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.
In this work silicon solar cell has been used with semicircular grooves to improve its efficiency by reducing reflection of rays and increasing optical path through the cell. Software program for optical design (zemax) has been used by ray tracing mode to evaluate prototype efficiency when using detector beneath the cell. The prototype has aspect ratio (A.R=0.2) which is the best efficiency at incident angle (ϴ=0ͦ) and the best acceptance angle (ϴ=50ͦ).
Background: The anticancer impact of Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) the highly active polyphenol of green tea was abundantly studied. Though, the exact mechanism of its cytotoxicity is still under investigation. Objectives: Hence, the current study designed to investigate the molecular target of EGCG in HepG2 cells on thirteen autophagy- and/or apoptosis- related genes. Methods: The apoptosis detection analyses such as flow cytometry and dual apoptosis assay were used. The genes expression profile was explored by the real-time quantitative-PCR. Results: EGCG increases G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and the real-time apoptosis markers proteins leading to stimulate apoptos
... Show MoreBackground: Squamous cell carcinoma is a disease of elderly peopleand it is uncommon in people with less than 40 years old; however many literatures revealed that tumor developing in patients younger than forty years appears more aggressive at the time of diagnosis. The purpose of the present study was to focus on the clincopathological features of the oral SCC in different age groups. Material and methods: In this study thirty five cases of paraffin embedded tissue blocks of oral squamous cell carcinoma were studied. The age range was from 16 to 80 years. The clinicopathological data were recorded for evaluating the tumor characters according to age of patients. Results : The age was not significantly correlated to the clinicopathological
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper is introducing the concept of (ɱ,ɳ) strong full stability B-Algebra-module related to an ideal. Some properties of (ɱ,ɳ)- strong full stability B-Algebra-module related to an ideal have been studied and another characterizations have been given. The relationship of (ɱ,ɳ) strong full stability B-Algebra-module related to an ideal that states, a B- -module Ӽ is (ɱ,ɳ)- strong full stability B-Algebra-module related to an ideal , if and only if for any two ɱ-element sub-sets and of Ӽɳ, if , for each j = 1, …, ɱ, i = 1,…, ɳ and implies Ạɳ( ) Ạɳ( have been proved..
This studay was performd on 30 serum specimens of patients having type II diabetes with cardiac disease, and 40 normal specimens were investigated as control group.The activity rate of AAP in patients (125.31± 3.28)I.U/L and activity rate of AAP in normals (6.76±2.21) I.U/L, in addition purification of AAP from serum patients having type II diabetes with cardiac diaease by using dialysis bag and gel filtration (Sephadex G-50). The results of the study reveal that Alanine aminopeptidase (AAP) activity of type II diabetes with cardiac disease patients' serum show a high signifiacant increase (p<0.001) compare to normal subject .
The compound Fe0.5CoxMg0.95-xO where (x= 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.1) was prepared via the sol-gel technique. The crystalline nature of magnesium oxide was studied by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis, and the size of the sample crystals, ranging between (16.91-19.62nm), increased, while the lattice constant within the band (0.5337-0.4738 nm) decreased with increasing the cobalt concentration. The morphology of the specimens was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) which shows images forming spherical granules in addition to the presence of interconnected chips. The presence of the elements involved in the super
In this paper we introduce new class of open sets called weak N-open sets and we study the relation between N-open sets , weak N-open sets and some other open sets. We prove several results about them.
Abstract. Silver, Indium Selenium thin film with a thickness (5001±30) nm, deposited by thermal evaporation methods at RT and annealing3temperature (Ta=400, 500 and 600) K on a substrate of glass to study structural and optical properties of thin films and on p-Si wafer to fabricate the AgInSe2/p-Si heterojunction solar cell. XRD analysis shows that the AgInSe2 (AIS) deposited film at RT and annealing3temperature (Ta=400, 500 and 600) K have polycrystalline structure. The average grain size has been estimated from AFM images. The energy gap was estimated from the optical transmittance using a spectrometer type (UV.-Visible 1800 spectra photometer). From I-V characterization , the photovoltaic parameters such as, open-circuit voltage, short
... Show MoreThe present work aims to fabricate n-i-p forward perovskite solar cell (PSC) withئ structure (FTO/ compact TiO2/ compact TiO2/ MAPbI3 Perovskite/ hole transport layer/ Au). P3HT, CuI and Spiro-OMeTAD were used as hole transport layers. A nano film of 25 nm gold layer was deposited once between the electron transport layer and the perovskite layer, then between the hole transport layer and the perovskite layer. The performance of the forward-perovskite solar cell was studied. Also, the role of each electron transport layer and the hole transport layer in the perovskite solar cell was presented. The structural, morphological and electrical properties were studied with X-ray diffractometer, field emission s
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