Background: The discriminative power of the classical WHO parameters in relation to male fertility is quite low, because they only address few aspects of sperm quality and function. This has led investigators to focus their attention on the male gamete and in particular its genome.Objective: To explore which of the sperm DNA damage parameters measured by comet assay are more reliable, and their relations with the standard semen parameters.Methods: Study was done on 40 infertile men selected from couples attending the Institute of Embryo Reasearch and Infertility Treatment at Al-Kadhimiya City/ Baghdad in the period between February 2009 and May 2009, with a history of infertility of ≥1 years; and 15 healthy volunteers of proven fertility serving as control. Samples were allowed to liquefy for at least 30 minutes at 37°C and then evaluated according to the guidelines of the World Health Organization, 1999. The single cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay was studied in the ejaculated spermatozoa. The exclusion criteria were the presence of azoospermia and severe oligospermia. Results were compared with the standard semen characteristics (concentration, motility and morphology).Results: Compared to healthy volunteers, infertile patients had highly significantly higher values of comet parameters (P = 0.00001). In all infertile patients, comet extent did not correlate with any of the classical semen parameters; whereas, tail length (μm), % DNA in tail, tail moment and olive moment had all significant negative correlations with the standard parameters. Significant positive correlations were observed between the studied comet parameters, except for the comet extent which was not significantly correlated with tail length and % DNA in tail (P = 0.06, P = 0.7; respectively).Conclusion: Comet assay is a very useful technique in assessing sperm DNA damage. Comet tail parameters and comet extent, may clarify different aspects of DNA damage, and together give a better insight to the integrity of the male genome.Keywards: sperm, comet extent, % DNA in tail, tail moment and olive moment
Abstract: The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of 940 nm diode laser in comparison to Endoactivator in elimination of smear layer in terms of radicular dentin permeability and ultra-structural changes of root canal walls by SEM evaluation. Twenty-eight single-rooted extracted lower premolars were instrumented up to size X4 (protaper Next, Dentsaply) and divided into two experimental groups according to the irrigation system, G1; activated by EndoActivator and G2; activated by Diode laser 940 nm, CW mode, 1.7 W. Afterward, the roots were made externally impermeable, filled with 2%methylene blue dye, divided horizontally into three segments representing the apical, middle, and coronal thirds then examined under stereo- micr
... Show MoreIn this study, we focused on the random coefficient estimation of the general regression and Swamy models of panel data. By using this type of data, the data give a better chance of obtaining a better method and better indicators. Entropy's methods have been used to estimate random coefficients for the general regression and Swamy of the panel data which were presented in two ways: the first represents the maximum dual Entropy and the second is general maximum Entropy in which a comparison between them have been done by using simulation to choose the optimal methods.
The results have been compared by using mean squares error and mean absolute percentage error to different cases in term of correlation valu
... Show MoreThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of hydrated lime addition methods as filler replacement on fatigue performance of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA). Three types of addition methods of hydrated lime were introduced namely dry HL on dry aggregate and saturated surface aggregate above 3% and slurry HL on dry aggregate, ordinary Lime stone powder was reduced by three HL percentage (1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 %). The effect of different methods were investigated on the fatigue properties of HMA using, third-point flexural fatigue bending Test. Pneumatic Repeated Load System (PRLS) was carried out to establish the effect of hydrated lime on the fatigue failure criteria and to select the proper hydrated lime application methods on fatigue behavior o
... Show MoreMunicipal solid waste is one of the most important environmental problems in the world and is an important source of environmental pollution and contributes significantly to the pollution of the basic environmental elements of soil, water and air. The management of municipal waste in general is a process of monitoring, collection, treatment or recycling if possible or disposal of waste. This term is used for waste produced by some human activities. States provide this process to mitigate the negative effects of waste on the environment, health and appearance of the city. It is possible to find solutions to the problem of solid waste and make it an important source of income and contribute to securing employment oppor
