DeepGOMeta for functional insights into microbial communities using deep learning-based protein function prediction.

Analyzing microbial samples remains computationally challenging due to their diversity and complexity. The lack of robust de novo protein function prediction methods exacerbates the difficulty in deriving functional insights from these samples. Traditional prediction methods, dependent on homology and sequence similarity, often fail to predict functions for novel proteins and proteins without known homologs.

A nationwide cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia for the assessment of understanding and practices of clinicians towards personalized genetic testing.

In order to plan and facilitate the culture of personalized / precision medicine in medical practices within any healthcare institution, it is requisite for healthcare professionals like clinicians to have a clear understanding and approach towards the practices of personalized genetic testing. This nationwide cross-sectional study aimed to measure the perceptions and knowledge of clinicians towards personalized genetic testing and assess their current practices of personalized genetic testing in clinical settings through an online self-administered questionnaire in Saudi Arabia. The results of the study revealed that almost two-fifths of participants were responsible for ordering genetic tests directly (39.

Prevalence of Patellofemoral Pain Among Adults in Saudi Arabia.

Background And Aim: Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is a disease that clinically presents with retro-patellar and peripatellar pain that affects primarily physically active individuals. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of PFPS in Saudi Arabia and the variables that contribute to its occurrence.

Objectives: This multicenter, cross-sectional study aimed to explore the prevalence of patellofemoral pain in Saudi Arabia.

Head and Spinal Injuries in Pediatrics: Descriptive Study over 10 Years in a Tertiary Hospital.

Objectives: Pediatric head and spinal traumas are challenging for healthcare professionals due to their potential for severe consequences. Understanding optimal management methods is crucial to prevent complications and improve outcomes. Head and spinal injuries are common in children, with falls and motor vehicle collisions as the leading causes.

Bibliometric Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Literature on Erosive Tooth Wear From 1945 to 2023.

Erosive tooth wear (ETW) is a prevalent oral condition with varying etiology, including erosion, abrasion, abfraction, and attrition. It is reported in the literature in different nomenclatures, hindering the ability to identify the emerging trends and influential scholarly works and bodies within this field. Using a bibliometric analysis approach, this study aims to evaluate the trends, themes, and productivity of the research on ETW condition while respecting its different terminologies.

Assessment of cardio-oncology knowledge and practice among healthcare providers in Saudi Arabia: a comprehensive nationwide survey.

Introduction: The evolving field of oncology necessitates effective management of cancer-related cardiovascular diseases. In Saudi Arabia, the incidence of cancer is rising, and there is a critical need for cardio-oncology services to address cancer treatment-related cardiovascular toxicity. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and practices of healthcare providers (HCPs) in Saudi Arabia regarding cardio-oncology.

Post-COVID-19 manifestations among college students: shedding the light on young adults' health.

Background: Post-COVID-19 syndrome refers to a variety of symptoms that affect different organs in the body and can persist 28 days following exposure to COVID-19. Previous studies have shown that COVID-19 affects not only elderly individuals but also young adults. However, the influence of post-COVID-19 syndrome on young adults has not been studied sufficiently.

Understanding Oxygen-Induced Reactions and Their Impact on n-Type Polymeric Mixed Conductor-Based Devices.

Electron transporting (n-type) polymeric mixed conductors are an exciting class of materials for devices with aqueous electrolyte interfaces, such as bioelectronic sensors, actuators, and soft charge storage systems. However, their charge transport performance falls short of their p-type counterparts, primarily due to electrochemical side reactions such as the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). To mitigate ORR, a common strategy in n-type organic semiconductor design focuses on lowering the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level.

Risk of malignancy and the use of disease-modifying therapy in multiple sclerosis: exploring the role of DMT in a multi-center study.

Background: The potential link between disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) and malignancy in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients has generated significant concern, particularly given the immunosuppressive nature of these treatments. Conflicting evidence in the literature has left this issue unresolved, underscoring the need for definitive research to inform clinical practice. This study addresses this gap by examining cancer occurrence among MS patients on DMTs treated at two tertiary-care centers in Saudi Arabia.

