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Background: Care Homes Independent Pharmacist Prescribing Study (CHIPPS), hypothesising the benefit to care home residents from medicines management by pharmacist independent prescribers (PIPs), found no impact on the primary outcome measure of falls. This thesis aimed to explain these results from recorded PIP medication review (MR) activities and provide recommendations for enhanced effectiveness of pharmacists with prescribing rights in care homes. An identified lack of MR activities standardised terms resulted in development of an international taxonomy. Aims: 1. Explain CHIPPS outcomes. 2. Explain relationship between PIPs deprescribing activities and context. 3. Create a taxonomy of terms resulting from MR activities. Methods: Quantitative analysis of CHIPPS medication review data relating activity to contextual factors. Secondary qualitative analysis of PIPs interviews within CHIPPS to understand barriers/enablers to deprescribing. Systematic review to identify terms/definitions to describe MR activities. Consensus methodology with international experts to develop MR activity taxonomy. Results: PIPs activities involved 326 (72.6%) CHIPPS participants. A total of 284 (50.2%) clinical activities involved deprescribing, 249 (87.7%) being proactive. There was a 25% reduction in falls risk. The significant predictor for deprescribing was PIP employment by GP. Social influences, beliefs about capabilities, social/professional role and identity, environmental context and resources, and beliefs about consequences were key influencers of PIP deprescribing. Consensus MR activities terms included discontinue, start, dose increase, dose decrease, change timing, change formulation and monitor. Conclusion: Falls was a sub-optimal primary outcome measure for CHIPPS because only a quarter of PIPs activities related to medications likely to reduce falls risk. PIPs in medical practices were more likely to undertake deprescribing activities; barriers/enablers identified from interview analysis explained this relationship. Taxonomy developed in this thesis, based on the consensus of experts across four countries, can be used by researchers to enable a consistent approach to process comparison within trials to identify differences.

Reflective practice is extensively discussed in the field of teacher education, and it is rapidly increasing in the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). However, reflective practice is still underrepresented in the literature of English as a foreign language (EFL) instruction. The purpose of this study is to understand ways, affordances, and constraints of reflective practice among postsecondary EFL instructors in the preparatory-year program (PYP) at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) was adopted as a theoretical framework that undergirds a qualitative case study design and thematic analysis. Data was purposefully collected from five experienced postsecondary EFL instructors through a series of semistructured interviews, classroom observations, and document reviews. It was found that instructors engage in diverse ways of reflective practice inside the classroom using intuitive, dialogic and translingual actions. However, they engage in limited ways outside the classroom using online surveys and formal professional meetings. Instructors' long teaching experience, sociocultural awareness, and reconceptualization were major affordances for instructors to engage in reflective practice. Course reports and technical PD were major constraints that limit instructors' engagement in reflective practice. CHAT was an effective framework to analyze reflective practice in the bound system of the PYP. This study contributes to add knowledge about reflective practice in the literature of TESOL and applied linguistics and fills a methodological gap using CHAT as a framework. The findings of this study provide practical and research implications for postsecondary EFL education in Saudi Arabia and TESOL programs in general. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This thesis aims to explore the concept of a digital Waqf library. Waqf is an Islamic concept; it has existed since the days of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). A Waqf can be defined as a kind of pious endowment with special requirements and conditions. It aims to continuously benefit the targeted beneficiaries as well as seek a reward and forgiveness from God. The word Waqf in the Arabic language means stop. Therefore, the concept of Waqf aims to stop an asset from being sold, given away, disposed of or even inherited, and extracts the benefit from it to certain individuals, groups or organisations. A Waqf can be real estate, a library, and so on. Waqf has always been about physical properties, and its digital existence in general can be considered as a new emerging field with limited literature. Given the ancient origins of Waqf, there are always discussions about the application of its rules and guidelines for new types of cultural objects; this study will mainly investigate the implications of applying existing frameworks for digital libraries to traditional Waqf libraries to ultimately understand how and whether a digital library can be registered as a Waqf. Existing studies regarding Waqf libraries, albeit limited, have focused on the traditional physical version of a Waqf library. A mixed-methods approach was used, combining desk research, field research, and interviews to investigate the emerging phenomena of a digital Waqf library. Two sets of semi-structured interviews were used to understand this phenomenon: one aimed at the caretakers of the current existing Waqf libraries in Mecca and Medina, and the other aimed at Islamic scholars to understand their perspective regarding registering a digital library as a Waqf. This study shows that digital practices have already been employed within some Waqf libraries in Mecca and Medina, albeit without the existence of a formal regulations regarding the operation and management of a digital Waqf library. As a result, libraries are faced with significant new challenges as they apply digital practices within their Waqf-protected collections. This thesis considerably contributes to the knowledge by being the first to intensively explore in depth the emerging concept of a digital Waqf library, including presenting different methods by which digital Waqf libraries can be established. Moreover, the thesis identifies, addresses and draws attention to important issues and obstacles that can affect the creation of a digital Waqf library, such as the absence of Waqf-specific regulations that dictate how a Waqf's protection of libraries' intellectual property should be applied.

Congenital heart diseases are the most common congenital defects worldwide. Materials used for corrective surgery such as the biologic scaffold cormatrix are inherently non-contractile and cannot meet the dynamic growth of the heart. Seeding cormatrix with cells showed superior results but this approach is limited by short durability of cells in-vivo which is not well understood. We investigated the effect of seeding cormatrix with triad of cells including Wharton jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WjMSCs), human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human cardiac fibroblasts (HCFs). Then to examine their mutual interaction to understand and also anticipate their in-vivo behaviour. The three cell phenotypes were characterised using morphology and expression of specific markers in addition to wjMSCs trilineage differentiation. Then conditioned media (CdM) were used to examine the mutual cell interaction. We used immunofluorescence to assess protein expression, qPCR for mRNA, flowcytometry for apoptosis/cell death assay and BrdU assay to assess cell proliferation. The CdM effects were quite variable. It did enhance pro-survival and angiogenic factors of wjMSCs, did not support survival or angiogenic profile of HUVECs while mostly neutral effect on HCFs. We attempted to boost the patch's cellular properties using small molecules. So, we trialled to differentiate wjMSCs to cardiomyocytes using 5-azacitidine. This trial failed to show any cardiac differentiation. Then, we examined effects of the GSK-3 inhibitor CHIR99021 on the triad of cells and extended the assessment to the combined effect of CHIR99021 and CdM (CHIR/CdM) which showed better survival of wjMSCs and HUVECs while still neutral effect on HCFs. Finally, cormatrix uptake of this combination of cells was tested using H&E, cells viability using live/dead cell staining and surface topography using scanning electron microscope. Also effect on mechanical properties of the patch was examined using tensile stress machine. Cormatrix proved biocompatible with the triad of cells and maintained its mechanical elasticity. The next step would be to test this patch in clinically relevant large animal model.

As Environmental Education (EE) is one of the most important subjects in the field of education that need further investigation, the current study explores one issue related to EE Teachers' beliefs about EE are the subject addressed in this research, with a focus on four different variables related to their beliefs about: their understanding of EE, their experiences with EE, EE as offered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the ideal EE program. Many studies have confirmed the role EE plays in developing students' cognitive skills, critical thinking, awareness, and motivation towards maintaining the environment (Osman & Meerah, 2010; Al-Otaibi, 2014; Volk & Cheak, 2003; Powers, 2004; Eames & Birdsall, 2019). Therefore, it seems to be important to explore what teachers think about EE as an academic content in many subjects taught in Saudi elementary schools. To analyze the answers to the main question raised in this dissertation (MRQ) and the four sub-research questions (SRQ1, SRQ2, SRQ3, and SRQ4) related to its four variables, a questionnaire was first developed. The questionnaire was used to collect data from male teachers of boys' elementary schools in Qurtuba district, Riyadh, KSA. In the analysis of the data descriptive statistics were used, and the data are analyzed numerically using SPSS. The data was analyzed through the calculation of percentages, means, and standard deviations as well as through thematic analysis for the open-ended questions. The analysis reveals that teachers have different beliefs depending on the variable and the question proposed. However, they in general strongly agreed about their beliefs about an ideal EE with both a high percentage (94.1%) and mean (M = 1.61). Teachers also agreed that they believed they understand EE, with a general mean of (M= 1.75). While they also mostly agreed about their beliefs about their experience with EE, the mean here decreased to (M= 2.14). The mean of their beliefs about EE as offered in KSA education was (M =2.15). At the same time, the open-ended questions reveal that teachers have more than one answer for any of the four questions. This shows the different options they suggest for an EE to be ideal, effective, and vital in the KSA educational system. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient test reveals that there was only one strong positive correlation, between teachers' beliefs about their experiences with EE and teachers' beliefs about an ideal EE: (r = +0.96) a very high degree, especially compared to the lack of correlation between other variables, where the degrees range from (r = -0.02), (r = -0.07), (r = -0.19), (r = -0.23) to (r = -0.41); these degrees are all low negative. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

In this novel research, the use of optical and SAR images for separate and joint investigations were explored, with the aid of machine learning classifiers for detecting hydrocarbon spill impact on cropland, grassland and dense forested vegetation types. Optical image spectral bands across the Visible, Near-Infrared and Shortwave-Infrared spectrum, various vegetation health indices (including NDVI, NDWI, LAI and SAVI) and SAR derived variables (including backscatter, coherence and textural variables) were used to detect and map oil spill sites within cropland, grassland and TCA vegetation types. Results generally showed that the integration of multi-frequency L, C and X band SAR in the wet (summer) season yielded the best overall classification accuracy in discrimination of polluted and oil-free vegetation types. An overall accuracy (OA) of 82.3%, 66.67% and 70.93% were obtained for Cropland, Grassland and Tree Cover Areas (TCA) vegetation types, respectively. The accuracies recorded were significantly better (P > 0.05) than when the spill was classified using optical imagery only and when integrated optical and SAR image variables are classified. These results were further corroborated by the multi-temporal Sentinel – 1 backscatter analysis, which showed that mean backscatter difference between polluted and oil-free cropland and grassland vegetation are significantly different (P > 0.05) in the wet season than in the dry season. Furthermore, the new fuzzy forest method used for multi-frequency (C and X band) SAR and Optical variable reduction was able to achieve a good result in addressing high dimensionality in cropland and grassland vegetation. This research demonstrates that SAR based monitoring of petroleum hydrocarbon impacts on vegetation is feasible and has high potential for oil pipeline monitoring and facility management. The research also presented a new paradigm into terrestrial oil spill detection, which largely can replace the use of optical data.

