In fish, a complex set of mechanisms deal with environmental stresses including hypoxia. In order to probe the hypothesis that hypoxia-induced stress could be manifested in varieties of pathways, a model species, mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio), were chronically exposed to hypoxic condition (dissolved oxygen level: 1.80±0.6mg/l) for 21 days and subsequently allowed to recover under normoxic condition (dissolved oxygen level: 8.2±0.5mg/l) for 7 days. At the end of these exposure periods, an integrated approach was applied to evaluate several endpoints at different levels of biological organisation. These included determination of (i) oxidative damage to DNA in erythrocytes (using modified comet assay), (ii) lipid peroxidation in liver samples by measuring the malondialdehyde production using the 2-thiobarbituric acid [i.e. thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay] and (iii) histopathological changes in gills. In addition, transcriptional expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 α (HIF-1α) and genes involved in the repair of oxidative damage to DNA (i.e. ogg1) and base excision repair (i.e. xrcc1) using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in liver samples were also determined. The results suggested significantly enhanced expression of these genes in response to hypoxia compared to concurrent normoxic controls. While the expression of HIF-1α reverted to control values within 7 days exposure to normoxic condition (P < 0.05), the transcriptional expression of the two genes involved in DNA repair process remained significantly high under the recovery period, which complemented the induction of oxidative damage to DNA. Hypoxic groups showed significantly increased values for TBARS level (~2-fold) and histopathological changes in gill tissues compared to both normoxic and recovery groups. Overall, oxidative damage to DNA determined by modified comet assay reflected the observed biological responses in other tissues of the fish. Along with other parameters, this integrated experimental design further strengthens the applications of the comet assay as an important technique to assess stress-induced DNA damage in ecotoxicological studies. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the UK Environmental Mutagen Society.
This study explores the barriers to adopting green environmental criteria in Supplier Selection (SS) within the Iraqi food industry. It aims to enhance the understanding of sustainable supply chain management in developing nations, with a particular focus on the Iraqi context. A case study approach was utilized to identify eleven key green environmental criteria and 54 sub-criteria, alongside seven major barriers to their adoption. The Best–Worst Method (BWM) was employed to rank the criteria, and Fuzzy Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) was used to prioritize the barriers. The analysis revealed that Environmental Management Systems are the most critical criterion for SS. On the other hand, legislation and policies emerged
... Show MoreBackground: The protective roles of vitamin C and total proteins in gingival inflammation were reported by several studies. The aim of this study was to measure the concentration of salivary vitamin C, total protein and their relation to gingival health among dental students. Materials and methods: The sample consisted of 67 dental students (33 males and 34 females) from College of Dentistry, University of Baghdad. Sillness and Löe (1964) was used for recording of dental plaque, while the gingival index (GI) was measured according to Löe and Sillness criteria (1963). Stimulated salivary samples were collected and chemically analyzed in Poisoning Center/Surgical Specialty Hospital by using colorimetric method to measure the salivary v
... Show MoreVideo steganography has become a popular option for protecting secret data from hacking attempts and common attacks on the internet. However, when the whole video frame(s) are used to embed secret data, this may lead to visual distortion. This work is an attempt to hide sensitive secret image inside the moving objects in a video based on separating the object from the background of the frame, selecting and arranging them according to object's size for embedding secret image. The XOR technique is used with reverse bits between the secret image bits and the detected moving object bits for embedding. The proposed method provides more security and imperceptibility as the moving objects are used for embedding, so it is difficult to notice the
... Show MoreLanguage and politics go hand in hand and learning and comprehending political genre is to learn a language created for codifying, extending and transmitting political discourse in any text/talk. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of Fairclough’s CDA and Rhetoric, the current study aims at investigating Donald Trump’s First Speech, from the point of frequency and functions of some rhetorical strategies (Parallelism, Anaphora and the Power of Three, Antithesis and Expletive, etc.), Nominalization, Passivization, We-groups and Modality as well as Lexical and Textual Analysis, presented to the UN delivered on Sep. 19, 2017. Specifically, the study seeks to determine: (1) how President Trump succeeded in conveying his notions an
... Show MoreThis study aimed to analyze functional thinking style and its contribution to learn the accuracy of block and smash serve in volleyball among university students. The sample was composed of 120 students of the College of Physical Education and Sports Sciences of the University of Baghdad (academic year 2021/2022). The statistical analyses were carried out with the statistical software SPSS and correlation analyses were conducted. It was found that functional thinking style significantly contributed to learn the accuracy of block and smash serve in volleyball among university students. Therefore, it is necessary to intensify efforts to increase the level of functional thinking among university students, by adopting acad
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