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
Abstract
Nephrotoxicity is defined as rapid deterioration in kidney functions. It arises from direct exposure to drugs or their metabolites. Methotrexate is a famous chemotherapeutic drug with anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties. A high-dose methotrexate-induced renal dysfunction can be life threatening. Cyanocobalamin, one of the forms of vitamin B12, acts as a coenzyme in the conversion of homocysteine to methionine in the cytosol, and the conversion of methylmalonyl-CoA to succinyl-CoA in the mitochondrion. This study is designed to examine the effect of cyanocobalamin in two different doses each co-administered with methotrexate at 20 mg/kg induced nephrotoxicity in rat
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Background: Mental health is integrated into PHC as a strategy of WHO to fill the gap in mental health treatment. Part of this strategy needs a level of task shifting so that mental health care is provided by different level of PHC workers and not only specialists such as psychiatrists and psychologists.
Objectives: To assess the knowledge and attitudes of family doctors regarding the provision of psychological health in PHCC and if there is an association between the certificates of these family doctors and their Knowledge and attitudes to psychological health.
Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study with analytic elements was conducted in 8 famil
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Plant tissue culture techniques were exploited for the micropropigation of Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflora). Different concentrations of Benzyl adenine (BA), 6- Furfural amino purine (Kinetin), Indol butyric acid (IBA), were investigated in their effects at different micropropagation stages. Three explants (apical shoots, internodes, leaf discs) were used in this study. The effect of the interaction between BA and IBA on shoot multiplication was investigated in increasing the number of shoots on explants. Rooting was also studied after inclusion of IBA and NAA to Murashige and Skoog, 1962 culture medium (MS). During acclimatization stage, different ratios of river sand and peat moss as agricultural media were tested and plantlets survival w
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In the present work the Buildup factor for gamma rays were studied in shields from epoxy reinforced by lead powder and by aluminum powder, for NaI(Tl) scintillation detector size ( ×? ), using two radioactive sources (Co-60 and Cs-137). The shields which are used (epoxy reinforced by lead powder with concentration (10-60)% and epoxy reinforced by aluminum powder with concentration (10-50)% by thick (6mm) and epoxy reinforced by lead powder with concentration (50%) with thick (2,4,6,8,10)mm. The experimental results show that: The linear absorption factor and Buildup factor increase with increase the concentration for the powders which used in reinforcement and high for aluminum powder than the lead powder and decrease with inc
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The aim of this work is to evaluate the one- electron expectation value from the radial electronic density function D(r1) for different wave function for the 2S state of Be atom . The wave function used were published in 1960,1974and 1993, respectavily. Using Hartree-Fock wave function as a Slater determinant has used the partitioning technique for the analysis open shell system of Be (1s22s2) state, the analyze Be atom for six-pairs electronic wave function , tow of these are for intra-shells (K,L) and the rest for inter-shells(KL) . The results are obtained numerically by using computer programs (Mathcad).
This work studied the facilitation of the transportation of Sharqi Baghdad heavy crude oil characterized with high viscosity 51.6 cSt at 40 °C, low API 18.8, and high asphaltenes content 7.1 wt.%, by reducing its viscosity from break down asphaltene agglomerates using different types of hydrocarbon and oxygenated polar solvents such as toluene, methanol, mix xylenes, and reformate. The best results are obtained by using methanol because it owns a high efficiency to reduce viscosity of crude oil to 21.1 cSt at 40 °C. Toluene, xylenes and reformate decreased viscosity to 25.3, 27.5 and 28,4 cSt at 40 °C, respectively. Asphaltenes content decreased to 4.2 wt. % by using toluene at 110 °C. And best improvement in API of the heavy crude o
... Show MoreDifferent coating layers of fluorescent agent (FCA) on the solar cells were used. An increase of 35% in the energy conversion efficiency of the solar cell have been obtained. This increase is attributed to the reduction ofthe reflected light, eflection spectra show low values at higher thickness which explained the increase ofthe conversion efficiency with increases of layer thickness.
Assessment of Salivary Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-1 Alpha Level in Different Stages of Periodontitis, Riyam Muthanna Muhammed*, Hadeel Mazin Akram
This research delts with study seven species of seeds and wild varieties wild belonging to the genus Medicago L., these species are: M. constricta Dur., M. coronata (L.) Bartal., M. intertexta (L.) Mill., M. intertexta.var. ciliaris (L.) Hyen., M. laciniata (L.) Mill., M. lupulina L., M. minima (L.) Bartal. and M. sativa L., the research involved characteristics of shapes, dimensions, colors and the nature of the surface ornamentation of seeds and also the hilum site. the seeds forms ranged between crescent, reniform and ovate, in addition there was a clear difference in seeds dimensions in height and width, while, the color has been vary between light brown to brown and dark brown. The nature of the surface ornamentation was smooth, retic
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