An investigation of antecedents and consequences of organisational commitment among government administrative employees in Saudi Arabia

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Organisational commitment, viewed as a measurable psychological state, is a core variable of interest in Organisational Behaviour research. It has been studied for more than four decades, largely focusing on the identification of its antecedents and consequences. One widely used conceptualisation is Meyer and Allen‘s (1991) three-component model of commitment, which considers commitment as having three forms: affective, continuance and normative (emotional attachment to an organisation, the perceived cost associated with leaving it and the perceived obligation to remain in it). This research contributes in three ways to improving our understanding of public-sector work behaviour, with particular reference to organisational commitment. Firstly, it examines the multi-dimensionality of organisational commitment. Secondly, it explores the relationships between Meyer and Allen‘s three components, modifying the concept of continuance commitment to include two sub-components, high personal sacrifice and low perceived alternatives, thus proposing a four-factor model, Antecedents and Consequences of Organisational Commitment Components (ACOCC). Thirdly, it considers antecedent variables, including Hofstede‘s (1980) four cultural dimensions (individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and masculinity/femininity), as well as selected consequences: in role behaviour, organisational citizen behaviour and employee intention to leave. These selected variables are deemed to be suitable for Saudi Arabian culture and have never been tested before in that context. The study investigates how the commitment components are associated with and mediate relationships with the set of possible work behaviours. Using a sample of 700 employees from different organisation levels (drawn from 16 Saudi ministries in two cities, Riyadh and Jeddah) the hypotheses were tested through structural equation modelling, which confirmed the fit of the proposed recursive ACOCC model. The regression paths were significant between the antecedents (opportunities for learning, impersonal bureaucratic arrangements and Hofstede‘s four cultural dimensions) and affective and normative commitment, as well as for continuance commitment for reasons of high personal sacrifice. Intention to leave and organisational citizen behaviour were fully mediated by the commitment components. Thus the findings reveal the level and form of organisational commitment among public-sector employees and of relationships between the antecedents and consequences of that commitment in a non-Western culture, specifically Saudi Arabia. In particular, they highlight the significant mediation role of organisational commitment. The findings also permit exploration of a number of issues pertaining to cultural dimensions impacting on organisational commitment. Noteworthy here, for example, is the high degree of uncertainty avoidance found among Saudi public-sector top-level managers. These different results have important implications for the nature and management of commitment among government employees in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries as a whole

Characterization of CTX-M β-lactamases in Enterobacteriaceae from major teaching hospitals

Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae cause a wide range of infections. Multidrug-resistance strains carrying extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) has become a growing problem worldwide. The CTX-M type ESBLs has emerged distinctly, especially in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. CTX-M type has been associated with many outbreaks of infections both in the hospitals and community. CTX-M-15 is now identified as the most predominantly distributed CTX-M enzyme. Clonal outbreaks of CTX-M-15 producing Enterobacteriaceae have been described in many countries including the United Kingdom, and Escherichia coli is the most commonly involved species. A total of 100 isolates were received in 2010 from London St George’s hospital, England, 50 Escherichia coli, 17 Klebsiella spp, 9 Enterobacter spp, 13 Proteus spp, 6 Lactose fermenting coliforms, 2 Pantoea spp, one Serratia marcescens, one Morganella morganii, and one Hafnia alvei. The antimicrobial susceptibility results showed that 5 Escherichia coli and one Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates were found to be resistance to cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin, and gentamicin, making them multi-drug resistant bacteria. None of the isolates showed resistance to imipenem, ertapenem, or morepenem, thus making carbapenems the drug of choice for the treatment of these infections due to multi-resistant isolates. The overall frequency of CTX-M-15 type ESBL-producers detected in this study was 6 (6%) most of them 5/6 (83%) were from Escherichia coli and one was (17%) Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. The 6 CTX-M-positive isolates were typed by PFGE, only two strains of Escherichia coli showed more than 85% similarity, owing to clonal homology for both strains. The rest strains showed less than 85% similarity. S1 nuclease plasmid profiles were obtained for ESBL-producers isolates. A total of one to three plasmids per isolate, ranging from approximately 78.0 to 152.0 kb, were observed. The plasmids from most isolates were assigned to be IncFA and IncFB replicons. Analysis of phylogenetic groups showed group A and group B2. The method of phylogenetic classification of exteraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli depends on examine and combination of two preserved genes (chuaA and yjaA) and the DNA fragment TSP. Primer walking and PCR experiments were used for the genetic environment studies which showed 5 different genetic constructions for the described blaCTX-M-15 genes. Conjugation studies were used to detect the transferability of the plasmids harbouring the reported blaCTX-M-15 genes. Three isolates were found transferable by conjugation. In conclusion, this study reports the presence of hospital highly resistant blaCTX-M-15 in St George’s hospital. The spread of blaCTX-M-15 is probably due to horizontal gene transfer harbouring ISEcp1 and the conjugative properties of plasmids carrying blaCTX-M-15

