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
The herein research was carried out in order to identified the presence of bacteria in cervix and uterine lumen in Iraqi cattle during the different estrus phase with focusing on Protus and E coli. Estrus phases were determined by the structures which found on ovary (follicular growth for pro-estrus, mature growing follicle for estrus, hemorrhagic corpus luteam for meta-estrus and active corpus luteam for di-eatrus). Forty cervical swabs (ten for each estrus phase) and forty uterine swabs (ten for each estrus phase) were taken from macroscopically healthy reproductive animals after slaughtering and cultivated on nutrient agar and blood agar, the bacterial isolation were identified with biochemical teats. The present study found that
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Darcy-Weisbach (D-W) is a typical resistance equation in pressured flow; however, some academics and engineers prefer Hazen-Williams (H-W) for assessing water distribution networks. The main difference is that the (D-W) friction factor changes with the Reynolds number, while the (H-W) coefficient is a constant value for a certain material. This study uses WaterGEMS CONNECT Edition update 1 to find an empirical relation between the (H-W) and (H-W) equations for two 400 mm and 500 mm pipe systems. The hydraulic model was done, and two scenarios were applied by changing the (H-W) coefficient to show the difference in results of head loss. The results showed a strong relationship between both equations with correlation coefficients of 0.999,
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In this study, the effects of blending the un-branched acrylate polymer known as Poly (n-decyl acrylate), and the branched acrylate polymer known as Poly (iso-octyl acrylate), on the viscosity index (VI), and the pour point of the Iraqi base stocks 40, and 60 respectively, were investigated. Toluene was used as a carrier solvent for both polymer types. The improvement level of oils (VI, & pour point) gained by blending the oil with the acrylate derived polymers was compared with the values of (VI, and pour point) gained by blending the oil with a commercial viscosity index, and pour point improver. The commercial lubricant additive was purchased and used by Al-Daura Refineries. It consisted of an un-known olefin copolymer dissolved i
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Background: The marginal adaptation has a key role in the success and longevity of the fixed dental restoration, which is affected by the impression and the fabrication techniques .The objective of this in vitro study was to evaluate and compare the marginal fitness of lithium disilicate crowns using two different digital impression techniques (direct and indirect techniques) and two different fabrication techniques (CAD/CAM and Press techniques). Materials and Methods: Thirty two sound upper first premolar teeth of comparable size extracted for orthodontic reason were selected in this study .Standardized preparation of all teeth samples were carried out with modified dental surveyor to receive all ceramic crown restoration with 1 mm deep
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Background: Ceramic veneers represent the treatment of choice in minimally invasive esthetic dentistry; one of the critical factors in their long term success is marginal adaptation. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the marginal gap of ceramic veneers by using two different fabrication techniques and two different designs of preparation. Material and methods: A typodont maxillary central incisor used in the preparation from which metal dies were fabricated, which were in turn used to make forty stone dies. The dies divided into four experimental groups, each group had ten samples: A1: prepared with butt-joint incisal reduction and restored with IPS e.max CAD, A2: prepared with overlapped incisal reduction and restored with IPS e.
... Show MoreBackground: Prophylaxis methods are used to mechanically remove plaque and stain from tooth surfaces; such methods give rise to loss of superficial structure and roughen the surface of composites as a result of their abrasive action. This study was done to assess the effect of three polishing systems on surface texture of new anterior composites after storage in artificial saliva. Materials and methods: A total of 40 Giomer and Tetric®N-Ceram composite discs of 12 mm internal diameter and 3mm height were prepared using a specially designed cylindrical mold and were stored in artificial saliva for one month and then samples were divided into four groups according to surface treatment: Group A (control group):10 specimens received no surfa
... Show MoreBackground and Aim. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major risk factor for the progression to heart failure (HF), which is associated with an increase in left ventricular volume (LVV). This study aims to measure ventricular function and myocardial perfusion imaging markers of the left side of the heart, which can be performed with injection of a 99mTc at stress and rest by using single-photonemission-computed-tomography (SPECT). Subject and methods. The study included 121 patients with CAD, comprising 53 females and 68 males with ages between 25 to 88 years and 265 healthy subjects comprising 84 males and 181 females. All patients and healthy subjects volunteered to participate in this study. They were classified according to
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