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
This study deals with the time property in the cinema through two films: (The Knife) directed by Khalid Hamada and (The Deceived) directed by Tawfiq Saleh. These two films were excerpted by the cinema from two novels of the Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani, the first is from the novel (What is Left for You) and the second is from the novel (Men in the Sun). If the Palestinian novel has imposed its presence on the Arab creative scene through a group of novelists who took it upon themselves to communicate their cause to the world, the Palestinian cinema has been far from being a purely Palestinian, because many of the cinematic works have been provided by Arab countries on the issue, while this cinema is still seeking
... Show MoreThe study showed flow rates and the interaction between the settlements served by applying the model of gravity theory to measure depending on the number of the population between city Najaf and the rest of the other settlements served and using three functions of disability, time and cost, as recorded an increase in the interaction index with some settlements like them Kufa, Abbasid and Manathira, while the indicator contrast was in other settlements, either when the application of the gravity model depending on trips and socio-economic characteristics accuracy rate was more pronounced.
The study presents the test results of stabilizing gypseous soil embankment obtained from
Al- Faluja university Campus at Al-Ramady province. The laboratory investigation was divided
into three phases, The physical and chemical properties, the optimum liquid asphalt (emulsion)
requirements (which are manufactured in Iraq) were determined by using one dimensional
unconfined compression strength test.in the first phase , The optimum fluid content was 11%
(6% of emulsion with 5% water content).. At phase two, the effect of Aeration technique was
investigated using both direct shear and permeability test. At phase three for the case of static
load , the pure soil embankment model under dry test condition was investigated
In this article we study a single stochastic process model for the evaluate the assets pricing and stock.,On of the models le'vy . depending on the so –called Brownian subordinate as it has been depending on the so-called Normal Inverse Gaussian (NIG). this article aims as the estimate that the parameters of his model using my way (MME,MLE) and then employ those estimate of the parameters is the study of stock returns and evaluate asset pricing for both the united Bank and Bank of North which their data were taken from the Iraq stock Exchange.
which showed the results to a preference MLE on MME based on the standard of comparison the average square e
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The pressures of life have become a tangible phenomenon in all societies in varying degrees. This disparity determines several factors, including the nature of societies, the level of their urbanization, the intensity of interaction, the intensity of conflict, and the increasing rate of change in those societies. many people name The modern era in which we live the “era of pressures", where one of the most important of these changes is the “new Coronavirus 19-COVID”, which has spread widely throughout the world, as the pandemic, has affected all aspects of daily life, including the educational and academic process, academic activities have been suspended in universities, which caused sudden change
... Show MoreThe Beggar (1965) is a story of isolation and depression which is written by the Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz who is considered the father of Arabic Literature in the modern era. Specifically, he refers in his great novel called The Beggar that the man unable to achieve psychological revival after Nasser’s revolution, the man sacrificed his own job and his family for a desire that increases his feelings of alienation and depression which leads him to an emotional outcry against the indifferent. The main aim of the study highlights the concept of existential dilemma as a philosophical problem and personality crisis by the protagonist of The Beggar novel, Omer Al-Hamzawi who had acc
... Show MoreThe aim of this study is to investigate the kinetics of copper removal from aqueous solutions using an electromembrane extraction (EME) system. To achieve this, a unique electrochemical cell design was adopted comprising two glass chambers, a supported liquid membrane (SLM), a graphite anode, and a stainless-steel cathode. The SLM consisted of a polypropylene flat membrane infused with 1-octanol as a solvent and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (DEHP) as a carrier. The impact of various factors on the kinetics constant rate was outlined, including the applied voltage, initial pH of the donor phase solution, and initial copper concentration. The results demonstrated a significant influence of the applied voltage on enhancing the rate of c
... Show MorePore pressure means the pressure of the fluid filling the pore space of formations. When pore pressure is higher than hydrostatic pressure, it is named abnormal pore pressure or overpressure. When abnormal pressure occurred leads to many severe problems such as well kick, blowout during the drilling, then, prediction of this pressure is crucially essential to reduce cost and to avoid drilling problems that happened during drilling when this pressure occurred. The purpose of this paper is the determination of pore pressure in all layers, including the three formations (Yamama, Suliay, and Gotnia) in a deep exploration oil well in West Qurna field specifically well no. WQ-15 in the south of Iraq. In this study, a new appro
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