Heavy Metal Pollution and Men Infertility in Al-Falluja City

Infertilityis oneuof the most problemsathatufacingaadvancedunations. In the general, about halfof allacasesaof the infertility are causedby factors thaturelated toathe male partner. Propos educausesvofumalev infertility include evgeneticuand environmental factors. Blood samples from 64 infertileumen allawere living in urban its al-Fallujah city (30 azospermeiauand 34 oligospermeia) and 32 fertile men (asuthe control group) were collected. Heavy metal concentrations inusera of infertile and fertile groupswereumeasured by using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Y- chromosomemicrodeletions were detected by using PCR techniques. Significantdifferences (P?0.05)uin the concentration ofucopper (0.0267±0.0147 and 0.0278±0.0273, for infertileuand fertile group respectively), cadmium (0.0477± 0.0038 and 0.0446±0.0059, respectively) and zinc (1.08 ± 0.16) in fertile groupamoreover wereadetected, no deletionsawere recorded in Y Chromosome in peopleuwho exposed to heavy metals in each a azospermiavor severe oligospermia groups. Spermatogenesis disruption in theamale at any phase of cell differentiationamay be increased the abnormaluof sperm count also decrease theutotalspermucount, impair the stability of sperm chromatinuordamageain the sperm DNA

A fast feature extraction algorithm for image and video processing

Medical images and videos are utilized to discover, diagnose and treat diseases. Managing, storing, and retrieving stored images effectively are considered important topics. The rapid growth of multimedia data, including medical images and videos, has caused a swift rise in data transmission volume and repository size. Multimedia data contains useful information; however, it consumes an enormous storage space. Therefore, high processing time for that sheer volume of data will be required. Image and video applications demand for reduction in computational cost (processing time) when extracting features. This paper introduces a novel method to compute transform coefficients (features) from images or video frames. These features are used to represent the local visual content of images and video frames. We compared the proposed method with the traditional approach of feature extraction using a standard image technique. Furthermore, the proposed method is employed for shot boundary detection (SBD) applications to detect transitions in video frames. The standard TRECVID 2005, 2006, and 2007 video datasets are used to evaluate the performance of the SBD applications. The achieved results show that the proposed algorithm significantly reduces the computational cost in comparison to the traditional method

Image edge detection operators based on orthogonal polynomials

Orthogonal polynomials (OPs) are beneficial for image processing. OPs are used to reflect an image or a scene to a moment domain, and moments are subsequently used to extract object contours utilised in various applications. In this study, OP-based edge detection operators are introduced to replace traditional convolution-based and block processing methods with direct matrix multiplication. A mathematical model with empirical study results is established to investigate the performance of the proposed detectors compared with that of traditional algorithms, such as Sobel and Canny operators. The proposed operators are then evaluated by using entire images from a well-known data set. Experimental results reveal that the proposed operator achieves a more favourable interpretation, especially for images distorted by motion effects, than traditional methods do

Fast recursive computation of Krawtchouk polynomials

Krawtchouk polynomials (KPs) and their moments are used widely in the field of signal processing for their superior discriminatory properties. This study proposes a new fast recursive algorithm to compute Krawtchouk polynomial coefficients (KPCs). This algorithm is based on the symmetry property of KPCs along the primary and secondary diagonals of the polynomial array. The n−x plane of the KP array is partitioned into four triangles, which are symmetrical across the primary and secondary diagonals. The proposed algorithm computes the KPCs for only one triangle (partition), while the coefficients of the other three triangles (partitions) can be computed using the derived symmetry properties of the KP. Therefore, only N / 4 recursion times are required. The proposed algorithm can also be used to compute polynomial coefficients for different values of the parameter p in interval (0, 1). The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with that in previous literature in terms of image reconstruction error, polynomial size, and computation cost. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is applied in a face recognition system to determine the impact of parameter p on feature extraction ability. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm has a remarkable advantage over other existing algorithms for a wide range of parameters p and polynomial size N, especially in reducing the computation time and the number of operations utilized

Case Report: Normoglycemic Diabetic Ketoacidosis Post Gastric Botulinum Toxin Injection for Weight Loss

True normoglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis (when the blood glucose is below 200 mg/dl) is relatively uncommon and in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) can be caused by starvation due to various reason, like prolonged fasting, malnutrition, persistent vomiting,post bariatric gastric surgery, chronic alcohol intake, Atkins diet, pregnancy and eating disorder. It is also encountered following the endoscopic procedure using gastric botulinum toxin injection as part of non-surgical bariatric procedure for weight loss in obese people. This procedure can be unsafe in diabetic patients as it is difficult to achieve glycemic control due to unpredicted gastric emptying time and the ability of the individual to have adequate nutrition. We report a case with normoglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis precipitated by starvation post gastric botulinum toxin injection in a patient with T2DM. On presentation patient was acidotic with positive blood ketones and a blood glucose levels of 106 mg/dl, after correction of acidosis the patient was discharged. This case highlights the need to assess the acid-based status even with normal blood glucose levels, especially in those who have received a gastric botulinum toxin injection resulting in poor oral intake

