Background: Human semen contains high concentrations of fructose, zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) in bound and ionic forms for Zn and Cu. The presence of abnormal levels of fructose and those trace elements may affect spermatogenesis with regard to production, maturation, motility and fertilizing capacity of the spermatozoa.Objective: To evaluate the levels of fructose, Zn and Cu in seminal plasma in different groups of male infertility and to correlate their concentrations with various sperm parameters.Methods: The concentrations of fructose, Zn and Cu were measured in 114 semen samples from normozoospermic, oligozoospermic, astheno-zoospermic, and azoospermic men using the electrothermal-atomic absorption spectrometry for Zn and Cu determination. The concentration of fructose in seminal plasma was determined with a spectrophotometric method, using the resorcinol method.Results: Results of the present study showed that there was an inverse relationship between fructose levels and sperm count. The mean value of seminal plasma fructose concentrations was significantly increased (p ≤ 0.001) in the three groups of infertile male subjects (azoospermia, asthenozoospermia and oligozoospermia) than in fertile males. The mean value of seminal plasma Zn concentrations was significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.001) in the three groups of infertile male subjects (azoospermia, asthenozoospermia and oligozoospermia) than in fertile males. A good correlation in a positive direction was noted between the sperm count and seminal plasma Zn concentration. There was significant decrease in seminal plasma Cu concentration between asthenozoospermia and control groups (p ≤ 0.05) and insignificant increase in oligozoospermic patients.Conclusions: On the basis of the observations of the present study, seminal fructose, zinc and copper may contribute to fertility through their effects on various semen parameters.Key words:Male infertility, fructose, zinc, copper.
This study was undertaken to introduce a fast, accurate, selective, simple and environment-friendly colorimetric method to determine iron (II) concentration in different lipstick brands imported or manufactured locally in Baghdad, Iraq. The samples were collected from 500-Iraqi dinars stores to establish routine tests using the spectrophotometric method and compared with a new microfluidic paper-based analytical device (µPAD) platform as an alternative to cost-effective conventional instrumentation such as Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). This method depends on the reaction between iron (II) with iron(II) selective chelator 1, 10-phenanthroline(phen) in the presence of reducing agent hydroxylamine (HOA) and sodium acetate (NaOAc) b
... Show MoreIn this paper, we investigate the basic characteristics of "magnetron sputtering plasma" using the target V2O5. The "magnetron sputtering plasma" is produced using "radio frequency (RF)" power supply and Argon gas. The intensity of the light emission from atoms and radicals in the plasma measured by using "optical emission spectrophotometer", and the appeared peaks in all patterns match the standard lines from NIST database and employed are to estimate the plasma parameters, of computes electron temperature and the electrons density. The characteristics of V2O5 sputtering plasma at multiple discharge provisos are studied at the "radio frequency" (RF) power ranging from 75 - 150 Wat
... Show MoreAlot of medical and industrial applications used the metal nanoparticles (NPs) with increase interest to be used as cancer therapy. The current work aimed to prepare AuNPs and AgNPs through the use of plasma jet and test their antitumor mechanism of apoptosis induction. The results indicating the face-centered cubic structures and crystalline nature of AuNPs and AgNPs. Also, the image of FESEM showed that the well dispersions regarding AuNPs and AgNPs, while the NP’s spherical shape with the particle size distributions which are considered to be close that estimated from the XRD. cytotoxicity have been assessed against the Normal embryonic cell line REF and the digestive system (HC , SK-GT-4) cell lines under a variety of the seri
... Show MoreChronic inflammation can induce proliferative events and posttranslational DNA modifications in prostate tissue through oxidative stress. The present study was designed to evaluate the changes in serum levels of TNF-α, malomdialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant status (TAS) patients with different stages of malignant prostatic cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). One hundred males (age range of 58-72 years) with different stages of malignant PCa were recruited from the Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine Teaching Hospital in Baghdad during the period from September 2010 to April 2011. The patients were categorized according to the 4 disease stages (I, II, III, and IV); 25 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
... Show More<p>Currently, breast cancer is one of the most common cancers and a main reason of women death worldwide particularly in<strong> </strong>developing countries such as Iraq. our work aims to predict the type of tumor whether benign or malignant through models that were built using logistic regression and neural networks and we hope it will help doctors in detecting the type of breast tumor. Four models were set using binary logistic regression and two different types of artificial neural networks namely multilayer perceptron MLP and radial basis function RBF. Evaluation of validated and trained models was done using several performance metrics like accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and AUC (area under receiver ope
... Show MoreKE Sharquie, HM Al-Hamamy, AA Noaimi, IA Al-Shawi, Journal of the Saudi Society of Dermatology & Dermatologic Surgery, 2011 - Cited by 9
Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Iraq and the United Kingdom. While the disease is frequently diagnosed among middleaged Iraqi women at advanced stages accounting for the second cause of cancer-related deaths, breast cancer often affects elderly British women yielding the highest survival of all registered malignancies in the UK. Objective: To compare the clinical and pathological profiles of breast cancer among Iraqi and British women; correlating age at diagnosis with the tumor characteristics, receptor-defined biomarkers and phenotype patterns. Methods: This comparative retrospective study included the clinical and pathological characteristics of (1,940) consecutive female patients who were diagnosed with invasive b
... Show MoreThe dielectric properties of epoxy/palm oil fiber composites at different concentrations 1,3,5, and 10% by weight, and frequency ranging from 100 Hz to 1000kHz.Epoxy, zinc oxide and oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB)fiber composites were prepared by hand –lay up into sheets. The effects of incorporated fibers on the electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity of the composites were investigated. The electrical conductivity of the composites decreased with increasing OPEFB fiber content. Despite the slight decrease in conductivity, the composites still sufficiently conductive relatively to applications such as sensors after the fiber addition, the thermal conductivity increased to 0.41
Plasma generated by a 1064 nm pulsed Nd: YAG laser with pulse duration of 10 ns concentrated onto an Al solid target under vacuum pressure was examined spectroscopically. The temperature and electron density specifying the plasma were measured by time-resolved spectroscopy of neutral atom and ion line emissions in the time period range of 300–2000 ns. An echelle spectrograph is utilized to appear the plasma emission lines. The temperature was obtained using the spectral line comparison method and the electron density was calculated using the Stark Broadening (SB) method. The electron density was characterized as a function of laser pulse energy. The time range where the plasma is optically thin and is also in local thermodynamic equilibri
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