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
The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of Nd:YAG laser shock processing (LSP) on micro-hardness and surface roughness of 86400Cu-Zn alloy. X-ray fluorescence technique was used to analyze the chemical composition of this alloy. LSP treatment was performed with a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm. The results show that laser shock processing can significantly increase. The micro-hardness and surface roughness of the LSP-treated sample. Vickers diamond indenter was used to measure the micro-hardness of all samples with different laser pulse energy and the different number of laser pulses. It is found that the metal hardness can be significantly increased to more than 80% by increasing the laser energy and t
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This study is conducted to determine the activity of plant Vica faba and two isolated from arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (A,B) in bioremediation of soil pollution by Nickel and Lead elements in north and south of Baghdad city. The results showed that the average of soil pollution by Nickel and Lead elements in north of Baghdad was less than the average of soil pollution in the south of Baghdad which recorded 29.0,9.0PPm and 42.0, 25.0PPm respectively. The results show that the isolate A from the polluted soil is more active from isolate B which isolate from unpolluted soil for bioremediation. Vica faba recorded more in accumulate the Lead element in shoot system which was 19.65PPm and in root system was 27.2PPm and for Nickel element 24.65
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background: human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (her2/neu) is related to growth factor receptors with alkaline kinase activity and it is regarded as important prognostic and therapeutic factor that can depended on in breast cancer therapy. HER2/neu expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) is submitted to a great in terob server inconsistency. Subsequently additional confirmatory tests for assessment of gene alterations and amplification status are needed for patients with early or metastatic breast cancer. In situ hybridization techniques and specifically Chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) was arise as a practical, cost-effective, and alternative to fluorescent in situ hybridization in testing for gene alterationAims of the study
... Show MoreThis research display a selected sample of Regelson's texts, there were interrelations and interactions unfolded so as to show his creativity in the employment of religious texts. In the story "In the Youth of Moses", he inter-texted the episode of the Prophet Moses from the Torah, the Source of legislation, to signify a legislative issue needed by the community. As for the story of "Samson, One of the Falling", he originated the character of The Judge Samson by alluding to the Book of the Judges, which is the Book which reminded of the defeat and slavery of the Palestinians by a Jewish leader, as is related in Jewish religious texts. Further, and the story of "And Haman Said", he chose the story of the Queen Esther from the Book of Esth
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Background: In dentistry, dentist takes the advantages of soft lining materials due to the viscoelastic properties. The major problem is the adhesion of the soft liner with the denture base material. Materials and Methods: Heat cured of high impact acrylic resin specimens prepared with dimensions 75x13x13mm for shear bond strength test, soft lining material (Refit and Mollosil) with a 3-mm thickness and used to join each two acrylic blocks. Also four specimens with the same previous dimensions utilized for chemical and physical surface analysis. The specimens grouped as control (without plasma) and experiment (with oxygen plasma) treated high impact acrylic specimens. Results: Plasma treatment increased the shear bond strength for both Refi
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Psoriasis is a long-lasting autoimmune disease that is characterized by swollen skin patches. Normally, these skin patches are dark, swollen, itchy and scaly. The single application of the innate TLR7/8 ligand Imiquimod (IMQ) in mice easily induces a dermatitis that closely resembles human psoriasis, critically dependent on the axis of IL-23/IL-17. Artemisia dracunculus prepared as an ointment and has been used topically to mice before imiquimod application. The results of the current study showed that A. dracunculus ointment can significantly reduce psoriasis area and severity index in (A. dracunculus ointment + imiquimod group as compared with both control group and (vehicle ointment + imiquimod) group.
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The research aims to identify the future teachers' attitudes toward cloud computing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from their point of view. The research adopted the descriptive approach, and a questionnaire was applied to a random sample of (370) male and female teachers in governmental and private general education schools in the Al-Jouf region, Saudi Arabia. The results of the research concluded that the reality of future teachers' attitudes towards cloud computing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from their point of view is very high and that most areas of using computing are in the field of assessment, then teaching, and activities. The challenges of future teachers' attitudes toward cloud computing are recorded at a high level, parti
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