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 importance of news broadcasts in society has increased after the domination of television over the mass media, especially after emerging the satellite channels, and spreading the satellite dishes among the public at large.
As well as the great role played by the modern technology in the transmission of news and events happening at once. Such role has contributed, significantly, in changing the concept and values of the news. The live broadcast of the events filmed is the news itself.
In the midst of the great transformations and circumstances that Iraq went through after 2003, which witnessed political and security instability, and the large increase in the number of media, especially satellite channels, in Iraq
... Show MoreGas adsorption phenomenon on solid surface has been used as a mean in separation and purification of gas mixture depending on the difference in tendencies of each component in the gas mixture to be adsorbed on the solid surface according to its behaviour. This work concerns to study the possibilities to separate the gas mixture using adsorption-desorption phenomenon on activated carbon. The experimental results exhibit good separation factor at temperature of -40 .
The organizational culture is an effective control mechanism that dictates the behavior of employees and according to their intellectual and social orientations, so it is considered a more powerful way to control employee orientations and determine their management according to organizational rules and regulations, as it was one of the most important factors determining the performance of organizations, while organizational performance is a measure of what the organization has achieved from the objectives of the scheme To ensure that it faces various changes and remains within the global competition, and to reach that it was necessary to identify the most prominent and most important research problems in knowing the extent of com
... Show MoreThe topic of this research deals with an analytical study of the nature of the visual sent by the sculptural monument of the person of Christ around the world, the nature of this monument, the manner of its embodiment, the mechanism of reception for each of the societies that this monument addressed to them, how it was reflected on them, how it was reflected on them, and whether these works are related to their culture or not, I discussed this study All this, and the researcher has established theoretical research axes for the research according to the desired goal of this study, which is the definition of the mechanism of visual discourse of statues of Christ around the world and were as follows: (The first axis: the discourse and visua
... Show MoreThis study aims to assess the removal efficiency andestablish the BOD5 and COD statisticalcorrelation of the sewage flowing in Al-Diwaniyah wastewater treatment plant in Iraq during the study period (2005-2016). The strength of the influent wastewater entering the plant varied from medium to high in strength. High concentrations of BOD5 and COD in the effluent were obtained due to the poor performance of the plant. This was observed from the BOD5 /COD ratios that did not confirm with the typical ratios for the treated sewage. To improve the performance of this plant, regression equations for BOD5 and COD removal percentages were suggested which can be used to facilitate evaluation of liquid waste and optimal control process. The equations
... Show MoreKE Sharquie, AA Noaimi, SA Al-Hashimy, MM Al-Salih, Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications, 2014 - Cited by 12
Objectives The gold standard in the field of periodontal research currently is to find a valid biomarker that can reliably be used for diagnosing periodontal diseases. Given the limitations of the current diagnostic tools that stall to predict susceptible individuals and determine whether active tissue destruction is occurring, there is an increased urge to develop alternative diagnostic techniques that would compensate for the problems inherited in these available methods, such as measuring levels of biomarkers present in oral fluids such as saliva; so the aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic potential of interleukin-17 (IL-17) and IL-10 to differentiate periodontal health