The nutritional value versus toxicity was conducted in muscles, gonads, livers, and skin of Tetraodon lineatus from Lake Nasser, Egypt, during 2018. Its overall moisture was 74.92 ± 2.27 muscles, 72.45 ± 2.887 gonads and 35.49 ± 5.55 % livers. The livers recorded the highest crude protein (23.66 ± 3.48%) and total lipids (36.45 ± 6.32%). The annual total protein in muscles was 16.91 ± 2.54%, while the annual total lipids were 3.39 ± 1.05 %. Leucine was the most abundant (0.548 mg/g) ˃ isoleucine (0.284 mg/g) of the essential amino acids. Sixteen fatty acids were recorded (12: SFAs, 4: MUSFAs), with butyric acid predominating. Assessment of tetrodotoxin (TTX) as mouse per unit (MU/g), gave the highest toxic abundant for skin (53.13%) ˃ gonads (34.6)  ˃ muscles (12.9) and no detection in the livers. The average toxicity in all organs is at a low level and lower than the maximum permissible limits (<100 MU/g) despite strongly toxic samples. The abundance of all toxic samples was in summer (44.8%) and spring (36.8), followed by winter and autumn (9.2 each one). Muscles, gonads, and livers showed no response to toxicity tests during winter. On the contrary, muscles were highly contaminated with TTX in summer (25%) and spring (22.2). The findings confirmed that T. lineatus has a good nutritional value, toxicity restrictions in specific organs and seasons, recommending its better utilization with more studies to confirm its safety for human consumption.

Worldwide, the bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi, (R. padi) affects wheat, sorghum, and other grain crops, and conventional pesticides to control this aphid negatively affects the surrounding environment. Therefore, knowing the entomotoxicity of different chemical compounds against R. padi is an important step to control these pests. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the toxicity of different nicotinic acetylcholine receptor modulators (thiamethoxam, imidacloprid, acetamiprid, and sulfoxaflor) and the octopamine receptor agonists’ (ORAs hereon) synergistic effect (chlordimeform and amitraz) on the selected pesticides’ toxicity against R. padi adults. We found that chlordimeform was more effective than amitraz (LC₅₀: 144.01 and 238.33 µg/mL, respectively), after 24-h of exposure. Sulfoxaflor was the most toxic pesticide (LC₅₀ values were 4.61 and 0.44 µg/mL), whereas we identified acetamiprid as the least potent one (LC₅₀ values were 111.82 and 88.69 µg/ mL). Thiamethoxam was the most effective neonicotinoid pesticide among those we used. Chlordimeform and amitraz had synergized effects with the surveyed pesticides, with amitraz showing the highest synergistic ratio. These findings indicate that ORAs are promising tools to increase the selected pesticides’ effectiveness on R. padi control, which may contribute to the decrease in the use of generic pesticides, the emergence of resistant strains, and, consequently, their impacts on the environment

Different methods for the synthesis of pyridine derivatives as well as the chemical reactivity profiles and structures of these substances are reviewed. The utility of these compounds as precursors is emphasized in the synthesis of many heterocycles that are pharmacologically active organic compounds and agrochemicals. This review results from a literature survey containing some synthetic methods and applications of pyridine derivatives.

Starting from 3-cyano-4, 6-distyrylpyridin-2 (1H)-thione (1), the compound N-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-((3-cyano-4, 6-distyrylpyridin-2-yl) thio) acetamide (2) was prepared. Compound (2) underwent cyclization upon heating in ethanolic sodium ethoxide solution to give the corresponding cyclized form 3-amino-N-(4-chlorophenyl)-4, 6-distyrylthieno [2, 3-b] pyridine-2-carboxamide (3). The elemental analyses and spectroscopic data of compounds (2) and (3) are in agreement with their proposed structures. Their insecticidal activity against cowpea aphid, Aphis craccivora Koch, was studied. The results of insecticidal activity for compounds (2) and (3) against the nymphs and the adults of the tested insects exhibited that compounds (2) and (3) have a higher insecticidal activity than that of acetamiprid, a reference insecticide, after 24 h of treatment.

