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
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A new ligand complexes have been synthesis from reaction of metal ions of MnII , CoII , NiII , CuII , ZnII , CdII and PdII with schiff base [(E)-1-((2-amino-5-(3, 4, 5-trimethoxybenzyl) pyrimidin-4-ylimino) methyl) naphthalen-2-ol [HL)]. The prepared [HL] was characterized by FT-IR, UV-Vis spectroscopy, 1H13CNMR spectra Mass spectra and melting point. The compounds were characterized by techniques UV-Vis and FT-IR spectral studies, micro analysis (C.H.N), determination of atomic absorption, chloride content, molar conductivity measurements, magnetic susceptibility and melting point. The ligand acts as a monobasic tridentate, coordinating through deprotonated phenolic O and azomethine N atoms. The compounds are neutral electrolytic in dimeth
... Show MoreIn this article, new Schiff base ligand LH-prepared Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), Hg(II), Pd(II), and Pt(II) materials were analyzed using spectroscopy (1 Metal: 2 LH). The ligand was identified using techniques such as FTIR, UV-vis, 1H-13C-NMR, and mass spectra, and their complexes were identified using CHN microanalysis, UV-vis and FTIR spectral studies, atomic absorption, chloride content, molar conductivity measurements, and magnetic susceptibility. According to the measurements, the ligand was bound to the divalent metal ions as a bidentate through oxygen and nitrogen atoms. The complexes that were created had microbicide activity against two different bacterial species and one type of fungus. DPPH techniques were bei
... Show MoreEthnographic research is perhaps the most common applicable type of qualitative research method in psychology and medicine. In ethnography studies, the researcher immerses himself in the environment of participants to understand the cultures, challenges, motivations, and topics that arise between them by investigating the environment directly. This type of research method can last for a few days to a few years because it involves in-depth monitoring and data collection based on these foundations. For this reason, the findings of the current study stimuli the researchers in psychology and medicine to conduct studies by applying ethnographic research method to investigate the common cultural patterns language, thinking, beliefs, and behavior
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Purpose - 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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The Cenomanian – Turronian sedimentary succession in the south Iraq oil fields, including Ahmadi, Rumaila, Mishrif and Khasib formations have undergone into high-resolution reservoir-scale genetic sequence stratigraphic analysis. Some oil-wells from Majnoon and West-Qurna oil fields were selected as a representative case for the regional sequence stratigraphic analysis. The south Iraqi Albian – Cenomanian – Turronian succession of 2nd-order depositional super-sequence has been analyzed based on the Arabian Plate chronosequence stratigraphic context, properly distinguished by three main chrono-markers (The maximum flooding surface, MFS-K100 of the upper shale member of Nahr Umr Formation, MFS-K140 of the upper Mishrif carbonate
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As the bit rate of fiber optic transmission systems is increased to more than , the system will suffer from an important random phenomena, which is called polarization mode dispersion. This phenomenon contributes effectively to: increasing pulse width, power decreasing, time jittering, and shape distortion. The time jittering means that the pulse center will shift to left or right. So that, time jittering leads to interference between neighboring pulses. On the other hand, increasing bit period will prevent the possibility of sending high rates. In this paper, an accurate mathematical analysis to increase the rates of transmission, which contain all physical random variables that contribute to determine the transmission rates, is presen
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