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 research paper talks about one of the topics that deals with one of the high-style styles in the Holy Qur’an that carries with it a high and influential style in directing the Qur’anic context, as the verses are singled out with certain words, each of which came out to other meanings, which is what was called in the past “what the wording agreed and the meaning differed Or the so-called “faces and analogues” and the meaning of analogues in the language and the Qur’an; To mention a word in a place and it means a meaning other than the other, and to interpret each word with a meaning other than the other meant by the faces, and accordingly the goal of the research is in the linguistic significance, in order to reveal the tr
... Show MoreThis research focuses on the contemporary geostrategic transformations that afflicted the countries of the Middle East, with a focus on the countries of the Arab East, after the collapse of the system of international relations, and the emergence of the unipolar system led by the United States of America. After the events of September 11 and the events that followed, especially the occupation of Iraq in 2003, the study area witnessed a group of geopolitical variables and the emergence of dangerous phenomena that threatened the state structure in the countries of the Middle East; the most notably are the phenomenon of terrorism, cross-border armed groups, sectarian polarization, the phenomenon of migration and the internal and the externa
... Show MoreApplications of nonlinear, time variant, and variable parameters represent a big challenge in a conventional control systems, the control strategy of the fuzzy systems may be represents a simple, a robust and an intelligent solution for such applications.
This paper presents a design of fuzzy control system that consists of three sub controllers; a fuzzy temperature controller (FC_T), a fuzzy humidity controller (FC_H) and a ventilation control system; to control the complicate environment of the greenhouse (GH) using a proposed multi-choice control system approach. However, to reduce the cost of the crop production in the GH, the first choice is using the ventilation system to control the temperature and humidit
... Show MoreDigital forensics has become a fundamental requirement for law enforcement due to the growing volume of cyber and computer-assisted crime. Whilst existing commercial tools have traditionally focused upon string-based analyses (e.g., regular expressions, keywords), less effort has been placed towards the development of multimedia-based analyses. Within the research community, more focus has been attributed to the analysis of multimedia content; they tend to focus upon highly specialised specific scenarios such as tattoo identification, number plate recognition, suspect face recognition and manual annotation of images. Given the ever-increasing volume of multimedia content, it is essential that a holistic Multimedia-Forensic Analysis Tool (M-
... Show MoreTeresa Fitzpatrick presents a connection between oppressed women and the plant of Wisteria in gothic fiction in her article “Wisteria: A Female Eco-Gothic Metaphor in American Fiction Through the Ages.” The connection between women and nature is common in literature as women are usually compared to the beauty or ferocity of flowers, rivers, or natural phenomena in general. The connection extends to the architecture and sort of plants that appear in gothic literature. Gothic novels have routinely been connected to the secrets and life stories of women who cannot have the liberty to live or share them outside their homes. A fearful house with a prisoned person, ghost, or a secret is mostly normally found in gothic writing. Women have exce
... Show MoreThe inflammatory response is a crucial aspect of the tissues’ responses to deleterious inflammogens. This complex response involves leukocytes cells such as macrophages, neutrophils, and lymphocytes, also known as inflammatory cells. In response to the inflammatory process, these cells release specialized substances which include vasoactive amines and peptides, eicosanoids, proinflammatory cytokines, and acute-phase proteins, which mediate the inflammatory process by preventing further tissue damage and ultimately resulting in healing and restoration of tissue function. This review discusses the role of the inflammatory cells as well as their by-products in the mediation of inflammatory process. A brief insight into the role of natural an
... Show MoreThe doctrine of naturalism appeared in the sixties of the nineteenth century as a continuation of the realism tendency and an expression of feeling in historical and social conditions in the language known to societies in Western Europe. Naturalism is a literary doctrine with an artistic style derived from realism, but it carries with it a philosophical character. Thus, we can understand that naturalism is those external and social forces that impede human freedom, as opposed to the subconscious internal genetic forces that determine moral responsibility and human rationality, far from displaying aesthetic images, as it is closer to reality than imagination. Naturalism looks at several axes, the most important of which are mental and psycho
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The use of electronic valves is commonly available. yet, the most
common is the techniques of communications as prod casting transmitter that
are used by these valves in addition to their use in communication tools as far
distance telephone, electronic measuring techniques , and others.
In this study, an attempt is endeavored for improving the efficiency of the
vacuum micro- valves(GI-19b) through activating their internal surfaces by the
use of ionic pumping which is used for treating valves which are out of order
(because of sedimentation some materials and oxide on its poles). The
existence of these materials and oxide increase the sum of current leakage
moving in between. The use of ionic pumpin
The research aimed to evaluate the financial performance of the Public Company for the manufacture of medicines and medical supplies / Samarra - Iraq to know the strengths and weaknesses that affect its performance, as well as to compare its performance in the years between (2017-2019), which are characterized by security stability with its performance in previous years (2014 -2016) which is characterized by security instability, to assess the extent of its ability to achieve growth in performance, by answering the main question, what is the evaluation of the performance of the Public Company for the manufacture of medicines and medical supplies / Samarra - Iraq in the light of financial indicators?
... Show MoreThis paper aims to identify how the United Nations works through its website in prioritizing audiences towards international issues، by identifying the digital PR mechanisms used in digital PR contents in prioritizing audiences towards the international issues they deal with. To achieve the objectives of this paper, the researcher used the survey method and content analysis tool with a view to identifying the ranking of international issues on the website of health، peace and security، humanitarian assistance، human rights، women، migrants، refugees and displaced persons، economic development، United Nations affairs، culture and education، environment and climate، sustainable development, and law and crime prevention. One of
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