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.
Background:Measurement of hemoglobin A1c (A1C) is a renowned tactic for gauging long-term glycemic control, and exemplifies an outstanding influence to the quality of care in diabetic patients.The concept of targets is open to criticism; they may be unattainable, or limit what could be attained, and in addition they may be economically difficult to attain. However, without some form of targeted control of an asymptomatic condition it becomes difficult to promote care at allObjectives: The present article aims to address the most recent evidence-based global guidelines of A1C targets intended for glycemic control in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2D).Key messages:Rationale for Treatment Targets of A1C includesevidence for microvascular and ma
... Show MoreDuring COVID-19, wearing a mask was globally mandated in various workplaces, departments, and offices. New deep learning convolutional neural network (CNN) based classifications were proposed to increase the validation accuracy of face mask detection. This work introduces a face mask model that is able to recognize whether a person is wearing mask or not. The proposed model has two stages to detect and recognize the face mask; at the first stage, the Haar cascade detector is used to detect the face, while at the second stage, the proposed CNN model is used as a classification model that is built from scratch. The experiment was applied on masked faces (MAFA) dataset with images of 160x160 pixels size and RGB color. The model achieve
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In this research, beam expander, BEX, is explained and designed for illuminating the
remote flying target. The BEX is optically designed to be suited for Nd:YAG laser of given
specifications. The BEX is modified to be zoom one to meet the conditions of preventing the
receiving unit; i.e the photodetector, from getting saturated at near and far laser tracking.
Decollimation could be achieved by automatic motor, which controls zoom lens of the BEX
according to the required expansion ratio of beam expander
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The research aims to analyze the television advertisement to monitor the indirect and underlying meanings behind the apparent significance in Zain’s “Ya Baghdad” Advertisement through sociological analysis, in accordance with the cultural analysis of Hofstede’s ‘Model of Cultural Dimensions’. Our choice of such a model in practical application over other models that may have provided more dimensions is due to its ability and verification in explaining cultural diversity and additionally the size of data and studies on the cultural dimension. This study’s aim is to verify the validity, stability and significance of this model before being adopted by Hofstede as a measurement tool. This model was used in order to analyze the rel
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Throughout this paper, a generic iteration algorithm for a finite family of total asymptotically quasi-nonexpansive maps in uniformly convex Banach space is suggested. As well as weak / strong convergence theorems of this algorithm to a common fixed point are established. Finally, illustrative numerical example by using Matlab is presented.
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This work aim to prepare Ag/R6G/PMMA nanocomposite thin
films by In-situ plasma polymerization and study the changes in the
optical properties of fluorophore due to the presence of Ag
nanoparticles structures in the vicinity of the R6G laser dye. The
concentrations of R6G dye/MMA used are: 10-4M solutions were
prepared by dissolving the required quantity of the R6G dye in
MMAMonomer. Then Silver nanoparticles with 50 average particles
size were mixed with MMAmonomer with concentration of 0.3, 0.5,
0.7wt% to get R6G silver/MMA in liquid phase. The films were
deposited on glass substrates by dielectric barrier discharge plasma
jet. The Ag/R6G/PMMA nanocomposite thin films were
characterization by UV-Visible
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The effect of molecules intersystem crossing (Kisc) on characteristics
(energy and duration) of a Passive Q- switched Laser Pulse has been
studied by mathematical description (rate equations model) for
temporal performance of which was used as a saturable absorber
material (passive switch) with laser. The study shows that the energy
and duration pulse are decreasing while the molecules intersystem
crossing into saturable absorber energy levels is increasing.
In this work, silicon nitride (Si3N4) thin films were deposited on metallic substrates (aluminium and titanium sheets) by the DC reactive sputtering technique using two different silicon targets (n-type and p-type Si wafers) as well as two Ar:N2 gas mixing ratios (50:50 and 70:30). The electrical conductivity of the metallic (aluminium and titanium) substrates was measured before and after the deposition of silicon nitride thin films on both surfaces of the substrates. The results obtained from this work showed that the deposited films, in general, reduced the electrical conductivity of the substrates, and the thin films prepared from n-type silicon targets using a 50:50 mixing ratio and deposited on both
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Docetaxel is an effective treatment approved for many types of cancers, but its effectiveness in clinical practice can be compromised by significant occurrence of adverse drug reactions. The aim of the current study was to measure the distribution of adverse drug reactions of docetaxel reported in Iraq and to assess the causality, severity, seriousness, preventability, expectedness and outcome of these adverse reactions. A retrospective study conducted on individual case safety reports from the Iraqi Pharmacovigilance Center / Ministry of Health. The study included 118 individual case safety report containing 236 adverse drug reactions.
Most of the adverse drug reactions were related to skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders(26.7%), f