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This paper aims to explore the best practices to institutionalize the internal quality of student assessment (SA) when a gap emerges between quality conceptualization and practice work, using Imam Abdul Rahman bin Faisal University (IAU) as a case study.

A single-embedded case study research design chronologically presents key events of assuring and improving SA at IAU. It integrates quantitative and qualitative data to provide empirical evidence of changes in SA practices.

Over three years, evident improvements in SA practices resulted in more effective internal quality assurance strategies (e.g., faculty involvement) and the achievement of performance indicators.

This study used data from informal observation and self-reports. Thus, it is suggested that future research should use in-depth (e.g. focus group) and diverse data sources from stakeholders (e.g. students) and use emerging global trends to assess SA quality.

Involving faculty as changing agents via accountability and training in assuring and improving SA quality leads to measurable improvements.

A top-down approach alone is insufficient to assure and improve the quality of SA practices, so empowering faculty via involvement and training is inevitable.

The quality assurance of SA described in this practice-oriented case places IAU as a leading university in the region, contributes to the external quality assurance of SA, empowers Saudi graduates to compete in the labor market as aspired in Vision 2030 and adds to the literature on quality assurance of SA in a higher education context.

This paper aims to examine the impact of the assurance and advisory role of internal audit (ADRIA) on organisational, human and technical proactive measures to enhance cybersecurity (CS).

The questionnaire was used to collect data for 97 internal auditors (IAu) from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The authors used partial least squares (PLS) to test the hypotheses.

The results show a positive effect of the ADRIA on each of the organisational proactive measures, human proactive measures and technical proactive measures to enhance CS. The study also found a positive effect of the confirmatory role of IA on both human proactive measures and technical proactive measures to enhance CS. No effect of the confirmatory role of IA on the organisational proactive measures is found.

This study focused on only three proactive measures to enhance CS, and this study was limited to the opinions of IAu. In addition, the study was limited to using regression analysis according to the PLS method.

The results of this study show that managers need to consider the influential role of IA as a value-adding activity in reducing CS risks and activating proactive measures. Also, IAu must expand its capabilities, skills and knowledge in CS auditing to provide a bold view of cyber threats. At the same time, the institutions responsible for preparing IA standards should develop standards and guidelines that help IAu to play assurance and advisory roles.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind that deals with the impact of the assurance and ADRIA on proactive measures to enhance CS. In addition, the study determines the nature of the advisory role and the assurance role of IA to strengthen CS.

This study aims to explore the link between prevalent risk factors for early childhood diarrhea, including hygiene, feeding, weaning practices and maternal education and the occurrence and severity of early childhood diarrhea in Saudi Arabia.

A case-control study was conducted, involving 98 mothers from the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia (51 cases and 47 controls). Data were collected from both hospital and community sources. The collected data were statistically analyzed and depicted using descriptive statistics and frequency tables.

Demographic data revealed that 60% of mothers were housewives, 75% had normal deliveries and all babies were full term. In the study cohort, 44% of children aged one to two years. Four domains were compared: diarrheal management, hygiene, weaning and feeding practices. Diarrheal management was suboptimal in some cases: 29% increased fluid intake, 10% maintained adequate food intake, 50% sought medical advice, 58% were familiar with oral rehydration solutions and only 37% used them. Hygiene practices were deficient, with 35% using wipes or sanitizers, 64% handwashing before feeding and 52% adhering to the recommended 10-s duration. Controls exhibited better hygiene practices. Weaning practices were generally similar, with no significant differences between the two groups.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to collectively report on the risk factors linked to early childhood diarrhea in Saudi Arabia. This study yields significant insights, highlighting the crucial role of managing diarrhea, educating mothers and implementing proper household practices in impacting the occurrence and severity of this perilous ailment.

This study aims to provide quantitative information on the research trends of international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS).

The study used bibliometric analysis to determine the research trends in IPSAS literature. The method was applied to papers indexed in the Scopus database to analyze the growth and publication trends of the selected papers. The research team rigorously compiled a list of keywords relevant to IPSAS after consultation with the principal researcher. The study did not apply document type, year or language filter. The search query resulted in 475 documents. The study used MS Access, Excel and Biblioshiny software for the data analysis and visualization.

The acceptance and application of IPSAS by many countries and UN system organizations have led to the rise in IPSAS literature globally. The study finds the USA to be the most productive country, with Italy, Spain and the UK as second, third and fourth, respectively. Similarly, the University of Zaragoza has produced the most publications in the field, followed by the University of Salerno and Ghent University.

This study provides the current state of IPSAS research globally; as a result, it supports the development of policies by the users of this standards. This information can inform the development or revision of public sector accounting policies and standards.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that provides a bibliometric analysis of the growth and publication trends of IPSAS literature. The findings in this study uncover different areas of IPSAS research productivity globally.

The objective of this study was to delineate and compare enteral nutrition (EN) practices among neonatal units across the Arabian Gulf countries.

A cross-sectional study was conducted by recruiting 255 clinicians working in neonatal units in the Arabian Gulf countries.

Out of 255 invited clinicians, 73 (29%) participated in the survey. Neonatal units used varied EN strategies, where feeding practices exhibited variability. The majority (74%) of units had a local standard feeding protocol, while 18% followed international protocols, and 8% did not adhere to a specific protocol. When maternal milk was not used, the main alternatives were preterm formula (67%) and predigested formula (14%). The age at which the first EN was commenced and the reported advancement rate showed significant variations among different units (p < 0.001). The initiation of fortification was primarily driven by reaching a specific enteral volume (commonly reported as 100 mL/kg/day) and addressing poor postnatal growth. Fortification practices did not differ significantly among professions, except for the initial fortification strength, where none of the dietitians and only 8.3% of neonatologists preferred full strength, compared to 28.6% and 21.4% of medical residents and nurses, respectively (p = 0.033).

This study marks the first exploration of EN practices in neonatal units, examining their local and cross-country variations. It provides valuable insights to guide local trials and foster global collaboration among neonatal units to establish a unified knowledge base, standardized practices and promote research and innovation, ultimately contributing to optimal feeding practices for very preterm infants.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the lockdown and the increased spread of food delivery applications (FD Apps) during COVID-19 pandemic have augmented the consumption of fast foods.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 673 adults from different regions of Saudi Arabia using an online questionnaire.

Data showed that 61% (N = 410) of participants used FD Apps during the pandemic. Among those users, 54.9% (225) were females and 70.5% were in the 18–44 years old group. Most FD Apps’ users were university graduates (74.4%). The increased use of FD Apps during the pandemic significantly affected the eating behavior and the nutritional pattern. It has further significantly augmented the consumption of fast foods (p-value < 0.05).

This study reports on the use of FD Apps during COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia and its impact on consumer eating pattern. This study shows the need for prudent use of these applications to limit ordering fast foods and consider healthier choices. It further calls for education programs, awareness campaigns, legislative measures and formal policies to rationalize the use of such applications for better nutrition, health and well-being.

This research aims to measure the public sector comparator (PSC) to reach public–private partnership (PPP) projects' negotiable price range for water and sewage companies in Iran. PSC measurement drives the public sector to make valid decisions about costs.

Around 170 risks were primarily determined through studying numerous articles. Then, risk effects were specified by distributing questionnaires in two steps. The questionnaires are distributed among experts on PPP-related projects and the Monte Carlo simulation method is used for confidence factors of 70, 80 and 90%. PSC is measured based on these results to study cases of Sirjan’s sewerage and sewage purification systems.

11 risks were identified as the main risks that are effective on PSC, and project implementation costs were specified based on the modeling. The corruption of the private and public sectors was identified as the most effective risk in this research. It can affect a project’s cost up to 158% in the construction period and up to 134% in the operation period. Based on the obtained results, 63% of this risk’s cost goes to the public sector.

The originality of this research is the PSC measurement method and appointing the risk share of each private and public sector. The results of this research can be applied to all the infrastructure and PPP projects in Iran and other developing countries as a way for employers to estimate accurate negotiable price ranges.

This article introduces SigBERT, a novel approach that fine-tunes bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) for the purpose of distinguishing between intact and impaired structures by analyzing vibration signals. Structural health monitoring (SHM) systems are crucial for identifying and locating damage in civil engineering structures. The proposed method aims to improve upon existing methods in terms of cost-effectiveness, accuracy and operational reliability.

SigBERT employs a fine-tuning process on the BERT model, leveraging its capabilities to effectively analyze time-series data from vibration signals to detect structural damage. This study compares SigBERT's performance with baseline models to demonstrate its superior accuracy and efficiency.

The experimental results, obtained through the Qatar University grandstand simulator, show that SigBERT outperforms existing models in terms of damage detection accuracy. The method is capable of handling environmental fluctuations and offers high reliability for non-destructive monitoring of structural health. The study mentions the quantifiable results of the study, such as achieving a 99% accuracy rate and an F-1 score of 0.99, to underline the effectiveness of the proposed model.

SigBERT presents a significant advancement in SHM by integrating deep learning with a robust transformer model. The method offers improved performance in both computational efficiency and diagnostic accuracy, making it suitable for real-world operational environments.

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of aural accounting (AA) on companies’ stakeholder relationship capability in the Iranian capital market.

In terms of methodology, this study adopts a mixed approach based on both inductive and deductive foundations. The goal is to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework regarding the feasibility and practical implementation of AA and to assess its impact on the ability to interact with stakeholders. In this research, the components of AA were identified through a meta-synthesis process. Subsequently, data on these variables were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. Additionally, a standard questionnaire was used to measure the stakeholders' interaction capability. The study used partial least squares structural equation modeling for hypothesis testing. A total of 412 participants, consisting of financial managers and heads of accounting departments of capital market companies, were involved in hypothesis testing.

The results of this study indicate that AA has a significant and positive impact on companies’ stakeholder relationship capabilities. In other words, AA establishes a bidirectional flow of information, enabling companies to demonstrate a more appropriate response to the changing needs of their stakeholders.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first research to present a framework for AA and examine its impact on companies' interaction capabilities with stakeholders. Consequently, the findings not only contribute to the expansion of theoretical literature in accounting and financial reporting but also provide multiple practical implications for capital market policymakers and standard setters regarding the potential consequences of AA.

In this research, the free vibration sensitivity analysis of cracked fiber metal laminated (FML) beams is investigated numerically and experimentally. The effects of single and double cracks on the frequency of the cantilever beams are simulated using the finite element method (FEM) and compared to the experimental results.

In FEM analysis, the crack defect is simulated by the contour integral technique without considering the crack growth. The specimens are fabricated with an aluminum sheet, woven carbon fiber and epoxy resin. The FML specimens are constructed by bonding five layers as [carbon fiber-epoxy/Al/carbon fiber-epoxy/Al/carbon fiber-epoxy]. First, the location and length of cracks are considered input factors for the frequency sensitivity analysis. Then, the design of the experiment is produced in the cases of single and double cracks to compute the frequency of the beams in the first and second modes using the FEM. The mechanical shaker is used to determine the natural frequency of the specimens. In addition, the predicted response values of the frequency for the beam are used to compare with the experimental results.

Consequently, the results of the sensitivity analysis demonstrate that the location and length of the crack have significant effects on the modes.

Effective interaction diagrams are introduced to investigate crack detection for input factors, including the location and length of cracks in the cases of single and double cracks.