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The Arabian killifish (Aphanius dispar) as a novel model for mycophysiological studies.
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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

Publication Date
Fri Feb 01 2019
Journal Name
Journal Of Economics And Administrative Sciences
A Comparison of Parameters Estimation Methods for the Negative Binomial Regression Model under Multicollinearity Problem by Using Simulation
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This study discussed a biased estimator of the Negative Binomial Regression model known as (Liu Estimator), This estimate was used to reduce variance and overcome the problem Multicollinearity between explanatory variables, Some estimates were used such as Ridge Regression and Maximum Likelihood Estimators, This research aims at the theoretical comparisons between the new estimator (Liu Estimator) and the estimators

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Publication Date
Thu Apr 06 2023
Journal Name
International Journal Of Emerging Technologies In Learning (ijet)
The Impact of a Scenario-Based Learning Model in Mathematics Achievement and Mental Motivation for High School Students
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Publication Date
Wed Nov 01 2017
Journal Name
Journal Of Economics And Administrative Sciences
A Suggested Model for Using a Students Attendance Management Information Systems/ A Case Study In Lebanese French University/ Erbil
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This study aims to design unified  electronic information system to manage students attendance in Lebanese French university/Erbil, as a system that simplifies the process of entering and counting the students absence, and generate absence reports to expel students who passed  the acceptable limit of being absent, and by that we can replace the traditional way of  using papers to count absence,  with  a complete electronically system for managing students attendance, in a way that makes the results accurate and unchangeable by the students.

            In order to achieve the study's objectives, we designed an information syst

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Publication Date
Fri Jun 30 2017
Journal Name
Journal Of Engineering
Performance Evaluation of a PID and a Fuzzy PID Controllers Designed for Controlling a Simulated Quadcopter Rotational Dynamics Model
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This work is concerned with designing two types of controllers, a PID and a Fuzzy PID, to be used
for flying and stabilizing a quadcopter. The designed controllers have been tuned, tested, and
compared using two performance indices which are the Integral Square Error (ISE) and the Integral
Absolute Error (IAE), and also some response characteristics like the rise time, overshoot, settling
time, and the steady state error. To try and test the controllers, a quadcopter mathematical model has
been developed. The model concentrated on the rotational dynamics of the quadcopter, i.e. the roll,
pitch, and yaw variables. The work has been simulated with “MATLAB”. To make testing the
simulated model and the controllers m

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Publication Date
Tue Jun 15 2021
Journal Name
Iraqi Journal Of Pharmaceutical Sciences ( P-issn 1683 - 3597 E-issn 2521 - 3512)
Natural Products as A Promising Therapy for SARS COV-2; An Overview
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Recently emerging pandemic SARS CoV-2 conquered our world since December 2019. Continuous efforts have been done to find out effective immunization and precise treatment stetratigies A way from therapeutic options that were tried in SARS CoV-2, an increased attention is directed to predict natural products and mainly phytochemicals as collaborative measures for this crisis. In this review, most of the mentioned compounds specially flavonoids (biacalin, hesperidin, quercetin, luteolin,, and phenolic (resveratrol, curcumin, and theaflavin) exert their effect through interfering with the action of one or more of this proteins (spike protein, papain like protease, 3 chymotrypsin like cysteine protease, and RNA dependent RNA 

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Publication Date
Wed Jan 02 2019
Journal Name
Journal Of Global Pharma Technology
Nanocrystal Technology as a Tool for Improving Dissolution of Poorly Soluble Drugs
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Many approaches have been developed over time to counter the bioavailability limitations of poorly soluble drugs. With advances in nanotechnology in recent decades, this issue has been approached through the formulation of drugs as nanocrystals. Nanocrystals consist of pure drug(s) and a minimum of surface active agent(s) required for stabilization. They are carrier-free submicron colloidal drug delivery systems with a mean particle size typically in the range of 200 - 500 nm. By reducing particle size to nanoscale, the surface area available for dissolution is increased, and thus bioavailability is enhanced. Drug nanocrystals constitute a versatile formulation approach to enhance the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of poorly

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Publication Date
Mon Jul 01 2024
Journal Name
Journal Of The Faculty Of Medicine Baghdad
Serum CXCL 9 as a Potential Biomarker for Patients with Ulcerative Colitis
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Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease restricted to the large intestine, characterized by superficial ulceration. It is a progressive and chronic disease requiring long-term treatment. Although its etiology remains unknown, it is suggested that environmental factors influence genetically susceptible individuals, leading to the onset of the disease. (C-X-C) ligand 9 is a chemokine that belongs to the CXC chemokine family, it plays a role in the differentiation of immune cells such as cytotoxic lymphocytes, natural killer T cells, and macrophages. Its interaction with its corresponding receptor CXCR3 which is expressed by a variety of cells such as effector T cells, CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, and macrophage

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Publication Date
Mon Mar 30 2026
Journal Name
Iraqi Journal Of Chemical And Petroleum Engineering
Adopting the addition of iron waste as a source for iron (II) ion in Electro-Fenton system for the removal of triple dyes
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Use of electrodes that provide a high surface area for reaction, such as Nickel foam and Carbon Fiber Felt, has proven highly efficient in treating wastewater. In this study, a mixture of dyes (Eosin Y, Methylene Blue, and Methylene Violet) was treated using Ni foam as a cathode and carbon fiber felt as an anode in the Electro-Fenton process, relying on iron waste, such as iron filings, as the catalyst source. The analysis characterization of electrodes and iron filings was determined by Energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests. The results showed high efficiency in decomposing the dye mixture. The highest Re % 96.4591 which attained after accomplishing the experiments based on Response Surface Method (RSM)

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Publication Date
Sat Feb 02 2019
Journal Name
Journal Of The College Of Education For Women
The Reasons behind the decadence of the studies concerning the evening school in Salah al Deen A field study
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The Reasons behind the decadence of the studies concerning the evening school in Salah al Deen A field study

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Publication Date
Thu Jan 30 2025
Journal Name
Iraqi Journal Of Agricultural Sciences
FIRST RECORD OF RED ALGAE POLYSIPHONIA SUBTILISSIMA (MONTAGNE, 1840) (FAMILY: RHODOMELACEAE) COLLECTED FROM KARACHI COAST PAKISTAN (NORTHERN ARABIAN SEA).
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This study presents a detailed morphology and taxonomic study of Polysiphonia subtilissima collected from Abdul Rehman Goth, Karachi coast, Pakistan. Polysiphonia is a filamentous heterotrichous red algae, characterized by its branching structures and attachment mechanisms. P. subtilissima is notable for its broad salinity tolerance and wide distribution across marine and freshwater ecosystems. This research provides an in-depth examination of the internal and external structures of P. subtilissima, contributing to its systematic study and documenting its first recorded occurrence in Pakistani coastal areas, bordering the northern Arabian Sea. The findings enhance the understanding of the species taxonomy and its ecological role in

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