Clinical index is needed to predict the outcome of pregnancy after in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET) for infertile patients. Growth differentiation factor-8 (GDF-8), also known as myostatin, is one of transforming growth factor-â superfamily localized in antral follicles in normal and PCOS ovaries but its function in female reproductive system is still unknown. Aim of the study is to assess the correlation between levels of GDF8 in follicular fluid (FF) with outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF/ICSI) in women with and without PCOS. A prospective case control study was performed enrolling (40) patients with PCOS and (40) non-PCOS women (male infertility) undergoing IVF/ICSI. The collect

Background: Colorectal Adenocarcinoma contributes one of the most common malignancies and the second leading cause of death from cancer in the western world. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) belongs to a family (ErbB-tyrosine receptors), EGFR plays an important role in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer.
Objectives: to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) in colorectal adenocarcinoma and to correlate this expression with different clinicopathological parameters.
Pateints and method: In this study clinicopathological parameters of twenty five colorectal adenocarcinoma cases diagnosed in private pathology laboratories in Baghdad /Iraq from November 2012 to September 2013 we

This study was conducted to determining the variable effects on water quality of Greater Zab River in Erbil province, Iraq, using multivariate statistical analysis. Seventeen variables were monitored in four sampling sites during one year (from May 2012 to April 2013). The dataset were treated using principal component analysis (PCA)/ factor analysis (FA), cluster analysis (CA) to the most important factors affecting water quality, sources of pollution and suitability of water for drinking consumption and irrigation. Six factors were identified as responsible for the data structure explaining 73.5% of the total variance in the dataset and are conditionally named, hydrochemical from weathering, mineral salts and domestic wastes. CA showed

Background: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection during pregnancy causing serious problems through induction of viral genes that enhance the expression of different cellular factors ending in failure of pregnancy.
Patients and Methods: Paraffin embedded sections of curate samples were obtained from 34 women had spontaneous abortion, and 5 women had elective termination of pregnancy (as control), and then subjected for immunohistochemistry analysis to detect human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) early protein, and in situ hybridization technique to detect nuclear factor-κB (NF- κB) mRNA.
Results: Only nine out of 34 women with spontaneous abortion were positive for HCMV early protein, with a significantly higher expression of NF-κB in H

Abstract Aim: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder which affects communication and social interaction of children. It is a heterogeneous disease with various clinical presentations. Some genes are involved in its pathogenesis. It has been suggested that environmental exposure to lead can increase the risk of autism. The aim of our study was to compare blood lead levels among autistic and non-autistic children. Material and Method: This retrospective study included 107 children (60 with autism and 47 without autism) referred from the different Iraqi provinces, in the years 2015, 2016 and 2017, to the poisoning consultation center in Baghdad. Data collection including age, gender, residence, referral source, family history and blood lead l

Worldwide, hundreds of millions of people have been infected with COVID-19 since December 2019; however, about 20% or less developed severe symptoms. The main aim of the current study was to  assess  the  relationship  between  the  severity of Covid-19 and different clinical and laboratory parameters. A total number of 466 Arabs have willingly joined this prospective cohort. Out of the total number, 297 subjects (63.7%) had negative COVID-19 tests, and thus, they were recruited as controls, while 169 subjects (36.3%) who tested positive for COVID-19 were enrolled as cases. Out of the total number of COVID-19 patients, 127 (75.15%) presented with mild symptoms, and 42 (24.85%) had severe symptoms. The age range for the partic

     The process of stocks evaluating considered as a one of challenges for the financial analysis, since the evaluating focuses on define the current value for the cash flows which the shareholders expected to have. Due to the importance of this subject, the current research aims to choose Fama & French five factors Model to evaluate the common stocks to define the Model accuracy in Fama& French for 2014. It has been used factors of volume, book value to market value, Profitability and investment, in addition to Beta coefficient which used in capital assets pricing Model as a scale for Fama & French five factors Model. The research sample included 11 banks listed in Iraq stock market which have me

Knowledge of the distribution of the rock mechanical properties along the depth of the wells is an important task for many applications related to reservoir geomechanics. Such these applications are wellbore stability analysis, hydraulic fracturing, reservoir compaction and subsidence, sand production, and fault reactivation. A major challenge with determining the rock mechanical properties is that they are not directly measured at the wellbore. They can be only sampled at well location using rock testing. Furthermore, the core analysis provides discrete data measurements for specific depth as well as it is often available only for a few wells in a field of interest. This study presents a methodology to generate synthetic-geomechani

The characterizations of reservoir require reliable knowledge of certain fundamental reservoir properties. Log measurements can define or at least infer these properties: resistivity, porosity, shale volume, lithology, and water, oil, or gas saturation and permeability. The current study represents evaluation of petrophysical properties in well LU-12 for Zubair Formation in Luhais Oil Field, southern Iraq. The petrophysical evaluation was based on geophysical well logs data to delineate the reservoir characteristics of Zubair Formation. The available geophysical well logs such as (sonic, density, neutron, gamma ray, SP, and resistivity logs) are digitized using the Didger software. The environmental corrections and petrophysical paramete

In this paper, an inexpensive, simple and well-accurate process of the generation of bimetallic silver Ag//gold Au core//shell is colloidal metal nanoparticles (MNPs). This is achieved via an atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma glow discharge between two electrodes. One of these electrodes is a capillary tube placing over solution about (1 cm) that acts as the cathode, while the other electrode is a metal disk immersed in the solution and acts as an anode. Glow discharge process carried out at room temperature using a home-made cell with (6 KV) applied voltage and direct current (DC) about (1.8 mA) for different discharge periods. A wide range of bimetallic Ag//Au colloidal MNPs was rapidly synthesized as a result of non-thermal plas