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.
Abstract: The development of highly sensitive sensors has become an efficient field of research. In this work, an ArF Excimer laser of 193 nm with a maximum pulse energy of 275 mJ, 15 ns pulse duration and a repetition rate of 1 Hz is utilized to form a Laser Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) of three different morphologies (nanochains, contours, grooves) on surface of CR39 polymer at a fluence range above the ablation threshold (250 mJ/cm2). The laser ablated polymer surface is then Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) activated by deposition of a gold layer of 30 nm thickness. The capability of the produced substrate for surface enhanced Raman scattering is evaluated through thiophenol as an analyte molecule. It is observ
... Show MoreBackground: Surface treatment of machined dental zirconia for enhancement of the adhesion to resin cement, using Er,Cr:YSGG Laser. Materials and Methods: Total number of 42 zirconia disc specimens (9 mm diameter, and 2 mm height) was sintered according to the manufacturer instruction. They are divided into six groups, each group of seven samples. Laser groups (Experiment parameters) were depend on laser total irradiation time, pulse duration, and power. Group (A): 20 sec., 60 µs pulse duration. Group (B): 30 sec., 60 µs pulse duration. Group (C): 40 sec., 60 µs pulse duration. Group (D): 20 sec., 700 µs pulse duration. Group (E): 30 sec., 700 µs pulse duration, with different powers used (1, 1
... Show MoreAbstract
Paraffin wax is utilized for the heat storage applications taking advantage from the high stored latent heat during the phase change (from solid to fluid) period. What isn't right with this procedure is that the wax has a little heat transfer rate because of its low thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity improvement of the paraffin wax has been examined utilizing nano-material with high thermal conductivity. In the recent study, (Al2O3) nanoparticles with weights of 1, 2, and 3% of the paraffin wax were added to the paraffin wax. The Iraqi paraffin wax accessible at the local markets was utilized as a phase change material (PCM).
Many properties of the
... Show MoreIn this paper, we introduce an exponential of an operator defined on a Hilbert space H, and we study its properties and find some of properties of T inherited to exponential operator, so we study the spectrum of exponential operator e^T according to the operator T.
this work, a simple method was used to prepare the MnO2 nanoparticles. These nanoparticles then were characterized by several techniques, such as X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The results showed that the diffraction peak of MnO2 nanoparticles was similar to that of standard data. The images of AFM and SEM indicated that the MnO2 nanorods were growing from the MnO2 nano spherical shape. PVA-pentaerythritol/MnO2 nanocomposite films were fabricated by evaporating casting method. The dielectric constant and loss tangent of P-Ery/MnO2 films were measured between 10 kHz and 1 MHz using LCR. As the content of MnO2 increased, the dielectric constant
... Show MoreWith the increase in industry and industrial products, quantities of waste have increased worldwide, especially plastic waste, as plastic pollution is considered one of the wastes of the modern era that threatens the environment and living organisms. On this basis, a solution must be found to use this waste and recycle it safely so that it does not threaten the environment. Therefore, this research used plastic waste as an improvement material for clay soil. In this research, two types of tests were conducted, the first of which was a laboratory test, where the undrained shear strength (cohesion), compression index (Cc), and swelling index (Cr) of the improved and unimproved soils were calculated (plastic was added in pr
... Show MoreIn the present study, a low cost adsorbent is developed from the naturally available sawdust
which is biodegradable. The removal capacity of chromium(VI) from the synthetically prepared
industrial effluent of electroplating and tannery industrial is obtained.
Two modes of operation are used, batch mode and fixed bed mode. In batch experiment the
effect of Sawdust dose (4- 24g/L) with constant initial chromium(VI) concentration of 50 mg/L and
constant particle size less than1.8 mm were studied.
Batch kinetics experiments showed that the adsorption rate of chromium(VI) ion by Sawdust
was rapid and reached equilibrium within 120 min. The three models (Freundlich, Langmuir and
Freundlich-Langmuir) were fitted to exper
The legal nature of the Build-Operate-Transfer-Ownership Contract (B.O.T) The Build, Operate, and Transfer of Ownership Contract (BOT) has emerged as the most successful and safest method for involving the private sector in public sector services. The major infrastructure projects that are built through the BOT contract are no longer financed by the state and its budget, but the private sector has played a major role in financing These projects, especially developing countries that need to establish infrastructure or modernize their existing infrastructure, especially in the areas of transport, communications, services, electricity, water ..... and other public utilities.
The cuneiform texts considered one of the most important resources which play an important role help us to know how was the economic , politic and religious manner and every thing have relation of the history of Mesopotamia which contain many of information that enrich our knowldgement every side of Mesopotamia civilization since using writing as away to register the science and human knowldgement . The city of Sippar (Abu –Habba ) was one of most important city of ancient Mesopotamia which mentioned as one of first five Mesopotamian cities found before floating and it exposed through excavating rich one of them tablet which some of it dated to old Babylon period . The king Ammi-Saduqa has a big share of tablet we study number of thi
... Show MoreIn this work, laboratory experiments were carried out to verify direct contact membrane distillation system’s performance in highly saline water desalination. The study included the investigation of various operating conditions, like feed flow rate, temperature and concentration of NaCl solution and their impact on the permeation flux were discussed. 16 cm2 of a flat sheet membrane module with commercial poly-tetra-fluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane, which has 0.22 μm pore size, 96 µm thickness and 78% average porosity, was used. A high salt rejection factor was obtained greater than 99.9%, and the permeation flux up to 17.27 kg/m2.h was achieved at 65°C for hot feed side and 20°C for cold side stream.