Search

This study explores Arab university faculty's views on fully AI-generated assignments and research papers submitted by students, what reasons they give for their stance and how they react in this case. Surveys with a sample of 45 Arab instructors revealed that 98% do not accept AI-generated assignments and research papers from students at all. They gave numerous reasons for their position. If students submit AI-generated assignments or research papers, they would ask them to re-write them. The study recommends raising students' awareness of university policies regarding AI-generated content and introducing faculty and students to AI plagiarism detection tools. Faculty views and recommendations are reported in detail.

Designing standardized exams for EFL undergraduates is a matter of great concern in pedagogical practices that assess learners' academic achievements. This case study was conducted at Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia, to explore the significance of educational exam standardization and its impact on the process of implementation, leading to a balanced and equitable assessment of English language skills. During the study, 250 final English skill exam questions of two semesters were analyzed. A mixed-method approach using a questionnaire and Focused Group Discussion was adopted to collect relevant data. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS 16, and the qualitative data was processed by thematic analysis. The quantitative data results showed that questions were balanced, valid, and reliable in language skill exam papers designed for undergraduate English students. The qualitative data revealed four major themes -- standardization of questions, the efficacy of Bloom's taxonomy, assessment/evaluation, and alignment of the question with learning outcomes. These emerging themes highlighted the effectivness of standardizing exam papers, identified problems, and suggested ways of improvement. The study indicates that exams must be scrutinized for the sake of standardization in terms of maximum course coverage; the variety in the question item; clear, concise, and precise instructions; validity and reliability of exam papers; and the alignment of questions with the course and program learning outcomes to ensure the implementation of the revised Bloom's taxonomy. The study suggests, to generalize the results, that further investigation should be done in another Saudi university for the sake of comparison.

Language used to report research findings and put forward arguments is at the heart of effective communication with readers. To this end, scholars use a variety of stylistic features. One of these is variety in language, which includes structures, lexis, and organization markers. Although much research has been conducted on these aspects, a particular feature has received limited interest from researchers: sentence openers, a strategic use of which helps authors develop an individual style, and avoid stagnant prose. This helps them maintain readers' interest while communicating scientific knowledge. Due to the importance of sentence openers in scientific prose, university students' awareness should be raised about this aspect of academic writing. This requires identification of commonly occurring sentence openers in the texts they study. It is also useful to identify student tendencies regarding sentence openers and their perceived competence in varying sentence openers. Prompted by these necessities, this research investigated a 10,949 running-word corpus compiled from professionally-written texts used in a first-year writing course, as well as a 42,070 running-word student corpus compiled from the reflective writing papers of 35 first-year students. Data on students' perceived competence were collected using a survey. Results showed that the two most frequent sentence openers in both corpora were subject-verb and transition markers. However, the latter were used by the students with significantly higher frequency than they were by the professional writers. Data also revealed that the students lack awareness of sentence openers as a feature for making writing more interesting. Students further reported an inability to use a wide range of sentence openers in their writing. Results are discussed, and recommendations are made for increasing students' skill in composing effective academic texts.

Predictors of student academic success do not always replicate well across different learning designs, subject areas, or educational institutions. This suggests that characteristics of a particular discipline and learning design have to be carefully considered when creating predictive models in order to scale up learning analytics. This study aimed to examine "if" and "to what extent" frequently used predictors of study success are portable across a "homogenous" set of courses. The research was conducted in an integrated blended problem-based curriculum with trace data (n = 2,385 students) from 50 different course offerings across four academic years. We applied the statistical method of single paper meta-analysis to combine correlations of several indicators with students' success. "Total activity" and the "forum" indicators exhibited the highest prediction intervals, where the former represented proxies of the overall engagement with online tasks, and the latter with online collaborative learning activities. Indicators of lecture reading (frequency of lecture view) showed statistically insignificant prediction intervals and, therefore, are less likely to be portable across course offerings. The findings show moderate amounts of variability both within iterations of the same course and across courses. The results suggest that the use of the meta-analytic statistical method for the examination of study success indicators across courses with similar learning design and subject area can offer valuable quantitative means for the identification of predictors that reasonably well replicate and consequently can be reliably portable in the future.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the Arab World are still in their infancy. Many Arab countries are now starting to launch their MOOC platforms; however, there are only a few who have actually implemented such systems. This paper will explore online learning, in particular the rise of MOOCs around the world and their impact on the Arab World. The purpose of this paper is to give a true picture of the development of the first MOOC platforms in the Arab World. It will analyse in detail the concept, definitions, background, and types of MOOCs (xMOOCs and cMOOCs), as well as the main MOOCs platform in the Western and Arab worlds, and a timeline of the development of MOOCs. It will then observe the status of MOOCs in the developed world, opportunities in the Middle East, and the influence of Western MOOCs on the Arab world, from many perspectives, e.g. educational, religious, cultural and social.

