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 search included a comparison between two etchands for etch CR-39 nuclear track detector, by the calculation of bulk etch rate (Vb) which is one of the track etching parameters, by two measuring methods (thichness and change mass). The first type, is the solution prepared from solving NaOH in Ethanol (NaOH/Ethanol) by varied normalities under temperature(55˚C)and etching time (30 min) then comparated with the second type the solution prepared from solving NaOH in water (NaOH/Water) by varied normalities with (70˚C) and etching time (60 min) . All detectors were irradiated with (5.48 Mev) α-Particles from an 241Am source in during (10 min). The results that Vb would increase with the increase of
... Show MoreAcrylamide is a toxic chemical that is created when foods are heated; it is also available in foods containing different additives. The purpose of the study was to determine whether Bacillus spp. isolates could reduce the concentration of acrylamide in food, as well as to compare the different treatments of crude and pure L-asparaginase produced from the same bacteria in acrylamide reduction in potato slices. Our findings reveal that this bacterium could degrade acrylamide and reduce its concentration. Furthermore, the acrylamide content of potato slices reduced dramatically with increasing enzymatic treatment time, reaching the under detection limit (UDL) after 30 minutes of treatment with 84 U/ml of crude and purified
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In this paper, the maximum likelihood estimator and the Bayes estimator of the reliability function for negative exponential distribution has been derived, then a Monte –Carlo simulation technique was employed to compare the performance of such estimators. The integral mean square error (IMSE) was used as a criterion for this comparison. The simulation results displayed that the Bayes estimator performed better than the maximum likelihood estimator for different samples sizes.
Specimens have been collected from one hundred and seventeen patients residing in local hospitals, 33 with burns and 84 wound injuries,. Three different methods ,Cefoxitin disk diffusion, EPI-M Screening Kit and Crome agar (MeReSa agar)with selective supplement were used to detect methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) . A comparison was made between these 3 methods according to the results. It was found that the results of the Cefoxitin disk diffusion test were compatible with the results of culturing on Crome agar, while those obtained from the EPI-M Screening kit were not accurate and some of them gave false negative results.
Background: Osteoporosis is denoted by low bone mass and microarchitectural breakdown of bone tissue, directing to increased fracture risk and bone fragility. Fractures may lead to a decreased quality of life and increased medical costs. Thus, osteoporosis is widely considered a significant health concern.
Objective. This study aimed to compare quantitative computed tomography (QCT) and dual-energy X-Ray absorptiometry (DXA) to detect osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.
Subjects and Methods. We measured spinal volumetric bone mineral density (BMD) with QCT and areal spinal and hip BMD with DXA in 164 postmenopausal women. We calculated the osteo
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The behavior of rare earth elements (REE) in phosphate coprolites; deposited in marine upwelling shelf system (Iraq) and a condensed section of the intracontinental basin (Czech Republic) is compared and discussed in the present study. The eight coprolite samples show that the REE incorporated in the apatite of these phosphatized faecal trace fossils have significantly different behavior in the two sedimentary regimes and hold the REE source’s signature in the local sedimentary conditions. The behavior of heavy REE, light REE, Ce-anomaly and shale-normalized ratios of Ce/La, Sm/Yb and Pr/Ce can be mainly attributed to REE fractionation at the source. In contrast, middle REE enrichment may be attributed to local fractionation b
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Background: Breast lump is one of the most common prevalent complaint of patients attending breast clinics.
Objective: To determine if there is any change in the pattern of common breast, diseases presenting as breast lumps between pregnant and non-pregnant women among patients attending Al-Elwiya Breast Clinic.
Methods: This is a cross – sectional study, with convent's patient sampling setting in AL-Elwiya Breast Cancer Early Detection Clinic from 1st Feb. to 1st May 2018, we collected data from patients with breast lumps including the age groups, pregnancy status, parity status, previous breast diseases, hormonal drugs, menstrual cycle, breast fe
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A condense study was done to compare between the ordinary estimators. In particular the maximum likelihood estimator and the robust estimator, to estimate the parameters of the mixed model of order one, namely ARMA(1,1) model.
Simulation study was done for a varieties the model. using: small, moderate and large sample sizes, were some new results were obtained. MAPE was used as a statistical criterion for comparison.
Background: Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that mostly involves the spine and sacroiliac joints. It is associated with a decreased quality of life. Biological medicines such as infliximab and its biosimilar are the mainstay treatments for active ankylosing spondylitis.
Objective: The study objective was to conduct a pharmacoeconomic study comparing the cost-effectiveness of the reference infliximab with its biosimilar in ankylosing spondylitis patients visiting public hospitals.
Subjects and Method: This is a two-center pharmacoeconomic study performed at two large teaching governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq, which s
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the capability of bacterial DNA
compared to bacterial lysate in stimulating arthritis using rat model. One hundred
mid-stream urine specimens were collected during November 2012 to January 2013,
from patients suffering from urinary tract infections attending hospitals in Baghdad,
Iraq. Susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus isolates to antibiotics was examined.
Twenty five isolates were identified as S. aureus and they developed multi drug
resistance. S. aureus S1 lyaste and its DNA were intra-articulary injected in rats. The
levels of IL-6, anti-ds DNA Ab and leukocytes count were measured. In general, IL-
6, anti-ds DNA Ab and leukocytes count were significantly highe