Teat morphology across five buffalo breeds: a multi-country collaborative study.

The buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is a species of worldwide importance, raised to produce milk, meat, and hides, and often used as a working animal in rural contexts with low access to hi-tech solutions. In the present study, 100 lactating buffaloes (50 primiparous and 50 pluriparous) of five popular breeds were recruited to characterize and compare teat morphology. In particular, the focus was put on the Nili Ravi, Mediterranean, Egyptian, Bulgarian Murrah, and Azeri buffaloes raised in Pakistan, Italy, Egypt, Bulgaria, and Iran, respectively. In all countries, a longitudinal cross-section ultrasound was obtained before the milking to measure teat parameters at individual level: overall, teat canal length (TCL) averaged 24.13 mm, teat diameter (TD) 30.46 mm, cisternal diameter (CD) 17.80 mm, and teat wall (TW) 7.12 mm. The most variable trait across breeds was TCL which was positively correlated with CD and TD and negatively with TW, regardless of the teat position (front/rear or left/right). A strong negative correlation was found between TW and CD (- 0.43). The analysis of variance revealed that the fixed effect of breed significantly affected all the traits except TD. In fact, Bulgarian Murrah, Azeri, and Egyptian buffaloes presented the greatest estimate of TCL, whereas NR the smallest (14.70 mm). The TW was maximum in Nili Ravi, Egyptian, and Mediterranean buffaloes, with estimates equal to 8.19, 7.59, and 8.74 mm, respectively. Nili Ravi also showed the greatest TL (82.39 mm). In terms of CD, the lowest least square mean was that of Mediterranean buffaloes (12.14 mm). Primiparous and pluriparous buffaloes differed in terms of TD, TW, and TL, with older animals presenting the highest least square mean. In terms of position, instead, significant differences were observed for TD, CD, and TL when comparing front and rear teats, as left and right teats did not differ. Teat anatomy includes a set of heritable morphological features and is therefore breed-dependent. Differences presented in this study could be attributed to the divergent breeding objective and selective pressure across the five breeds; e.g., in some cases such as Mediterranean buffalo, selection for decades was oriented to improve milk production and milkability and achieve optimal conformation for mechanical milking. A better understanding of the mammary gland anatomical descriptors can be informative of the history of a breed and could provide useful insights to guide possible selection.

Cyanidiales-Based Bioremediation of Heavy Metals.

With growing urbanization and ongoing development activities, the consumption of heavy metals has been increasing globally. Although heavy metals are vital for the survival of living beings, they can become hazardous when they surpass the permissible limit. The effect of heavy metals varies from normal to acute depending on the individual, so it is necessary to treat the heavy metals before releasing them into the environment. Various conventional treatment technologies have been used based on physical, chemical, and biological methods. However, due to technical and economic constraints and poor sustainability towards the environment, the use of these technologies has been limited. Microalgal-based heavy metal removal has been explored for the past few decades and has been seen as an effective, environment-friendly, and inexpensive method compared to conventional treatment technology. Cyanidiales that belong to red algae have the potential for remediation of heavy metals as they can withstand and tolerate extreme stresses of heat, acid salts, and heavy metals. Cyanidiales are the only photosynthetic organisms that can survive and thrive in acidic mine drainage, where heavy metal contamination is often prevalent. This review focuses on the algal species belonging to three genera of Cyanidiales: Cyanidioschyzon, Cyanidium, and Galdieria. Papers published after 2015 were considered in order to examine these species' efficiency in heavy metal removal. The result is summarized as maximum removal efficiency at the optimum experimental conditions and based on the parameters affecting the metal ion removal efficiency. This study finds that pH, initial metal concentration, initial algal biomass concentration, algal strains, and growth temperature are the major parameters that affect the heavy metal removal efficiency of Cyanidiales.

Novel substituted quinoxaline 1,4-dioxides with in vitro antimycobacterial and anticandida activity.

Thirty-six 6(7)-substituted-3-methyl- or 3-halogenomethyl-2-phenylthio-phenylsulphonyl-chloro-quinoxaline 1,4-dioxides belonging to series 3-6 were synthesised and submitted to a preliminary in vitro evaluation for antimycobacterial, anticandida and antibacterial activities. Antitubercular screening showed a generally good activity of 3-methyl-2-phenylthioquinoxaline 1,4-dioxides (3d,e,h-j) against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and exhibited MIC between 0.39 and 0.78 microg mL(-1) (rifampicin MIC=0.25 microg mL(-1)), whereas in compounds 4d,e, 5a,b,d,e,l and 6b-e,j,l MIC ranged between 1.56 and 6.25 microg mL(-1). Results of the antibacterial and anticandida screening showed that 6e and 6l exhibited MIC=0.4 and 1.9 microg mL(-1), respectively, against Candida krusei (miconazole MIC=0.9 microg mL(-1)), and 4i, 5b,d, 6e, MIC=3.9 microg mL(-1) against Candida glabrata (miconazole MIC=0.4 microg mL(-1)), while compounds 3d,l, 5e,l, and 6b,d,e,l showed MIC=15.6 microg mL(-1) against Vibrio alginolyticus.