Evaluation and Comparison of Four Screening Tests against Milk Culture for Detection of Subclinical Mastitis in Lactating Cattle and Buffalo in Egypt

Subclinical mastitis (SCM) is an asymptomatic worldwide udder infection that results in substantial losses to the dairy industry. Our main objective was to evaluate and compare the clinical performance of 4 commercially available screening tests for diagnosing SCM. Foremilk samples were collected from 428 quarters of 107 apparently healthy lactating cows and buffaloes from El-Menofia governorate from 2020 to 2022. Quarter somatic cell count (SCC) was estimated using the FOSS-BacSomatic® counter and the California Mastitis Test (CMT), with SCM defined as SCC > 200,000 cells/mL. Milk pH was measured cow-side using an AD11®pH-meter and BOVIVET® indicator paper. Bacterial cultures of foremilk samples were used to diagnose SCM as a reference method based on the isolation of the causative pathogens. The tests’ performance was evaluated by calculating test sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), and accuracy at the optimal-cut-point for each test. FOSS-BacSomatic® counter was the best-performing test for diagnosing SCM (Se = 0.967, Sp = 0.943, accuracy = 0.957) at an optimal-cut-point of >200,000 cells/mL. For comparison, CMT is the second best-performing test at an optimal-cut-point of a non-negative score (Se = 0.892, Sp = 0.878, accuracy = 0.887). The test performance of the AD11® pH-meter and BOVIVET® indicator paper was fair, however, the AD11® pH-meter performed better than the BOVIVET® indicator paper with Se = 0.807, Sp = 0.845, and accuracy = 0.822. We concluded that the FOSS-BacSomatic® counter and CMT are considered good tests for diagnosing SCM. On the other hand, milk pH doesn’t provide a clinically useful method for diagnosing SCM. However, based on cost, availability and analysis time, there doesn't seem to be a persuasive reason to select the FOSS-BacSomatic® counter over the traditional CMT to diagnose SCM

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Prevalence and molecular characterization of canine parvovirus-2 in dogs in Giza Governorate, Egypt

Canine parvovirus type-2 (CPV-2) is one of the most common diseases affecting dogs. The disease has been reported worldwide including Egypt causing both acute hemorrhagic enteritis and myocarditis in the infected dogs. Two distinct parvoviruses are incriminated in the disease occurrence CPV-1 and CPV-2. However, the CPV-2 is the most pathogenic and includes three antigenic variants namely, CPV2a, CPV2b and CPV2c. Since the molecular characterization of CPV is critical for future disease prevention and control, the current study aimed to determine the prevalence of CPV-2 in dogs in Giza governorate, Egypt, and molecular characterization of circulating CPV-2. A total of 300 stool samples were collected from dogs with clinical signs suggestive of canine parvovirus from different veterinary hospitals and clinics in Giza governorate, during the period from January 2022 to December 2022. The overall prevalence of CPV-2 in dogs was 72.67% and it was significantly associated with breed, sex and age of examine dogs. In addition, the sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of circulating CPV-2 based on VP2 gene revealed that the circulating strain is CPV-2c. The present findings suggest that the failure of vaccination may be attributed to the use of CPV-2b commercial vaccines in areas where CPV-2c is prevalent

Prevalence and molecular characterization of canine parvovirus-2 in dogs in Giza Governorate, Egypt

Canine parvovirus type-2 (CPV-2) is one of the most common diseases affecting dogs. The disease has been reported worldwide including Egypt causing both acute hemorrhagic enteritis and myocarditis in the infected dogs. Two distinct parvoviruses are incriminated in the disease occurrence CPV-1 and CPV-2. However, the CPV-2 is the most pathogenic and includes three antigenic variants namely, CPV2a, CPV2b and CPV2c. Since the molecular characterization of CPV is critical for future disease prevention and control, the current study aimed to determine the prevalence of CPV-2 in dogs in Giza governorate, Egypt, and molecular characterization of circulating CPV-2. A total of 300 stool samples were collected from dogs with clinical signs suggestive of canine parvovirus from different veterinary hospitals and clinics in Giza governorate, during the period from January 2022 to December 2022. The overall prevalence of CPV-2 in dogs was 72.67% and it was significantly associated with breed, sex and age of examine dogs. In addition, the sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of circulating CPV-2 based on VP2 gene revealed that the circulating strain is CPV-2c. The present findings suggest that the failure of vaccination may be attributed to the use of CPV-2b commercial vaccines in areas where CPV-2c is prevalent

Spectroscopic, crystal structural, theoretical and biological studies of phenylacetohydrazide Schiff base derivatives and their copper complexes

Two phenylacetohydrazide Schiff base derivatives: N’-(1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)ethylidene)-2-phenylacetohydrazide, HL1, and N’-((1-hydroxynaphthalen-2-yl)methylene)-2-phenylacetohydrazide, HL2, were synthesized. HL1 dimerizes in presence of HCl, probably via radical mechanism to give (2,2’-((1E)-hydrazine-1,2-diylidenebis(ethan-1-yl-1-ylidene))diphenol (DIM). Thermal reactions of Cu(II) ions with the two Schiff base ligands resulted in formation of the binuclear complexes [(CuL1)2] and [(CuL2)2]. The stoichiometry and structures of the reported compounds were investigated by several spectroscopic and analytical techniques. The structure of the HL1 ligand and its complex [(CuL1)2] as well as the DIM derivative were analyzed by single crystal X-ray analysis. The X-ray analysis revealed the binuclear coordination of the copper complex with the formation of five- and six-membered rings with every ligand. The molecular geometries of the ligands and their copper complexes were investigated using the DFT‐B3LYP/GENECP level of theory. The optimized structures of the studied complexes are consistent with the finding of the X-ray analysis. The quantum, non-quantum global reactivity descriptors and the non-linear optical properties were calculated. Biological studies including, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the complexes along with fluorescence quenching studies and viscosity measurements are carried out. The molecular docking of the two ligands and [(CuL2)2] complex is also reported. The different biological studies as well as molecular docking are correlated to each other and supported the fact that the complexes can bind to DNA via intercalative mode and showed a various DNA binding potency.peerReviewe

Eco-Friendly NiO/Polydopamine Nanocomposite for Efficient Removal of Dyes from Wastewater

The rapid development of industries discharges huge amounts of wastewater that contain surface water. For this reason, we used NiO/polydopamine (NiO/PDA) nanocomposite as an efficient material for the removal of Methyl violet 2B from water. It was synthesized and then characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). The EDX analysis confirmed the presence of O, Ni, N, and C. The composite has an average particle size of 18 nm. Its surface area is 110.591 m2/g. It was found that the efficiency of dye removal by adsorption on NiO/PDA exceeded that of bare NiO. The adsorption capacity of NiO and NiO/PDA are 126 and 284 mg/g, respectively. The effects of adsorbent dose, dye concentration, and pH on the removal efficiency were examined. The efficiency increased with increasing the adsorbent dose and pH, but dropped from 85 to 73% within 30 min as the initial dye concentration was increased from 0.984 to 4.92 mg/L. Such a drop in the removal efficiency is due to the blocking of the surface-active sites of NiO/PDA, with the high population of dye molecules derived from the continuous increase in dye concentration. The adsorption results of the dye fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm. The reusability data showed that NiO/PDA was stable across three adsorption–regeneration cycles, thus it can be considered a good recyclable and efficient adsorbent. Because of these results, it can be considered that this method can be applied for the treatment of wastewater