Saudi Arabia’s Education Reform: How School Leaders Can Foster Positive Change

With Saudi Arabia’s nationwide school reforms through the Vision 2030 program, it is important for the country’s teachers to be able to successfully implement change.  Unfortunately, many education systems around the globe struggle with reform due to teacher resistance stemming from such issues as a lack of resources and insufficient support from school leaders.  In this study, four female teachers in Saudi Arabia responded to open-ended interview questions regarding the challenges of implementing school reforms and the ways in which school leaders help the teachers navigate reforms successfully.  Data revealed themes in the teachers’ descriptions of reform challenges to include: too many responsibilities placed on teachers, a lack of resources, and a lack of shared decision-making.  In participant descriptions of the ways school leaders can be more effective, themes included providing more guidance and encouragement, collaborating and communicating with teachers, having awareness of unique needs at each school, providing more resources for implementing change, and showing more appreciation for teacher efforts. Keywords: Teachers, Leadership, Reforms, Saudi Arabia, Vision 203

Investigation of the optical and electrical properties of dilute nitride compound semiconductors based on GaP

The effect of nitrogen (N) incorporation on the optical properties of Gallium phosphide GaP1-xNx (x= 1.4%, 2.1%, and 2.7%) alloys grown by MBE, have been investigated in this thesis. In addition, the influence of adding arsnic (As) and indium (In) on the optical properties of GaAs0.1P0.89N0.01 and In0.07Ga0.93P0.99N0.01 alloys have been studied. The PL measurements demonstrated the change of the bandgap nature from indirect to pseudo-direct in all the above devices. PL intensity decreased with increasing N concentrations as well as the bandgap energy. GaAs0.1P0.89N0.01 alloy has shown better PL intensity, FWHM and reached the target bandgap of solar cells materials based on Si substrate which is 1.8 eV compared to In0.07Ga0.93P0.99N0.01 alloy. Furthermore, the effect of different epilayer thickness (100 nm and 1 μm) on the optical properties of GaAs0.1P0.89N0.01 alloys have been studied. Increasing the thickness allowed to enhance the optical efficiency by increasing the PL intensity, reducing the FWHM and raising the activation energy. However, the bandgap shifted towards higher energy (higher than 1.8 eV) Also in this thesis, the effect of RTA on the optical and structural properties of GaP0.986N0.014, GaAs0.1P0.89N0.01 and In0.07Ga0.93P0.99N0.01 devices have been examined. From an optical point of view, all samples had a blue shift in their bandgap energy after annealing. It increased also the PL intensities as well as the activation energies for all alloys. The S-shape behaviour was not affected much by annealing these materials. However, the FWHM showed smaller values after annealing the samples, indicating that RTA reduced the defects. From a structural per-spective, RTA decreased the surface roughness of GaP0.986N0.014, however, no change in N-induced in vertical lattice spacing was observed. A small reduction of vertical lattice parame-ter and an increase of the surface roughness were caused by annealing for both GaAs0.1P0.89N0.01 and In0.07Ga0.93P0.99N0.01 alloys. Moreover, I-V, C-V, DLTS, and Laplace DLTS measurement techniques were used to investigate the effect of RTA on the electrical properties of p-i-n GaAsPN solar structure materials grown by MBE. This study showed a noticeable effect of annealing on the samples and was correlated to the creation of new defects. RTA improved the electrical properties of this material by reducing the concentration and /or capture cross-section values of major defects. Overall, rapid thermal annealing is an effective treatment process to improve the optical, structural and electrical properties of different semiconductor structures and devices

Look, Listen, and Attack: Backdoor Attacks Against Video Action Recognition

Deep neural networks (DNNs) are vulnerable to a class of attacks called "backdoor attacks", which create an association between a backdoor trigger and a target label the attacker is interested in exploiting. A backdoored DNN performs well on clean test images, yet persistently predicts an attacker-defined label for any sample in the presence of the backdoor trigger. Although backdoor attacks have been extensively studied in the image domain, there are very few works that explore such attacks in the video domain, and they tend to conclude that image backdoor attacks are less effective in the video domain. In this work, we revisit the traditional backdoor threat model and incorporate additional video-related aspects to that model. We show that poisoned-label image backdoor attacks could be extended temporally in two ways, statically and dynamically, leading to highly effective attacks in the video domain. In addition, we explore natural video backdoors to highlight the seriousness of this vulnerability in the video domain. And, for the first time, we study multi-modal (audiovisual) backdoor attacks against video action recognition models, where we show that attacking a single modality is enough for achieving a high attack success rate

