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Pesticides are used on fruit and vegetable crops to obtain greater yield and quality. Residues can be detected in these crops or their products if applied pesticides do not degrade naturally. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate pesticide residues in some strawberry and tomato-based products available in the market for human consumption and associated dietary risks. Contamination with 3-15 pesticides in the tested samples was found. The total number of pesticides detected in the tested samples was 20, belonging to the group of insecticides (84%) and fungicides (16%). Pesticides of cypermethrin, thiamethoxam, chlorpyrifos, and lambda-cyhalothrin appeared at 100% in a number of samples, where the most detected was cypermethrin followed by thiamethoxam. The average values of pesticide residues detected in the tested samples ranged from 0.006 to 0.568 mg kg-1, where it was found that cypermethrin had the highest residue value and appeared in strawberry jam obtained from the market. The recovery rate of pesticides from fortified samples with pyrethroids ranged from 47.5% (fenvalerate) to 127% (lambda-cyhalothrin). Home processing of fortified tomato and strawberry samples had a significant effect on reducing residues in tomato sauce and strawberry jam, where the reduction reached 100%. The results of acute and chronic risk assessment showed that their values were much lower than 100%, indicating minimal risk of dietary intake.

The use of pesticides leads to an increase in agricultural production but also causes harmful effects on human health when excessively used. For safe consumption, pesticide residues should be below the maximum residual limits (MRLs). In this study, the residual levels of pesticides in vegetables and fruits collected from farmers' markets in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt were investigated using LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS. A total number of 40 pesticides were detected in the tested vegetable and fruit samples. Insecticides were the highest group in detection frequency with 85% and 69% appearance in vegetables and fruits, respectively. Cucumber and apple samples were found to have the highest number of pesticide residues. The mean residue levels ranged from 7 to 951 µg kg-1 (in vegetable samples) and from 8 to 775 µg kg-1 (in fruit samples). It was found that 35 (40.7%) out of 86 pesticide residues detected in vegetables and 35 (38.9%) out of 90 pesticide residues detected in fruits exceeded MRLs. Results for lambda-cyhalothrin, fipronil, dimothoate, and omethoate in spinach, zucchini, kaki, and strawberry, respectively, can cause acute or chronic risks when consumed at 0.1 and 0.2 kg day-1. Therefore, it is necessary for food safety and security to continuously monitor pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables in markets.

Background and Aim: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) causes infectious diseases that are clinically problematic. Methicillin resistance is encoded by the mecA gene on the mobile staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec), with SCCmec types I to V being the most prevalent. Staphylococcal protein A gene (spa) typing is a genotyping method designed for S. aureus. This study aimed to use SCCmec and spa genotyping-based methods to identify the genetic diversity of clinical MRSA isolates. Methods: Fifty MDR-MRSA isolates from tertiary hospitals in Egypt were subjected to molecular-based typing using multiplex PCR to identify SCCmec types I to V and detect spa types via spa DNA sequence analysis. Results: The predominant SCCmec types were SCCmec Ⅴ (34%) and SCCmec Ⅳ (32%). The spa sequence analysis revealed 13 definite spa types, with t084 (24.2%) being the most prevalent, followed by t688 (15.1%). Based on both genotyping methods, 20 diverse MRSA clones were identified, with the most predominant MRSA clones being CC15-SCCmecⅤ-t084 and CC15-SCCmecⅣ-t084 (12.1%). Conclusion: MRSA bacteria in Egyptian hospitals are genetically different, indicating that the strains have diverse origins. Thus, regular surveillance of MRSA diversity is required to detect emergent clones for precise epidemiological evaluation and improved procedures to prevent the spread of this superbug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the impact of dietary supplementation of the blue-green alga Arthrospira platensis NIOF17/003 nanoparticles (AN) on the growth performance, whole-body biochemical compositions, blood biochemistry, steroid hormonal, and fry production efficiency of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) broodstock, during the spawning season. After a 21-day preparation period to equip the females and ensure that their ovaries were filled with eggs, mating between the mature females and males took place in a 3:1 ratio during a 14-day spawning cycle. A total of 384 tilapia broodstock 288 females and 96 males with an initial body