Background: Human semen contains high concentrations of fructose, zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) in bound and ionic forms for Zn and Cu. The presence of abnormal levels of fructose and those trace elements may affect spermatogenesis with regard to production, maturation, motility and fertilizing capacity of the spermatozoa.Objective: To evaluate the levels of fructose, Zn and Cu in seminal plasma in different groups of male infertility and to correlate their concentrations with various sperm parameters.Methods: The concentrations of fructose, Zn and Cu were measured in 114 semen samples from normozoospermic, oligozoospermic, astheno-zoospermic, and azoospermic men using the electrothermal-atomic absorption spectrometry for Zn and Cu determination. The concentration of fructose in seminal plasma was determined with a spectrophotometric method, using the resorcinol method.Results: Results of the present study showed that there was an inverse relationship between fructose levels and sperm count. The mean value of seminal plasma fructose concentrations was significantly increased (p ≤ 0.001) in the three groups of infertile male subjects (azoospermia, asthenozoospermia and oligozoospermia) than in fertile males. The mean value of seminal plasma Zn concentrations was significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.001) in the three groups of infertile male subjects (azoospermia, asthenozoospermia and oligozoospermia) than in fertile males. A good correlation in a positive direction was noted between the sperm count and seminal plasma Zn concentration. There was significant decrease in seminal plasma Cu concentration between asthenozoospermia and control groups (p ≤ 0.05) and insignificant increase in oligozoospermic patients.Conclusions: On the basis of the observations of the present study, seminal fructose, zinc and copper may contribute to fertility through their effects on various semen parameters.Key words:Male infertility, fructose, zinc, copper.
The thyroid gland is a vital part of the overall endocrine system, which is regulated some of body function as oxygen use, basal metabolic rate, growth, cellular metabolism and development This study shed light on a number of extracts that have been shown to have beneficial effects on the thyroid and its function, as well as the various factors linked to thyroid dysfunction. The experiment was conducted to determine the effect of a mixture of two extracts of "Fucus vesiculosus (150 mg/ kg) with Coleus forskohlii (1000 mg/ kg) and Rosmarinus officinalis (220 mg/ kg) with Camellia sinensis (1.25 mg/ kg)" on thyroid hormones as well as lipids profile and tested the effectiveness of two drugs one of them stimulates the hormones of the thyroid (
... Show MoreCefixime is an antibiotic useful for treating a variety ofmicroorganism infections. In the present work, tworapid, specific, inexpensive and nontoxic methods wereproposed for cefixime determination. Area under curvespectrophotometric and HPLC methods were depictedfor the micro quantification of Cefixime in highly pureand local market formulation. The area under curve(first technique) used in calculation of the cefiximepeak using a UV-visible spectrophotometer.The HPLC (2nd technique) was depended on thepurification of Cefixime by a C18 separating column250mm (length of column) × 4.6 mm (diameter)andusing methanol 50% (organic modifier) and deionizedwater 50% as a mobile phase. The isocratic flow withrate of 1 mL/min was applied, the temper
... Show MoreBackground & objective: Difficult intubation remains a risk for patients undergoing general anesthesia (GA) or mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit (ICU). Macroglossia is a known factor for difficult intubation. But it is not routine to assess the tongue size to predict difficult intubation. Studies are found deficient in comparing usefulness of measuring thyromental distance and the tongue thickness (TT) measured by ultrasonography to estimate difficult intubation. We compared tongue thickness measured by ultrasonography and thyromental distance as a means to anticipate difficult intubation. Methodology: A convenient sample of 60 patients; 32 males and 28 females, who were undergoing elective surgery with GA were i
... Show MoreWireless sensor networks (WSNs) represent one of the key technologies in internet of things (IoTs) networks. Since WSNs have finite energy sources, there is ongoing research work to develop new strategies for minimizing power consumption or enhancing traditional techniques. In this paper, a novel Gaussian mixture models (GMMs) algorithm is proposed for mobile wireless sensor networks (MWSNs) for energy saving. Performance evaluation of the clustering process with the GMM algorithm shows a remarkable energy saving in the network of up to 92%. In addition, a comparison with another clustering strategy that uses the K-means algorithm has been made, and the developed method has outperformed K-means with superior performance, saving ener
... Show MoreThe corrosion behavior of copper and carbon steel in 1M concentration of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sulphuric acid (H2SO4) has been studied. The corrosion inhibition of copper and carbon steel in 1M concentration of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sulphuric acid (H2SO4) by Ciprofloxacin has been investigated. Specimens were exposed in the acidic media for 7 hours and corrosion rates evaluated by using the weight loss method. The effect of temperature (from 283 ºK to 333 ºK), pH (from 1to 6), inhibitor concentration (10-4 to 10-2) has been studied. It was observed that sulphuric acid environment was most corrosive to the metals because of its oxidizing nature, followed by hydrochloric acid. The rate of metal dissolution increased with incre
... Show MoreObjective: To measure the serum levels of Fetuin-A, ischemia-modified albumin (IMA), and ferritin in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19in Baghdad, Iraq. Moreover, to determine these biomarkers' cut-off valuesthat differentiate between severely ill patients and control subjects. Methods: This case-control study was done from 15 September to the end of December 2021 and involved a review of the files and collectionof blood samples from patients (n=45, group1) hospitalized in COVID-19 treatment centersbecause of severe symptoms compared tohealthy subjects as controls (n=44, group2). Results: Fetuin-A serum levels were not statistically different between patients and controls. In contrast, IMA and ferritin levels were significan
... Show MoreMicrobial fuel cell is a device that uses the microorganism metabolism for the production of electricity under specific operating conditions. Double chamber microbial fuel cell was tested for the use of two cheap electrode materials copper and aluminum for the production of electricity under different operating conditions. The investigated conditions were concentration of microorganism (yeast) (0.5- 2 g/l), solutions temperature (33-45 oC) and concentration of glucose as a substrate (1.5- 6 g/l). The results demonstrated that copper electrode exhibit good performance while the performance of aluminum is poor. The electricity is generated with and without the addition of substrate. Addition of glucose substrate
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