Systematic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 reveals dynamics of variant mutagenesis and transmission in a large urban population.

Highly mutable pathogens generate viral diversity that impacts virulence, transmissibility, treatment, and thwarts acquired immunity. We previously described C19-SPAR-Seq, a high-throughput, next-generation sequencing platform to detect SARS-CoV-2 that we here deployed to systematically profile variant dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 for over 3 years in a large, North American urban environment (Toronto, Canada). Sequencing of the ACE2 receptor binding motif and polybasic furin cleavage site of the Spike gene in over 70,000 patients revealed that population sweeps of canonical variants of concern (VOCs) occurred in repeating wavelets.

Assessment of the Correlation Between Obesity and Depression Among Adults in Saudi Arabia.

Background The prevalence of obesity has increased over the years, resulting in multiple physical and psychological health issues that impact the quality of human life. Numerous Western studies have linked obesity and depression, but few studies have investigated this correlation among the Saudi population. Hence, this study assesses the correlation between obesity and depression among the general population of Saudi Arabia.

'Assessing patients' perception of the potential utility of visual function home monitoring app among patients with diabetes in Saudi Arabia'.

Aims: To determine the acceptability and identify potential concerns and barriers of using a hypothetical smartphone application (app) for home monitoring (HM) of visual function among patients with diabetes.

Methods: Quantitative, cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire. Patients diagnosed with diabetes aged between 20 and 70 years were included.

In vivo CRISPR screens reveal SCAF1 and USP15 as drivers of pancreatic cancer.

Functionally characterizing the genetic alterations that drive pancreatic cancer is a prerequisite for precision medicine. Here, we perform somatic CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis screens to assess the transforming potential of 125 recurrently mutated pancreatic cancer genes, which revealed USP15 and SCAF1 as pancreatic tumor suppressors. Mechanistically, we find that USP15 functions in a haploinsufficient manner and that loss of USP15 or SCAF1 leads to reduced inflammatory TNFα, TGF-β and IL6 responses and increased sensitivity to PARP inhibition and Gemcitabine.