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
Abstract Physical requirements are an important priority for the development of football gymnastics coaches because the nature of performance is interconnected and interconnected in terms of the player's duties in the match. In the gameplay situations, the player must perform the skill with strength and speed coupled with accuracy and the reactions of the colleague and competitor alike, which represents the normal reality of the football gymnasium Skilled exercises are one of the most suitable technical side exercises as they are built according to the components of the skill requirements of the game and the nature of its performance, which appear on the gro
... Show MoreThe monogeneans Gyrodactylus dzhalilovi Ergens & Ashurova, 1984, G. magnus Konovalov, 1967 and G. matovi Ergens & Kakachava-Avramova, 1966 were recorded in this study for the first time in Iraq from gills of the common carp Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758 collected from Tigris River in Baghdad city. The description, measurements and illustrations of these parasites were given.
Abstract
It is clear to everyone how important it is to implement transactions electronically, as it facilitates the provision of services to beneficiaries, whether individuals or institutions, to achieve many benefits that are not exclusive to the beneficiary or the applicant, but extends to the governmental and international bodies. And the number of users has reached millions since its emergence in 1995, because the concepts of electronic transactions have great advantages for the economy in general and the banking sector in particular, so cooperation in various fields with the aim of becoming an information society has become paramount, It allows customers to pay money to any company they want t
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The concept of sustainability is one of the modern concepts that influenced the quality of the urban plans for the cities, through the interest in the environmental and social aspects as well as the economic aspect and the need to balance to achieve sustainable development.
The research aims to identify the most prominent methods of sustainable urban land use planning and the strategies developed within these approaches to achieve sustainable development. The research started from the problem of a knowledge gap in adopting sustainable approaches and strategies when planning urban land uses for the holy city of Karbala.
In the theoretical aspect, the concepts of sustainable development, sustainable planning methodologies a
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The purpose of this study was to know the reality of motivational administrative methods for academic decision-makers in the faculties of physical education and sports sciences in Baghdad from the perspective of faculty members. To solve the nature of the current problem, the two researchers used the descriptive approach of the survey method. The two researchers determined their research community by limiting the sample to all faculty members in the faculties of physical education and sports sciences in Baghdad (Al-Mustansiriya University, Al-Jadriya Univeristy & Al-Waziriyah University). Their number reached 314 faculty members and the two researchers determined their research community by 90%, so the research sam
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The aim of this study was to identify the rate of return of the stock through the financial information disclosed by the financial statements of companies both services and insurance included in Iraqi market for securities . The study used a descriptive statistical methods and the correlation matrix for the independent factors , in addition to a regression model for data analysis and hypothesis . Model included a number of independent variables , which was measured in the size of company (sales or revenue) , and the leverage , in addition to the structure of assets and the book value of owners' equity in the company , as well as the general price index .Based on the data of (11)companies and for three years, showed the result
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The continued acceleration in the business environment has led to the need for organizations great attention to quality applied in organizations to meet the needs of customers and stay in the market for as long as possible.
Search launched from the underlying problem is the presence of concentrations of defects and waste plaguing the company and to achieve the goal of the study detects the level of quality applied in the factory vessels and reservoirs of the General Company for Heavy Engineering Equipment, As well as calculate wastage rates occurring in the production process and find a relationship between the level of quality and ratios defective in each type of waste, it has been used quantitative meas
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