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 article deals with the role of metaphors in forming the plot of L. Ulitskaya’s family chronicle “Medea and Her Children”. The author of the article describes the results of the next stage of research related to the works of Lyudmila Evgenievna Ulitskaya, a representative of modern Russian prose. The analysis of tropes and figures in the works written at the turn of the XXth – XXIth centuries is of importance for the study of the modern state of Russian language as an independent system. “Medea and Her Children” is one of the works by L. Ulitskaya (written in 1996), which, like her other works, is characterized by a unique style of narration, rich in vocabulary, lexical, semantic and stylistic diversity of the author’s word
... Show MoreIn oil and gas well cementing, a strong cement sheath is wanted to insure long-term safety of the wells. Successful completion of cementing job has become more complex, as drilling is being done in highly deviated and high pressure-high temperature wells. Use of nano materials in enhanced oil recovery, drilling fluid, oil well cementing and other applications is being investigated. This study is an attempt to investigate the effect of nano materials on oil well cement properties. Two types of nano materials were investigated, which are Nano silica (>40 nm) and Nano Alumina (80 nm) and high sulfate-resistant glass G cement is used. The investigated properties of oil well cement included compressive strength, thickening
... Show MoreCopper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) were synthesized by two methods. The first was chemical method by using copper nitrate Cu (NO3)2 and NaOH, while the second was green method by using Eucalyptus camaldulensis leaves extract and Cu (NO3)2. These methods easily give a large scale production of CuO nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) reveals single phase monoclinic structure. The average crystalline size of CuO NPs was measured and used by Scherrer equation which found 44.06nm from chemical method, while the average crystalline size was found from green method was 27.2nm. The morphology analysis using atomic force microscopy showed that the grain size for CuO NPs was synthesized by chemical and green methods were 77.70 and 89.24
... Show MoreThe experiment was carried out in College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad during November 1, 2019 to June 1, 2020. The experiment was designed according to a randomized complete block design. Each block contained 18 experimental units that included the three study factors. The first factor interaction between two inoculum densities and application methods, three levels control, treatment of seeds inoculation with 5g plant and treatment of seedlings inoculation whith 30g plant . The second factor was three -1 -1concentrations of spraying of kinetin 0, 75 and 150 mg L , and third factor include two levels of organic manure) and addition of fertilizer 2% of -1 the weight of the soil (O2). The results showed a signif
... Show MoreCadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films with n-type semiconductor characteristics were prepared by flash evaporating method on glass substrates. Some films were annealed at 250 oC for 1hr in air. The thicknesses of the films was estimated to be 0.5µ by the spectrometer measurement. Structural, morphological, electrical, optical and photoconductivity properties of CdS films have been investigated by X-ray diffraction, AFM, the Hall effect, optical transmittance spectra and photoconductivity analysis, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern shows that CdS films are in the stable hexagonal crystalline structure. Using Debye Scherrerś formula, the average grain size for the samples was found to be 26 nm. The transmittance of the
... Show MoreThe creation and characterisation of biodegradable blend films based on chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol for application in a range of packaging is described. The compatibility between the chitosan and PVA polymers was good. Composite films had a compact and homogeneous structure, according to the morphology analysis. The mechanical test result of PVA/CH at concentrations 5% showed, that The higher values of TS recorded in sample (p1, with 40 MPa) while the lower values appeared in sample (p9, with 22.09 MPa), the TS decreased gradually as the amount of PVA increased in blend film. While the blend film of pure Chitosan exhibits a poor mechanical strength which makes it a poor candidate for packaging but Blending CH with PVA together improved
... Show MoreThe effect of metal nanoparticles on the anaerobic digestion of sludge and the sludge bacterial community are still not well-understood, and both improvements and inhibitions have been reported. This study investigated the impact of 2, 10, and 30 mg/g TS silver and copper oxide nanoparticles (AgNPs and CuONPs) on the mesophilic anaerobic digestion of sludge and the bacterial community structure. The reactors were monitored for changes in tCOD, sCOD, TS, VS, biogas generation, and cell viability. Also, the relative abundance and taxonomic distribution of the bacterial communities were analyzed at the phylum and genus levels, including the genera involved in anaerobic digestion. Both AgNPs and CuONPs exhibited some inhibition on anaer
... Show MoreAn experiment was carried out in the fields that belong to agiriculture college /Baghdad university (AL-Jadyria) according to randomized compeleted blocks design(R.C.B.D.) with three replications during the spring season of 2015 to Study impact of growing point pinching and foliar spraying of whey on some traits of vegetative growth and yield of okra(Abelmoschus esculentus L.Moench) AL-Batra local cultivar.The experiment was included six treatments which was pinching or no pinching of growthing point and foliar spraying of whey with three concentration (0%,50%and75%).The results showed that pinching was siginificant in all traits of vegetative growth except plant High where the highest values of branches number , diameter of stem and leafe
... Show MoreThe aim of this study to evaluate the effects of die holes diameter and speed of die on the performance of machine and feed pellet quality. Machine productivity (Kg.h-1), consumed power (kW), pellet durability (%) and pellet bulk density (g.cm-3) was studied. The study factors consisted of three diameter of die holes (3, 4, and 5 mm), and three speeds die (280, 300, and 320 rpm). Results showed with increasing of die holes diameter from 3 to 4 and to 5 mm give a significant increase in machine productivity, while consumed power, pellet durability and pellet bulk density a significant decreased. By increasing the die speed, from 280 to 300 then to 320 rpm, the machine productivity increased significantly, while consumed power, pellet durabil
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