This article describes how with the advent of computer-based technology, there is movement from manual to automated systems for different aspects of the education system. Testing is an essential part of teaching process that helps academics in classifying the level of students and evaluating the outcomes of their teaching process. The testing process requires a large amount of attention and professionalism. Automated Test Paper Generation is a system applying the shuffling algorithm in designing different sets of questions without repetition and duplication. It helps the faculty in developing and designing exams with a particular level of difficulty required in evaluating the students by using the utility-based agent. The system includes a knowledge base of many questions' types that are linked to a test engine where the faculty can specify the type and the difficulty level of the exam and then the system will assemble the exam and produce the output as electronic or paper-based. Questions will be picked randomly from the knowledge database. This automated system provides cost saving and time efficient solutions.

The article primarily focuses on the ineffectiveness of recent reforms to women's rights in Saudi Arabia, particularly in relation to the abolition of the male guardianship system. It argues that despite positive attention and perceptions of progress under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al Saud, the reforms have not led to significant improvements in the lived experiences of Saudi women.

Introduction: Scientometric analysis helps to measure the research growth and highlights the salient characteristics of the specific dataset. Saudi Arabia is rapidly growing country in the field of science and technology and remarkably contributing in the research productivity in all areas of health sciences, including radiological sciences from 1995 to 2000 and is drastically increased globally. Aim: To analyse the credible literature on radiological sciences research from Saudi Arabia as reflected in the Scopus database. Materials and Methods: This was a quantitative exploratory study based on scientometric analysis. The data was extracted from the Scopus database. The subject category of "radiology, nuclear medicine and imaging" was selected in the advanced search feature of the Scopus database. All the relevant scholarly literature consisted of articles and reviews indexed under the country name of Saudi Arabia published in English language from 1985 to 2020 were included for analysis. Results: Saudi Arabia was ranked 33rd with 1,587 papers in radiological sciences, representing 0.43% of the global share. The slow progress was observed in the first 20 years but the remarkable growth was recorded during the last five years of study. King Saud University and King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre were the most contributing institutions. Saudi radiologists collaborated with 99 countries of the world and the United States was on the top. Four national journals were included in the list of top 10 preferred journals. Conclusion: Although the rising tendency in radiological sciences research was evident during the last 10 years, still the share of Saudi Arabia was found much lower in comparison with the developed countries. Few well-established Institutions have taken lead in research productivity but a prioritised response from other Research Institutions is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most widely used measures of scientific impact is the number of citations. However, due to its heavy-tailed distribution, citations are fundamentally difficult to predict but can be improved. This study was aimed at investigating the factors and parts influencing the citation number of a scientific paper in the otology field. Therefore, this work proposes a new solution that utilizes machine learning and natural language processing to process English text and provides a paper citation as the predicted results. Different algorithms are implemented in this solution, such as linear regression, boosted decision tree, decision forest, and neural networks. The application of neural network regression revealed that papers' abstracts have more influence on the citation numbers of otological articles. This new solution has been developed in visual programming using Microsoft Azure machine learning at the back end and Programming Without Coding Technology at the front end. We recommend using machine learning models to improve the abstracts of research articles to get more citations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientometric studies play a crucial role in quantitatively assessing the impact and quantity of scholarly articles, providing a basis for policy-making and informed decision-making processes. Given the ongoing transformation within the Saudi scientific community across various domains, it is essential to establish a baseline for high-quality endodontic research. A comprehensive search in the PubMed database, using the keywords ["Saudi" OR "Saudi Arabia"] within the time frame of 2014 to 2021. The screening process involved evaluating the title and abstract of each article, with only those classified as endodontic articles included for analysis in this study. The analysis included factors such as the type of paper, the authors, the citations, and the year of publication. Featuring one or more authors affiliated with a Saudi dental institution, 70 papers were specifically categorized as endodontic papers. The most prevalent type of paper was case reports, accounting for 27 articles (28%), followed by literature reviews with 13 articles (18%). The number of authors ranged from one to ten, with a general trend of increasing publication rates over the years. In terms of citations, only four papers received more than 20 citations, while the majority of papers garnered between one and ten citations. Most articles in the field of endodontics exhibited low-level evidence. Therefore, it is recommended that the quality of research output and evidence be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fomites are inanimate objects that are capable of absorbing, harboring and transmitting infectious microorganisms. Paper currency, an exchangeable fomite, is constantly subjected to contamination. This study investigated bacterial contamination on the Saudi one Riyal paper note. Two hundred one Riyal bills (100 4th version and 100 5th version) were collected in the city of Jeddah for examination. The notes were examined for bacterial contamination using blood agar and MacConkey agar. Eighty-eight percent of the notes were contaminated with mixed (>or=2 types) bacterial growth. All 4th version notes had mixed bacterial growth: gram-positive bacilli (79%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (75%), Staphylococcus aureus (38%), Klebsiella spp (21%), Pseudomonas spp (19%), Escherichia coli (9%), viridans group streptococci (VGS) (8%), and non-hemolytic streptococci (4%). Seventy-six percent of the newer 5th version notes had mixed bacterial growth: gram-positive bacilli (68%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (64%), S. aureus (13%), Klebsiella spp (9%), Pseudomonas spp (5%), E. coli (2%) and VGS (2%). These results indicate the Saudi one Riyal paper note is commonly contaminated with bacteria, and may act as a vehicle for the transmission of potentially pathogenic bacteria. The more the bill had been handled the greater the contamination was.

