Knowledge Sharing Among Academics in Higher Education Institutions in Saudi Arabia

The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in Saudi Arabia aims to move toward a knowledge-based economy and many knowledge management (KM) and knowledge sharing (KS) initiatives have been taken to accelerate the achievement of this goal. Despite the substantial body of research into KS in the business environment, research that investigates factors that promote KS practices among academics in higher education institutions (HEIs) is generally limited, but particularly in Saudi Arabia. To bridge this gap, the goal was to explore what individual and organizational factors contribute to a person’s willingness to share knowledge and develop a profile of the current knowledge sharing culture of academics within HEIs in Saudi Arabia. An online survey was designed based on extant literature and used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data on organizational factors (i.e. leadership, organizational structure, information technology platform, and organizational culture) and individual factors (i.e., willingness to share knowledge, attitude toward KS, expected rewards and associations, expected contribution, and trust) that influence the success of KS in HEIs. A total of 140 completed surveys were analyzed. The quantitative data were analyzed through validity, reliability, descriptive, and multivariate regression analyses. A qualitative coding process was used to analyze the open-ended questions. Quantitative data analysis resulted in a significant main effect for factors of trust, leadership, and attitude toward KS on the person’s willingness to share knowledge. Results for the factors of expected rewards and associations, expected contribution, organizational structure, information technology platform, and organizational culture were not significant. Qualitative analysis revealed that Saudi academics generally have a positive attitude toward knowledge sharing and prefer sharing knowledge face-to-face. Knowledge sharing is mainly related to teaching strategies followed by research. Trust and time are key factors in their willingness to share, as well as, support from their institutions through effective information systems and facilitation of open communication and collaboration. While most academics are intrinsically motivated to share knowledge, some expect extrinsic rewards and recognition. Findings will assist Saudi HEIs to design systems necessary to become knowledge-based institutions, help HEI management plan and apply KS practices, and identify future research opportunities to advance KS in HEIs

Receding horizon filtering for a class of discrete time-varying nonlinear systems with multiple missing measurements

This paper is concerned with the receding horizon filtering problem for a class of discrete time-varying nonlinear systems with multiple missing measurements. The phenomenon of missing measurements occurs in a random way and the missing probability is governed by a set of stochastic variables obeying the given Bernoulli distribution. By exploiting the projection theory combined with stochastic analysis techniques, a Kalman-type receding horizon filter is put forward to facilitate the online applications. Furthermore, by utilizing the conditional expectation, a novel estimation scheme of state covariance matrices is proposed to guarantee the implementation of the filtering algorithm. Finally, a simulation example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the established filtering scheme.This work was supported in part by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR) at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia [grant number 16-135-35-HiCi], the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 61329301], [grant number 61203139], [grant number 61134009], and [grant number 61104125], Royal Society of the U.K., the Shanghai Rising-Star Program of China [grant number 13QA1400100], the Shu Guang project of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Shanghai Education Development Foundation [grant number 13SG34], the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, DHU Distinguished Young Professor Program, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany

An update on the potential for male contraception : emerging options

The human population continues to grow and is estimated to rise to 10.1 billion by the end of the century. Therefore, there is still an unmet need for safe and highly effective contraceptive options for both men and women. Current options available to men include withdrawal, condoms, and vasectomy. Methods in development fall into two categories: hormonal and nonhormonal. This review will provide an overview of the testosterone combinations and immunocontraception of hormonal targets. Nonhormonal immunocontraception of sperm proteins will also be examined, together with the use of agents to disrupt other sperm-associated targets and pathways. The categories focused on include epididymal proteins, testicular kinases, epigenetic reader proteins, opioids, lonidamine derivatives, retinoic acid, microRNAs associated with spermatogenesis, and plant extracts. Considering these developments, the number of options available to men is likely to increase in the near future

Collaborative Adaptive Optical Wireless System in Realistic Indoor Environment

In this paper, we propose and evaluate a collaborative mobile optical wireless (OW) system that employs a collaborative adaptive beam clustering method (CABCM) in conjunction with an imaging receiver. Three cases involving two, three and five receivers are considered. A collaborative maximum ratio combining scheme is used to collaboratively distribute the transmit power among the diffusing spots. Our ultimate goal is to increase the received optical power and improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at each coexisting receiver when the system operates in a multiuser scenario under the constraints of background noise, multipath dispersion, mobility and shadowing typical in a real indoor environment. Our proposed system (collaborative adaptive beam clustering method) is evaluated at 30 Mbit/s to enable comparison with previous work, and is also assessed at higher bit rates: 2.5 Gbit/s and 5 Gbit/s. Simulation results show that the mobile CABCM system offers a significant performance improvement including a reduction in the background noise (BN) effect, a strong received power, reduction in delay spread, and improvement in the SNR over multiuser line strip multibeam system (LSMS). However, the performance degrades gradually with increase in the number of users

Calli Essential Oils Synergize with Lawsone against Multidrug Resistant Pathogens.

