The cyanobacterial neurotoxinβ-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is considered to be an “excitotoxin,” and its suggested mechanism of action is killing neurons. Long-term exposure to L-BMAA is believed to lead to neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Objectives of this study were to determine the presumptive median lethal dose (LD₅₀), the Lowest-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level (LOAEL), and histopathologic lesions caused by the naturally occurring BMAA isomer, L-BMAA, in mice. Seventy NIH Swiss Outbred mice (35 male and 35 female) were used. Treatment group mice

All the available reports on the issue of infertility confirmed the increase in this population problem worldwide. Although the accurate estimate of the number of infertile people is due to several reasons, including the discrepancy in the true definition of infertility (whether it extends for one, two or five years of failed pregnancy attempts), as well as the great discrepancy in the size of the selected population groups (large population sample size versus epidemiological studies) and defining the category that diagnosed included (individuals, women, or couples). The goal of today’s IVF program is to obtain high-quality embryos with high efficiency in development, which leads to an increase in live birth rates.

Background: The use of electronic apex locators for working length determination eliminates many of the problems associated with the radiographic measurements (interference of anatomical structures, errors in projection such as elongation or shortening, and lack of three-dimensional representation). Its most important advantage over radiography is that it measures the length of the root canal to the apical constriction, not to the radiographic apex. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of a new fifth generation apex locator (Joypex 5) in recording the apical constriction and comparing it with a third generation apex locator (Root ZX) in vitro. Materials and method: Twenty four single-rooted sound human premolars, extracted for t

Recurrent respiratory tract infections are responsible for about 85% of all diseases in childhood, and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to evaluate the main causes underlying recurrent respiratory tract infections in 176 pediatric patients aged 2 month to 4 year and weight from 4 to11 kg referred to the child center hospital and Al-sader hospital prospective study.All parents were given information sheet which then analyzed and the percentage of incidence of causes were recorded, we found that higher % related to many causes; mostly related to the parent like poor family education, mother carelessness, incomplete vaccination, other related to empirical diagnosis, and short course of t

This study was conducted to describe a protocol for the callus establishing culture of Lavandula angustifolia plant and estimating their content of volatile oil. The quantity of volatile oil callus tissues was compared with that of leaves production. Callus was induced from leaf explants on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) supplemented with Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and Benzyl adenine (BA) in different concentrations. Maximum callus fresh weight was obtained in the combination of 10 mg/L BA and 3 mg/L NAA which reached 18 g after four weeks. The results of this work showed that the  quantity of volatile oil from the highest fresh weight callus was 6 ml compared with quantity of 18g of leaves which gave 0.5 ml. Volatile o

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a potent ligand for AhR and a known carcinogen. While AhR activation by TCDD leads to significant immunosuppression, how this translates into carcinogenic signal is unclear. Recently, we demonstrated that activation of AhR by TCDD in naïve C57BL6 mice leads to massive induction of myeloid derived-suppressor cells (MDSCs). In the current study, we investigated the role of the gut microbiota in TCDD-mediated MDSC induction. TCDD caused significant alterations in the gut microbiome, such as increases in Prevotella and Lactobacillus, while decreasing Sutterella and Bacteroides. Fecal transplants from TCDD-treated