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) causes global exhaustion, consumes economic resources, and has several risk factors. The bibliometric studies re-evaluate the research efforts on this illness using mathematical and statistical tools to indicate current research and future trends. This study examines KSA's DM research during 2010-2021. Data were acquired from Scopus and analyzed using VOSviewer and MS Excel. Several characteristics were examined to measure the quantity and quality of KSA-related DM articles. In total, 1,919 journal and conference papers were published. DM research included researchers from multidisciplinary sectors. Thirty-seven percent of them have ten or more scientific publications. Al-Daghri, N.M. (King Saud University) leads the pack. In total, 757 (39.44%) research projects got funding from 159 sources within and outside KSA. Memish, Z.A. is the most cited author. The Saudi Medical Journal has the most citations (1214). Al-Daghri, N.M. (KSU) collaborates the most. One hundred forty-one nations aided KSA's diabetes research. Egypt's High Institute of Public Health has the most scientific collaboration with KSA. Authors' and all Keywords analyses indicated a rich knowledge structure. Diabetes Care Journal has the most cocitations with 2,220 and a total link strength of 19,283, followed by The New England Journal of Medicine. The study results will be helpful to stakeholders to understand better the trends and performance of diabetes-related regional research, which will be beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to analyze English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' knowledge and perceptions of research method courses in the Department of English Language and Literature, at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU). It also investigated the problems that students encounter and offered some suggestions for improving these courses. The significance of the study is that such topic has never been investigated before in such context. The study participants were 1,022 students (Levels three, four, five, six and seven) who voluntarily filled out a questionnaire consisting of sections on four factors/themes: knowledge, perceptions, problems, and suggestions. The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics software to compare the students' answers, and a one-way analysis of variance test was used to detect the differences between academic levels regarding each theme. The results showed that regardless of the students' academic levels, all of them agreed on studying and therefore knowing the research basic components; however, regarding the elements constituting each of these basic components, significant differences were found between the five groups. The results also indicated that these students have positive perceptions of the courses even though they encountered some research-related problems such as in knowing all or some research basic components and their specific elements; writing all or some of them; citing, summarizing, and paraphrasing sources; allocating primary and secondary resources; collecting and analyzing data; and consulting research manuals. Finally, all students agreed that it would be helpful if they were assigned individual research supervisors and coauthored an article with them, a research course was taught in all academic levels for a bachelor's degree, a research club was established, and research seminars were held.

Objective: Oral cancer and precancers are a major public health challenge in developing countries. Researchers in Saudi Arabia have constantly been directing their efforts on oral cancer research and have their results published. Systematic analysis of such papers is the need of the hour as it will not only acknowledge the current status but will also help in framing future policies on oral cancer research in Saudi Arabia., Method: The search string "oral cancer" OR "Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma" OR "oral premalignant lesion" OR "oral precancer" OR "Oral Potentially malignant disorder" AND AFFIL (Saudi AND Arabia ) was used for retrieval of articles from Scopus database. Various tools available in Scopus database were used for analyzing the bibliometric related parameters., Results: The search revealed a total of 663 publications based on the above query. Maximum affiliations were from King Saud University (163) followed by Jazan University (109) and then King Abdulaziz University (106). A large number of international collaborations were observed, the maximum with India (176) and the USA (127). The maximum number of articles were published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention (34) followed by the Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice (33) and Journal of Oral Pathology and Medicine (19)., Conclusion: Saudi researchers are directing their efforts towards the public health menace of oral cancer. However, it was also observed that some institutions have emerged as front runners in research, whereas others are contributing significantly less. The health department should encourage and take necessary steps to increase the involvement of other institutions.

