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
Research Summary
The doctrine of belief in the Last Day is one of the pillars of faith, and the doctrine of resurrection and reckoning are part of this day.
Belief in the Last Day puts a person in constant control over himself, as this control creates in this person happiness and a decent life, and he renounces the world and turns away from all vices and adorns all virtues.
On the other hand, we find that the person who does not believe in this day does not stand before his eyes anything that prevents him from doing injustices and corruption in the land. The doctrine of belief in the Last Day alone is
... Show MoreMicrofinance Institutions (MFIs) offers small loans with easy repayment system and till now these institutions have served millions of needy people around the globe. This study highlights the hurdles influence the smooth working and growth of Microfinance institution in Egypt. The structured interviews were conducted from the top and mid-level managers of MFI's. This study revealed that interest rate, political and economic conditions, corruption, customer outreach, competition and technology are the important elements for MFI's success. It is evident that lack of use of technology and less importance drawn on customer outreach programs are the main challenges of MFI's in Egypt. This study provides a roadmap for practitioners and strategic
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So I present in the hands of the honorable reader what God Almighty has made easy for me in terms of what I dealt with in the rule (the principle of permissive things) and what branches from it and what is related to it.
This research was divided into an introduction, a preface, three demands, and a conclusion.
The preamble is to explain the meaning of the rule in language and terminology and the definition of the legal rule and what is related to it. The first requirement is to explain the rule that we have in our hands and the words related to its text - and is it a fundamentalist or jurisprudential rule? .
As for the second requirement - in the difference of scholars and their opinions in whether the origin of things is permi
The main objective of this research is to find the coefficient of permeability (k) of the soil and especially clayey soil by finding the degree of consolidation (rate of consolidation). New modify procedure is proposed by using the odometer (consolidation) device. The ordinary conventional permeability test usually takes a long time by preparing and by testing and this could cause some problems especially if there is a need to do a large number of this test and there were a limited number of technicians and/or apparatus. From this point of view the importance of this research is clear, since the modified procedure will require a time of 25 minute only. Derivation made to produce an equation which could be used to fined the permeabi
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An environmentally begnin second derivative spectrometric approach was developed for the estimation of the dissociation constants pKa(s) of metformin, a common anti-diabetic drug. The ultraviolet spectra of the aqueous solution of metformin were measured at different acidities, then the second derivative of each spectrum was graphed. The overlaid second derivative graphs exhibited two isobestic points at 225.5 nm and 244 nm pointing out to the presence of two dissociation constants for metformin pKa1 and pKa2, respectively. The method was validated by evaluating the reproducibility of the acquired results by comparing the estimated values of the dissociation constants of two different strategies that show excellent matching. As we
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Monitoring lotic ecosystems is vital for addressing sustainability issues. The Al-Shamiyah River is the primary source of water for various daily activities in the Al-Shamiyah district. This study assessed the pollution levels of the river by measuring the concentration and distribution of heavy metals—specifically chromium, cadmium, manganese, copper, zinc, and lead—in both the river's water and sediments. The concentrations of heavy metals in the water ranged from 0.05 to 1.44µg/ L for copper (Cu), 1.57 to 7.25µg/ L for manganese (Mn), 0 to 1.7µg/ L for cadmium (Cd), 0.02 to 1.33µg/ L for lead (Pb), 0.08 to 2.74µg/ L for zinc (Zn), and 0.44 to 1.84µg/ L for chromium (Cr). In the particulate phase, the concentrations ranged from
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In Production and Operations Management the specialists have tried to develop a strategy to counter the risks arising from the activities of the organization and of waste of various types and therefore the risk management in the contemporary framework represents a phenomenon of new quality, and can not be this phenomenon to take practical dimensions, but the development of culture of the organization towards the risks and deal with all aspects and paint ways to address them within an integrated program, and requires new skills and systems provide accurate information capable of coordination between the various parties within the organization.
The research aims to develop a blu
... Show MoreLocking of the knee is a one of the commonest orthopedic outpatient presentation. This patient usually need magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) when there is suspected lesion in the soft tissue clinically. Meniscal tears is the first differential diagnosis when accompany with painful knee. (1, 2)
Giant cell tumor (GCT) is benign a localized nodular tenosynovitis often occur in the tendon sheath , Mostly involve the hand tendons in middle age group between 30 and 50 years old , female affect more than male.(3,4) The WHO defines two well-known kinds of giant cell tumor: (1) pigmented villonodular synovitis ( generalized type), which mainly involve the joints of the lower limb and (2) giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath ( localized type)
Three types of zeolite A were prepared from Iraqi kaoline which are 3A, 4A and 5A by ion exchange method .They were characterized by XRD and atomic absorption techniques .They were used as adsorbents to examine their applicability for H2S adsorption .The adsorption process was performed in a static form and constant volume system which constructed from stainless steel .The effect of zeolite type and temperature on the adsorption properties of H2S at -5 , 25 and 55 oC was studied .The zeolite type 5A has the highest adsorption value (79.384 µmol/g ) and the three types may be arranged in a sequence toward H2S adsorption as 5 A> 4A>3A .The amount of H2S adsorbed increased as temperature decreased from 55 to -5 for all samples. Langmuir , Fre
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