Periodontitis is one of the most prevalent bacterial diseases affecting man with up to 90% of the global population affected. Its severe form can lead to the tooth loss in 10-15% of the population worldwide. The disease is caused by a dysbiosis of the local microbiota and one organism that contributes to this alteration in the bacterial population is Prophyromonas gingivalis. This organism possesses a range of virulence factors that appear to contribute to its growth and survival at a periodontal site amongst which is its ability to invade oral epithelial cells. Such an invasion strategy provides a means of evasion of host defence mechanisms, persistence at a site and the opportunity for dissemination to other sites in the mouth. However, previous studies have demonstrated that invasion of the mammalian cells in a population by P. gingivalis is heterogenous, with some cells becoming heavily invaded while others harbour no or only a few bacteria. An understanding of this heterogeneity may throw light on the mechanisms involved and we hypothesised that the phase of the host cell cycle may explain this phenomenon. In an attempt to study the factors influencing P. gingivalis invasion and the cell response to that invasion, a standard antibiotic protection assay was employed and an oral keratinocyte cell line, H357. The results showed that P. gingivalis NCTC 11834 invasion was significantly increased with increasing time of exposure to the cells and the cell density. This may reflect an increased host cell surface area available for bacterial attachment. No effect on invasion of P. gingivalis invasion was observed by the bacterial growth phase, H357 cell passage number or whether cells were pre-incubated with P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide. Epithelial cells did, however, respond to the presence of P. gingivalis in a number of ways. For example, the mRNA expression of endothelin-1 and urokinase receptor were upregulated with increasing P. gingivalis infection time, suggesting that these proteins could act as inflammatory mediators and possibly as useful markers of the severity of periodontal disease or in the diagnosis and treatment of periodontitis. iii Secondly, in an attempt to investigate the reason for the observed heterogeneous P. gingivalis invasion of H357 cell populations, the effect of cell cycle phase on P. gingivalis invasion was investigated. H357 cells were synchronized by serum starvation. On re-introduction of serum, characterisation of cell cycle phase distribution was performed by flow cytometry following staining with propidium idodide (PI) or by immunofluorescence using bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), which specifically identifies cells in S-phase. The effect of cell cycle phases on P. gingivalis invasion was measured using the antibiotic protection assay, immunofluorescence and flow cytometry and these were correlated with gene and surface expression of the urokinase receptor and the α5-integrin subunit, which is thought to mediate P. gingivalis invasion. Results showed that the percentage invasion was enhanced with increasing serum re-introduction time, and positively correlated with the number of cells in S-phase. In addition, flow cytometry data showed that the highest association of fluorescent P. gingivalis was with PI positive S-phase cells. Moreover, BrdU positive S-phase cells were 3 times more likely to be invaded and contained 10 times more P. gingivalis than cells in other phases. Also, α5-integrin was more highly expressed in cells in S-phase than other phases, which could explain the mechanism underlying this enhanced invasion. Data presented here have suggested that P. gingivalis targeting of cells in S- phase could, in vivo, allow preferential invasion of the junctional epithelial cells which turns over rapidly. The data presented in this thesis suggest that P. gingivalis invasion is greatly dependent on several factors attributed to the host, the bacteria itself, and to the environment which the bacteria reside in. The invasion occurs within a population of host cells in a heterogeneous fashion, and is dependent on the cell cycle phase, specifically S-phase. This novel finding, in addition to the previously reported mechanisms of P. gingivalis invasion, increases our understanding of this virulence trait and suggests that such a strategy is a highly organised process which the bacteria can follow to ensure its survival within the host. Furthermore, knowledge of these mechanisms could provide novel approaches to treatment of periodontal diseases.
There is a theoretical controversy in the books of Usul al-Fiqh, in the past and the present, about whether the ruling should be attached to its reason (al-Hikmah), or its apparent and stable cause (al-Illah). Looking at the practical cases of the jurists, we found them sometimes attaching rulings to its reason, and sometimes to its cause, so there is a need to know the factors that affect their choices. By extrapolation, the researcher reached at nine factors that affect referring the ruling to its cause or to its reason in jurisprudential cases.