Designing standardized exams for EFL undergraduates is a matter of great concern in pedagogical practices that assess learners' academic achievements. This case study was conducted at Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia, to explore the significance of educational exam standardization and its impact on the process of implementation, leading to a balanced and equitable assessment of English language skills. During the study, 250 final English skill exam questions of two semesters were analyzed. A mixed-method approach using a questionnaire and Focused Group Discussion was adopted to collect relevant data. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS 16, and the qualitative data was processed by thematic analysis. The quantitative data results showed that questions were balanced, valid, and reliable in language skill exam papers designed for undergraduate English students. The qualitative data revealed four major themes -- standardization of questions, the efficacy of Bloom's taxonomy, assessment/evaluation, and alignment of the question with learning outcomes. These emerging themes highlighted the effectivness of standardizing exam papers, identified problems, and suggested ways of improvement. The study indicates that exams must be scrutinized for the sake of standardization in terms of maximum course coverage; the variety in the question item; clear, concise, and precise instructions; validity and reliability of exam papers; and the alignment of questions with the course and program learning outcomes to ensure the implementation of the revised Bloom's taxonomy. The study suggests, to generalize the results, that further investigation should be done in another Saudi university for the sake of comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desert cities are special type of places that need extra environmental care and additional health planning during the process of growth and development. Special considerations and regards ought to be paid to health-related projects like building hospitals, primary health care (PHC) centers, emergency services, sanitation facilities, etc. In a country like Saudi Arabia, where deserts form a large part of the available biome, selecting which cities and places to focus on during health-related project development can be a difficult process, lacking proper ways of classifying and comparing the general health status of the population. While there are established indices to calculate other health-related qualities, like the Air Quality Health Index, there is no general health quality index. The article presented herein advocates an appropriate formula for a health quality index, HQI, as a tool for quantifying health quality for any given desert community. HQI is intended to offer a unique number, which expresses overall health quality at a certain desert locality, at a specified period of time, which is based on several quality parameters and health indicators. The objective of HQI is to turn complex health quality data into flat, simple information that is understandable and usable by health authorities, the public and desert community members. HQI depicts the composite influence of different public health quality parameters and communicates health quality information to the general public and legislative decision makers. It is intended to represent a reliable picture of the overall health quality within a particular community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines linguistic differences between male and female academic writing in Saudi Arabia, focusing on published research papers. Using Biber's multidimensional analysis as a model, the study examines both male and female authors' inherent lexical and grammatical preferences. A dataset of 20 research papers from each gender was tagged to analyze the linguistic features. ANOVA analyses were then conducted to identify patterns and variations. The research study provides interesting perspectives on the complex relationship between language and gender in academic settings. Though there are some similarities in the use of lexico-grammatical features between male and female research papers, noticeable differences suggest that gendered perspectives have an impact on scholarly writing. Both male and female research papers fall on the same polarity of the continuum across all five dimensions but with varying degrees. The findings suggest that male research writers tend to use more informational, explicit, and non-argumentative language while using less non-narrative and abstract discourse than their female counterparts. This study emphasizes how gender impacts the linguistic choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aimed at a systematic review of the role of FinTech in enhancing the digital transformation of Saudi Arabian banks. Google Scholar was searched with related search terms to finally select 28 papers using the PRISMA process of screening and selection. There were very few papers directly dealing with the use of FinTech as a tool for digital transformation in banks, not specifically in traditional banks. There were a few papers on digital tools used in FinTech. Overall, the digital transformation of any kind of bank using FinTech tools had been slow and a small percentage of the total. The situation was worse in the case of Saudi banks despite the large amounts of budgetary allocations for technologies in banking as a part of its Vision 2030. This was because of the late entry of Saudi Arabia into these concepts. The need for Islamic banks to follow Sharia rules was not found to be a great problem. All these points indicate to the need for greater acceleration of using FinTech tools for the digital transformation of Saudi traditional banks. Some limitations of this review are the low rigour of the available papers due to methodological limitations, discussion papers without empirical data dominating and a wide range of aims provided in the papers. The need for substantially more work on Saudi banks has been highlighted. The validity of the conclusions from this review needs to be verified using empirical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to characterize the properties of pulp and paper manufactured from two agricultural residues namely, wheat straw ( Triticum aestivum L. em Thell.) and date palm midribs ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) widely available in Saudi Arabia by employing soda-anthraquinone (AQ) pulping process. Specimens from cedar wood ( Juniperus procera Hochst. ex Endl.) wood was also used as control samples. Chemical and the morphological characteristics of all three types of raw materials in addition to basic properties of hand sheets made from such resources were evaluated. The results indicated that wheat straw had the highest hemicellulose and ash values of 35% and 7% and the lowest lignin content value of 18%, respectively. The fibre length of the both palm fronds and wheat straw was lower than that of 2.2 mm which was found for J . procera . Overall strength properties of the handsheet made from two agricultural raw materials were significantly lower than those made from J . procera pulp. Wheat straw handsheets also had higher strength properties than those made from date palm midribs with an exception of their tear index. Based on the results of this study it appears that both types of raw materials, date palm midribs and wheat straw could have a potential to manufacture pulp and paper with accepted properties so that such underutilized species can be converted into value-added products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents commentaries on scientific papers published in the Volume 30, 2003 issue of the "Journal of Orthodontics." Clinical trials in orthodontics; Orthodontic forces related to tooth movement in rats; Orthodontic treatment need and self-perception in Saudi Arabian children with sensory impairment; Comparison of orthodontic bonding using a 4-META based adhesive or a composite adhesive to acid-etched and sandblasted enamel.

