Egyptians are becoming more interested in owning and raising pets; however, most of them lack essential awareness about the risk of zoonotic parasites that could be transmitted. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the degree of awareness Egyptian pet owners possess concerning zoonotic parasitic diseases, the risk of transmission, and preventative measures. A cross-sectional study was conducted using an e-survey. Among 246 pet owners, 64.2% (158) were females, and 67.9% (167) belonged to the 20-30 age group. The majority, 78.9% (194), were raising cats. Only 13.8% (34) visited the veterinarian regularly, with significantly higher results among dog owners (p < 0.05). Only 31.3% (77) participants were regularly deworming their pets, and 19.9% (49) were giving their pets prophylaxis against ectoparasites, with significantly higher results among those who visited the veterinarian regularly (p < 0.0001) and among dog owners (p < 0.05). Only 54.1% (133) had heard about the term "zoonoses" before, and about 8.9% (22) of participants showed a history of zoonotic parasitic diseases, with significantly higher results among those who allowed their animals to play with other animals of neighbors and friends (p < 0.05). The obtained results concluded that the surveyed group had a relatively good degree of knowledge regarding pets as a source of zoonotic illness; raising pet owners' awareness regarding the importance of routine medical examinations and minimizing the contact of pets with other stray animals is essential.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal-dominant neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor, psychiatric and cognitive symptoms. Injection of 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP) is a widely used experimental model for induction of HD. The current study aimed to inspect the potential neuroprotective properties of azilsartan (Azil), an angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker (ATR1), in 3-NP-induced striatal neurotoxicity in rats. Rats were randomly allocated into five groups and treated for 14 days as follows: group I received normal saline; group II received Azil (10 mg/kg, p.o.); group III received 3-NP (10 mg/kg, i.p); group IV and V received Azil (5 or 10 mg/kg, p.o, respectively) 1 h prior to 3-NP injection. Both doses of Azil markedly attenuated motor and behavioural dysfunction as well as striatal histopathological alterations caused by 3-NP. In addition, Azil balanced striatal neurotransmitters levels as evidenced by the increase of striatal gamma-aminobutyric acid content and the decrease of glutamate content. Azil also amended neuroinflammation and oxidative stress via modulating IĸB/NF-ĸB and KEAP1/Nrf2 downstream signalling pathways, as well as reducing iNOS and COX2 levels. Moreover, Azil demonstrated an anti-apoptotic activity by reducing caspase-3 level and BAX/BCL2 ratio. In conclusion, the present study reveals the neuroprotective potential of Azil in 3-NP-induced behavioural, histopathological and biochemical changes in rats. These findings might be attributed to inhibition of ATR1/NF-κB signalling, modulation of Nrf2/KEAP1 signalling, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-apoptotic properties.

(1) Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the rapidly growing healthcare problems, and several vitamin D receptor ({VDR}) polymorphisms seem to modulate the risk of T2DM. Our research was designed to investigate the allelic discrimination of {VDR} polymorphisms and T2DM occurrence risk. (2) Methods: This case-control research included 156 patients with T2DM and 145 healthy control subjects. Most of the study population were males 56.6% vs. 62.8% in the case and control groups, respectively. Genotyping for {VDR} single nucleotide polymorphisms ({SNPs}), rs228570 (Fok1), rs7975232 (Apa1), and rs1544410 (Bsm1) was compared between both groups. (3) Results: There was a negative link between vitamin D levels and insulin sensitivity. A significant difference was noted in the allelic discrimination of {VDR} polymorphism rs228570 and rs1544410 between the study groups (p {\textless} 0.001). No difference was observed in the allelic discrimination of {VDR} polymorphism rs7975232 between the groups (p = 0.063). Moreover, T2DM patients had significantly higher levels of fasting blood sugar ({FBS}), glycated hemoglobin {HbA}1c, 2-h post-prandial blood sugar ({PP}), serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase ({SGOT}), serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase ({SGPT}), total cholesterol, and triglycerides (p {\textless} 0.001), while High-Density Lipoprotein ({HDL}) Cholesterol ({HDL}-C) was significantly decreased (p = 0.006). (4) Conclusions: {VDR} polymorphisms had a positive association with T2DM risk among the Egyptian population. Further large-scale research using deep sequencing of samples is strongly urged to investigate different vitamin D gene variants and interactions, as well as the influence of vitamin D on T2DM.

