Background: Lead (pb )is suspected to be one of the endocrine disruptors. People are exposed to high levelsof it in the environment through several ways .In the last years there was an evidence that it affects semenquality. The aim of the study is to assess the level of lead in the blood of male patients and correlate it with theseminal fluid parameters and hormonal levels.Methods: Fifty three infertile male patients, attending the infertility clinic in Baghdad Teaching Hospital fromFebruary 2016 till June 2016, participated in this study. Detailed history was taken and careful examinationwas done. Semen was collected from the patients and analyzed. Blood was withdrawn for hormonal and leadanalysis.Results: There was an increase in blood lead level with increasing age and duration of infertility which has asignificant negative correlation with sperm count and hormonal levels (LH and FSH), but it was not significantconcerning sperm morphology.There was no statistical significance between smokers and non- smokers regarding lead level and between thosewith primary and secondary infertility although it was higher in smokers and in patients with primary infertility.Conclusion: Blood lead level affects male fertility since it has a negative impact on semen parametersincluding sperm count, in addition to the hormonal disturbance in those patients bringing LH and FSH towardslow levels. Smoking on the other hand had been found to increase lead level in blood.
Abstract—The upper limb amputation exerts a significant burden on the amputee, limiting their ability to perform everyday activities, and degrading their quality of life. Amputee patients’ quality of life can be improved if they have natural control over their prosthetic hands. Among the biological signals, most commonly used to predict upper limb motor intentions, surface electromyography (sEMG), and axial acceleration sensor signals are essential components of shoulder-level upper limb prosthetic hand control systems. In this work, a pattern recognition system is proposed to create a plan for categorizing high-level upper limb prostheses in seven various types of shoulder girdle motions. Thus, combining seven feature groups, w
... Show MoreThis paper aims at analyzing Terry Bisson’s short story Bears Discover Fire stylistically by following both Gerard Genette’s theory of narratology (1980) and Short and Leech (1981) strategy for analyzing fictional works. Also trying to examine to what extent these models are applicable in analyzing the selected story. Stylistic analysis procedures help the readers/researchers to identify specific linguistic features in order to support literary interpretation and appreciation of literary texts. Style in fiction concentrates not on what is written, but on how a text is written. Each writer has his own style and techniques which distinguish him from other writers
Photonic crystal fiber interferometers are used in many sensing applications. In this work, an in-reflection photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based on Mach-Zehnder (micro-holes collapsing) (MZ) interferometer, which exhibits high sensitivity to different volatile organic compounds (VOCs), without the needing of any permeable material. The interferometer is robust, compact, and consists of a stub photonic crystal fiber of large-mode area, photonic crystal fiber spliced to standard single mode fiber (SMF) (corning-28), this splicing occurs with optimized splice loss 0.19 dB In the splice regions the voids of the holey fiber are completely collapsed, which allows the excitation and recombination of core and cladding modes. The device reflection
... Show MoreA sensitive, accurate, and affordable colorimetric method was developed for assaying prednisolone (PRZ) in various medicinal forms. The procedure involves the oxidation of PRZ by ferric ions, followed by complexation of the resulting ferrous ions with ferricyanide to produce a greenish-blue product. Common complexation conditions were thoroughly investigated. The mole ratio of FeCl₃·6H₂O to K₃Fe(CN)₆ was 8:1. The proposed mechanism of complexation was suggested and considered. Various parameters were optimized, including the reduction of the colorimetric reaction temperature to 50°C and the duration of heating and analysis to 20-30 minutes. The calibration curve was linear over the range of 1-60 µg/mL. The limit of detection (LOD
... Show MoreABSTRACT
This study aimed to choose top stocks through technical analysis tools specially the indicator called (ratio of William index), and test the ability of technical analysis tools in building a portfolio of shares efficient in comparison with the market portfolio. These one technical tools were used for building one portfolios in 21 companies on specific preview conditions and choose 10 companies for the period from (March 2015) to (June 2017). Applied results of the research showed that Portfolio yield for companies selected according to the ratio of William index indicator (0.0406) that
... Show MoreThe present paper aims at investigating the linguistic image portrayed by UNICEF reports on the Iraqi child from a critical discourse analysis perspective during Covid19 pandemic (2020). The paper attempts to fill a gap in research literature concerning the linguistic construction of the Iraqi child by the UNICEF reports during the critical health crisis of Covid19. Van Leeuwen’s (2008) approach of social actor representation has been adopted for this purpose. From Van Leeuwen’s approach, the category of determination (single determination and overdetermination) has been selected to be the main analytical tool for its high compatibility with the set of objectives put forward to figure out how such a globally effective and
... Show MoreGlobally, the COVID-19 pandemic’s development has presented significant societal and economic challenges. The carriers of COVID-19 transmission have also been identified as asymptomatic infected people. Yet, most epidemic models do not consider their impact when accounting for the disease’s indirect transmission. This study suggested and investigated a mathematical model replicating the spread of coronavirus disease among asymptomatic infected people. A study was conducted on every aspect of the system’s solution. The equilibrium points and the basic reproduction number were computed. The endemic equilibrium point and the disease-free equilibrium point had both undergone local stability analyses. A geometric technique was used
... Show MoreWater/oil emulsion is considered as the most refractory mixture to separate because of the interference of the two immiscible liquids, water and oil. This research presents a study of dewatering of water / kerosene emulsion using hydrocyclone. The effects of factors such as: feed flow rate (3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 L/min), inlet water concentration of the emulsion (5%, 7.5%, 10%, 12.5%, and 15% by volume), and split ratio (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9) on the separation efficiency and pressure drop were studied. Dimensional analysis using Pi theorem was applied for the first time to model the hydrocyclone based on the experimental data. It was shown that the maximum separation efficiency; at split ratio 0.1, was 94.3% at 10% co
... Show MoreAsphaltene is one of the fractions of the crude oil which is soluble in aromatics such as benzene or toluene and insoluble in alkane such as n-heptane, n-pentane or petroleum ether (mixture of alkane compounds). Asphaltene precipitation is one of the most common problems that sometimes occurs in both oil recovery and refinery processes as a result of changing in pressure, oil composition, or temperature. Therefore the stability of asphaltene in the crude oil must be studied to show the tendency of it for precipitating asphaltene to prevent it (Asphaltene precipitation and deposition problem) and eliminate the burden of high treatment costs.
In the present study, saturate, aromatic, resin and asphaltene (SAR
... Show MoreSource, sedimentation, coagulation, flocculation, filter, and tank are parts of a water treatment plant. As a result, some issues threaten the process and affect the drinking water quality, which is required to provide clean drinking water according to special standards and international and local specifications, determined by laboratory results from physical, chemical, and biological tests. In order to keep the water safe for drinking, it is necessary to analyze the risks and assess the pollution that occurs in every part of the plant. The method is carried out in a common way, which is monitoring through laboratory tests, and it is among the standards of the global and local health regulators