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.
Metaphor is a linguistic phenomenon related to people's cultures. It is an integral part of cultural heritage. This paper tackles the use of animal-based metaphors in the field of football club titles so as to draw comparisons between those in Russian with their counterparts in Arabic. Names of animals are used to refer to some clubs and teams, where these names or titles reflect animal features such as strength, preying on victims; or animal figures are employed in the club symbols, or due to the similarity of the club shirt to the animal outer shapes in colours. For instance, "an-Nawaris", which means gulls in English, is used to refer to az-Zawraa club du
... Show MoreBackground: Tap waters play an important role in fulfilling the people needs for drinking and domestic purposes. Contaminate the tap water with different pollutants has become an issue of great concern for 90% of people who are depended on the tap water as the main source of drinking. Pollutants can make their way easily into the delivering pipes which suffer from the leaking resulting in decreasing the quality of water. Objective: Therefore, assess the water quality for drinking purpose by calculating the water quality index is an important tool to ascertain whether the water is suitable for human consumption or not. Methods: In the present work, the water quality of the Al-Salam, western region of Baghdad city, Iraq was investigated for 7
... Show MoreHepatitis-B (HBV) is a viral disease cause liver damage, cirrhosis, fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Present study attempted to elucidate the biochemical and haematological markers other than Australia antigen, of hepatitis,B,vairusV (HBsAg) for better assessment of HBV infection. The present study was conducted on 76 men, 50 of them were found to be HBeAg positive and 26 were negative, mean age was53±5.7years. Haematological parameters such as Absolute Erythrocyte( Abs Eryt), Absolute Leukocyte(Abs Leuk) , Haemoglobin(Hb), Packed Cell Volume(PCV),Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin (MCH),MCH Concentration(MCHC) ,Neutrophi
... Show MoreThe complexes of Schiff base (6-[Hydroxy - benzylidene)-amino]-pyrimidine-2,4-diol ) (L) with Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II) and Ni(II) were prepared. The Schiff base and complexes have been characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, UV-Vis, LC-mass spectra, magnetic moment, elemental microanalyses (C.H.N.), chloride containing, atomic absorption and molar conductance.
The Schiff base, metal salts and complexes were also screened for their bioactivity such as antibacterial and antifungal.
The modernity of election practices of the elections in Iraq, according to the democratic approach, has led to a struggle between political rival forces reflecting a deep pressure on the tools involved in the management, marketing or control of these elections across the general social level. Hence the problem of research resides in answering the following question: What is the nature and size of the pressures affecting the media performance of Al-Iraqia News channel before the legislative elections of 2018 in Iraq?
The objectives of the research were the following:
1. to identify the nature of the pressures that limit the Al-Iraqia News channel’s perfo
This is prospective study began in Jan. 2003 and concluded in April 2004, was undertaken to examine the benefits of 810 nm diode laser in treatment of four patient with bilateral vocal cord paralysis also to compare the results with conventional treatment Material and methods: 810 nm diode laser 15 watts was used in these cases under general anesthesia, and induction of anesthetic drug done through tracheostomy tube in all patients. All patients were decanulated “Tracheostomy tube removed”, the voice of all preserved within normal. Laser surgery in this case has more benefit and advantage than conventional methods even if the patient need more than on session of laser operation because of high success rate, less complication and easy
... Show MoreThe present work aims to study the treatment of oily wastewater by means of forward osmosis membrane bioreactor process. Side stream (external) configuration and submerged (internal) configuration of osmotic membrane bioreactor were performed and investigated. The experimental work for each configuration was carried out continuously over 21 days. The flux behavior of forward osmosis membrane in an osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) was investigated, using NaCl as the draw solution and CTA as FO membrane. The effect of mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration and TDS accumulation of bioreactor on water flux and membrane fouling behaviors was detected. The accumulation and rejection of nutrients in the bioreactor (Nitrate, COD,
... Show MoreThe electrocoagulation process became one of the most important technologies used for water treatment processes in the last few years. It’s the preferred method to remove suspended solids and heavy metals from water for treating drinking water and wastewater from textile, diary, and electroplating factories. This research aims to study the effect of using the electrocoagulation process with aluminum electrodes on the removal efficiency of suspended solids and turbidity presented in raw water and optimizing by the response surface methodology (RSM). The most important variables studied in this research included electrode spacing, the applied voltage, and the operating time of the electrocoagulation process. The samples
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