Clinical index is needed to predict the outcome of pregnancy after in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET) for infertile patients. Growth differentiation factor-8 (GDF-8), also known as myostatin, is one of transforming growth factor-â superfamily localized in antral follicles in normal and PCOS ovaries but its function in female reproductive system is still unknown. Aim of the study is to assess the correlation between levels of GDF8 in follicular fluid (FF) with outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF/ICSI) in women with and without PCOS. A prospective case control study was performed enrolling (40) patients with PCOS and (40) non-PCOS women (male infertility) undergoing IVF/ICSI. The collection of follicular fluid was at the day of oocyte pick up. Sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit was used to measure the levels of FF. GDF-8. A significant higher GDF8 level was found in PCOS group compared to non-PCOS group. Also, significant higher antral follicle count (AFC) in PCOS group in comparison tonon-PCOS group. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the mean of follicle diameter, endometrium thickness, aspirated oocytes, metaphase II (M II) oocyte, fertilized oocytes, embryo at 2pro nucleus (2PN), transferred embryo, grade1 (G1) embryo, maturity rate, cleavage rate, fertilization rate and pregnancy outcomes. There was a significant positive correlation between GDF8 and G1 embryo in non-PCOS group. In non-PCOS group, mean GDF8 level was significantly higher in pregnant group than nonpregnant group. In PCOS group, mean GDF8 level was significantly.
Unused and expired pharmaceutical drugs are a novel type of organic corrosion inhibitor. They are less expensive, more effective, and less harmful than conventional organic corrosion inhibitors. This study investigated the effects of concentration, adsorption mechanism and thermodynamic parameters of enalapril malate (ENAP) as a corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in a saline solution (3.5 % NaCl). The polarization method was used to determine the corrosion rate and inhibition efficiency. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and atomic force spectroscopy (AFM) were used to investigate the surface morphology and topography of carbon steel after immersion in both uninhibited and inhibited media for 24 h. Fourier transform inf
... Show MoreAfamin, which is a human plasma glycoprotein, a putative multifunctional transporter of hydrophobic molecules and a marker for metabolic syndrome. Afamin concentration have been proposed to have a significant role as a predictor of metabolic disorders. Since NAFLD is associated with metabolic risk factors, e.g., dyslipidemia, insulin resistance and visceral obesity, it is considered as the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome. The objective of this study is to determine Afamin levels in hypothyroid patients with and without fatty liver disease and compare the results with controls. Also to study the relationship of Afamin level with the Anthropometric and Clinical Features (Age, Gender, BMI and Duration of Hypothyroidism) , Serum
... Show MoreOne of the main parts in hydraulic system is directional control valve, which is needed in order to operate hydraulic actuator. Practically, a conventional directional control valve has complex construction and moving parts, such as spool. Alternatively, a proposed Magneto-rheological (MR) directional control valve can offer a better solution without any moving parts by means of MR fluid. MR fluid consists of stable suspension of micro-sized magnetic particles dispersed in carrier medium like hydrocarbon oil. The main objectives of this present research are to design a MR directional control valve using MR fluid, to analyse its magnetic circuit using FEMM software, and to study and simulate the performance of this valve. In this research, a
... Show MoreIn this study, concentrations of radon and uranium were measured for twenty six samples of soil. The radon concentrations in soil samples measured by registrant alpha-emitting radon (222Rn) by using CR-39 track detector. The uranium concentrations in soil samples measured by using registrar fission fragments tracks in CR-39 track detector that caused by the bombardment of U with thermal neutrons from 241 Am-Be neutron source that has flux of 5 ×103n cm-2 s-1.
The concentrations values were calculated by a comparison with standard samples The results show that the radon concentrations are between (91.931-30.645Bq/m3).
The results show that also the uranium concentrat
In this study, the activity concentrations of indoor radon, thoron
and their progeny have been measured in air for 61 different
locations of Al-Maddan city using twin cup dosimeter. Furthermore,
some useful parameters concerning the health hazards have been
estimated; working level month (WLM), annual effective dose (Eff),
and excess lung cancer per million person per year (ELC).The results
show that the values of radon gas levels in the investigated districts
varied from 56.28 to 194.43Bq/m3with an overall average value
132.96Bq/m3, while 0.313 to 1.085 for WLM with an overall average
0.740, respectively. The value of Eff and ELC have been found to
vary from 1.420 to 4.918 mSv/y with an overall average valu
In this work, the calculation of matter density distributions, elastic charge form factors and size radii for halo 11Be, 19C and 11Li nuclei are calculated. Each nuclide under study are divided into two parts; one for core part and the second for halo part. The core part are studied using harmonic-oscillator radial wave functions, while the halo part are studied using the radial wave functions of Woods-Saxon potential. A very good agreement are obtained with experimental data for matter density distributions and available size radii. Besides, the quadrupole moment for 11Li are generated.
BACKGROUND: The humeral shaft fractures have a good rate of union, despite this fact, still there is a significant rate of nonunion after nonoperative treatment and more often after operative treatment. AIM: The aim of the study is to evaluate the autogenous onlay graft with compression plate for treatment of persistent humeral shaft non-union with failed previous surgery both radiological and functional outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective study on twenty patients having persistent aseptic non-union age between 20 and 60 years old, after failed surgical treatment of fractures humeral shaft in Al-Zahra teaching and Al-Kindy teaching hospitals, while infected nonunion, diabetes mellitus, secondary metastasis, smoking, a
... Show More5-Fluorouracil is one of the commonly used chemotherapy drugs in anticancer therapy; unfortunately treatment with 5-FU by solely has many drawbacks low lipophilicity, low permeability, low molecular weight, and its relatively poor plasma protein binding; also a brief half-life therefore frequent administration is required to maintain the optimal therapeutic plasma level which in addition to its poor selectivity, drug resistance and limited penetration to cancer cells; leads to increased incidence of side-effects to healthy cells/tissues and low response rates. In order to minimize these drawbacks; 5-FU was chemically conjugated with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) in a mutual prodrug moiety (S-(9H-purin-6-yl) 3-(
... Show MoreThe study aimed to investigate the effect of different times as follows 0.5, 1.00, 2.00 and 3.00 hrs, type of solvent (acetone, methanol and ethanol) and temperature (~ 25 and 50)ºc on curcumin percentage yield from turmeric rhizomes. The results showed significant differences (p? 0.05) in all variables. The curcumin content which were determined spectrophotometrically ranged between (0.55-2.90) %. The maximum yield was obtained when temperature, time and solvent were 50ºC, 3 hrs and acetone, respectively.