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.
Background: Saliva is a specific bio-fluid with important biomarkers. Analyzing any alternation in these markers could give valuable information, in relation to oral health status parameters. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of α -amylase in unstimulated whole saliva of healthy, primary school children in relation to some oral health parameters. Materials and Methods: A questionnaires consisted of demography and medical histories of participants were filled by children families. Saliva samples were collected for 5- minutes between 9:00 -11:00 AM from 114 healthy students aged 6-13 years, divided into four age groups. Flow- rate, Plaque and Gingival Index were assessed and dentition status was investigated by DMFT/dmft
... Show MoreAdolescence important and sensitive stage in social terms, being a stage where learns teenager bear social responsibilities and composition of their ideas about family life, as well as it is the stage where the teenager looking to himself for an important place in the community to become independent socially people, so it highlights the role of Social Work to do better effort and I believe him in order to prepare for the adolescent stage of adolescence and help him overcome the problems so that makes it adapts to the society in which he lives
The investment portfolio of financial instruments & banking relatively new in the banking sector & the world of investment &capital markets in spite of its importance & its advantages in terms of the nature of the diversity of investment instruments as well as reduce the risk of investment & its contribution to the revitalization of the banks & the financial market , economic, &characterized by developments accelerated under information & communications technology , as is the portfolio tool vehicle of investment tools that provide for people who want to invest & they can not manag
... Show MoreIntroduction: Knowledge management plays a crucial role in students’ ability to acquire, organize, retrieve, and apply information, impacting academic performance. In sports sciences, especially in combat sports like boxing, effective knowledge management supports both theoretical understanding and practical skill application. Despite exposure to boxing through training and media, students’ academic performance remains inconsistent. Objective: This study examines the relationship between knowledge management and cognitive achievement among second-year students in the College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at the University of Basrah. It evaluates how students manage knowledge and its impact on their retention and application
... Show MoreThe research aims to identify the most important concerns that led to the increase of interest in the topic of corporate governance and specifically highlighting the role of the audit committees of the Administration Board in reducing the risk of the auditor and the rationalization of professional judgments، in particular about accepting the assignment and setting the fees of the audit process by extrapolating global experience in this area ، and a field study is conducted for a sample of private Iraqi banks to evaluate the role of audit committees constituted currently per with bank law no. (94) of 2004 and to be acknowledged with actual performance of these committees and their role in recommending the n
... Show MoreThe current research aims to find out the role of transformational leadership in decision-making wise, to cope with the decline in some of the banking performance indicators as a result of the absence of the modern concept of the leadership of those so-called B (Transformational Leadership) and preventing benefit from the advantages in the banks, and I test the research on a sample of the Iraqi private banks through applied to a sample (77) Mdermvud and Associate Director and Advisor to the Chairman of the Department, the distributors (7) banks, and used the head of the questionnaire as a tool to collect data and information. For the purpose of access to the results, the research sought to test two hypotheses two main hypotheses sub pop
... Show MoreThe study aims to build a proposed training program for school leaders in the Sultanate of Oman on the planning practices of the Kaufman model in light of the needs and challenges of reality. It also aims to identify the challenges facing school leaders in practicing the stages of strategic planning. To achieve these objectives, the study adopted the descriptive approach due to its suitability to the nature of the study. A questionnaire was used to collect the needed data. The study sample included (225) individuals from school principals, their assistants and senior teachers in post-basic education in the Sultanate of Oman. After processing the data statistically, the study concluded that the reality of planning practices for school lea
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This research attempt to explain the essential aspects of one important model in management of Bank risks , that is (stress testing) , which increase the concentrate on it resulting the negative affects of Global financial crisis that it accuar in 2008 to study the application possibilities in iraqian banks to enhancing the safety and financial soundness Becuase the classical tools in Risk management don’t give clear image on Banks ability in facing risks, hence the Basel committee on Banking supervision focusing in agreement of Basel 2,3 on stress testing when it doing the internal capital adequacy assessment process (ICAAP) .
To achieving the reseach obje
... Show MoreThis study was conducted for evaluating the cytotoxic effect of heat stable enterotoxin a (STa) produced by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli on the proliferation of primary cancer cell cultures, obtained from tumor samples that were collected from (13) cancer patients and as follows: (five colon cancer patients, two bladder cancer patients, two breast cancer patients, two stomach cancer patients and two lung cancer patients), and on normal cell line (rat embryonic fibroblast / REF) (in vitro) with the use of different concentrations starting from (1) mg/ml and ending with (0.0002) mg/ml by making two fold serial dilutions by using the 96- well microtiter plate, and in comparison with negative (PBS) and positive (MMC, at concentration
... Show MoreThe purpose of this research is to identify the youth issues in Talk Shows in the Iraqi satellite channels via monitoring a sample of episodes of the Talk Shows episodes which are concerned and analyzed the youth issues in the Iraqi satellite channels, namely, «Hala Shabab Program» at Al-Iraqia satellite Channel and «Shabab wa Banat Program» at Al-Sumaria satellite Channel by recording and re-watching them again. This research is classified as one of descriptive researches. The survey method was adopted in this study.
For this purpose, the researcher prepared an analysis form. The researcher de
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