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.
We are, today, facing a torrent of information, ideas, images and videos due to advances of communication technology and electronic publishing. In addition to the proliferation of social networking sites that allow individuals to use them and participate in their channels without any restrictions limiting their freedom in publishing. Due to these sites many terms have emerged like alternative media which use internet and its various techniques to serve its objectives notably the freedom of expression without restrictions. This research studies the phenomenon of interactive media i.e. alternative media through Facebook along with the freedom that makes it spreading in the society and the relation of individual freedom with social diversit
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The research aims to identify the concept of trading securities in Iraq and to propose a new mechanism for the taxation of trading profits and the extent of its impact on tax revenues, as it was observed that there are professional investors in the trading market and some of them achieve huge annual profits. and this profit should be like other taxable profits. The General Commission of Taxes and in cooperation with the Iraq Stock Exchange should identifying those profits, subjecting them to income tax, and adding them to the tax base. The researcher relied on the use of the descriptive and analytical approach bas
... Show MoreThis research aims to identify the role that forensic accounting plays on the transparency and quality of the financial statements in trade bank of Iraq and the Gulf Commercial Bank in Babylon. This research came to address the problem that most financial institutions suffer from, which is represented by the lack of transparency and the quality of the financial statements issued in a manner. Annual also the manipulation and fraud in the financial data, which causes a big gap between that institutions and organizational stakeholders. According to the implementation of the research hypothesis and the objectives of the research, a questionnaire was prepared consisting of three axes, the first axis dealing with the demographic distri
... Show MoreThere are significant differences between the pre and post-tests in favor of the post-test in the tests) stroke volume (S.V), cardiac thrust (C.O.P), left ventricular volume, maximum oxygen consumption Vo2max), which indicates the effect of the proposed training approach.There are significant differences between the pre and post-tests in favor of the post-test in the achievement level test with air rifle shooting for young female shooters, which indicates the effect of the proposed training curriculum.There are no significant differences between the pre and post-tests in the tests (heart rate (HR) before exercise, heart rate (HR) after exercise, systolic blood pressure rate before exercise, systolic blood pressure rate after exercis
... Show MorePhase change material (PCM) is considered as one of the most effective thermal energy storage (TES) systems to balance energy supply and demand. A key challenge in designing efficient PCM-based TES systems lies in the enhancement of heat transmission during phase transition. This study numerically examines the privilege of employing twisted-fin arrays inside a shell-and-tube latent heat storage unit to improve the solidification performance. The presence of twisted fins contributes to the dominating role of heat conduction by their curved shapes, which restricts the role of natural convection but largely aids the overall heat-transfer process during solidification. The heat-discharge
Customers' creditworthiness standards are the key means employed by private commercial banks in assigning a suitable credit assessment for each customer. Accordingly, it had an instrumental role in indicating the degree of solvency of the potential customer before granting the required credit. The research problem reveals the nature of the relationship between the criteria of customer’s creditworthiness and banking liquidity. The most critical objectives of the study shed light on the role of using creditworthiness criteria as a tool for credit analysis of customers by banks that help reducing credit risks and thus increase banking liquidity. The questionnaire that was distributed to bank employees, the research sample, which w
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