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.
To maintain a sustained competitive position in the contemporary environment of knowledge economy, organizations as an open social systems must have an ability to learn and know how to adapt to rapid changes in a proper fashion so that organizational objectives will be achieved efficiently and effectively. A multilevel approach is adopted proposing that organizational learning suffers from the lack of interest about the strategic competitive performance of the organization. This remains implicit almost in all models of organizational learning and there is little focus on how learning organizations achieve sustainable competitive advantage . A dynamic model that captures t
... Show MoreIn this work, enhancement to the fluorescence characteristics of laser dye solutions hosting highly-pure titanium dioxide nanoparticles as random gain media. This was achieved by coating two opposite sides of the cells containing these media with nanostructured thin films of highly-pure titanium dioxide. Two laser dyes; Rhodamine B and Coumarin 102, were used to prepare solutions in hexanol and methanol, respectively, as hosts for the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles and thin films were prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The enhancement was observed by the narrowing of fluorescence linewidth as well as by increasing the fluorescence intensity. These parameters were compared to those of the dye only and the dye solution
... Show MoreRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common inflammatory disease that associated with increased morbidity and mortality due to accelerated atherosclerosis. Rosuvastatin is a unique hydroxy methyl glutaryl Co A (HMGCoA) reductase inhibitor that has anti inflammatory effects.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of rosuvastatin as adjuvant therapy to methotrexate (MTX) on lipid profile and its possible cardioprotective effect in RA patients. A double blinded placebo controlled clinical trial with 8 weeks follow up periods at which 40 patients with active RA using MTX were randomized into 2 groups to receive either rosuvastatin 10mg or placebo as adjuvant therapy to MTX. In addition to twenty healthy subjects as control group.
... Show MoreThe organizations, represented by its Management, are working hard in various ways to identify the environmental disturbances that occur in their environment and to investigate and follow up the movement of these disturbances and to respond to them through the decisions they make in an attempt to keep pace with the work and sustainability of their activities, including those decisions, marketing decisions taken by the environmental disturbulence in the market of the organization, the inability of these organizations to read the indicators of these disturbulence correctly displays their marketing effectiveness to vibration and decline in the negative.The current research is based on a fundamental problem that envi
... Show MoreThis study was conducted during the period 1/9/2014 – 1/2/2015 and aimed to identify the polymorphisms of IGF-1 gene in broiler chickens and their effects on some biochemical traits. A total of 300 one-day-old broiler chicks (Cobb500, n=150; Hubbard F-15, n=150) were evaluated in this study. Blood samples were individually collected from all birds for DNA extraction. PCR-RFLP method being used for determination the genotypes of IGF-1 gene which then correlated with biochemical traits studied. Cobb500 broilers with TT genotype had significantly (p˂0.05) higher serum triglycerides values than those of TC and CC genotypes. Low density lipoprotein (LDL) were significantly (p˂0.05) higher in Hubbard F-15 broilers with TT genotype than those
... Show More The theory of the epic theater has received wide attention by filmmakers around the world because of its great impact on the artistic work of the theater and its relationship with societies, and among these directors the Iraqi directors have been influenced by the epic theater and its applications in the show.
In order to find out the effectiveness of these influences on the Iraqi director, I found the need to do this study, which was divided into an introduction and a theoretical framework that included two topics. The first topic (Philosophical References and the Intellectual Foundations of the Epic Theater Theory) deals with the philosophical foundations that crystallized the epic theory of Burch and the mechanism of working
Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is a substance that is frequently utilized in industrial operations for important tasks such as chemical cleaning and pickling metallic surfaces.Therefore, the corrosion inhibition ability of three newly synthesized quinazoline derivatives namely, 3-allyl-2-(propylthio) quinazolin-4(3H)-one) (APQ), (3-allyl-2-(allylthio) quinazolin-4(3H)-one) (AAQ), (3-allyl- 2-( Prop -2-yn -1-ylthio) Quinazolin - 4 (3H) - one) (AYQ) were theoretically determined and these compounds were characterized using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) and 1H and 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopic. A series of quantum chemical properties of these derivatives: EHOMO, ELUMO, energy gap (ΔE),dipole moment (μ), hardness (η), soft
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder affecting people worldwide, which require constant monitoring of their glucose levels. Commonly employed procedures include collection of blood or urine samples causing discomfort to the patients. Necessity arises to find alternative non invasive technique is required to monitor glucose levels. Saliva is one of most abundant secretions in the human body and its collection is easy, noninvasive and painless technique. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of saliva as a diagnostic tool by study the correlation between blood and salivary glucose levels and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c%) in diabetes and non diabetes, and the comparison of salivary glucose level
... Show MoreA twisted-fin array as an innovative structure for intensifying the charging response of a phase-change material (PCM) within a shell-and-tube storage system is introduced in this work. A three-dimensional model describing the thermal management with charging phase change process in PCM was developed and numerically analyzed by the enthalpy-porosity method using commercial CFD software. Efficacy of the proposed structure of fins for performing better heat communication between the active heating surface and the adjacent layers of PCM was verified via comparing with conventional longitudinal fins within the same design limitations of fin material and volume usage. Optimization of the fin geometric parameters including the pitch, numb
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