Decision-making framework for using ambient assisted living

Purpose Technology plays an important role in assisting elderly people to live independently, longer and improve their quality of life and health, in supporting their daily activities, etc. The ageing population becomes a global phenomenon. The population of Saudi Arabia continues to age (&gt;60 years of age) currently (5%) compared to other group ages. In 2050, it will increase rapidly to 20.9% of the Saudi population. The current research aims at examining the barriers that health-care providers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are experiencing in the adoption of ambient assisted living (AAL) technologies among the elderly. The study aims to identify a challenging issue with the increasing the number of elderly among the population in the country, which has highlighted the need to use AAL technology to improve the quality of life among the elderly. Design/methodology/approach This study involved a community of practice (CoP) study as a method of data collection where data collected were presented and discussed in line with the existing literature review findings. Findings In total, 14 factors were identified in this study and discussed in the context of Saudi Arabia, which resulted in developing a decision-making framework for using AAL by health-care providers. Those factors are essential in boosting the usage of technology in improving elderly health in Saudi Arabia. Research limitations/implications This study includes implications for developing a decision-making framework for using AAL. Social implications This study clarifies that technology can connect elderly people with society. Originality/value In total, 14 factors were identified in this study and discussed in the context of Saudi Arabia. </jats:sec

Evaluation of using building information modelling in green building in Saudi Arabia construction contracts

Abstract Building Information Modelling (BIM) enables, faster development, real-time monitoring of project performance, clash detection, knowledge management, more effective and efficient operation and maintenance, and provide more reliable and timely exchange of information to support the decision-making process. Despite the worldwide adoption of BIM, its implementation is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not mature, especially when it comes to green buildings. The goal of this research is to investigate the use of BIM in green buildings in KSA and provide insights on the factors that need to be considered for optimal attainment of BIM outcomes. First, BIM implementation is analyzed in international contracts such as FIDIC and NEC4. Second, the local implementation of BIM in KSA is investigated through analysing the public works contract and the contract of case study of a mega project. Finally, a survey was conducted to identify and rate the (1) obstacles, and (2) benefits of BIM implementation in green building in KSA. Among the significant results was the fact that the strongest barrier to BIM implementation is the lack of support from the management to accept changing the current practices, and the weakest barrier is actually the costs of BIM implementation. The findings shed the light on significant aspects (such as increasing awareness about BIM and fostering flexibility in managers) that will enable successful implementation of BIM in green buildings in KSA; which in turn will result in cost and schedule savings.</jats:p

Development of an Approach to Evaluate Website Effectiveness

The internet has been used by individuals, organizations, and governments for business, sports, health, banking, advertisement, education, and other services. Many websites have been developed and designed in the last several decades. However, most have not been developed and designed according to a shared set of design standards. Consequently, there is a need for an approach to evaluate the effectiveness of a website. A literature review was conducted to develop such an approach. Four experts were then consulted to inspect and evaluate the approach, and a questionnaire was completed by three categories: Internet users, website developers, and others to determine its final version. This research resulted in the development of an approach to evaluate website effectiveness, composed of three major criteria: design, content, and functionality, and 17 sub-criteria. The significance of this new approach is that it allows stakeholders to evaluate their websites and determine how to improve them in order to achieve their vision and mission.</jats:p

Development of an Approach to Evaluate Website Effectiveness

The internet has been used by individuals, organizations, and governments for business, sports, health, banking, advertisement, education, and other services. Many websites have been developed and designed in the last several decades. However, most have not been developed and designed according to a shared set of design standards. Consequently, there is a need for an approach to evaluate the effectiveness of a website. A literature review was conducted to develop such an approach. Four experts were then consulted to inspect and evaluate the approach, and a questionnaire was completed by three categories: Internet users, website developers, and others to determine its final version. This research resulted in the development of an approach to evaluate website effectiveness, composed of three major criteria: design, content, and functionality, and 17 sub-criteria. The significance of this new approach is that it allows stakeholders to evaluate their websites and determine how to improve them in order to achieve their vision and mission

LK2022 at Qur’an QA 2022: Simple Transformers Model for Finding Answers to Questions from Qur’an

Question answering is a specialized area in the field of NLP that aims to extract the answer to a user question from a given text. Most studies in this area focus on the English language, while other languages, such as Arabic, are still in their early stage. Recently, research tend to develop question answering systems for Arabic Islamic texts, which may impose challenges due to Classical Arabic. In this paper, we use Simple Transformers Question Answering model with three Arabic pre-trained language models (AraBERT, CAMeL-BERT, ArabicBERT) for Qur’an Question Answering task using Qur’anic Reading Comprehension Dataset. The model is set to return five answers ranking from the best to worst based on their probability scores according to the task details. Our experiments with development set shows that AraBERT V0.2 model outperformed the other Arabic pre-trainer models. Therefore, AraBERT V0.2 was chosen for the the test set and it performed fair results with 0.45 pRR score, 0.16 EM score and 0.42 F1 score

Delivering Digital Healthcare for Elderly: A Holistic Framework for the Adoption of Ambient Assisted Living

Adoption of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies for geriatric healthcare is suboptimal. This study aims to present the AAL Adoption Diamond Framework, encompassing a set of key enablers/barriers as factors, and describe our approach to developing this framework. A systematic literature review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. SCOPUS, IEEE Xplore, PubMed, ProQuest, Science Direct, ACM Digital Library, SpringerLink, Wiley Online Library and grey literature were searched. Thematic analysis was performed to identify factors reported or perceived to be important for adopting AAL technologies. Of 3717 studies initially retrieved, 109 were thoroughly screened and 52 met our inclusion criteria. Nineteen unique technology adoption factors were identified. The most common factor was privacy (50%) whereas data accuracy and affordability were the least common factors (4%). The highest number of factors found per a given study was eleven whereas the average number of factors across all studies included in our sample was four (mean = 3.9). We formed an AAL technology adoption framework based on the retrieved information and named it the AAL Adoption Diamond Framework. This holistic framework was formed by organising the identified technology adoption factors into four key dimensions: Human, Technology, Business, and Organisation. To conclude, the AAL Adoption Diamond Framework is holistic in term of recognizing key factors for the adoption of AAL technologies, and novel and unmatched in term of structuring them into four overarching themes or dimensions, bringing together the individual and the systemic factors evolving around the adoption of AAL technology. This framework is useful for stakeholders (e.g., decision-makers, healthcare providers, and caregivers) to adopt and implement AAL technologies

Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors of Topical Antibiotic Prescribing among Primary Care Providers in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 20–50% of antibiotics are misused in society. In addition to the development of antimicrobial resistance, topical antibiotics have been associated with adverse effects such as allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) and inadequate wound healing. This study investigated the appropriateness of topical antibiotic prescriptions among primary care providers in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Saudi Arabian primary care providers (physicians (general, family, and internal medicine)) employed in governmental and non-governmental healthcare facilities (primary care centers and outpatient clinics). Results: In total, 222 participants were included in the analysis. A total of 73% agreed that inappropriate topical antibiotic use puts patients at risk, and 43% reported antibiotic resistance in daily practice. Many respondents lacked knowledge of the proper indications for topical antibiotics, and 66.2% attributed this to a lack of updated knowledge, while 45% blamed inadequate supervision. Conclusion: Antibiotic prescription patterns deviated from the standards recommended by WHO. This calls for continuous review at all levels of healthcare, providing more physician education and ensuring that antibiotic therapy guidelines are easily accessible and effectively used to avoid the negative consequences of inappropriate antibiotic prescription