Acaricidal Properties of Four Neem Seed Extracts (Azadirachta indica) on the Camel Tick Hyalomma dromedarii (Acari: Ixodidae).

Tick infestation remains one of the major health problems that affect the productivity and comfort of camels. The control of ticks mainly relies on using chemical acaracides. Limited information is available on the potential benefits and activity of various neem extracts on Hyalomma ticks. The present study investigated the acaricidal activity of neem seed extracts at different concentrations against developmental stages of the camel tick Hyalomma dromedarii in comparison to Butox and diazinon. The acaricidal activity of three extracts, namely, hexane extract (HE), methyl chloride extract (MCE), and methanol extract (ME), of neem seeds (Azadirachta indica) were tested at varying concentrations of 5, 10, 15, and 20% on engorged H. dromedarii female ticks at days 1, 3, 5, 7, 12, 16, 20, 28, 37, and 43 after treatment (DPT). Interestingly, results of applying different neem seed extracts to engorged H. dromedarii female ticks showed that the most effective extract was hexane at concentration 20%, causing 100% mortality at 1st day post-application, while methanol extract at 20% and dichloromethane extract at 20% caused the death of all ticks at 28th day posttreatment as compared to Butox® 5.0 and Diazinon-60, which resulted in mortality of all ticks at 3 and 5 DPT, respectively. In addition, no mortality was reported with the application of aqueous extract (AE), which served as the control group. Furthermore, the neem hexane extract exhibited high efficacy against reproductive performance of female ticks, whereas no fertility or oviposition was reported at all of their concentrations. Additionally, no hatchability occurred using all neem extracts, except the aqueous extract, which showing no effect. In the present study, larvae responded more rapidly to the plant extracts, whereas mortality of all larvae was recorded at 24 h after treatment with 5% hexane. Taken together, this study pointed out that the acaricidal effect of hexane extract of neem seeds was more effective and could be economically used for controlling H. dromedarii ticks.

Evaluation of fish skin as a biological dressing for metacarpal wounds in donkeys.

BACKGROUND: The use of biological dressings has recently emerged in the management of burns and wounds. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the Nile tilapia skin as a biological dressing for full-thickness cutaneous metacarpal wounds in donkeys. The study was conducted on nine clinically healthy donkeys (n = 9). Here, fish skin dressings were obtained from fresh Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus and sterilized by immersion in silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) solution for 5 min, with no change in collagen content. Bilateral, circular full-thickness excisional skin wounds (2 cm in diameter) were created on the dorsal aspect of the mid-metacarpals of each donkey. Wounds on the right metacarpals (treated wounds, n = 9) were dressed with sterile fish skins, while wounds on the left metacarpals (control wounds, n = 9) were dressed with sterile non-adherent dressing pads without any topical applications. Wound dressings were changed weekly. Wounds were evaluated microbiologically, grossly, and histologically on days 7, 14, and 21 post-wound inductions. RESULTS: Fish skin-dressed wounds showed a significant (P < 0.0001) reduction in microbial counts (Total viable bacterial count, Staphylococcal count, and Coliform count), a significant (P < 0.0001) decrease in the wound size, and a significant reduction (P < 0.0001) in the epithelial gap compared to the untreated wounds. No frequent dressing changes were needed. CONCLUSIONS: Fish skin dressing accelerated the wound healing process and efficiently inhibited the local microbial activity and exuberant granulation tissue formation suggesting its reliable and promising application for metacarpal wounds of donkeys.

Potential of biogas production from manure of dairy cattle fed on natural soil supplement rich in iron under batch and semi-continuous anaerobic digestion.

This study provides a novel method for improving the anaerobic digestion (AD) of Holstein dairy manure (HDM) by the direct addition of Mineraso (MnS), a natural soil-derived supplement, to the feed of Holstein dairy cattle (HDC). MnS is chiefly composed of approximately 69.08% Fe3O4 and was supplemented at rates of 0 (F1), 25 (F2), and 50 (F3) g/head of HDC/d for two months. The HDM was then examined for non-absorbed iron prior to the batch and semi-continuous bench AD experiments. The results revealed that MnS enhanced CH4 generation in F2 and F3 by 25% and 42%, respectively, in the batch experiments compared to that of F1. Additionally, the gas yield improved in F2 and F3 by 45% and 66%, respectively, over the control after 7 d in the bench experiments. Therefore, supplementing animals with MnS represents a sustainable and economic approach to enhancing CH4 yields.

Validation of Three Different Sterilization Methods of Tilapia Skin Dressing: Impact on Microbiological Enumeration and Collagen Content.

Tilapia fish skin has demonstrated promise as a stable and practical biological dressing to be used in wound and burn management. However, the appropriate sterilization technique of the Tilapia fish skin is crucial before its clinical application. The standard sterilization technique must eliminate harmful pathogens but maintain the structural and biochemical properties that could compromise the dressing function. This study investigated and compared the efficiency of three sterilizing agents; chlorhexidine gluconate 4% (CHG), povidone iodine 10% (PVP-I), and silver nanoparticles (25 µg/mL) (AgNPs), at three different times (5, 10, and 15 min) on Tilapia fish skin based on the microbial count, histological and collagen properties. Among the sterilization procedures, AgNPs showed rapid and complete antimicrobial activity, with a 100% reduction in microbial growth of the fish skin throughout the treated times. Furthermore, AgNPs did not impair the cellular structure or collagen fibers content of the fish skin. However, CHG and PVP-I caused alterations in the collagen content. This study demonstrated that the AgNPs treatment of Tilapia fish skin provided sterile skin while preserving the histological properties and structural integrity. These findings provide an efficient and quick sterilization method suitable for Tilapia fish skin that could be adopted as a biological dressing.