Reducing Bit Error Ratio (BER) and improving performance of modern coherent optical communication system is a significant issue. As the distance travelled by the information signal increases, the bit error ratio will degrade. Machine learning techniques (ML) have been used in applications associated with optical communication systems. The most common machine learning techniques that have been used in applications of optical communication systems are artificial neural networks, Bayesian analysis, and support vector machines (SVMs). This thesis investigates how to improve the bit error ratio in optical data transmission using a trainable machine learning method (ML), that is, a Support Vector Machine (SVM). SVM is a successful machine learning method for pattern recognition, which outperformed the conventional threshold method based on measuring the phase value of each symbol's central sample. In order that the described system can be implemented in hardware, this thesis focuses on applications of SVM with a linear kernel due to the fact that the linear separator is easier to be built in hardware at the desired high speed required of the decoder. In this thesis, using an SVM to reduce the bit error ratio of signals that travel over various distances has been investigated thoroughly. Especially, particular attention has been paid to using the neighbouring information of each symbol being decoded. To further improve the bit error ratio, the wavelet transforms (WT) technique has been employed to reduce the noise of distorted optical signals; however the method did not bring the sort of improvements that the proponents of wavelets led me to believe. It has been found that the most significant improvement of bit error ratio over the current threshold method is to use a number of neighbours on either side of the symbol being decoded. This works much better than using more information from the symbol itself.

Given the adverse impact and unnecessary costs associated with harmonic pollution in electrical power systems, such as increasing losses and decreasing life expectancy of equipment, development of new filtering techniques with higher quality of power, higher efficiency of transmission and distribution, and lower cost of filters is urgently required. This has become all the more important as society increasingly moves towards an environment filled with sophisticated electronic equipment and power-sensitive electrical machinery. The present work was conceived to provide a way forward towards the goal of improving Power Quality (PQ) by designing a new passive shunt filter based on minimizing the responsibility of the consumer for harmonic pollution, while simultaneously taking into account other relevant objective functions and related techno-economic considerations. Shunt passive filters are commonly found in power industries, where quality of power is paramount, in view of their simplicity of design, lower cost and their having possibly different range of frequency response characteristics that can satisfy a specific harmonic filtering needs. In addition, passive filters, in general, have two primary favourable features, they support reactive power to correct the load power factor and they mitigate harmonic distortion. This study favours passive filters while conceptualizing the research problem and formulating a proposed design. This thesis presents an optimal design of single-tuned passive filters that mm1m1zes consumer's responsibility for harmonic pollution. A solution for the allocation ofresponsibility between supplier and consumer has proved complex and elusive and it remains, therefore, absent. When, whoever takes whatever steps to contain the harmonic distortion, involves costs and expenditure, the situation inevitably leads to conflict between consumer and utility. In order to avoid this unwholesome state of affairs and introduce a degree of rationality and clarity, this study focuses on quantifying harmonic pollution responsibility by substantiating a new "NonLinearity Current Index" (NLCI) and presenting the mathematical modelling of the filter accordingly. The task of designing the filter, then, is posed as a quadratic optimization problem with nonlinear constraints, whose objective function includes the newly proposed NLCI, which will be minimized, as well as five other conventional objective functions that are most frequently used in the design of passive filters. The five objective functions are: i. maximization ofload power factor; ii. Minimization of the voltage total harmonic distortion; iii. minimization of the current total harmonic distortion; iv. minimization of transmission loss; and v. minimization of the filter investment cost. A suitable analytic framework is established, in which circuit analysis is made and relevant auxiliary mathematical expressions are derived for the system under study, followed by the filter design problem posed as an optimization question with the required objective functions and constraints. This thesis uses FORTRAN Feasible Sequential Quadratic Programming (FFSQP) to obtain the optimal values for the single-tuned shunt passive filter elements. The performance of the proposed index and the other five conventional objective functions is evaluated using six numerical 'benchmark' case studies to demonstrate the applicability, viability, validity and usefulness of the proposed harmonic passive filters. A rigorous and thorough comparison of the results of the design with and without compensation is included. As resonance is a critical design issue of passive filters, special care was taken, during the problem formulation, to avoid any risk of it in the compensated system. Care was also taken to meet capacitor loading specifications as given in IEEE Standard 18-2012 and practical constraints for the voltage total and individual harmonic distortion limits were followed in accordance with IEEE 519-2014 guidelines. The results of this study demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the optimization method, for the given objective functions, since improvements were seen in both power factor and displacement power factor in all the case studies as well as notable reductions in rms values of the line current which led to reduced transmission losses, voltage drop and increased transmission efficiency, to various degrees and in a variety of combinations. Incorporation of the newly designed passive filter resulted in a considerable reduction in NLCI, indicating increased linearity because of minimization of the difference between supply current rms and linear current m1s at the point of common coupling. Critical impedance values also improved, because of the greatly reduced m1s line current. The NLCI minimised passive filter design differentiates the contributions of the supplier and consumer to harmonic pollution in a given system, and, therefore, provides a valuable solution where currently there is none in the literature, reflected in the absence of recognised standards and methodologies in this area. The small size of the proposed filter, in comparison to many other published designs, entails considerably lower financial investment costs, which, combined with its effectiveness at reducing harmonic pollution makes it a very valuable contribution to power system design and installation.

Age hardening of bitumen is one of the key factors determining the lifetime of an asphalt pavement. When the bitumen is excessively aged, the asphalt mixture will become brittle and its ability of supporting traffic-induced stresses and strains may significantly reduce, which can easily cause some cracking damage to the bound layer of a pavement. As bitumen is always in contact with mineral fillers in asphalt mixtures, the mechanisms of oxidative ageing of binders are significantly influenced by the physical and chemical interaction between fillers and the bitumen. For a long while, attempts to solve the ageing problem of asphalt binder by various methods, including polymer modification, nano-particle enhancement or functional improvement have been undertaken. Hydrated lime is one of many potential additives used in bitumen to improve the performance of asphalt mixtures. Hydrated lime in hot mix asphalt creates multiple benefits. A considerable amount of information exists in the literature on hydrated lime’s ability to control water sensitivity and its well-accepted ability as an anti-stripping agent to inhibit moisture damage. However, recent studies have shown that lime acts as an active filler and anti-oxidant. These properties create multiple benefits for pavements. Although the majority of research on the use of hydrated lime in asphalt mixtures has been carried out in the USA, the beneficial effects of hydrated lime have also been reported worldwide especially in Europe. In the UK, the use of hydrated lime only started in the early 2000’s and still needs a lot of research into its effect on the traditionally used asphalt materials in the UK pavement industry. This research primarily focuses on an in-depth investigation of bitumen ageing mechanisms and evaluation. Furthermore, this research aims to investigate the advantages of using hydrated lime to mitigate ageing in bitumen mastics and asphalts mixtures as a whole. The full project has been broken down into three parts. The first is a pure bitumen study, the second is a mastic level ageing study and the third is a mixture level ageing investigation. The bitumen ageing study investigated the effect of different ageing methods and parameters on bitumen ageing. In addition, this study focused on the mechanisms and factors affecting bitumen ageing and attempted to develop a better understanding of ageing evaluation methods with different perspectives; basic properties, mechanical and rheological behaviour using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) and finally a chemical approach with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The second level is the mastics level, which investigated the effect of different fillers on bitumen-filler mastic ageing. Particular attention was paid to study the benefits of using hydrated lime on ageing mitigating in the mastic phase. Furthermore, a detailed study at the mastic level was conducted to investigate the effect of hydrated lime on stiffening and ageing mitigation of bitumen mastics. Different means to evaluate this effect were implemented involving both physical and chemical properties. The evaluation testing was aimed at developing a better understanding of hydrated lime anti-oxidant effects on ageing mitigation. Moreover, special attention was paid to the interactions between hydrated lime and bitumen which affects the ageing of bitumen mastics. The third level was the mixture ageing level. In this study, the effect of hydrated lime replacement of the natural aggregate fillers was investigated. This effect on the asphalt mixtures was investigated by different tests on their mechanical properties such as indirect tensile stiffness modulus (ITSM), indirect tensile strength (ITS) and their fracture properties using the semi-circular bending (SCB) test. Furthermore, the effect of ageing on the recovered bitumen was evaluated. The results and conclusions from the performed studies indicate that hydrated lime slows down bitumen ageing more than granite and limestone fillers. This effect depends mainly on the bitumen type and filler concentration. In addition, the research showed that hydrated lime interacts differently with the different bitumens used in this study. This interaction affects stiffening and ageing properties of mastics and mixtures. Furthermore, results show that different ageing indices used in this project correlated well with each other and also with chemical changes. The detailed results from the FTIR tests on recovered fillers and bitumen from the mastics, showed the ability of hydrated lime to adsorb some of the bitumen components such as carboxylic acid products. This mechanism reduces the formation of ageing products and consequently reduces the age hardening of mastics and asphalt mixtures. Unlike hydrated lime, granite filler does not exhibit this ability to react with bitumen.

Classical Arabic (CA) is an influential language for Muslim lives around the world. It is the language of two sources of Islamic laws: the Quran and the Sunnah, the collection of traditions and sayings attributed to the prophet Mohammed. However, classical Arabic in general, and the Sunnah, in particular, is underexplored and under-resourced in the field of computational linguistics. This study examines the possible directions for adapting existing tools, specifically morphological analysers, designed for modern standard Arabic (MSA) to classical Arabic. Morphological analysers of CA are limited, as well as the data for evaluating them. In this study, we adapt existing analysers and create a validation data-set from the Sunnah books. Inspired by the advances in deep learning and the promising results of ensemble methods, we developed a systematic method for transferring morphological analysis that is capable of handling different labelling systems and various sequence lengths. In this study, we handpicked the best four open access MSA morphological analysers. Data generated from these analysers are evaluated before and after adaptation through the existing Quranic Corpus and the Sunnah Arabic Corpus. The findings are as follows: first, it is feasible to analyse under-resourced languages using existing comparable language resources given a small sufficient set of annotated text. Second, analysers typically generate different errors and this could be exploited. Third, an explicit alignment of sequences and the mapping of labels is not necessary to achieve comparable accuracies given a sufficient size of training dataset. Adapting existing tools is easier than creating tools from scratch. The resulting quality is dependent on training data size and number and quality of input taggers. Pipeline architecture performs less well than the End-to-End neural network architecture due to error propagation and limitation on the output format. A valuable tool and data for annotating classical Arabic is made freely available.