weight of 450.53±0.75, were divided into four groups; AN0: a basal diet as a control group with no supplementation of Arthrospira platensis, and the other three groups (AN2, AN4, and AN6) were diets supplemented with nanoparticles of A. platensis at levels of 2, 4, and 6 g kg─1 diet, respectively. The results found that fish-fed group AN6 showed the highest significant differences in weight gain (WG), final weight (FW), feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), and feed efficiency ratio (FER). Females fed the AN6 diet showed the highest significant fat content. Compared to the AN0 group, fish fed on the supplemented diets showed significant improvement (p < 0.05) in triglyceride, glucose, and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). A gradual increase in AN inclusion level resulted in a gradual increase in the concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), testosterone, progesterone, and prolactin. The rates (%) of increase in fry production for females fed supplemented diets were 10.5, 18.6, and 32.2% for AN2, AN4, and AN6, respectively, compared to the control group. This work concluded that the inclusion levels of 6 g kg─1 of A. platensis nanoparticles in the diet of Nile tilapia broodstock significantly improved the growth performances, steroid hormone concentrations, and increased the fry production efficiency by 32.2%, respectively. These findings revealed that A. platensis nanoparticles resulted in a significantly enhanced female' reproductive productivity of Nile tilapia broodstock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aimed to assess the influence of dietary inclusion of cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis NIOF17/003 as a dry material and as a free-lipid biomass (FL) on the growth performance, body composition, redox status, immune responses, and gene expression of whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei postlarvae. L. vannamei were fed five different supplemented diets; the first group was fed on an un-supplemented diet as a negative control group (C-N), the second group was fed on a commercial diet supplemented with 2% of A. platensis complete biomass as a positive control group (C-P20), whereas, the three remaining groups were fed on a commercial diet supplemented with graded amounts of FL at 1%, 2%, and 3% (FL10, FL20, and FL30, respectively). The obtained results indicated that the diet containing 1% FL significantly increased the growth performance, efficiency of consumed feed, and survival percentage of L. vannamei compared to both C-N and C-P20 groups. As for the carcass analysis, diets containing A. platensis or its FL at higher levels significantly increased the protein, lipid, and ash content compared to the C-N group. Moreover, the shrimp group fed on C-P20 and FL10 gave significantly stimulated higher digestive enzyme activities compared with C-N. The shrimp fed C-P20 or FL exhibited higher innate immune responses and promoted their redox status profile. Also, the shrimp fed a low FL levels significantly upregulated the expression of both the peroxiredoxin (Prx) and prophenoloxidase (PPO1) genes than those receiving C-N. The current results recommended that dietary supplementation with 1% FL is the most effective treatment in promoting the performance and immunity of whiteleg shrimp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquafeed additive quality and quantity remain pivotal factors that constrain the sustainability and progress of aquaculture feed development. This study investigates the impact of incorporating the benthic diatom Amphora coffeaeformis into the diet of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) broodstock, on the blood biochemistry, steroid hormone (SH) levels and seed production efficiency. Broodstock females displaying mature ovary indications were initially combined with males at a ratio of three females to one male. A total of 384 adult Nile tilapia (288 females and 96 males) were used, with 32 fish (24 females and eight males) assigned to each of 12 concrete tanks (8 m³; 2 m × 4 m × 1 m), with three replicate tanks for each dietary treatment, throughout a 14‐day spawning cycle until egg harvest. Fish were fed one of four different dietary treatments: AM0% (control diet), and AM2%, AM4% and AM6% enriched with the diatom A. coffeaeformis at levels of 20, 40 and 60 g/kg of diet respectively. At the trial's conclusion, total protein, albumin, triglyceride and creatinine), SHs (follicle‐stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, free testosterone, total testosterone, progesterone and prolactin) and seeds production efficiency of Nile tilapia improved significantly (p < 0.05) in alignment with the increment of A. coffeaeformis supplementation. The findings propose that including A. coffeaeformis at levels ranging from 4% to 6% could be effectively employed as a feed additive during the Nile tilapia broodstock's spawning season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]