Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with polymorphic expression. B cells have an essential contribution in immune system activation via the production of different cytokines and functioning as potent antigen-presenting cells. Therefore, a drug that particularly targets B cells may represent an ideal therapeutic approach for SLE. Rituximab (RTX), an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody causing transient B-cell depletion, has been used to manage SLE. This study aims to assess Rituximab effects on lupus nephritis (LN) patients when added to conventional immunosuppressants. Twenty four patients, 15-32 years old, with class III/IV/V LN were involved in this study. All were on steroids before lupus nephritis occurrence. They were

Background Osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative disorder with rising prevalence. Early detection of structural damage is difficult. Consequently, there is a pressing demand for reliable biomarkers that enable an earlier diagnosis of osteoarthritis. The aim is to investigate the level of serum fibulin-3 in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis and its correlation with disease severity. Subjects and methods A case–control study was conducted at the Baqubah Teaching Hospital from November 2023 to January 2024. One hundred twenty persons participated in this study (eighty females with the diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis in its early and late stages, and forty age-matched, apparently healthy control. Serum fibulin-3, ESR, CRP, and cal

Because of its importance in the world, Middle East area is one of the competition areas between the major and great powers. Among those powers are Russia and United states of America. The competition between these two powers to control Syria is greatly clear since 2011. It is also one of the most important subject in the international politics. This importance comes from the importance of Russia and the United States of America besides importance of the Middle East. At the end of the cold war, United States of America maintained its role in the international system and became the only pole that dominated the international affairs while Russia tried to overcome the challenges inherited from the former Soviet Union, and it succeeded in th

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate sex differences in age-related changes to the dentoskeletal and soft tissue profile between 12-62 years of age using a superimposition-based cephalometric method. Methods: A total of 60 subjects (27 males and 33 females) were followed longitudinally. Lateral cephalograms were obtained at ages 12 (T1), 15 (T2), 30 (T3), and 62 (T4). Of note, 46 angular and linear cephalometric variables were measured using a cranial base-registered superimposition method that corrected for age-related displacement of the Nasion and Sella landmarks. Sex differences in changes between time points were analyzed using independent-samples t tests. Results: During adolescence (12-15 years of age), males exhibited great

Abstract

The study aims to identify the levels of core competencies dimensions and types of organizational flexibility in the investigated organization, as well as to determine the nature of the relationship and the impact of core competencies dimensions with the process of organizational flexibility. Thus, a number of research questions were presented to express the research problem as follows:

• What is the level of the investigated individuals' awareness to core competencies and organizational flexibility across their dimensions and types in the investigated organization?
• To what extent are core competencies and organizational flexibility available in the Organiz

The present research aims to identify and define the basic dimensions of the information management strategy and the administrative creativity in the Faculty of Management and Economics / the University of Kirkuk, as well as the role played by the dimensions of the information technology management strategy in achieving the administrative innovation in the college and the research problem was formulated in several questions. The research problem was formulated in several questions centered on the correlation between the research variables, and the research was based on a major hypothesis and five sub-hypotheses emerged from which it was subjected to several tests to ensure its validity. The researcher used the descriptive-analyti

The field of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is the process of converting an image of text into a machine-readable text format. The classification of Arabic manuscripts in general is part of this field. In recent years, the processing of Arabian image databases by deep learning architectures has experienced a remarkable development. However, this remains insufficient to satisfy the enormous wealth of Arabic manuscripts. In this research, a deep learning architecture is used to address the issue of classifying Arabic letters written by hand. The method based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture as a self-extractor and classifier. Considering the nature of the dataset images (binary images), the contours of the alphabet

Electrical distribution system loads are permanently not fixed and alter in value and nature with time. Therefore, accurate consumer load data and models are required for performing system planning, system operation, and analysis studies. Moreover, realistic consumer load data are vital for load management, services, and billing purposes. In this work, a realistic aggregate electric load model is developed and proposed for a sample operative substation in Baghdad distribution network. The model involves aggregation of hundreds of thousands of individual components devices such as motors, appliances, and lighting fixtures. Sana’a substation in Al-kadhimiya area supplies mainly residential grade loads. Measurement-based