Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune vesiculobullous mucocutaneous disease with life-threatening consequences. Rituximab (RTX) has recently emerged as an effective treatment for PV. Objectives: This study aims to determine changes in neutrophil and platelet counts for PV patients treated with RTX or corticosteroids combined with Imuran (azathioprine). Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology at Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. Thirty PV patients received two types of treatment: 15 patients were administered RTX and 15 patients took corticosteroids with Imuran (azathioprine). Neutrophil and platelet counts were detected at the hospital laboratory. Results: The age range of PV patients was 27–67 years, and the mean ±SD was 44.866 ± 10.979 years for the patient group treated with RTX and 44.133 ± 11.519 for the patient group treated with corticosteroids and Imuran. In patients treated with RTX, 26.6% were males and 73.33% were females, with a female-to-male ratio of 2.75:1. In patients treated with corticosteroids with Imuran, 40% were males and 60% were females, with a female-to-male ratio of 1.5:1. The results revealed that among patients treated with RTX, 30% of them had mucocutaneous lesions, 6.66% had oral lesions, and 13.33% had cutaneous lesions. Among the other groups treated with corticosteroids and Imuran, 23.33% had mucocutaneous lesions, 13.33% had oral lesions, and 13.33% had cutaneous lesions. Among the patients treated with RTX, 53.33% had normal range of neutrophil count, while 46.6% had neutrophil count above the NR, while in patients treated with corticosteroids and Imuran, 40% had a normal range and 60% had above the normal range. Conclusion: RTX was a more effective treatment compared to corticosteroids with Imuran because no patient remained in an active state during this study. PV was prevalent in females aged 40 years with mucocutaneous lesions.
Silicon (Si)-based materials are sought in different engineering applications including Civil, Mechanical, Chemical, Materials, Energy and Minerals engineering. Silicon and Silicon dioxide are processed extensively in the industries in granular form, for example to develop durable concrete, shock and fracture resistant materials, biological, optical, mechanical and electronic devices which offer significant advantages over existing technologies. Here we focus on the constitutive behaviour of Si-based granular materials under mechanical shearing. In the recent times, it is widely recognised in the literature that the microscopic origin of shear strength in granular assemblies are associated with their
In order to study the dynamic response of historical masonry structures, a scaled down brick masonry model constructed in civil engineering department at Baghdad University to simulate a part of a real case study, which is Alkifil historic minaret. Most of the previous researches about masonry structures try to understand the behavior of the masonry under seismic loading by experimental and numerical methods. In this paper, the masonry units (bricks) simulated in scale (S= 1/6) with the exact shape of the prototype bricks. Cementitious tile adhesive was selected to be the mortar for the modeling. The height of the model designed to be 1.5 m with a 0.5 m diameter. Detailed construction steps were presented in this paper. Experts buil
... Show MoreThe process of discovering pharmaceuticals is of great importance in our contemporary life, in a way that without life becomes almost impossible, as this process is the first building block in the field of pharmaceutical industries to search for new methods and means of treatment and treatment. But in fact, the fact that talking about this process is not that simple and easy, because this process is complicated and difficult in a way that makes it take a time range that in some cases reaches what is permissible ten years to reach a chemical formula that can be used later in the manufacturing process Pharmacokinetics, and during this long period of time, this process will have a set of effects, some of which are specific to the researcher di
... Show MoreSoil stabilization with stone powder is a good solution for the construction of subgrade for road way and railway lines, especially under the platforms and mostly in transition zones between embankments and rigid structures, where the mechanical properties of supporting soils are very influential. Stone powder often has a unique composition which justifies the need for research to study the feasibility of using this stone powder type for ground improvement applications. This paper presents results from a comprehensive laboratory study carried out to investigate the feasibility of using stone powder for improvement of engineering properties of clays.
The stone powder contains bassanite (CaSO4. ½ H
... Show MoreThe effect of adding sand on clayey soil shear strength is investigated in this study. Five different percentage of clay-sand mixtures are used; 100% clay with 0% sand termed 100C, 60% clay with 40% sand termed 60C-40S, 30% clay with 70% sand termed 30C-70S, 15% clay with 85% sand termed 15C-85S, and as well as 100% sand termed 100S. The used clay was obtained from Baghdad city in Iraq and classified as CH soil, while the used sand was taken from Al-Khider area from Iraq and classified as SW soil. The initial dry unit weight for all mixtures is 16 kN/m3. The results show that the variations of the soil shear strength properties with soil components content changes
BACKGROUND: Cochlear implant has become a routine procedure for management of severe sensorineural hearing loss. Cochlear implant extrusion is one of the most devastating complication of this procedure. A double layer closure of pericranial flap and scalp rotational flap has being showed to decrease the rate of late implant extrusion.OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of the pericranial flap as second layer coverage after cochlear implant extrusion.PATIENTS AND METHODS:Eight patients with cochlear implant extrusion in Al-Shaheed Gazi Al-Hariri hospital were operated on by using two layer closure ; the pericranial flap as salvage layer used to cover the cochlear implant and scalp rotational flap as a routine coverage,
... Show Moreone of the most important consequences of climate change is the rise in sea levels, which leads to the drowning of some low-lying island states, which leads to them losing the elements of statehood and thus affecting their status as a state, this resulted in several proposals made by the jurisprudence of international law to solve this issue, perhaps the most important of which is the idea of the government in exile, and the proposal to continue recognition of submerged countries, in a way that makes it possible to talk about a new concept of states represented by deterritorialized states, all of which are ultimately proposals that contain great difficulties that hinder their implementation in reality.
Membrane manufacturing system was operated using dry/wet phase inversion process. A sample of hollow fiber membrane was prepared using (17% wt PVC) polyvinyl chloride as membrane material and N, N Dimethylacetamide (DMAC) as solvent in the first run and the second run was made using (DMAC/Acetone) of ratio 3.4 w/w. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to predict the structure and dimensions of hollow fiber membranes prepared. The ultrafiltration experiments were performed using soluble polymeric solute poly ethylene glycol (PEG) of molecular weight (20000 Dalton) 800 ppm solution 25 °C temperature and 1 bar pressure. The experimental results show that pure water permeation increased from 25.7 to 32.2 (L/m2.h.bar) by adding aceton
... Show MoreIn this paper we present the first ever measured experimental electron momentum density of Cu2Sb at an intermediate resolution (0.6 a.u.) using 59.54 keV 241Am Compton spectrometer. The measurements are compared with the theoretical Compton profiles using density function theory (DFT) within a linear combination of an atomic orbitals (LCAO) method. In DFT calculation, Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) scheme is employed to treat correlation whereas exchange is included by following the Becke scheme. It is seen that various approximations within LCAO-DFT show relatively better agreement with the experimental Compton data. Ionic model calculations for a number of configurations (Cu+x/2)2(Sb-x) (0.0≤x≤2.0) are also performed utilizing free a
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