Cataract, which is the opacity inside clear ocular lens of eye, result in the scattering of visible light as it passes via the lens and consequently deterioration in optical image. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether safranal, an active constituent of Crocus sativus L. stigmas, has a protective effect on the cataract in the rat's pups. The animals were randomly divided into five groups, each of which consisted of 7 rat pups. Group I served as normal control (vehicle administration). For testing cataract induction, animals of Groups II, III, and IV were administered a single subcutaneous injection of sodium selenite on postpartum day 12. After sodium selenite intoxication, Group II served as control selenite, Groups III-IV received intraperitoneal safranal at doses of 200, and 300 mg/kg, respectively from the 11th day through the 17th day, while group V receive only safranal (300 mg/kg). On postpartum day 30, the rat pups were examined for cataract formation, and the lenses were isolated for further analysis. This study found that selenite caused significant (p < 0.05) cataract formation. Through the effects of selenite on the level of lipid peroxidation (MDA) which was upregulated. Furthermore, the antioxidant enzymes levels GSH levels and NRF2 protein were downregulated. In contrast, treatment with safranal could significantly (p < 0.05) ameliorate cataract formation and oxidative damage in the lens. Moreover, safranl administration significantly increased the protein expressions of Nrf2 and the GSH level, in addition to reducing the level both the MDA and the level soluble proteins in the lens. Taken together, safranal is a prospective anti-cataract agent that probably delays the onset and progression of cataracts induced by sodium selenite.
Background: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) enterococci have become a major problem in recent times and have been reported increasingly around the world. Lytic phages infect bacteria leading to rapid host death with limited risk of phage transduction, underlining the increasing interest in potential phage therapy in the future. Objective (s): The aim of this study is to use phage therapy as alternative approach for treatment of Enterococcus faecalis infections that recorded as MDR in Iraq to tackle this problem. Materials and Methods: Thirty E. faecalis isolates were collected from patients with different infectious diseases such as urinary tract infection (UTI), diabetic foot, septicemia, and wound infections. The isolation of specific l
... Show MoreIn this paper, a cognitive system based on a nonlinear neural controller and intelligent algorithm that will guide an autonomous mobile robot during continuous path-tracking and navigate over solid obstacles with avoidance was proposed. The goal of the proposed structure is to plan and track the reference path equation for the autonomous mobile robot in the mining environment to avoid the obstacles and reach to the target position by using intelligent optimization algorithms. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) Algorithms are used to finding the solutions of the mobile robot navigation problems in the mine by searching the optimal paths and finding the reference path equation of the optimal
... Show MoreThe culture of the daily necessities of life of the individual in any society, whether advanced or simple, and the concept of multiple aspects of culture, including what is culture and education there holds that art is culture, and there are those who are classified according to human societies .. Some also go to it is not related to the study and learning .. And has been Iraq as a symbol of Arab culture, but they declined because of what passed by political crises and social in its modern history, and aims Current search to study culture psychological, political and social among the students of the university after the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the researcher prepared a questionnaire and after hold the appropriate statistical met
... Show MoreThe effects of temperature on an exotic aquatic snail Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1819) collected from the Shatt Al-Arab intertidal zone were investigated. A series of laboratory experiments were conducted during the summer period of 2017. Individuals of new born snails hatched in the laboratory from adult snails were collected from Shatt Al-Arab intertidal zone, and subjected to five fixed temperatures: 15, 25, 35, 40 and 45 Cº, after short term thermal acclimation. The heartbeats (HB) were counted at each temperature level. The results showed significant direct increase of HB from 15 Cº (19.8 HB/min) up to 25 Cº (76 HB/min) (P<0.05) as well as from 25 Cº to 35 Cº (93 HB/min). At 40 Cº the snail HB
... Show MoreChildren who have a health problem need special requirements for their clothes. The purpose of the study is to design functional and aesthetic clothes to meet their needs. The research used the applied descriptive approach. The research sample comprised 120 women whose children suffered from hip dislocation. Designs for injured children presented and submitted to the arbitrators for evaluation regarding the functional and aesthetic aspects. The finding was achieving the design solutions. The most important recommendations are to increase attention to designing clothes to suit all the needs of society.
A laboratory experiment was carried out at the College of Agriculture University of Baghdad in 2017. The aim was to improve the anatomical and physiological traits of broad bean seedling under salt stress by soaking it in salicylic acid. The concentrations of salicylic acid were 0, 10, and 20 mg L-1 and the electrical conductivity levels were 0, 3, and 6 dS m-1. The complete randomized design was used with four replications. The increasing of salicylic acid concentration up to 10 mg L-1 led to increasing the stem cortex thickness, stem vascular bundles thickness, and root cortex thickness significantly by (34.9,36.7,and 55 μm) respectively, while the treatment of 20 mg L-1 led to decreasing these traits by (28.2, 27.8, and 48.1 μm), compa
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