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.
Pure and Fe-doped zinc oxide nanocrystalline films were prepared
via a sol–gel method using -
C for 2 h.
The thin films were prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction
(XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning
electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and UV- visible spectroscopy. The
XRD results showed that ZnO has hexagonal wurtzite structure and
the Fe ions were well incorporated into the ZnO structure. As the Fe
level increased from 2 wt% to 8 wt%, the crystallite size reduced in
comparison with the pure ZnO. The transmittance spectra were then
recorded at wavelengths ranging from 300 nm to 1000 nm. The
optical band gap energy of spin-coated films also decreased as Fe
doping concentra
Poly(ethylene oxide) is a promising material for solid-state lithium batteries due to its safety, ease of processing, and compatibility with lithium. However, conventional linear PEO falls short of practical requirements due to its limited ionic conductivity, a consequence of the high crystallinity of its ethylene oxide chains. This crystallinity hinders the movement of lithium ions, limiting its performance in solid-state battery applications. In this study, we successfully prepared the plasticized solid polymer electrolytes (PSPEs) based on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/ tetracyanoethylene (TCE) complexed with lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) salt and studied the effect of TCE on structural, mechanical, electrical and elec
... Show MoreLowering specific energy consumption (SEC) in reverse osmosis (RO) plants is one of the most important criteria in water treatment industry. The present work focused on best suggested RO pilot plant configurations for minimizing specific energy consumption, finding the best configurations experimentally to recover the water with minimizing salts in permeate side in RO module, study the factors affecting the performance of single and two stage systems, TFC membrane is used in spiral wound module. Brackish water is used as feed solution with different concentrations (2000, 3000, 4000 and 5000 ppm). The operating parameters studied were permeate flux, rejection and SEC. The experimental results showed the permeate concentration increased and w
... Show MorePurpose Heavy metals are toxic pollutants released into the environment as a result of different industrial activities. Biosorption of heavy metals from aqueous solutions is a new technology for the treatment of industrial wastewater. The aim of the present research is to highlight the basic biosorption theory to heavy metal removal. Materials and methods Heterogeneous cultures mostly dried anaerobic bacteria, yeast (fungi), and protozoa were used as low-cost material to remove metallic cations Pb(II), Cr(III), and Cd(II) from synthetic wastewater. Competitive biosorption of these metals was studied. Results The main biosorption mechanisms were complexation and physical adsorption onto natural active functional groups. It is observed that
... Show MoreIn this study, biodiesel was prepared from chicken fat via a transesterification reaction using Mussel shells as a catalyst. Pretreatment of chicken fat was carried out using non‐catalytic esterification to reduce the free fatty acid content from 36.28 to 0.96 mg KOH/g oil using an ethanol/ fat mole ratio equal to 115:1. In the transesterification reaction, the studied variables were methanol: oil mole ratio in the range of (6:1 ‐ 30:1), catalyst loading in the range of (9‐15) wt%, reaction temperature (55‐75 °C), and reaction time (1‐7) h. The heterogeneous alkaline catalyst was greenly synthesized from waste mussel shells throughout a calcin
Laboratory studies were conducted at the biological control unit, college of Agriculture, University of Baghdad to evaluate some biological aspects of the predator Chilocorus bipustulatus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), which is considered one of the most important predators on many insect pests, especially the scale insect, Parlatoria blanchardi, (Homoptera: Diaspididae) on date palms. The results showed that biological parameters of the predator were varied according to different degree of temperature. Egg incubation period was significantly different and reached to 7.5 and 5.44 day at 25 and 30°C respectively, Fertility was the same 100% at both temperature degrees. Larval growth periods were 17.41 and 16.12 day as well as the mortality
... Show MoreIntroduction Oral biopsy is a fundamental diagnostic procedure in dentistry, essential for the early detection of oral cancer and other pathologies. While theoretical knowledge is a core component of dental education, the translation of this knowledge into clinical confidence and practical ability is critical for patient care. Objective: : evaluate the awareness, knowledge, and self-perceived ability to perform oral biopsies Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among dental students. Participants (n=110) comprising 14 multiple-choice questions assessing key variables: knowledge of biopsy principles, techniques, lesion identification, specimen preservation, and ability to perform the procedure Results: While theoretica
... Show MoreThe present study provides a new insight into valuable information on the diverse structure of the Anisakid population and discusses the limited species richness in the Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch,1791) (Perciformes, Nemiperidae). The fishing area consists of various locations in the Arabian Gulf (29°58 0 33 00 N48°28 0 20 E). A total of 315 marine fish were examined, (n=287) were infected. Larval stages (n= 763) encysted within the mesenteries peritoneum and viscera of fish organs were isolated, with a prevalence of 91.11% of infection and, the intensity was 2.65. Molecular analysis was carried out on thirty individuals who have examined the morphology and showed some appearance differences, by amplifying internal transcribed spacers
... Show MoreA case–control study (80 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus [HBV] infection and 96 controls) was performed to evaluate the association of an IL12A gene variant (rs582537 A/C/G) with HBV infection. Allele G showed a signifcantly lower frequency in patients compared to controls (31.2 vs. 46.9%; probability [p]=0.009; corrected p [pc]=0.027) and was associated with a lower risk of HBV infection (odds ratio [OR]=0.49; 95% confdence interval [CI]=0.29–0.83). A similar lower risk was associated with genotypes CG (17.5 vs. 29.2; OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.08–0.81; p=0.02) and GG (10.0 vs. 16.7; OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.07–0.91; p=0.036), but the pc value was not signifcant (0.12 and 0.126, respec‑ tively). Serum IL35 levels showed signifcant difere
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