As the government of Saudi Arabia begins a major evolutionary process of economic expansion, the Saudi stock market has become the focus of increased attention. The legal framework that regulates the stock market is still considered to be underdeveloped, as only recently, in 2003, did the Saudi legislator issue a Capital Market Law (2003) and create a regulatory body vested with its enforcement. The securities market was built around this legislation, which helped to stimulate the economy by attracting investor. However, the Saudi stock market experienced a big crash in February 2006, which had a profound impact in heavy losses for large and small investors. The practical application of these new laws brought to light some shortcomings in the regulations of the stock market, and specifically, the need for the legal protection of investor. Hence, the overarching aim of this thesis is to focus particular on four issues: on the question of whether or not the existing regulations of the Saudi stock market adequately protects investor from poor disclosure, insider trading and market manipulation induced partly by market brokers. Thus, there are four primary objectives of this thesis: to enhance the effectiveness of existing rules to secure a suitable level of protection for investor against poor disclosure, market abuse and illegal practices by broker; to increase investor confidence and attractiveness of the market; to prevent a future repeat of the stock market collapse and avoid the steps that caused it; and finally, to provide useful material for Saudi Capital Market Law (2003) reforms in the future. In order to examine these sensitive issues, the thesis will first examine whether or not the disclosure regulations of the Saudi stock market provide adequate protection to investor and secondly assess the effectiveness of the legal framework of insider trading regulations for preventing insider trading. Third, it will ascertain how well the the law defines market manipulation and covers the most common forms of market manipulation under Saudi securities law. Lastly it will explore the responsibility that brokers in the Saudi stock market have to achieve the greatest degree of protection for investor.

Light at night (LAN) is a major factor in disruption of SCN function, including melatonin suppression. Melatonin has been linked to a variety of biological processes such as lipid and glucose metabolism, vascular parameters, appetite, and behaviour. However, few human studies have investigated the effect of LAN and suppressed melatonin prior to and after an evening meal. The current thesis aims to investigate the impact of light at night and/or mela- tonin on hormones, metabolites, appetite, vascular function, and behaviour prior to and after an evening test meal in healthy participants. The first study investigated the effect of dim or bright light conditions on hor- mones, metabolites, appetite, vascular function and behavioural responses. Glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity were reduced, lipid profiles altered and salivary melatonin suppressed under bright light compared to dim light conditions. Subjec- tive mood was improved and appetite scores increased in bright light. No differences were seen in vascular parameters. Although clear differences were apparent it could not be determined whether the effects were due to the light at night, the absence of melatonin or a combination of the two. The second study involved three conditions with the administration of exogenous melatonin 90 mins before the evening test meal under bright and dim light conditions compared to bright light alone with the consequent melatonin suppression. Glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity were reduced and lipid profile altered in bright light when melatonin was suppressed compared to the two conditions with exogenous melatonin. Mood was improved and appetite increased with lower leptin levels and elevated wrist temperature with bright light and suppressed melatonin. Statistical analysis showed that the major effects were due to melatonin. These studies demonstrate a possible role for melatonin in glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and lipid metabolism when eating late at night which may have implications for shift-workers.

Research from the past 20 years has indicated that much of natural language consists of formulaic sequences or chunks. It has been suggested that learning vocabulary as discrete items does not necessarily help L2 learners become successful communicators or fluent and accurate language users. Collocations, i.e. words that usually go together as one form of formulaic sequences, constitute an inherent problem for ESL/ EFL learners. Researchers have submitted that non-congruent collocations, i.e. collocations that do not have corresponding L1 equivalents, are especially difficult to acquire by ESL/ EFL learners. This study examines the effect of three Focus-on-Forms instructional approaches on the passive and active acquisition of non-congruent collocations: 1) the non-corpus-assisted contrastive analysis and translation (CAT) approach, 2) the corpus-assisted CAT approach, and 3) the corpus-assisted non-CAT approach. To fully assess the proposed combined condition (i.e. the corpus-assisted CAT) and its learning outcomes, a control group under no-condition was included for a baseline comparison. Thirty collocations non-congruent with the learners’ L1 (Arabic) were chosen for this study. 129 undergraduate EFL learners in a Saudi University participated in the study. The participants were assigned to the three experimental groups and to the control group following a cluster random sampling method. The corpus-assisted CAT group performed (L1/ L2 and L2/ L1) translation tasks with the help of bilingual English/ Arabic corpus data. The non-corpus CAT group was assigned text-based translation tasks and received contrastive analysis of the target collocations and their L1 translation options from the teacher. The non-contrastive group performed multiple-choice/ gap-filling tasks with the help of monolingual corpus data, focusing on the target items. Immediately after the intervention stage, the three groups were tested on the retention of the target collocations by two tests: active recall and passive recall. The same tests were administered to the participants three weeks later. The corpus-assisted CAT group significantly outperformed the other two groups on all the tests. These results were discussed in light of the ‘noticing’, ‘task-induced involvement load’, and ‘pushed output’ hypotheses and the influence that L1 exerts on the acquisition of L2 vocabulary. The discussion includes an evaluation of the three instructional conditions in ii relation to different determinants, dimensions and functions within the hypotheses.

Although self-compacting concrete (SCC) has matured beyond laboratory studies and has now become an industrial product, its characteristics behaviour and performance, in the fresh and hardened states alike, still need to be thoroughly comprehended. This thesis presents the results of a study on behaviour of SCC in the fresh and hardened states. The work was divided into three main parts of research. In the first part, the focus was to develop a simple and rational method for designing SCC mixes based on the desired target plastic viscosity and compressive strength of the mix. The expression for the plastic viscosity of an SCC mix developed using the so-called micromechanical principles has been exploited to develop this rational method. The simplicity and usefulness of this method was enhanced by the provision of design charts for choosing the mix proportions that achieve the mix target plastic viscosity and compressive strength. Experimental work was performed attesting the validity of this mix design procedure via a series of SCC mixes in both the fresh and hardened states. The test mixes were found to meet the necessary self-compacting and the compressive strength criteria, thus fully validating the proposed mix proportioning method. Therefore, this method reduces considerably the extent of laboratory work, the testing time and the materials used. The second part addressed the other important properties of hardened SCC: specific fracture energy ( ), direct tensile strength ( ), critical crack opening ( ), characteristic length ( ), which are no less important than the compressive strength. Combined work with two other PhD candidates (in Cardiff University) has been carried out in order to get a much clearer picture by investigating in detail the role of several parameters - coarse aggregate volume, paste volume and strength grade - of SCC mixes in their , , and . Also addressed in this part is the corresponding bilinear approximation of the tension softening diagram using a procedure based on the non-linear hinge model. It is found that all the mentioned properties are dominated by the coarse aggregate volume (or, conversely the paste volume) in the mix and the mix grade. The third part of this thesis is dedicated to simulating the flow of SCC through gaps in reinforcing bars using the J-ring test. This has been performed by implementing an incompressible mesh-less smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) methodology. A suitable Bingham-type constitutive model has been coupled with the Lagrangian momentum and continuity equations to simulate the flow. The capabilities of SPH methodology were validated by comparing the experimental and simulation results of different SCC mixes. The comparison showed that the simulations were in very good agreement with experimental results for all the test mixes. The free surface profiles around the J-ring bars, the spread at 500 mm diameter and the final flow pattern are all captured accurately by SPH. In term of segregation assessment, it is revealed that SPH allows the distribution of large aggregates in the mixes to be examined in order to ensure that they have not segregated from the mortar. The SPH simulation methodology can therefore replace the time-consuming laboratory J-ring test, thereby saving time, effort and materials.

This thesis examines the social and environmental responsibilities of EU multinational corporations (MNCs) in Saudi Arabia. It found that such corporations do not have enough social and environmental responsibilities when they operate in Saudi Arabia. It argues that as Saudi Arabia seeks economic growth, the Saudi government should ensure that strict regulations are adopted in order protect the environment and the people. The development needed by Saudi Arabia through foreign investment needs to be subject to environmental and social considerations. Therefore, the thesis argues that the Saudi government should introduce reforms to its company law and corporate governance regulations. Moreover, this thesis introduces a proposal for a new corporate responsibility law in Saudi Arabia.

Security issues are a major concern, especially with real-time applications that are very time- sensitive because of file size. Cryptography is one of the main techniques used to provide the necessary data security. As is well known, the concept of the cryptography is to convert the plaintext into an unreadable version on the sender side by using an encryption key. At the receiver side, the ciphertext is returned into its original situation. Of particular relevance is key space viz. the number of possible keys that can be used to generate the key from the keys container. This is very important against brute force attacks. Many algorithms have been published; however, they feature limitations pertaining to security level, encryption key size, performance speed or incompatibility with the real-time applications. In this thesis, innovative 4D tesseract-based solutions (T-key) are suggested, implemented, tested and shown to overcome the drawbacks of most existing algorithms. They are based on a symmetric block cipher technique and have a large key-space (e.g. 384-bit). In-this thesis, three key size are suggested as examples, which are tested and evaluated: T-{O,l}128, T-{O,1}256 and T-{O,1}512. Moreover, four lightweight coding rounds are applied to create these keys from the 4D tesseract key containers. The execution speed of the T-key was compared with the AES cipher, and the results indicated that the first two encryption key sizes suggested here are faster than the first two encryption keys of AES. Furthermore, the security evaluations carried out on the suggested algorithm showed full resistance to statistical attacks and a comprehensive pass of correlation coefficient tests.

