The immune infertility caused by anti-sperm antibodies (ASAs) represented about 10–20% of infertility among the couples. The ASAs interfere with sperm parameters such as sperm motility and sperm ability to penetrate cervical mucus, sperm-oocyte binding, and fertilization and embryo development. Objectives: The present study designed to assess semen analysis, presence of ASAs and DNA fragmentation index as well as correlation within these parameters in normzoospermic Iraqi subjects Patients, Materials, and Methods: A total number of Iraqi subjects (116) with range of age (20-51) years and their mean duration of infertility (4.70 ± 2.77). Seminal fluid for macroscopic and microscopic assessments done according to WHO 2010 criteria. The

Phase change materials are known to be good in use in latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems, but one of their drawbacks is the slow melting and solidification processes. So that, in this work, enhancing heat transfer of phase change material is studied experimentally for in charging and discharging processes by the addition of high thermal conductive material such as copper in the form of brushes, which were added in both PCM and air sides. The additions of brushes have been carried out with different void fractions (97%, 94% and 90%) and the effect of four different air velocities was tested. The results indicate that the minimum brush void fraction gave the maximum heat transfer in PCM and reduced the time

Bobbin friction stir welding (BFSW) is a variant of the conventional friction stir welding (CFSW); it can weld the upper and lower surface of the work-piece in the same pass. This technique involves the bonding of materials without melting. In this work, the influence of tool design on the mechanical properties of welding joints of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy with 6.25 mm thickness produced by FSW bobbin tools was investigated and the best bobbin tool design was determined. Five different probe shapes (threaded straight cylindrical, straight cylindrical with 3 flat surfaces, straight cylindrical with 4 flat surfaces, threaded straight cylindrical with 3 flat surface and threaded straight cylindrical with 4 flat surfaces) with various dimensio

High intraocular pressure (IOP) is a recognized risk factor for glaucoma and optic nerve injury, and it is one of the primary causes of vision loss globally. Anabasis articulata (AA) is a desert plant found in Iraq. The extract of AA is used to cure diabetes, fever, eczema, and kidney infections. The aim of the study is to evaluate the antioxidant effect of methanol extract of AA on intraocular pressure in the glaucoma rat model. Forty-two rats were allocated into seven groups, each with six animals:: group 1 (normal), group 2 (control), in which animals were induced to have elevated IOP by betamethasone suspension injection, groups 3,4 and 5 for evaluating the effect of 50,100 and 150 mg/kg/day of the tested extract, respective

Background: Infection with Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) leads to activation of T-helper cells (Th-1 and Th-2) which are involved in the synthesis and release of different cytokines which may lead to endothelial dysfunction. Objectives: To evaluate the endothelial function in patients with acute toxoplasmosis. Methods: This case-control study involved 31 patients with toxoplasmosis aged 19 - 47 years matched with 20 healthy subjects. Anti-T. gondii antibody (IgG, IgM, IgA) was determined by direct antigen-antibody reaction. Interleukin-6(IL-6), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and human malondialdehyde (MDA) serum levels were measured. Results: IgM, IgG and IgA levels were high in the infected patients compared with controls (P < 0.01). Furthermore, IL-

Unstable angina pectoris often leads to acute myocardial infarction. Since uric acid is thought to be risk factor for cardiovascular disease and considered a major antioxidant in human blood .The level of uric acid and lipid peroxidation in the sera of patients with unstable angina and myocardial infarction were measured and compared to the healthy individuals. Twenty-nine patients with unstable angina and twenty-nine patients with myocardial infarction were studied and compared to twenty-five healthy individuals. Uric acid was measured by using Human Kit. Malondialdelyde (MDA) a lipid peroxidation marker, was measured by thiobarbituric acid method .Significant elevation of uric acid and MDA were observed in the sera of pati

The study aims to select suitable ornamental plant species that can survive relatively with high concentrations of acetaminophen and methylparaben in constructed wetlands. Alternanthera spp, Asparagus aethiopicus and Chlorophytum comosum are examined to withstand three initial concentrations, 20, 100 and 200 mg/L of acetaminophen and methylparaben. A total of 21 plastic pails with each 3 L capacity consisting of nine pails are used for each pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) compounds (acetaminophen and methylparaben) for three ornamental plants (Alternanthera spp, Asparagus aethiopicus and Chlorophytum comosum), with three pails as plant controls. The results reveales

Previous experimental studies have suggested that hot mixed asphalt (HMA) concrete using hydrated lime (HL) to partially replace the conventional limestone dust filler at 2.5% by the total weight of all aggregates showed an optimum improvement on several key mechanical properties, fatigue life span and moisture susceptibility. However, so far, the knowledge of the thermal response of the modified asphalt concrete and thermal influence on the durability of the pavement constructed are still relatively limited but important to inform pavement design. This paper, at first, reports an experimental study of the tensile fatigue life of HMA concrete mixes designed for wearing layer application. Tests were conducted under three different temperatur