Objective(s): Ramadan is the Holy month of the Muslims, where they are required to abstain from food and drinks
from dawn till the beginning of night. This study was conducted in Ramadan to investigate the effect of fasting on
hematological incidences, lipid profile, renal and liver function tests among healthy adult males.
Methodology: The present study was carried out in Ramadan – 1431 of Higira (August-September 2010). The study
sample was 56 healthy adult males. Five samples of blood were taken at five intervals (Before, at day 1, 15, 28 and
after Ramadan). Estimation was done for hematological markers, (hemoglobin, white blood cells count, platelet
count); renal function tests (blood urea, serum uric acid, serum albumin, total serum protein); biochemical
parameters, (blood glucose, total serum cholesterol, serum triacylglyceride, high and low density lipoproteins) and
liver function tests (AST, ALT, Alkaline phosphatase, total serum bilirubin).
Results: The mean age of the subjects was 48.4 years (SD 7.15) and mean weight was 79.92 kg (SD 7.94). No
significant changes were observed in weight, hemoglobin, white blood cell count and platelets count, blood urea and
serum albumin values. Whereas, serum uric acid and total serum protein levels were statistically lower during and
aŌer Ramadan (P< 0.05, 0.01).
Blood levels of glucose showed no significant decrease and serum cholesterol and serum triacylglyceride results were
non-significant at first 2 weeks of Ramadan.
The same significant changes (p< 0.05, 0.01) were observed in the lipoprotein at day 15 and 28 of Ramadan. Findings
of liver functions levels showed significant changes. While, total serum bilirubin still with no significant changes during
Ramadan.
Recommendations: The present study recommends performing more studies with both larger groups and in various
categories of healthy and unhealthy subjects.
Pulsed liquid laser ablation is considered a green method for the synthesis of nanostructures because there are no byproducts formed after the ablation. In this paper, a fiber laser of wavelength 1.064 µm, peak power of 1 mJ, pulse duration of 120 ns, and repetition rate of 20 kHz, was used to produce carbon nanostructures including carbon nanospheres and carbon nanorods from the ablation of asphalt in ethanol at ablation speeds of (100, 75, 50, 10 mm/s). The morphology, composition and optical properties of the synthesized samples were studied experimentally using FESEM, HRTEM, EDS, and UV-vis spectrophotometer. Results showed that the band gap energy decreased with decreasing the ablation speed (increasing the ablation time), the mi
... Show MoreIn this study, the effects of different loading doses of cerium in the prepared NaY zeolite from Iraqi kaolin were investigated. Al-Duara refinery atmospheric residue fluid catalytic cracking was selected as palpation reaction for testing the catalytic activity of cerium loading NaY zeolite. The insertion of cerium in NaY zeolites has been synthesized by simple ion exchange methods. Three samples of modified zeolite Y have been obtained by replacing the sodium ions in the original sample with cerium and the weight percent added are 0.35, 0.64, and 1.06 respectively. The effects of cerium loading to zeolite Y in different weight percent on the cracking catalysts were studied by employing a laboratory fluidized
... Show MoreThe impact of exposure to different sizes of particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM7, and PM10) was evaluated in Babylon concrete plant workers who had been exposed to concrete dust for at least 10 years. The effects of these particles on the hematological parameters, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and antioxidant enzymes (catalase and glutathione peroxidase ) were examined. The results exhibited that the levels of PM2.5 and PM10 were higher than the acceptable limits approved by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The blood parameters, namely white blood cells (WBC), red blood cell (RBC) and platelets counts, demonstrated non-significant differences between workers exposed to the PM as compared to the control gro
... Show MoreImage quality has been estimated and predicted using the signal to noise ratio (SNR). The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between body mass index (BMI) and SNR measurements in PET imaging using patient studies with liver cancer. Three groups of 59 patients (24 males and 35 females) were divided according to BMI. After intravenous injection of 0.1 mCi of 18F-FDG per kilogram of body weight, PET emission scans were acquired for (1, 1.5, and 3) min/bed position according to the weight of patient. Because liver is an organ of homogenous metabolism, five region of interest (ROI) were made at the same location, five successive slices of the PET/CT scans to determine the mean uptake (signal) values and its standard deviat
... Show MoreThe semiconductor ZnO is one of II – VI compound group, it is prepare as thin films by using chemical spray pyrolysis technique; the films are deposited onto glass substrate at 450 °C by using aqueous zinc chloride as a spray solution of molar concentration 0.1 M/L. Sample of the prepared film is irradiating by Gamma ray using CS 137, other sample is annealed at 550°C. The structure of the irradiated and annealed films are analyzed with X-ray diffraction, the results show that the films are polycrystalline in nature with preferred (002) orientation. The general morphology of ZnO films are imaged by using the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), it constructed from nanostructure with dimensions in order of 77 nm.
The optical properties o
Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni contains diterpenoid steviol glycosides that have no adverse impact on blood sugar levels despite being 300 times sweeter than sugar. This study aimed to investigate the rate of callus induction from stevia leaves and the content of glycosides when changing the sucrose percentage in the culture medium.. Murashige and Skoog (MS) culture medium supported by 4.0 mg/l naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 1.0 mg/l benzyl adenine (BA) was used, and different concentrations of sucrose (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6%) were tested .The extraction of glycosides from leaf and callus tissues was performed by using methanol. Extracted glycosides were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results showed signific
... Show MoreChronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a public health problem and many studies support the link between kidney dysfunction and cardiovascular events. Aldosterone has been shown for decades that a plasma aldosterone concentration is elevated in CKD. Whilst, Osteoprotegerin (OPG), after its capacity to protect bone, also osteoprotegerin is elevated in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), where it could predict the deterioration of kidney function, cardiovascular, vascular events and all-cause mortality. On the other hand, fibroblast growth factors (FGFs), in patients with CKD, its levels seem to increase progressively as kidney function worsens. The aim of the present study is to assess the correlations between serum osteoprotegerin
... Show More