Search Results (2,143)

Individual actions play a pivotal role in climate change, one of the most urgent global challenges, as daily behaviors generate substantial greenhouse gas emissions. Saudi Arabia, in particular, demonstrates its strong commitment to environmental sustainability through the Saudi Green Initiative and Middle East Green Initiative, aiming for net-zero emissions by 2060 and advancing reforestation, land conservation, and renewable energy under Vision 2030. However, many Saudi individuals remain unaware of the environmental consequences of their choices, including transportation, energy consumption, and lifestyle habits. To address this gap, this study developed GreenKSA, the first Arabic-supported gamified mobile application designed to promote pro-environmental behavior within the Saudi culture. The app integrates gamification elements grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Trans-Theoretical Model (TTM) in an attempt to bridge the gap between theory and practice. GreenKSA delivers multimedia content—short videos and infographics—demonstrating sustainable routines in households, workplaces, and mobility. The design and user experience of GreenKSA were evaluated in a pilot study of 10 participants. The results indicated high usability (SUS = 91.25) and a positive overall user experience. By combining theory-driven design with culturally relevant gamification elements, this study contributes to digital sustainability interventions and aligns with the global Sustainable Development Goals SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 13: Climate Action. Full article

Background: Achieving breast symmetry is an important aesthetic goal following reconstruction post-mastectomy; however, little is known about women’s awareness, attitudes, and barriers regarding Contralateral Breast Symmetry Procedures (CBSP) in Jordan. Objectives: To assess awareness, perceptions, and barriers toward contralateral breast symmetry procedures among breast cancer survivors who underwent reconstruction at King Hussein Cancer Center. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from July to Oct 2025 at KHCC, among 314 women diagnosed with breast cancer who had post-breast reconstruction. Data were collected using a structured Arabic questionnaire, which was developed based on existing literature, validated by an expert panel, and piloted on 10 women for clarity and reliability. The final tool demonstrated acceptable internal-consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.712). The questionnaire captured sociodemographic and clinical data and detailed knowledge, attitudes, and barriers related to CBSP. Descriptive statistics summarized the data. Results: Participants’ mean age was 45.8 years; the majority were married (83.8%) and held university degrees (65.6%). Most reconstructions used silicone implants (94.6%). Only 6.4% had undergone CBSP, primarily delayed breast augmentation or mastopexy, with 75% reporting satisfaction. Awareness of CBSP was limited (37.9%), and less than one-third had discussed CBSP options with their surgeon or knew about insurance coverage. While 82.5% valued symmetry for body image, 31.5% viewed it as unnecessary after cancer recovery. Main barriers included satisfaction with current appearance (48.1%), fear of additional surgery (32.2%), financial constraints (37.3%), and lack of physician counseling (27.1%). Trust in medical team recommendations was high (89.2%). Conclusions: Contralateral breast symmetry procedures are under-recognized and infrequently pursued, primarily due to limited awareness, financial concerns, and insufficient counseling. Focused education and enhanced surgeon–patient communication are essential to support women’s aesthetic and psychological needs after reconstruction in Jordan. Full article

Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of social and emotional learning (SEL) for both students and teachers. For students, SEL enhances their learning environment, psychological well-being, and academic performance. For teachers, it fosters a sense of meaningfulness in their work and strengthens relationships with students. However, effective SEL requires guidance, a safe emotional environment, and opportunities for personal reflection. This study explored SEL by analyzing the reflections of eight trainee teachers in the United Arab Emirates and six in Finland, who participated in similar SEL courses independently. Utilizing both data-driven and theory-driven content analysis based on the levels of processing the results indicated that over 60% of student responses were elaborative or insightful, while less than 40% were at the reproduction level. The most prominent SEL category identified was developing social interaction, whereas responsible decision-making was the least represented. Overall, the course significantly enhanced participants’ theoretical understanding and SEL development, yielding similar outcomes in both countries. The findings suggest that methods promoting responsible decision-making should be further integrated into teacher training for SEL development. Full article

