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.
Pollen morphology of 4 species (A. aucheri , A. auriculata, A. caucasica, A. nova) belonging to the genus Arabis L. in Iraq was examined by light microscope and scanning electron microscope to determine the significance of pollen features as a taxonomic characters. The results showed pollen grains of the species were monades, homopolar, tricolpate, and with medium size, but the species varied in shapes (polar and equatorial view), colpus length and width, exine thickness and exine ornamentation. Pollen colors were brown convert to brownish yellow.
This paper aimed to investigate the effect of the height-to-length ratio of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls when loaded by a vertical load. The finite element (FE) method was implemented for modeling and analysis of URM wall. In this paper, ABAQUS, FE software with implicit solver was used to model and analysis URM walls subjected to a vertical load. In order to ensure the validity of Detailed Micro Model (DMM) in predicting the behavior of URM walls under vertical load, the results of the proposed model are compared with experimental results. Load-displacement relationship of the proposed numerical model is found of a good agreement with that of the published experimental results. Evidence shows that load-displacement curve obtained fro
... Show MoreThe research aims to identify the effect of teaching according to the augmented reality on the technique of the visual thinking skills among scientific fifth-grade students in a biology course. In order to achieve the goal of the research, the researcher adopted the experimental approach with the partial set of the two equal groups with the dimensional test of visual thinking skills, The research population represented all the scientific students of the fifth grade for morning government schools affiliated to the General Directorate of Education of Baghdad / Karkh II, alshakerin preparatory for boys was chosen intentionally, in which two groups were chosen for this study, one group is chosen randomly as the control group via lottery, whe
... Show MoreSeveral specimens of the avocet, Recurvirostra avocetta L. are found infected with
Himantocestus gigantivcus sp. nov. ( Cestoda , Diploposthidae) . This cestode is related to H.
blanksoni Ukoli 1965 but easily differentiated from it in having longer and wider strobila,
larger size of testes but lesser in number, cirrus situated in the middle of mature segment
histead of anterior third and slightly posterior to the middle in gravid segment instead of the
middle , ovary and vitelline gland are larger , and the uterus has more branches.
Air pollution evaluation of the operational processes in the East Baghdad oil field was carried out. The analysis was carried out by ICP-MS technique. Total Suspended Particles (TSP) air load was higher than Iraqi Standards and world international allowable limits of World Health Organization. The mean concentrations of gases carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, in the air were within national and world standards, while the mean concentration of nitrogen dioxide was higher than standard limits. The air of the study area is considered a good quality for CO, CO2 and NO2 with no health effect, while it is hazardous for TSP that have serious risk for people with respiratory disease. The mean concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu and
... Show MoreBackground: Consideration of mandibular third molar is important from orthodontic perspective due to several factors such as, lower anterior arch crowding, relapse in lower anterior region, interference with uprighting of mandibular first and second molars during anchorage preparation and molar distalization. The aims of this study were to assess of gender differences in the mandibular third molar position and compare and evaluate whether there is any differences in the results provided by CT scan and lateral reconstructed radiograph. Materials and Methods: The sample of present study consisted of 39 patients (18 males and 21 females) with age range 11-15 years. CT images for patients who were attending at Al Suwayra General Hospital/the C
... Show MoreBackground: Pregnancy is a stressful state of increased inflammatory activity, and pregnancy – associated hormone changes can influence periodontal tissues, these inflammatory activity lead to production of inflammatory mediators. Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) is a potent pro-inflammatory cytokines that is consistently associated with periodontal diseases. This study was designed to determine the periodontal health status and detect the serum level of IL-1β in the healthy pregnant women at first, second and third trimester and compare it with healthy non pregnant women, and determine its correlation with different clinical periodontal parameters. M
... Show MoreA total of 20 raw milk samples were used as the fouling agent for evaluating the bacteriological effectiveness of cleaning and sanitizing of domestic milking equipment by using ozonated water at 0.5 ppm comparing to the warm water at 55! for 5 minutes respectively. The mean values of total aerobic bacteria, Coliform and E.coli that present on the plastic and stainless-steel containers after using the raw milk as fouling agent were 3.4×10-6 , 6.7x10-5 and 5.8×10-3 cfu/cm2 respectively , after cleaning the stainless steel containers by the ozonated water the mean values of total aerobic bacterial counts, Coliforms and E.coli bacteria were reduced to 1.2×10-6, 4.7×10-5 and 3.3×10-3 CFU/cm2 respectively. while after cleaning by the warm wa
... Show MoreThe depletion of petroleum reserves and increasing environmental concerns have driven the development of eco-friendly asphalt binders. This research investigates the performance of natural asphalt (NA) modified with waste engine oil (WEO) as a sustainable alternative to conventional petroleum asphalt (PA). The study examines NA modified with 10%, 20%, and 30% WEO by the weight of asphalt to identify an optimal blend ratio that enhances the binder’s flexibility and workability while maintaining high-temperature stability. Comprehensive testing was conducted, including penetration, softening point, viscosity, ductility, multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR), linear amplitude sweep (LAS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), F
... Show More