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
Metal corrosion is a destructive process for many industrial operations, including oil well acidizing and acid pickling. Therefore, numerous efforts made by many researchers to control the steel corrosion. In the present work, A (E)-4-(((4-(5-mercapto-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl) phenyl) amino) methyl)-2-methoxyphenol (MOPM) has been synthesized and characterized as a new corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in 0.1 M hydrochloric acid. FTIR and 1 HNMR were used in the diagnosis of MOPM, while electrochemical polarization technique was employed to test the performance of inhibitor at various temperatures and inhibitor concentrations. Electrochemical studies showed that MOPM acts as a mixed-type inhibitor with a maximum inhibition efficiency of
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Given the paucity and toxicity of available drugs for leishmaniasis, coupled with the advent of drug resistance, the discovery of new therapies for this neglected tropical disease is recognised as being of the utmost urgency. As such antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been proposed as promising compounds against the causative Leishmania species, insect vector-borne protozoan parasites. Here the AMP temporins A, B and 1Sa have been synthesised and screened for activity against Leishmania mexicana insect stage promastigotes and mammalian stage amastigotes, a significant cause of human cutaneous disease. In contrast to previous studies with other species the activity of these AMPs against L. mexicana amastigotes was low. This suggests that ama
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A total of 1346 hard ticks (863♂ and 483 ♀) infested 104 camels, 60 alive camels with 93.33% infestation rate and 44 carcasses of camels had 79.54% infestation rate The total infestation rate was 87.5 %. The current study results revealed ten species of hard ticks family Ixodidae Koch, 1844 related to genus Hyalomma as following: H. dromedarii Koch, 1844, H. schulzii Morel, 1969, H. turanicum Pomerantsev, 1946, H. excavatum Koch, 1844, H. truncatum Koch, 1844, H. scupense Schulzii, 1919, H. marginatum Koch, 1844, H. anatolicum Koch, 1844, H. rufipes Koch, 1844, H. impeltatum Schulze & Schlottke, 1930 from camel Camelus dromedarius Linnaeus, 1758 collected from 21 regions belonging to six provinces in middle, w
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The pandemic SARS-CoV-2 is highly transmittable with its proliferation among nations. This study aims to design and exploring the efficacy of novel nirmatrelvir derivatives as SARS entry inhibitors by adapting a molecular modeling approach combined with theoretical design. The study focuses on the preparation of these derivatives and understanding their effectiveness, with a special focus on their binding affinity to the S protein, which is pivotal for the virus’s access to the host cell. Considering molecular docking aspects in the scope of a study on nirmatrelvir derivatives and S protein, dynamics simulations with 25 nanoseconds of their binding are explored. The study shows that these derivatives might work as effective antivi
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With the study of synthesizing new organic compounds and exploring biological potency. Aryldiazenyl derivatives (2-5) were carried out by coupling of diazonium salt of 4-aminoacetophenone (1) and miscellaneous active methylene compounds such as: acetylacetone, ethyl cyanoacetate, dimedone or methyl acetoacetate. Moreover substituted 1,2,3-triazole (7-9) were synthesized by the cyclization of 1-(4-azidophenyl) ethanone (6); (which was obtained by coupling of diazonium salt (1) with sodium azid); with acetylacetone, methyl acetoacetate or methyl cyanoacetate, respectively. The structures of the prepared compounds were promoted by IR, H1NMR and UV/Visible spectra. Further, they were examined in vetro for antibacterial activity against five str
... Show MoreThis study aimed to identify the employment of the social networking platform «Twitter» in the 2016 presidential campaign led by the Republican candidate, Donald Trump; and analyse his tweets through his personal account on «Twitter» for the period from: 10/ 8/2016 to: 11/ 8/2016 which represents the last month of the election campaign.
The study belongs to the type of descriptive studies using the analytical method through an analysis index that includes sub-categories and other secondary categories. The research has adopted the ordinary unit of information material (tweet) as an analysis unit for this purpose.
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The topic of this research deals with an analytical study of the nature of the visual sent by the sculptural monument of the person of Christ around the world, the nature of this monument, the manner of its embodiment, the mechanism of reception for each of the societies that this monument addressed to them, how it was reflected on them, how it was reflected on them, and whether these works are related to their culture or not, I discussed this study All this, and the researcher has established theoretical research axes for the research according to the desired goal of this study, which is the definition of the mechanism of visual discourse of statues of Christ around the world and were as follows: (The first axis: the discourse and visua
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This study aims to answer a significant problem of social sciences and philosophy: How do we construct an institutional reality such as diplomacy with an objective recognizable existence? The study assumes that the ability to build institutional reality is based on our biological capacity, as it takes different forms in all the institutions we construct. The study takes the theory of the American philosopher John Searle as an approach to examining the assumption. The study sums up important findings; cultures, although they share the biological capacity on which they produce institutional realities, differ in the form of the value standards on which the institutional realities are based. The study recommends the need of Arab social resea
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