A proposal for the better utilization of the Saudi Coast Guard in providing the immediate emergency response to oil spills

The dissertation is an introductory study to the ways in which the Saudi Coast Guard can be best organized for sharing the responsibilities for responding to oil spills in the territorial waters of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with the Meteorological and Environment Protection Agency of the Ministry of Defence. A brief look is taken at the uses and the state of the marine and coastal environment. Marine areas are described in some detail. An idea of the intensity of oil production and transportation is given. The need for creating background information directed to the future environment control department is stressed throughout the dissertation. This begins with the description of the main international legal instruments, conventions and treaties. A discussion of Law 157 of 20/11/1411 H is also offered. Policies, strategies, classification of oil spills, environmental control and control \u3e procedures are explored with a view to define the way in which the organization can be best structured. An Environmental Control Management Steering Group, the Environmental Protection Task Force of the Saudi Coast Guard is proposed. Responsibilities and functions of the new department are listed. One chapter is dedicated to the details of the proposed organization of the Environment Protection Task Force. The roles of the different elements of the organizational structure, in emergency situations and non-emergency situations are described. A description of the structure and objectives of the Task Force is given. The response to marine oil t spill is considered in detail. Emphasis is placed on oil spills from tankers

Suggested Educational Content to Merge Values And Work Ethics in Islamic Culture Curriculum At Taibah University

The current study aims to investigate the opinions of Taibah University faculty members who teach the Islamic Culture curriculum about the importance of merging values and work ethics. It also aims to explore the viability of including values and work ethics in the curricula content of the Islamic Culture. The target opualtion is all faculty members of Taibah University that teach Islamic culture curricula. The sample of the study consists of (53) faculty members with different degrees (Professor – Associate Professor – Teacher Assistant), who teach Islamic culture curricula. Two tools were used: the first tool is (qualitative) a questionnaire which aims to measure the opinions of faculty members about the importance of merging values and work ethics in Islamic culture curriculums. The second tool is (quantitative) data analysis, which aims to investigate the feasibility of including values and work ethics in the curriculum content of Islamic culture. This study uses descriptive analytical approach: Opinion Reviews and Analysis of the curriculum content under study. The study findings reveal that participants agree about the importance of merging values and work ethics in Islamic culture curriculums with a majority consensus. The findings also indicate that the curriculum content under study shows very little previous merging of values and work ethics

Pneumonia of Viral Etiologies

Pneumonia is a common illness that continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality in both adults and children. Bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus and Haemophilus influenzae are generally considered as the main pathogens in community-acquired pneumonia and Legionella species, Chlamydia pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumonia in atypical pneumonias. In contrast the proportion of pneumonias due to viruses has been both difficult to detect and quantify with any precision. However, with the advent of powerful molecular techniques and rapidly developing technologies a greater number of viruses are being implicated as pathogens and co-pathogens in pneumonia. In the case of adults, the most commonly detected viruses are influenza virus, RSV and parainfluenza. Other viruses that have recently received considerable attention, are H5N1 influenza virus and coronaviruses. Infectious causes of pneumonia in immunocompromised patients include measles, HSV, CMV, HHV-6 and Influenza viruses. Pneumonias caused by other viruses are more rarely reported and include outbreaks of rhinovirus, adenovirus (particularly serotype 14 in military institutions), coronavirus, and metapneumovirus. A range of promising therapeutic targets have been identified and numerous innovative therapeutic treatments demonstrated to improve lung injury due to viral infections

Comparative Review between Youth in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia

Youth population in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia are large and growing. In Saudi Arabia, the definition of youth involves those people falling from 15 to 24 years. In Malaysia, the definition of youth involves those people from 15 to 40 years of age. They form part of the largest population in both countries, and this implies that the future of young generation will depend on the above discussed patterns such as their education, culture, food, mode of dressing, restriction on cinema, music and sports, news media and religion, and literature and sports. Keywords: Youth in Saudi Arabia; Youth in Malaysia; young generation and Youth and Developmen