The rise of Online Social Networks has reshaped global discourse, enabling real-time conversations on complex issues such as irregular migration. Yet the informal, multilingual, and often noisy nature of content on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram presents significant challenges for reliable automated analysis. This study presents an exploratory multilingual natural language processing (NLP) framework for detecting irregular migration discourse across five languages. Conceived as a pilot study addressing extreme data scarcity in sensitive migration contexts, this work evaluates transformer-based models on a curated multilingual corpus. It provides an initial baseline for monitoring informal migration narratives on X and Telegram. We evaluate a broad range of approaches, including traditional machine learning classifiers, SetFit sentence-embedding models, fine-tuned multilingual BERT (mBERT) transformers, and a Large Language Model (GPT-4o). The results show that GPT-4o achieves the highest performance overall (F1-score: 0.84), with scores reaching 0.89 in French and 0.88 in Greek. While mBERT excels in English, SetFit outperforms mBERT in low-resource settings, specifically in Arabic (0.79 vs. 0.70) and Greek (0.88 vs. 0.81). The findings highlight the effectiveness of transformer-based and large-language-model approaches, particularly in low-resource or linguistically heterogeneous environments. Overall, the proposed framework provides an initial, compact benchmark for multilingual detection of irregular migration discourse under extreme, low-resource conditions. The results should be viewed as exploratory indicators of model behavior on this synthetic, small-scale corpus, not as statistically generalizable evidence or deployment-ready tools. In this context, “multilingual” refers to robustness across different linguistic realizations of identical migration narratives under translation, rather than coverage of organically diverse multilingual public discourse. Full article

Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) is responsible for a wide range of infections. The aim of this study was to investigate the clonal diversity of S. pneumoniae in thirteen Arab countries. Multi-Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) data were extracted from PubMLST database. Genetic analysis was performed using DnaSP software version 6.0. A Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) analysis was conducted to evaluate the population structure of S. pneumoniae strains. Genetic data from 1008 Arab S. pneumoniae strains, collected over 22 years (1996–2018), were analyzed. MLST analysis identified a highly diverse population comprising 600 sequence types grouped into 87 clonal complexes and 295 singletons. Both internationally disseminated clones (e.g., ST156) and country-specific lineages (e.g., ST2307, Saudi Arabia) were observed, indicating substantial geographic structuring. Significant associations were detected between sequence types and geographical origin, decade of isolation, patient age, disease type, and serotype (p < 0.05). Although recombination events were presented, the population retained a predominantly clonal structure over time (I^S_A = 0.0715, p < 0.001). Overall, these findings demonstrated extensive genetic heterogeneity and spatiotemporal structuring of S. pneumoniae in the Arab region, providing valuable insights for regional surveillance and vaccine-related strategies. Full article

The elasmobranch fauna was studied in the Khor Faridah region of Abu Dhabi, which is a mangrove-dominated inshore habitat historically reported to host a diversity of elasmobranch species. A stereo-baited remote underwater video system (Stereo-BRUVS) survey was conducted from September 2021 to August 2022 to assess the species diversity and relative abundance of elasmobranch fishes. A total of 12 elasmobranch taxa were encountered during the study, consisting of five rays (Myliobatiformes), four sharks (Selachii), two wedgefish and one guitarfish (Rhinopristiformes). The area was dominated by honeycomb-patterned rays in the genus Himantura and the Critically Endangered Arabic whipray Maculabatis arabica. Since Himantura uarnak and H. leoparda could not be reliably distinguished from footage, all sex- and size-based results are reported for a combined Himantura species complex and should be interpreted cautiously. Furthermore, the broad size range of individuals found in the area highlights its importance to all life stages of these taxa. This underlines the need for a conservation strategy to avoid detrimental changes to the elasmobranch fauna due to ongoing coastal development. Full article

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have attracted growing interest in several fields, including topical biomedical applications, due to their stability, biocompatibility and therapeutic potential. In this study, chitosan (Ch), gelatin (G) and arabic gum (AG) were combined to formulate hydrogels loaded with different ZnO NP concentrations. The main aim is to assess the synergy between the properties of biopolymers and ZnO moieties in terms of antiviral activity. ZnO NPs were synthesized via co-precipitation. Hydrogels were prepared using the freeze–thaw method, and the loading of 2.5, 5 and 7.5% w/w of ZnO NPs with respect to Ch was promoted by ultrasonication. The structural, morphological, surface and thermal properties of hydrogels loaded with ZnO NPs (HZ 2.5, HZ 5 and HZ 7.5) and the control matrix (H) were characterized using FTIR spectroscopy, confirming the successful incorporation and interaction of ZnO NPs with the polymeric network. Low ZnO NP concentrations enhanced the swelling degree of the hydrogels (from 1044% to 1253%), improving their thermal stability and solubility (96 h vs. 48 h HZ 7.5 and 14 h in the case of H). This behavior could be ascribed to the aggregation of ZnO NPs with increasing amounts, which was verified through FESEM. Virucidal activity was tested against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and bovine coronavirus (BCoV), demonstrating a substantial enhancement when the ZnO NPs are added independently of the concentration. An almost 100% viral inhibition was recorded when the HZs were analyzed, whereas the H matrix showed an inhibition of about 40% against the same virus. Antioxidant activity was evaluated via the DPPH free radical inhibition method, revealing an improvement with the loading of NPs. Full article

