• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.90-113
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• 2021

Electronic Records Management System (ERMS) is a computer program or set of applications that is utilized for keeping up to date records along with their storage. ERMS has been extensively utilized for enhancing the performance of academic institutions. The system assists in the planning and decision-making processes, which in turn enhances the competencies. However, although ERMS is significant in supporting the process of decision-making, the majority of organizations have failed to take an initiative to implement it, taking into account that are some implementing it without an appropriate framework, and thus resulted in the practice which does not meet the accepted standard. Therefore, this study identifies the factors influencing the adoption of ERMS among employees of HLI in Yemen and the role of such adoption in the decision-making process, using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) along with Technology, Organization and Environment (TOE) as the underpinning theories. The study conducts a cross-sectional survey with a questionnaire as the technique for data collection, distributed to 364 participants in various Yemeni public Higher Learning Institutions (HLI). Using AMOS as a statistical method, the findings revealed there are significant and positive relationships between technology factors (effort expectancy, performance expectancy, IT infrastructure and security), organizational factors (top management support, financial support, training, and policy),environmental factors (competitiveness pressure, facilitating conditions and trust) and behavioral intention to adopt ERMS, which in return has a significant relationship with the process of decision-making in HLI. The study also presents a variety of theoretical and empirical contributions that enrich the body of knowledge in the field of technology adoption and the electronic record's domain.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.46-55
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• 2022

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a significant cause of hospital-acquired and antibiotic-mediated intestinal diseases and is a growing global public health concern. Overuse of antibiotics and their effect on normal intestinal flora has increased the incidence and severity of infections. Thus, the development of new, effective, and safe treatment options is a high priority. Here, we report a new probiotic strain, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (BA PMC-80), and its in vitro/in vivo anti-C. difficile effect as a prospective novel candidate for replacing conventional antibiotics. BA PMC-80 showed a significant anti-C. difficile effect in coculture assay, and its cell-free supernatant (CFS) also exhibited a considerable anti-C. difficile effect with an 89.06 ㎍/ml 50% minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) in broth microdilution assay. The CFS was stable and equally functional under different pHs, heat, and proteinase treatments. It also exhibited a high sensitivity against current antibiotics and no toxicity in subchronic toxicity testing in hamsters. Finally, BA PMC-80 showed a moderate effect in a hamster CDI model with reduced infection severity and delayed death. However, further studies are required to optimize the treatment condition of the hamster CDI model for better efficacy and identify the antimicrobial compound produced by BA PMC-80.

• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.30-44
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• 2022

The primary function of an electronic records management system (ERMS) is to support organisations in providing effective records management services by enabling efficient remote access to the organisations' records. This helps the organisation to continue running during emergency events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The need to study ERMS for accessing records remotely has increased dramatically, due to the increase in daily use. The situation arising from the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for implementing proper digital systems, such as ERMS, to enable efficient work processes and enhance business continuity. An ERMS has the potential to allow organisations to create records and workflows off-site. During a pandemic, the ability to structure processes digitally helps in maintaining operations remotely. This study aims to provide a narrative review of the ERMS literature with an emphasis on explaining the primary components of ERMS that act as enablers for the implementation of the system in the oil and gas sector of developing countries. The current study proposes ERMS roles and responsibilities that could enhance business continuity. The authors use a qualitative narrative review and analyse the literature related to this study and its findings. The results show that, in cases of risk or crises, staff members need to have easy access to their records and documents to remain productive. An ERMS allows professionals to remain active and work off-site. Thus, ERMS play a significant role in protecting an organisation's content through the monitoring and control over who has authorisation to access its records.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.315-324
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• 2022

The goal of this study is to understand better the relationship between hospital bed occupancy rate and cost rigidity as a proxy for the degree of hospital bed congestion, as well as the relationship between the risk of changes in hospital bed occupancy rate and congestion cost, targeting public hospitals. As public hospitals for analysis, we selected hospital projects from the Public Enterprises Survey Reports published by the Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Finance, and obtained unbalanced panel data consisting of 1,505 hospitals and 15 years, totaling 12,595 hospitals and years. The analysis revealed that the risk of changes in the bed occupancy rate increases the degree of cost rigidity and leads to a decrease in the variable cost ratio; furthermore, an increase in the bed occupancy rate decreases the degree of cost rigidity and leads to an increase in the variable cost ratio. These findings suggest that although public hospitals are taking managerial actions to avoid congestion costs, congestion costs resulting from higher bed occupancy rates have not been eliminated. The regression analysis results show that even if congestion costs arise as the occupancy rate increases, they are covered by the increase in revenue associated with the increase in the occupancy rate.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.273-285
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• 2022

Using data from a departmental profit and loss management questionnaire survey conducted for a group of hospitals consisting of various establishment entities, this study evaluates the effectiveness of departmental profit and loss management practices, such as break-even analysis, based on objective performance data. The study also examines whether the implementation of departmental profit and loss accounting is still effective in improving profitability in the financial year 2021 and whether the effectiveness of the implementation of departmental profit and loss accounting is robust. This study reconfirmed that the implementation of departmental profit-and-loss accounting has a positive effect on objective financial performance in hospitals and that the effect of improving profitability can be enhanced by implementing it monthly with high frequency and regularity and by using the accounting results more actively. It was also found that the department's implementation of break-even analysis had a positive impact on financial performance, which was enhanced by more active use of the data. Given the current economic climate, a hospital organization's active participation in income statement management, not only for the hospital as a whole but also for each department, would be an effective management activity.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.578-585
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• 2022