This study used the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) to detect drought episodes in Tanzania, as well as their characteristics in terms of duration (years), severity, and intensity, and analyse their trends. To conduct the analysis, 12-month standardized precipitation was employed, utilizing historical data from 1970 to 2005 and future projections from 2021 to 2100 for ten meteorological stations in Tanzania. These historical projections are based on simulations generated by Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX-CORE) models. According to projected future changes, precipitation would increase at 60% of stations, notably in Tanzania's eastern regions. The highlands, however, are predicted to experience a greater rise in precipitation than the desert and semi-arid areas, which are predicted to receive less precipitation. In addition, it is expected that in the mid-future, drought events will occur more frequently in Tanzania's dry regions and will last longer and be more severe. Based on the estimated SPI values, the Mann-Kendall (MK) test and Sen's slope estimator were used to examine the drought trend. The overall analysis of the computed SPI time series demonstrated that drought is more frequent and severe in Tanzania, especially in Kigoma, Songea and Tanga. Based on the SPI-12 values, the results show that the most prolonged and severe droughts occurred during the 2039–2041, 2045–2046, 2068–2072, 2081–2083 and 2092–2095 marking extremely dry years. To mitigate the potential impacts of climate change, it is crucial to implement adaptation measures that address the specific challenges faced by Tanzania.

Detection of erythromycin (ERY) residues in commercial milk samples is crucial for the safety assessment. Herein, a printed circuit board was patterned as a feasible miniaturized potentiometric sensor for ERY determination in dairy samples. The proposed chip design fits to a 3.5-mm female audio plug to facilitate the potential measurements of working electrode versus reference one in this all-solid-state system. The sensor utilizes molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) for the selective recognition of the studied drug in such challenging matrix. The electrode stability is achieved through the addition of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) nano-dispersion on its surface. The proposed device detects down to 6.6 × 10−8 M ERY with a slope of 51 mV/decade in the 1 × 10−7–1 × 10−3 M range. The results display high accuracy (99.9% ± 2.6) with satisfactory relative standard deviation for repeatability (1.6%) and reproducibility (5.0%). The effect of common antibiotic classes, namely, amphenicols, beta-lactams, fluoroquinolones, sulfonamides, and tetracyclines, can be neglected as evidenced by their calculated binding capacities towards the proposed MIP. The calculated selectivity coefficients also show a good electrode performance in the presence of naturally present inorganic ions allowing its application to different milk samples.

To quickly move the formic acid (FA) fuel cells closer to a real commercialization, an inexpensive, efficient, and durable electrocatalyst for the direct FA electro-oxidation (FAEO) was developed. This involved a sequential modification of a glassy carbon (GC) substrate with palladium nanocubes (ca. 70 nm, nano-Pd) and iron oxide nanowires (nano-FeOx, ca. 40 nm and 150 nm in average diameter and length, respectively). The deposition sequence and loading level of nano-FeOx in the catalyst were optimized to minimize the catalyst's poisoning with CO that might probably release from a parallel dehydration of FA or from CO2 reduction. Surprisingly, the FeOx/Pd/GC catalyst exhibited a high (21.6 mA cm−2) specific activity for FAEO, which denoted ca. 7 times that of the “pristine” Pd/GC catalyst. This was synchronized with a better (up to fivefold increase in turnover frequency) “long-termed” stability that extended for 90 min of continuous electrolysis at room temperature. A successful effort was dedicated to improving more the catalyst's stability by activating the catalyst electrochemically at –0.5 V vs Ag/AgCl/KCl (sat.) in 0.2 mol L−1 NaOH. The CO stripping agreed perfectly with the impedance analysis in appending the observed enhancement in the catalytic efficiency of FAEO to a favorable electronic modulation at the Pd surface that boosted the oxidative desorption of poisoning CO species at a lower potential. © 2022 The Authors

Breast cancer (BC) is prevalent worldwide and is a leading cause of death among women. However, cell-surface glucose-regulated protein 78 (cs-GRP78) is overexpressed in several types of cancer and during pathogen infections. This study examines two well-known BC drugs approved by the FDA as BC treatments to GRP78. The first type consists of inhibitors of cyclin-based kinases 4/6, including abemaciclib, palbociclib, ribociclib, and dinaciclib. In addition, tunicamycin, and doxorubicin, which are among the most effective anticancer drugs for early and late-stage BC, are tested against GRP78. As (−)-epiGallocatechin gallate inhibits GRP78, it is also being evaluated (used as positive control). Thus, using molecular dynamics simulation approaches, this study aims to examine the advantages of targeting GRP78, which represents a promising cancer therapy regime. In light of recent advances in computational drug response prediction models, this study aimed to examine the benefits of GRP78 targeting, which represents a promising cancer therapy regime, by utilizing combined molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation approaches. The simulated protein (50 ns) was docked with the drugs, then a second round of dynamics simulation was performed for 100 ns. After that, the binding free energies were calculated from 30 to 100 ns for each complex during the simulation period. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of abemaciclib, ribociclib, and tunicamycin in binding to the nucleotide-binding domain of the GRP78, paving the way for elucidating the mode of interactions between these drugs and cancer (and other stressed) cells that overexpress GRP78. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

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