Aim: This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate and compare parents’ and children’s preferences for full-coverage restorative treatment options of primary molars, including stainless steel crowns (SSCs), zirconia crowns (ZCs), and BioFlx crowns. Additionally, the study evaluates the influence of providing a brief overview of the advantages and disadvantages of each full-coverage restorative treatment option on parental preference. Methods: The study was conducted at the pediatric dental clinics at King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Dentistry (KAUFD) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from January to May 2024. Healthy Arabic-speaking children aged 6–12 years attending KAUFD for routine dental treatment, along with at least one parent who agreed to participate, were included. Three typodont models with a SSC, a ZC, and a BioFlx crown were prepared and cemented by an expert pediatric dentist. The participating children and their parents were simultaneously and independently shown the prepared typodont models and asked to indicate which treatment option they preferred most. Subsequently, a trained pediatric dentist presented a brief overview of the advantages and disadvantages of each treatment option to the parents. Then, parents were asked to re-evaluate their preferences. The threshold for significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: A total of 172 children and their parents were included. The most preferred full-coverage restorative treatment among children was SSC (39.0%), while among parents, ZC (60.5%) was the most preferred. After providing a brief overview, the most preferred option among parents was SSC (39.5%), with ZC and BioFlx crowns being equally preferred (30.2%). Significantly more children with no history of dental pain or discomfort (49.1%) (p = 0.023) or with a history of previous dental treatment involving SSC (40.2%) (p = 0.045) preferred SSC. The ZC was significantly more preferred by parents of female children (70.65%) (p = 0.027) and by parents of children with a history of dental treatment (60.6%) (p = 0.018). Conclusions: The study revealed that parental demands and expectations often differ from those of their children, leading to notable differences between children’s and parents’ preferences. After a brief overview, parental preference shifted from ZC to SSC, highlighting the importance of effective communication and education when making treatment decisions for pediatric patients. Full article

This study presents the first application of an automatic ultrasonic mapping system for the assessment of natural consolidants applied to replicas of painted wall surfaces. In Cultural Heritage conservation, evaluating consolidation efficiency remains a critical issue, particularly for substrates characterized by high porosity, heterogeneity, and mechanical fragility. Ultrasonic testing offers a fully non-contact diagnostic approach capable of detecting variations in cohesion, stiffness, and internal discontinuities, thus overcoming the limitations of semi-invasive mechanical procedures. Three polysaccharide-based consolidants—Arabic gum, Funori, and Opuntia ficus-indica mucilage—were applied to wall-painting replicas prepared according to historically documented techniques. Their performance was investigated through a comparative methodology combining a peeling test with non-contact air-coupled ultrasonic probes. Results indicate that Opuntia mucilage, although still at an experimental stage, provides significant improvements in cohesion, confirming its potential as a sustainable and substrate-compatible alternative to conventional consolidants. By demonstrating the complementary nature of ultrasonic mapping and peeling tests, this work contributes to the development of reproducible, non-invasive diagnostic strategies for evaluating consolidation treatments, particularly on fragile surfaces where conventional mechanical testing is unsuitable. Full article

Freshwater scarcity is a critical global challenge, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions like southern Iraq. This study evaluates the thermal and distillate performance of a conventional single-slope solar still under extreme summer conditions in Basrah, Iraq. The objective is to analyze and validate a coupled theoretical–experimental model for predicting temperature fields and freshwater productivity. The model incorporates transient energy and mass balance equations with temperature- and salinity-dependent thermophysical properties. Experiments were conducted using brackish water from the Shatt al-Arab River (salinity: 5.2 g/kg), and measured temperatures and productivity were compared against simulations over a 24-h period. Strong agreement was achieved between experimental and theoretical results, with $R^2>0.90$ for temperature predictions and $R^2=0.985$ for hourly productivity. Maximum hourly yield reached $0.46\mathrm{L}/{\mathrm{m}}^2$, with a total daily productivity of $3.5\mathrm{L}/{\mathrm{m}}^2$, The daily thermal efficiency was found to be 26.90% experimentally and 28.20% theoretically. A positive linear relation between the thermal gradient $(T_{\mathrm{w}}-T_{\mathrm{g}})$ and hourly productivity was also established. The findings confirm the reliability of the developed model and highlight the potential of solar distillation as a sustainable freshwater source for high-temperature regions. Full article

