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 current study investigated the stability and the extraction efficiency of emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) for Abamectin pesticide removal from aqueous solution. The stability was investigated in terms of droplet emulsion size distribution and emulsion breakage percent. The proposed ELM included a mixture of corn oil and kerosene (1:1) as a diluent, Span 80 (sorbitan monooleate) as a surfactant and hydrochloric acid (HCl) as a stripping agent without utilizing a carrier agent. Parameters such as homogenizer speed, surfactant concentration, emulsification time and internal to organic volume ratio (I/O) were evaluated. Results show that the lower droplet size of 0.9 µm and higher stable emulsion in terms of breakage percent of 1.12 % were
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Abstract
This research deals will the declared production planning operation in the general company of planting oils, which have great role in production operations management who had built mathematical model for correct non-linear programming according to discounting operation during raw materials or half-made materials purchasing operation which concentration of six main products by company but discount included just three products of raw materials, and there were six months taken from the 1st half of 2014 as a planning period has been chosen . Simulated annealing algorithm application on non-linear model which been more difficulty than possible solution when imposed restric
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تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى بحث ظاهرة الاغتراب في رواية " ديك الفداء " لايلي عامير ، لأن هذه الظاهرة تبدو أكثر وضوحا في هذه الرواية ، وتمثل تیارا مسيطرة على معطياتها واتجاهاتها الفكرية والفنية، خاصة أن الكاتب استطاع أن يجسد هذه الظاهرة المحورية تجسيدا فنيا متميزا ، وكشف عن طبيعة العلاقة بين عالم الواقع وعالم الحلم لدى الشخصيات، وعما تتسم به من تناقض و تعارض وتصادم و شعور بالإحباط والضياع والاغتراب. وقد اشتملت ال
... Show MorePurpose - This study relies on the descriptive and analytical approach through collecting and analyzing the necessary data, as this approach focuses on polling the opinions of the research sample and its directions, and aims to develop a model that studies the relationship between knowledge creation and organizational ambidexterity in Iraqi private banks and verifying its validity experimentally.
Design / Methodology / Introduction - A survey was conducted through a questionnaire form to collect data from a sample of (113) managers in private commercial banks. In addition, this study used the AMOS program and the ready-to-use statistical program package (SPSS V.25) to test the proposed hypotheses of the t
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Abstract
In this work, two algorithms of Metaheuristic algorithms were hybridized. The first is Invasive Weed Optimization algorithm (IWO) it is a numerical stochastic optimization algorithm and the second is Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) it is an algorithm based on the intelligence of swarms and community intelligence. Invasive Weed Optimization Algorithm (IWO) is an algorithm inspired by nature and specifically from the colonizing weeds behavior of weeds, first proposed in 2006 by Mehrabian and Lucas. Due to their strength and adaptability, weeds pose a serious threat to cultivated plants, making them a threat to the cultivation process. The behavior of these weeds has been simulated and used in Invas
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Background: A great dental and biomedical interest had been paid to silver nanoparticles because of their antimicrobial activity. Objective: To evaluate the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of a newly developed Nano-silver fluoride that was synthesized from moringa oleifera leaf extract against S. mutants. Material and method: The green synthesis method was used to prepare Nano-silver fluoride from moringa oleifera leaf extract. The minimum inhibitory concentration and the minimum bactericidal concentration were evaluated using brain heart infusion plates, while the cytotoxicity was evaluated by the hemolytic activity. Results: Nano-silver fluoride had a bactericidal and bacteriostatic effect (MIC was 60 ppm a
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MRY *Khalid Sh. Sharhan, *Naseer Shukur Hussein, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT IN SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES, 2021
Background: This in vitro study compares a novel calcium-phosphate etchant paste to conventional 37% phosphoric acid gel for bonding metal and ceramic brackets by evaluating the shear bond strength, remnant adhesive and enamel damage following water storage, acid challenge and fatigue loading. Material and Methods: Metal and ceramic brackets were bonded to 240 extracted human premolars using two enamel conditioning protocols: conventional 37% phosphoric acid (PA) gel (control), and an acidic calcium-phosphate (CaP) paste. The CaP paste was prepared from β-tricalcium phosphate and monocalcium phosphate monohydrate powders mixed with 37% phosphoric acid solution, and the resulting phase was confirmed using FTIR. The bonded premolars were exp
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