Learning Management Systems (LMS) have become a common feature in contemporary Higher Education institutions worldwide. LMS literature shows that the level of interest and/or knowledge among academics towards the importance and usefulness of these systems, and the opportunities they can bring to the teaching process are key factors affecting the degree of use of LMS in HE. To date, most of these studies have taken place in the context of developed countries, and there is only limited research in other areas. In recent years, LMS have been adopted widely in Saudi Arabia’s Higher Education sector, however, there are no strong and detailed data regarding the subject in this context, which could impede future developments. On the other hand, academics were chosen as the main focus of this investigation because studies have revealed that they have the most vital role in promoting and enhancing the use of LMS. Therefore, this research investigates academics’ adoption and usage of LMS in Saudi Arabia’s universities; it aims to understand the adoption conditions and identify what factors truly affect the adoption process and to what level are the systems being used and why. The investigation was guided by Grounded Theory research principles. Initially, a review of the literature identified the nature of LMS along with the issues confronting academics when they are trying to use it to its full potential in supporting the delivery of their courses. Afterwards, questionnaires were employed to further explore the phenomenon in its examined context, i.e. Saudi higher education. The generated data and concepts were then used to guide the research process and to develop interview questions. The interviews were carried out at three Saudi universities with a range of stakeholders, which signified the primary data source in this investigation. Analysis revealed that LMS did not emerge as a well-established component of academics’ activities in Saudi universities despite the positive view respondents expressed towards it. Findings also explained why LMS was either considered a secondary method to support face-to-face teaching, or under-utilised in fully online courses. Furthermore, findings revealed the primary factors influencing academics’ level of use of LMS. Moreover, there were issues identified in relation to the academics’ development and training for LMS, which had a significant effect on the academics’ level of use of LMS. Findings were then integrated into a substantive theory and a theoretical model, which represents the research primary outcome. The theoretical outcomes offer abstract explanation of the phenomenon about adopting innovatory systems in Saudi universities, LMS in this instance. In conclusion, suggestions for improving the current provision of LMS in Saudi Universities are made. Overall, this study provided an insight into the environment surrounding the early adoption phases of LMS in Saudi universities, which offers a better understanding of the phenomenon. Subsequently, this will help enhance the adoption process in current contexts and assist in the better future utilisation of these systems in similar situations.

Given the spread of the implementation of Online Communities of Practice (OCoP) as a new approach to organisational learning in the context of continuing professional development (CPD) programmes in some countries such as the UK, USA and Australia, this study conducts a trial in which the OCoP is introduced for this purpose in Saudi Arabia. The aim of the study is to establish the potential of the OCoP to function as an approach to CPD, and how such a mechanism can be adopted in the Saudi context to have an impact upon teachers’ professional performance and development. I designed the OCoP and the sample was composed of 14 male teachers of ICT in secondary schools located in five different cities in Saudi Arabia. The teachers interacted with each other in the OCoP, discussing eight subjects that they chose for themselves. In order to explore the operation and outcomes of the OCoP, I used qualitative methods, in particular semi-structured interviews, classroom observation of a sample of teachers, and observation and monitoring of teachers’ interaction within the OCoP over a three-month period. The overall findings show the positive impact of adopting an OCoP in CPD programmes. They reveal that some teachers change their practice and improve their levels of reflection. Additionally, the findings show significant differences between the levels of contribution made by teachers in the OCoP compared with their participation and engagement in other general online communities and in training courses attended in the country’s Training Centres. Furthermore, the study points to the importance of commitment and internal motivation among teachers in the context of the OCoP since without this, the overall aims of the Community cannot be achieved. The study also raises critical issues concerning the psychological aspects of teachers’ professional development, specifically the need to allow teachers more autonomy in determining their professional needs, and the requirement for trust to be built among teachers since the presence of such autonomy and trust promotes greater engagement in the CPD process. As a result of the trial OCoP, several avenues for further research are suggested in order to gain a deeper understanding of the potential of OCoPs in the educational field.

Background: Effective delivery of dental services must be based on reliable information regarding the prevalence and severity of disease in the target population. Evaluation of the various factors known to influence the severity and progression of disease is essential for health policy makers to promote oral health resources and address oral health needs. Objective: The overall aim of this research is to describe the situation of dental caries and investigate the associations of level of oral health knowledge, teeth irregularity, BMI and other life style variables (TV viewing, internet use, passive smoking and dietary habits) with dental caries, including the impact of socio-demographic factors amongst school children in Qatar. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Qatar from October 2011 to March 2012. A total of 2,113 children aged 12-14 years were randomly selected from 16 schools from different areas. Clinical examination was conducted by three calibrated examiners using World Health Organization criteria for diagnosing dental caries. Teeth irregularity was determined clinically according to a method described by Björk et al (1964). A pre-tested and structured questionnaire was used to assess oral health knowledge and life style data. Data analyses were performed. Results: The mean decayed, missing and filled teeth index values was 4.62 (±3.2), 4.79 (±3.5), and 5.5 (±3.7), respectively, for the 12, 13 and 14 year old children. The caries prevalence was 85%. The mandibular incisors and canines were least likely to be affected by dental caries, while maxillary and mandibular molars were the most frequently attacked by dental caries. Of the total sample, only one quarter reported a high level of oral health knowledge. There were more incidences of teeth crowding (44.1%) than teeth spacing (9.5%). The overall prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity was 5%, 10%, and 5% respectively. Almost half of the children spent > two hours watching television and 46% spent > two hours using internet. Approximately 35.8% of children had exposure to passive smoking. Concerning dietary habits, 99.4% of children consumed sugar containing snacks in between meals. Approximately 65% consumed sugar containing snacks within one hour of bed time. Almost 49.1% skipped eating breakfast regularly and 22.7% skipped eating lunch regularly. Around 83.8% consumed diary snacks in between meals. Overall, 74.2% drank tea in-between meals and 80.1% chewed gum in-between meals. All variables were affected by socio-demographic factors, but significant differences were found in female children in that they were more at risk to dental caries than male children. Also, children who resided in semi-urban areas were more at risk to dental caries than children who resided in urban areas. The occurrence of dental caries is significantly associated with the level of oral health knowledge, teeth irregularity, and other life style variables. Conclusion: The need to reduce sedentary behaviors and to promote a more active and healthy lifestyle is becoming increasingly essential in Qatar. Implementation of a community-based preventive oral health programs on a healthy diet and practices of adequate oral hygiene should be promoted in schools through integration into the school curriculum and services to combat the growing problem of dental caries.

Disparities between men‘s and women‘s leadership styles are particularly salient in contemporary organizations in which recent trends suggest leadership styles link to both sex and gender. Some research suggests leadership style is associated partly with sex, and other research suggests differences are attributed better to gender roles. Thus, it is unclear whether gender moderates relationships among psychological mechanisms that produce leadership and its various styles. Complicating the matter is the fact that most researchers conduct leadership studies in contexts in which genders interact regularly. In Saudi Arabia, interactions between the genders are limited to one‘s relatives, though some interactions do occur among colleagues. Most Saudi Arabian organisations segregate employees based on gender since cultures governed by Islamic law commonly separate the sexes regarding institutions, education, employment, and even time spent in leisure. In such cultures, segregation acts as a means of respect and protection from sexual discrimination, regardless of any underestimation of women‘s management skills or characteristics, including leadership. The purpose of this study is to assess gendered leadership in segregated, Saudi Arabian work environments, a context in which interactions between the genders is limited. This study examines leader-member interactions to assess whether gender status moderates either leader behaviours or organisational commitment. Since interactions among the genders are uncommon in this context, this study uniquely explores whether leadership is gendered in the environment. A framework was developed based on both the full-range leadership model and leader-member exchange to assess correlations between the two models and predict employee organisational commitment. This study investigates relationships among both models‘ components, including transformational leader behaviours, transactional leader behaviours, passive leadership behaviours and quality of relationships between leaders and subordinates, and organisational commitment, especially concerning how these components operate in a gender-segregated context. Finally, gender as a moderator was also assessed among these relationships. Data were collected through a quantitative survey from a sample of three-hundred and ninety-six bank employees whose organisation follows a strict sex-segregation policy. The survey consisted of the Multi-factor Leadership Questionnaire, the LMX-7, and the Organisational Commitment Scale instruments. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling, and Partial Least Squares was used as an alternative method of evaluating hypothesised relationships among constructs. Results suggest idealised attributes, idealised behaviours, and developmental behaviours components of transformational leadership correlate strongest with leader-member exchange. Contingent reward, a component of transactional leadership, correlated positively with both leader-member exchange and organisational commitment. Management by exception (active) showed no correlation with leader-member exchange, but correlated with organisational commitment. Passive leader behaviours demonstrated a negative relationship with leader-member exchange. Finally, leader-member exchange mediated relationships among transformational leader behaviours, contingent reward, passive leader behaviours, and organisational commitment. This study suggests the paramount role quality of relationship with a leader plays in the Saudi Arabian context regarding transformational leader behaviours. The mediating role of leader-member exchange between transformational leader behaviours and organisational commitment is attributed to recognition that followers establish relationships in a context in which power distance is high and collectivist values are held. Gender did not moderate relationships among constructs, though non-significant correlations suggest disparities between the male and female groups investigated in this study. Results from this study fill several gaps in the literature concerning gendered leadership in segregated work environments, especially concerning the finding that leadership is not gendered in Saudi Arabian, segregated contexts. Saudi Arabian female managers appear to be as effective as their male counterparts; in fact, they scored slightly higher. These findings argue against a stereotypical view of gendered leadership and suggest an important message regarding the abilities of female managers in Saudi Arabian and other gender-segregated contexts. Saudi Arabian female managers appear accessible to followers through several leadership styles, offering disparate communication channels that encourage multiple avenues to interact with them. Based on the female model, Saudi female maagers were effective in the prediction of LMX using TRFLs, CR and PSVs, while men were effective in TRFLs and PSVs to predict LMX. Also female managers were effective in the prediction of OC using LMX, CR and MBEA, while Saudi male managers were effective to predict OC via LMX and MBEA. Results also suggest that the literature should pay more attention to minimising stereotyping of female managers regarding gendered leadership. Implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed in light of these findings.

