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 given rituximab induction therapy and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) maintenance therapy. RTX was indicated for refractory and relapsing SLE. Several investigations done before and after RTX treatment and in the last follow up (done one year after starting Rituximab). Those included protein in urine, serum creatinine, double stranded DNA, C3, C4, and Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR). Proteinuria decreased significantly after RTX treatment and in the last measurement (P=0.01 and P=0.001, respectively). Serum creatinine significantly decreased only in the last measurement (P=0.02). Double stranded DNA decreased remarkably after treatment (P=0.01) with a further decrease in the last measurement (P=0.006). C3 and C4 increased after treatment but the increase was significant only for C3 (P=0.002) and this increase continues till the last measurement (P=0.0006). Active urine sediments found in fifteen patients and disappeared after RTX treatment. Rituximab can be promising in treating lupus nephritis when used along with traditional immunosuppressants. It can reduce disease activity and improve renal function in such patients.
The agriculture around the world faced many difficulties and the important was to reduce inputs of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and increase the total yield specially with the continuous grow of populations numbers at the world expected to reach more than 9 billion by 2050. In other hand there are other problems which make the challenges bigger such as wars, biotic and abiotic stress, and diseases. The scientists tried to find solutions by using Nano-fertilization which consider a modern way to quickly grow up the yield and decrease use the chemicals. The use of nanotechnology may be destructive on human and the environment due to fast accumulation in the tissues of alive bodie
The Glass Manegerie is a metaphor, which is one of the greatest plays of great writer Williams. The play talks about the poor people in society and how try to escape this group of people from the real world to get rid of the hardness of this tuff reality and live in a fantasy world that is much like the glass where the world is very weak this world is acting by Laura, she is owner of these animals breakable glass where it's weak and unable to defend itself as well as the mother Amanda is a very selfish never think about her children but only herself.
Improved oral bioavailability of lipophilic substances can be achieved using self-emulsifying drug delivery systems. However, because the properties of self-emulsifying are greatly influenced by surfactant amount and type, type of oil used, droplet size, charge, cosolvents, and physiological variables, the synthesis of self-emulsifying is highly complex; consequently, only a small number of excipient self-emulsifying formulations has been developed so far for clinical use. This study reports a highly effective procedure for developing self-emulsifying formulations using a novel approach based on the hydrophilic-lipophilic difference theory. Microemulsion characteristics, such as the constituents and amounts of oil and surfactant electrolyte
... Show MoreThe research discussed the possibility of adsorption of Brilliant Blue Dye (BBD) from wastewater using 13X zeolite adsorbent, which is considered a byproduct of the production process of potassium carbonate from Iraqi potash raw materials. The 13X zeolite adsorbent was prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction that showed a clear match with the standard 13X zeolite. The crystallinity rate was 82.15% and the crystal zeolite size was 5.29 nm. The surface area and pore volume of the obtained 13X zeolite were estimated. The prepared 13X zeolite showed the ability to remove BBD contaminant from wastewater at concentrations 5 to 50 ppm and the removal reached 96.60% at the lower pollutant concentration. Adsorption measurements versus tim
... Show MoreThe present paper addresses cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris microalgae using airlift photobioreactor that sparged with 5% CO2/air. The experimental data were compared with that obtained from bioreactor aerated with air and unsparged bioreactor. The results showed that the concentration of biomass is 0.36 g l-1 in sparged bioreactor with CO2/air, while, the concentration of biomass reached to 0.069 g l-1 in the unsparged bioreactor. They showed also that aerated bioreactor with CO2/air gives more biomass production even the bioreactor was aerated with air. This study proved that application of sparging system for cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris microalgae using either CO2/air mixture or air has a significant growth rate, since the biorea
... Show MoreCoronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Certain genetic polymorphisms play an important role in this multifactorial disease, being linked with increased risk of early onset CAD.
To assess six genetic polymorphisms and clinical risk factors in relation to early onset nondiabetic Iraqi Arab CAD patients compared to controls.
This case–contro
The construction project is a very complicated work by its nature and requires specialized knowledge to lead it to success. The construction project is complicated socially, technically and economically in its planning, management and implementation aspects due to the fact that it has many variables and multiple stakeholders in addition to being affected by the surrounding environment. Successful projects depend on three fundamental points which are cost-time, performance and specifications. The project stakeholder's objective to achieve best specifications and the cost-time frame stipulated in the contract.
The question is, was the optimum implementation accomplished? The provision for the success of the project
... Show MoreThe topic of urban transformations has attracted the attention of researchers as it is one of the basic issues through which cities can be transformed towards sustainability. A specific level of transformation levels according to a philosophical concept known as a crossing. This article has relied on a specific methodology that aims to find a new approach for urban transformation based on the crossing concept. This concept derives from philosophical entrances based on the concepts of (being, process, becoming, and integration). Four levels have been for the crossing are (normal, ascending, leap, and descending). Each of these levels includes specific characteristics that distinguish it. The results showed that there is no descending
... Show MoreOwing to their cost-effectiveness and the natural abundance of magnesium, magnesium-ion batteries (MIBs) were introduced as encouraging alternatives to Lithium-ion batteries. Following the successful synthesis of carbon nano-tube, its B and N doped derivatives which were doped with B and N enjoyed the attention of researchers as novel anode materials (AM) for MIBs. Here, we investigated a BC2N nano-tube (BC2NNT) as an encouraging AM for MIBs. To have a deeper understanding of the electrochemical properties, cycling stability, specific capacity (SC) and the adsorption behavior of this nano-tube, first-principles density functional theory computations were performed. By performing NMR calculations, we identified two types of non-aromatic hexa
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