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 cytotoxic effect of catechol was examined in two human cancer cell lines, Epidermoid larynx carcinoma (Hep- 2), Cerebral glioblastoma multiforme (AMGM-5) and Murine mammary adenocarcinomacell (AMN3) treated with half concentrations of catechol (1000, 500, 250, 125, 62.5 and 32.25 μM) for 72 hr. The get hold of results showed catechol have a toxic effect of the cell viability of three types of cell lines after 72h of exposure, the toxicity was dependent on catechol concentrations and/or autoxidation for quinines formation, there were a marked decreased of cell viability in a dose dependent manner in all cell line types. Inhibition concentration of catechol for 50% of cell viability (IC50) were calculated, they were at 581.5 μM, 478 μM
... Show MoreSAIs has a pivotal role in enhancing public sector performance through its quest to achieve the greatest possible efficiency and effectiveness in its, so it has to adopt applied framework for abilities building, the research aims to shed light on the role of SAIs and the nature of their work, and the definition for its abilities building, and to prepare a proposal for abilities building applied to work with the SAI in the Republic of Iraq (of the Federal Board of Supreme Audit ),the Researchers reached conclusions, namely: abilities building is the outcome of the interaction between the reality of all of the employees of the SAI and the institution itself and the environment and the specific requirements of the de
... Show MoreNew microphotometer was constructed in our Laboratory Which deals with the determination of Molybdenum (VI) through its Catalysis effect on Hydrogen peroxide and potasum iodide Reaction in acid medium H2SO4 0.01 mM. Linearity of 97.3% for the range 5- 100 ppm. The repeatability of result was better than 0.8 % 0.5 ppm was obtanined as L.U. (The method applied for the determination of Molybdenum (VI) in medicinal Sample (centrum). The determination was compared well with the developed method the conventional method.
A geographic information system (GIS) is a very effective management and analysis tool. Geographic locations rely on data. The use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) for the interpretation of natural resource data has been shown to be beneficial. Back-propagation neural networks are one of the most widespread and prevalent designs. The combination of geographic information systems with artificial neural networks provides a method for decreasing the cost of landscape change studies by shortening the time required to evaluate data. Numerous designs and kinds of ANNs have been created; the majority of them are PC-based service domains. Using the ArcGIS Network Analyst add-on, you can locate service regions around any network
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In this research, analytical study for simulating a Fabry-Perot bistable etalon (F-P cavity) filled with a dispersive optimized nonlinear optical material (Kerr type) such as semiconductors Indium Antimonide (InSb). An optimization procedure using reflective (~85%) InSb etalon (~50µm) thick is described. For this etalon with a (50 µm) spot diameter beam, the minimum switching power is (~0.078 mW) and switching time is (~150 ns), leading to a switching energy of (~11.77 pJ) for this device. Also, the main role played by the temperature to change the etalon characteristic from nonlinear to linear dynamics.
The experimental proton resonance data for the reaction P+48Ti have been used to calculate and evaluate the level density by employed the Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble, GOE version of RMT, Constant Temperature, CT and Back Shifted Fermi Gas, BSFG models at certain spin-parity and at different proton energies. The results of GOE model are found in agreement with other, while the level density calculated using the BSFG Model showed less values with spin dependence more than parity, due the limitation in the parameters (level density parameter, a, Energy shift parameter, E1and spin cut off parameter, σc). Also, in the CT Model the level density results depend mainly on two parameters (T and ground state back shift energy, E0), which are app
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The main objective of this paper is to develop and validate flow injection method, a precise, accurate, simple, economic, low cost and specific turbidimetric method for the quantitative determination of mebeverine hydrochloride (MbH) in pharmaceutical preparations. A homemade NAG Dual & Solo (0-180º) analyser which contains two identical detections units (cell 1 and 2) was applied for turbidity measurements. The developed method was optimized for different chemical and physical parameters such as perception reagent concentrations, aqueous salts solutions, flow rate, the intensity of the sources light, sample volume, mixing coil and purge time. The correlation coefficients (r) of the developed method were 0.9980 and 0.9986 for cell
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The research aims to measure the psychological security of social working in the courts, to measure the motivation of achievement for social researchers working in the courts. In addition to, identify the Psychological security and its relation to the motivation of achievement for social researchers working in the courts. To achieve these aims, the researcher adopted two scales: Maslow scale for Psychological security, which was translated to Arabic by Dwany and Dirany 1983 consisted of (75) items. The second scale is Othman scale for achievement motivation 2014 consisted of (24) items. The two scales had been applied to a sample consisted of (100) social researchers working in the courts of Baghdad with its two branches Al-karkh and Al-
... Show MoreA simple and highly sensitive cloud point extraction process was suggested for preconcentration of micrograms amount of isoxsuprine hydrochloride (ISX) in pure and pharmaceutical samples. After diazotization coupling of ISX with diazotized sulfadimidine in alkaline medium, the azo-dye product quantitatively extracted into the Triton X-114 rich phase, dissolved in ethanol and determined spectrophotometrically at 490 nm. The suggested reaction was studied with and without extraction and simple comparison between the batch and CPE methods was achieved. Analytical variables including concentrations of reagent, Triton X-114 and base, incubated temperature, and time were carefully studied. Under the selected optimum conditions,
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