King Saud University

Geo-Environmental Insights for Sustainable Development: Assessing the Most Southern Part of the Red Sea Coast, Saudi Arabia

The southern Red Sea coastal zone of Jizan Province in Saudi Arabia is increasingly exposed to seismic hazards, soil erosion, flash flooding, and tectonically shaped landscape instability, raising challenges for sustainable development. This paper integrates high-resolution 12.5...

Unified multi-task YOLO-Lite framework for road defect detection and image-level classification with edge-optimized quantization and explainable visual inference

Automated road defect assessment requires models that can accurately localize pavement damage, identify the overall defect category, and operate with limited computational resources. However, most existing approaches address object-level detection and image-level classification u...

A comparative study of AI readiness in language teacher education in the Global South

<title>Abstract</title> A growing body of global research supports the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 4, specifically Target 4.c, which emphasizes the importance of improving teacher quality through international cooperation and professional development. While Artif...

A cross-sectional study on identification and prevalence of hard ticks parasitizing large and small domestic animals

Ticks are blood-sucking ectoparasites transmitting pathogens that cause anemia, skin damage, weight loss, reduced meat and milk production, morbidity, and mortality in livestock. This study identified tick species and their prevalence on buffaloes, sheep, cows, and goats in Multa...

Nano-enhanced bioremediation of soil co-contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons and cadmium using Helianthus annuus L. plants

Abstract Background Simultaneously removing petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) and heavy metals from soil is a challenging task. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of green-synthesized nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) particles and a microbial consortium in combination with sunflow...

Advancing Parkinson’s detection from MRI: a deep learning comparison of classical and quantum architectures

Abstract Purpose The precise diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) continues to pose a considerable barrier in clinical neurology. This work investigates the capability of sophisticated deep learning architectures to improve Parkinson’s disease identification via Magnetic Resonan...

Associations Between Health Literacy and Diabetes Self-Care Management Among Adults with Type 2 Diabetes in Southern Riyadh: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Health literacy is widely recognized as a fundamental determinant of chronic disease self-management. Despite the escalating burden of diabetes mellitus in Saudi Arabia, the relationship between health literacy and diabetes self-care management within specific urban–p...

Quartz Optimizer: Robust Gradient Shaping and Bounded Adaptive Steps for Stable Deep Learning Training

Optimization plays a critical role in training deep neural networks, directly impacting convergence speed, model generalization, and stability. While existing methods such as stochastic gradient descent (SGD) and adaptive optimizers like Adam and AdamW have achieved significant s...

Multi-objective mixed-integer stochastic programming for housing unit allocation: an integrated framework with application to Saudi Arabian residential development

Purpose Housing unit optimization literature exhibits two critical gaps that limit practical applicability under contemporary policy requirements. First, single-objective profit maximization provides no mechanism to quantify trade-offs between commercial returns and housing affor...

Public Knowledge, Practices, and Acceptance of Smart Health Technologies Addressing Antibiotic Use and Resistance in Saudi Arabia

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains a major global public health threat, largely driven by inappropriate antibiotic use. Smart health technologies (SHTs), including mobile health applications and digital stewardship tools, offer promising opportunities to improve a...

Digital mind mapping tools for B2 tertiary EFL students: An exploration of impacts on writing

Planning is crucial in academic writing, as it enables students to organize their ideas and use new vocabulary logically. However, many B2-level undergraduate EFL students struggle with coherent organization and lexical diversity in their argumentative essays, which limits writin...

A Scale-Invariant Adaptive Test for IFR Alternatives Based on Cumulative Residual Entropy Under Proportional Hazards

Testing exponentiality against increasing failure rate alternatives is central to reliability theory and lifetime data analysis. This paper develops the Adaptive Cumulative Residual Entropy Test under Proportional Hazards (Adaptive CRE-PH Test), a scale-invariant nonparametric pr...

Nitrofurantoin Susceptibility and the Landscape of Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Uropathogens in Kidney Transplant Recipients During the First Post-Transplant Year

Background: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative urinary tract infections (UTIs) frequently complicate the first post-transplant year in kidney transplant (KTX) recipients. This study characterized patterns of uropathogen susceptibility, MDR prevalence, and predictors of MDR U...

Kinetic and equilibrium of methylene blue adsorption on amino-acid functionalized dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles

In this work, we fabricated dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (DMSNs) functionalized with amino acids (leucine, serine, and ornithine) for removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. Structural characterization showed mesoporous architecture, with TEM showing a...

Interactive influence of in-situ annealing temperature and thermal processing parameters on defect minimization and strength enhancement in FDM-printed PEEK

Abstract PolyEther Ether Ketone (PEEK) fused deposition modelling (FDM) has become a viable manufacturing technique for creating high-performance parts utilised in high-temperature engineering, biomedical, and aerospace applications. However, poor heat control during FDM printing...

Marginal gap evaluation of zirconia and metal short crowns with varying total occlusal convergence and auxiliary preparation features: an in-vitro study

Marginal adaptation is one of the important factors in determining the long-term success of dental restorations. Despite extensive research, conflicting evidence exists regarding the influence of material type, total occlusal convergence (TOC), and auxiliary preparation features...

Multivariate characterization of foliar morpho-anatomical traits supporting adaptive trends and taxonomic resolution in halophytic grasses

Leaf morphology and epidermal traits of 15 salt-tolerant grasses belonging to 10 genera from the Bahadur Khel Salt Range were examined using a microscopic technique for the first time. Eight qualitative characters (epidermal cell shape, anticlinal wall patterns, type of stomata a...

Experiences of Saudi Adults Living with Heart Failure: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis of Health-Related Quality of Life

Background: Heart failure is a chronic and progressive condition that substantially affects patients’ physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being. Although the clinical burden of heart failure is well documented, limited qualitative evidence exists regarding how Saudi a...

Oxidative Stress-Associated Apoptotic Responses Induced by Lantana camara L. Flower–Derived Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles in Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NCI-H460) Cells

Lung cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, underscoring the need for safer and more effective therapeutic strategies. In this study, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were synthesized via a green, biogenic approach using Lantana camara L. flower a...

Multivariate Regionalization of Rainfall Stations in Saudi Arabia Using Rainfall Concentration, Short-Duration Intensity, and Physiographic Descriptors

Reliable rainfall regionalization underpins hydrological design and the transfer of rainfall information to ungauged or short-record sites, yet it is especially difficult in arid regions with strong spatial and temporal variability and short, uneven records. This study develops a...