C-terminal Tensin-like (Cten) is a member of the Tensin gene family but lacks the N-terminus actin-binding domain. Cten functions as a tumour suppressor in some cancers while in other cancer types it is recognized to have oncogenic activities. Our group has previously shown that, in colorectal cancer (CRC), Cten is up-regulated and acts as an oncogene which alters several cellular functions including cell migration and invasion. In this project we tried to understand (a) the mechanism through which Cten affects cell function and (b) the mechanisms by which Cten expression may be controlled in cancer. Three cancer models system (colorectal, pancreatic and lung cancer) have been tested to validate our observations. (a) Since Cten is found in complex with integrins at focal adhesions, we hypothesized that it may influence other molecules which are associated with focal adhesion and integrin function. Through a combined approach of forced expression and knockdown experiments, we examined the effect of Cten on ILK and FAK. We found that Cten positively regulates expression of both ILK and FAK and this may be the mechanism through which cell motility is controlled. (b) (i) Activation of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) signalling pathway in breast cancer results in up-regulation of Cten accompanied by down-regulation of Tensin 3 (known as the "Tensin switch"). We tested this in CRC and found that stimulation and inhibition of the EGFR using recombinant EGF and the EGFR inhibitor PD135053, resulted in changes in Cten expression (with a tensin switch) and changes in cell motility. Since EGFR classically signals through Kras/Braf we hypothesized that Kras (which is frequently mutated in CRC) may regulate Cten expression. Analysis of CRC cell lines showed an association between Kras/Braf mutation and high Cten expression. Knockdown of Kras in cell lines harbouring Kras mutations resulted in loss of Cten expression while no effect was observed in the cell lines with Braf ,mutations. However Braf knockdown in cell lines with Braf mutation resulted in down-regulation of Cten levels. (ii) CD24 has been shown to be associated with integrins suggesting a possible involvement with Cten at Focal Adhesions. Manipulation of CD24 protein levels in CRC cell lines was mirrored by changes in Cten expression although this effect was not accompanied by a tensin switch. (iii) STAT3 can function as both a tumour suppressor and an oncogene. Modulation of STAT3 levels - either directly through gene knockdown or indirectly through IL-6 stimulation - showed that STAT3 is a negative regulator of Cten. Since around 90% of pancreatic cancers and 60% of lung cancers have Kras mutations we repeated the experiments in these two models. Our data showed that functional activity and regulation of Cten was similar to that seen in CRCs. We can conclude that Cten can regulate cell motility through modulation of FAK and ILK. In addition, Cten is regulated by EGFRKras- Braf signalling and that CD24 and STAT3 are also, respectively, positive and negative regulators of Cten. Finally, Cten activity is broadly consistent in three different cancer models. Future studies should involve further refinement of the signalling pathway and study of other tumour types involving frequent Kras mutations. ..

Following decades of research on stress and its impact on behaviour, it is now widely accepted that selective psycho-pathologies, in particular clinical depression are more prevalent in humans with prior history of life-stress events. Interest in stress has led to questions about how it might affect the physiology and behaviour of animals exposed indirectly during gestational development. Not unexpectedly gestational stress has been shown to affect the offspring in several ways: endocrine responses to stress are elevated, fear, arousal and affective disturbances are all subject to vary if the pregnant animal is subjected to periods of aversive stimulation. Beginning in 1997, Michael Meaney of McGill University produced a series of publications suggesting that peri-natal events influence offspring and infant development, not via physical discomfort or physiological disturbance, but does so through modifications of maternal behaviour. Highly nurturant mothers (those who engage in active arched-back nursing (ABN), and spend more time licking and grooming (L/G) their pups), programme their offspring with improved cognitive abilities, decreased anxiety and fear, and reduced HPA axis hormone secretion. Low-nurturant mothers, who engage in less ABN and less L/G, tend to programme the opposite responses in their offspring. Our initial foray into this field was to investigate if gestational stress might also produce responses in the offspring via changes in maternal behaviour, and indeed ABN and L/G were reduced in dams which were subjected to gestational stress. We queried why stressed Dams would be less maternal towards their infants, and tested gestationally-stressed Dams in the Porsolt test for depressive-like behaviour. Our results suggested that these stressed Dams were actually depressed and this resulted in less maternal behaviour. Human mothers with depression are also less maternal and have been shown to divest themselves of infant care much like our prenatally-stressed Dams. On this basis we have proposed that gestational stress induced decrements in maternal behaviour represent a novel rat model for postnatal depression with face and construct validities. In the present work we have attempted to replicate the findings of Smythe's group (Smith et al., 2004), and have investigated the potential for antidepressants to alter the influence of gestational stress on maternal behaviours and depressive-like response, and whether or not the offspring are modified by maternal treatment with ant-depressants. Approximately 140 time-mated, lister hooded rats were generated in house, and subjected to gestational stress on days 10-20 (1hr restraint/day) or remained undisturbed in their home cages. Following birth, cohorts of control and stressed Dams were administered vehicle or an antidepressant (imipramine 15mg/kg; or sertraline 10mg/kg) once daily until postnatal day 10. We assessed maternal Porsolt activity, nurturance (ABN, L/G, nest building) and anxiety-like behaviour in the elevated plus maze (EPM). Representative offspring of each Dam's treatment conditions were maintained post weaning and assessed in the Porsolt and EPM to determine if any changes in maternal behaviour elicited by the antidepressants altered their behavioural programming. Our findings confirm that Dams show depressive-like symptoms following gestational stress, and that administration of antidepressants to the Dams reduces depressive-like behaviour and increased maternal care. We propose that rat gestational stress is a putative model for human postnatal depression. Prenatal stress effects on maternal behaviour in the rat Dam represent a novel, and innovative model for human postnatal depression.

Catalysts used in heterogeneous catalytic processes generally experience a decrease in activity over a period of time. The time taken for the activity of a catalyst to fall to an undesirable level depends on several factors. In acidic zeolites, the main cause is the deposition of coke. The cost of catalyst deactivation is very high in industrial processes; therefore catalysts with superior time stability are very valuable. Zeolites with large pores, which give some shape-selective characteristics, particularly to high-silica zeolites, are attractive catalysts for reforming-type reactions. The time stability of these catalysts is one of the most significant factors in determining their use. While some loss of catalytic activity is inevitable, there are various ways to reduce it. In this work, some commercial and in-house nanoporous-based catalysts, such as USY, beta and mordenite zeolites, and mesoporous aluminosilicate molecular sieves such as MCM-48 and SBA-15, loaded with metals and acting as mono- and bimetallic bifunctional catalysts, were used for hydroisomerisation experiments in a fixed-bed reactor at pressures between 1 and 15 bar and at feed space time ranging from 2.57 to10.26 h-1 (35.14 to 140.6 kg s mol-1) to hydroisomerise n-heptane over a temperature range of 210-270 °C. This study evaluates changes with time-on-stream in the catalytic activity, product selectivity and manner of deactivation of metal-loaded zeolite and mesoporous aluminosilicate catalysts, at constant contact time of 5.13 h-1 and a hydrogento-n-heptane molar ratio fixed at 9. Various analytical techniques were used to characterise fresh and aged catalysts. Results show that various factors were responsible for the deactivation of several metal loaded micro- and mesoporous catalysts, which were thoroughly examined. These results agree with literature reports that pore architecture is the most important factor affecting coke formation and deactivation in zeolite catalysts. Thus, those catalysts with three-dimensional pore structures lacking cavities or cages, such as zeolite beta, were best able to resist deactivation. It was found that highly acidic bifunctional catalysts such as mordenite lost their activity rapidly during the initial few hours and that conversion then reached a constant “level-off” value after a few hours on stream. In contrast, those catalysts with high Si/Al ratios and those which had been acid-leached or steamed showed better activity, higher selectivity towards isomeric products and better time stability. Moreover, the balance between the number of metal sites and the number of acid sites played an important role in determining the activity, selectivity and stability of the bifunctional catalysts. The higher metal loading improved catalytic stability, due to a better balance and closeness of the catalytic functions. In addition, the bimetallic catalysts improved the formation of metal particles to a great extent and reduced their sizes, which may have affected their selectivity and stability.

Background Health care professionals are responsible for maintaining their proficiency throughout their careers. Continuing medical education (CME) is an integral part of the medical profession that aims to enhance physicians’ knowledge and skills. Health care services in Saudi Arabia are expanding rapidly. However, the country is struggling to cope with a shortage of competent health professionals. CME in the Kingdom is facing some challenges that are preventing learning programmes from responding appropriately to professionals’ demands and needs, and to the complexity of health care. Research questions The research questions addressed in this thesis are: 1. What is the current status of continuing medical education in Saudi Arabian governmental hospitals? 2. What are the barriers preventing continuing medical education from implementing competitive learning programmes? 3. How might Saudi culture be influencing the health context and how does this impact upon the field of CME? Methodology This study adopted a mixed methods approach supplemented by ethnography. Two forms of individual, semi-structured interviews targeted two groups of respondents; the interviews were followed up by a questionnaire (sent by email) listing all the challenges to CME identified by the interviewees, and asking the participants to rank them in order of importance. In addition, observation was conducted throughout the fieldwork. Sampling Three public hospitals were selected from different geographical areas (N=3). Judgemental approach resulted in the selection of 33 medical education representatives from different medical and paramedical departments (N=33). Purposive sampling resulted in the selection of 11 medical librarians (N=11). Results The major CME challenges were identified and grouped into four themes: 1. Management, including the lack of knowledge on the part of decision makers about the importance of lifelong learning, and their influence over learning programmes. 2. Poor status of medical libraries, in terms of location, space and services provided. 3. Lack of transparency in the CME budget, which leads to a too close relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and physicians. 4. Diversity of staff, including their different training backgrounds, and their resistance to making changes in their performance after training. Discussion and conclusions The study found a strong correlation between health stakeholders’ lack of managerial skills and knowledge of the significance of CME and the learning programme limitations in Saudi Arabia; this factor also received the highest ranking by the participants in the study. 3 Hospital officials lack the necessary knowledge about the importance of CME, and lifelong learning has become complex. Their negative attitude towards learning has resulted in several challenges: some of these have been identified in this study, including a lack of support for the learning process in hospitals, an inability to motivate staff to continue developing their skills, and a lack of transparency when allocating budgets to learning elements, including CME and library services. This ambiguity has resulted in poor libraries and a heavy reliance on pharmaceutical industry sponsorship for CME events and medical professionals’ trips, which can affect the quality of the events and/or cause bias. The study has also clarified the issue of staff diversity. Although the majority of health care professionals are foreigners, the concern is that health care stakeholders are recruiting professionals from developing countries where the quality of health care and training might be low. Despite the varied training and educational backgrounds among the staff, no efforts have been made to design learning programmes that meet their actual and wide-ranging needs. Rather, current activities are based on desires and wishes of chiefs of medical departments.