Impact of Knowledge and Attitude on Saudis’ Physical Activity Practice and Inactivity Barriers: A Questionnaire-based Study

BACKGROUND: Community participation in physical activity is considered a major public health preference of WHO. Saudi Arabia in the last decades faced many tremendous economic changes leading to adoption of western dietary habits associated with sedentary lifestyle. AIM: We aimed to study the relationship between both physical activity knowledge and attitude of community to the practice of individuals. METHODS: We used a questionnaire consists of a mixture of closed-ended questions. Participants were recruited through direct meetings in local markets, schools, and workplaces. Seven hundred and sixty six individuals agreed to participate. RESULTS: Overall correct answers to questions about importance of physical activity were 76.58%. The predominance of participants’ attitude was to establish public places for physical activity in each neighborhood (92.1%). Participants acknowledged that they exercise to improve their health (47.5%). Participants mainly perform light exercises (47.2%) on basis of 1–3 times weekly (48.9%). About 90.8% of participants admitted that they like to increase duration of their physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Overall physical activity practice of participants’ needs encourage overcoming obstacles that prevent individuals from practicing especially lack of time

Acute Kidney Injury Caused Due to Colistin Therapy: A Case Report Study Analysis

An abrupt bout of kidney damage or failure that lasts a few hours to a few days is referred to as acute renal failure (ARF) or acute kidney injury (AKI). Nephrotoxicity is classified into the following categories: R-risk, I-injury, F-failure, L-loss of function, and E-end stage renal failure. It is inherited, brought on by medications, and associated with diabetes, liver diseases, and heart issues. Typically, a drug's dose-dependent nephrotoxicity affects its severity. Multi-medication resistant (MDR) infections have led to an unprecedented increase in the use of Colistin medicine. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and other gram-negative bacteria are to blame. One type of bacteria is Acinetobacter baumannii. This paper will provide the case of a 62-year-old male patient who was admitted to the hospital after receiving a diagnosis of venous thromboembolism and anemia. Human-acquired pneumonia results from Acinetobacter baumannii's multidrug resistance, which makes the bacteria only responsive to the antibiotics colistin and azithromycin meropenem. Two days after commencing the (Oliguria-500) medicine, there was a decrease in urine production. The renal parenchyma showed changes, and the levels of creatinine were elevated to 3.18 mg/dL. USG has been seen. Laboratory results indicate that he suffered from AKI Colistin and demonstrates strong (Naranjo score: 8) usually connected to AKI. Drug dosages were not changed. It was routine practice to monitor BUN and creatinine levels. The amount of urine produced increased to 2450 mL 15 days following treatment. Respiratory failure is one of the neurological side effects of collistin was ignored. On discharge day, the patient was stable and doing well. It seems from this that if the medication is beneficial and the risk is manageable, there is no reason to stop taking it; however, careful observation is needed. Diminish the quantity of adverse reactions

Sequence analysis of the VSX1 and SOD1 genes in families with Keratoconus and a review of the literature

AbstractObjectiveKeratoconus (KC) is a non-inflammatory disorder of the cornea in which the cornea becomes thin and conical, inducing myopia and irregular astigmatism and resulting in mild to marked impairment of vision. The present study was designed to screen two candidate KC genes to identify pathogenic sequence variants responsible for KC in Saudi families.MethodsPeripheral blood samples from members of five Saudi families with KC from the Northern region were collected. Genomic DNA was isolated, and bidirectional sequencing was performed of all coding exons of VSX1 and SOD1 genes using Sanger sequencing.ResultsAll five of the KC families showed a pattern of autosomal recessive inheritance. Phenotyping of these families was performed by a senior ophthalmologist. Sequence analysis of the VSX1 and SOD1 genes failed to reveal any pathogenic sequence variant that could account for KC in the affected individuals.ConclusionOur failure to detect sequence variants in two of the known KC associated genes triggers an interest in other known KC candidate genes, including miR-184, DOCK9, IL1RN and SLC4A11. Future genotyping with dense SNP arrays followed by exome sequencing in these families will be a useful approach to identify the gene(s) underlying KC in this Saudi cohort, which may be different from those reported elsewhere

