This review article dives into the complex world of biocompatibility testing: chemical, mechanical, and biological characterization, including many elements of biocompatibility, such as definitions, descriptive examples, and the practical settings. The focus extends to evaluating standard documents obtained from reliable organizations; with a particular focus on open-source information, including FDA-USA, ISO 10933 series, and TÜV SÜD. We found a significant gap in this field: biomaterial scientists and those involved in the realm of medical device development in general, and implants in particular, lack access to a tool that reorganizes the process of selecting the appropriate biocompatibility test for the implant being examined. This work progressed through two key phases that aimed to provide a solution to this gap. A straightforward “yes or no” flowchart was initially developed to guide biocompatibility testing decisions based on the previously accumulated information. Subsequently, the Python code was employed, generating a framework through targeted questions. This work reshapes biocompatibility evaluation, bridging theory and practical implementation. An integrated approach via a flowchart and the Python code empowers stakeholders to navigate biocompatibility testing effortlessly. To conclude, researchers are now better equipped for a safer, more effective implant development, propelling the field towards improved patient care and innovative progress.

There is accumulating evidence in the biomedical literature suggesting the role of smoking in increasing the risk of oral diseases including some oral cancers. Smoking alters microbial attributes of the oral cavity by decreasing the commensal microbial population and increasing the pathogenic microbes. This study aims to investigate the shift in the salivary microbiota between smokers and non-smokers in Jordan. Our methods relied on high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) experiments for V3-V4 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene, followed by comprehensive bioinformatics analysis including advanced multidimensional data visualization methods and statistical analysis approaches. Six genera—Streptococcus, Prevotella, Vellionella, Rothia, Neisseria, and Haemophilus—predominated the salivary microbiota of all samples with different percentages suggesting the possibility for the salivary microbiome to restored after quitting smoking. Three genera—Streptococcus, Prevotella, and Veillonella—showed significantly elevated levels among smokers at the expense of Neisseria in non-smokers. In conclusion, smoking has a definite impact on shifting the salivary microbiota in smokers. We can suggest that there is microbial signature at the genera level that can be used to classify smokers and non-smokers by Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) based on the salivary abundance of genera. Proteomics and metabolomics studies are highly recommended to fully understand the effect of bacterial endotoxin release and xenobiotic metabolism on the bacterial interrelationships in the salivary microbiome and how they affect the growth of each other in the saliva of smokers.

Mechanisms for transcription factor recognition of specific DNA base sequences are well characterized and recent studies demonstrate that the shape of these cognate binding sites is also important. Here, we uncover a new mechanism where the transcription factor GabR simultaneously recognizes two cognate binding sites and the shape of a 29 bp DNA sequence that bridges these sites. Small-angle X-ray scattering and multi-angle laser light scattering are consistent with a model where the DNA undergoes a conformational change to bend around GabR during binding. In silico predictions suggest that the bridging DNA sequence is likely to be bendable in one direction and kinetic analysis of mutant DNA sequences with biolayer interferometry, allowed the independent quantification of the relative contribution of DNA base and shape recognition in the GabR–DNA interaction. These indicate that the two cognate binding sites as well as the bendability of the DNA sequence in between these sites are required to form a stable complex. The mechanism of GabR–DNA interaction provides an example where the correct shape of DNA, at a clearly distinct location from the cognate binding site, is required for transcription factor binding and has implications for bioinformatics searches for novel binding sites.

This study investigates the state of the perceptions of chemical safety in laboratories among undergraduate students of the Biomedical Engineering and Pharmaceutical and Chemical Engineering departments at the German Jordanian University in Jordan. A cross-sectional survey was conducted anonymously with a random sample size of 174 students. A questionnaire of 32 questions was designed with five sections: demographic data, familiarity of chemical hazard signs, attitude towards chemical laboratory safety, safety practices, and familiarity with emergency equipment and procedure. The descriptive statistics showed that students demonstrated fair to good familiarity and understanding of chemical hazard warning signs. Most students had poor to fair attitudes towards chemical laboratory safety; but the assessment of students’ chemical laboratory safety practices revealed fair to good practices. While students safety awareness and practices, but not attitude, at this university were acceptable, safety procedures need to be implemented within a more professional safety education and coherent risk and safety climate management.

Bio-imaging is a tedious task when it concerns exploring cell functions, developmental mechanisms, and other vital processes in vivo. Single-cell resolution is challenging due to different issues such as sample size, the scattering of intact and opaque tissue, pigmentation in untreated animals, the movement of living organs, and maintaining the sample under physiological conditions. These factors might lead researchers to implement microscopy techniques with a suitable animal model to mimic the nature of the living cells.Zebrafish acquired its prestigious reputation in the biomedical research field due to its transparency under advanced microscopes. Therefore, various microscopy techniques, including Multi-Photon, Light-Sheet Microscopy, and Second Harmonic Generation, simplify the discovery of different types of internal functions in zebrafish. In this review, we briefly discuss three recent microscopy techniques that are being utilized because they are non-invasive in investigating developmental events in zebrafish embryo and larvae.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that control many functions within the human cells by controlling protein levels through binding to messenger RNA (mRNA) translation process or mRNA abundance. Many pieces of evidence show that miRNAs affect the viral RNA replication and pathogenesis through direct binding to the RNA virus to mediate changes in the host transcriptome. Many previous studies have been studying the interaction between human cells' miRNA and viral RNA to predict many targets along the viral genome. In this work, via the miRDB database, we determined the target scores of predicted human miRNA to bind with the ss-RNA of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in general and its spike gene in specific. Our predicted miRNA targets of the ss-RNA of SARS-CoV-2 might destabilize the ss-RNA translation of SARS-CoV-2 that has been established by more than 80% of asymptomatic infected cases in Jordan due to host miRNA interactions. In respiratory epithelial cells, the high prediction scoring for miRNAs covers the RNA from 5' to 3' that explains successful antiviral defenses against ss-RNA of SARS-CoV-2 and might lead to new nucleotide deletion mechanisms. The exciting findings here that the nucleotide substitution 1841A > G at the viral genomic RNA level, which is an amino acid substation D614G at the spike protein level showed a change in the predicted miRNA sequence from hsa-miR-4793-5p to hsa-miR-3620-3p with an increase in the target score from 91 to 92.