The present thesis is a critical examination of the two well-known post-Schachtian scholars of Hadith; James Robson and John Burton. Both scholars are major contributors to modern Hadith studies in the West. It assesses their main arguments and their methodological approaches to Hadith literature. It also provides a historical survey of the key arguments and works of their predecessors since the rise of the modern Western debates over the reliability of Hadith materials. This critical study points to the conclusion that Robson and Burton were heavily influenced by the sceptical attitude of Ignaz Goldziher and Joseph Schacht towards the historicity of Hadith. However, Robson is inclined to accept some aspects of the Muslim traditional view regarding the genesis of Hadith and its isnad system (chain of transmitters). Burton, on the other hand, expresses a sceptical stance towards the historicity of Hadith and argues that the development of Hadith originated from the exegesis of the Qur’an, having no historical basis in the teachings of Prophet Muhammad.

The Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is one of the major research areas in computer network field today. It is considered as one of ten emerging technologies that will bring far- reaching impacts on the future of humanity lives. In addition, the importance is due to numerous applications that can benefit from the WSN. As a new challenging research field, WSNs are now undergoing intensive research to overcome complexity and constraints. Such constraints include limitation of processors perfomance, memory capacity, power source, and communication bandwidth, in addition to, mobility, network density, and data aggregation issues. According to the mentioned constrains, existing routing protocols cannot be efficiently deployed in WSN directly. The Wireless Sensor Network consists of small, limited resources, inexpensive (low cost), mobile or stationary, and heterogeneous devices deployed automatically at large numbers in areas of interest. The devices dynamically form a network to deliver requested sensed data to the base station (BS) and overcome any arising difficulties without human intervention. This thesis presents a novel hierarchical routing protocol named Self Organizing and Network Survivability (SONS) to provide network fault-tolerance and QoS in the presence of network mobility (mobility of both base station and sensor nodes) applied to the forest fire application. A survey of state of the art WSN routing protocols is presented with focus on network lifetime, reliability, and Quality of Service (QoS). A description of forest fire monitoring is presented as an application scenario. The proposed protocol can operate in heterogeneous networks (in terms of sensed data) and to provide quality of service in terms of packets End-to-End Delay (EED). Simulation studies are performed using open source Object Modular Network Testbed in C++ (OMNeT++) and results are produced. Analysis of the simulation results revealed the superiority of the proposed protocol over existing ones in terms of fault-tolerance, network lifetime, QoS, and scalability, In addition, these results confirm the suitability of SONS routing protocol to the fire forest monitoring application. Analyses of the main features of the proposed algorithm were also carried out. Finally conclusions are presented to draw the future work map. Key words: Wireless Sensor Network, Routing Protocol, Hierarchical, QoS, Fault-tolerance, Redundancy, Survivability, Heterogeneous, scalability.

Although there have been many prior studies of the determinants of capital structure, most have investigated listed companies in countries with well-developed markets and institutions. The main objective of the present study is to extend prior research by investigating both listed and unlisted companies in Saudi Arabia where many cultural and institutional features may have an impact on financing decisions in a different manner to ‘developed’ countries. A further contribution is the application of a systematic statistical approach, using meta-analysis, to summarise the many prior empirical studies. The empirical part of the study investigates 60 listed and 403 unlisted firms over the period 2000-2004 using several regression-based archival techniques including panel data analysis. Robustness checks are carried out to investigate the potential impact of the different methods and alternative measurement proxies. The results show that, in general, companies in Saudi Arabia have substantially lower levels of debt than in many other countries. This finding is related to the very low tax regime and other environmental characteristics. Unlisted firms have more short-term debt but less long-term debt than listed firms, as found in other countries. Despite the profound institutional differences, several firm-specific factors (such as firm size, asset tangibility, profitability, and liquidity) are found to have similar impacts on capital structure decisions in Saudi Arabia as they have in prior research. However, the impact of some factors is different, most likely reflecting lower levels of agency costs in the Saudi Arabian institutional environment.

The linguistic annotation' of video sequences is an intellectually challenging task involving the investigation of how images and words are linked .together, a task that is ultimately financially rewarding in that the eventual automatic retrieval of video (sequences) can be much less time consuming, subjective and expensive than when retrieved manually. Much effort has been focused on automatic or semi-automatic annotation. Computational linguistic methods of video annotation rely on collections of collateral text in the form of keywords and proper nouns. Keywords are often used in a particular order indicating an identifiable pattern which is often limited and can subsequently be used to annotate the portion of a video where such a pattern occurred. Once' the relevant keywords and patterns have been stored, they can then be used to annotate the remainder of the video, excluding all collateral text which does not match the keywords or patterns. A new method of video annotation is presented in this thesis. The method facilitates a) annotation extraction of specialist terms within a corpus of collateral text; b) annotation identification of frequently used linguistic patterns to use in repeating key events within the data-set. The use of the method has led to the development of a system that can automatically assign key words and key patterns to a number of frames that are found in the commentary text approximately contemporaneous to the selected number of frames. The system does not perform video analysis; it only analyses the collateral text. The method is based on corpus linguistics and is mainly frequency based - frequency of occurrence of a key word or key pattern is taken as the basis of its representation. No assumptions are made about the grammatical structure of the language used in the collateral text, neither is a lexica of key words refined. Our system has been designed to annotate videos of football matches in English a!ld Arabic, and also cricket videos in English. The system has also been designed to retrieve annotated clips. The system not only provides a simple search method for annotated clips retrieval, it also provides complex, more advanced search methods.

This research focuses on the Implementation of IT systems and public sector and national ID card projects in particular. Such projects have high expectations but low success rates. The study Investigated the factors contributing to IT projects failure through on extensive review of the existing literature. This was enriched and tested by close Involvement with the UAE national ID card project, surveys and In depth interviews with senior managers from other ID card projects and presentations and attendance at over 50 conferences on this subject. Many of the factors leading to either success or failure identified in many practical studies could be addressed through a well designed project management methodology. Based on the literature, practical experience, observations and feedback from practitioners a project management methodology; named PROMOTE - PROject Management Of Technology Endeavours - was developed and tested for the planning and Implementing large scale IT projects mainly In a government context. The US$200+ million dollar national ID programme In the United Arab Emirates was the main test vehicle. Its Innovations include a hybrid systems development/project management customer based philosophy, a number of new tools and techniques and the Introduction of a mentor for the project manager. To help assess the general applicability of the methodology it was also tested In the Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Bahrain national ID initiatives. The methodology phases were refined several times (and other phases were added) to address the problems Identified from UAE project, the literature, the experiences reported at GCC committee meetings and from other large scale Implementations around the world (from conferences and study visits to other countries). From the testing conducted, the methodology is believed to add a significant contribution to the field of IT projects Implementation and In Increasing the success chances of such projects. Such success should have a profound Impact on government services. The study also recognises that a better understanding of the new methodology and its contributions Is only possible through further research and application In other large scale IT projects. This should allow the extension of the applicability of this methodology to a much wider spectrum.

Embryonic development is regulated by a number of signalling pathways, which are critical for normal growth. Many of these genes then continue to play an important role in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation in adult. One such pathway is the sonic hedgehog (SHH) pathway; SHH protein is secreted which binds to its receptor patched (PTCH), leading to the activation and repression of target genes via zinc-finger GLI family transcription factors. Deregulation of this pathway, leads to a number of human birth defects and diseases such as Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) of the skin. In transgenic mouse model systems activation of GLI1 by SHH-signalling is a key step in initiating BCC formation. However, there is limited understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in response to hedgehog signalling and GLI activity in human BCC formation and how this pathway interacts with other pathways. The aim of this thesis was to establish in vitro and in vivo model systems to investigate the molecular events leading to BCC formation. I have shown that Gl.Il , Gi12, Gi13, PTCH, SMO and KlF4 were induced and a-TUB was repressed in BCC relative to normal skin. Using an in vitro model I further showed that Gl.ll , Gi12, Gi13, PTCH, SMO and a-TUB were induced and KlF4 was repressed in GLII expressing keratinocytes. Collaborative work with Dr Fritz Aberger's laboratory in Salzburg showed that Gl.Il and FOXEI are direct targets of GLI2 and I showed that Gl.I? and FOXEI were expressed in the interfollicular epidermis and the outer root sheath of hair follicles in normal skin as well as in BCC tumour islands suggesting a possible link between hair follicle and BCe. I further showed that epidermal growth factor (EGF) signalling reduces transcription activity of GLI1 by shuttling GLII out of nucleus and altering the expression of PTCH, SMO, Gil2 and Gl.B SHH genes. In addition, I demonstrated that whilst EGF induced Vimentin and Snail2 expression and GLII repressed their expression suggesting that GLI is able to counter epithelial-mesenchymal transition associated with EGF and this may in part explain why Bee very rarely metastasise. Furthermore, GLI1 appears to upregulate stem cell like signature and EGF downregulates this signature. Finally, we were able to generate a KRTI4- Floxed-GFP-Gill transgenic mouse but were unable to activate the target gene (KRTI4-GFP-GiIl). In conclusion, I have identified possible targets of GLI activity and shown interactions between EGF signalling and GLI that will help us to understand the potential molecular actions of SHH signalling with the goal of developing better therapeutic strategies.

This work examines ten English translated versions of the meaning of the Qur'an chosen in considerations of different factors. The date of the version and the background of the author represent the main factor behind the selection process. The aim of this study is to provide a theoretical analysis of the main trends of the translation theory, which was applied on the practical parts of the work. As for the practical parts, the study aims to analyse the source language and the target language texts in order to identify the loss of meaning in translating the Qur'an into English so that the translatability of the Qur'an could be assessed. The study adopts text analysis to find out the linguistic characteristics of both source language and target language texts. It also makes comparison between the different target texts on the one hand and between them and the original text on the other hand. The study, however, tries to base its findings on a more general linguistic framework. The study consists of five chapters. The first one is the introduction. The second one is the theoretical setting in which many theoretical issues related to the scope of this study have been analysed to set up a theoretical frame work to be used in approaching the practical parts of this thesis. The third chapter is the lexical meaning where the loss of meaning is discussed in terms of the linguistic, cultural and phonic levels. Some aspects of the loss of meaning, as found out in this chapter, are related to linguistic factors, but other aspects are related to issues beyond language. The fourth chapter is the syntactic meaning where the loss of meaning is dealt with on the syntactic/grammatical level. The fifth chapter in this thesis, however, is the conclusion in which the results and the recommendations of this work are presented. The study results were all related to the main results, which are that the Qur'an is an untranslatable text; it could not be reproduced adequately into any other language. That is to say that the loss of meaning in the English translated versions of the Qur'an is inevitable and this, in fact, supports the Issue of the Qur'an untranslitibilty. The main recommendations in this regard are that the translation of the Qur'an should be carried out by more than one translator; a committee or an organisation should stand for this more important task. The existing English translated versions of the Qur'an should also be revised from time to time for many reasons could be related to new views in understanding the Qur'anic text or in relation to the interpretation, or changes in the language into which the translation is done, or new ideas regarding the communication and translation theory.

