Background: Rituximab is a chimeric IgG1 kappa immunoglobulin that has been genetically modified to incorporate human constant region sequences together with murine light- and heavy-chain variable region sequences. People use it to treat rheumatoid arthritis and certain malignancies. Objective: The study aimed to assess the potential association between the serum levels of Factor I, CD59, interleukins (IL)-6, and interferon-gamma (IFN)-γ and the response to Rituximab treatment in Iraqi rheumatoid arthritis patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the rheumatology center at Baghdad Teaching Hospital. Ninety adult patients who have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and are receiving Rituximab intravenous infusions were included. The enrolled patients were divided into a responder group (45 patients) and a non-responder group (45 patients). The response to Rituximab was assessed according to the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28). Results: The serum levels of Factor I and CD59 were significantly higher in the non-responders group in comparison to the responders group. In addition, the serum IL-6 and IFN-γ levels were significantly elevated in the non-responders group in comparison to the responders group. The estimated marker serum levels showed a strong, significant correlation with the 6-month change in DAS28. Conclusions: In Rituximab nonresponder RA patients, serum levels of Factor I, CD59, Factor H, IL-6, and IFN-γ are higher, and they have good potential to be used in the assessment of the response to Rituximab therapy.
Despite the antiplaque effect of mouth-rinsing with a combination composed of miswak (Salvadora persica L.) and green tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) extracts, no data are available regarding its effect on gingival tissue at the molecular level. This pilot study aimed to assess the effect of oral rinsing with this combination on gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) flow and IL-1β levels. Ten subjects rinsed with either the combination, 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX) or distilled water without toothbrushing for 4 days after receiving baseline polishing. GCF IL-1β concentration, influx, resting volume and plaque quantity were measured at baseline and after 4 days for each intervention. No significant differences in GCF flow or
... Show MoreThis paper aimed to investigate the effect of the height-to-length ratio of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls when loaded by a vertical load. The finite element (FE) method was implemented for modeling and analysis of URM wall. In this paper, ABAQUS, FE software with implicit solver was used to model and analysis URM walls subjected to a vertical load. In order to ensure the validity of Detailed Micro Model (DMM) in predicting the behavior of URM walls under vertical load, the results of the proposed model are compared with experimental results. Load-displacement relationship of the proposed numerical model is found of a good agreement with that of the published experimental results. Evidence shows that load-displacement curve obtained fro
... Show MoreThe applications of mobile robots in rescue scenarios, surviving to search, and exploration for outdoor navigation have received increasing attention due to their promising prospects. In this paper, a simulation of a differential wheeled mobile robot was presented, implementing a Global Positioning System (GPS) data points to specified starting points, final destination, and total error.
In this work, a simple kinematic controller for polar coordinate trajectory tracking is developed. The tracking between two points, pose to pose, was specified by using the GPS data points. After that, the geodesy (GEO) formulation was used to convert the geodesy coordinate to Euclidean or polar coordinate. The Haversine equation
... Show MoreThe study of Shiranish Formation rocks in southern part of Iraq at Ansab area well (KH-6)
were carried out. The formation is tongued with tayarat formation, which bounded from top
and bottom, the upper tongue at thickness 49m. and tongued at depth (476-525m.) the lower
tongue at thickness 4m. tongued at (541-537m.).
The rocks of this formation were divided into three sedimentary microfacies:
1- Dolomitized formininferal Wackestone facies.
2- Dolomitized formininferal Mudstone facies.
3- Dolostone facies.
34 slides were investigated depending on mineralogical, compositional and biological
processes and compared diagenesis which reflect open marine shelf at lower part of formation
(F.Z.2) (S.M.F.8), but at the
representing the media and communication problems and phenomena fertile material and of great importance in the media research, especially as they relate to various aspects of life and its impact on the culture of the community and on individuals and public opinion about the behavior of the various issues. The media incitement to violence and hatred of the most prominent media phenomena that increased the danger and expanded not at the local level, but also in the world. So we found it is important to study this problem from the standpoint of academic and professional. And according to the progress of this research is trying to answer a number of questions including:
A. What are the Iraqi Satellite TV channels most watched and follow
Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that regulates T cell function. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of AhR ligands, 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), and 6-Formylindolo[3,2-b]carbazole (FICZ), on gut-associated microbiota and T cell responses during delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction induced by methylated bovine serum albumin (mBSA) in a mouse model. Mice with DTH showed significant changes in gut microbiota including an increased abundance of