Background: Among different air pollutants, cigarette smoke contains toxic chemicals, mutagenic and carcinogenic compounds, which can adversely affect male fertility. In this study, semen parameters and reproductive hormonal concentrations of subfertile smokers were compared with subfertile non-smokers.
Objectives: evaluation of the effect of cigarette smoking on male fertility by evaluating several semen parameters as well as some reproductive hormones in a group of smoker and non smokersubfertile Iraqi subjects.
Patients and Methods: At the male infertility clinic of Al-yarmuk teaching hospital, Almustanseria medical college, Baghdad, Iraq from the 1st of October 2010 to the end of June 2011, 88 men (49 non-smokers, and 39 smoker

The role of the green areas lies in being one of the systems that plays the vital role in achieving the environmental dimension besides the socio-cultural body and the economic dimension in the hidden value of ecosystem services. However, many developing countries are characterized by a state of low community environmental awareness, which coincides with the basic need for land for housing and other uses, to take precedence over nature protection strategies. In the absence of clear planning and long-term planning strategies, all this led to abuses and violations of urban land use. In Iraq, the situation became more apparent due to the political, security and social conditions that followed the year 2003. Hence, the resea

A surface section of the Gercus Formation (Middle-Late Eocene) was studied in Berafat area, Dohuk Governorate, Northern Iraq. The Gercus Formation consists of a mixed siliciclastic sediments, evaporates and carbonate sequences in the studied region, predominantly in the upper and middle parts. Nevertheless, it usually consists of upward-fining carbonate-rich sandstone cyclothems, marl, conglomerate and siltstone along with a gypsum lens and thin micrite carbonate beds.  The Gercus Formation was deposited in delta and delta front of occasionally depositional environment which is represented by red-brown claystone and reddish-brown mudstone lithofacies. Cross bedded  pebbly sandstone, trough cross-bedded sandstone  and lamin

Twelve storm dust samples were collected from three cities in Iraq. The samples were collected in the same time during big storms which hit Iraq in summer, 2012 and 2013.  The deposited dust on 4 by 4 nylon sheet on surfaces of selected buildings in cities of Baghdad, Fallujah and Al-Ramadi were collected. Each sample was put in sealed Marinilli beaker and kept for 4 weeks to reach the equilibrium state between radium and its short half-life daughters. Gamma spectrometry system based on HPGe was used for analysis of natural and artificial radionuclides in the dust. The activities of natural radionuclides were found to be ranged between 13-19 Bq/kg, 9-14 Bq/kg and 200-240 Bq/kg for Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 respectively, while Cs-137 w

New evidence on nanotechnology has shown interest in the creation and assessment of nanoparticles for cancer treatment. Worldwide, a wide range of tumor-targeted approaches are being developed to reduce side effects and boost the efficacy of cancer therapy. One strategy that shows promise is the use of metallic nanoparticles to increase the radio sensitization of the cancer cells while reducing or maintaining the normal tissue complication probability during radiation therapy. In this study, atmospheric plasma was created using argon gas to create Au NPs using the plasma jet scheme, and their ability to induce apoptosis as an anticancer mechanism was tested. Aqueous gold tetrachloride salts (HAuCl4·3H2O) ere used to produce gold nanopartic

This paper presents the effect of relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearity on cross-focusing of two intense laser beams in a collisionless and unmagnetized plasma. It should be noted here that while considering the self-focusing due to relativistic electron mass variation, the electron ponderomotive density depression in the channel may also be important. Therefore/these two nonlinearties may simultaneously affect the self-focusing process. These nonlinearities depend not only on the intensity of one laser but also on the second laser. Therefore, one laser beam affects the dynamics of the second beam and hence the process of cross-focusing takes place. The electric field amplitude of the excited electron plasma wave (EPW) has been cal

     In this research, we obtained nanoparticles (NPs) using a type of microwave (cold plasma) and water extract from Origanum vulgare with the addition of silver nitrate (AgNO3) solution. Silver nanoparticles are characterized by high production techniques. Experimental factors such as morphology, structure, optical properties and active compounds of the nanoparticle extract were studied through specific tests such as morphology, UV spectroscopy, FE-SEM, FT-IR, and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Plants were used in manufacturing the nanoparticles, as plants are well known for their accessibility and applicability in different pathological areas. The current research provides information on the Green Union System of N

The sample's physical characteristics and laser parameters impact the generation and characterization of Laser-Induced Plasma (LIP), which is a relevant phenomenon in many applications. We investigated the effect of laser energy on laser-induced Zn plasma characterization in this study. A Zn plasma with a repeating frequency of 6 Hz, a first wavelength of 1064 nm, a pulse duration of 10 ns, and a laser energy range of 300 mJ to 500 mJ was created using a Q-switched ND: YAG laser. The basic plasma properties, such as electron temperature and density, were estimated using optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The electrons' temperature was measured by the Boltzmann plot method, and the value of the electrons' temperature ranged from 1.6 eV

     The research aims to develop and build a plasma jet system operating under atmospheric pressure.for biological purposes. The advanced plasma system consists of a power supply and a plasma torch. The source of the development of the system is a previous laboratory system that was developed by changing the voltage and frequency of the power supply, as the power provider equips the system with a voltage in the form of a sine wave whose value is fixed at about (7.5kV) peak to peak and its frequency is about (28 kHz). The plasma torch consists of a teflon tube with of width of (10 m ) located at (10mm)  from the end of the tube. The current waveform and voltage wave were measured using a current and voltage sensor and an oscilloscop

     In this work, one configuration was used to study the electrical discharge resulting from the dielectric barrier. This configuration consists of a sheet of epoxy/Al composite with dimensions of 75 mm in length, 25 mm in width, and 3 mm in thickness. This panel is located at the center of the electrodes, so that the distance between each of the electrodes and the plate is 2 mm and plasma is generated at these distances. The relationship between voltage and current with changing the frequency of the equipment as well as changing the area of ​​exposure to the upper electrode or changing its length has been studied. The length of the top electrode varies at 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 mm from the center of the electrodes producing exp