In examining for unique insecticidal agents, two derivatives namely, 2-((3-cyano-4, 6-distyrylpyridin-2-yl) thio)-N-(4-nitrophenyl) acetamide (2) and 3-amino-N-(4-nitrophenyl)-4, 6-distyrylthieno [2, 3-b] pyridine-2-carboxamide (3) were synthesized from distyrylpyridine-2-thione (1). The new compounds were structurally clarified by spectral and elemental analysis data. The insecticidal activity of these compounds were carried out against cowpea aphid, Aphis craccivora Koch. It is demonstrated that the compounds 2 and 3 have noteworthy insecticidal activity against nymphs of cowpea aphid with LC50 values of 0.025-0.027 ppm and 0.005-0.006 ppm after 24 h and 48 h of treatment, respectively. Also, the compounds 2 and 3 have noteworthy insecticidal activity against adults of cowpea aphid with LC50 values of 0.112-0.129 ppm and 0.014-0.015 ppm after 24 h and 48 h of treatment, respectively, that were comparable to that of the control acetamiprid.

Oxo derivatives of pyrazolines and pyrazolidines are important heterocyclic compounds due to their unique biological activities and have been widely applied in pharmaceutical and agromedical fields. In this review, we provide an account of some recent advances in the field of pyrazolone chemistry, specifically on the reported synthesis methods of pyrazolinone (3-oxo-1, 2-dihydropyrazole) and 3, 5-pyrzolidinediones (3, 5-dioxotetrahydropyrazoles) derivatives.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of green fodders, fresh Sesbania sesban, and reed grass, on growth performance, blood metabolites, and meat quality of growing lambs. Twenty-one male Farafra lambs (19.0 ± 1.87 kg body weight) were randomly distributed into three groups, each with seven animals. The first group was fed on 60% concentrates and 40% fresh alfalfa, and served as a control. The second and third groups were fed also on 60% concentrates plus 40% fresh Sesbania sesban and reed grass, respectively. Lambs were fed the diets until reaching the target slaughter weight of about 50.0 kg, which was obtained after a period of 215 days. Five lambs from each group were randomly selected and slaughtered at the end of the experiment. Slaughter body weight, carcass traits weight, and dressing percentage were estimated. Chemical composition and physical properties of

Despite the toxicity of microplastics (MPs) in freshwater fish has been demonstrated in previous studies, their effects when mixed with other pollutants (organic and inorganic) are poorly understood. Thus, we aimed to test the hypothesis that the association of polyethylene MPs (PE-MPs) to a mix of emerging pollutants induces more adverse genotoxic, mutagenic, and redox unbalance effects in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio), after 15 days of exposure. Although the accumulation of MPs in animals was greater in animals exposed to PE-MPs alone, erythrocyte DNA damage (comet assay) and the frequency of erythrocytic nuclear abnormalities (ENAs) evidenced in zebrafish exposed to PE-MPs alone were as pronounced as those observed in animals exposed to the mix of pollutant (alone or in combination with MPs), which constitutes the big picture of the current study. Moreover, we noticed that such effects were associated with an imbalance between pro-and antioxidant metabolism in animals, whose activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) was assessed in different organs which were not sufficient to counterbalance the production of reactive oxygen species [hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)] and nitrogen [nitric oxide (NO)] evaluated. The principal component analysis (PCA) also revealed that while the antioxidant activity was more pronounced in the brain and liver of animals, the highest production of H₂O₂ was perceived in the gills and muscles, suggesting that the biochemical response of the animals was organ-dependent. Thus, the present study did not demonstrate antagonistic, synergistic, or additive effects on animals exposed to the combination between PE-MPs and a mix of pollutants in the zebrafish, which reinforces the theory that interactions between pollutants in aquatic ecosystems may be as complex as their effects on freshwater ichthyofauna.

There have been significant impacts of the current COVID-19 pandemic on society including high health and economic costs. However, little is known about the potential ecological risks of this virus despite its presence in freshwater systems. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the exposure of Poecilia reticulata juveniles to two peptides derived from Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, which was synthesized in the laboratory (named PSPD-2002 and PSPD-2003). For this, the animals were exposed for 35 days to the peptides at a concentration of 40 µg/L and different toxicity biomarkers were assessed. Our data indicated that the peptides were able to induce anxiety-like behavior in the open field test and increased acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. The biometric evaluation also revealed that the animals exposed to the peptides displayed alterations in the pattern of growth/development. Furthermore, the increased activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) enzymes were accompanied by increased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), which suggests a redox imbalance induced by SARS-CoV-2 spike protein peptides. Moreover, molecular docking analysis suggested a strong interaction of the peptides with the enzymes AChE, SOD and CAT, allowing us to infer that the observed effects are related to the direct action of the peptides on the functionality of these enzymes. Consequently, our study provided evidence that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral particles in the freshwater ecosystems offer a health risk to fish and other aquatic organisms.