Background/Objectives: Adolescents may experience psychosocial consequences from minor dentofacial variations. The relationship between objectively rated smile esthetics and self-reported psychosocial impact remains under-studied in Saudi adolescents. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the objectively measured smile esthetics with the subjectively reported psychosocial impact of perceived smile esthetics. Methods: Cross-sectional, multistage cluster-stratified sample technique was used to study adolescents aged 15–20 years (n = 344) from Al-Ahsa schools. Standardized extra-/intraoral photography supported Dental Esthetic Screening Index (DESI) scoring and psychosocial impact using Arabic Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ) were applied. Reliability was assessed through two-way mixed intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Bland–Altman analysis, standard error of measurement (SEM), and minimal detectable change at the 95% confidence level (MDC95). Associations were examined using correlations and regression models. Results: The distribution of DESI categories was excellent (6.4%), good (29.7%), satisfactory (42.2%), insufficient (18.9%), and poor (2.9%). The distribution of PIDAQ impact levels was minimal (37.8%), slight (41.6%), moderate (18.0%), and significant (2.6%) (age p = 0.052; sex p = 0.417). DESI and total PIDAQ were weakly correlated (Spearman ρ = 0.248, 95% CI 0.143–0.347; p < 0.001). In a multivariable linear regression model with continuous PIDAQ total score as the outcome (R² = 0.525; adjusted R² = 0.516; p < 0.001), self-perceived smile dissatisfaction (B = 7.789; β = 0.478; p < 0.001) and tooth-color dissatisfaction (B = 4.099; β = 0.306; p < 0.001) showed the strongest associations with higher PIDAQ scores, while DESI total score showed a smaller association (B = 0.310; β = 0.120; p = 0.002). Age and sex were not significant predictors after adjustment. Conclusions: Objective smile esthetics were modestly associated with psychosocial impact, whereas adolescents’ self-perceived smile and tooth-color dissatisfaction were strongly associated with worse psychosocial outcomes. Although the smile esthetics may be clinically acceptable, adolescents can still experience reduced oral health-related quality of life due to the psychosocial impact of perceived dental esthetics. These findings support incorporating brief subjective questions on smile and tooth-color perception alongside objective assessment during routine adolescent dental care. Full article

Background: Healthcare quality is increasingly dependent on the patients’ perspective to ensure care aligns with patients’ needs and experiences, especially for those living with chronic conditions such as diabetes. The Swedish National Diabetes Register instrument (NDR) combines patient-reported experiences and outcomes to evaluate patient-centered diabetes care, but it has not yet been accessible in Arabic. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the Swedish National Diabetes Register questionnaire among patients with diabetes. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from July to August 2023 at 47 primary healthcare centers in Saudi Arabia, involving 594 adult patients with diabetes. Reliability was measured with Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability. Construct validity was tested using confirmatory factor analysis, and discriminant validity was assessed through the Heterotrait–Monotrait Ratio. Data analysis was performed using SPSS (version 28) and the lavaan package in R (version 4.3.2). Results: The Arabic version showed high internal consistency, with Cronbach’s α ranging from 0.716 to 0.886 and CR between 0.663 and 0.855. It also exhibited good model fit indices, including χ²/df of 2.72, RMSEA of 0.054, SRMR of 0.073, and a CFI above 0.90. All item loadings were statistically significant (p < 0.01). The HTMT values were below 0.85, confirming adequate discriminant validity. Conclusions: The Arabic version of the NDR instrument is a valid and reliable tool for measuring patient-reported experiences and outcomes among Arabic-speaking patients with diabetes, which supports its application in diabetic care across the Arab region. Health policymakers in the region are recommended to incorporate this validated Arabic tool into their national diabetes initiatives. Full article

