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.
Consuming of by-product or waste materials in highway engineering is significant in the construction of new roads and/or in renovations of the existing ones. Pulverised Fuel ash (PFA), which is a by-product material of burning coal in power stations, is one of these materials that might be incorporated instead of mineral filler in hot asphalt mixtures.
Two types of surface course mixtures have been prepared one with conventional mineral filler i.e. ordinary Portland cement (OPC) while the second was with PFA. Several testings have been conducted to indicate the mechanical properties which were Marshall Stability and Indirect Tensile Strength tests. On the other hand, moisture damage and ageing have been evaluated
... Show MoreThe inhibitory effect of acetone, ethanol, and aqueous extracts of ten medicinal plants on β-lactamase from Staphylococcus sciuri and Klebsiella pneumoniae was investigated in vitro by starch-iodine agar plate method. The results revealed the success of starch-iodine method for the detection of the inhibition of β-lactamase activity by the various extracts of each individual plant. The acetone extracts of Catharanthus roseus, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, and Schinus terebinthifolius induced an inhibitory effect on β-lactamase from Staphylococcus sciuri. On the other hand, acetone extracts from only Eucalyptus camaldulensis, and Schinus
... Show MoreThis research aims to clarify the advantages of using the regression method as analytical procedure in the tax audit to reducing the examination cost , time, effort, human and material resources, and represents an applied study in the General Commission of taxes. In order to achieve its objectives the research has used in the theoretical side the descriptive approach (analytical), and in the practical side regression method has been applied to the research sample represented by the soft drinks company that is subject to the tax settlement for the year 2014, where the value of sales has been verified by using the regression method without conductinga comprehensive examination. The most important results of the research indicate that the r
... Show MoreThis study aims to design unified electronic information system to manage students attendance in Lebanese French university/Erbil, as a system that simplifies the process of entering and counting the students absence, and generate absence reports to expel students who passed the acceptable limit of being absent, and by that we can replace the traditional way of using papers to count absence, with a complete electronically system for managing students attendance, in a way that makes the results accurate and unchangeable by the students.
In order to achieve the study's objectives, we designed an information syst
... Show MoreBackground; paraphilias were studied in the sex
clinic, at Al-Rashad teaching mental hospital, in the
years 2009-2010, a subject never touched before in the
field of psychiatry in Iraq.
Aims of the study :
1-to identify the prevalence of types and number of
paraphilias in those patients.
2-to study the relationship of paraphilias with
sociodemographic factors of the patients.
Patients and methods; using the diagnostic criteria of
DSM IV TR, 52 patients from the outpatient sex clinic
at Al-Rashad mental hospital, collected and studied (41
males and 11 females).
Results; the ratio of men to women was 3.7 : 1, the
majority of our sample was in the age range of 21-30
years (36.35%), with a limited
The research aims to shed light on the role of artificial intelligence in achieving Ambidexterity performance, as banks work to take advantage of modern technologies, artificial intelligence is an innovation that is expected to have a long-term impact, as well as banks can improve the quality of their services and analyze data to ensure that customers' future needs are understood. . The Bank of Baghdad and the Middle East Bank were chosen as a community for the study because they had a role in the economic development of the country as well as their active role in the banking market. A sample of department managers was highlighted in collecting data and extracting results based on the checklist, which is the main tool for the stu
... Show MoreThe current research dealt with the issue of organizational skillfulness as an entry point to reach strategic agility. The study has been tested in Iraq's mobile operators - Asia Cell, Zain Iraq and Cork Telecom. The study was applied to a sample of (93) managers distributed at various levels of management (board members, general managers, commissioners, department managers, people managers, unit managers, office managers). The survey used the questionnaire as a key tool for collecting data and information as well as personal interviews. It has sought to test a number of hypotheses related to correlation and influence relationships between the variables of the study, in order to answer the questions related to the problem of stud
... Show MoreRegional immune response with mammary gland carcinoma was
studied statistically. However, the prognostic value remains
conflicting. Thirty mice were used in this study which infected
were with mammary gland carcinoma. The tumor size of the animals
under study were measured before and after laser irradiation by using
a vernier and compared these results were with that of non irradiated
animals with laser (control group)
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of low level laser
therapy (LLLT) on increasing the response of immune system by
stimulating the lymph node action to decrease the cancer cell activity
and then decreasing the tumor size of an infected mice.
The results of the gross observati
The effect of solution heat treatment on the mechanical properties of Aluminum-Copper alloy. (2024-T3) by the rolling process is investigated. The solution heat treatment was implemented by heating the sheets to 480 C° and quenching them by water; then forming by rolling for many passes. And then natural aging is done for one month. Mechanical properties (tensile strength and hardness) are evaluated and the results are compared with the metal without treatment during the rolling process. ANSYS analysis is used to show the stresses distribution in the sheet during the rolling process. It has been seen that good mechanical properties are evident in the alloy without heat treatment due to the strain hardening and also the mechanical
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