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
Electrocardiogram (ECG) is an important physiological signal for cardiac disease diagnosis. With the increasing use of modern electrocardiogram monitoring devices that generate vast amount of data requiring huge storage capacity. In order to decrease storage costs or make ECG signals suitable and ready for transmission through common communication channels, the ECG data
volume must be reduced. So an effective data compression method is required. This paper presents an efficient technique for the compression of ECG signals. In this technique, different transforms have been used to compress the ECG signals. At first, a 1-D ECG data was segmented and aligned to a 2-D data array, then 2-D mixed transform was implemented to compress the
The problem of soil contamination is increased recently due to increasing the industrial wastes such as petroleum hydrocarbon, organic solvents, and heavy metals as well as maximizing the use of agricultural fertilizers. During this period, wide development of data collection methods, using remote sensing techniques in the field of soil and environment applications appear and state the suitable technique for remediation. This study deals with the application of remote sensing techniques in geoenvironmental engineering through a field spectral reflectance measurements at nine spots of naturally hydrocarbons contaminated soil in Al-Daura Refinery Company site which is located to the south west of Baghdad using radiometer device to get stan
... Show MoreThe levels of lead (pb), copper (cu), cobalt (co) and cadmium (cd) were determined in different kinds of milk and the health risks were evaluated. The mean levels were 0.73±0.21, 0.06±0.01, 0.12±0.01 and 0.14±0.01 ppm for these metals respectively. The levels of pb and cu were found to be insignificant differences (p<0.05), whereas the levels of co and cd, were no significant differences (p>0.05). The dry and liquid kinds of milk were different significantly (p<0.05), whereas the original, was no significant differences (p>0.05). The values for all metals were more than one. The metals pb and cd were detected at highest concentrations in most dry and liquid milk samples.
This study has sought to explore the Yemeni online news websites’ treatment of the tropical storm “Luban” which hit the coasts of al-Mahra governorate, and other parts of the Yemeni Eastern and Southern governorates in October 2018. The study also examined how the Yemeni news websites covered the disaster on the basis of the problematic situation model. The study’s findings revealed a form of logical balance in distributing the coverage of the disaster in its different phases. The coverage was a bit more focused on the disaster phase than the pre- and post-disaster phases. Additionally, the websites paid more attention to precautionary measures and the disaster’s humanitarian and material losses. The findings reveal that the ne
... Show MoreIn this study, the upgrading of Iraqi heavy crude oil was achieved utilizing the solvent deasphalting approach (SDA) and enhanced solvent deasphalting (e-SDA) by adding Nanosilica (NS). The NS was synthesized from local sand. The XRD result, referred to as the amorphous phase, has a wide peak at 2Θ= (22 - 23º) The inclusion of hydrogen-bonded silanol groups (Si–O–H) and siloxane groups (Si–O–Si) in the FTIR spectra. The SDA process was handled using n-pentane solvent at various solvent to oil ratios (SOR) (4-16/1ml/g), room and reflux temperature, and 0.5 h mixing time. In the e-SDA process, various fractions of the NS (1–7 wt.%) have been utilized with 61 nm particle size and 560.86 m²/g surface area in the presence of 12 m
... Show MoreRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by persistent joint inflammation, which is a defining feature of this chronic inflammatory condition. Considerable advancements have been made in the field of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic medicines (DMARDs), which effectively mitigate inflammation and forestall further joint deterioration. Anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) drugs, which are a class of biological DMARDs (bDMARDs), have been efficaciously employed in the treatment of RA in recent times Adalimumab, a TNF inhibitor, has demonstrated significant efficacy in reducing disease symptoms and halting disease progression in patients with RA. However, its use is associated with major side effects and high costs. In addition,
... Show MoreIn this study, the effect of the thermal conductivity of phase change material (PCM) on the performance of thermal energy storage has been analyzed numerically. A horizontal concentric shell-and-tube latent heat thermal energy storage system (LHTESS) has been performed during the solidification process. Two types of paraffin wax with different melting temperatures and thermal conductivity were used as a PCM on the shell side, case1=0.265W/m.K and case2=0.311 W/m.K. Water has been used as heat transfer fluid (HTF) flow through in tube side. Ansys fluent has been used to analyze the model by taking into account phase change by the enthalpy method used to deal with phase transition. The numerical simulatio
... Show MoreThis research examines the quantitative analysis to assess the efficiency of the transport network in Sadr City, where the study area suffers from a large traffic movement for the variability of traffic flow and intensity at peak hours as a result of inside traffic and outside of it, especially in the neighborhoods of population with economic concentration. &n
... Show Moreobjective the research to diagnosis and interpretation of the nature of the effect between the basic elements of knowledge management (tecgnology , structure , culture , process , human resource ) and the strategic performance of the Iraqi private banks, the research community and the level dimensions, and I've tested this research in the private banking sector represented by (7), especially in Baghdad, Iraqi banks, and applied research on sample consisting of 100 distributors in several administrative levels Director (Director, Director of the department, branch manager), and use the researcher questionnaire Head to collect data and information tool, and some private banks annual reports, has sought research to test
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