Modeling the Uniformity of Manifold with Various Configurations

The flow distribution in manifolds is highly dependent on inlet pressure, configuration, and total inlet flow to the manifold. The flow from a manifold has many applications and in various fields of engineering such as civil, mechanical, and chemical engineering. In this study, physical and numerical models were employed to study the uniformity of the flow distribution from manifold with various configurations. The physical model consists of main manifold with uniform longitudinal section having diameter of 10.16 cm (4 in), five laterals with diameter of 5.08 cm (2 in), and spacing of 22 cm. Different inlet flows were tested and the values of these flows are 500, 750, and 1000 L/min. A manifold with tapered longitudinal section having inlet diameters of 10.16 cm (4 in) and dead end diameter of 5.08 cm (2 in) with the same above later specifications and flow rates was tested for its uniformity too. The percentage of absolute mean deviation for manifold with uniform diameter was found to be 34% while its value for the manifold with nonuniform diameter was found to be 14%. This result confirms the efficiency of the nonuniform distribution of fluids

Polyphenol-Rich Date Palm Fruit Seed (Phoenix Dactylifera L.) Extract Inhibits Labile Iron, Enzyme, and Cancer Cell Activities, and DNA and Protein Damage

Date palm fruit seed (Phoenix dactylifera L.) extract (DSE), an under-utilized resource, is a rich source of polyphenols with high potency for disease prevention and antioxidative activities. For the first time, the present study demonstrated that DSE inhibits labile iron activity and DNA and BSA damage and inhibits acetylcholinesterase and tyrosinase activities. Moreover, DSE reduces the proliferation of hepatic, colorectal, and breast cancer cells dose-dependently through apoptotic mechanisms. Furthermore, DSE significantly suppressed the expression of both BCl-2 and P21 genes and increased the P53 expression level when compared with the untreated cells and the 5-FU treated cells. These findings suggest a strong potential for DSE in protecting against the iron-catalyzed ferroptosis that results in programmed cell death. The results also confirm the efficacy of DSE against cancer cells. Therefore, DSE constitutes a valuable candidate for developing functional foods and for natural compound-based chemotherapy for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries

Low-distortion MMSE speech enhancement estimator based on laplacian prior

The most well-known conventional speech enhancement algorithms introduce unwanted artifact noise and speech distortion to the enhanced signal. Reducing the effects of such issues require more robust linear and non-linear estimators. This paper proposes new optimum linear and non-linear Laplacian distribution-based estimators. The proposed estimators are derived based on a minimum mean squared error (MMSE) sense to minimize the distortion in different conditions of the underlying speech. Thus, artifact noise is reduced without compromising the noise reduction process. The analytical solutions of the Laplacian distribution-based estimators, linear bilateral Laplacian gain estimator (LBLG), and nonlinear bilateral Laplacian gain estimator (NBLG), are presented. The proposed estimators are implemented in three steps. First, the observation signal is decorrelated through a real transform domain to obtain its transform coefficients. Second, the proposed estimators are applied to estimate the clean speech signal from the noisy signal in the decorrelated domain. Finally, the inverse of the real transform is applied to obtain the original speech signal in the time domain. Two conditions in these estimators account for interference events between the speech signal and noise coefficients in the decorrelated domain. Moreover, a mathematical aspect of mean square error of LBLG is evaluated, which presents a significant improvement over other methods. Furthermore, a comprehensive description of the whole variations of the LBLG and NBLG gains characteristics is presented. A comparative evaluation is performed with effective quality metrics, segmental signal-to-noise ratio and perceptual evaluation of speech quality, to demonstrate the advantage and effectiveness of the proposed estimators. The performance of the proposed estimators outperformed other methods, which are the traditional MMSE approach, perceptually motivated Bayesian estimator, dual gain Wiener estimator, and dual MMSE estimator in terms of different objective measurements

Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, Antimicrobial, and Anticancer Activities of Pomegranate Juice Concentrate

Pomegranate juice concentrate (PJC) is a rich source of polyphenols, which exhibit significant antioxidant activity and potential health benefits for disease prevention and therapy. In this study, the polyphenolic profile of PJC was investigated for the first time, and it was found that PJC can inhibit oxidative damage to bovine serum albumin (BSA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), as well as acetylcholinesterase, α-amylase, and tyrosinase activities. The primary polyphenols identified in PJC were 4-Hydroxy-3-Methoxybenzoate, epicatechin, catechin, rutin, ferulic acid, P-coumaric acid, and cinnamic acid. Additionally, PJC demonstrated potent antibacterial effects against human pathogens such as Streptococcus mutans and Aeromonas hydrophila and dose-dependently reduced the proliferation of colorectal, breast, and hepatic cancer cells via apoptosis. Furthermore, PJC blocked B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCl-2) and the expression of a potent cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (P21) and enhanced tumor protein (P53) expression, compared to both untreated cells and cells treated with fluoropyrimidine 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). As a result, PJC may be a beneficial ingredient in the formulation of emerging natural-compound-based chemotherapy and functional foods and could be utilized by the food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries