Chronic diseases such as diabetes have become increasingly prominent around the world. Diabetes care requires a combination of medication, exercise, diet, self-management education, and psychosocial care to reduce the risk of long-term complications. Following this strict regimen can have an adverse effect on the patient's quality of life. Quality of life is a broad concept that is difficult to define and study. This study focused on the health-related component of quality of life. Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in Kuwait. While the incidence of the disease is documented, little is known about its effect on the life of the Kuwaiti population. This is partly due to the lack of valid Arabic versions of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) instruments. The purpose of this study was to investigate the construct validity of two HRQOL measures in a sample of older adults in Kuwait with Type 2 diabetes. The two measures were the Short Form 36-Item Health Survey version 2.0, a generic measure, and the Problem Areas in Diabetes survey, a disease-specific measure. A total of 240 Kuwaiti citizens over the age of 55 years living in Kuwait City participated in this study. Participants were divided into two groups: the Diabetes Group included 120 older adults with diabetes and the Control Group included 120 older adults without diabetes. Three approaches were used to assess the construct validity of the Arabic versions of the SF-36v2 Health Survey and the Problem Areas in Diabetes survey: factor analysis, correlation, and known-group method. The results of this study support the use of the Arabic versions of the two surveys to measure HRQOL of older adults in Kuwait with Type 2 diabetes. Standards for construct validity were well met, with few exceptions. / Physical Therapy

The purpose of this study was: (1) to investigate Kuwait University (KU) students' attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help; and (2) to investigate if family, friends, and societal support played a role in the student's decision to seek professional psychological help as measured by the Family, Friends, and Societal Support Scale (FFSS), which was developed by the author. Other assessment tools used in the study included: (1) Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS) as developed by Fischer and Turner (1970); (2) Orientation Toward Utilization of Social Resources (OTUSR) as developed by Vaux, Burda, and Stewart (1986); (3) a modified Life Stress Events Scale (LSE) based on 18 items selected from the 43 items Social Readjustment Scale published by Holmes and Rahe (1967); and (4) Demographic Data Sheet (DDS). A total of 529 participants completed all five assessment tools. The results indicated that KU students have less favorable attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help than groups studied by other researchers. The results also supported previous research, which found females, in general, to have more favorable attitudes toward seeking professional help than males. Individuals who received previous counseling were more likely to have favorable attitudes toward seeking professional help than those who did not receive such help. Students who majored or minored in psychology had more favorable attitudes toward counseling than those who were not psychology majors or minors. The newly developed scale, FFSS, was an effective predictor of KU students' attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help and explained more variance in ATSPPHS scores than any other predictors used in the study. / Ph. D.

The aim of this research was to explore the ICT skills of LIS students in Kuwaiti HE that are potentially defined by the job market. These skills are deemed essential for the employment of LIS graduates in different job market sectors. As a result, the ICT skills of current LIS students, the needs of employers, and the LIS curriculum in Kuwait were all investigated. In addition the factors that had an impact on students ICT skills were also investigated. To fulfil the research aim and objectives, mixed research methods were employed. The research subjects were employers, LIS students, and teaching staff. Their views were sought through qualitative and quantitative methods that included: 54 semistructured interviews; 225 self-administered questionnaires; these were supplemented by three focus groups; and content analysis of relevant web sites, reports, and LIS syllabus to provide further documentation and analysis. The main findings of the research were: (1) overall the students had knowledge and basic ICT skills, but they lacked advanced searching and internet navigation skills. 85% of the students did not have enough ICT skills; their ICT skills level was selfrated as intermediate or beginner ; (2) the research investigated negative factors such as: unsuitable teaching and learning environment, negative attitudes, social influences, and lack of resources; (3) the students most preferred teaching and training method was group training ; (4) the employers identified further ICT skills and non-ICT skills that LIS graduates should possess for employability; (5) gaps were found in the curriculum and in teaching and training the ICT courses such as: course content was inconsistent; did not reflect the needs of the job market and were outdated; an imbalance between theory and practical training, courses had different outline and little use of the English language hindered the students ICT skills improvement and ICT use. In addition, work placement needed careful consideration. Recommendations based on the research findings and conclusions were made to the DLIS in Kuwait and stakeholders. Future ideas were identified for further research.

