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 economy of a city has an important role not only in its establishment but also in its development. This is quite clear in the city of Baghdad throughout its history since its building in 762 A.D. In addition, most of its problems that the city is suffering from are basically related to not giving enough importance to the economic factors in the master planning of Baghdad since 1950’s. This may explain the failiars of master plans in dealing with the actual population growth and the city's inability to absorb such increases and interrelated and diverse activities which are negatively reflected on the economic variables particularly the effect on the land values, and the strong competitions amongst the land uses without previ
... Show MoreOil well drilling fluid rheology, lubricity, swelling, and fluid loss control are all critical factors to take into account before beginning the hole's construction. Drilling fluids can be made smoother, more cost-effective, and more efficient by investigating and evaluating the effects of various nanoparticles including aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and iron oxide (Fe2O3) on their performance. A drilling fluid's performance can be assessed by comparing its baseline characteristics to those of nanoparticle (NPs) enhanced fluids. It was found that the drilling mud contained NPs in concentrations of 0,0.25, 0. 5, 0.75 and 1 g. According to the results, when drilling fluid was used without NPs, the coeff
... Show Morehe planning process is generally aimed at developing the city and making it meet the needs of different citizens. The green areas constitute one of the basic needs of the city and with the rapid and unusual growth in the size of cities, especially in the third world countries, which is often embodied in capitals. Which was achieved as a result of many reasons, including political, economic and social and even enshrined through some of the decisions that were issued and the city of Baghdad, but a clear example of these cities. The city and the environment are inseparable terms. The city is where people spend their lives and their daily experiences, and the environment is the center in w
... Show MoreWith their strategic and geographical positions, Japan and Iraq are one of the major
countries in the world, especially to the United States. Japan lies near the two American
Continents, separated only by the Pacific and it is only normal to have the interests of both
countries crossed and joined in the Far East region. This made the occupation of Japan an
inventible matter in the second half of the 20th century. Iraq, on the other hand, has strategic
position in the Middle East, being surrounded by many active countries like Turkey, Iran, and
Gulf countries, besides Iraq’s oil wealth which is needed by such industrial country like the
United States.
In Iraq most of the small buildings deployed a conventional air conditioning technology which typically uses electrically driven compressor systems which exhibits several clear disadvantages such as high energy consumption, high electricity at peak loads. In this work a thermal performance of air conditioning system combined with a solar collector is investigated theoretically. The hybrid air conditioner consists of a semi hermetic compressor, water cooled shell and tube condenser, thermal expansion valve and coil with tank evaporator. The theoretical analysis included a simulation for the solar assisted air-conditioning system using EES software to analyze the effect of different parameters on the power consumption of c
... Show MoreBackground: Many structural or functional abnormalities can impair the production of thyroid hormones and cause hypothyroidism.Objectives: to identify the main etiological causes of hypothyroidism among patients visiting Specialized Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology.Methods: This study was conducted in the Specialized Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology on 217 patients with proved hypothyroidism, from 2006 to 2008. Every patient was tested with thyroid function tests, Ultrasound examination, thyroid autoantibodies, fine needle aspiration, radiology of skull, isotopes scan, also checking adrenal and gonadal function. Results: Out of these 217 patients 120 patients have thyroiditis 33 patients had been undergone thyroidectomy. 39 pat
... Show MoreThe Agricultural Policy is one of the most important tools adopted by the state to guide its economic and social activities through the delivery of suitable agricultural commodities to the consumer and in return to deliver agricultural inputs to the agricultural producers at the lowest possible cost to contribute in achieving a profit that helps the agricultural product to continue in the production process with the same efficiency and ambition. So as to help increase the contribution of the agricultural sector to GDP and achieve the best picture of sustainable agricultural development.
The research aimed at identifying the reality of agricultural policies and their role in achieving sustaina
... Show MoreTen species of whiteflies (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae) representing six genera were studied from a collection from different localities in the middle of Iraq. These species are Acaudaleyrodes rachipora (Singh, 1931); Bemisia afer (Priesner and Hosny,1934); Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius, 1889); Dialeurodes citri (Ashmead,1885); Dialeurodes kirkaldy (Kotinsky, 1907); Neomaskellia andropogonis Corbett, 1926; Siphoninus phillyreae (Haliday, 1835); Trialeurodes ricini (Misra, 1924); Trialeurodes vapovariorum (Westwood,1856) and Trialeurodes irakeensis (Al-Malo and Abdul-Rassoul, 2000). Notes are given on their localities, date of c
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