Aim: To perform a comprehensive bibliometric analysis encompassing all articles published on periodontics from Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: Using the Scopus database on June 8, 2023, the search term "PeriodonticFNx01" was entered in the primary search bar to extract all documents published on periodontics. Following, the year filter was applied to include articles published from the earliest available date until the date of data collection, excluding 2023. Next, we used the country/region filter to limit our documents to Saudi Arabia (n = 1929). We used Microsoft Excel (v.16) to examine periodical growth, collaboration patterns, influential institutions, frequently used sources, international research collaboration, and most-cited papers. Results: Saudi Arabia ranked 11th in periodontics research, contributing 3.43% to the global research output, reaching a peak of 7.63% in 2022. Notably, there was significant growth observed during the last 5 years of the study, with an average of 232.8 documents per year. The analysis of citations revealed that the selected documents received an average of 13.39 citations per document. Indigenous literature received less citation on average compared to internationally collaborated documents. King Saud University ranked first among the most productive institutions in Saudi Arabia, accounting 40.74% of the total output. The Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice published the highest number of documents, followed by the Saudi Dental Journal and the Journal of Periodontology. In terms of citation impact, the Journal of Periodontology emerged as the most influential, with an average of 32.83 citations per document. Research collaboration was most prevalent with researchers from the United States (22.03%), although Germany ranked first in terms of citation impact. Conclusion: Saudi Arabia's contribution to periodontics research has shown significant growth in recent years. The collaborative efforts with international researchers, particularly those from the United States, have played a crucial role in fostering advancements within the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to report the current status of life cycle assessment (LCA) in Saudi Arabia. It summarizes the LCA studies conducted in academia and industry. It also examines LCA collaboration networks and training opportunities. It then points out current gaps in implementing LCA in Saudi Arabia. Finally, it delineates the steps required to promote LCA both as a research methodology and as a sustainability assessment tool in Saudi Arabia. Methods: Using Scopus database and the Internet, a state-of-the-art review was conducted for this paper. "LCA", "Life Cycle Assessment" and "Saudi Arabia" were the key words used for searching scientific studies, industrial reports, training courses and conferences related to application of LCA within Saudi Arabia. The search resulted in 32 scientific documents and one industrial report. Further scrutiny reduced the final sample considered for this paper to eleven scientific documents and one industrial report that used a complete LCA study to report environmental impacts. Results and discussion: Studies considered for this paper were related to fossil fuels, buildings, electricity generation, desalination, and food consumption. However, overall number of publications and industry reports related to LCA in Saudi Arabia is very little as compared to other advanced economies. This sheer lack of studies conducted in Saudi Arabia can be attributed to lack of educational programs, consultancies, and research projects related to LCA. This points to the vast potential for developing LCA both as a research tool and sustainability assessment tool in Saudi Arabia. There is a need to develop a local network of LCA researchers, a local LCI database, and training courses. Conclusions: This study revealed that use of LCA as a sustainability assessment tool is still in its early stages within Saudi Arabia. There are only a handful of LCA studies that are reported in scientific literature related to Saudi Arabia. Additionally, most of these studies relies on non-local databases rendering the results of these studies less reliable. There is an urgent need to promote LCA within Saudi Arabia and academia can play a leading role by offering short courses, training for industry, and participating in joint projects to conduct LCA studies. Furthermore, local LCA databases and consultancies should also be promoted. It is conjectured that in the future, the use of LCA will grow in Saudi Arabia as the county is targeting to become a net zero carbon economy by 2060. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study details the procedure and results of developing a mission statement at a language institute for the purpose of obtaining a program accreditation from an international language commission. A serious self-study process results in the development of a solid, true and ambitious mission since the mission covers all areas related to achieving students learning outcomes. It shows how the mission was changed and why. It also details how the new mission resulted in the improving quality, especially in the areas of curriculum and professional development of faculty and staff. Other aspects, such as facilities and student affairs were modified to achieve the goals and objectives of the new mission. This essay reports the changes that were implemented during the process of mission statement development. These changes resulted in plans to improve the quality of the English language teaching at the English Language Academy (ELA) which offers an English language program to Foundation Year students whose success in the program is a college requirement at the University of Business and Technology (UBT) in the academic year of 2016-2017. The program also aims at improving the English language proficiency of students so that they can use it in their future professions considering that the university logo is "Education for Job Opportunities." The third main goal or aim is related to the use of English to assist students in personal and social life. Critical thinking surfaced as a main concern of those surveyed for needs assessment. The report concludes with recommending conducting thorough and genuine self-study process which certainly ends with quality improvement. The report uses data collected from five questionnaires completed by students, faculty, alumni and employers of UBT graduates. The purpose of the survey was to identify the needs of the students. Based on those needs, the learning outcomes are identified and accordingly, the new mission statement is developed.

