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.
It was aimed to understand the interleukin-4 (IL-4) role in etio-pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Two approaches were adopted. In the first one, a quantitative expression of IL4 gene was assessed by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and such findings were correlated with some demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters, which included gender, duration of disease, disease activity score (DAS-28), rheumatoid factors (RFs), C-reactive protein (CRP) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (ACCP) antibodies. In the second approach, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of IL4 gene (rs2243250) was inspected by DNA sequencing using specific primers. Fifty-one Iraqi RA patients (22 males and 29 fem
... Show MorePortland cement concrete is the most commonly used construction material in the world for decades. However, the searches in concrete technology are remaining growing to meet particular properties related to its strength, durability, and sustainability issue. Thus, several types of concrete have been developed to enhance concrete performance. Most of the modern concrete types have to contain supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) as a partial replacement of cement. These materials are either by-products of waste such as fly ash, slag, rice husk ash, and silica fume or from a geological resource like natural pozzolans and metakaolin (MK). Ideally, the utilization of SCMs will enhance the concrete performance, minimize
... Show MoreThe study was aimed to evaluate the marketing efficiency of dry Onion crop in Salah al-Deen, as estimate the impact of some quality and quantity factors in the efficiency of marketing process of crop using Tobit regression model. The average marketing efficiency of the research sample was 71.3686%. The marketing margins differed according to the marketing channel followed in marketing the crop. The qualitative and quantitative variables in the model are productivity, family size, distance from the market, educational level. The estimated model revealed that a variable productivity is the most important and influential in marketing efficiency, followed by the variable of the distance between the farm and the market, then the variable
... Show MoreThe research objective was to study the amount of lost fluids, some blood components and mineral salts in volleyball players under hot weather conditions. The sample of the present study was composed of 12 volleyball players of Al-Sinaa Club (Baghdad, Iraq) in the 2022/2023 season. The variables analyzed in this study were: Heart rate before and after exercise, internal and external body temperature before and after exertion, potassium ion, sodium ion, calcium ion, and the amount of fluid lost (the player's weight) before and after the exercise. The tests were conducted at a temperature between 42-47 degrees Celsius. The maximum anaerobic exercise was performed with volleyball. The results showed that to play volleybal
... Show MoreThe study was aimed to evaluate the marketing efficiency of dry Onion crop in Salah al-Deen, as estimate the impact of some quality and quantity factors in the efficiency of marketing process of crop using Tobit regression model. The average marketing efficiency of the research sample was 71.3686%. The marketing margins differed according to the marketing channel followed in marketing the crop. The qualitative and quantitative variables in the model are productivity, family size, distance from the market, educational level. The estimated model revealed that a variable productivity is the most important and influential in marketing efficiency, followed by the variable of the distance between the farm and the market, then the variable
... Show MoreThe research aims to measure the efficiency of health services Quality in the province of Karbala, using the Data Envelopment analysis Models in ( 2006). According to these models the degree of efficiency ranging between zero and unity. We estimate Scale efficiency for two types of orientation direction, which are input and output oriented direction.
The results showed, according Input-oriented efficiency that the levels of Scale efficiency on average is ( 0.975), in the province of Karbala. While the index of Output-oriented efficiency on average is (o.946).
The research objective was to study the amount of lost fluids, some blood components and mineral salts in volleyball players under hot weather conditions. The sample of the present study was composed of 12 volleyball players of Al-Sinaa Club (Baghdad, Iraq) in the 2022/2023 season. The variables analyzed in this study were: Heart rate before and after exercise, internal and external body temperature before and after exertion, potassium ion, sodium ion, calcium ion, and the amount of fluid lost (the player's weight) before and after the exercise. The tests were conducted at a temperature between 42-47 degrees Celsius. The maximum anaerobic exercise was performed with volleyball. The results showed that to play volleybal
... Show MoreThe external shocks are one of the phenomena that the Iraqi economy is exposed to over a period of time. It is referred to as changes and events that come from outside the economic system and extends to many economic variables. However, foreign direct investment may be severely affected due to the extreme sensitivity to changes and local and international developments. This type of trauma and its characteristics to help manage and cope with external shocks, and in order to avoid the standard problems experienced by some models of simple linear regression, multi-linear regression models were used with variables Scientific and other dummy variables .
The study foun
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