Thienopyridines one of the most important classes in organic chemistry due to their outstanding medicinal and environmental applications. In this study, we report the synthesis of a series of novel thienopyridine derivatives bearing different aryl substituents on the fused thiophene moiety to showcase their inhibition behavior on different strains of bacteria and Fungai which can further be evidenced by molecular docking. The 4,6-dimethyl-2-thioxo-1,2-dihydropyridine-3-carbonitrile (3) was used as a starting material for the synthesis of the target compounds (4-15). The condensation of compound 3 with thiophene-2-carbaldehyde led to formation of thienylpyridine product 4, which subsequently reacted with ethyl chloroacetate or chloroacetaldehyde to furnish the thienopyridine derivatives (6,7). Moreover, the alkylation of compound 3 with various bromoalkyl ketones followed by Thorpe-Zeigler cyclization furnished the …

Introduction: Rodents, thriving in human-altered environments, pose significant
public health risks due to their role as reservoirs for numerous zoonotic parasites.
Among these, Cryptosporidium spp. are recognized globally as leading causes
of waterborne and foodborne diarrheal illnesses in humans. The specific role of
fat sand rats (Psammomys obesus) in the transmission of Cryptosporidium spp.
in Egypt and the genotypic characteristics of the circulating species in these
animals remain poorly understood.
Methods: In this study, a total of 150 individual fat sand rat stool samples were
collected from the saline marsh periurban areas of Abu-Rawash, Giza, Egypt. The
samples were initially screened for the presence of Cryptosporidium spp. using
light and scanning electron microscopy to characterize the parasite’s oocysts.
Furthermore, molecular identification and characterization of the parasite
were carried out on selected microscopy-positive samples (n = 30) using
conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the Cryptosporidium
oocyst wall protein (COWP) gene. A subset of these positive samples by PCR was
subjected to sequencing, with the resulting sequences deposited in GenBank™
and analyzed through phylogenetic methods.
Results: Conventional microscopy revealed that 46.7% (70/150; 95% CI:
38.7–54.6) of the analyzed stool samples contained structures consistent
with Cryptosporidium oocysts. Moreover, the molecular analysis confirmed
Cryptosporidium species in DNA from all 30 stool samples previously identified
as heavily infected through microscopy. Notably, the phylogenetic analysis
identified Cryptosporidium parvum (C. parvum) in the sequenced samples, likely
originating from the rats’ native habitats. These identified species have been
deposited in GenBank™ under the accession numbers OM817461 (C. parvum FSA-1), OM817462 (C. parvum FSA-2), and OM817463 (C. parvum FSA-3) and revealed closed genetic identity with those species reported from human and other animal species in the same geographic location.
Conclusion: Overall, this study represents the first morphological and genetic identification of C. parvum isolated from fecal samples of fat sand rats trapped from periurban areas in Egypt. These findings provide valuable insights into the potential zoonotic implications of rodents in disease transmission at the national level, offering crucial information for public health awareness campaigns and informing local authorities.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a sustainable and feasible technology to treat livestock manure. However, the effects of coexisting ammonia and antibiotics on the AD process of livestock manure are still unclear. A potential ammonia-antibiotics synergistic co-inhibition might occur. Therefore, the individual and combined effects of different ammonia (1000–7000 mg NH₄⁺-N/L) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) concentrations (0.1–20 mg SMX/L) on the biomethanation process were explored. The results indicated that a significant reduction (43.83%) in methane production was observed under individual 5000 mg NH₄⁺-N/L (A5000 +SMX0.1), while a 20.11% increase was achieved by individual 0.5 mg SMX/L (A1000 +SMX0.5). Under the combined 5000 mg NH₄⁺-N/L and 0.5 mg SMX/L (A5000 +SMX0.5), ammonia inhibition was alleviated with methane production increasing by 58.46% compared with A5000 +SMX0.1 (still 25.89% lower than A1000 +SMX0.5). However, combined high SMX concentrations (≥ 5 mg/L) and ammonia levels (≥ 5000 mg NH₄⁺-N/L) might exacerbate the inhibition of the AD process. Moreover, microbial analyses revealed that A1000 +SMX0.5 improved the acetoclastic methanogenic pathway by enriching key acetoclastic methanogens (Methanothrix), syntrophic bacteria (Syntrophomonas) and hydrolytic-acidogenic bacteria (norank_f__Bacteroidetes_vadinHA17) under high ammonia stress. Conversely, under 5 mg SMX/L the abundances of these functional microorganisms decreased. Metagenomic results further suggested that 0.5 mg SMX/L was associated with increased abundances of critical metabolic genes (glk, ak, acs, and mtr ), which were responsible for improving hydrolysis-acidogenesis, acetogenesis and acetoclastic methanogenesis and contributed to alleviation of ammonia inhibition. Overall, these batch-scale results could benefit future evaluation and optimization of continuous-flow anaerobic digesters treating substrates coexisting with ammonia and antibiotics.

Male same-sex sexual behavior (SSB) is widespread among animal species, but its proximate (mechanistic) and ultimate (evolutionary) explanations remain unclear. A prevailing view is that SSB reflects impaired sex recognition, especially in insects. By unbiased behavioral screening, we identified a Drosophila species, D. santomea, in which males seldom attack and spontaneously court males vigorously, in addition to females. Behavioral, chemical, and optogenetic neuronal manipulations indicate that D. santomea males can distinguish conspecific sex and retain functional aggression circuitry. Instead, male SSB reflects three evolved pheromonal changes affecting two separate signaling systems, resulting in both reduced pheromone production and behavioral valence reversal. One of these occurs unexpectedly in females and may have evolved to prevent hybridization with an interfertile, geographically overlapping sibling species. Remarkably, male SSB and similar pheromonal changes also selectively co-occur in D. persimilis, a geographically and phylogenetically distant species and member of another sympatric sibling pair, implying evolutionary convergence in the two young taxa. The results identify a pheromonal mechanism for rapid social evolution in Drosophila and suggest a plausible evolutionary origin for male SSB as arising in concert with female adaptations that ensure reproductive isolation during speciation.

Pot trials were performed to explore the impacts of seed priming (SPr) plus leaf treatment (LTr) with trans-zeatin-type cytokinin (tZck; 0.05 mM) and silymarin (Sim; 0.5 mM) on growth, yield, physio-biochemical responses, and antioxidant defense systems in Cd-stressed wheat. tZck + Sim applied as SPr + LTr was more effective than individual treatments, and the impacts were more pronounced under stress conditions. Cd stress (0.6 mM) severely declined growth and yield traits, and photosynthesis efficiency (pigment contents, instantaneous carboxylation efficiency, and photochemical activity) compared to the control. These negative impacts coincided with increased levels of Cd²⁺, O₂^•− (superoxide), H₂O₂ (hydrogen peroxide), MDA (malondialdehyde), and EL (electrolyte leakage). Non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidant activities, and tZck and Sim …