Prospects for biogas production and H2S control from the anaerobic digestion of cattle manure: The influence of microscale waste iron powder and iron oxide nanoparticles.

Improving the quality and quantity of biogas usually requires pre-treatment to maximize methane yields and/or post-treatment to remove H2S, which involves considerable energy consumption and higher costs. Therefore, this study proposes a cost-effective method for the enhanced anaerobic digestion (AD) of dairy manure (DM) without pre/post-treatment by directly adding waste iron powder (WIP) and iron oxide nanoparticles (INPs) to batch digesters. The results showed that the addition of iron in the form of microscale WIP (generated from the laser cutting of iron and steel) at concentrations of 100 mg/L, 500 mg/L, and 1000 mg/L improved methane yields by 36.99%, 39.36%, and 56.89%, respectively. In comparison, the equivalent dosages of INPs improved yields by 19.74%, 18.14%, and 21.11%, respectively. Additionally, the highest WIP dose (1000 mg/L) achieved the maximum improvement in the rate of hydrolysis (k), which was 1.25 times higher than in control reactions, and a maximum biomethane production rate (Rmax) of 0.045 L/gVS/d according to kinetic analysis models (i.e., first-order and the Gompertz kinetic models). The rate of H2S production was also significantly reduced (by 45.20%, 58.16%, and 77.24%) using the three WIP concentrations in comparison with INPs (which achieved reductions of 33.59%, 46.30%, and 53.52%, respectively). Therefore, the direct mixing of WIP with cattle manure is proposed as a practical and economical means of addressing complex and high-cost pre- and post-treatments that are otherwise required in the digestion process.

Stability of antibiotics in drinking water: An advanced approach towards the impacts of water quality parameters on doxycycline bioavailability.

OBJECTIVE: This study was considered to explore the possible impacts of drinking water quality from different sources on the bioavailability of doxycycline. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-four tap and ground drinking water samples collected from poultry farms were scrutinized for their water quality limits (TH, pH, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, Cl-, Ca+2, Na+, and Mg+2) and heavy metals concentrations (Zn, Fe, Cu, and Ni). An in vitro study was conducted by adding the therapeutic concentrations of doxycycline to all tested water samples, and allowed to interact for 1 h, 3 h, 5 h, and 8 h followed by re-estimation of doxycycline concentrations after each contact time using thin layer chromatography. RESULTS: The therapeutic concentration of doxycycline was decreased in tap water samples by 1.92%, 9.63%, 22.42%, and 30.83% for the aforementioned contact times, respectively, while the corresponding reduction percentages in ground water samples were 2.14%, 17.14%, 28.57%, and 40.09%. However, the control samples had never showed any recorded decrease in their doxycycline concentrations overall contact times. All measured concentrations of doxycycline were significantly lower in tap and ground water than those of control at all times of contact. Both pH, Mg+2 showed significant positive correlations with decreasing values of doxycycline in water. CONCLUSION: Different drinking water sources reduce the concentrations of doxycycline in vitro in a time dependent manner, which can be attributed to their different physico-chemical parameters, i.e., pH and Mg+2 ions. This emphasizes the role of water quality on the stability of antibiotics concentrations administrated via drinking water.

Impacts of iron oxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles on biogas production: Hydrogen sulfide mitigation, process stability, and prospective challenges.

Anaerobic digestion for biogas production is one of the most used technology for bioenergy. However, the adoption of nanoparticles still needs further studies. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the effect of metal oxide nanoparticles (MONPs) at four different concentrations in two different combinations, 20 (R1) and 100 (R2) mg/L for Fe2O3, 100 (R3) and 500 (R4) mg/L for TiO2, and a mixture of Fe2O3 and TiO2 at rates of 20, 500 (R5) and 100, and 500 (R6), on hydrogen sulfide (H2S) mitigation, biogas, and methane (CH4) yield during the anaerobic digestion of cattle manure (CM) using an anaerobic batch system. The results showed that H2S production was 2.13, 2.38, 2.37, 2.51, 2.64, and 2.17 times lower than that of the control (R0), respectively, when the CM was treated by the aforementioned MONPs. Additionally, biogas and CH4 production were 1.09 and 1.105, 1.15 and 1.191, 1.07 and 1.097, 1.17 and 1.213, 1.10 and 1.133, and 1.13 and 1.15 times higher than those of R0 when R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, and R6 were supplemented with MONPs, respectively. The highest specific production of biogas and CH4 was 336.25 and 192.31 mL/gVS, respectively, which was achieved by R4 supplemented with 500 mg/L TiO2 NPs, while the corresponding values in the case of R0 were 286.38 and 158.55 mL/gVS.

First insight into the genetic population structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Egypt.

The present study aimed to assess the population structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates from Egypt. A total of 230 MTB isolates were analysed using spoligotyping, large sequence polymorphism (LSPs), mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). The majority of isolates (93.0%) belonged to lineage 4, including 44.3, 13.4 and 10.8% of the ill-defined T clade, LAM and Haarlem families, respectively, and lineage 3 was identified in 7.0% of the isolates. MIRU-VNTRs typing allowed efficient discrimination of the spoligotype-defined clusters, including spoligo-international types (SIT) 53, 34, and 4, into 56 patterns, including 13 clusters and 43 unique patterns. A new SNP at position 311614 was identified in all six isolates to form the biggest MIRU-VNTR cluster, which suggested a recent clonal expansion. This SNP could possibly be used as a genetic marker for robust discriminations of Egyptian MTB isolates belonging to SIT53. The combination of spoligotyping, 12 MIRU-VNTRs loci and MLST provided insight into the genetic diversity and transmission dynamics of the Egyptian MTB genotypes and could be a key to implementation of effective control measures by public health authorities.