Incidence of Proteinuria Post Radical Nephrectomy in Comparison to Partial Nephrectomy: A Comparative Study.

Objectives The objective of this study is to enhance understanding of the incidence and impact of proteinuria following nephrectomy, to guide clinical decision-making, and to optimize post-operative monitoring strategies. Specifically, the study seeks to compare the incidence of proteinuria in patients undergoing radical nephrectomy and those receiving partial nephrectomy, thereby contributing valuable insights into post-surgical outcomes that could inform treatment approaches and improve patient care. Methods It is a retrospective cohort design, analyzing clinical data from patients who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy in King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between 2014 and 2022.

Bouncing bubbles do not show water slip on smooth hydrophobic surfaces.

Hypothesis: The presence of hydrodynamic slip of water on smooth hydrophobic surfaces has been debated intensely over the last decades. In recent experiments, the stronger bounce of free-rising bubbles from smooth hydrophobic surfaces compared to smooth hydrophilic surfaces was interpreted as evidence for a significant water slip on smooth hydrophobic surfaces.

Experiments: To examine the possible water-slip effect, we conduct well-controlled experiments comparing the bouncing dynamics of millimeter-sized free-rising bubbles from smooth hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces.

Effect of exogenous treatment with zaxinone and its mimics on rice root microbiota across different growth stages.

Enhancing crops productivity to ensure food security is one of the major challenges encountering agriculture today. A promising solution is the use of biostimulants, which encompass molecules that enhance plant fitness, growth, and productivity. The regulatory metabolite zaxinone and its mimics (MiZax3 and MiZax5) showed promising results in improving the growth and yield of several crops.

A calibration framework toward model generalization for bacteria concentration estimation in water resource recovery facilities.

Reduced bacteria concentrations in wastewater is a key indicator of the efficacy of water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). However, monitoring the presence of bacterial concentrations in real time at each stage of the WRRF is challenging as it requires taking and processing water samples offline. Although few studies have been proposed to predict bacterial concentrations using data-driven models, generalizing these models to unseen data from different WRRFs remains challenging.

Age-specific vulnerability and high prevalence of delirium in pediatric intensive care based on a prospective cohort study.

Delirium, a neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by acute disruptions in attention and awareness, significantly impacts children in Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs), leading to prolonged hospitalization, increased infection risk, and dependence on mechanical ventilation. Despite growing recognition, its true burden and risk factors in children remain poorly understood. This prospective cohort study investigated the prevalence, characteristics, and potential therapeutic targets for delirium in 890 children admitted to a tertiary PICU between January and December 2022.

Ecological effects of micro/nanoplastics on plant-associated food webs.

Micro/nanoplastics (MNPs) contamination is a potential threat to global biodiversity and ecosystem functions, with unclear ecological impacts on aboveground (AG) and belowground (BG) food webs in terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we discuss the uptake, ingestion, bioaccumulation, and ecotoxicological effects of MNPs in plants and associated AG-BG biota at various trophic levels. We propose key pathways for MNPs transfer between the AG-BG food webs and elaborate their impact on terrestrial ecosystem multifunctionality.

Exploring Pediatric Sutural Variations with 3D CT Imaging: A Retrospective Study at a Tertiary Hospital.

Background: Sutural anatomy variation has long been a topic of debate among anatomists, paleontologists, and morphologists. While the exact reasons for the prevalence of this variance remains a topic of ongoing discussion, developmental and genetic factors are hypothesized to be the main reasons. Understanding the morphology and occurrence of normal sutural variations in pediatric patients is essential to making the right diagnosis, where a misinterpretation of a sutural bone may lead to an inaccurate assessment, completely misleading the diagnostic process.

Carboxysomes: The next frontier in biotechnology and sustainable solutions.

Some bacteria possess microcompartments that function as protein-based organelles. Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) sequester enzymes to optimize metabolic reactions. Several BMCs have been characterized to date, including carboxysomes and metabolosomes.

