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 study investigated the behaviour of asphalt concrete mixes for aggregate gradations, according to the Iraqi specification using the Bailey method designed by an Excel spreadsheet. In mixing aggregates with varying gradations (coarse and fine aggregate), The Bailey method is a systematic methodology that offers aggregate interlocking as the backbone of the framework and a controlled gradation to complete the blends. Six types of gradation are used according to the bailey method considered in this study. Two-course prepared Asphalt Concrete Wearing and Asphalt Concrete binder, the Nominal Maximum Aggregate Sizes (NMAS) of the mixtures are 19 and 12.5 mm, respectively. The total number of specimens was 240 for both layers (15 samp
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The PbSe alloy was prepared in evacuated quarts tubs by the method of melt quenching from element, the PbSe thin films prepared by thermal evaporation method and deposited at different substrate temperature (Ts) =R.T ,373 and 473K . The thin films that deposited at room temperature (R.T=303)K was annealed at temperature, Ta= R.T, 373 and 473K . By depended on D.C conductivity measurements calculated the density of state (DOS), The density of extended state N(Eext) increases with increasing the Ts and Ta, while the density of localized state N(Eloc) is decreased . We investigated the absorption coefficient (?) that measurement from reflection and transmission spectrum result, and the effect of Ts and Ta on it , also we calculated the tai
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In this paper the proton, neutron and matter density distributions and the corresponding root mean square (rms) radii of the ground states and the elastic magnetic electron scattering form factors and the magnetic dipole moments have been calculated for exotic nucleus of potassium isotopes K (A= 42, 43, 45, 47) based on the shell model using effective W0 interaction. The single-particle wave functions of harmonic-oscillator (HO) potential are used with the oscillator parameters b. According to this interaction, the valence nucleons are asummed to move in the d3f7 model space. The elastic magnetic electron scattering of the exotic nuclei 42K (J?T= 2- 2), 43K(J?T=3/2+ 5/2), 45K (J?T= 3/2+ 7/2) and 47K (J?T= 1/2+ 9/2) investigated t
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This manuscript presents several applications for solving special kinds of ordinary and partial differential equations using iteration methods such as Adomian decomposition method (ADM), Variation iterative method (VIM) and Taylor series method. These methods can be applied as well as to solve nonperturbed problems and 3rd order parabolic PDEs with variable coefficient. Moreover, we compare the results using ADM, VIM and Taylor series method. These methods are a commination of the two initial conditions.
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The buildup factor of cylindrical samples (shields) for Brass, Copper & lead (Brass, Cu, Pb (was studied, where buildup factor were calculated with thickness between (0-12) m.f.p. for Co60 and Cs137sources with activities (30) & (41) MBq respectively , using scintillation detector NaI(T?) with (3"×3")volume .The results shows increases of buildup factor for low atomic number(Z) samples where the energy of radiation source was constant, also shows increases of buildup factor with decreases the energy of radiation source. An empirical equation was obtained using Matlab7 program this equation have agreements with most obtained data for 96%.
Original Research Paper Mathematics 1-Introduction : In the light of the progress and rapid development of the applications of research in applications fields, the need to rely on scientific tools and cleaner for data processing has become a prominent role in the resolution of decisions in industrial and service institutions according to the real need of these methods to make them scientific methods to solve the problem Making decisions for the purpose of making the departments succeed in performing their planning and executive tasks. Therefore, we found it necessary to know the transport model in general and to use statistical methods to reach the optimal solution with the lowest possible costs in particular. And you know The Transportatio
... Show MoreProsthetic hands are compensatory devices for the hand amputees as a result of injury, various accidents or birth deformities, types of prosthetic hand vary depending on the mechanism they operate and how they perform. There are common types in use that are characterized by their complex mechanisms, which are difficult for the amputee to use or exclude use because of their high cost, therefore the aim of this research is to design an artificial hand that is suitable in terms of simplicity of use and low cost and similar to a natural hand with regard to dimensions and shape that operated in the mechanism of links. This research involves Stress and strain analysis of the prosthetic hand and its fingers that modelled from (Petg CR)
... Show MoreString matching is seen as one of the essential problems in computer science. A variety of computer applications provide the string matching service for their end users. The remarkable boost in the number of data that is created and kept by modern computational devices influences researchers to obtain even more powerful methods for coping with this problem. In this research, the Quick Search string matching algorithm are adopted to be implemented under the multi-core environment using OpenMP directive which can be employed to reduce the overall execution time of the program. English text, Proteins and DNA data types are utilized to examine the effect of parallelization and implementation of Quick Search string matching algorithm on multi-co
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