ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Estrogens has traditionally been known as the female hormone, but this idea has been challenged in early 1990’s and an essential physiological role for estrogen in male fertility was identified. Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring non-steroidal plant chemicals that can act like the female hormone estrogen. The herbs ( anise alfalfa and vervain ) chosen in this study contain phytoestrogens. OBJECTIVE: Previous studies demonstrated controversy of the effects of phytoestrogens on the rat testes .Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to investigate the influence of typical dose of herbs containing phytoestrogen on the rat testis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four apparently normal mature male rats were divided into four groups of 6 animals each. The first "control" group received only 4ml of distilled water as a placebo. The second group received 40mg/kg of anise seed; the third group received 53.3 mg/kg of dried herb of vervain and the fourth group received 400 mg /kg of alfalfa seeds. All experimental groups received the doses through orogastric tube daily for fourteen days. Testicular histology was evaluated by light and enzyme histochemistry. Plasma FSH and testosterone concentrations were taken to support our results. RESULTS: Histological examination of anise, alfalfa and vervain – treated groups showed an increase in the height of germinal epithelia. There was marked lipoprotein lipase activity in the whole of the interstitial tissue which is more in amount in experimental groups than that in control group. Acid phosphatase granules were infiltered the seminiferous epithelia mildly in control group , moderately in anise and vervain groups and markedly in alfalfa group. The number of interstitial cells showing marked acid phosphatase activity was higher in all experimental groups than that in control group. Alkaline phosphatase exhibited intense activity in the boundary tissue of the seminiferous tubules in testes of control and experimental groups but it appeared thicker in the latter. CONCLUSION: The low dose and short duration of treatment used in our study made these phytoestrogen – containing herbs to have a stimulatory effect on leydig cell steroidogenesis. This study also demonstrated that aniseed being the most potent of the three herbs followed by alfalfa in stimulating testosterone synthesis. This is possibly attributed to the coumarin constituent of aniseed and alfalfa. KEY WORDS: phytoestrogen-containing herbs, testis, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, lipoprotein lipase
The risk assessment for three pipelines belonging to the Basra Oil Company (X1, X2, X3), to develop an appropriate risk mitigation plan for each pipeline to address all high risks. Corrosion risks were assessed using a 5 * 5 matrix. Now, the risk assessment for X1 showed that the POF for internal corrosion is 5, which means that its risk is high due to salinity and the presence of CO, H2S and POF for external corrosion is 1 less than the corrosion, while for Flowline X2 the probability of internal corrosion is 4 and external is 4 because there is no Cathodic protection applied due to CO2, H2S and Flowline X3 have 8 leaks due to internal corrosion so the hazard rating was very high 5 and could be due to salinity, CO2, fluid flow rate
... Show MoreThe current study examines the poetry) free verse( of African American Amanda Gorman in the light of the African diaspora concept, with a focus on themes of migration, African American identity, and cultural interactions. Additionally, the chosen poems discussed poets who resided in or outside of Africa, their native continent. The importance of this study lies in the fact that it sheds light on an axis that has been ignored in criticism of Gorman's poems —specifically, the axis of the African diaspora—rather than just feminism and marginalization. The purpose of this research is to emphasize the value and impact of leaving one environment to live in another, which takes adaptability, patience, and fortitude to finish the journey of lif
... Show MoreThis paper was aimed to study the efficiency of forward osmosis (FO) process as a new application for the treatment of wastewater from textile effluent and the factors affecting the performance of forward osmosis process.
The draw solutions used were magnesium chloride (MgCl2), and aluminum sulphate (Al2 ( SO4)3 .18 H2O), and the feed solutions used were reactive red, and disperse blue dyes.
Experimental work were includes operating the forward osmosis process using thin film composite (TFC) membrane as flat sheet for different draw solutions and feed solutions. The operating parameters studied were : draw solutions concentration (10 – 90 g/l), feed solutions concentration (5 – 30 mg/l), draw solutions flow rate (10 – 50 l/hr
Objectives of the study: The main objective of the study is to assess the prevalence of hypertension among
cardiac diseases patients and to fiend out relation ship between hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
Methodology: A descriptive study, using interviewer and questionnaire technique was conducted on cardiac
diseases inpatients of clinic unite at Kirkuk and Azady hospitals from 17th ,June ,2012 to 1st, March , 2013.
Non – probability (purposive) sample of (148) adult patients, (81) females and (67) males with heart disease are
selected from inpatients of clinic unite at Kirkuk and Azady hospitals at kirkuk city. Questionnaire was
developed to assess the items which are related to heart disease patient's (Dise
The aesthetic contents of data visualization is one of the contemporary areas through which data scientists and designers have been able to link data to humans, and even after reaching successful attempts to model data visualization, it wasn't clear how that reveals how it contributed to choosing the aesthetic content as an input to humanize these models, so the goal of the current research is to use The analytical descriptive approach aims to identify the aesthetic contents in data visualization, which the researchers interpreted through pragmatic philosophy and Kantian philosophy, and analyze a sample of data visualization models to reveal the aesthetic entrances in them to explain how to humanize them. The two researchers reached seve
... Show MoreThe most used material in the world after water is concrete, which depends mainly on its manufacture of cement leading to the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), flying dust, and other greenhouse gasses (GHGs) resulting in pollution of the atmosphere. The emission of CO2 from cement production is approximately 5% of the global anthropogenic CO2. This research focuses on investigating the amount of CO2 emission from the Iraqi General Cement Company plants includes the cement factories of Kirkuk, Al-Qa’em, Fallujah, and Kubaisa, using the GHGs Protocol Measures Program (specifically cement based-method).
Elemental capture spectroscopy (ECS) is an important tool in the petroleum industry for determining the composition and properties of rock formations in a reservoir. Knowledge of the types and abundance of different minerals in the reservoir is crucial for accurate petrophysical interpretation, reservoir engineering practices, and stratigraphic correlation. ECS measures the elemental content of the rock, which directly impacts several physical properties that are essential for reservoir characterization, such as porosity, fluid saturation, permeability, and matrix density. The ability to accurately determine these properties leads to better reservoir mapping, improved production, and more effective resource management. Accurately determi
... Show MoreThe influence of Cr3+ doping on the ground state properties of SrTiO3 perovskite was evaluated using GGA-PBE approximation. Computational modeling results infered an agreement with the previously published literature. The modification of electronic structure and optical properties due to Cr3+ introducing into SrTiO3 were investigated. Structural parameters assumed that Cr3+ doping alters the electronic structures of SrTiO3 by shifting the conduction band through lower energies for the Sr and Ti sites. Besides, results showed that the band gap was reduced by approximately 50% when presenting one Cr3+ atom into the SrTiO3 system and particularly positioned at Sr sites. Interestingly, substituting Ti site by Cr3+ led to eliminating the band ga
... Show MoreModified asphalt is considered one of the alternatives to address the problems of deficiencies in traditional asphalt concrete, as modified asphalt addresses many of the issues that appear on the pavement layers in asphalt concrete, resulting from heavy traffic and vehicles loaded with loads that exceed the design loads and the large fluctuations in the daily and seasonal temperatures of asphalt concrete. The current study examined the role of polyphosphoric acid (PPA) as a modified material for virgin asphalt when it was added in different proportions (1%, 2%, 3%, 4%) of the asphalt weight. The experimental program includes the volumetric characteristics associated with the Marshall test, the physical properties, and th
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