Systematic Review in Patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia for The Role of Prostatic Arterial Embolization

This study aimed at reviewing the role of Prostatic Arterial Embolization (PAE) as a new treatment producer for patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). The study reviewed the recent researches of  Prostatic Arterial Embolization (PAE) as a new treatment technique and concluded that the initial reported results of PAE seem promising, mainly during the first 12 months after treatment. However, no comparison was made to medical therapy or surgical therapies. Overlapping patient data and reporting bias could not be excluded. None of the included studies performed a power analysis. Also, a relatively small number of patients are treated with a short follow-up period. Therefore, more studies are needed with more patients and longer periods of follow-up, compared with standard medical and surgical therapies, to assess whether PAE is an effective and safe alternative treatment for BPH

Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes among Youths in Jordan: Incidence and Trends for the period (2011-2016)

This study aimed at analyzing the incidence of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes among youths in Jordan for the period (2011-2016), the researchers adopted the survey methodology for the period of five years from the records of the medical centers (public and private) in Jordan. Also investigated the differences between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in diagnosis and treatments. Results showed significant upward trend in the incidence of type 1 diabetes was observed overall with considerable variation across demographic subgroups of age, sex. And also showed among youths who were 10 to 19 years of age, unadjusted models revealed significant increases in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with increases observed across all age and sex

Generalized Lymphadenopathy as the First Presentation of Granulocytic Sarcoma: A Diagnostic Challenge

Introduction. Granulocytic sarcoma (GS), also known as chloroma or extramedullary myeloblastoma, is a solid tumor composed of primitive precursors of the granulocytic series that include myeloblasts, promyelocytes, and myelocytes. Granulocytic sarcoma is a rare tumor that may develop during acute myeloid leukemia (AML) but less frequently may precede its presentation. Although generalized lymph node enlargement is a presentation for malignant lymphoma, it can also rarely be the early presenting sign of GS. Methods. We present a case of GS mimicking lymphoma in a 45-year-old male. The patient presented with bilateral neck masses and had widespread, prominent lymphadenopathy secondary to AML as the first presenting manifestation of GS for the last 4 months with concurrent marrow AML. Result. A clinical diagnosis of lymphoma was suspected; fine needle aspiration cytology findings were also suggestive of lymphoma. However, peripheral blood and bone marrow examination reported as acute myeloid leukemia with monocytic differentiation and histopathology of excised lymph node confirmed it to be a GS not lymphoma. Conclusion. GS is often misdiagnosed as malignant lymphoma because of cytomorphologic and histologic similarities of the blasts to large cell lymphoma. A careful search for immature myeloid is a useful clue to the diagnosis accompanied with appropriate immunophenotyping

Vitamin D supplementation as a fall prevention method: A systematic review

BackgroundFalls are ‎common occurrences events leading to ‎remarkable morbidity and ‎mortality. Vitamin D supplementation is often recommended to prevent falls, although vitamin D trials‎ conclude contradictory results.AimsThis review aimed to summarize the available RCTs that studied the effect of ‎vitamin ‎D administered on falls in older adults.Methods Pub Med, ‎Google Scholar, and EBSCO ‎ databases were systematically search for relevant articles. The terms ‎ vitamin D, falls, ergocalciferols, 25-hydroxy vitamin D, and ‎‎1, ‎‎25-dihydroxy vitamin D‎ were used. out of Three hundred and four, only ‎eleven fulfilled ‎the inclusion criteria.Results In the majority of the randomized control trial, vitamin D supplementation provides protection against falls among the elderly population.ConclusionThe majority of the studies concluded that vitamin D alone or ‎in ‎combination with calcium was a ‎successful fall ‎reduction method among the ‎elderly