This is a qualitative review of the information systems used by public sector organisations in Saudi Arabia. The Google Scholar database was searched to select the papers dealing with IS in other countries and then specifically in Saudi Arabia. The selected papers were discussed under the sections of IS, IT, e-government, and information security in the case of other countries and under the sections of IS, IT, Knowledge management, and e-government in the case of Saudi Arabia. The difference between other countries and Saudi Arabia in the number of papers on each topic was considered to suggest future research topics. Some limitations of this review were also mentioned at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health policy and systems research (HPSR) can strengthen health systems and improve population health outcomes. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), there is limited recognition of the importance of HPSR and funding remains the main challenge. This study seeks to: (1) assess the reporting of funding in HPSR papers published between 2010 and 2022 in the EMR, (2) examine the source of funding in the published HPSR papers in the EMR and (3) explore variables influencing funding sources, including any difference in funding sources for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related articles. Methods: We conducted a rapid scoping review of HPSR papers published between 2010 and 2022 (inclusively) in the EMR, addressing the following areas: reporting of funding in HPSR papers, source of funding in the published HPSR papers, authors' affiliations and country of focus. We followed the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines for conducting scoping reviews. We also conducted univariate and bivariate analyses for all variables at 0.05 significance level. Results: Of 10,797 articles screened, 3408 were included (of which 9.3% were COVID-19-related). More than half of the included articles originated from three EMR countries: Iran (n = 1018, 29.9%), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (n = 595, 17.5%) and Pakistan (n = 360, 10.6%). Approximately 30% of the included articles did not report any details on study funding. Among articles that reported funding (n = 1346, 39.5%), analysis of funding sources across all country income groups revealed that the most prominent source was national (55.4%), followed by international (41.7%) and lastly regional sources (3%). Among the national funding sources, universities accounted for 76.8%, while governments accounted for 14.9%. Further analysis of funding sources by country income group showed that, in low-income and lower-middle-income countries, all or the majority of funding came from international sources, while in high-income and upper-middle-income countries, national funding sources, mainly universities, were the primary sources of funding. The majority of funded articles' first authors were affiliated with academia/university, while a minority were affiliated with government, healthcare organizations or intergovernmental organizations. We identified the following characteristics to be significantly associated with the funding source: country income level, the focus of HPSR articles (within the EMR only, or extending beyond the EMR as part of international research consortia), and the first author's affiliation. Similar funding patterns were observed for COVID-19-related HPSR articles, with national funding sources (78.95%), mainly universities, comprising the main source of funding. In contrast, international funding sources decreased to 15.8%. Conclusion: This is the first study to address the reporting of funding and funding sources in published HPSR articles in the EMR. Approximately 30% of HPSR articles did not report on the funding source. Study findings revealed heavy reliance on universities and international funding sources with minimal role of national governments and regional entities in funding HPSR articles in the EMR. We provide implications for policy and practice to enhance the profile of HPSR in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of children’s disability has gained significant attention worldwide due to its impact on individuals, families, and societies. As a rapidly developing country, Saudi Arabia has also witnessed an increased interest in understanding and addressing children’s disability. This review paper aims to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the scientific research focused on children’s disability in Saudi Arabia. The analysis aims to identify the publication trends, research topics, influential authors, and critical collaborations within this domain. A systematic literature search was performed using electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The search terms used were related to children’s disability and Saudi Arabia. The inclusion criteria encompassed peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2022, written