Objectives: This study aimed to adapt the survey questionnaire designed by Moens et al. (2021) and determine the validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the survey in a sample of the Saudi population experiencing teleworking. Methods: The questionnaire includes 2 sections. The first consists of 13 items measuring the impact of extended telework during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. The second section includes 6 items measuring the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on selfview of telework and digital meetings. The survey instrument was translated based on the guidelines for the cultural adaptation of self-administrated measures. Results: The reliability of the questionnaire responses was measured by Cronbach's alpha. The construct validity was checked through exploratory factor analysis followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to further assess the factor structure. CFA revealed that the model had excellent fit (root mean square error of approximation, 0.00; comparative fit index, 1.0; Tucker-Lewis index, 1; standardized root mean squared residual, 0.0). Conclusions: The Arabic version of the teleworking questionnaire had high reliability and good validity in assessing experiences and perceptions toward teleworking. While the validated survey examined perceptions and experiences during COVID-19, its use can be extended to capture experiences and perceptions during different crises.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.303-311
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• 2022

The tremendous growth of the Internet of things is unbelievable. Many IoT devices have emerged on the market over the last decade. This has made our everyday life easier inside our homes. The technology used at home has changed significantly over the past several decades, leading to what is known today as the smart home. However, this growth has also brought new challenges to our home security and privacy. With the smart home becoming more mainstream, cybersecurity issues have become a fundamental concern. The smart home is an environment where heterogeneous devices and appliances are interconnected through the Internet of Things (IoT) to provide smart services to residents. These services include home climate control, energy management, video on demand, music on-demand, remote healthcare, remote control, and other similar services in a ubiquitous manner. Smart home devices can be controlled via the Internet using smartphones. However, connecting smart home appliances to wireless networks and the Internet makes individuals vulnerable to malicious attacks. Remote access within the same environment or over the Internet requires an effective access control mechanism. This paper intends to shed light on how smart home devices are working as well as the type of security and privacy threats of the smart home. It also illustrated the types of authentication methods that can be used with smart home devices. In addition, a comparison of Smart home IoT-based security protocols was presented along with a security countermeasure that can be used in a smart home environment. Finally, a few open problems were mentioned as future research directions for researchers.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.77-88
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• 2022

In response to the significant COVID-19 outbreak, countries have enforced the use of E-learning systems as an alternative to traditional learning; to contain the virus and minimize the infection rate while maintaining the continuity of the learning experience. However, the effective adoption of E-learning systems requires a well-understanding of critical factors, especially in times of crisis. In this regard, this study intends to assess the success of the E-learning system adoption by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) during the crisis of COVID-19 by utilizing the Information Systems Success (ISS) model. This study's adopted model consists of nine interdependent dimensions, namely: Technical System Quality, Information Quality, Service Quality, Learner Quality, Perceived Satisfaction, Perceived Usefulness, System Use, Intention to Use, and System Success. An electronic survey was distributed among higher education students from different universities in Saudi Arabia to explore each model's dimension. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) has been applied via SmartPLS software to test the causal relationships between dimensions. This study's main results revealed that students' Service Quality, Learner Quality, and the Intention to Use by students are essential drives for E-learning System Use during the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the Intention to Use the system is significantly influenced by Perceived Satisfaction and Perceived Usefulness dimensions. Further, Perceived Satisfaction, Perceived Usefulness, and System Use are interdependent, and all three have a significant positive impact on E-learning System Success.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2022

The current observational epidemiological study analyzed blood lead levels (BLLs) in occupationally exposed workers from Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia and correlated them with the alterations in the differential cell populations of the WBC panel (lymphocytes [Lym %], mixed [Mid %] cells, and neutrophils [Neu %]). In addition, we examined the effect of confounding factors and their relation to BLLs. BLLs were estimated using the LeadCare II analyzer and hematological parameters using the ADVIA 120 analyser. An inferential analysis was conducted to detect association between the observations and the subjects' clinical characateristics. A total of 132 male subjects were included in the final analyses. Based on CDC guidelines, the subjects were categorized as Group I (BLL <10 ㎍/dL; n=118) or Group II (BLL >10 ㎍/dL; n=14) with average BLLs of 4.4 ㎍/dL and 18.1 ㎍/dL, respectively (p <0.0001). The percentages of Mid cells (p <0.0001) and neutrophils (p=0.048), were significantly altered in subjects with High BLL. A regression analysis indicated that subjects > 50 years of age had significantly higher BLLs (53.2 ㎍/dL) than younger age sub-groups (p <0.0001). Age, education, and profession were significant predictors for lead toxicity. Pb exposure is a major public health issue in Saudi Arabia and calls for further investigations on the cellular and molecular effects on hematological system.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.171-180
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• 2023

Spring black stem and leaf spot, caused by Phoma medicaginis, is an issue in annual Medicago species. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed the response to P. medicaginis infection in a collection of 46 lines of three annual Medicago species (M. truncatula, M. ciliaris, and M. polymorpha) showing different geographic distribution in Tunisia. The reaction in the host to the disease is explained by the effects based on plant species, lines nested within species, treatment, the interaction of species × treatment, and the interaction of lines nested within species × treatment. Medicago ciliaris was the least affected for aerial growth under infection. Furthermore, the largest variation within species was found for M. truncatula under both conditions. Principal component analysis and hierarchical classification showed that M. ciliaris lines formed a separate group under control treatment and P. medicaginis infection and they are the most vigorous in growth. These results indicate that M. ciliaris is the least susceptible in response to P. medicaginis infection among the three Medicago species investigated here, which can be used as a good candidate in crop rotation to reduce disease pressure in the field and as a source of P. medicaginis resistance for the improvement of forage legumes.