University of Al Jabal Al Gharbi

This study presents a novel comparative analysis employing Random Forest regression to quantify the relative importance of key Quality of Service (QoS) parameters—packet loss, delay, and jitter—in Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) architectures. Using empirical data collected from controlled simulations of multimedia traffic, the feature importance scores reveal that packet loss overwhelmingly dominates as the critical factor influencing network performance, with scores of 0.8620 in SD-WAN and 0.7259 in MPLS, indicating an 18.76% increase in SD-WAN’s sensitivity to packet loss. Delay exhibits moderate relevance in MPLS, with an importance score of 0.2205, but shows markedly reduced significance in SD-WAN at 0.1341 (a 39.21% decrease). At the same time, jitter demonstrates negligible influence across both networks, with scores below 0.054. These findings confirm that SD-WAN’s dynamic path optimisation effectively mitigates delay effects, whereas packet loss remains the principal constraint on performance. This work constitutes the first methodical Random Forest-based comparative evaluation of QoS parameter importance across MPLS and SD-WAN, delivering robust, data-driven insights tailored to each architecture’s operational characteristics. The framework provides network operators with critical guidance for targeted QoS optimisation, prioritising packet loss mitigation strategies, particularly within SD-WAN environments. Overall, this research establishes an empirical foundation for architecture specific QoS management, advancing intelligent network performance assessment through machine learning techniques.

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the relationship between ESG performance and stock price volatility (SPV) in G20 countries, with a focus on the moderating influence of board cultural diversity (BCD) in this association. Using a comprehensive sample of 117,449 firm‐year observations from companies listed in G20 markets between 2005 and 2021, our analysis provides robust empirical evidence of a negative association between ESG performance and SPV. Furthermore, the findings indicate that BCD strengthens this negative link by serving as a mitigating factor, assisting firms in better managing ESG‐related risks and opportunities, resulting in higher sustainability performance and lower SPV. Our results contribute to existing literature by integrating legitimacy, resource‐based, and agency theories to explain how ESG practices, complemented by board diversity, contribute to corporate stability. This study extends the understanding of how governance structures, specifically board diversity, can influence the ESG performance nexus in global markets. Our study has implications for policymakers and investors, highlighting the strategic importance of ESG practices and diverse governance structures in promoting corporate resilience and market confidence. Encouraging the adoption of robust ESG reporting standards and fostering board diversity may enhance corporate stability and investor trust.

ABSTRACTSustainability reporting and its assurance are increasingly becoming globally mandatory, alongside the issuance of international standards for sustainability assurance aimed at boosting the confidence and trust of investors, regulators and other stakeholders in sustainability‐related disclosures. The objective of this paper is to investigate how the interplay between external assurance and an effective audit committee (AC) might influence the quality of GRI standalone sustainability reporting. Using the GRI Standards (2016), a disclosure index with 32 items referring to six quality indicators was developed to assess the quality of the sustainability reports of 104 chemical firms from 36 countries for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. Our panel regression showed that increased numbers of AC members, along with their higher levels of independence, directly improve the quality of sustainability reporting. However, when external assurance is involved as a moderating variable, sustainability reporting quality is further enhanced by smaller AC size, greater sustainability expertise and a higher proportion of female AC members. This study makes an original contribution by addressing a gap in the literature regarding the impact of AC sustainability expertise, as well as the moderating role of external assurance on the relationship between AC characteristics and the quality of sustainability reports. The research provides a valuable assessment tool for chemical firms to benchmark the quality of their sustainability reporting and offers insights for shaping sustainable business strategies. The findings will help raise awareness among regulators, policymakers and industry stakeholders about the need to incorporate sustainability experts, achieve better gender balance in AC and engage external auditors in the sustainability reporting process.

Infectious diseases that involve hepatitis B (HBsAg), hepatitis C (HCV), HIV, and syphilis (VDRL) remain significant worldwide health challenges, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Libya serves as both a transit and destination point for migrants, creating a unique context for examining the prevalence of these disorders among migrant workers and Libyan citizens. Comprehending variations in illness prevalence based on nationality and employment is essential for formulating targeted public health interventions. The objective of this research was to evaluate the seroprevalence of HBsAg, HCV, HIV, and VDRL among migrant workers and Libyan nationals undergoing mandatory occupational health screenings. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the Reference Laboratory, Western Mountain, Al-Rajban in Libya between December 2023 and February 2024. A total of 1,656 participants were assessed, including 1,434 migrant laborers and 223 Libyan natives. The VDRL test exhibited the greatest chance at 1.6%, followed by HBsAg at 1.4%, HCV at 0.9%, and HIV at 0.2%. Migrant workers had a greater prevalence of HBsAg at 1.6% and slightly elevated rates of HCV and HIV compared to Libyan residents, who reported no instances of these infections. Occupational research indicated that general workers had the largest disease burden, with statistically significant rates of HBsAg at 2.1%, HCV at 1.4%, and VDRL at 2.1%. Specialized workers had low illness rates, perhaps attributable to superior hygiene practices or underreporting. This research underscores the gap in infectious diseases between migrant workers and Libyan citizens, emphasizing the need for focused screening, enhanced workplace safety, and equitable access to preventive healthcare. The findings underscore the need for occupation-specific health interventions to mitigate risk, particularly for high-risk populations such as general laborers. Future research should include longitudinal studies and a larger sample size to validate these results and enhance global health equality.