Cyberbullying has become a pervasive threat on social media, impacting the safety and wellbeing of users worldwide. Most existing studies focus on monolingual content, limiting their applicability to online environments. This study aims to develop an approach that accurately detects abusive content in bilingual settings. Given the large volume of online content in English and Arabic, we propose a bilingual cyberbullying detection approach designed to deliver efficient, scalable, and robust performance. Several datasets were combined, processed, and augmented before proposing a cyberbullying identification approach. The proposed model (FusionBullyNet) is based on fine-tuning of two transformer models (RoBERTa-base + bert-base-arabertv02-twitter), attention-based fusion, gradually unfreezing the layers, and label smoothing to enhance generalization. The test accuracy of 0.86, F1 scores of 0.83 for bullying and 0.88 for no bullying, and an overall ROC-AUC of 0.929 were achieved with the proposed approach. To assess the robustness of the proposed models, several multilingual models, such as XLM-RoBERTa-Base, Microsoft/mdeberta-v3-base, and google-bert/bert-base-multilingual-cased, were also trained in this study, and all achieved a test accuracy of 0.84. Furthermore, several machine learning models were trained in this study, and Logistic Regression, XGBoost Classifier, and Light GBM Classifier achieved the highest accuracy of 0.82. These results demonstrate that the proposed approach provides a reliable, high-performance solution for cyberbullying detection, contributing to safer online communication environments. Full article

Background/Objectives: Diabetes distress is a significant, often unaddressed, aspect of type 1 diabetes (T1D) management. The Type 1 Diabetes Distress Scale (T1-DDS) is a key assessment tool, but no validated Arabic version exists for Saudi Arabia’s large T1D population. This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and validate the Arabic T1-DDS to enable accurate assessment of diabetes-specific distress in Saudi adults with T1D. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among Saudi adults with self-reported T1D. The T1-DDS underwent forward-backward translation, expert panel review, and cognitive debriefing. Participants completed an online survey containing the 28-item Arabic T1-DDS, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). Psychometric evaluation included exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA, CFA), internal consistency (Cronbach’s α), and convergent validity. A multivariable generalized linear model identified predictors of distress. Results: The analysis included 837 participants (73.8% female, mean age 27.22 ± 7.8 years). The Arabic T1-DDS demonstrated excellent reliability (α = 0.934). EFA/CFA supported a robust four-factor structure, confirming model fit (χ²/df = 1.313, CFI = 1.000, RMSEA = 0.019). The mean overall distress score was 2.74 (SD = 1.05), with 72.4% reporting moderate-to-high distress. Distress correlated moderately with depression (r = 0.58) and anxiety (r = 0.52). Multivariable analysis identified higher PHQ-9 (RR = 1.178) and GAD-7 scores (RR = 1.063) as significant predictors of elevated distress, while insulin pump use was protective (RR = 0.938). Conclusions: The Arabic T1-DDS is a valid and reliable tool for Saudi adults with T1D. Its use revealed a high prevalence of diabetes distress, strongly linked to psychological symptoms and mitigated by insulin pump therapy. Integrating this scale into routine clinical care can facilitate timely psychosocial support, potentially improving patient outcomes. Full article

Background: Studies that examine magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) in relation to sleep in the Middle East and North Africa are limited. We aim to assess the associations between serum and dietary Mg, Zn, and Cu levels and sleep quality in Saudi adults. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1041 adults. Sleep quality was assessed using the Arabic Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Serum mineral levels were quantified biochemically, and dietary intake information was obtained. We utilized logistic regression to estimate the odds ratios for poor sleep (PSQI-P) in relation to serum and dietary indices in a crude model and after adjustment for confounders. Results: Serum Mg deficiency (<1.8 mg/dL) increased the odds of PSQI-P by 30% in the crude and age-adjusted models, with attenuation after further adjustment, suggesting partial mediation by lifestyle and metabolic factors. Mg deficiency was associated with PSQI-P (1.8-fold higher odds) after full adjustment. Dietary Mg levels below the DRI were independently associated with poor sleep across models. Higher serum Zn tertiles were associated with 40% lower odds of PSQI-P, and Zn deficiency (<80 µg/dL) demonstrated a three-fold independent increase in risk. Neither serum nor dietary intake levels of Cu demonstrated an association with sleep quality. Conclusion: In Saudi adults, serum and dietary Mg levels were associated with poor sleep, particularly in males, while the serum Zn concentration exhibited a modest inverse association at higher levels. Further longitudinal studies are warranted. Full article