in English, and focusing on children’s disability research in Saudi Arabia. The retrieved articles were analyzed using bibliometric techniques, including co-authorship analysis, journal analysis, and keyword analysis. The bibliometric analysis revealed a growing interest in children’s disability research in Saudi Arabia over the past two decades. A total of 1050 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. The analysis showed an increasing number of publications over time, indicating the expanding focus on this research topic. The key research areas identified included assessing and diagnosing disabilities, interventions and therapies, educational support, and social inclusion of children with disabilities. The analysis also identified prominent researchers and institutions contributing to this field. The bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the scientific research landscape on children’s disability in Saudi Arabia. It highlights the increasing attention and research efforts in this area. The findings emphasize the importance of continued research in understanding the challenges faced by children with disabilities and developing effective interventions and support systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sign language is an essential means of communication for individuals with hearing disabilities. However, there is a significant shortage of sign language interpreters in some languages, especially in Saudi Arabia. This shortage results in a large proportion of the hearing-impaired population being deprived of services, especially in public places. This paper aims to address this gap in accessibility by leveraging technology to develop systems capable of recognizing Arabic Sign Language (ArSL) using deep learning techniques. In this paper, we propose a hybrid model to capture the spatio-temporal aspects of sign language (i.e., letters and words). The hybrid model consists of a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) classifier to extract spatial features from sign language data and a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) classifier to extract spatial and temporal characteristics to handle sequential data (i.e., hand movements). To demonstrate the feasibility of our proposed hybrid model, we created a dataset of 20 different words, resulting in 4000 images for ArSL: 10 static gesture words and 500 videos for 10 dynamic gesture words. Our proposed hybrid model demonstrates promising performance, with the CNN and LSTM classifiers achieving accuracy rates of 94.40% and 82.70%, respectively. These results indicate that our approach can significantly enhance communication accessibility for the hearing-impaired community in Saudi Arabia. Thus, this paper represents a major step toward promoting inclusivity and improving the quality of life for the hearing impaired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which examined the development of the paper-based Hajji Health Record (PHHR) instrument. Topics covered include the conduct of a survey among physicians in Alnoor Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia, the supportive effects of electronic health record system on health care and the need for standard-based health information technology to get quality of care.

The integration of the Internet and communication technologies has improved our lives in numerous ways. To date, the Internet of Things has evolved the healthcare industry from healthcare 1.0 to 4.0 which is known as the MIoT. In Healthcare 4.0, data is shared among multiple stakeholders through the use of cloud computing, fog computing, and telehealth. MIoT devices and technology's interconnected, heterogeneous nature raises new concerns about access to confidential patient data, which is often done without patients' or medical staff's knowledge. This is because security and privacy concerns for MIoT devices and technology are frequently ignored or undermined by relevant stakeholders. Medical IoT security and privacy are becoming increasingly important as a result of the increasing number of security breaches targeting the MIoT in healthcare. To impartially reveal the research scenario of Security of MIoT biblioshiny and VOS viewer software are used to conduct a quantitative assessment of research papers belonging to this field for the period 2012-2021 in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. From the results, it is seen that for the past 10 years, the sum of articles on Security of MIoT has increased. This research domain covers 35 territories. MIoT, Security, Privacy, authentication, access control are the most often used keywords in this field of research in recent years. The research flashpoints in the field primarily emphasize research directions such as the, the security and privacy concerns related to MIoT sensor data and how to get rid of them. The top five nations considering research volume are the China, India, Saudi Arabia, USA, and Korea, but a lack of collaborative work amongst these countries is seen. Finally, the paper provides future research directions on security of MIoT, such as Privacy of patient information, Lightweight Protocols for MIoT Devices, Trust management, patient data sharing and insecure networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endodontics is a subdivision of dentistry that deals with diseases and injury of the soft tissues inside the teeth. The current study aimed to investigate the bibliometric properties of endodontics publications contributed by Saudi Arabia from 2010 to 2022. The quantitative bibliometric research method was applied to the meta-data retrieved from the Web of Science on December 7, 2022. The word Endodonti* was written in the main search bar, and from the year's filter, selected starting year 2010 to the date of