The main aim of the Two Holy Mosques Institute of the Hajj Research (CTHMIHR) is to establish an information resource about the pilgrimage to Makkah made by Muslims (Hajj) and services provided to them, which is one of the fifth pillar of Islam. In fact, that each Muslim should make the visit to Makkah at least once in his or her lifetime. When complete, this information resource will comprise a comprehensive scientific reference source that will provide factual evidence and anecdotes to assist in the planning of services and utilities required for the Hajj. Information management at CTHMIHR poses a number of problems; particularly in the rapid increase in the number of records (each individual making the Pilgrimage will have a record), duplication of records, disaggregated information throughout the Institute, and lack of information control. The Dean and Heads of Department are aware of these problems, but they cannot identify the root of the issues nor the people responsible for them. This research study aims to develop and implement an Information Management System (IMS) at CTHMIHR. This IMS would help staff and users to access information about the Hajj easily and more effectively at a time when it is needed. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM, mode 1) and Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) have been combined to develop a novel multi-methodology that has been applied to the problem issues exhibited within the CTHMIHR. The main reasons for combining methodologies (SSM and ISM) in this research study is to match the variety in the real world problem; situation at CTHMIHR, which is highly complex and multi-dimensional. SSM (Mode 1) was applied to discover and express the problem situation (Stages I and 2), to develop conceptual models (II separate systems are considered) and make comparisons with the real world (stages 2 and 5), and to study subsequent change (that is, change which is systemically desirable and culturally feasible) and then to take action to improve the problem situation (Stages 6 and 7). ISM was used to discover the relationships between these 11 systems in order to find a method of implementing them through interpretations with participants. Following implementation, both the staff development training system, which, in turn, will indicate the make-up of the staffing system, and the security system can be determined. When all of these are combined, the records management system can be described; this will indicate the design of the database management system, and consequently, this will satisfy user needs. Furthermore, the research study also suggests five types of change to improve the problem situation: structural, procedural, policy, attitudinal and cultural. The major findings of this research study are that CTHMIHR not only needs to develop clear information strategies, but it also needs to develop a system for strategic planning. In this way information strategies to establish an information resource about Hajj can be formulated.

The initial aim was to establish conventional DNA typing technology for blood group typing using cell derived genomic DNA material from donors. Accordingly, blood samples were collected from 200 healthy, randomly selected, Aberdeen Regional blood donors. The DNA extracted from these samples was used to develop and validate PCR assays for RHD, RHDPsi, RHC/c, KEL1 and KEL2, Fya and Fyb and ABO blood group alleles. All samples were also phenotyped serologically for RH, KEL, Duffy and ABO blood groups. Complete concordance was observed between phenotype and genotype. The developed RHD, RHDPsi and Fya and Fyb genotyping assays were then applied to study the molecular basis of blood groups in a cohort of 170 native Saudi donors. This study demonstrated there was no significant difference between the Saudi and Scottish (Caucasian) populations with respect to the RHD or RHDPsi blood groups. However, a significant difference was recorded with respect to the molecular basis of the FY blood group in which 30.6% of the Saudi donors were typed as Fy/Fy. The Fyx allele was also observed in this cohort. Further study of the Scottish blood donor population was performed to define the molecular basis of Weak D in 58 SNBTS (Scottish National Blood Transfusion Services) blood donors. Weak D types 1 and 2 represented more than 95% of all Weak D types tested in this study. Of the rest, nine samples were typed as DVI type II, one sample typed as DVII, one sample typed as DVa type II and a new partial D was identified in one sample to be lodged with the Genbank DNA database. In the second part of the project, the overall aim was to develop fetal DNA typing from maternal plasma.

Demand for meat in Saudi Arabia increased dramatically during the last two decades which lead the government to promote economic development and increased self-sufficiency in meat commodities. This study represents a dynamic specification of the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) based on recent developments on cointegration techniques and error correction models, based on meat and fish consumption data in Saudi Arabia over the period 1981 to 2000. The results show that there is evidence of long-run relationship between expenditure on meat with commodity prices and total meat expenditure. Also, the results for all budget shares elasticities indicate that the demand of poultry and fish, in both the short and long-rum are price inelastic. While the demand for beef and lamb in the short-run was price inelastic, in the long-run these were found to have unit elasticity. The magnitude of short and long-run cross-price elasticities indicates that lamb is a substitute for all meat items, Beef is a substitute for fish only. Poultry is a substitute for lamb and beef, while fish is a substitute for lamb only. In addition, poultry is a complement for fish, while fish is a complement for beef and poultry, beef is a complement for lamb and poultry. The short and long run expenditure elasticities indicate that beef, lamb and poultry were found to have a short run elasticity of less than one. In the long run beef, lamb and poultry, exhibited similar behaviour with regard to expenditure changes, indicating that these three meat items can be considered as necessities. On the other hand, fish is found in the short run and the long run to behave as a luxury good.

This study is about social persuasion, and it is specialised to a particular context of in-home shopping, in which the goal of social persuasion (by marketing communications) is to reduce the consumer's perceived risk taking source credibility as potential determinant of perceived risk. The consumer behaviour literature to date has not researched the constructs of source credibility and perceived risk within a single study. Both constructs have appeared, studied separately in more traditional retail contexts, and the research findings on the dimensionality of source credibility and of perceived risk have been relatively inconsistent. This study seeks to understand source credibility and perceived risk in the newer context of in-home shopping, by looking at whether source credibility (low and high) in the context of potential moderating variables: product type (CD player or T-shirt) and shopping medium (catalogue or TV) affect perceptions of consumers' risk. The research design used in this study had two phases: qualitative and quantitative. In the qualitative phase, a series of focus groups was used to explore the main concepts, to develop the main instruments, and to select "high" and "low" levels for the main treatment variables (source credibility) and "high" and "low" involvement products (product type) to be used in each of two shopping media (catalogue and TV). These levels were then operationalised as experimental treatments. In the quantitative phase, we used experienced in-home shoppers as sample subjects using a within-subject mixed factorial design (2 x 2 x 212). We found that the dimensionality of source credibility was not as predicted by previous research; whereas, the dimensionality of perceived risk was as predicted by previous research. This study suggests that the effects of source credibility are context specific, and are sometimes counterintuitive (a confirmation and extension of previous more general social persuasion research). In particular, our findings suggest that high source credibility (as opposed to low source credibility) tends to reduce perceived financial and performance risks for high involvement products but only in the TV shopping medium. It seems that the effects of moderating variables can outweigh the effects of variations in source credibility (especially for the psychological, social, and time dimensions of perceived risk). Our findings suggest that catalogue shopping is perceived to be less risky than TV shopping by both catalogue shoppers and TV shoppers. Interestingly, TV shoppers report higher levels of risk in both of these in-home shopping media than catalogue shoppers do. A completely unexpected aspect of this finding is that TV shopper's reported higher levels of risk in the medium they actually chose to use (TV) than in the one they do not use (catalogue). This study also demonstrated that the effects of the three experimental treatments (product type, shopping medium, and source credibility) on perceived risk are mediated by inter-individual differences between subjects. We established this by measuring a construct, which we term source approval, and by controlling for inter-individual variations in this variable using MANCO V A. The study has implications both for marketing management and for future marketing research.

Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) is a leading cause of maternal death in both developing and industrialised countries. Its prevention is therefore of utmost importance. This thesis investigates the role of misoprostol, a prostaglandin E1 analogue, in the prevention of PPH, when orally administered in the third stage of labour. At first a physiological intrauterine pressure study was conducted to investigate the postpartum uterine response to different oral Misoprostol doses. Misoprostol was found to have a very fast onset and prolonged duration of action. A significant rise in uterine contractility was seen regardless of the dosage used. Two observational pilot studies were concurrently conducted; the first investigated the efficacy of 600 ugm of oral misoprostol for management of the third stage of labour, the second examined the efficacy of two lower doses; 400 and 500 ugm. The three groups were compared in terms of PPH rate (blood loss >= 500 mL), third stage events, and perceived incidence of side effects. These studies were followed by a randomised-controlled trial comparing oral misoprostol to standard management of the third stage of labour. Patients were randomised to receive either 500 ugm of oral misoprostol, or the standard regimen of either syntometrine, syntocinon, or ergometrine, depending on maternal condition. This study had two primary end-points: the incidence of PPH, and the incidence and perceived severity of side effects in the two arms. The main side effects of oral misoprostol were shivering and rise in temperature. Shivering occurred within 5 to 10 minutes of delivery, and lasted for 20 to 40 minutes. A significant rise in temperature was obvious within the first 15 minutes of drug administration, followed by a second significant rise occurring shortly after the onset of visible shivering. The therapeutic value of Misoprostol was tested in the treatment of PPH due to uterine atony using the rectal route of administration, which has obvious advantages in PPH patients. The efficacy of 1000 ugm rectally administered misoprostol was investigated for the management of atonic PPH, unresponsive to conventional therapy. Misoprostol administration was quickly followed by firm contraction of the uterus and cessation of haemorrhage. The series of studies described in this thesis prove that oral misoprostol may be effectively used for prevention of PPH, and may also play a role in its treatment. Misoprostol has great potential to reduce maternal mortality due to PPH, and may well be the perfect agent for use over the world.

