Background: Oocytes are susceptible to alterations in the various fatty acid contents of follicular fluid (FF), which may influence maturation and embryogenesis. Different fatty acids exert various effects on intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which needs further studies to uncover the involved mechanisms. Objectives: To assess FF fatty acids in women undergoing ICSI and to correlate them with ICSI parameters, namely the total count of aspirated oocytes, oocyte maturation rate, fertilization rate and percentage of good-quality embryos. Methods: Fifty women undergoing ICSI were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. FF samples were collected during oocyte retrieval and were analyzed for fatty acids using gas chromatography. Fatty acids were calculated as percentages of the total fatty acids. Results: The most common fatty acids found in the FF of women who underwent ICSI were palmitic acid, stearic acid, and oleic acid, with median (interquartile range) of 58.61%(21.66%), 26.27%(14.31%), and 20.13%(31.05%), respectively. Palmitic acid correlated inversely and significantly with oocyte maturation rate, fertilization rate, and percentage of good-quality embryos, with p=0.003, 0.037, and 0.028, respectively. Stearic acid correlated negatively and significantly with oocyte maturation rate (p=0.037) and fertilization rate (p=0.041). Furthermore, an inversely significant correlation was noticed between propionic acid and the percentage of good-quality embryos, as indicated by p=0.014. Conclusions: Palmitic, stearic, and propionic acids in the FF might influence ICSI parameters; thus, they might be used as markers of oocyte developmental competence. Nevertheless, further research is warranted.
Undoubtedly, Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) are a major dilemma in term of mortality and morbidity facing the road users as well as the traffic and road authorities. Since 2002, the population in Iraq has increased by 49 percent and the number of vehicles by three folds. Consequently, these increases were unfortunately combined with rising the RTAs number, mortality and morbidity. Alongside the humanitarian tragedies, every year, there are considerable economic losses in Iraq lost due to the epidemic of RTAs. Given the necessity of understanding the contributory factors related to RTAs for the implementation by traffic and road authorities to improve the road safety, the necessity have been a rise for this research which focuses into
... Show MoreBackground: Alopecia areata(AA) is a common autoimmune disease that causes hair loss without scarring. It occurs as a result of T-helper 1 (Th1) and Th17 cells attacking the anagen hair follicles. Genetic factors play a role in the occurrence of infection, which stimulates the production of pro and anti-inflammatory interleukins. Polymorphisms of IL-37 play a role in autoimmune diseases. However, IL37 single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNP) have not been identified in patients with AA. Therefore, this study aimed to reveal the IL37 gene SNP and its relationship to AA. Methods: Genotyping of IL-37 gene single nucleotide polymorphisms SNPs were detected using sequence-specific primer-polymerase chain reaction (SSP-PCR) method was done following
... Show Morepatterns of utterance stress in discourse direct attention to specific themes and reactions, controlling the flow and coherence of conversation. this study examines the utterance stress in Steve Harvey's selected episodes from a phono-stylistic perspective. this study is hoped to improve understanding of linguistic mechanism in talk show communication, highlighting the importance of phonetic features in transmitting meaning and increasing broadcast conversation participation. the researcher concentrates on the types of focus functions of utterance stress of some episodes available on YouTube. to conduct the analysis, the researcher adopts (Carr, 2013; Davenport& Hannahs 2005) to analyze utterance stress and Leech and Short (2007
... Show MoreQ fever is an infectious disease of animals and humans, caused by globally distributed C. burnetii. In Iraq, there are no previous studies associated with the detection of the organism in cattle. An overall of 130 lactating cows were submitted to direct collection of milk samples. Initially, the samples of milk were tested using the molecular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting three genes (16S rRNA, IS1111a transposase, and htpB). However, positive results (18.46%; 24/130) were detected only with the 16s rRNA gene. Concerning risk factors, the highest prevalence of C. burnetii was showed in the district of Badra (42.86%), whereas the lowest - in Al-Numaniyah and Al-Suwaira districts (P=0.025). There was no significant v
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