Background: The discriminative power of the classical WHO parameters in relation to male fertility is quite low, because they only address few aspects of sperm quality and function. This has led investigators to focus their attention on the male gamete and in particular its genome.Objective: To explore which of the sperm DNA damage parameters measured by comet assay are more reliable, and their relations with the standard semen parameters.Methods: Study was done on 40 infertile men selected from couples attending the Institute of Embryo Reasearch and Infertility Treatment at Al-Kadhimiya City/ Baghdad in the period between February 2009 and May 2009, with a history of infertility of ≥1 years; and 15 healthy volunteers of proven fertility serving as control. Samples were allowed to liquefy for at least 30 minutes at 37°C and then evaluated according to the guidelines of the World Health Organization, 1999. The single cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay was studied in the ejaculated spermatozoa. The exclusion criteria were the presence of azoospermia and severe oligospermia. Results were compared with the standard semen characteristics (concentration, motility and morphology).Results: Compared to healthy volunteers, infertile patients had highly significantly higher values of comet parameters (P = 0.00001). In all infertile patients, comet extent did not correlate with any of the classical semen parameters; whereas, tail length (μm), % DNA in tail, tail moment and olive moment had all significant negative correlations with the standard parameters. Significant positive correlations were observed between the studied comet parameters, except for the comet extent which was not significantly correlated with tail length and % DNA in tail (P = 0.06, P = 0.7; respectively).Conclusion: Comet assay is a very useful technique in assessing sperm DNA damage. Comet tail parameters and comet extent, may clarify different aspects of DNA damage, and together give a better insight to the integrity of the male genome.Keywards: sperm, comet extent, % DNA in tail, tail moment and olive moment
In this work, a local sunflower husk (SFH) was used as a natural surface for removing Basic Green-4 (BG4) dye, as a watersoluble pollutant. The effect of initial concentration, contact time, the mass of surface of the dye with the SFH as well as the medium temperature was studied. The application of Langmuir, Freundlich isotherms on the collected data of the adsorption process found to harmonize to Freundlich equation more than that of Langmuir. However, the adsorbed mass of BG4 dye showed a direct increase with the increase of SFH mass and equilibrium was achieved within a 60min window. The interaction of BG4 with SFH surface was spontaneous and exothermic. The empirical kinetic outcomes at ambient temperatures were applied to pseudo 1st a
... Show MoreA large number of researchers had attempted to identify the pattern of the functional relationship between fertility from a side and economic and social characteristics of the population from another, with the strength of effect of each. So, this research aims to monitor and analyze changes in the level of fertility temporally and spatially in recent decades, in addition to estimating fertility levels in Iraq for the period (1977-2011) and then make forecasting to the level of fertility in Iraq at the national level (except for the Kurdistan region), and for the period of (2012-2031). To achieve this goal has been the use of the Lee-Carter model to estimate fertility rates and predictable as well. As this is the form often has been familiar
... Show MoreTight oil reservoirs have been a concerned of the oil industry due to their substantial influence on oil production. Due to their poor permeability, numerous problems are encountered while producing from tight reservoirs. Petrophysical and geomechanical rock properties are essential for understanding and assessing the fracability of reservoirs, especially tight reservoirs, to enhance permeability. In this study, Saadi B reservoir in Halfaya Iraqi oil field is considered as the main tight reservoir. Petrophysical and geomechanical properties have been estimated using full-set well logs for a vertical well that penetrates Saadi reservoir and validated with support of diagnostic fracture injection test data employing standard equations
... Show MoreThe electrical properties of polycrystalline cadmium telluride thin films of different thickness (200,300,400)nm deposited by thermal evaporation onto glass substrates at room temperature and treated at different annealing temperature (373, 423, 473) K are reported. Conductivity measurements have been showed that the conductivity increases from 5.69X10-5 to 0.0011, 0.0001 (?.cm)-1 when the film thickness and annealing temperature increase respectively. This increasing in ?d.c due to increasing the carrier concentration which result from the excess free Te in these films.
The increase in population resulted in an increase in the consumption of water. The present work investigates the performance of a recycling solar- powered greywater treatment system for the purposes of irrigation, used to reduce the amount of waste grey water and reduce electricity consumption and reduce the costs of constructing large scale water treatment plants. The system consumes about 3814W per hour and provides water treatment about 1.4 m3 per day. The proposed system is designed to residential, office and governmental buildings application. Tests are conducted in an office building at the Ministry of Science and Technology site in Baghdad. Laboratorial water samples testing analyses are co
... Show MoreInvestment in high education is considered to be most important factors of production which the return an individual and social than economic returns found by searching the growing problem of unemployment, especially among youth graduates, where the unemployment rate in 2010 (50%) of these high rates have led to increased migration of scientific minds graduate recently, "to search for job opportunities outside Iraq for not hiring functions and this is in vain" clear "in the human and financial resources lead to structural imbalances in the Iraqi economy. When calculating the correlation coefficient between the graduates and the unemployment rate where it reached (0.21) emerged from the results of
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