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
Twelve species from Brassicaceae family were studied using two different molecular techniques: RAPD and ISSR; both of these techniques were used to detect some molecular markers associated with the genotype identification. RAPD results, from using five random primers, revealed 241 amplified fragments, 62 of them were polymorphic (26%).
ISSR results showed that out of seven primers, three (ISSR3, UBC807, UBC811) could not amplify the genomic DNA; other primers revealed 183 amplified fragments, 36 of them were polymorphic (20%). The similarity evidence and dendrogram for the genetic distances of the incorporation between the two techniques showed that the highest similarity was 0.897 between the va
... Show MoreNaturally carbonate reservoirs have very low oil recovery efficiency owing to their wettability and tightness of matrix. However, adding surfactant to brine solution can enhance oil recovery by changing the wettability of the carbonate rock surface from oil-wet to water-wet. In the present study, the effects of different brines in the presence of surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), on the wettability of carbonate rock were investigated through different characteristics such as surface tension interfacial tension and contact angle. The best concentration of CTAB was investigated at 500 ppm in brine (NaCl) reduced surface tension and interfacial tensions to 42 mN/m and 15 mN/m respectively and prevented reservoir fro
... Show MoreThis study discusses risk management strategies caused by pandemic-related (Covid-19) suspensions in thirty-six engineering projects of different types and sizes selected from countries in the middle east and especially Iraq. The primary data collection method was a survey and questionnaire completed by selected project crew and laborers. Data were processed using Microsoft Excel to construct models to help decision-makers find solutions to the scheduling problems that may be expected to occur during a pandemic. A theoretical and practical concept for project risk management that addresses a range of global and local issues that affect schedule and cost is presented and results indicate that the most significant delays are due to a
... Show MoreThis study discusses risk management strategies caused by pandemic-related (Covid-19) suspensions in thirty-six engineering projects of different types and sizes selected from countries in the middle east and especially Iraq. The primary data collection method was a survey and questionnaire completed by selected project crew and laborers. Data were processed using Microsoft Excel to construct models to help decision-makers find solutions to the scheduling problems that may be expected to occur during a pandemic. A theoretical and practical concept for project risk management that addresses a range of global and local issues that affect schedule and cost is presented and results indicate that the most significant delays are due to a
... Show MoreIn order to understand the effect of (length of pile / diameter of pile) ratio on the load carrying capacity and settlement reduction behavior of piled raft resting on loose sand, laboratory model tests were conducted on small-scale models. The parameters studied were the effect of pile length and the number of piles. The load settlement behavior obtained from the tests has been validated by using 3-D finite element in ABAQUS program, was adopted to understand the load carrying response of piled raft and settlement reduction. The results of experimental work show that the increase in (Lp/dp) ratio led to increase in load carrying capacity by piled raft from (19.75 to 29.35%), (14.18 to 28.87%) and (0 to 16.49%) , the maximum load carried
... Show MoreMixed Kirkuk and Sharki-Baghdad crude oils were distilled into narrow fractions. The range of these narrow fractions were 10oC, starting from IBP to 350oC. The total distillates from mixed Kirkuk and Sharki-Baghdad crude oils were 58.25 vol % and 44.65 vol %, respectively.The hydrocarbons compositions (paraffin, naphthene, aromatic) in light fractions starting from IBP to 250oC were determined by using PONA analysis method. The results show that the paraffin content decreases with increasing mid percent boiling point of the fraction, while the naphthene, and aromatic increase with the increase of mid percent boiling point of mixed Kirkuk and Sharki-Baghdad crude oils. Three groups of empirical equations were developed for the prediction
... Show MoreWireless sensor applications are susceptible to energy constraints. Most of the energy is consumed in communication between wireless nodes. Clustering and data aggregation are the two widely used strategies for reducing energy usage and increasing the lifetime of wireless sensor networks. In target tracking applications, large amount of redundant data is produced regularly. Hence, deployment of effective data aggregation schemes is vital to eliminate data redundancy. This work aims to conduct a comparative study of various research approaches that employ clustering techniques for efficiently aggregating data in target tracking applications as selection of an appropriate clustering algorithm may reflect positive results in the data aggregati
... Show MoreEnsuring reliable data transmission in Network on Chip (NoC) is one of the most challenging tasks, especially in noisy environments. As crosstalk, interference, and radiation were increased with manufacturers' increasing tendency to reduce the area, increase the frequencies, and reduce the voltages. So many Error Control Codes (ECC) were proposed with different error detection and correction capacities and various degrees of complexity. Code with Crosstalk Avoidance and Error Correction (CCAEC) for network-on-chip interconnects uses simple parity check bits as the main technique to get high error correction capacity. Per this work, this coding scheme corrects up to 12 random errors, representing a high correction capac
... Show MoreThe world of Contemplations is a controversial concept among scholars, writers, thinkers and the public. The theory of the dialogue of souls indicates that souls communicate and think with each other despite the distances. Islamic studies have researched this concept, and this research paper aims to explain the concept of the world of Contemplations and what is the dialogue between God Almighty and the souls that God brought forth from the back of Adam and took from them the covenant and pledge to unify Him, and its effects on human life in this world. The researcher found that scholars and writers differ in proving the existence of the world of Contemplations despite the existence of examples of it in verses of the Holy Quran, and that the
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