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
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Pore 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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This research paper studies the use of an environmentally and not expensive method to degrade Orange G dye (OG) from the aqueous solution, where the extract of ficus leaves has been used to fabricate the green bimetallic iron/copper nanoparticles (G-Fe/Cu-NPs). The fabricated G‑Fe/Cu-NPs were characterized utilizing scanning electron microscopy, BET, atomic force microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and zeta potential. The rounded and shaped as like spherical nanoparticles were found for G-Fe/Cu‑NPs with the size ranged 32-59 nm and the surface area was 4.452 m2/g. Then the resultant nanoparticles were utilized as a Fenton-like oxidation catalyst. The degradation efficiency of
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Reaxys Chemistry database information SciVal Topics Metrics Abstract A novel CoO–ZnO nanocomposite was synthesized by the photo irradiation method using a solution of cobalt and zinc complexes and used as a coating applied by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) for corrosion protection of stainless steel (SS) in saline solution. The samples were characterized using powder XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical polarization. It was also found that the coating was still stable after conducting the corrosion test: it contained no cracks and CoO–ZnO nanocomposites clearly appeared on the surface. SEM showed that the significant surface cracking disappeared. XRD confirmed that CoO–ZnO nanocomposites comprised CoO and Zn
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This study utilized low-cost agricultural waste (molasses production waste powder) to extract copper ions from aqueous solutions. The present investigation explored a range of factors that influence the adsorption process, including temperature, pH, ionic strength, contact time, quantity of adsorbent, and particle size. Spectrophotometric analysis was used to determine the solution's absorbance both before and after the adsorption procedure. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models were used to match the equilibrium data. The Freundlich model was determined to be the best isotherm model using the linear regression coefficient R2=0.9868. Thermodynamic parameters, including enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs free energy, were calculate
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The aim of the current study was to develop a nanostructured double-layer for hydrophobic molecules delivery system. The developed double-layer consisted of polyethylene glycol-based polymeric (PEG) followed by gelatin sub coating of the core hydrophobic molecules containing sodium citrate. The polymeric composition ratio of PEG and the amount of the sub coating gelatin were optimized using the two-level fractional method. The nanoparticles were characterized using AFM and FT-IR techniques. The size of these nano capsules was in the range of 39-76 nm depending on drug loading concentration. The drug was effectively loaded into PEG-Gelatin nanoparticles (≈47%). The hydrophobic molecules-release characteristics in terms of controlled-releas
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Cowpea is a very important legume in Nigeria that is being utilized to Substitute high-cost animal protein for low-income people. The knowledge of some physical properties of various moisture contents is of utmost importance in the design of its handling and processing equipment and machinery, which is the aim of this work, which studied the physical properties of IT99K-573-1-1 (SAMPEA14) variety of Cowpea within 8.77 to 21.58 % db moisture content. The properties studied include Major, Intermediate, and Minor diameters, Sphericity, Surface area, Specific gravity, Volume, Bulk density, 50-tap density, 100-tap density, 1250-tap density, seed mass, Angle of repose, Geometric mean diameter, and Arithmetic mean diameter. The
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The Na-alginate bead is commonly used in biotechnology fields such as adsorption due to ion exchange between Ca and Na with elements. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX) has proven to be a comparative method in the detections of these adsorbed elements, but the un-flat forming area of beads that can introduce impossible of the detection of element adsorbed. In contrast, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) documents analysis of elements, direct examination, which may analysis the adsorbents of elements. Here, this Study evaluated the possibility by using XRF for the direct analysis for examples of Cd and Ag in a bench stand. This Study compared this to commonly use
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Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase protein that its plasma levels increase after trauma or surgery so it is used as an indicator for the level of inflammation after surgery. The objective of this study is to investigate pre- and post-operative levels of CRP in three types of oral surgical interventions (Apicoectomy, Impaction, and Impacted teeth exposure). Materials and Methods: A total number of (48) healthy individuals aged (20-60) years who needed oral surgical intervention for either (removal of impacted third molars, exposure of an impacted canine, or Apicoectomy). A 4ml venous blood was obtained from each patient at two occasions (pre-operatively at the day of operation and post-operatively after 48 hours), then ce
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Evil pervades the narrative scene in Tolkien. Hence; his major themes in The Lord of the Rings are shown to be the Evil Nature of Power, the Tyranny of Technology and War as a Destructive Agent. Evil is not as powerful as good. The Boethian conception of evil comes through evil beings such as Melkor Morgoth in The Silmarillion or Sauron ,who cannot do good things but only pervert or mock things; In The Lord of the Rings; Tolkien seems to suggest that there is no absolute evil. The other conception of evil is the Manichaen, a conception which receives more emphasis in Tolkien's trilogy and which sees the world as a battle-ground for warring forces of good and evil. Tolkien frequently personifies the Ring as if it were acting with a will of i
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