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
Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems are used as an efficient and effective method of exchanging patients’ health information with doctors and other key stakeholders in the health sector to obtain improved patient treatment decisions and diagnoses. As a result, questions regarding the security of sensitive user data are highlighted. To encourage people to move their sensitive health records to cloud networks, a secure authentication and access control mechanism that protects users’ data should be established. Furthermore, authentication and access control schemes are essential in the protection of health data, as numerous responsibilities exist to ensure security and privacy in a network. So, the main goal of our s
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In the present study, activated carbon supported metal oxides was prepared for thiophene removal from model fuel (Thiophene in n-hexane) using adsorptive desulfurization technique. Commercial activated carbon was loaded individually with copper oxide in the form of Cu2O/AC. A comparison of the kinetic and isotherm models of the sorption of thiophene from model fuel was made at different operating conditions including adsorbent dose, initial thiophene concentration and contact time. Various adsorption rate constants and isotherm parameters were calculated. Results indicated that the desulfurization was enhanced when copper was loaded onto activated carbon surface. The highest desulfurization percent for Cu2O/AC and o
... Show MoreThe study showed that all extracts (aqueous, ethanolic and acetonic) of the leaves of Eucalyptus and Myrtus plants had a inhibitory effect on the growth of all types of yeasts studied, acetone extract recorded the highest inhibition of yeastat 100ppm concentration,The inhibition was 35mm, 34mm, 24mm and 20mm for Candida parapsilosis, Candida glabrata, Candida tropicalis and Candida albicans respectively, The experiments above showed the least significant differences at 0.05 level.The results ofE. Cammldulensis ethanolic tincture analysis has shown the presence of 44 biologically active substances. The main Eucalyptus leaves component was: 2-Bicyclo (2-2.1) heptanol (12.37%), Ledol (8.23%),1,2,4- Benzenetriol (8.45%) and that contain spathul
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This study attempts to address the importance of communicative digitization in the field of various arts for the sake of continuity of shopping and aesthetic, artistic and intellectual appreciation of artistic achievements by the recipient on various places of their residence in light of the COVID 19 crisis, and to highlight the importance of the plastic arts of the Iraqi painter exclusively and how it expresses in a contemporary way the environment or life reality in Iraq in light of this crisis. With all its implications affecting the life reality from various aspects and methods of its negative and positive employment. As for the research procedures, the researcher reviewed the research methodology represented by the descriptive ana
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Background and Aim: due to the rapid growth of data communication and multimedia system applications, security becomes a critical issue in the communication and storage of images. This study aims to improve encryption and decryption for various types of images by decreasing time consumption and strengthening security. Methodology: An algorithm is proposed for encrypting images based on the Carlisle Adams and Stafford Tavares CAST block cipher algorithm with 3D and 2D logistic maps. A chaotic function that increases the randomness in the encrypted data and images, thereby breaking the relation sequence through the encryption procedure, is introduced. The time is decreased by using three secure and private S-Boxes rather than using si
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The azo ligand obtained from the diazotization reaction of 2-aminobenzothiazole and 4- nitroaniline yielded a novel series of complexes with Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) ions. The complexes were investigated using spectral techniques such as UV-Vis, FT-IR, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopic analyses, LC-MS and atomic absorption spectrometry, electrical conductivity, and magnetic susceptibility. The molar ratio of the synthesized compounds was determined using the ligand exchange ratio, which revealed the metal-ligand ratios in the isolated complexes were 1:2. The synthesized complexes were tested for antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, E. coli, C. albicans, and C. tropicalis bacterial species. Additionally, their binding affinities we
... Show MoreCinema artist work has not been achieved without location indications ; places are of cultured indications and its effect on behaviors and trends. Location is an important element as to convey meanings via its interaction with the personality about which it has been written may studies. Despite location occupies huge spaces within social and philosophical Drama branches , but it has a strong connection with the art world since it reflects reality of global theories in different fields. Audio and visual speech in Cinema have connected with the environmental effectiveness resulted from location which the sensual understanding interacts with in a way that suits Movie. Location consists of mixing elements of Movie and it in return interacts
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Cloud computing is a pay-as-you-go model that provides users with on-demand access to services or computing resources. It is a challenging issue to maximize the service provider's profit and, on the other hand, meet the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of users. Therefore, this paper proposes an admission control heuristic (ACH) approach that selects or rejects the requests based on budget, deadline, and penalty cost, i.e., those given by the user. Then a service level agreement (SLA) is created for each selected request. The proposed work uses Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and the Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA) to schedule the selected requests under budget and deadline constraints. Performances of PSO and SSA with and witho
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A paraffin wax and copper foam matrix were used as a thermal energy storage material in the double passes air solar chimney (SC) collector to get ventilation effect through daytime and after sunset. Air SC collector was installed in the south wall of an insulated test room and tested with different working angles (30o, 45o and 60o). Different SC types were used; single pass, double passes flat plate collector and double pass thermal energy storage box collector (TESB). A computational model based on the finite volume method for transient tw dimensional domains was carried out to describe the heat transfer and storage in the thermal energy storage material of collector. Also, equivalent specific heat metho
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