain ecosystems. Lastly, this thesis employs Machine Learning (ML) techniques for predicting blockchain performance based on predetermined configurations. Contrariwise, it also utilises ML techniques to recommend the optimal configurations for achieving the desired level of blockchain performance.49 0Item Restricted The role of sequence organization in the enhancement of working memory in children and throughout later stages of the human lifespan(University of Leicester, 2024-06-01) Albatli, Alanoud; Albatli, AlanoudThis thesis examined the impacts of path characteristics and structural sequences on working memory (WM) performance using spatial and verbal tasks involving different stages of memory. In Experiments 1-3, participants performed better on structured verbal tasks than on unstructured ones. Young and older adults had larger pupil sizes for unstructured sequences during the rehearsal, whereas children had larger pupil sizes during rehearsal than encoding. Young and older adults performed better than children on the structured sequences during the verbal task. Also, children had higher average pupil sizes on the structured sequences than young adults (for the spatial task during encoding) and older adults (for the verbal task during rehearsal). In Experiment 4, young adults had higher recalling scores on short than on long sequences and the absence of crossing than the presence of crossing when structured sequences are considered. Additionally, participants recalled more correct items in the absence of crossing than in the presence of crossing when unstructured sequences were considered. In Experiment 5, children recalled better for structured, long and sequences without crossings, with older children recalling better for sequences without crossings than younger children. In Experiment 6, older adults recalled better for structured, short, and sequences without crossing, with middle-aged adults recalled better in the absence of crossings than older adults. Additional analysis revealed that older adults benefited more from structured, long, and sequences with no crossing than children while both adult groups benefitted more from unstructured, short, and the presence of crossing sequences in comparison to children. These results suggest that when encoding sequence structure lacks effective strategies, rehearsing requires more mental effort reflected by increased pupil size, particularly during the rehearsal of unstructured sequences. Recall performance relates to sequence complexity. There are changes in spatial performance across different age groups that were not observed previously.18 0Item Restricted THE IMPACT OF PREFORMANCE APPRISAL ON EMPLOYEES’ COMMITMENT AND MOTIVATION AT TOURISM HOTELS IN JEDDAH(Oxford Brookes University, 2024-03-12) Aloqab, Ameera; Yan, GordonIn the context of Jeddah's tourist hotels, this study investigates how performance reviews affect workers' dedication and enthusiasm. Examining the interplay between performance review, employee dedication, and intrinsic motivation in this sector is the study's primary objective. The research lays forth many important goals to accomplish this purpose. The primary goal of the research is to have a better understanding of performance evaluation and its effects on workers. This requires an in-depth investigation of performance evaluation's theoretical foundations and practical consequences within the specific context of Jeddah's tourist hotels. There is a main research component to the study that involves interviewing employees to get their first-hand accounts and empirical evidence. The research aims to capture the positive and negative effects of performance assessment on employee motivation and commitment through these interviews. Furthermore, using a qualitative method with the adoption of primary research method allows for a more in-depth exploration of the personal perspectives and encounters of those employed by tourism establishments by way of conducting interviews among targeted participants. The analysis of the collected data follows the data collecting step of the study. The purpose of this part is to assess the results by comparing them to previous studies and noting any discrepancies or overlaps. By contextualising the study's findings within the larger corpus of literature on performance evaluation, motivation, and commitment, this comparative analysis strengthens the study's validity. Consequently, in order to draw significant conclusions, the research combines its results. Further research is needed to fill in the gaps and reduce the detrimental effect of performance assessment on staff motivation and commitment at Jeddah's tourist hotels, according to the study's suggestions. This research adds to the continuing discussion about how to optimise performance evaluation procedures in the specific setting of the hotel and tourist industry by using a comprehensive approach that integrates academic knowledge with witness accounts.15 0Item Restricted Enhancing the Performance of Web Application Security Testing: An In-Depth Analysis and Optimization of Web Vulnerability Scanners(ProQuest, 2024-01-24) Alazmi, Suliman; de Leon, Daniel ConteWeb applications have become an indispensable part of our lives today. Meanwhile, hackers' exploitation of web application vulnerabilities is increasing, and the damages caused are devastating. Web application vulnerability scanners (WVS's) are tools have been considered to remediate this situation. However, these tools are different in their effectiveness and their quality of use. In this dissertation we provided four contributions: Firstly, we conducted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on the most frequently used WVS's. A total of 90 research papers were carefully evaluated. Thirty (30) WVS's were collected and reported, with only 12 having at least one quantitative assessment of effectiveness. These 12 WVS's were evaluated by 15 original evaluation studies. We found that these evaluations tested mostly only two of the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Top Ten vulnerability types: SQL injection (SQLi) (13/15) and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) (8/15). We also found that the reported detection rates were highly dissimilar between these 15 evaluations. Secondly, we evaluated the performance of four well known web vulnerability scanners (Burp Suite Pro, OWASP ZAP, Arachni and Wapiti) in detecting the OWASP Top Ten vulnerability types by running them against three benchmark web applications (Mutillidae, bWAPP, WebGoat). Our comparative results showed that web vulnerability scanners, were effective detecting only a very few of the OWASP Top Ten vulnerability types. Thirdly, we conducted a statistical study to measure the quality of use of four web vulnerability scanners. The quality of use was measured using the Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI). The results suggested that OWASP ZAP and Burp Suite Pro were more positively perceived by the participants in terms of their Affect and Learnability, while Wapiti waFourthly, new scanning rules were proposed to improve OWASP ZAP's detection of SQL injection attacks. Testing on vulnerable web applications showed a significant improvement in detection capability.s less positively perceived by the participants in terms of their Efficiency, Affect and Controllability.59 0Item Restricted Software and Hardware Redundancy Approaches to Improve Performance and Service Availability in Fog Computing(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-12-28) Alraddady, Sara; Soh, BoonFog computing is a new distributed computing paradigm. It was introduced to address the massive