THE PERSUASIVE USE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA 2030 VISION

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the nations that has recommitted to rebranding in modern times, capitalizing on public relations as persuasion techniques. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through their Vision 2030 endeavors towards attaining a revamped economy that will attract foreign investors, rebrand the nation and establish mutually beneficial relations between the Kingdom and its domestic and international publics. Vision 2030 was officially coined in 2016 by then then Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). Vision 2030 is anchored around three primary pillars: developing a vibrant society; secondly, establishing a thriving economy, and developing an ambitious nation. This paper comprises of five chapters that trace the historical beginning of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the early royal Saudi family, to the contemporary rebranding attempts by Prince MBS. Chapter one titled ‘Saudi Arabia Vision 2030’ traces the historical beginnings of the Kingdom and the emergence of Vision 2030 economic plan. Chapter Two titled ‘Public Relations and Saudi Vision 2030’ analyzes how implementation of Vision 2030 capitalized on public relations techniques. Chapter Three titled ‘Persuasion and Public Relations’ examines the concept of persuasion in context to ethos, pathos and logos, and associates with the public relations in context to the Kingdom’s rebranding effort. Chapter Four titled ‘Case Study on Quality-of-Life Program (Saudi Green Initiative)’ examines the manners Saudi Green Initiative was capitalized as a persuasion tool. Chapter Five tilted ‘Conclusion and Recommendation’ culminates this paper offering a summary of analysis and an informative conclusion

The Impact of Contrast Media on Image Quality in MRI: Simple Review Article

Contrast media (CM) are employed in imaging modalities to amplify the distinctions between bodily tissues in pictures. An optimal contrast agent should attain a remarkably high level of concentration in the tissues while avoiding any detrimental consequences. Regrettably, doing this has thus far proven unattainable, and all current CM options have negative consequences. The growing utilization of CM is expected to result in various challenges, such as ensuring compliance and appropriateness of CM usage, selecting the most suitable contrast agent, addressing off-label use, assessing specific patient populations, and possessing the necessary skills to handle emergency situations that may arise after CM administration. An even more significant and potentially crucial matter is the issue of informed consent. This entails the responsibility to provide patients awaiting the administration of CM with detailed information about the procedure itself, any alternative procedures available, the extent of the risks associated with using CM, and the risks associated with refusing the procedure. This review mainly discusses image quality in MRI, MRI contrast agents complexes, and effect on image

Safe Reinforcement Learning via Observation Shielding

Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithms have shown success in scaling up to large problems. However, deploying those algorithms in real-world applications remains challenging due to their vulnerability to adversarial perturbations. Existing RL robustness methods against adversarial attacks are weak to large perturbations - a scenario that cannot be ruled out for RL adversarial threats, as is the case for deep neural networks in classification tasks. This paper proposes a method called observation-shielding RL (OSRL) to increase the robustness of RL against large perturbations using predictive models and threat detection. Instead of changing the RL algorithms with robustness regularization or retrain them with adversarial perturbations, we depart considerably from previous approaches and develop an add-on safety feature for existing RL algorithms during runtime. OSRL builds on the idea of model predictive shielding, where an observation predictive model is used to override the perturbed observations as needed to ensure safety. Extensive experiments on various MuJoCo environments (Ant, Hooper) and the classical pendulum environment demonstrate that our proposed OSRL is safer and more efficient than state-of-the-art robustness methods under large perturbations

Levetiracetam-induced pancytopenia.

Pancytopenia is a rare side effect of levetiracetam (LEV) that is associated with severe morbidity that requires hospitalization. Here, we report a patient with a right temporoparietal tumor who underwent a temporal craniotomy with resection of the mass and was started on LEV for seizure prophylaxis per the neurosurgery local protocol. The patient developed LEV-induced pancytopenia, which was successfully managed by discontinuation of this medication. Our report aims to increase awareness of this rare cause of pancytopenia among clinicians

Characteristics of Sustainable Concrete with Partial Substitutions of Glass Waste as a Binder Material

[EN] Manufacturing waste has been quickly increasing over time as a result of the fast‑rising population as well as the consumption of foods that are thrown away dishonestly, resulting in environmental contamination. As a result, it has been suggested that industrial waste disposal may be considerably reduced if it could be integrated into cement concrete manufacturing. The aim of this study is to analyze the properties of concrete employing waste glass (WG) as a binding material in proportions of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% by weight of cement. The fresh property was assessed using a slump cone test, while mechanical performance was assessed using flexural, compressive, splitting tensile, and pull‑out strength after 7, 28, and 56 days. Furthermore, microstructure analysis was studied by scan elec‑ tronic microscopic (SEM), Fourier‑transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermo‑gravimetric analysis (TGA) test. The results reveal that the addition of discarded glass reduces the workability of concrete. Furthermore, mechanical performance was increased up to a 20% substitution of waste glass and then gradually declined. Waste glass can be employed as a micro filler or pozzolanic material without affecting the mechanical performance of concrete, accord‑ ing to microstructure research.S

