Hafedh Kochkar

This review is a comprehensive investigation of avian candidiasis, mainly caused by Candida albicans, although the prevalence of non-albicans Candida species has increased in domestic and wild birds. Avian candidiasis causes significant economic losses in poultry production through increased mortality, cost of treatments, and reduced growth rates, particularly in young birds and intensive farming operations. The pathogenesis section provides a description of the molecular virulence factors such as adhesin-mediated attachment (ALS, Agglutinin-Like Sequence family; HWP1, Hyphal Wall Protein 1), yeast-to-hypha morphogenesis, tissue damage by Candidalysin, biofilm formation on mucosal and abiotic surfaces, and secreted hydrolytic enzymes including secreted aspartyl proteinases (SAPs) and phospholipases. The identified predisposing factors include immunosuppression, malnutrition, abuse of antibiotics, bad husbandry, and crop stasis. The diagnostic methods discussed encompass cytological analysis and fungal culture on selective media to more sophisticated methods of molecular analysis (PCR, MALDI-TOF MS, and NGS). Antifungal susceptibility investigations indicate that nystatin and amphotericin B are still very effective against most avian isolates and that resistance to the azoles is on the rise, especially with respect to the non-albicans Candida species. Nystatin is still the first-line treatment of localized infections; azoles are still used for resistant or systemic infections despite their hepatotoxicity. Sanitation, proper nutrition, and proper use of antimicrobials are essential to prevent diseases. The knowledge gaps comprise the absence of avian-specific pharmacokinetic information, poor knowledge of species-species virulence phenotypes, and the lack of point-of-care diagnostics. The need to have integrated One Health surveillance systems is emphasized by the zoonotic potential of the avian Candida reservoirs.

In this study, we aim to evaluate how cyclodextrin molecules affect the hydrophilicity and selec-tivity of PVDF membrane. Herein, we prepared PVDF-PVP(1-x) β-CDx membranes, with x rang-ing from 0 to 1 wt%. The membranes were deeply characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR-IR), Raman spectroscopies, Thermal gravimet-ric analysis (TGA), Contact angle measurement (CA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The study unequivocally demonstrates the effectiveness of the addition of β-CD molecules on membranes' structural, morphological, and dielectric properties. Adding 0.25wt% β-CD enhanced hydrophilicity, with CA decreasing from 72.6° to 56° and roughness decreasing from 81 to 29 nm. The PVDF-PVP(1-x) β-CDx membranes were then fully characterized using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to determine their dielectric properties, which clearly showed that the presence of β-CD induced polarization of the mem-brane. The separation of various dyes with different sizes and charges was utilized. These dyes included methylene blue (MB, positive, 0.504 nm), methyl red (MR, neutral, 0.487 nm), rose Bengal (RB, negative, 0.588 nm), and brilliant blue (BB, negative, 0.798 nm). Based on our re-search, we found that the membrane's selectivity is determined by both exclusion factors (such as size and dielectric properties) and inclusion inside the β-CD cage. We found that using alpha-CD instead of beta-CD led to the disappearance of dye inclusion. These findings strongly sug-gest that β-CD molecules can be a viable solution for dye removal from wastewater.

Major obstacles faced by the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are their gastrointestinal toxicity induced by non-selective inhibition of both cyclooxygenases (COX) 1 and 2 and their cardiotoxicity associated with a certain class of COX-2 selective inhibitors. Recent studies have demonstrated that selective COX-1 and COX-2 inhibition generates compounds with no gastric damage. The aim of the current study is to develop novel anti-inflammatory agents with a better gastric profile. In our previous paper, we investigated the anti-inflammatory activity of 4-methylthiazole-based thiazolidinones. Thus, based on these observations, herein we report the evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity, drug action, ulcerogenicity and cytotoxicity of a series of 5-adamantylthiadiazole-based thiazolidinone derivatives. The in vivo anti-inflammatory activity revealed that the compounds possessed moderate to excellent anti-inflammatory activity. Four compounds 3, 4, 10 and 11 showed highest potency (62.0, 66.7, 55.8 and 60.0%, respectively), which was higher than the control drug indomethacin (47.0%). To determine their possible mode of action, the enzymatic assay was conducted against COX-1, COX-2 and LOX. The biological results demonstrated that these compounds are effective COX-1 inhibitors. Thus, the IC₅₀ values of the three most active compounds 3, 4 and 14 as COX-1 inhibitors were 1.08, 1.12 and 9.62 μΜ, respectively, compared to ibuprofen (12.7 μΜ) and naproxen (40.10 μΜ) used as control drugs. Moreover, the ulcerogenic effect of the best compounds 3, 4 and 14 were evaluated and revealed that no gastric damage was observed. Furthermore, compounds were found to be nontoxic. A molecular modeling study provided molecular insight to rationalize the COX selectivity. In summary, we discovered a novel class of selective COX-1 inhibitors that could be effectively used as potential anti-inflammatory agents.

To evaluate the potential role of in situ formed Sr-Ti-O species as a ferroelectric component able to enhance the photocatalytic properties of an adjacent TiO2 semiconductor, Cu-doped/graphene oxide (GO)/TiO2 nanotubes (TiNTs) composites (with 0.5 wt % Cu and 1.0 wt % GO) have been synthesized while progressive amounts of strontium (up to 1.0 wt %) were incorporated at the surface of the composite through incipient wetness impregnation followed by post-thermal treatment at 400 degrees C. The different resulting photocatalytic systems were then first deeply characterized by means of N2 adsorption-desorption measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance (UV-vis DR), Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and Z-mapping). In a second step, optimization of the kinetic response of the Sr-containing composites was performed for the formic acid photodegradation under UV irradiation. The Sr-containing Cu/GO/TiNT composites were then fully characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) for their dielectric properties showing clearly the implication of polarization induced by the Sr addition onto the stabilization of photogenerated charges. Finally, a perfect correlation between the photocatalytic kinetic evaluation and dielectric properties undoubtedly emphasizes the role of ferroelectric polarization as a very valuable approach to enhance the photocatalytic properties in an adjacent semiconductor.