Complexity science for sleep stage classification from EEG

Automatic sleep stage classification is an important paradigm in computational intelligence and promises consider- able advantages to the health care. Most current automated methods require the multiple electroencephalogram (EEG) chan- nels and typically cannot distinguish the S1 sleep stage from EEG. The aim of this study is to revisit automatic sleep stage classification from EEGs using complexity science methods. The proposed method applies fuzzy entropy and permutation entropy as kernels of multi-scale entropy analysis. To account for sleep transition, the preceding and following 30 seconds of epoch data were used for analysis as well as the current epoch. Combining the entropy and spectral edge frequency features extracted from one EEG channel, a multi-class support vector machine (SVM) was able to classify 93.8% of 5 sleep stages for the SleepEDF database [expanded], with the sensitivity of S1 stage was 49.1%. Also, the Kappa’s coefficient yielded 0.90, which indicates almost perfect agreement

Liquid Metal Application for Continuously Tunable Frequency Reconfigurable Antenna

This paper presents two different designs for frequency reconfigurable antennas capable of continuous tuning. The radiator, for both antenna designs, is a microstrip patch, formed from liquid metal, contained within a microfluidic channel structure. Both patch designs are aperture fed. The microfluidic channel structures are made from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The microfluidic channel structure for the first design has a meander layout and incorporates rows of posts. The simulated antenna provides a frequency tuning range of approximately 118% (i.e. 4.36 GHz) over the frequency range from 1.51 GHz to 5.87 GHz. An experimental result for the fully filled case shows a resonance at 1.49 GHz (1.3% error compared with the simulation). Experienced rheological behavior of the liquid metal necessitates microfluidic channel modifications. For that reason, we modified the channel structure used to realise the radiating patch for the second design. Straight channels are implemented in the second microfluidic device. According to simulation the design yields a frequency tuning range of about 77% (i.e. 3.28 GHz) from 2.62 GHz to 5.90 GHz

Compliance with tobacco control policy and visibility of cigarette retailers around educational facilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background: In Saudi Arabia, cardiovascular diseases are among the top causes of death and disability, and smoking is one of the leading risk factors, particularly among males. Objective: Our study aims to evaluate the compliance with the anti-smoking law among cigarette retailers and examine the visibility of cigarette retailers around educational facilities in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. Methods: We conducted a mapping survey and geospatial analysis of cigarette retailers around educational facilities from February to March 2020 (before the COVID-19 restriction) in Al-Olaya municipality in Riyadh city as a pilot study. We found 249 retailers, of which 152 sold cigarettes. Data analyses in ArcMap 10.6 compared the visibility within 250 and 500 meters from educational facilities. Results: We found many retailers were not compliant with the tobacco control regulation: 57.1% of minimarkets sell cigarettes, 15.8% of cigarette retailers display the products openly, and 12.5% of cigarette retailers sold cigarettes by the stick. Moreover, 71% of the total cigarette retailers were within 500 m from schools, and 62% of all schools had at least one cigarette retailer within 500 m buffer (5-min walking or 2–3-min driving distance). Conclusion: There is non-compliance with the anti-smoking law among cigarette retailers and high visibility of cigarette retailers around educational facilities in Saudi Arabia. Monitoring is needed for the effective implementation of tobacco control policies

Consumption of a flavonoid-rich acai meal is associated with acute improvements in vascular function and a reduction in total oxidative status in healthy overweight men

Background: Acai (Euterpe oleracea) is a polyphenol-rich fruit marketed as beneficial for health. Experimental data showing improvements in health markers arising from acai consumption in humans is limited. Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of acai consumption on acute changes in vascular function and on other disease risk markers, including postprandial plasma insulin, glucose, and oxidative stress. Design: Twenty-three healthy male volunteers, aged 30–65 y and with a body mass index (in kg/m2) of 25–30, completed a randomized,controlled, high-fat challenge, double-blind, crossover, acute dietary intervention trial. The volunteers consumed either an acai-based smoothie (AS) or a macronutrient-matched control smoothie (PS) together with a high-fat breakfast meal challenge. The primary endpoint was the assessment of endothelial function in the brachial artery by flow-mediated dilatation (FMD). Results: The acute consumption of an AS containing 694 mg total phenolics improved vascular function, with postprandial increases in FMD from baseline of 1.4% at 2 h compared with 0.4% after consumption of the PS (P = 0.001) and increases at 6 h of 0.8% for the AS compared with 20.3% for the PS (P , 0.001). There was also a significantly lower incremental area under the curve (iAUC)for total peroxide oxidative status after acai consumption relative to the control. No significant changes were observed in blood pressure,heart rate, or postprandial glucose response. However, the first postprandial insulin peak (after breakfast) and the iAUC for insulin were elevated for the AS relative to the PS. Conclusions: In this acute study in overweight men, acai consumption was associated with improvements in vascular function, which may lower the risk of a cardiovascular event. Future intervention studies, perhaps with a chronic design, in wider populations and with other biomarkers of disease risk are needed to fully elucidate the benefits of acai to health

