BACKGROUND: Tribulus terrestris has been commonly used in folk medicine to energize, vitalize and improve sexual function and physical performance in men and laboratory rats. OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of Tribulus terrestris on the number of Leydig cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tribulus terrestris was given to mature male rats as an oral single herbal suspension in a dose of 2.0mg /1000gbody weight for 14 days to stimulate spermatogenesis. Formalin fixed paraffinembedded tissue sections were performed for histological, immunohistochemical and morphometrical studies. RESULTS: Histological study revealed wider seminiferous tubules and increased spermatocytes population with an increased sperm density inside the lumen of the tubules. Morphometrically, the diameters of seminiferous tubules and thickness of the germinal epithelia were significantly increased in Tribulus terrestris treated rats than that of the control group. There was no significant difference between the number of Leydig cells in the control and experimental groups. CONCLUSION: The activity of Leydig cells, manifested by the increments in the diameters, thickness of germinal epithelia and the density of the sperms inside seminiferous tubules, was increased but their number remain unaffected in spite of using the aphrodisiac agent, Tribulus terrestris. KEY WORDS: rat testis, tribulus terrestris, leydig cells.
Although allowable amounts of glycol contamination in diesel engine oil, no research has been conducted on how these levels and varying loads affect engine performance. The research used a four-stroke diesel engine to investigate the effect of different glycol contamination levels (0, 120, and 220 ppm) under two engine loads (4.5 and 9 kW). Brake specific fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiency, friction power, and exhaust gas temperature were measured to determine the engine performance. The experiment used the factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replicates. Increasing the contamination levels from 0 to 120 and then to 220 ppm under constant engine load significantly increased brake specific fuel con
... Show MoreBackground: The denture base inaccuracies during processing negatively influence the retention and stability of finished complete denture. The aims of this study were to evaluate teeth movement and palatal adaptation of autoclave cured denture bases and their relationship with palatal depths and investments. Materials and methods: A nightly maxillary complete dentures prepared, processed and organized to be tested as follows: 1. Processing methods: water bath and autoclave with both fast and slow cycles. 2. Palatal depth: shallow, medium and deep. 3. Investing medium: stone and silicone. For every finished denture, two measurements were done: first: teeth movement by attaching metallic reference screws on the right and left centrals, first
... Show MoreThe Weibull distribution is considered one of the Type-I Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution, and it plays a crucial role in modeling extreme events in various fields, such as hydrology, finance, and environmental sciences. Bayesian methods play a strong, decisive role in estimating the parameters of the GEV distribution due to their ability to incorporate prior knowledge and handle small sample sizes effectively. In this research, we compare several shrinkage Bayesian estimation methods based on the squared error and the linear exponential loss functions. They were adopted and compared by the Monte Carlo simulation method. The performance of these methods is assessed based on their accuracy and computational efficiency in estimati
... Show MoreThere is an interesting potential for the use of GFRP-pultruded profiles in hybrid GFRP-concrete structural elements, either for new constructions or for the rehabilitation of existing structures. This paper provides experimental and numerical investigations on the flexural performance of reinforced concrete (RC) specimens composite with encased pultruded GFRP I-sections. Five simply supported composite beams were tested in this experimental program to investigate the static flexural behavior of encased GFRP beams with high-strength concrete. Besides, the effect of using shear studs to improve the composite interaction between the GFRP beam and concrete as well as the effect of web stiffeners of GFRP were explored. Encasing the GFRP
... Show MoreThis study investigates the characterization and mechanical performance of Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) mixtures modified with two types of polymers: styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) and high-molecular-weight polyethylene (PE). Neat asphalt cement PG 64-16 was modified using a higher content of SBS and PE at concentrations of 6%, 7%, and 8% by weight of asphalt through the dry blending method to produce Highly Modified Asphalts (HiMA). The physical and rheological properties of the modified binders were evaluated using penetration, softening point, rotational viscosity, and dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) tests. Also, their phase compatibility and morphological changes were evaluated using the storage stability testing and scanning electron
... Show MoreThe research aims to identify the most important concerns that led to the increase of interest in the topic of corporate governance and specifically highlighting the role of the audit committees of the Administration Board in reducing the risk of the auditor and the rationalization of professional judgments، in particular about accepting the assignment and setting the fees of the audit process by extrapolating global experience in this area ، and a field study is conducted for a sample of private Iraqi banks to evaluate the role of audit committees constituted currently per with bank law no. (94) of 2004 and to be acknowledged with actual performance of these committees and their role in recommending the n
... Show MoreThe phenomenon of negative behavior has studied as a social and psychological phenomenon that effect on the performance and life of workers inside and outside the organization. The adoption of this phenomenon is studied in terms of the role of the internal environment of the organization in addressing this behavior, being the variables belong to the field of organizational behavior to see the results of those variables on the Iraqi organizations, since the specificities of it differ from the rest of the Arab and foreign environments. Therefore, this study focused on testing the relationship of the internal environment of the organization and its role in addressing the negative behavior of the workers.
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... Show MoreBackground: COVID-19 is an ongoing disease that caused, and still causes, many challenges for humanity. In fact, COVID-19 death cases reached more than 4.5 million by the end of August 2021, although an improvement in the medical treatments and pharmaceutical protocols was obtained, and many vaccines were released. Objective: To, statistically, analyze the data of COVID-19 patients at Alshifaa Healthcare Center (Baghdad, Iraq). Methods: In this work, a statistical analysis was conducted on data included the total number, positive cases, and negative cases of people tested for COVID-19 at the Alshifaa Healthcare Center/Baghdad for the period 1 September – 31 December 2020. The number of people who got the test was 1080, where 424 w
... Show MoreHuge efforts are being made to control the spread and impacts of the coronavirus pandemic using vaccines. However, willingness to be vaccinated depends on factors beyond the availability of vaccines. The aim of this study was three-folded: to assess children’s rates of COVID-19 Vaccination as reported by parents, to explore parents’ attitudes towards children’s COVID-19 vaccination, and to examine the factors associated with parents’ hesitancy towards children’s vaccination in several countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR).
Quantum dots (QDs) of zinc sulfide (ZnS) was prepared by chemical reaction with different potential of hydrogen (pH) and used to fabricate organic quantum dot hybrid junction device. The optical properties of QDs were characterized by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis.) and photoluminescence (PL) spectrometer. The results show that the prepared QDs were nanocrystalline with defects formation. The energy gap (Eg)calculated from PL were 3.64, 3.53 and 3.35 eV for pH=8, 10 and 12 respectively. This decreasing of energy gaps is results of the effect the pH solution increases, which in turn leads to the shifted of the PL spectrum toward red shifted, which makes the energy bands at surface states are shallow ban
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