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Program’s Residents in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) focuses on stimulating the body’s ability to heal itself through energy alignment, herbal supplementation, and other balancing techniques. AIM: The objective of the study was to investigate and compare the Knowledge Attitude Practice (KAP) of CAM among program’s residents in Tabuk region. METHODS: A cross-sectional CAP study was conducted among program’s residents in Tabuk region. All program’s residents of all specialties in Tabuk region were included in the study. Data were collected by predesigned electronic questionnaire covering the needed items. Collected data were coded and analyzed using SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA. The Chi-square test was used as a test of significance and p = 0.05 or less was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Most (95.8%) of the participants have heard about CAM, 25% have used CAM in treatment before, and 72.3% of them reported beneficial outcome, 25.7% strongly agree and 48.6% agree that CAM is a useful complement to pharmacological medicine, 38.2% believed that the results of CAM are usually due to the placebo effect, and 52.1% recommended using CAM. On the other hand, 79.9% have knowledge about acupuncture, 54.9% spiritual healing and herbal medicine, 43.1% massage, 41% yoga, 70.8% bloodletting cupping, and 56.3% about cauterization. More than third (38.2%) of the participants agreed that the use of herbal products is a valid form of drugs which can be used for the treatment of variety of diseases, 48.6% agreed that CAM is a useful complement to pharmacological medicine, while 36.1% strongly agreed that CAM treatments are not tested in a scientifically recognized manner. CONCLUSION: In our study, the majority of program’s residents in Tabuk region agree that CAM is a useful complement to pharmacological medicine and recommended using CAM while reasonable percentage of them believed that the results of CAM are usually due to the placebo effect

The Importance of Preventive Medicine in Family Practice: A Review of Current Guidelines and Recommendations

Prevention is seen as a critical topic in family practice. Primordial prevention, primary prevention, secondary prevention, tertiary prevention, and quaternary prevention are all part of this strategy to disease prevention. To avoid the formation and development of risk factors, primary prevention focuses on addressing the fundamental causes and social determinants of disease. Primary prevention is the practice of preventing illnesses before they arise via the use of treatments such as immunizations and health education. Secondary prevention focuses on illness identification and intervention as early as possible to avoid disease development. Tertiary prevention addresses illness outcomes by restoring health and offering rehabilitation. Finally, quaternary prevention seeks to safeguard patients against needless medical treatments and the harm caused by over-medicating. Risks frequently rise in tandem with frailty and comorbidities. In contrast, advantages frequently drop as life expectancy increases. Preventive management strategies should consider the patient's viewpoint and be mutually agreed upon. Healthcare providers must prioritize the deployment of preventive care services, even when clinical treatments are required, in order to overcome preventive care hurdles. Healthcare practitioners may play a critical role in illness prevention and contribute to family well-being by investing in preventive care and executing these measures

The Saudi Critical Care Society practice guidelines on the management of COVID-19 in the ICU: Therapy section

BACKGROUND: The rapid increase in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases during the subsequent waves in Saudi Arabia and other countries prompted the Saudi Critical Care Society (SCCS) to put together a panel of experts to issue evidence-based recommendations for the management of COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: The SCCS COVID-19 panel included 51 experts with expertise in critical care, respirology, infectious disease, epidemiology, emergency medicine, clinical pharmacy, nursing, respiratory therapy, methodology, and health policy. All members completed an electronic conflict of interest disclosure form. The panel addressed 9 questions that are related to the therapy of COVID-19 in the ICU. We identified relevant systematic reviews and clinical trials, then used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach as well as the evidence-to-decision framework (EtD) to assess the quality of evidence and generate recommendations. RESULTS: The SCCS COVID-19 panel issued 12 recommendations on pharmacotherapeutic interventions (immunomodulators, antiviral agents, and anticoagulants) for severe and critical COVID-19, of which 3 were strong recommendations and 9 were weak recommendations. CONCLUSION: The SCCS COVID-19 panel used the GRADE approach to formulate recommendations on therapy for COVID-19 in the ICU. The EtD framework allows adaptation of these recommendations in different contexts. The SCCS guideline committee will update recommendations as new evidence becomes available

Parametric Analysis of a Solar Water Heater Integrated with PCM for Load Shifting

Integrating a solar water heater (SWH) with a phase change material (PCM)-based latent heat storage is an attractive method for transferring load from peak to off-peak hours. This transferring load varies as the physical parameters of the PCM change. Thus, the aim of this study is to perform a parametric analysis of the SWH on the basis of the PCM’s thermophysical properties. A mathematical model was established, and a computation code was developed to describe the physical phenomenon of heat storage/release in/from the SWH system. The thermal energy stored and the energy efficiency are used as key performance indicators of the new SWH–PCM system. The obtained numerical results demonstrate that the used key performance indicators were significantly impacted by the PCM thermo-physical properties (melting temperature, density, and latent heat). Using this model, various numerical simulations are performed, and the results indicate that, SWH with PCM, 20.2% of thermal energy on-peak periods load is shifted to the off-peak period. In addition, by increasing the PCM’s density and enthalpy, higher load shifting is observed. In addition, the PCM, which has a lower melting point, can help the SWH retain water temperature for a longer period of time. There are optimal PCM thermo-physical properties that give the best specific energy recovery and thermal efficiency of the SWH–PCM system. For the proposed SWH–PCM system, the optimal PCM thermo-physical properties, i.e., the melting temperature is 313 K, the density is 3200 kg/m3, and the latent heat is 520 kg/kg