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 aims to reveal the availability of skills to develop the tax assessor when carrying out the tax examination process. The study was conducted in the branches of the General Tax Authority in the province of Baghdad (the General Authority for Taxes, Adhamiya branch, the General Authority for Taxes, Rusafa branch, Al-Bayaa branch, New Baghdad tax branch) was approved The descriptive approach to achieve the research objectives represented by answering the following two questions: 1- What are the necessary skills that should be available in the performance of the tax examiner? 2- Are the skills of developing a tax evaluator available? The two researchers used the closed questionnaire as a tool for their research. The quest
... Show More
The study aims to achieve several objectives, including follow-up scientific developments and transformations in the modern concepts of the Holistic Manufacturing System for the purpose of identifying the methods of switching to the entrances of artificial intelligence, and clarifying the mechanism of operation of the genetic algorithm under the Holonic Manufacturing System, to benefit from the advantages of systems and to achieve the maximum savings in time and cost of machines Using the Holistic Manufacturing System method and the Genetic algorithm, which allows for optimal maintenance time and minimizing the total cost, which in turn enables the workers of these machines to control the vacations in th
... Show More
This paper describes the first occurrence of the monogenetic trematode Silurodiscoides
mediacanthus (Achmerow, 1952) in Iraq from gills of the cyprinid fish Barbus luteus from
Diyala river, Diyala province, Iraq. The description and measurements of this parasite were
given. In addition, key for the identification of the three species of Silurodiscoides, so far
recorded from freshwater fishes of Iraq, is included.
Government spending is the tool that the state uses to achieve its various goals. The research aims to identify the most important determinants of government spending in Iraq and to indicate the type and nature of the relationship between government spending and its determinants, which will contribute to understanding the movement of government spending. The results of the co-integration test using the border test methodology showed that the variables of population growth and oil prices have a long-term effect on government spending while inflation is not significant in the long run, and that 47% of the equilibrium imbalance (short-term imbalance) in government spending in the previous period (t-) can be corrected in the current period (t)
... Show MoreIn this study, the researcher aims to analyze the content of the physics textbook for the 3rd intermediate grade according to the criteria for designing and producing infographics, and the research community consists of the content of the physics textbook for the 3rd intermediate grade intermediate grade for the academic year 2021-2022. The researcher adopted the analysis instruments with a number of the criteria for designing and producing infographics. The results revealed randomness in the percentage of the criteria included in the content of the physics textbook for the 3rd intermediate grade, and they are not compatible with the proposed criteria by the experts also.
Abstract
This research aims to identify the availability of the elements of the concept of citizenship, to identify the distribution ratios of the outputs of the musical skills curriculum at the levels of educational goals associated with the elements of the concept of citizenship in the guides of teachers of musical skills for grades (12-1) in the Sultanate of Oman. A content analysis card was designed to include the teacher’s guides of musical skills for grades (12-1), which included the outputs, according to the grades with the identification of the elements of citizenship (identity, belonging, rights, participation). The results of the research revealed that the percentage of inclusion of citizenship values
... Show MoreABSTRACT
The research aims to identify the role of scientific planning of inventory by determining the quantity of economic demand and the number of times of purchase and associated annual total costs to achieve a sufficient and appropriate level of inventory . The research was based on the case study methodology. Materials of increasing demand in the Institute of Technical Management and knowledge of the degree of conformity of the procurement plan with the standard indicators adopted in a scientific method ,its include economic order quantity and number of purchasing times .
one of The main results of the research was the existence of a large difference between the quantity of the economic purchase of ea
(1)
This research sheds light on the development that has occurred on the use of press pictures in the Iraqi press by analyzing the form and content of the images used in (Al-Sabaah) newspaper for the 2012 model. The researcher's interest in this topic for what represented by the press picture of a way to highlight and attract the reader's attention to the substance journalist who represents the goals behind the newspaper publishing.
This research is divided into three sections. The first one dealt with the methodological framework of the research, and the second part addressed the aspect of press pictures and its history and technological development, while the third section devoted to the study of the development of the form and co
... Show More
(1)