Abstract Candida albicans is a commensal fungal pathogen that grows in yeast and hyphal forms in the human gut. C. albicans causes mucosal and cutaneous diseases that can result in significant mortality following systematic infections and it also exhibits drug resistance. Zebrafish have been an excellent model to investigate C. albicans infections because of their transparency and the availability of many transgenic lines. However, there is a limitation in using zebrafish as a model because the fish embryos cannot survive at 37°C therefore it is not suitable for studying Candida infections at physiological relevant human body temperature. In this thesis, the normal embryonic development of Arabian killifish (A. dispar) is investigated, revealing that embryogenesis was divided into 32 stages based on diagnostic patterns of development. A. dispar can also found to tolerate a wide range of temperatures and salinities. This suggests that A. dispar could be developed as a novel model to investigate host-pathogen interactions. The tolerance of A. dispar to high temperatures may in part be attributable to brown pigment cells with a highly fluorescent character that may have developed to allow the fish to adapt to live within extreme environmental conditions with strong sunlight and a wide range of temperatures (Chapter 3). In terms of Candida infections, this study examined A. dispar as a model to test C. albicans pathogenicity. The survival of A. dispar embryos following Candida infection showed a dose dependent relationship. We also found that A. dispar can survive longer than zebrafish after infection. Furthermore, C. albicans cells were observed to undergo a transition from yeast to hyphae at 37°C. An investigation of the ability of mutant strains of C. albicans with defects in cell wall mannosylation revealed a significant impact on virulence, host mortality, and the fishes’ immune response. The present study found that although the deletion of O- and N-mannan from the cell wall of C. albicans, affected fungal burden (attenuation), and the survival of the infected embryos per se was significantly decreased in the infections of the mutant strains compared to the WT. This data confirms the importance of the mannosylation state of the cell wall in triggering an immune recognition event (Chapter 4). A. dispar is also shown to be suitable for studying the effectiveness of 3 | P a g e antifungals. Fluconazole treatment of infected embryos and eggs promoted greater rates of survival at high doses, alongside a significant reduction of C. albicans CFUs (Chapter 4). When looking at the Candida-host interaction, we directly observed phagocytosed yeast cells within macrophages. Various detection methods were used to follow macrophages and neutrophils including Western blotting, immunostaining and histological staining (Sudan black and FITC-tyramide) allowing the monitoring of the time course of the immune cells. A biphasic response of macrophages was detected by L-plastin Western blotting, suggesting activation of two different type of macrophage: activated macrophage (M1) and alternative macrophage (M2). We also assayed reactive oxygen species (ROS) within infected embryos using a fluorescent probe (H2DCFDA), revealing the accumulation of the fluorescent probe at the sites of infection. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the oxidative and immune response using the H2DCFDA and qPCR were also accomplished within A. dispar embryos after infection with both the WT and mutant strains of Candida albicans (WT, pmr1∆, mnt1-mnt2∆, and och1∆). The results confirmed that the mutant strains did not activate a host oxidative stress response nor immune cell accumulation when compared to WT, suggesting that the immune response is less activated against these mutants. Finally, a new transgenic line of A. dispar fish was developed using Betaactin-DsR-LoxP-GFP. The new transgenic A. dispar is suggested to be an ideal model for real time observation of host-pathogen interactions and for investigation of molecular functions of the immune response. Overall these results improve our understanding of the use of a new transparent fish model to study fungal pathogenesis and demonstrates the potential advantages of using this species in future studies of bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens at a physiologically relevant temperature for human infection. Such a model could lead us to investigate in more depth the key interactions between pathogens and their host and permit the screening and development of new antifungal therapies (that might target the pathogens directly or target the host immune system). View full metadata
This paper aims at the analytical level to know the security topics that were used with data journalism, and the expression methods used in the statements of the Security Media Cell, as well as to identify the means of clarification used in data journalism. About the Security Media Cell, and the methods preferred by the public in presenting press releases, especially determining the strength of the respondents' attitude towards the data issued by the Security Media Cell. On the Security Media Cell, while the field study included the distribution of a questionnaire to the public of Baghdad Governorate. The study reached several results, the most important of which is the interest of the security media cell in presenting its data in differ
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Multilateral wells require a sophisticated type of well model to be applied in reservoir simulators to represent them. The model must be able to determine the flow rate of each fluid and the pressure throughout the well. The production rate calculations are very important because they give an indication about some main issues associated with multi-lateral wells such as one branch may produce water or gas before others, no production rate from one branch, and selecting the best location of a new branch for development process easily.  
... Show MoreA problem of solid waste became in the present day common global problem among all countries, whether developing or developed countries, and can say that no country in the world today is immuning from this dilemma which must find appropriate solutions. The problem has reached a stage that can not ignore or delay, but has became a daily problem occupies the minds of ecologists, economists and politicians took occupies center front in the lists of priorities for the countries in terms of finding solutions to the rapid scientific and radical them. and that transport costs constitute an important component of total costs borne by the municipal districts in the process of disposal of solid waste, so any improvement in the
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The audience is one of the important practical elements in the theatrical show and its importance is not confined to its static activity as a receiver element only, rather it went beyond that issue as an effective and influential element in the proceedings of the show and the process of meaning construction, that it gains an active role in the construction and production of the connotation that influences and is influenced by the actor, where the communication channels are open between the two sides, consequently a kind of watching and joint interaction happens between them. Thus, it has become necessary for the actor to create a suitable environment for the onlookers in order for it to be an essential part of the show system. The
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Abstract
This paper presents an intelligent model reference adaptive control (MRAC) utilizing a self-recurrent wavelet neural network (SRWNN) to control nonlinear systems. The proposed SRWNN is an improved version of a previously reported wavelet neural network (WNN). In particular, this improvement was achieved by adopting two modifications to the original WNN structure. These modifications include, firstly, the utilization of a specific initialization phase to improve the convergence to the optimal weight values, and secondly, the inclusion of self-feedback weights to the wavelons of the wavelet layer. Furthermore, an on-line training procedure was proposed to enhance the control per
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Pilots are trained using computerized flight simulators. A flight simulator is a training system where pilots can acquire flying skills without need to practice on a real airplane. Simulators are used by professional pilots to practice flying strategies under emergency or hazardous conditions, or to train on new aircraft types. In this study a framework for flight simulation is presented and the layout of an implemented program is described. The calculations were based on simple theoretical approach. The implementation was based on utilizing some of utilities supported by ActiveX, DirectX and OpenGL written in Visual C++. The main design consideration is to build a simple flight simulation program can operate without need to high computer e
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