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
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This study aims to suggest an alternative to the use of quality agricultural soil in the brick industry (Iraq). The Late Miocene claystone bed in the Injana Formation in central Iraq was targeted through the study of 18 exposed sections that were sampled by using the trench sampling method. The claystones are characterized by quartz (36.4%) followed by calcite (32.8%), quartz (36.4%) feldspar (2.6%), gypsum (1.3%) and dolomite (0.7%), kaolinite (10.5%), illite (7.7%), chlorite (6.7%), palygorskite (6.0%) and montmorillonite (0.7%). New thermal mineral phases were formed at 950°C, including diopside (62.9%), quartz (18.4%), wollastonite (8.28%), akermanite (7.6%), Anorthite (6.25%), Nosean (4.9%), gehlenite (3.75%) and Lazurite (3.1
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This study carry’s out the correlation and the effect of two main variables, these variables are Job Satisfaction included six sub: wages - salaries and justice and yield, working conditions and services, pattern of supervision and the relationship with the manger, Relationship with colleagues, the content of the work and the variety of tasks, development and promotion opportunities available to an individual, and Organizational Performance included two sub variables: Efficiency, Effectiveness. This research was conducted using a questioner as a main tool, This questioner was distributed randomly to a research community composed of
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In this research study the synodic month for the moon and their
relationship with the mean anomaly for the moon orbit and date A.D
and for long periods of time (100 years), we was design a computer
program that calculates the period of synodic months, and the
coordinates of the moon at the moment of the new moon with high
accuracy. During the 100 year, there are 1236 period of synodic
months.
We found that the when New Moon occurs near perigee (mean
anomaly = 0°), the length of the synodic month at a minimum.
Similarly, when New Moon occurs near apogee (mean anomaly =
180°), the length of the synodic month reaches a maximum. The
shortest synodic month on 2053 /1/ 16 and lasted (29.27436) days.
The lo
Recently the use of nanofluids represents very important materials. They are used in different branches like medicine, engineering, power, heat transfer, etc. The stability of nanofluids is an important factor to improve the performance of nanofluids with good results. In this research two types of nanoparticles, TiO2 (titanium oxide) and γ-Al2O3 (gamma aluminum oxide) were used with base fluid water. Two-step method were used to prepare the nanofluids. One concentration 0.003 vol. %, the nanoparticles were examined. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to accomplish these tests. The stability of the two types of nanofluids is measured by
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يهدف البحث الى تحليل الخيارات الاستراتيجية للاقتراض الخارجي في العراق لاستشراف افضل الخيارات الاستراتيجية المستقبلية في مجال الاقتراض الخارجي في دائرة الدين العام في وزارة المالية ، وقد استخدم الباحث منهج دراسة الحالة وباستعمال اسلوب تحليل خوارزمية ال K-Means لتشخيص كفاءة الاقتراض الخارجي لعينة البحث البالغة (81) قرضا التي اقترضتها وزارة المالية للفترة 2007-2020 . ولقد كان الغرض الرئيسي للبحث المساهمة في تمكين وزا
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In this research study the synodic month for the moon and theirrelationship with the mean anomaly for the moon orbit and date A.Dand for long periods of time (100 years), we was design a computerprogram that calculates the period of synodic months, and thecoordinates of the moon at the moment of the new moon with highaccuracy. During the 100 year, there are 1236 period of synodicmonths.We found that the when New Moon occurs near perigee (meananomaly = 0°), the length of the synodic month at a minimum.Similarly, when New Moon occurs near apogee (mean anomaly =180°), the length of the synodic month reaches a maximum. Theshortest synodic month on 2053 /1/ 16 and lasted (29.27436) days.The longest synodic month began on 2008 /11/ 27 a
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The research risk of flooding on six water basins located in the eastern part of the western plateau, reached total area of the basin (22,998.9 km 2), has reached all the Basin area (basin to time 7056.1 km2 basin by 3585 km 2, Bath Alheiazi 6404 km 2, Abu beasts 544.1 km2 basin Abu Shannan 144.6 km 2, Bath Valley Faraj 5265.1 km 2), where it was specifically spatial degree of this risk by studying some of the hydrological basin transactions directly related to operations spate runoff study area and the occurrence of flood risks on the surface of ponds.
In The Bluest Eye (1970) , Toni Morrison addresses a timeless problem of white racial dominance in the United States and points to the impact it has on the life of black females growing up in the 1930's. Morrison in this novel explores how Western standards of ideal beauty are created and propagated with and among the black community. The novel not only portrays the lives of those whose dark skinned and negroid features blight their lives; it also shows how the standards of white beauty are imposed on black youth to cause a damage of one's self-love and esteem which usually occurs when beauty goes unrecognized