Outcomes of therapy of immunologically-mediated diseases of the oral mucosa

Immune-mediated diseases (IMDs) can give rise to long standing painful oral mucosal disease which adversely affect oral function and perhaps lessens quality of life. The present series of studies, retrospectively determine the clinical presentation and long-term efficacy and safety of treatment of large groups of patients with oral lichen planus, mucous membrane pemphigoid, pemphigus vulgaris and orofacial granulomatosis. These diseases are some of the challenging disorders to be managed by oral medicine specialists. It was found that patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) rarely have extra-oral manifestations of LP. The symptoms of OLP can generally be controlled with topical corticosteroids and/or tacrolimus. While tacrolimus is not notably better than topical corticosteroids for the management of OLP, it does not seem to increase any risk of malignant transformation. Adverse side effects are uncommon with topical corticosteroids, while 21% of patients with OLP may have adverse side effects with tacrolimus, particularly unpleasant taste. In the present cohort of 49 patients with orofacial granulomatosis (OFG) the onset of disease was characterised by facial swelling in 50% and the long-term behaviour of OFG was characterised by the development of further clinical manifestations with most patients developing orofacial swelling and/or intra-oral ulceration. The response of OFG to therapy was typically remitting and although a lessening of soft tissue swelling oral ulceration could generally be achieved with topical and/or systemic therapy. Complete remission of facial swelling occurred in 50% of patients within 3 years of therapy but may be achieved quicker when intra-lesional corticosteroids are used. Spontaneous remission was rare. Significant adverse side effects to therapy were rare. In a cohort of 62 patients, mucous membrane pemphigoid typically manifested as recurrent oral mucosal ulceration and/or desquamative gingivitis and 32.3% patients had some extra-oral involvement. Treatment generally lessened painful symptoms however gingival lesions rarely resolved. Adverse side effects affected 50% of patients; however in the majority of affected individuals these were minor. In a cohort of 40 patients with pemphigus vulgaris the mouth was often the initial site of involvement but other mucocutaneous sites could be affected. Management necessitated topical and systemic therapy. Adverse side effects occurred in 50% patients and were mainly associated with systemic immunosuppressive agents (e.g. azathioprine). The results of this present study indicate that the long-term treatment of IMDs of the oral mucosal are challenging to both the patients and clinicians. While many patients do experience an improvement in their disease status, many do not. The precise impact of IMDs upon the quality of life of affected individuals remains unclear

Second language learners of English in transition: an investigation of female learner identity in a Saudi context

This one-year qualitative, multiple case study investigates identity as constructed by four Arab women attending the preparatory programme of a Saudi Englishmedium university and then moving on to their freshman year. From a broadly poststructuralist perspective, constructions of identity are investigated in two different ways: firstly, from a longitudinal view, continuities and changes in participants’ big narratives are examined and secondly, subject positions which emerge in selected small stories are analysed in more detail. Interpretation and analysis were guided by a second language learning theoretical framework which views the learner as integrated in their learning context. However, in order to reach a more nuanced understanding than narrative inquiry studies of identity which focus on extracting themes in terms of the individual learner, self-presentation, performance/positioning devices, the interactive accomplishment of talk and the wider social context were also examined. Shifting identity positions problematized continuity which created a complex picture of EL2 learner identity. Subject positions emerged in interaction which linked participants’ wider social identities to their investments in language learning and their imagined selves. In positioning themselves as members of social groups, participants developed voices of resistance to contest institutional and patriarchal discourses and to create agentive spaces. Thus, through the use of an innovative methodology, this thesis contributes to an understanding of language learner, gender, language and religious identities in the Saudi context. It also makes a contribution to the understanding of transition into Englishmedium higher education in Saudi Arabia. Transition is seen as a destabilizing stage in a learning career and as a renegotiation of identity in order to engage with new learning practices and groups. Post-transition identities were constructed in escape narratives and performances of critical turning points. Only one participant performed a transitional narrative identity which indicated social, linguistic and academic engagement with her new learning/discourse community

Effects of Organizational Cultural Changes in Organizational Development, Case Study on Od Practitioners/Consultants

This qualitative study examine organizational development (OD) consultants point of view regarding Organizational culture change and organizational performance. Investigation based on this main question: How organizational cultural changes can affect the performance of organizations? The main objective of this study is to critically evaluate the strategies of organizational development regarding cultural change. Study reveals that organizational performance is related with organizational culture change. The study finds that people behaviors in organizations, environment of organization and process of change can play a vital role in culture change process. Keywords: Organizational development; Organizational Culture; Performance; Consultants.

