Bioactive molecules derived from seaweed extracts are revolutionary bio-stimulants used to enhance plant growth and increase yield production. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a commercially available seaweed liquid extract, namely, True-Algae-Max (TAM^®), as a plant growth stimulant on nutritional, and antioxidant activity of Capsicum annuum. Three concentrations of TAM^® (0.25, 0.5, and 1%) of various NPK: TAM^® ratios were investigated via foliar spray, over 2017 and 2018 cultivation seasons, under greenhouse conditions. TAM^® is rich in phytochemical compounds, such as ascorbic acid (1.66 mg g⁻¹), phenolics (101.67 mg g⁻¹), and flavonoids (2.60 mg g⁻¹) that showed good antioxidant activity (54.52 mg g⁻¹) and DPPH inhibition of 70.33%. Promoting measured parameter results stated the extensive potentiality of TAM^® application, in comparison with conventional NPK treatment. Yield and composition of C. annuum were significantly improved in all TAM^® treated groups, especially the TAM_0.5% concentration, which resulted in maximum yield (4.23 Kg m⁻²) and significant amounts of profuse biological molecules like chlorophyll, ascorbic, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and total nutrients. Compared to the NPK control treatments, C. annuum treated with TAM_0.5% improved the total antioxidant activity of hot Pepper from 162.16 to 190.95 mg g⁻¹. These findings indicate that the extract of seaweed can be used as an environmentally friendly, multi-functional biostimulant in the agricultural field for more sustainable production, in addition to reducing the use of hazardous synthetic fertilizers.

Herein, we report the synthesis of eight new mononuclear and binuclear Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺ methoxy thiosemicarbazone (MTSC) complexes aiming at obtaining thiosemicarbazone complex with potent biological activity. The structure of the MTSC ligand and its metal complexes was fully characterized by elemental analysis, spectroscopic techniques (NMR, FTIR, UV-Vis), molar conductivity, thermogravimetric analysis (TG), and thermal differential analysis (DrTGA). The spectral and analytical data revealed that the obtained thiosemicarbazone-metal complexes have octahedral geometry around the metal center, except for the Zn²⁺-thiosemicarbazone complexes, which showed a tetrahedral geometry. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of the MTSC ligand and its (Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺) metal complexes were also investigated. Interestingly, the antibacterial activity of MTSC- metal complexes against examined bacteria was higher than that of the MTSC alone, which indicates that metal complexation improved the antibacterial activity of the parent ligand. Among different metal complexes, the MTSC- mono- and binuclear Cu²⁺ complexes showed significant antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Proteus vulgaris, better than that of the standard gentamycin drug. The in silico molecular docking study has revealed that the MTSC ligand could be a potential inhibitor for the oxidoreductase protein.

A field investigation on direct seeded rice (DSR) was carried out in the two consecutive rice growing seasons of 2017 and 2018 at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India for the development and validation of soil test crop response (STCR) to fertilizer and for assessing the performance of STCR-treatments as compared to the general recommended dose (GRD) in terms of yield, nutrient uptake and use efficiency, and the economics of DSR. For producing 1 Mg of rice-grain, the required nutrients (N, P, and K) were 2.01 kg, 0.44 kg, and 3.06 kg; the contribution from the soil was 22.05%, 37.34%, and 41.48%; from applied farmyard manure 23.25%, 28.34%, and 16.80%, from fertilizer 38.08%, 49.93%, and 252.98%; and from fertilizer with FYM 44.83%, 60.57%, and 278.70%; for N, P, and K, respectively. The STCR approach, with or without FYM, at both the target yields (4.5 Mg ha⁻¹ and 5.0 Mg ha⁻¹) markedly enhanced the grain yield (20.2% to 32.3%) and production efficiency over the GRD. It also exhibited a higher NPK uptake and use efficiency, along with better profitability, than the GRD. Therefore, the STCR-targeted yield approach could improve the yield, economics, and efficiency of nutrient use for direct seeded rice.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Although several potential therapeutic agents have been developed to efficiently treat cancer, some side effects can occur simultaneously. Papaverine, a non-narcotic opium alkaloid, is a potential anticancer drug that showed selective antitumor activity in various tumor cells. Recent studies have demonstrated that metal complexes improve the biological activity of the parent bioactive ligands. Based on those facts, herein we describe the synthesis of novel papaverine–vanadium(III), ruthenium(III) and gold(III) metal complexes aiming at enhancing the biological activity of papaverine drug. The structures of the synthesized complexes were characterized by various spectroscopic methods (IR, UV–Vis, NMR, TGA, XRD, SEM). The anticancer activity of synthesized metal complexes was evaluated in vitro against two types of cancer cell lines: human breast cancer MCF-7 cells and hepatocellular carcinoma HepG-2 cells. The results revealed that papaverine-Au(III) complex, among the synthesized complexes, possess potential antimicrobial and anticancer activities. Interestingly, the anticancer activity of papaverine–Au(III) complex against the examined cancer cell lines was higher than that of the papaverine alone, which indicates that Au-metal complexation improved the anticancer activity of the parent drug. Additionally, the Au complex showed anticancer activity against the breast cancer MCF-7 cells better than that of cisplatin. The biocompatibility experiments showed that Au complex is less toxic than the papaverine drug alone with IC₅₀ ≈ 111 µg/mL. These results indicate that papaverine–Au(III) complex is a promising anticancer complex-drug which would make it a suitable candidate for further in vivo investigations.

Burullus Lake is Egypt’s second most important coastal lagoon. The present study aimed to shed light on the different types of polluted waters entering the lake from various drains, as well as to evaluate the zooplankton community, determine the physical and chemical characteristics of the waters, and study the eutrophication state based on three years of seasonal monitoring from 2017 to 2019 at 12 stations. The results revealed that Rotifera, Copepoda, Protozoa, and Cladocera dominated the zooplankton population across the three-year study period, with a total of 98 taxa from 59 genera and 10 groups detected in the whole-body lake in 2018 and 2019, compared to 93 species from 52 genera in 2017. Twelve representative surface water samples were collected from the lake to determine physicochemical parameters, i.e., temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, ammonia-N, nitrate–N, nitrate-N, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, dissolved reactive phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a, as well as Fe, Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cd, and Pb ions. Based on the calculations of the water quality index (WQI), the lake was classified as having good water quality. However, the trophic state is ranked as hyper-eutrophic and high trophic conditions.