The fast development of multi-drug resistant (MDR) organisms increasingly threatens global health and well-being. Plant natural products have been known for centuries as alternative medicines that can possess pharmacological characteristics, including antimicrobial activities. The antimicrobial activities of essential oil (Calli oil) extracted from the Calligonum comosum plant by hydro-steam distillation was tested either alone or when combined with lawsone, a henna plant naphthoquinone, against MDR microbes. Lawsone showed significant antimicrobial activities against MDR pathogens in the range of 200-300 µg/mL. Furthermore, Calli oil showed significant antimicrobial activities against MDR bacteria in the range of 180-200 µg/mL, Candida at 220-240 µg/mL and spore-forming Rhizopus fungus at 250 µg/mL. Calli oil's inhibition effect on Rhizopus, the major cause of the lethal infection mucormycosis, stands for 72 h, followed by an extended irreversible white sporulation effect. The combination of Calli oil with lawsone enhanced the antimicrobial activities of each individual alone by at least three-fold, while incorporation of both natural products in a liposome reduced their toxicity by four- to eight-fold, while maintaining the augmented efficacy of the combination treatment. We map the antimicrobial activity of Calli oil to its major component, a benzaldehyde derivative. The findings from this study demonstrate that formulations containing essential oils have the potential in the future to overcome antimicrobial resistance

Identification of a membrane binding peptide in the envelope protein of MHV coronavirus

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are enveloped, positive sense, single strand RNA viruses that cause respiratory, intestinal and neurological diseases in mammals and birds. Following replication, CoVs assemble on intracellular membranes including the endoplasmic reticulum Golgi intermediate compartment (ERGIC) where the envelope protein (E) functions in virus assembly and release. In consequence, E potentially contains membrane-modifying peptides. To search for such peptides, the E coding sequence of Mouse Hepatitis Virus (MHV) was inspected for its amino acid conservation, proximity to the membrane and/or predicted amphipathic helices. Peptides identified in silico were synthesized and tested for membrane-modifying activity in the presence of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) consisting of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC), sphingomyelin and cholesterol. To confirm the presence of membrane binding peptides identified in the context of a full-length E protein, the wild type and a number of mutants in the putative membrane binding peptide were expressed in Lenti-X-293T mammalian and insect cells, and the distribution of E antigen within the expressing cell was assessed. Our data identify a role for the post-transmembrane region of MHV E in membrane binding

Membrane binding proteins of coronaviruses

Coronaviruses (CoVs) infect many species causing a variety of diseases with a range of severities. Their members include zoonotic viruses with pandemic potential where therapeutic options are currently limited. Despite this diversity CoVs share some common features including the production, in infected cells, of elaborate membrane structures. Membranes represent both an obstacle and aid to CoV replication – and in consequence – virus-encoded structural and nonstructural proteins have membrane-binding properties. The structural proteins encounter cellular membranes at both entry and exit of the virus while the nonstructural proteins reorganize cellular membranes to benefit virus replication. Here, the role of each protein in membrane binding is described to provide a comprehensive picture of their role in the CoV replication cycle

A fusion peptide in the spike protein of MERS coronavirus

Coronaviruses represent current and emerging threats for many species, including humans. Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is responsible for sporadic infections in mostly Middle Eastern countries, with occasional transfer elsewhere. A key step in the MERS-CoV replication cycle is the fusion of the virus and host cell membranes mediated by the virus spike protein, S. The location of the fusion peptide within the MERS S protein has not been precisely mapped. We used isolated peptides and giant unilamellar vesicles (GUV) to demonstrate membrane binding for a peptide located near the N-terminus of the S2 domain. Key residues required for activity were mapped by amino acid replacement and their relevance in vitro tested by their introduction into recombinant MERS S protein expressed in mammalian cells. Mutations preventing membrane binding in vitro also abolished S-mediated syncytium formation consistent with the identified peptide acting as the fusion peptide for the S protein of MERS-CoV