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 present work provides a list of all amphibians and reptiles recorded from Iraq up to 2014. It includes 115 species (105 species of reptiles and 10 species of amphibians) dating back to 25 families (20 families of reptiles and 5 families of amphibians). Conservation status of each species was mentioned.
The amino thiadiazole [I] on treatment with aromatic aldehydes yielded Schiff bases [IIa-c], which cyclized to thiazolidinone [IIIa-c] derivatives by reaction with thioglycolic acid. Reaction of carbon disulfide and methyl iodide with [I] gavedithiomethyl [IV] which on treatment with o-phenylenediamine gave the condensed N-Imidazolythiadiazolylamine [V], However, reaction of [I] with phenylisocyanate and phenylisothiocyanate afforded the carbamideand carbothiamide derivatives [VI. VII] ac. The structure of these compounds was characterized from their melting point, FTIR spectroscopy and elementalanalysis
Mortar of ordinary Portland cement was blended with cockles shell
powder at different weight ratios to investigate the effect of powder
admixture on their strength and thermal conductivity. Results showed
that addition of cockles shell powder at 50% of mortar weight
improves hardness and compressive strength notably and reduces the
thermal conductivity of the end product. Results suggest the
possibility to incorporate cockles shell powders as constituents in
cement mortars for construction and plastering applications.
BACKGROUND: Sickle cell nephropathy, a heterogeneous group of renal abnormalities resulting from complex interactions of sickle cell disease (SCD)-related factors and non-SCD phenotype characteristics, is associated with an increased risk for morbidity and mortality. AIMS: The aims of this study were to determine the frequency of microalbuminuria (MA) among pediatric patients with SCD and to determine risk factors for MA among those patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A case–control study was carried out on 120 patients with SCD, 2–18 years old, registered at Basrah Center for Hereditary Blood Diseases, and 132 age-and sex-matched healthy children were included as a control group. Investigations included complete blood panel, blood urea, se
... Show MoreSummary
The conflict between Arab and Zionist movement before 1948 was not normal dispute about certain issue or quarrel on borders, it is comprehensive conflict, this research intraduce analytical and outlook future reading about Palestine identity in time of occupation and resistance in the first studying we take the concept of identity and the fundamental relationship identity history and geography. Our research treated the contents of palest Iain and Isralian identsunder. The political, cultural and military conflict between Israil and Palestine. The research introduce analytic study of research introduce analytic study of intellectual orientation of Zionist state in order to determine the exact meaning of this identity, beca
... Show MoreObjective: Since the vaccination rate is largely affected by low knowledge and negative attitudes ofhealthcare professionals, so this study aimed to weigh up the vaccination knowledge and attitudes ofpharmacy students.Method: A pilot study using a survey to investigate demographic data, knowledge (20 questions), andattitudes (5 questions) of 156 fifth year and 121 third year pharmacy students from College of Pharmacy/University of Baghdad.Results: The mean score of knowledge and attitudes was intermediate (16.654 and 14.917 out of 25 for thefifth and the third grades, respectively) with a significant difference between the two groups, the studentsshown to have favorable attitudes about vaccination. The score of the students is not i
... Show MorePolyimide/MWCNTs nanocomposites have been fabricated by solution mixing process. In the present study, we have investigated electrical conductivity and dielectric properties of PI/MWCNT nanocomposites in frequency range of 1 kHz to 100 kHz at different MWCNTs concentrations from 0 wt.% to 15 wt.%. It has been observed that the electrical conductivity and dielectric constants are enhanced significantly by several orders of magnitude up to 15 wt.% of MWCNTs content. The electrical conductivity increases as the frequency is increased, which can be attributed to high dislocation density near the interface. The rapid increase in the dielectric constant at a high MWCNTs content can be explained by the form
Coumarin derivatives have shown different biological activities, such as antifungal, antibacterial antiinflammatory, and antioxidant activities, besides antibiotic resistance modulating effects, and anti-HIV, hepatoprotective, and antitumor effect. So, new coumarin derivatives (hydrazones and an amide) were synthesized through multisteps reactions. All the synthesized target compounds were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, 1HNMR analysis. The compounds then evaluated for their anti-bacterial activity by means of well-diffusion method against two gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae) and two gram-negative bacteria (E.coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). The highest activity was demonstr
... Show MoreSituational regret and its relation to the vitality of conscience among university students The research seeks to identify situational regret and its relation to the vitality of conscience among university students, identify the significant differences in regard with students’ gender, and identify if there is a correlation between situational regret and the vitality of conscience. To do this, two scales were adopted; one to measure situational regret consisted of (31) items, which was designed by (Al-badrani, 2006), besides, costa and macrys’ (1992) scale that translated in Arabic language by (Al-qaisy, 2013). It composed of (35) items. Total of (120) male and female students were collected from three-different colleges (science, art
... Show MoreA simulated ion/electron optical transport and focusing system has been put forward to
be mounted on high voltage transmission electron microscope for in situ investigations.
The suggested system consists of three axially symmetric electrostatic lenses namely an
einzel lens, an accelerating immersion lens, and a decelerating immersion lens, in addition
to an electrostatic quadrupole doublet lens placed on the image side. The electrodes
profile of these lenses is determined from the proposed axial field distributions. The
optical properties of the whole system have been computed together with the trajectory of
the accelerated charged-particles beam along the optical axis of the system. The computed
dimensions of th