The current study aims to investigate the relationship between lipid peroxidation, represented by seminal malondialdehyde (MDA) level, and integrity of sperm plasma membrane, represented by the hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) test score, in infertile men. One hundred and twenty Iraqi men (20 fertile and 100 infertile) shared in this study during their attendance to the High Institute for Infertility Diagnosis and Assisted Reproductive Technologies/Al- Nahrain University. The mean age of the fertile men was (30.46±0.78) years while the mean age of infertile men was (32.58±0.64) years with the duration of infertility (5.36±0.33) years. Semen samples were collected and the parameters of seminal fluid analysis were assessed; also, the HOS

Immunosuppressive cytokines are the main components of the tumor microenvironment and perform a vital function in controlling the immune response to malignant neoplasms.The objective: to study the influence of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3) on the development of breast tumors in women.Materials and methods. The concentration of cytokines IL-4 and TGF-β3 in blood serum was determined in 40 women with benign breast tumors, 40 women with malignant breast tumors, and 40 healthy patients without breast pathology, who were included in the control group.Breast cancer (BC) patients were divided into two groups; the first group included patients with the II stage of BC, who were considered to have a low le

AbstractThe objective of the present study was measured of several oxidative stresses and liver function parameters in workers occupationally exposed to cement dust in Kufa Cement Factory, in order to test the hypothesis that cement dust exposure may perturb these parameters. Assessment of oxidative stress and liver function parameters were performed in 63 workers occupationally, in different departments of Kufa Cement Factory, exposed to cement dust (range of the exposure time was 5-38 years) and 36 matched unexposed controls. The study results illustrated an increasing in the oxidative stress parameters, moreover; liver function parameters showed abnormal results in the exposed workers compared to the unexposed. An increase in theses para

One-hundred and twenty Iraqi women (60 single women and 60 married women) with age ranges from (17-49) years have been involved in this study to estimate the levels of anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) as markers of ovarian aging. The descriptive data [age, body mass index (BMI), age at menarche, duration of menarche] have been recorded. Blood samples were collected from the studied women to determine the levels of AMH and FSH. The results revealed non-significant (p>0.05) differences in levels of AMH and FSH between single women and married women. A significant negative correlation was observed between AMH levels and age in single women (r=-0.519, p<0.05) and married women (r=-0.433, p<0.05). A no

Bacteria strain H8, which produces high amount of exopolysaccharide (EPS), was isolated from soil, and identified as strain of Azotobacter chrococcum by its biochemical /physiological characteristics, EPS was extracted, partially purified and used as bioflocculant. The biochemical analysis of the partially purified EPS revealed that it was an alginate. analysis of EPS by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) show that the -OH groups present in bioflocculant are clearly seen at 3433.06 cm-1, the peaks attributed to the -CH3 groups present at 2916.17 cm-1 , and some distinct peaks such as carboxyl group showed strong absorption bands at 1604.66 cm-1, 1411.80 cm-1 and 1303.79 cm-1 indicate the chemical structure of alginate. The effe

The purpose of this research is to prepare new vanillic acid derivatives with 1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol heterocyclic ring and evaluate their antimicrobial activity in a preliminary assessment. A multistep synthesis was established for the preparation of new vanillic acid-triazole conjugates. The intermediate of 4-(4-amino-5-mercapto-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl)-2-methoxyphenol (4) reacts with different heterocyclic aldehydes (thiophene-2-carboxaldehyde, pyrrole-2-carboxaldehyde, thiophene-3-carboxaldehyde, and furfural ) in ethanol containing few drops of acetic acid yielded the corresponding 4-(4-(substituted amino)-5-mercapto-4H-1,2,4-1triazol-3-yl)-2-methoxy phenol derivatives (

Gas sensors are essential for detecting noxious gases that have a detrimental effect on people's health and welfare. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are the fundamental component of gas detectors. CQDs and graphene (Gr) were prepared using the electrochemical method. The gas sensitivity of these materials was evaluated at different temperatures (150, 200, 250 °C) to assess their effectiveness. Subsequently, experiments were conducted at different temperatures to ascertain that the combination of CQDs and Gr, with various percentages of Gr and CQDs, exhibited superior gas sensitization properties compared to CQDs alone. This was evaluated based on criteria such as sensitivity, recovery time, and reaction time. Interestingly, the combination was

Low grade crude palm oil (LGCPO) presents as an attractive option as feedstock for biodiesel production due to its low cost and non-competition with food resources. Typically, LGCPO contains high contents of free fatty acids (FFA), rendering it impossible in direct trans-esterification processes due to the saponification reaction. Esterification is the typical pre-treatment process to reduce the FFA content and to produce fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). The pre-treatment of LGCPO using two different acid catalysts, such as titanium oxysulphate sulphuric acid complex hydrate (TiOSH) and 5-sulfosalicylic acid dihydrate (5-SOCAH) was investigated for the first time in this study. The optimum conditions for the homogenous catalyst (5-SOCAH) wer