The Sufri variety of date is widely cultivated in Saudi Arabia, where it 'produced large quantities of dates. The high quality dates are consumed fresh, dried or preserved, the surplus and second quality dates may be damaged by improper harvesting, handling, transporting and processing. The Sufri variety of date is one of moderate quality and there is a surplus in local markets for processing into overflows to be used as "a base" for the food industry. The present work was conducted to increase soluble solids, including sugars, in the overflows and to maintain the quality of the underflows; chemical analysis of both the overflows and the underflows revealed that Sufri date contains proteins/ amino acids and pectin in small quantities, which can be utilised as byproducts. Physical treatment involved maceration with different ratios (date/water) at mild temperatures (30-60°C) for different times (10- 30 min). Over this range the increase in soluble solids in the overflow was at a minimum but the underflow retained its quality and softening of date tissues was achieved. Different extraction ratios indicated that a lower ratio produced a low overflow which was turbid, but that the higher ratios produced overflows which were dilute. Serial extractions with the same ratio in the initial extraction was not practical. In enzymic treatment, pectolytic enzymes were incubated with date underflows at different concentrations, temperatures for various incubation times. Overflows increased significantly over a short time and at low temperatures (30 min and 30°C) indicating the effectiveness of pectolytic enzymes in releasing more of the overflows, and sugars were increased in the overflows as an indication of the effect of these enzymes on date cell walls. Pure pectolytic enzymes were investigated and it was found that specificity was very important for selection of suitable pectolytic enzymes. It is concluded that the Sufri variety of date is a good source of reducing sugars, and its by-products have a promising future.

This essay is a contribution to the new trend and old tradition of analyzing theological fatalism in light of its relationship to logical fatalism. All results pertain to branching temporal systems that use the A-theory and assume presentism. The project focuses on two kinds of views about branching time. One position is true futurism, which designates what will occur regardless of contingency. The opposing view is open futurism, by which no possible course of events is privileged over others; that is, there are no soft facts. A contextualist theory of temporal standpoints, standpoint inheritance, is designed to enhance Priorian temporal logics. The proposal helps all branching time systems, not only those with an open future. Even though an account of temporal standpoints goes a long way towards aiding various analyses from a linguistic standpoint, theories that designate a true future ultimately succumb to philosophical difficulties. Under open futurism, standpoint inheritance commandeers the best semantic evidence for true futurism. Standpoint inheritance accounts for the evidence, but the evidence does not support true futurism's stronger claims. Furthermore, attempts to explain why one timeline is privileged as the actual future lead to fatalism. Open futurism and a related kind of open theism are the only viable alternatives under dynamic, branching time. If true futurism is feasible at all, it is so only with a static or eternalist basis. Standpoint inheritance is very general. It is applied to every system discussed in this analysis to handle damning linguistic shortcomings of traditional logics. Standpoint inheritance yields several other fruitful results, too. The theory helps clarify what it is for characterizations of God's beliefs to be soft and how his beliefs must differ from normal beliefs to retain softness. For open futurism, all strings of consecutive "will's" and "was's" can be reduced to at most two such operators under standpoint inheritance, but not under traditional theories. The open futurist distinction between "will" and "will-inevitably" is clarified, too. Standpoint inheritance allows for a supervaluationist semantics using open futurism as its basis instead of the usual true futurism. The theory of standpoint inheritance enhances dynamic, branching accounts of time to better compete with their static correlates. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

With the focus on how a sample of 25 Arab ESL learners respond to the TOEFL-iBT reading tasks, this study aimed to find out what strategies respondents tend to use, investigate if there are differences between high- and low-scorers in strategy use, and determine aspects of effective strategy use among respondents. Data were collected using a procedural integration of stimulated recall, self-observation, and retrospective interview (SRSORI). A pilot study was conducted to evaluate and refine materials and procedures. Data collection was carried out over three stages. First, each participant was oriented to SRSORI and trained in producing verbal reports. Second, the participant responded to two reading sets, and thus was engaged in two SRSORI sessions. And third, the participant was debriefed about his test performance and scores. Data were then transcribed, and results of item analyses were used to decide on episodes for coding. A coding scheme was constructed for each task item by means of inductive coding. Data analysis made use of frequencies to identify patterns of strategy use and qualitative accounts to describe strategy use in relation to such factors as item format, scoring level, and answer correctness. Major findings were as follows. Test takers used strategies depending on item format and difficulty in ways that allowed them to achieve different goals, adapt strategies to various task items, and apply strategies using several textual and technical means. High test performance and scoring were characterized by superior skills of both comprehension and test-management as well as high levels of strategic awareness and monitoring. Conversely, low test performance and scoring were associated with poor skills of comprehension and excessive use of test-wiseness. And, test takers sequenced strategies such that certain strategies derived from other strategies, endorsed or facilitated functions of other strategies, or acted in sync with other strategies. It was concluded that strategy use has three facets: purposeful, multi-form, and resourceful. High test performance and scoring on reading tasks draw on response behaviors and strategies that differ from those associated with low performance and scoring. And, aspects of effective strategy use occur in tandem with logical sequences of strategies. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

In a synchronous serial data-transmission system using iterative detection process, the received signal is sampled and each signal element is detected by means of an iterative process that uses some or all sample values dependent on that element. The intersymbol interference of the signal element in the following elements is then cancelled, before the detection of the next element, and so on.

Paradoxically, the religio-commercial importance of the Meccan region turned out to be little in favour and more against the interest of the Sharifs of Mecca. They had long been compelled to acknowledge the sovereignty of various rulers and during the Burji period have also forfeited Much of the their revenue as well as their control of the administration. The present study deals with various aspects associated with the history of Mecca and shows the effect of the manifold grip of the Burji Sultans. The first two chapters concentrates on the manifestation of political activities of local Ashraf. The dependencies of Mecca have also been examined with particular reference to the elevation of certain Sharifs to the exalted position of Na'ib al-Sultan in the Hijaz and the nature of relationship between the Sharifs of Mecca and non Egyptian Sultans. Chapters III-VII of this thesis discusses the general economic condition and various sources of income and expenditures of the Sharifs of Mecca are examined. The survey reveals that the Sharifs obtained a considerable amount of money from tolls, custom dues and other sources not related to trade. These various financial gains of the Sharifs diminished greatly after 828/1425 in consequence of the diversion of most of the revenue to Cairo by the Egyptian Sultans. Their other direct or indirect exploitation had a very detrimental effect on the general prosperity of the region. The last three chapters are devoted to treat issues relevant to local administration. It shows that almost entire administration was controlled by the Sharifi officials until 828/1425. From that year onwards their authority dwindled and the Sultani officials acquired ever increasing influence and dominance. The simultaneous functioning of these two groups of officials caused occasional friction which were usually resolved in favour of the Sultani officials.

Acute lung injury was studied in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), smoke inhalation injury in fire victims and radiation injury following radiotherapy for bronchial carcinoma. In vitro methods for processing broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) specimens and for studying alveolar macrophage (AM) function were developed, assessed and used in comparing these patient groups with control subjects (CS). The AM was the predominant cell in BAL samples from radiogically clear areas (RCA) in CAP patients and in CS. The proportion of AM subgroups in BAL fluid from RCA as determined by macrophage markers was similar to CS apart from NA1/34 (T6) positive (Langerhans) cells which was lower in specimens from RCA. Furthermore BAL fluid from CS and RCA in CAP were similar in their levels of albumin, complement components and products of complement activation. Both unstimulated and stimulated migration of AM from RCA in CAP towards zymosan activated (ZAS), casein and f-met-leu-phe was impaired. The impaired migration was associated with reduced generation of the respiratory burst by AM from RCA. This impairment of AM function could not be attributed to an inhibiting factor in the BAL fluid from these areas. Examination of peripheral blood cells did not reveal similar functional impairment thus making it unlikely to be due to a systemic effect of pneumonia. Neutrophils were the predominant cells in BAL fluid obtained from areas of consolidation (AOC) in CAP patients. AOC also contained significantly higher proportions of UCHM1 positive cells (monocytes) and RFD7 positive cells. In addition BAL fluid from these lung areas showed significantly high chemotatic activity to neutrophils, along with very high levels of albumin, components of complement and products of complement activation. Due to technical difficulties limited information was obtained on function of AM from AOC. This suggested depression of generation of the respiratory burst. The cell composition in BAL fluid from patients with smoke inhalation injury alone or with burns showed significantly higher proportions of neutrophils than CS. This increase in neutrophils was not seen in patients with burns only. There was a significant increase in the proportion of RFD9 positive cells in patients with smoke inhalation only and UCHM1 positive cells in those with smoke and burns injury. AM from patients with smoke inhalation injury showed increased migration compared to those from CS. This was most marked in AM obtained from patients with combined smoke inhalation and burns injury. They showed significantly higher AM unstimulated and stimulated migration towards casein, ZAS and f-met-leu- phe. Again patients with burns only did not show such increase in AM migration. Furthermore, BAL fluid from patients with combined injury showed significantly higher functional chemotatic activity than those from CS; associated with significantly higher levels of albumin, complement components and products of complement activation. BAL fluid from patients with burns only did not show any chemotatic activity. BAL samples from patients with bronchial carcinoma before radiotherapy showed similar proportions of cells to CS. However, BAL from tumour areas following radiotherapy contained significantly lower proportions of macrophages and significantly higher proportion of neutrophils than CS. There were no significant differences in the proportions of macrophage subgroups between CS and patients with bronchial carcinoma before or after radiotherapy. There was functional impairment of AM from patients with bronchial carcinoma and this was more marked in samples obtained from tumour areas. Some improvement in AM function appeared to occur following radiotherapy.

This is a study of the media of mass communication in Saudi Arabia in relation to the social, political, economic and cultural features of Saudi Arabian society. It takes as its starting point the idea of "normative" theories of the press as originally formulated by Siebert and his Colleagues in 1956 and extended by McQuail in 1983. These authors saw the media systems of different countries as approximating to one of four (later six) ideal types, each represented by a different media theory, which in turn derives from the political and economic characteristics of the country in question. Siebert classified the Saudi Arabian media as conforming to his Authoritarian theory of the media. An important objective of the present research was to assess the adequacy and accuracy of this classification particularly in the light of the later formulated "Development Media Theory" (something which was in itself to be critically examined in the context of historically changing conceptions of development). The history of the Arabian peninsula is traced and Saudi Arabia's political, economic and social structures are examined in detail in order to show how these factors influence the nature of the Saudi media. The development, functioning and content of the media are described, and a case study of one press establishment is offered in illustration. Saudi media policy and the laws and regulations governing the media are explained with reference to official documents. This analysis leads to the conclusions that the Saudi Arabian media system does indeed display a number of Authoritarian features. However it is argued that as an aid to understanding such a classification as Siebert's is far from helpful, omitting as it does any analysis of the particular derivation of these features from Saudi Arabia's Islamic Theocracy and their relevance to the pace and form of Saudi development. The final section of this study attempts to expand this argument integrating the roles played by Saudi Arabia's cultural and religious history and current developmental state, to present a more detailed classification of the Saudi media.