Liquid Metal Bandwidth-Reconfigurable Antenna

This letter shows how slugs of liquid metal can be used to connect/disconnect large areas of metalization and achieve a radiation performance not possible by using conventional switches. The proposed antenna can switch its operating bandwidth between ultrawideband and narrowband by connecting/disconnecting the ground plane for the feedline from that of the radiator. This could be achieved by using conventional semiconductor switches. However, such switches provide point-like contacts. Consequently, there are gaps in electrical contact between the switches. Surface currents, flowing around these gaps, lead to significant back radiation. In this letter, the slugs of a liquid metal are used to completely fill the gaps. This significantly reduces the back radiation, increases the bore-sight gain, and produces a pattern identical to that of a conventional microstrip patch antenna. Specifically, the realized gain and total efficiency are increased by 2 dBi and 24%, respectively. The antenna has potential applications in wireless systems employing cognitive radio (CR) and spectrum aggregation

Dietary Supplementation with Different ω-6 to ω-3 Fatty Acid Ratios Affects the Sustainability of Performance, Egg Quality, Fatty Acid Profile, Immunity and Egg Health Indices of Laying Hens

The supplementation of different ω-6/ω-3 ratio to the diets of the laying hens has been studied to evaluate the effects on performance, egg quality, egg health indices, egg fatty acid profiles, and immune response. One-hundred and twenty, 50-weeks-old hens were divided into three groups fed diets with different ω-6/ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) at ratio: 16.7:1, 9.3:1, and 5.5:1, respectively. Each group contained eight replicates of five hens. Hens fed the diet with the highest ω-6/ω-3 ratio had significantly increased weight gain compared to those fed the 5.5:1 and 9.3:1 ω-6/ω-3 ratios. In contrast, hens fed the 9.3:1 ω-6/ω-3 ratios laid significantly more eggs, had increased egg mass, greater livability, and a better FCR than the control group. However, hens fed a ratio of 5.5:1 ω-6/ω-3 PUFA showed improved thrombogenic, atherogenic, hypocholesteremia, and hypocholesteremia/hypercholesteremia indices. In conclusion, laying hens of the 9.3:1 ω-6/ω-3 PUFA group showed improved laying performance, while a ratio of 5.5:1 enriched the ω-3 PUFA in eggs and boosted the immune response of hens

Laser inscription of pseudorandom structures for microphotonic diffuser applications

Optical diffusers provide a solution for a variety of applications requiring a Gaussian intensity distribution including imaging systems, biomedical optics, and aerospace. Advances in laser ablation processes have allowed the rapid production of efficient optical diffusers. Here, we demonstrate a novel technique to fabricate high-quality glass optical diffusers with cost-efficiency using a continuous CO2 laser. Surface relief pseudorandom microstructures were patterned on both sides of the glass substrates. A numerical simulation of the temperature distribution showed that the CO2 laser drills a 137 μm hole in the glass for every 2 ms of processing time. FFT simulation was utilized to design predictable optical diffusers. The pseudorandom microstructures were characterized by optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and angle-resolved spectroscopy to assess their chemical properties, optical scattering, transmittance, and polarization response. Increasing laser exposure and the number of diffusing surfaces enhanced the diffusion and homogenized the incident light. The recorded speckle pattern showed high contrast with sharp bright spot free diffusion in the far field view range (250 mm). A model of glass surface peeling was also developed to prevent its occurrence during the fabrication process. The demonstrated method provides an economical approach in fabricating optical glass diffusers in a controlled and predictable manner. The produced optical diffusers have application in fibre optics, LED systems, and spotlights

Dermatological Lesions of Cholesterol Embolization Syndrome and Kaposi Sarcoma Mimic Primary Systemic Vasculitis: Case Report Study

Primary systemic vasculitis can present with a wide spectrum of manifestations ranging from systemic non-specific features such as fever, malaise, arthralgia, and myalgia to specific organ damage. We describe two cases of cholesterol embolization syndrome and Kaposi sarcoma mimicking primary systemic vasculitis, both of which were characterized by features such as livedo reticularis, blue toe syndrome, a brown, purpuric skin rash, and positive p-ANCA associated with Kaposi sarcoma. Establishing the right diagnosis was challenging, and thus we aim in this study to highlight the possible ways to distinguish them from primary systemic vasculitis. Keywords: Dermatological lesions, Cholesterol embolization syndrome, Kaposi sarcoma, vasculitis mimic