increase in the number of connected devices since cloud computing faces difficulties handling all requests placed simultaneously. This new paradigm , which is an extension of cloud computing, can increase the efficiency of services provided in many sectors including health care, industry, agriculture, environmental hazard management, smart cities, and autonomous transportation. Some sectors, such as health care and autonomous driving, are highly non-tolerant of delays. In such sectors, high response time and poorly available services can lead to fatal results endangering the lives of many. On the contrary, other sectors such as e-commerce and telecommunication companies can tolerate delays to a certain extent, yet there is always a cost. Delays in such systems do not result in fatalities, as can happen in non-delay tolerant sectors, although delays can cause degraded quality of service and financial loss. Hence, regardless of the level of delay tolerance, delays are not desired. Given the distributed and diverse nature of fog computing, there are some challenges such as device heterogeneity that need be addressed to prepare fog computing for commercial use. Because any device can be a fog node, energy constraints must be considered to maximise device utilisation while still delivering the required quality of service. Also, different devices have various connecting methods which increase complex network connectivity for fog computing. It is also important to consider preventing fog node from exploitation and ensuring that requests are not randomly processed by different fog nodes. This thesis incorporates a management layer in fog computing to address the identified challenges. The proposed model was evaluated using simulations in iFogSim. The results show improved performance in important metrics such as execution time and bandwidth consumption compared to several fog architectures. For higher availability, a duplex management system is proposed and designed using Petri nets. A Markov chain is used to calculate failure probabilities for each node in the management layer, and availability analysis is presented.7 0Item Restricted EFL Learners’ Perceptions of AI Tools in Enhancing their Target Language Use: A Quantitative Study of Saudi International Students in the UK(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-12-05) Alsubaei, Mouneerah; Thompson, PaulThe integration of AI tools into education has gained considerable attention in this era of technological advancement. In light of the increasing interest in the use of AI in language learning, it is essential to understand how EFL learners perceive the potential of these tools to improve their usage of the target language. Despite the growing prevalence of AI tools, there is limited research concerning Saudi international students' perceptions of these tools in the context of language learning, specifically in the UK. This study attempts to address the consequential gap in the literature by investigating Saudi international students' perspectives on AI tools for improving EFL use, particularly in overall language performance and four skills, especially in the UK. Moreover, it attempts to identify significant differences in students' responses to the questionnaire based on gender, age, current educational courses and years of language learning experience. Data collection questionnaires were distributed to targeted respondents (N= 237) and analysed statistically by SPSS. This study revealed interesting findings. Participants generally believe AI improves overall language performance and writing skills, particularly grammar, spelling and punctuation. However, AI's effect on critical thinking, reading, listening and speaking could not be proven by the research findings, except in terms of vocabulary use. There is no significant difference between participants' responses based on gender, age, current academic courses or years of language learning experience. However, there is a significant difference based on current academic courses in relation to the number of times the research participants use AI tools to improve their English Language use. Most comments from students were positive and they expressed the effectiveness of AI in improving writing skills.133 0Item Restricted The Impact of Privatisation of state-owned enterprises in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia(2023-01-10) Alahmari, Abdulmajeed Awadh; Brook, OrThis paper reviews the motivation for the privatisation of public sector companies in both the UK and Saudi Arabia and their approach to the privatisation programme. This essay searched for the incentives and changes that contributed to changing the privatised company and its concept. In addition, there is consideration of the strategies for privatising companies and the work to achieve their goals in terms of improving efficiency to achieve growth and boost competition in the long- term, reduce government monopolies and save them from crises by altering their structure or addressing their lack of managerial experience. The British government privatised most public sector companies to address the lack of efficiency, reduce government spending and develop their structure. Meanwhile, the Saudi government’s approach to privatisation was motivated by the realisation of Vision 2030, one of the pillars of which was the privatisation programme and the achievement of national transformation in terms of achieving positive results from the efficient performance and structural development of companies subject to privatisation and legislative development by issuing a law to privatise companies. Therefore, privatisation succeeded in achieving most of its objectives. The paper concludes with the lessons learned by the two governments from the privatisation experience in terms of the importance of developing competition, the quality of company management, and the role of legislation in the effective regulation of companies.53 0Item Restricted The impact of emotional regulation on employee performance in the educational sector UK(Khulud Alsafwani, 2023) Alsafwani, Khulud Hussain; Ozturk, MustafaBackground and purpose: Factors such as teacher reforms among others in the UK education sector have significantly increased the emotional labor for teachers. Under the likelihood of an increase in the number of stressors that could exacerbate the negative emotions that are likely to negatively affect the teacher's performance, factors of emotional competence, including emotional awareness, expression and regulation have become increasingly important for educators. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to demonstrate the relationship between emotional regulation and performance and some of the mechanisms used by teachers in emotional regulation. Methodology: The study applied a qualitative research approach. The research approach employed a literature review that entailed qualitative analysis of 15 studies published from 2010 to 2022 among other complementary studies outside the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The native was analyzed using a narrative approach with limited application of descriptive statistics. Findings: It was established that teachers believe that emotional regulation directly influences their performance in classroom duties. The goal of emotional regulation is to down-regulate negative emotions, whereas up-regulating positive emotions. Ultimately, regulating emotions also allowed teachers to control their behavior and remain engaged in classroom activities. It was established that the type of emotional strategies the teacher applies depends on their experience and expression of emotions.18 0