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
Five subsurface sections covering the entire length of the Jeribe Limestone Formation (Early Middle Miocene) were studied from four oilfields in northern Iraq. It is hoped to unravel this formation microfacies ; depositional environment; diagenetic attributes and their parental processes; and the relationship between these processes and the observed porosity patterns. The microfacies were found to include mudstone, wackestone, packstone, and grainstone, which have been deposited respectively in open platform, restricted platform, and edge platform which represent the lagoonal environment, while the deposits of the lower parts of the Jeribe formation especially in well Hamrin- 2 reflect a deeper fore slope environment. By using the lithofac
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Adsorption studies were carried out to test the ability of the Iraqi rice bran (Amber type) to adsorb some metals divalent cations (Cd2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Fe2+, Ni2+, Pb2+, and Zn2+) as an alternative tool to remove these pollutants from water. The Concentrations of these ions in water were measured using flame and flamless atomic absorption spectrophotometry techniques. The applicability of the adsorption isotherm on Langmuir or Freundlisch equation were tested and found to be dependent on the type of ions. The results showed different adsorptive behavior and different capacities of the adsorption of the ions on the surface of the bran. The correlation between the amounts adsorbed and different cation parameters including (electronegativity, io
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Understanding breaking news necessitates a special attention, since they are written with a special style. The study aims at identifying the difficulties faced by the Iraqi university EFL learners in comprehending English breaking news. The study included 10 fourth year students enrolled at the Department of English, College of Education for Humanities, University of Anbar. Thus, a questionnaire as a research instrument, was sent online to the students. The questionnaire points were related to the identification of difficulties faced by the learners in comprehending English breaking news. The data of the study were (10) headlines selected purposively from Euronews website. The data were qualitatively analyzed based on quantifying the qua
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The study examines Julia Alvarez's role as a Dominican American author, poet, and essayist. Despite being born in New York City in 1950, she was raised in the Dominican Republic by a family with Dominican heritage. Her residence in her ancestral homeland significantly influenced her subsequent literary works. Upon her father's implication in a conspiracy against Dominican President, he departed from the Dominican Republic. Alvarez encountered the challenge of the English language. They were compelled to acquire proficiency in English due to the prevailing perception that anyone who spoke a language other than English were deemed "un-American" during that period. Alvarez recounted her initial encounters in the United States and the subseque
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A single-crystalline semi-polar gallium nitride (11-22) was grown on m-plane (10-10) sapphire substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Three-step approach was introduced to investigate the grain size evolution for semi-polar (11-22) GaN. Such approach was achieved due to the optimized gallium to ammonia ratio and temperature variations, which led to high quality (11-22) oriented gallium nitride epilayers. The full width at half maximum values along (-1-123) and (1-100) planes for the overgrowth temperature of 1080°C were found to be as low as 0.37° and 0.49°, respectively. This was an indication of the enhanced coalescence and reduction in root mean square roughness as seen by atomic force microscopy. Surface analysi
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Aphid Aphis spp (Hemiptera:Aphididae) and Thrips Thrips spp (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) an economically important pests on several crops in the world and Iraq, that transfer many viruses diseases to it. Field studies were conducted to assessment the population density of these insects and susceptibility of six varieties (Barin, Revera, Divela, Rudlph, Alazata and Pleny) to infestation during 2013 spring season. The results were showed that all Potato varieties were infested by Aphis and Thrips on spring plantation but with different percentage. The Divela variety was higher percentage of infestation and high population density of aphid which averaged 1.47 insect/ leaf while in Alazata was the lower population density which averaged 1.02 in
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This paper studies the investment project evaluation under the condition of uncertainty. Evaluation of investment project under risk and uncertainty is possible to be carried out through application of various methods and techniques. The best known methods are : Risk-adjusted discount rate , certainty equivalent method , Sensitivity analysis and Simulation method The objective of this study is using the sensitivity analysis in evaluation Glass Bottles project in Anbar province under the condition of risk and uncertainty.
After applying sensitivity analysis we found that the glass bottles project sensitive to the following factors (cash flow, the cost of investment, and the pro
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This study included the isolation and diagnosis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from cases of burns samples. 100 samples were collected from resident patients at Al-Kindi Teaching Hospital, who suffer from different types of burns. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated and diagnosed with 39% of the total samples. The cold and hot aqueous and alcoholic extract of flaxseeds oil was prepared and its inhibitory efficacy has been studied on the growth of isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It is revealed that both extracts of flaxseeds oil had a high inhibitory effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa growth. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of flaxseed oil on the studied bacteria was also estimated, which was 25 mg/ml. In conclusion, the efficacy of fla
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