data collection. In the first phase, to access the global publication growth of endodontics, no country/region filter was used. After getting the summary of the global intellectual landscape, we selected Saudi Arabia from the country/region filter to analyze certain characteristics of endodontics documents. Periodical growth, accessibility modes, collaboration patterns, influential institutions, frequently used sources, international research collaboration, and most-cited documents were analyzed by using Microsoft Excel (v.16) and SPSS (v.20). The authors affiliated with Brazil contributed the highest number of documents and Saudi Arabia stood in the eighth rank in endodontics research. The growing tendency was observed in Saudi Arabia from 1.29% in 2010 to 7.60% in 2022 from a global perspective. The quality of nonopen-accessed documents was higher than open-accessed as per citation impact, similarly, the documents written on international collaboration got a higher ratio of citations compared with national collaboration. King Saud University was found the most prolific institution and the Journal of Endodontics was the most preferred source of publications. The maximum research collaboration at the international level was performed with the authors of the United States. Fifteen most-cited papers obtained 21.42% of the citations. The findings show that endodontics research in Saudi Arabia has increased significantly over the years. The research collaboration at the national level has increased, which shows that teams of national researchers in endodontics have been prepared and conducting valuable research in a national context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is essential for practicing clinicians to have core knowledge of biostatistics. However, surveys indicated that clinicians' attitudes towards biostatistics are negative. Despite its importance, little is known about the knowledge of and attitudes towards statistics among trainees in family medicine, particularly in Saudi Arabia. The current investigation attempts to evaluate knowledge and attitudes held by family medicine trainees in Taif and explore their correlates. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive, questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study of residents in family medicine training programme in Taif, Saudi Arabia. We used Poisson regression modelling to evaluate the effect of background factors on knowledge and attitudes towards biostatistics. Results: The study included 113 family medicine trainees at different levels of training. Only 36 (31.9%) of the participating trainees expressed positive attitudes towards biostatistics. On the other hand, 30 (26.5%) participating trainees were found to have good biostatistics knowledge, compared to 83 (73.5%) trainees whose knowledge level was found to be poor. Upon adjusting for all background factors simultaneously, only younger age, level R4 training, publishing one or three papers were found to be associated with poorer attitudes towards biostatistics. Older age was associated with worsening of attitudes (adjusted odds = 0.9900, P = 0.00924), and so also was being a senior R4 trainee (adjusted odds = 0.9045, P = 0.01301). Publishing one paper (compared to publishing over three papers) was associated with poorer attitudes towards biostatistics (adjusted odds = 0.8857, P = 0.03525). Also, having published three papers (compared to publishing over three papers) was still associated with worse attitudes towards biostatistics (adjusted odds = 0.8528, P = 0.01318). Conclusion: The main finding of our current study is the poor level of knowledge and overtly negative attitudes held by family medicine trainees in Taif towards biostatics. Knowledge was particularly poor about advanced statistical concepts such as survival analysis and linear regression modelling. However, poor levels of knowledge about biostatistics could be a function of poor research productivity among family medicine trainees. Age, seniority in training and involvement in research also impacted positively on attitudes towards biostatistics. Therefore, it is recommended that the training curriculum for family medicine trainees should first cover essential biostatistics in a creative and accessible way and secondly encourage engagement research and publication from an early stage of training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PCR assay using designed primers was evaluated in detecting human malaria infection from whole blood and/or on Whatman filter-paper compared to conventional microscopy. Two DNA extraction methods were used for dried blood-spots; QIAamp mini kit and methanol-fixation/heat-extraction. A total of 118 cases were collected from 4 hospitals at Jazan district. Microscopic examination showed positivity in 66/118 samples (56%). Thin films showed parasitaemia from 1+ to 4+. In PCR assay, 79 samples (70%) were positive for the genus Plasmodium given 153 base pair PCR product. All microscopy positive samples were PCR positive but PCR detected 13 cases missed by microscopy. As for filter-paper spot samples, 68 samples (57.6%) were PCR positive when DNA was extracted by QIAamp mini kit whereas 49 (41.5%) by methanol-fixation/heat-extracion method. PCR sensitivity decreased by using DNA extracted from filter-paper compared to microscopy and whole blood PCR. But the DNA isolated from filter paper detected parasites in many microscopy negative samples.

The article presents abstracts on topics related to oil industry published by the International Research Center for Energy and Economic Development (ICEED) which include the oil policy of Saudi Arabia in the 1970s and 1980s, the liberalization of Canadian control over natural gas exports in the 1980s, and the influence of changing energy prices on industry in Colorado.