Probabilistic prediction of phosphate ion adsorption onto biochar materials using a large dataset and online deployment.

Phosphate (PO(III)) contamination in water bodies poses significant environmental challenges, necessitating efficient and accurate methods to predict and optimize its removal. The current study addresses this issue by predicting the adsorption capacity of PO(III) ions onto biochar-based materials using five probabilistic machine learning models: eXtreme Gradient Boosting LSS (XGBoostLSS), Natural Gradient Boosting, Bayesian Neural Networks (NN), Probabilistic NN, and Monte-Carlo Dropout NN. Utilizing a dataset of 2952 data points with 16 inputs, XGBoostLSS demonstrated the highest R (0.

Enrolment patterns in a randomized controlled trial of probiotics in critically ill patients: a retrospective analysis of the PROSPECT trial.

Background: Understanding site-related factors that influence enrolment within multicenter randomized controlled trials (RCT) may help reduce trial delays and cost over-runs and prevent early trial discontinuation. In this analysis of PROSPECT (Probiotics: Prevention of Severe Pneumonia and Endotracheal Colonization Trial), we describe patient enrolment patterns and examine factors influencing site-based monthly enrolment.

Design: Retrospective analysis of a multicenter RCT.

Enhanced Osseointegration of Titanium Alloy Bone Implants Coated With Carob-calcium Hydroxide Nanoparticles: A Comparative Study.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the osseointegration properties of titanium bone implants coated with carob-mediated calcium hydroxide nanoparticles biomechanically, radiographically, and histologically on rabbit tibias.

Material And Methods: Forty coated and forty uncoated titanium alloy bone implants were inserted into 20 New Zealand rabbits; each tibia received 2 implants. The rabbits were sacrificed after 4 or 8 weeks, and samples were retrieved for biomechanical evaluation through removal torque test to assess the bond between implant and bone, radiographic evaluation through microcomputed tomography analysis to compare the bone-to-implant contact percentage and bone volume of the peri-implant area, scanning electron microscopic and histologic evaluation through hematoxylin and eosin stain.

Integrative Metagenomic Analyses Reveal Gut Microbiota-Derived Multiple Hits Connected to Development of Diabetes Mellitus.

Background/objectives: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder associated with gut dysbiosis. To investigate the association between gut microbiota and T2DM in a Saudi Arabian population.

Methods: We conducted a comparative analysis of fecal microbiota from 35 individuals, including both T2DM patients and healthy controls.

Effect of Mechanical Surface Treatment on Shear Bond Strength of Orthodontic Brackets to 3D Printed and Milled CAD/CAM Provisional Materials: An In Vitro Study.

The aim of the study is to assess the impact of mechanical surface treatments on the shear bond strength (SBS) of orthodontic brackets bonded to three-dimensional (3D) printed and milled CAD/CAM provisional materials. Sixty cylindrical samples were fabricated for each provisional material. Samples were treated with one of the following surface treatments: aluminum oxide airborne particle abrasion, diamond bur rotary instrument roughening, and phosphoric acid etching (control).

Comparison of Three-Bag Method Acetylcysteine Versus Two-Bag Method Acetylcysteine for the Treatment of Acetaminophen Toxicity: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Acetaminophen is generally considered safe when used according to the recommended guidelines. Consumption in excessive doses can lead to severe liver damage and, in critical cases, may even result in death. To reduce the effects of acetaminophen overdose, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been established as the preferred intervention to prevent liver damage.

Demographic and clinical features of rosacea in North Jordan: a 10-year university hospital retrospective study.

Background/objectives: This study aims to investigate the demographic and clinical characteristics of rosacea within the North Jordan population, focusing on Fitzpatrick skin types III and IV. The intent is to address gaps in dermatological research concerning ethnic and racial variations in rosacea's presentation and impact.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis at the dermatology department of King Abdullah University Hospital, North Jordan, reviewing medical records of patients diagnosed with rosacea from January 2013 to December 2023.