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 traumatic memory of their ancestors. The novel navigates sites of trauma, memory, and blues music while resisting the bourgeoisie-capitalist relationships that permeated not only white society but also African American communities. Jones’s novel presents the plight of an African American woman, Ursa, caught between the memory of her enslaved foremothers and her life in an emancipated world. The physical and spiritual exploitation of African American women who bear witness to the history of slavery in Corregidora materializes black women’s individuality. This article is framed by trauma studies as well as the Marxists’ concepts of commodification, accumulation, and production. Ursa, one of the Corregidora women, represents
... Show MoreThis study focuses on producing wood-plastic composites using unsaturated polyester resin reinforced with Pistacia vera shell particles and wood industry waste powder. Composites with reinforcement ratios of 0%, 20%, 30%, and 40% were prepared and tested for thermal conductivity, impact strength, hardness, and compressive strength. The results revealed that thermal conductivity increases with reinforcement, while maintaining good thermal insulation, reaching a peak value of 0.633453 W/m·K. Hardness decreased with increased reinforcement, reaching a minimum nominal hardness value of 0.9479. Meanwhile, impact strength and compressive strength improved, with peak values of 14.103 k/m² and 57.3864568 MPa, respectively. The main aim is to manu
... Show MoreThe current study introduces a novel technique to handle electrochemical localized corrosion in certain limited regions rather than applying comprehensive cathodic protection (CP) treatment. An impressed current cathodic protection cell (ICCPC) was fabricated and firmly installed on the middle of a steel structure surface to deter localized corrosion in fixed or mobile steel structures. The designed ICCPC comprises three essential parts: an anode, a cathode, and an artificial electrolyte. The latter was developed to mimic the function of the natural electrolyte in CP. A proportional-integrated-derivative (PID) controller was designed to stabilize this potential below the ICCPC at a cathodic potential of −850 mV, which is crucial for prote
... Show MoreA reliable and environmental analytical method was developed for the direct determination of tetracycline using flow injection analysis (FIA) and batch procedures with spectrophotometric detection. The developed method is based on the reaction between a chromogenic reagent (vanadium (III) solution) and tetracycline at room temperature and in a neutral medium, resulting in the formation of an intense brown product that shows maximum absorption at 395 nm. The analytical conditions were improved by the application of experimental design. The proposed method was successfully used to analyze samples of commercial medications and verified throughout the concentration ranges of 25–250 and 3–25 µg/mL for both FIA and batch procedures, respecti
... Show MoreGreen areas are an essential component of city planning, as they serve as an outlet for them to spend their free time, in addition to the environmental role that these green areas play in improving the city’s climate by purifying the air and beautifying the city. The study’s problem is summarized in identifying the appropriateness of the current spatial distribution of green areas in the city of Najaf with the current population densities and the pattern in which green areas are distributed using GIS and knowing the per capita share of those green areas in the city, the research assumes that the inconsistency of spaces between regions Green and residential neighbourhoods need to c
Proverbs gain their importance not only from the fact that they represent a cultural record of the people of every nation, but they reveal the way they use language and how they exploit their environments as a good source of inspiration to enrich that language. Domestic animals, as part of every environment, play a major role in composing proverbs in every nation.
This study is an attempt to pragmastylistically analyse some selected English and Iraqi rural proverbs using domestic animals in their texts. It limits itself to investigate certain stylistic and pragmatic devices such as: the type of sentences, their lengths, their content and grammatical words, the part of speech used, metaph
... Show MoreAPDBN Rashid, 7th International Conference on Multidisciplinary Sciences (7th ICOMUS), 2021
Background: Lymphomas are group of diseases caused by malignant lymphocytes that accumulate in lymph nodes and caused the characteristics lymphadenopathy. Occasionally, they may spill over into blood or infiltrate organs outside the lymphoid tissue. The major subdivision of lymphomas is into Hodgkin lymphoma and non–Hodgkin lymphoma and this is based on the histologic presence of Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkin lymphoma. Salivary immunoglobulin A is the prominent immunoglobulin and is considered to be the main specific defense mechanism in oral cavity. The aim of this study was to determine the level of salivary immunoglobulin A in lymphoma patients before and after chemotherapy treatment. Subjects, materials and methods: The study i
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