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 interaction in the city is reflected in the movement of people motivated by their activities and their economic and social goals, which include many variables subject to the planning process in the interpretation of this movement and the mapping of trends of transport intensity through the concept of transport function and its functional relationships with the uses of the earth in the sustainability and effectiveness of the movement of transport and Economic activity and population movement. Transport planners are concerned with the requirements of land use, which are linked to and included in the transport planning process as a factor for the future transport needs. There is a strong relationship between the transport system
... Show MoreThe Mesopotamian marshlands faced a massive destruction from many years and this lead to effect to ecosystem. In this study a survey was made on the physical chemical and heavy metals characteristics and microbiological analysis of AL Chibaish marsh during the two months. Water analyses revealed unacceptable values for almost all physiochemical and biological properties, according to WHO standard limits for drinking water. Almost all major ions and heavy metal concentrations in water showed a distinct decreasing trend at the marsh outlet station compared to other stations. In general, major and minor ions, as well as heavy metals exhibit higher concentrations in location 1 than in location 3. The concentrations of heavy metals in water show
... Show MorePolyvinyl chloride (PVC) finds use in various industries due to its versatility but is not thermostable, serving as a barrier to causing degradation and release of hydrochloric acid (HCl) under heat stress conditions. Lead and organotin compounds have traditionally been used for stabilizer purpose to discourage such degradation but pose serious ecological as well as health risks. As a counter measure, bio-based stabilizers from plant oils have become popular as a green and sustainable alternative. This review looks back at recent developments in plant oil-based stabilizers for PVC, focusing on the mechanisms of stabilization, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. We review plant oils such as tung oil, castor oil, and soybean oil,
... Show MoreIn this paper, the speed control of the real DC motor is experimentally investigated using nonlinear PID neural network controller. As a simple and fast tuning algorithm, two optimization techniques are used; trial and error method and particle swarm optimization PSO algorithm in order to tune the nonlinear PID neural controller's parameters and to find best speed response of the DC motor. To save time in the real system, a Matlab simulation package is used to carry out these algorithms to tune and find the best values of the nonlinear PID parameters. Then these parameters are used in the designed real time nonlinear PID controller system based on LabVIEW package. Simulation and experimental results are compared with each other and showe
... Show MoreThe uniform flow distrbiution in the multi-outlets pipe highly depends on the several parameters act togather. Therefor, there is no general method to achieve this goal. The goal of this study is to investigate the proposed approach that can provide significant relief of the maldistribution. The method is based on re-circulating portion of flow from the end of the header to reduce pressure at this region . The physical model consists of main manifold with uniform longitudinal section having diameter of 152.4 mm (6 in), five laterals with diameter of 76.2 mm (3 in), and spacing of 300 mm. At first, The experiment is carried out with conventional manifold, which is a closed-end. Then, small amount of water is allowed
... Show MoreThe interest in pre-service teacher training has become influential in teaching English as a foreign language, and the purpose of this training course is to prepare qualified teachers to teach effectively through the application of this technique by undergraduate students. This research aims to find out the effect of using the seven principles of good practice as a teaching technique on the fourth stage student-teachers’ performance at the College of Education for Women/University of Baghdad, during the academic year 2017-2018. The sample includes (60) students selected according to the stratified sampling method. The observational checklist used by the department to assess the student teachers’ performance during the practicum perio
... Show MoreThe effect of D phase polyamide (PA6)on the rheological properties, Young Modulus and the thermal expansion coefficient of two blends groups (bitumen-polyamide) were tested. The first group was for bitumen-PA6 blends and the second group for bitumen blended with polymer resulted from the crystallization of PA6-formic acid solution in water(PAFW).The obtained results proved that adding both types of polyamide has led to a rise in toughness and softening point temperature while the penetration Index approached -3 after adding the polyamide. So, all these changes make bitumen-polyamide blends more suitable for use in hot climate regions. The blends properties were explained according to the reaction that takes place between the polyamide and
... Show MoreThis research aims to the possibility of evaluating the strategic performance of the State Board for Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) using a balanced scorecard of four criteria (Financial, Customers, Internal Processes, and Learning and Growth). The main challenge was that the State Board use traditional evaluation in measuring employee performance, activities, and projects. Case study and field interviews methodology has been adopted in this research with a sample consisting of the Chairman of the State Board, 6 General Managers, and 7 Department Managers who are involved in evaluating the strategic performance and deciding the suitable answers on the checklists to analyze it according to the 7-points Likert scale. Data analysis re
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