This study sought to determine malformation caused by Ochratoxin-A (OTA) on mouse embryos. Twenty adult female white Swiss mice (mus msculus) were divided into four groups, with five females per group, and with one male placed with two females in a cage. Avaginal plug was observed in the early morning and the day of mating was considered as day of pregnancy followed by the first day of pregnancy. Three sub lethal concentrations of OTA were applied to the respective groups (other than the control), 1mg/kg, 2mg/kg and 4mg/kg. The animals were given 0.1 ml per 10 gm body weight per concentration of OTA once a day during days 7-14 of pregnancy. The control group animals were given distilled water. The pregnant mice were dissected, and the embryos were extracted in order to identify the effects of the OTA. Number of parameters were studied including, difference in body weight of the mice before mating and after the end of the experiment, the weights and lengths of embryo, as well as a study of embryo malformation. The study shows no significant differences in the mean body weight of the pregnant mice in the 1 mg/kg group, compared to control group. A significant (P<0.01) decrease in the body weight of the treated mice was observed in the 2mg/kg and the 4mg/kg groups. As for the weight of the embryos, there was a significant (P<0.01) decrease in the body weight of the embryos in the mothers treated with OTA in the 1 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg treatment groups. The embryos of the 4mg/kg group of pregnant mice could not be recorded since they had been resorbed into their mothers uteri. Similarly, the results of the study showed a significant difference in the mean length of the embryos bodies in the 1mg/kg and 2mg/kg groups, compared with the non-treated control group. Many malformations induced in the embryos in those groups where it was possible to examine the embryos 1mg/kg and 2mg/kg compared to control mouse embryos, included loss of tail, lack of eyes, cleft lip and exencephaly, as well as spina bifida, curvature of the trunk and there were also reduction defects of the limbs. The study concluded that OTA have teratogenic effects on mice embryos
It is widely accepted that early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) makes it possible for patients to gain access to appropriate health care services and would facilitate the development of new therapies. AD starts many years before its clinical manifestations and a biomarker that provides a measure of changes in the brain in this period would be useful for early diagnosis of AD. Given the rapid increase in the number of older people suffering from AD, there is a need for an accurate, low-cost and easy to use biomarkers that could be used to detect AD in its early stages. Potentially, the electroencephalogram (EEG) can play a vital role in this but at present, no reliable EEG biomarker exists for early diagnosis of AD. The gradual s
... Show MoreThis study was conducted on a sample of commercial banks in Iraq, chosen according number of considerations for twenty banks, contained two public banks and eighteen private banks. &
... Show MoreSewer system plays an indispensable task in urban cities by protecting public health and the environment. The operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of this network have to be in a sustainable and scientific manner. For this purpose, it is important to support operators, decision makers and municipalities with performance evaluation procedure that is based on operational factors. In this paper, serviceability and performance indicator (PI) principles are employed to propose methodology comprising two enhanced PI curves that can be used to evaluate the individual sewers depending on operational factors such as flowing velocity and wastewater level in the sewers. In order to test this methodology; a case study of al-Ru
... Show MoreGovernment-sponsored projects in Iraq significantly improve the economic situation and provide services but face high rates of troubling blocks. This work aims to identify indicative factors of the Troubled Project using periodic health check reports based on a literature review and interviews with Iraqi experts. As a result, a questionnaire was prepared that included four sections. The first is personal information; the second section is information about knowing the level of institutions’ implementation of project management through prepared documents. The third section is about indicative factors for the project's trouble, including 25 workers; the fourth section is about the questions in the periodic reports to che
... Show MoreTransit agencies constantly need information about system operations and passengers to support their regular scheduling and operation planning processes. The lack of these processes and cultural motivations to use public transportations contributes enormously to the reliance on the private cars rather than public transportation, resulting in traffic congestions. The traffic congestions occur mainly during peak hours and the accidents happening as a result of road accidents and construction works. This study investigates the effects of weekday and weekend travel variability on peak hours of the passenger flow distribution on bus lines, which can effectively reflect the degree of traffic congestion. A study of passen
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In this work, the plasma parameters (electron temperature (Te), electron density( ne), plasma frequency (fp) and Debye length (λD)) have been studied by using the spectrometer that collect the spectrum of Laser produce CdTe(X):S(1-X) plasma at X=0.5 with different energies. The results of electron temperature for CdTe range 0.758-0.768 eV also the electron density 3.648 1018 – 4.560 1018 cm-3 have been measured under vacuum reaching 2.5 10-2 mbar .Optical properties of CdTe:S were determined through the optical transmission method using ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer within the r
... Show MoreIt is often noted that disordered materials have different chemical properties to their more “ordered” cousins. Quantifying these effects in terms of thermodynamics is challenging in part because disordered materials can be difficult to characterize and are frequently relatively unstable. During the course of our experiments to understand the effects of disorder in catalysts for water oxidation we observed that many disordered manganese and cobalt oxide water oxidation catalysts directly oxidized peroxide in contrast to their more ordered analogues which catalyzed its disproportionation, that is, MnO2+2H+ +H2O2! Mn2+ +2H2O+O2(oxidation) versus H2O2!H2O+1=2 O2(disproportionation). By measuring the efficiency for one reaction over the oth
... Show MoreThe two-dimensional transient heat conduction through a thermal insulation of temperature dependent thermal properties is investigated numerically using the FVM. It is assumed that this insulating material is initially at a uniform temperature. Then, it is suddenly subjected at its inner surface with a step change in temperature and subjected at its outer surface with a natural convection boundary condition associated with a periodic change in ambient temperature and heat flux of solar radiation. Two thermal insulation materials were selected. The fully implicit time scheme is selected to represent the time discretization. The arithmetic mean thermal conductivity is chosen to be the value of the approximated thermal conductivity at the i
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