The thesis presents rich empirical analysis of the role of public relations in facilitating participation in social change in the Arab Gulf. The focus is on what public communication approaches are used and how they are regarded from the perspectives of the key social actors. It presents an historical and sociological background of public communication and media in the Arab Gulf. Moreover, it provides in-depth analysis of two empirical case studies in the Arab Gulf: Ghiras, the national drugs prevention programme in Kuwait, and Be Free, the voluntary anti-child abuse programme in Bahrain. This thesis relates the practice of public communication in the Arab Gulf society to Arabic culture and ethics. The thesis uses a qualitative constructivist paradigm to “re-construct” the multiple realities initially constructed by social actors in the cases to provide original insights on the role of public communication and public relations in social change in the Arab Gulf. It presents a new perspective of 'social change' in the two cases that is tied to Islamic ethics. Besides, it re-constructs original Arabic-oriented understanding of 'relational' and 'persuasion' approaches, which differs from the Western paradigm. One of the key contributions of the thesis is its adaptation of relevant Western communication models to the empirical Arab Gulf cases to identify some of the crucial factors of the practice and role of public communication in the Arab Gulf. The unique contribution of this thesis is that it develops a greater understanding of alternative cultural context that might contribute to the adaptations of existing theory and therefore a first step towards new models. It introduces a theoretical framework for other scholars to develop an Arabic public communication ethics theory and to build up a cultural model of the practice of public communication and public relations in the Arab Gulf. The thesis generates key theoretical implications that contribute to the theoretical discussion on the value and role of media, public relations, social marketing, and public communication in the Arab Gulf society at the age of globalisation.

Le blanchiment d'argent est considéré comme un crime organisé international. Du fait des progrès techniques et technologiques, il a connu un développement rapide. Ce qui a eu pour conséquence une évolution croissante de sa diffusion pendant vingt ans, en particulier après les attentats du 11 septembre 2001. Ceci a incité la communauté internationale à envisager soit au niveau régional soit au niveau mondial un certain nombre d'accords et de traités. Afin de lutter contre le blanchiment d'argent et le financement du terrorisme en tant que crime organisé du fait de leurs effets d'autant plus négatifs en temps de crise économique et internationale, il fut nécessaire de faire des efforts régionaux et internationaux dans le but d'en limiter l'expansion. La lutte contre le blanchiment d'argent inclut donc les obligations des professions juridiques et comptables et les professions bancaires et financières afin de rechercher et révéler les sources d'argent illicite qui ont été « lavées » et démasquer non seulement leur origine véritable mais également leur réutilisation. Le contenu de la lutte contre le blanchiment d'argent et le financement du terrorisme comporte trois obligations qui sont profondément attachées. Une obligation classique qui est l'obligation de secret professionnel, une obligation de vigilance allégée ou renforcée, fondée sur la qualité ou le degré du risque qui apparaît au cours de l'exécution d'opérations juridiques, comptables et bancaires, et une obligation de déclaration de soupçon sur les opérations suspectes envers les autorités compétentes visées par l'État. Il s'agit d'une étude comparative, analytique et critique des droits français et koweïtien dans une perspective législative, juridique et procédurale. / The crime of money laundering is not only considered to be an organized international crime but also an advanced and sophisticated task of fast and remarkable technology, which led to its spread globally over twenty years, particularly after 11 September 2001 attacks. Hence, the international community has called for the need to confront it at the regional and global level through the treaties and agreements, to prevent money laundering and terrorism funding. Money laundering is considered an organized crime as it has negative effects like economic crises. So it is necessary to exert efforts to stop its spread. There are three obligations to fight this crime, either it is for legal, accounting, or investment banking careers. These obligations aim at looking for sources of illegal and laundering money so as not to hide its illegal source but also to prevent its reuse or recycling. To confront this crime, there are three interrelated and interdependent obligations. First, traditional obligation of professional secrecy. Secondly, censorship or monitoring obligation can be diluted or intensive to fit (be adapted to) the dangerous degree which is shown through its implementation either in the legal, accounting, or banking transactions. Thirdly, the notification's obligation of suspicious transactions to the state's authorities to receive the suspicious notification of money laundering. This study is a critical and analytical comparison of French and Kuwait law through legal, legislative and procedure perspective.

Wind energy technologies are considered to be among the most promising types of renewable energy sources, which have since attracted broad considerations through recent years due to the soaring oil prices and the growing concerns over climate change and energy security. In Kuwait, rapid industrialisation, population growth and increasing water desalination are resulting in high energy demand growth, increasing the concern of oil diminishing as a main source of energy and the climate change caused by CO2 emissions from fossil fuel based energy. These demands and challenges compelled governments to embark on a diversification strategy to meet growing energy demand and support continued economic growth. Kuwait looked for alternative forms of energy by assessing potential renewable energy resources, including wind and sun. Kuwait is attempting to use and invest in renewable energy due to the fluctuating price of oil, diminishing reserves, the rapid increase in population, the high consumption of electricity and the environment protection. In this research, wind energy will be investigated as an attractive source of energy in Kuwait.