Abstract
Objectives: this study aims to: (1). Assess self-esteem level and academic achievement for students of nursing colleges in southern Iraq. (2). Determine the relationship between levels of self-esteem and academic achievement of the student in the first semester. (3). Identify differences of self-esteem with gender and different age groups.
Methodology: a sample of (426 students) was purposively selected then collected by using a questionnaire which consisted of: I- Sociodemographic characteristics for assessing some important aspects of students, II- Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) III- Iraq Grading Scale for assessing student achievement. Finally statistical analysis (SPSS) for data processing.
Results: study resu
High-intensity laser-produced plasma has been extensively investigated in many studies. In this demonstration, a new spectral range was observed in the resulted spectra from the laser-plasma interaction, which opens up new discussions for new light source generation. Moreover, the characterizations of plasma have been improved through the interaction process of laser-plasma. Three types of laser were incorporated in the measurements, continuous-wave CW He-Ne laser, CW diode green laser, pulse Nd: YAG laser. As the plasma system, DC glow discharge plasma under the vacuum chamber was considered in this research. The plasma spectral peaks were evaluated, where they refer to Nitrogen gas. The results indicated that the
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This study focuses on the slab-beam interaction in one-way systems. In the context of this study, slab-beam interaction means how beam deflection can affect moment distribution in one-way slabs. This interaction is usually neglected in the traditional approximate analysis that is adopted in engineering practice and design codes. Slab positive moments have been considered as indicators on the accuracy of approximate methods, as they overestimate negative moments while underestimating positive moments.
After proposing of effecting parameters in slab-beam interaction including of panel length and width, beam dimensions, and slab thickness, Buckingham’s theorem has been adopted to transform the dimensional-mo
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Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are defined as a population of cells present in tumours, which can undergo self-renewal and differentiation. Identification and isolation of these CSCs using putative surface markers have been a priority of research in cancer. With this background we selected pancreatic normal and tumor cells for this study and passaged them into animal tissue culture medium. Further staining was done using alkaline phosphatase and heamatoxilin staining. Blue to purple colored zones in undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells and clear coloration in the chromatin material indicated pancreatic cells. Further studies on the cell surface marker CD 44 were done using ELISA. For this, the protein was extracted from cultivated normal and t
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The phenomenon of poverty is one of the most important phenomena facing the world at large. Despite the tremendous technological progress witnessed by mankind and despite the unprecedented high levels of world economic production, poverty remains the greatest challenge facing the world. Statistics and studies have shown that poverty is caused by several problems: (health, social, economic, educational, etc.) These problems are obstacles to the ability to obtain employment opportunities, which leads in the beginning to the growth phenomenon of unemployment, and ultimately to the growth of poverty.
The results of a range of research in the field of psychology have confirmed that children from poor homes suffer from a high level of
... Show MoreThe study attempts to measure the level of shyness; the level of psychological isolation; to identify the relationship between shyness and psychological isolation; and to identify the differences between shyness and psychological isolation among first-intermediate students. To this end, a random sample comprised (187) male and female students was chosen for the academic year (2016-2017) from Baghdad \ Al-Rasafa. To measure the shyness and psychological isolation, the researcher designed two scales: one to measure the shyness composed of (37) items divided into four domains; and the other to measure the psychological isolation made of (56) items divided into three domains. The study concluded that the sample has a medium level of shyness;
... Show MoreThe purposes of study are to measure the perceived competence and the locus of control among sixth-grade students, to identify the statistical differences between the perceived competence and the locus of control among sixth-grade students regarding the variable of gender, achievement, and economical status, and lastly, explore the correlation relationship between perceived competence and locus of control among sixth-grade students, To do this, the researchers have constructed two scales: one to measure the perceived competence based on bandura's theory (social-cognitive theory) which consisted of (26) items and the other to measure the locus of control based on Rotter's theory (social-learning theory) which included (25) items. The samp
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