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

Background: Frozen shoulder affects 2-5% of the
general population, and around 10-30% of diabetic
patients. It affect mainly the non-dominant shoulder,
and has more incidence in patients with poor
glycemic control.
Objective: To detect the incidence of frozen
shoulder in type 2 diabetic patients attending the
Specialized Center for Endocrinology and Diabetes
in Baghdad.Patients and methods: One hundred
patients with frozen shoulder were included in the
study from a total number of 580 type 2 diabetics
over a period of six months. 70 patients were
females and 30 patient were males. All were
investigated for fasting blood
glucose and HbA1c.
Results: The non-dominant shoulder was
involved in

This study focuses on the impact of technology on creating a dystopian world as presented by the English playwright Caryl Churchill in her play A Number (2002). This dramatic work came as a reaction to the most crucial and valuable turning point in the scientific achievements of human engineering, namely, the cloning of the sheep called Dolly. Therefore, A Number is a play that presents an analytical stage for imagining the biotechnological and scientific future. This dramatic vignette captures the playwright’s fears towards the abnormal progress of technology and science and how far such technological progress affects human relationships and identity. It also portrays how technological progress results in the feeling of a lack of

Amongst the literary writers who used their art to direct the attention towards the issue of woman and her rights in a proper life is the English poet and novelist Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), who has been praised for his “openness to the feminine principle” 1 as Irving Howe put it. Hardy’s wide readings have changed his way of dealing with and thinking about so many critical issues which started to float on the surface of the English society during the mid and late of the 19th century. His readings for a number of writers, who seem of huge impact on his writings as he later admits that – “[his] pages show harmony of view with

يهدف البحث الحالي إلى الاستفادة من القهوة المستهلكة , كمادة وسيطة حيث تعد القهوة المستهلكة من المخلفات المضرة للبيئة الاستخراج الكافيين الطبيعي والذي يعد مادة ذات نشاط حيوي واهمية, وتحديد العوامل الفعالة في كفاءة عملية الاستخلاص من حيث تركيز الكافيين. تضمنت المتغيرات الرئيسية المدروسة وقت الاستخلاص  0-150 دقيقة  ، ودرجة الحرارة  25-55 درجة مئوية  ، وسرعة الخلط  180-450 دورة في الدقيقة  ،   ودرجة الحموضة العالق

This experiment presented essential oils by GC/MS, pigment content, and their antioxidant activities as well as sensory evaluation of delight samples. Limonene (66.88%) was the most prevalent yield. The peels of clementine had DPPH and ABT Scavenging activity. All levels of pigment extract had better scores for all sensory values and recorded acceptable scores in terms of appearance, color, aroma, and overall acceptability compared to control delight. Besides, delight samples containing 15 mg astaxanthin pigment extract showed maximum sensory scores compared to other samples and control delight. On the other hand, the product was less acceptable to the panelists compared to control in the case of the addition of 3.75 mg astaxanthin pigme

Sewer system plays an essential task in urban cities by protecting public health and the environment. The operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of this network have to be sustainable and scientifically. For this purpose, it is crucial to support operators, decision makers and municipalities with performance evaluation procedure that is based on operational factors. In this paper, serviceability and performance indicator (PI) principles are employed to propose methodology comprising two enhanced PI curves that can be used to evaluate the individual sewers depending on operational factors such as flowing velocity and wastewater level in the sewers. To test this methodology; a case study of al-Rusafa in Baghdad city is

Sewer system plays an indispensable task in urban cities by protecting public health and the environment. The operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of this network have to be in a sustainable and scientific manner. For this purpose, it is important to support operators, decision makers and municipalities with performance evaluation procedure that is based on operational factors. In this paper, serviceability and performance indicator (PI) principles are employed to propose methodology comprising two enhanced PI curves that can be used to evaluate the individual sewers depending on operational factors such as flowing velocity and wastewater level in the sewers. In order to test this methodology; a case study of al-Ru

Background: The isthmus is a difficult area in the root canal complex to manage. The research aimed to evaluate the efficiency of three different obturation techniques (lateral condensation, EandQ (thermoplasticized gutta percha system) and Soft Core (thermoplasticized core carrier gutta percha system)) to obturate the isthmus area of roots prepared by two different instrumentation techniques (rotary ProTaper universal and ProTaper Next systems). Material and method: Sixty freshly extracted teeth were randomly divided into two main groups (A and B) of 30 teeth each. Group A was prepared by rotary ProTaper Universal whereas group B was prepared by ProTaper Next system. Each main group was then randomly subdivided into three subgroups of 10 t

A single step extraction-cleanup procedure using porous membrane-protected micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) in conjunction with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for the extraction and determination of aflatoxins (AFs) B1, B2, G1 and G2 from food was successfully developed. After the extraction, AFs were desorbed from the μ-SPE device by ultrasonication using acetonitrile. The optimum extraction conditions were: sorbent material, C8; sorbent mass, 20 mg; extraction time, 90 min; stirring speed, 1000 rpm; sample volume, 10 mL; desorption solvent, acetonitrile; solvent volume, 350 μL and ultrasonication period, 25 min without salt addition. Under the optimum conditions, enrichment factor of 11, 9, 9 and 10 for AFG2, AFG1