Effects of etching duration on the surface roughness, surface loss, flexural strength, and shear bond strength to a resin cement of e.max cad glass ceramic

EFFECTS OF ETCHING DURATION ON THE SURFACE ROUGHNESS, SURFACE LOSS, FLEXURAL STRENGTH OF E.MAX CAD GLASS CERAMIC AND SHEAR BOND STRENGTH TO A RESIN CEMENT Background: Long-term retention of ceramic restorations is dependent on the bond strength of the luting resin to both the tooth and porcelain substrates. In order to achieve successful bonding, the surface of the porcelain substrate must be modified to increase the surface roughness, and this can be achieved chemically by hydrofluoric (HF) acid etching. However, prolonged HF acid etching has shown to have a weakening effect on the evaluated lithium disilicate glass-ceramics. Therefore, it is essential to quantify the required etching duration of HF acid to minimize the possible deleterious effects on ceramic strength while maximizing the bond strength to tooth structure. Objectives: To evaluate the effects of HF acid etching duration on the surface roughness, surface loss, flexural strength, and shear bond strength of IPS e.max CAD (Ivoclar Vivadent) lithium disilicate-based glass ceramic to a resin cement. Hypothesis: The differences in HF acid etching durations will not have a significant effect on the surface roughness, surface loss, flexural strength, or shear bond strength of IPS e.max CAD to a resin cement. Methods: 168 specimens were prepared from IPS e.max CAD blocks. All specimens were polished and sonically cleaned in distilled water. Specimens were fired in the vacuum pump furnace according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Specimens were then divided into 4 groups, according to etching durations, then further divided into 3 subgroups, according to the properties tested. Group A was not etched (control), Groups B, C and D were etched with 5-percent HF acid (IPS Ceramic Etching gel, Ivoclar Vivadent) for 20 s, 60 s and 90 s respectively. The morphologies of both etched and non-etched surfaces in specimens of subgroup 1 of each etching group (n = 16/group) were observed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, non-contact surface profilometry (Proscan 2000) was used to calculate the surface loss and to examine the surface roughness of the etched ceramic surfaces and roughness values (Ra, Rq) were documented for each group. Furthermore, etched specimens of subgroup 2 (n = 16/group) were silanated (Monobond Plus, Ivoclar Vivadent) and cemented with a resin cement (Multilink Automix, Ivoclar Vivadent). The shear bond strength (SBS) was measured using a universal mechanical testing machine. For each etching group, subgroup 3 specimens (n = 10/group) were loaded to failure in a three-point bending test to measure their flexural strength values using a universal mechanical testing machine. Data for surface roughness, surface loss, and flexural strength were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), to identify the significant effects of different HF acid etching durations. Data for shear bond strength test were analyzed using two-way ANOVA to test the effects of etching duration, storage for 24 hours/thermocycling, and their interaction. All pair-wise comparisons from ANOVA analysis were made using Fisher’s Protected Least Significant Differences to control the overall significance level at 5 percent. Results: Difference in HF etching durations did not have a significant effect on surface roughness values Ra or Rq (p = 0.3408; p = 0.3245) respectively, but had a significant effect on surface loss (p = 0.0006). SBS values were not significantly different between experimental groups (p = 0.4650); however, SBS values after 24-h storage were significantly higher than that found after thermocycling (p = 0.0166) among different etching durations. Finally, different HF etching durations did not have a significant effect on flexural strength values (p = 0.1260). Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, different HF etching durations did not have a significant effect on surface roughness, flexural strength, or shear bond strength of IPS e.max CAD. However, the different etching durations significantly affected the surface loss of the lithium disilicate glass ceramics