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.
Background: With the increase in composite material use in posterior teeth, the concerns about the polymerization shrinkage has increased with the concerns about the formation of marginal gaps in the oral cavity environment. New generation of adhesives called universal adhesive have been introduced to the market in order to reduce the technique sensitive bonding procedures to give the advantage of using the bonding system in any etching protocol without compromising the bonding strength. The aim of the study was to study marginal adaptation of two universal adhesives (Single bondâ„¢ Universal and Prime and Bond elect) using 3 etching techniques under thermal cycling aging. Materials and Methods: Forty-eight sound maxillary first premola
... Show MoreFlexible molecular docking is a computational method of structure-based drug design to evaluate binding interactions between receptor and ligand and identify the ligand conformation within the receptor pocket. Currently, various molecular docking programs are extensively applied; therefore, realizing accuracy and performance of the various docking programs could have a significant value. In this comparative study, the performance and accuracy of three widely used non-commercial docking software (AutoDock Vina, 1-Click Docking, and UCSF DOCK) was evaluated through investigations of the predicted binding affinity and binding conformation of the same set of small molecules (HIV-1 protease inhibitors) and a protein target HIV-1 protease enzy
... Show MoreThe aim of this study is to investigate the kinetics of copper removal from aqueous solutions using an electromembrane extraction (EME) system. To achieve this, a unique electrochemical cell design was adopted comprising two glass chambers, a supported liquid membrane (SLM), a graphite anode, and a stainless-steel cathode. The SLM consisted of a polypropylene flat membrane infused with 1-octanol as a solvent and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (DEHP) as a carrier. The impact of various factors on the kinetics constant rate was outlined, including the applied voltage, initial pH of the donor phase solution, and initial copper concentration. The results demonstrated a significant influence of the applied voltage on enhancing the rate of c
... Show MoreMonitoring water quality in hemodialysis systems is extremely important to maintain adequate quality services for patients suffering from kidney failure. This work aims to examine and evaluate bacteriological characteristics and endotoxin contamination levels in hemodialysis water produced in dialysis centers. Forty‐eight water samples were collected and analyzed from four major hospitals in Baghdad for one year to evaluate seasonal effects. The analysis included the determination of total heterotrophic bacteria using the pour plate method, identification of bacterial isolate using the Vitek2 compact instrument, and the determination of endotoxins levels using Limulus ameboc
Cardiovascular disorders are refer to the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels (arteries and veins). While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system. Cholesterol is classified as a sterol (a contraction of steroid and
... Show MoreZinc oxide thin films were deposited by chemical spray pyrolysis onto glass substrates which are held at a temperature of 673 K. Some structural, electrical, optical and gas sensing properties of films were studied. The resistance of ZnO thin film exhibits a change of magnitude as the ambient gas is cycled from air to oxygen and nitrogen dioxide
The increasing drinking water demand in many countries leads to an increase in the use of desalination plants, which are considered a great solution for water treatment processes. Reverse osmosis (RO) and electro-dialysis (ED) systems are the most popular membrane processes used to desalinate water at high salinity. Both systems work by separating the ionic contaminates and disposing of them as a brine solution, but ED uses electrical current as a driving force while RO uses osmotic pressure. A direct comparison of reverse osmosis and electro-dialysis systems is needed to highlight process development similarities and variances. This work aims to provide an overview of previous studies on reverse osmosis and electro-dial
... Show MoreThe analysis of Iraqi light oil (light naphtha) by capillary gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was performed by the injection of whole naphtha sample without use of solvents. Qualitative analysis and the identification of the hydrocarbon constituents of light naphtha was performed and comparison had been done with American light oil (light naphtha). The obtained results showed a major difference between the two-light naphtha.
Thirty swabes of medical implants were collected from Al-Yarmouk's hospital which were cultured on manitole agar to isolate Staphelococcus aureus . Only four samples gave positive results with this media. It was used ten types of antibiotics to test the sensitivity of this bacterium against them. All isolates of S. aureus were recorded as multidrug resistant and were considered as MRSA. One pledge alternative therapy is the utilize of certain pure bacterocin MIC (32.5 to 62.5 μg/ml) and it was compared with vancomycin (200-400 μg/ml) with average of (8 – 15) mm diameter of inhibition zones recpectively. The first reduction of biofilm formation ability has been proved in catheters when treatedby pure bacterocin. The test shows the highes
... Show MoreFlow-injection (FI) spectrophotometric method has been developed for the analysis of thymol in pharmaceutical preparations. The method is based on organic coupling reaction between thymol and 4-amino antipyrine in the presence of alkaline medium to form an intense stable red color complex with copper nitrate that has a maximum absorption at 490 nm. Optimum conditions for determination of the drug was investigated .The calibration graph was linear over the range of 5-500 µg.ml-1 of thymol . The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 1.81 ?g mL-1 and 3.60 ?g mL-1 respectively .The proposed method was applied satisfactorily to the determination of thymol in mouth wash preparations. The procedure is characterized by
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