... Show MoreThe current study was conducted for studying the impact of cold plasma on the expression level of three genes that participate in the biosynthesis of the phenylpropanoid pathway in Ocimum basilicum. These studied genes were cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (c4h), 4-coumarate CoA ligase (4cl), and eugenol O-methyl transferase (eomt). Also, the cold plasma impact was studied on the essential oil components and their relation with the gene expression level. The results demonstrated that cold plasma seeds germination of the treated groups 2 (initially for 3 minutes and 3 minutes after 7 days) ,and group 3(initially for 5 minutes and 3 minutes after 7 days) were faster than the control group. Also, the height average of the mature plants of
... Show MoreAbstractIn the field of construction materials the glass reinforced mortar and Styrene Butadiene mortar are modern composite materials. This study experimentally investigated the effect of addition of randomly dispersed glass fibers and layered glass fibers on density and compressive strength of mortar with and without the presence of Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR). Mixtures of 1:2 cement/sand ratio and 0.5 water/cement ratio were prepared for making mortar. The glass fibers were added by two manners, layers and random with weight percentages of (0.54, 0.76, 1.1 and 1.42). The specimens were divided into two series: glass-fiber reinforced mortar without SBR and glass-fiber reinforced mortar with 7% SBR of mixture water. All s
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An experiment was conducted using pots (capacity of 4 kg soil/pot) in the glasshouse of Biology Dept. College of Education (Ibn Al-Haitham) University of Baghdad during 2008-2009 growing season, in order to determine the effect of different levels of urea fertilizer (Zero, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 gm/4 kg soil in pot) these equal to (Zero, 100,200,400 kg/ha) and different levels of superphosphate fertilizer (Zero, 0.1, 0.2 gm/4kg soil in pot), these equal to (Zero, 100,200 kg/ha) on some morphological and physiological characteristics of fenugreek plant. This experiment was conducted using Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications and the experiment included (36) pots. Results indicated clear increase in all studied characteristics wi
... Show MoreThe aim of this research is to study the effect of welded joint design (Butt joint and lap joint) on thejoint strength during tension and fatigue loading with different current of welding (40,50,60,70,80) ^per, and different type of wire welding. The result of this research is showed that the effect of fatigue loading on the type of joint is more than the effect of tension loading on it. And the butt joint welding is better than the lap joint welding during the fatigue loaded.The experimental results of the effect of W'elding current showed that more increasing and more decreasing the value of the heat input, during the welding was found to produce mechanical brittleness on the buttjoint welding during the static and dynamic loading. Also i
... Show MoreThis research was conducted under Lath house canopy of a nursery circumstances, Baghdad University for season 2013 in order to study the effect of soak lemon seeds sour orange with different levels of licorice concentrations extract (0, 0.5, 2.5 and 4.5 g/l) for 24 hours in the percentage of germination and some recipes vegetative growth of seedlings .the results outweigh the bitter orange seedlings and focus soak for licorice extract 4.5 g / l significant superiority in most of the traits plant height, leaf number, root length, stem diameter, amounting to 31.077 cm, 14.46 paper / plant, 25.35 cm, 0.52 mm respectively, which showed significant differences for the treatment of comparison which gave lower values. Clear that the licorice ext
... Show MoreBackground and Aim: Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2) is a highly contagious virus that infects wild and domestic canines. Despite the use of a routine vaccination protocol, it is endemic in Iraq. The genetic drift of CPV-2 is a major issue worldwide because it abrogates virus control. In Iraq, there is a knowledge gap regarding the genetic sequences of asymptomatic and symptomatic CPV-2 cases. Therefore, this study aimed to perform a genetic analysis of viral capsid protein 1 (VP1) and viral capsid protein 2 (VP2), two major capsid-encoding genes, to demonstrate the possible role of certain mutations in triggering infection. Materials and Methods: Symptomatic and asymptomatic cases (n = 100/each) were tested by a polymerase chain reacti
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