The Gap Between the Perceptions and Expectations of Quality of Services Delivered to the Participants at the Scientific Conferences Using the University of Hafr Al Batin as a Model.

This study aims to reveal the gap between the perceptions and expectations of the quality of services delivered to participants at scientific conferences held at emerging Saudi universities (using University of Hafr Al Batin as a model). The study also reveals if there are differences, with statistical significance, in the sample response due to several variants such as gender, nationality, and the attendance rate of conferences per year. The research adopts the descriptive approach and uses SERVQUAL instruments. It has been applied to a random sample of 155 persons. The study outcomes show that the expectations are higher than the perceptions in terms of all dimensions and also demonstrate the differences that exist due to the attendance rate of conferences per year in favor of those who attended three or more conferences. The study provides suggestions to raise the quality of services delivered to the participants at these conferences.

Economic and financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Asia.

The world is facing a COVID-19 pandemic outbreak with an unprecedented and enormous impact on the lives of humankind. The economic engine has suffered a big blow in economic and financial performance in all the regions. South Asian countries are also trying to cope with the challenges posed by the pandemic. This paper attempts to understand the severity of the pandemic, the responses by the governments of the region, and the way forward. The pandemic affected the services, manufacturing, trade, supply chain, and particularly the small businesses, which disrupted all the economic indicators, forecasts, and growth patterns. The paper also discusses the strategies devised by the countries to counter the shocks of pandemics and what new opportunities are identified under the circumstances.

Tea polyphenols inhibit cyclooxygenase-2 expression and block activation of nuclear factor-kappa B and Akt in diethylnitrosoamine induced lung tumors in Swiss mice.

BACKGROUND: Due to lack of validated screening methods and hence poor prognosis, treatment of lung cancer has not still improved up to the expectations. Therefore, risk of lung cancer needs to be minimized by efficient preventive measures. Tea (Camellia sinensis) and its bioactive polyphenols have been associated with prevention of human cancer for several organs. Thus, intake of tea polyphenols seems to be a viable mean to control lung cancer burden. In the present study, we studied the chemopreventive effects of green tea polyphenols (GTP) and black tea polyphenols (BTP) against diethylnitrosoamine (DEN) induced lung tumors in Swiss albino mice. RESULTS: Chemopreventive potential of tea polyphenols, was recorded as evident by, low incidence of alveologenic tumors in lungs of animals at tested doses (0.1% and 0.2% of both GTP and BTP) when compared with DEN (20 mg/kg b wt) treated animals. As a mechanism of cancer chemoprevention cellular signaling pathways were also targeted. GTP and BTP treatment inhibited the expression of Akt, cyclooxygenase-2 and inactivated nuclear factor-kappa B via blocking phosphorylation and subsequent degradation of IkappaB alpha. CONCLUSION: Thus, the study suggests that polyphenolic constituents of both cultivars of tea, i.e. green and black, have chemopreventive effects in DEN induced lung tumorigenesis in Swiss albino mice.