Examining methods for controlling the electricity demand in Kuwait was the main objective and motivation of this researchp roject. The extensiveu se of air-conditioning for indoor cooling in office and large commercial buildings in Kuwait and the Gulf States represents a major part of the power and electricity consumption in such countries. The rising electricity generation cost and growing rates of consumption continuously demand the construction new power plants. Devising and enforcing Demand-SideM anagemen(t DSM) in the form of energye fficient operations trategies was the response of this research project to provide a means to rectify this situation using the demand-side management technique known as demand levelling or load shifting. State of the art demand-sidem anagementte chniquesh ave been examined through the developmenot f a model basedp redictive control optimisations trategyf or an integrateda ndm odulara pproachto the provisiono f ice thermals torage. To evaluate the potential of ice-storage assisted air-conditioning systems in flattening the demand curve at peak times during the summer months in Kuwait, a model of a Heating, Ventilation, and Air-conditioning (HVAC) plant was developed in Matlab. The model engaged the use of model based predictive control (MPQ as an optimisation tool for the plant as a whole. The model with MPC was developed to chose and decide on which control strategy to operate the integrated ice-storage HVAC plant. The model succeeded in optimising the operation of the plant and introduced encouraging improvement of the performance of the system as a whole. The concept of the modular ice-storage system was introduced through a control zoning strategy based on zonal orientation. It is believed that such strategy could lead to the modularisation of ice-storage systems. Additionally, the model was examined and tested in relation to load flattening and demonstrated promising enhancement in the shape of the load curve and demonstrated flattened demand curves through the employed strategy. When compared with measured data from existing buildings, the model showed potential for the techniques utilised to improve the load factor for office buildings.

The objective of this thesis is to analyze the bilateral relations between the US and Saudi Arabia in the period between 1990 and 2003. In this context, the aim is to find out an answer to the question of how the relations between the US-Saudi Arabia have strained after September 11. Accordingly, the thesis contains four main parts. In the first part of the study, the historical background of US-Saudi relations up to the 1990-1991 Gulf Crisis, which was based on oil for security exchange, is studied. In the second part of the study, the security dilemma of Saudi Arabia, the challenges Saudi Arabia faced during the 1990s, and how these challenges affected its relations with the US are discussed. In the third part, September 11 and how global issues like war on terrorism, war in Iraq and democratization in the Middle East came into the agenda of the relationship is scrutinized. Accordingly, this thesis has reached to the following conclusions: First, after September 11, the relations between the two countries became more problematic and have affected by both global issues as well as domestic debates in both countries. Second, despite increasingly problematic nature of the relationship, the two countries managed to continue their strategic relationship, particularly as regards to &ldquo / war on terrorism&rdquo / .

Examining methods for controlling the electricity demand in Kuwait was the main objective and motivation of this researchp roject. The extensiveu se of air-conditioning for indoor cooling in office and large commercial buildings in Kuwait and the Gulf States represents a major part of the power and electricity consumption in such countries. The rising electricity generation cost and growing rates of consumption continuously demand the construction new power plants. Devising and enforcing Demand-SideM anagemen(t DSM) in the form of energye fficient operations trategies was the response of this research project to provide a means to rectify this situation using the demand-side management technique known as demand levelling or load shifting. State of the art demand-sidem anagementte chniquesh ave been examined through the developmenot f a model basedp redictive control optimisations trategyf or an integrateda ndm odulara pproachto the provisiono f ice thermals torage. To evaluate the potential of ice-storage assisted air-conditioning systems in flattening the demand curve at peak times during the summer months in Kuwait, a model of a Heating, Ventilation, and Air-conditioning (HVAC) plant was developed in Matlab. The model engaged the use of model based predictive control (MPQ) as an optimisation tool for the plant as a whole. The model with MPC was developed to chose and decide on which control strategy to operate the integrated ice-storage HVAC plant. The model succeeded in optimising the operation of the plant and introduced encouraging improvement of the performance of the system as a whole. The concept of the modular ice-storage system was introduced through a control zoning strategy based on zonal orientation. It is believed that such strategy could lead to the modularisation of ice-storage systems. Additionally, the model was examined and tested in relation to load flattening and demonstrated promising enhancement in the shape of the load curve and demonstrated flattened demand curves through the employed strategy. When compared with measured data from existing buildings, the model showed potential for the techniques utilised to improve the load factor for office buildings.

There is much interest in the protection of the ecosystem within the oil and gas industry. This is particularly significant in the countries of the Middle East where the oil and gas sectors contribute a large part, in some cases all of the country economies. A case study research analysis into the Lean and Green principles of one of the State of Kuwait organisations could offer the country huge potential and could benefit other Arabian Gulf countries. In the chosen country (Kuwait), Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has no other outlet for its business apart from oil and gas production. It also does not concern itself with other support business that could contribute to Kuwait's economy.