The United States (US) as the second leading economy in global ecological pollution has become a fertile ground for a rigorous analysis of the ecological neutrality using load capacity factor (LCF) and carbon‐based consumption (CCO2). This is important for the global drive of achieving environmental sustainability by 2050. The LCF is one of the most comprehensive ecological proxies that incorporate the biocapacity and ecological footprint. In this context, this research examines the effect of natural resources, technological innovation, renewable energy and financial globalization on ecological neutrality in the US for the date spanning from 1990 to 2021. Using the novel augmented auto‐regressive distributive lag (AARDL) model, the empirical findings of this study indicate that (i) natural resources, renewable energy, and technological innovation promote ecological neutrality by increasing LCF and decreasing CCO2 emissions; (ii) financial globalization and economic growth mitigate the LCF and increase CCO2 emissions; and (iii) a causal effect is observed among technological innovation, natural resources, renewable energy, CCO2 and LCF. In light of the findings, this study recommends several crucial measures for ecological neutrality targets set out in sustainable development goals (SDGs) 7 and 13, respectively.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common infections that happen by many types of bacteria. Some of bacteria have resistance against several types of antibiotics. Many medicinal plants used as an alternative treatment around the world. Marrubium vulgare L has been reported to exhibit several biological properties. Thus, the aim of current study is estimating antimicrobial activities of M. vulgare against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus, which caused urinary tract infections, isolated from infected patients. In the results, the growth of all tested bacteria was inhibited strongly by methanol extract at 1.0% (w/v) with inhibition zones 11.00, 11.00 and 15.50 mm against E. coli, k. pneumoniae and S. aureus respectively. Besides, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values were ranged between 0.625 to 1.25 mg/mL. While, Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) values were ranging between 1.25 to 2.5 mg/mL. On the other hand, hexane extract also was inhibited the growth of E. coli, k. pneumoniae and S. aureus with inhibition zones 10.00, 11.00 and 12.50 mm respectively. In addition, MIC values ranging 2.5 mg/mL, while MBC values of 5 mg/mL against all bacteria. In conclusion, the methanol extract of M. vulgare had a strongly effects on all bacteria compared to hexane extract, thus it can be developed as anti-bacterial agent.

Kidneys are essential for a healthy body. It is largely responsible for filtering waste, excess water, and other impurities from the blood. These toxins and excess materials are stored in the bladder and then removed during urination. Kidney disease can lead to other serious health problems, including nerve damage, weak bones, and malnutrition. Over time, the kidneys may stop working completely. The study was conducted on 70 dialysis patients at the Kidney Services Center - Al-Khums and monitored the changes that occurred in the levels of the parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcium, and phosphorus. The results revealed that the PTH was higher in females than in males compared to the control group, and phosphate was higher in males than in females, while there was no significant difference in calcium levels.

The elderly population is rapidly increasing worldwide, but many face challenges in using digital tools like the Internet due to health and incapacity issues.Existing online search user interfaces (UIs) often overlook the specific usability needs of the elderly.This study proposes an adaptable web search UI model for the elderly, based on their perspectives, to enhance search performance and usability.The proposed UI model is evaluated through comparative usability testing with 20 participants, comparing it to the Google search UI.Effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction are measured using task completion time, error rate, and subjective preferences.The results show significant differences (p > 0.05) between the proposed web search UI model and the Google search UI.The proposed UI model achieves higher subjective satisfaction levels, indicating better alignment with the needs and preferences of elderly users.It also reduces task completion time, indicating improved efficiency, and decreases the error rate, suggesting enhanced effectiveness.These findings emphasize the importance of considering the unique usability needs of the elderly when designing search UIs.The proposed adaptable web search UI model offers a promising approach to enhance the digital experiences of elderly users.This study lays the groundwork for further development and refinement of adaptable web search UI models that cater to the specific needs of elderly users, enabling designers to create more inclusive and user-friendly search interfaces for the growing elderly population.

Crosstalk noise between the two force components (axial and transverse) and temperature is always present when the fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensor technology is utilized in many sophisticated equipment. To address this, we proposed a theoretical method that decouples the two force components while eliminating the effect of temperature, using a combination of modified FBGs and a bandwidth modulation mechanism. Our previous study showed the first step in our continuous effort to prove the concept. In this study, the second part of proving the decoupling approach while avoiding the temperature effect is proved experimentally. In addition to the tapered FBG (TFBG) in its neutral axis, a hollow shaft prototype that resembles the construction of several medical surgery equipment is being developed further to include a linear chirped FBG (CFBG) along its shaft's surface. The experimental results demonstrate that the estimated axial and transverse force values are consistent with their actual values, with RMS errors of less than 0.32 N and less than 0.16 N, respectively, over the range of (0 N – 10 N). The presented method can potentially be extended to small surgical instruments such as ophthalmia’s needle and ablation catheter.

Removal of Neutral Red from Aqueous solutions using Sr2CaBO5.5(B= Nb+5& Ta+5) of Nb5+ by Ta5+ has influenced both crystal size and density of the two oxides but showed no impact on the removal capacities.The crystallite size of Sr2CaNbO5.5 and Sr2CaTaO5.5 was determined to be 93.56 and 43.69 nm respectively.The maximum removal capacities of Neutral red are found to be 190.5 mg/g using both the two oxides.This result is consistent with the cell volumes which displayed similar values.The removal of Neutral Red has a negative relationship with temperature but steadily increases as pH increased.