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 rubber ropes exercises affected muscle groups, which in turn affects the corners of the conditions of the body before and over the barrier where affected the time passed. To change the angle of the approaching and payment impact on passing each times the barrier 1-5. That passed over the barrier 1and gate 5 impacts on the nature of the achievement, where time has become less. Find the values of cruise missiles and other phases and stages of pitch angle other categories which it enshrines stood as compelling rejection men's 110m hurdles. Find the value of the instant messaging distances between different barriers and stages. Studies by adding rubber sling barriers race categories, measurement of kinematic variables. Emphasis on the devel
... Show MoreA novel metal-organic framework (MOF) sorbent based on tannic acid/copper (TA/Cu) was synthesized and characterized for the application of the anticancer drug imatinib (IMA) from biological samples. The TA/Cu MOF was prepared via a facile coordination reaction and thoroughly characterized by SEM, XRD, and FTIR techniques. Critical parameters influencing the extraction efficiency of imatinib mesylate (IMAM), including pH, ionic strength, desorption solvent, and adsorption-desorption time were optimized. With acetonitrile as the desorption solvent, the method demonstrated a broad linear range of 0.55-300 μg L-1 under ideal conditions. Limits of detection and quantification were found to be 0.16 μg L-1 and 0.55 μg L-1, respectively.
... Show More
(4)
In this study, the specimens of land snails Polygyra cereolus (Megerle v on Mühlfeld t , 181 8
(Gastropoda, Stylommatophora, are collected between March and April 2021
from gardens and nurseries in Baghdad province, this species was recorded as a new record to
Iraq molluscan fauna. Description of the most important characteristics, measurements of the
shell are presented with digital p photographs, subsequently, this study represents the first record
of the Polygyridae in Iraq.
(3)
Background: One effective second-generation triptan for migraine attacks is sumatriptan. Following oral use, it has a 40% restricted bioavailability because of the first-pass metabolism. Aim: To develop the best intranasal Solusomes formula as a substitute that delivers into the brain directly, improving its bioavailability, and removing the first-pass outcome was the aim of this effort. Methodology: We developed solute formulations based on the Box-Behnken design and subsequently produced them via thin-film hydration. The quality by design technique was used to establish a correlation between the formulation parameters (Soluplus® and phosphatidylcholine (PC) concentrations) and signif¬icant quality powers (entrapment efficiency (
... Show More
(2)
CdO:NiO/Si solar cell film was fabricated via deposition of CdO:NiO in different concentrations 1%, 3%, and 5% for NiO thin films in R.T and 723K, on n-type silicon substrate with approximately 200 nm thickness using pulse laser deposition. CdO:NiO/n-Si solar cell photovoltaic properties were examined under 60 mW/cm2 intensity illumination. The highest efficiency of the solar cell is 2.4% when the NiO concentration is 0.05 at 723K.
An optical spectroscopic study is reported in this article to study the correlation between the supermassive black hole (SMBH) and the star formation rate (SFR) for a sample of Seyfert galaxies type (I and II). The study focused on 45 galaxy of Seyfert 1, in addition to 45 galaxy of Seyfert 2, where these samples have been selected form different survey of Salon Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The redshift (z) of these objects were between (0.02 – 0.26). The results of Seyfert 1 galaxies shows that there good correlation between the SMBH and the SFR depending on statistical analysis parameter named Spearman’s Rank Correlation in a factor of (ρ=0.609), as well as the Seyfert 2 galaxies results show a good correlation between the SMBH
... Show More
Gas compressibility factor or z-factor plays an important role in many engineering applications related to oil and gas exploration and production, such as gas production, gas metering, pipeline design, estimation of gas initially in place (GIIP), and ultimate recovery (UR) of gas from a reservoir. There are many z-factor correlations which are either derived from Equation of State or empirically based on certain observation through regression analysis. However, the results of the z-factor obtained from different correlations have high level of variance for the same gas sample under the same pressure and temperature. It is quite challenging to determine the most accurate correlation which provides accurate estimate for a range of pressures,
... Show More
(31)
(32)
(4)
Simultaneous determination of Furosemide, Carbamazepine, Diazepam, and Carvedilol in bulk and pharmaceutical formulation using the partial least squares regression (PLS-1 and PLS-2) is described in this study. The two methods were successfully applied to estimate the four drugs in their quaternary mixture using UV spectral data of 84synthetic mixtures in the range of 200-350nm with the intervals Δλ=0.5nm. The linear concentration range were 1-20 μg.mL-1 for all, with correlation coefficient (R2) and root mean squares error for the calibration (RMSE) for FURO, CARB, DIAZ, and CARV were 0.9996, 0.9998, 0.9997, 0.9997, and 0.1128, 0.1292, 0.1868,0.1562 respectively for PLS-1, and for PLS-2 were 0.9995, 0.9999, 0.9997, 0.9998, and 0.1127, 0.
... Show More