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 research dealt with the impact of internal control on tax performance using balanced scorecard indicators because of its special importance in improving tax performance and reform. The internal control system is a safety valve for senior management in all organizations, it plays an important role in the regularity and development of work and the fight against corruption To provide reliable and accurate data and information, follow up on compliance with laws, regulations and instructions. The aim of this research is to demonstrate how control affects tax performance and how to adapt internal control components to improve tax performance. In the General Authority for taxes and its branches,. The research resulted in a number of conclu
... Show MorePurpose: The research aims to diagnose the current availability of knowledge workers characteristics and the role of these characteristics in knowledge acquision in the city of Sulaimaniya Directorate of Electricity, and to identify the differences between personal and occupational characteristics of a sample of research and its impact on the availability of such properties.Design/methodology/approach :to achieve the objectives of the research questionnaire was developed especially for it and then distributed to a sample of engineers and technicians working in the Directorate of Electricity city of Sulaimaniya, where the sample of the research (52) respondents.
Findings: the most important conclusions reached
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The current research aims to diagnose the role of social responsibility as a contributing factor in enhancing the quality of services provided by the public sector in Iraq, where the research sought to demonstrate the relationship and impact of social responsibility dimensions (economic, legal, moral, and human) on the sector Services related to the electric field in Nineveh governorate because of its importance and its direct relationship with the citizen especially after the end of military operations in the destruction of the electricity sector by a large percentage in the city of Mosul. Nineveh Electricity Distribution Directorate / Center was chosen as a research community including (administrators and staff) of the research
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This study aims at identifying the role played by Public Relations in the field of security awareness of the dangers of terrorism. The research is directed to the employees at the Directorate General of Public Relations and Media at the Ministry of Interior. And that on the basis that those who play an important role in the security awareness are the security institutions, primarily the Ministry of Interior, since this Directorate is responsible for all subjects related to the public security using public relations science. It aims at identifying the functions, methods and communication tools used by the Directorate to raise awareness about the dangers of terrorism. In order to achieve the research objectives, the researcher uses the sur
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Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, and prayers and peace be upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and companions as a whole.
The topic of attention was drawn to the attention of the speakers, as it made me ponder it carefully, and my goal in that is to know the reason for the interest of the speakers and their care for it, and to clarify from their books the purpose of making this topic one of the advanced investigations with them.
The idea of writing a paper on the subject of consideration was not absent from my thinking, because I saw the attention of speakers on this issue, as they made it one of the first issues that they deal with studying in their work
... Show MoreBackground: Verrucous carcinoma (VSCC) is considered as a rare well differentiated carcinoma variant of SCC with no metastatic potential. The aim of this study is to evaluate the Immunohistochemical expression MMP-2, VEGF and D2-40 expression in OSCC and VSCC. Materials and methods: Thirty formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks of OSCC and another twelve VSCC were collected and Four micrometer thick sections were cut from each block and mounted on positively charged slides and stained immunohistochemically with monoclonal antibodies to MMP-2, VEGF and D2-40. Results: there is no statistical difference between SCC and VSCC regarding the immunoexpression of MMP-2 and VEGF. While the lymphatic vessels density were higher in SCC than V
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Azo ligand 11-(4-methoxyphenyl azo)-6-oxo-5,6-dihydro-benzo[4,5] imidazo[1,2-c] quinazoline-9-carboixylic acid was derived from 4-methoxyaniline and 6-oxo-5,6-dihydro-benzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-c]quinazoline-9-carboxylic acid. The presence of azo dye was identified by elemental analysis and spectroscopic methods (FT-IR and UV-Vis). The compounds formed have been identified by using atomic absorption in flame, FT.IR, UV-Vis spectrometry magnetic susceptibility and conductivity. In order to evaluate the antibacterial efficiency of ligand and its complexes used in this study three species of bacteria were also examined. Ligand and its complexes showed good bacterial efficiencies. From the obtained data, an octahedral geometry was proposed for all p
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