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.
P. aeruginosa is a famous bacterium that causes several diseases and has a high ability to be a multidrug resistant organism that is linked with the formation of biofilm. This study aimed to investigate tssC1 gene role in the resistance of different antibiotics in the presence of biofilm. We constructed biofilm for the isolates under the study and showed the effect of different antibiotics on biofilm formation and maturation. The presence of the gene was detected through achieving PCR reaction. Finally, tssC1 gene variation was determined through sequencing and aligning the sequencing products. The results showed that most of the isolates (80%) formed biofilm that played a role in the resistance of different antibiotics which could
... Show MoreThe road transportation system is considered as major component of the infrastructure in any country, it affects the developments in economy and social activities. The Asphalt Concrete which is considered as the major pavement material for the road transportation system in Baghdad is subjected to continuous deterioration with time due to traffic loading and environmental conditions, it was felt that implementing a comprehensive pavement maintenance management system (PMMS), which should be capable for preserving the functional and structural conditions of pavement layers, is essential. This work presents the development of PMMS with Visual inspection technique for evaluating the Asphalt Concrete pavement surface condition; common types o
... Show MoreModified asphalt is considered one of the alternatives to address the problems of deficiencies in traditional asphalt concrete, as modified asphalt addresses many of the issues that appear on the pavement layers in asphalt concrete, resulting from heavy traffic and vehicles loaded with loads that exceed the design loads and the large fluctuations in the daily and seasonal temperatures of asphalt concrete. The current study examined the role of polyphosphoric acid (PPA) as a modified material for virgin asphalt when it was added in different proportions (1%, 2%, 3%, 4%) of the asphalt weight. The experimental program includes the volumetric characteristics associated with the Marshall test, the physical properties, and th
... Show MoreIn this paper, an adaptive integral Sliding Mode Control (SMC) is employed to control the speed of Three-Phase Induction Motor. The strategy used is the field oriented control as ac drive system. The SMC is used to estimate the frequency that required to generates three phase voltage of Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM) invertor . When the SMC is used with current controller, the quadratic component of stator current is estimated by the controller. Instead of using current controller, this paper proposed estimating the frequency of stator voltage since that the slip speed is function of the quadratic current . The simulation results of using the SMC showed that a good dynamic response can be obtained under load
... Show MoreThe different parameters on mechanical and microstructural properties of aluminium alloy 6061-T6 Friction stir-welded (FSW) joints were investigated in the present study. Different welded specimens were produced by employing variable rotating speeds and welding speeds. Tensile strength of the produced joints was tested at room temperature and the the effecincy was assessed, it was 75% of the base metal at rotational speed 1500 rpm and weld speed 50 mm/min. Hardness of various zones of FSW welds are presented and analyzed by means of brinell hardness number . Besides to thess tests the bending properties investigat
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This paper was aimed to study the efficiency of forward osmosis (FO) process as a new application for the treatment of wastewater from textile effluent and the factors affecting the performance of forward osmosis process.
The draw solutions used were magnesium chloride (MgCl2), and aluminum sulphate (Al2 ( SO4)3 .18 H2O), and the feed solutions used were reactive red, and disperse blue dyes.
Experimental work were includes operating the forward osmosis process using thin film composite (TFC) membrane as flat sheet for different draw solutions and feed solutions. The operating parameters studied were : draw solutions concentration (10 – 90 g/l), feed solutions concentration (5 – 30 mg/l), draw solutions flow rate (10 – 50 l/hr
The Wheat husk is one of the common wastes abundantly available in the Middle East countries especially in Iraq. The present study aimed to evaluate the Wheat husk as low cost material, eco-friendly adsorbents for the removal of the carcinogenic dye (Congo red dye) from wastewater by investigate the effect of, at different conditions such as, pH(3-10), amount of adsorbents (1-2.3gm/L),and particle size (125-1000) μm, initial Congo red dye concentration(10, 25 , 50 and 75mg/l) by batch experiments. The results showed that the removal percentage of dye increased with increasing adsorbent dosage, and decreasing particle size. The maximum removal and uptake reached (91%) , 21.5mg/g, respectively for 25 initial concent
... Show MorePathology reports are necessary for specialists to make an appropriate diagnosis of diseases in general and blood diseases in particular. Therefore, specialists check blood cells and other blood details. Thus, to diagnose a disease, specialists must analyze the factors of the patient’s blood and medical history. Generally, doctors have tended to use intelligent agents to help them with CBC analysis. However, these agents need analytical tools to extract the parameters (CBC parameters) employed in the prediction of the development of life-threatening bacteremia and offer prognostic data. Therefore, this paper proposes an enhancement to the Rabin–Karp algorithm and then mixes it with the fuzzy ratio to make this algorithm suitable
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