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.
Background: Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) occurs in the presence of chronic infection, inflammatory conditions or neoplastic conditions despite of adequate iron and vitamins storage. Gingivitis is the inflammation of the gingiva, periodontitis is the inflammation in the periodontium that extend deeper with loss of connective tissue attachment and supporting bone. The main pathogenesis of periodontal diseases and ACD is immune activation. Aims of study: Determine and compare the clinical periodontal parameters (plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL)). Evaluate the hematocrit (Hct) level, red blood cells (RBCs) count and white blood cells (WBCs) c
... Show MoreBackground: The skin functions as a barrier to the external environment, damage to this barrier following a burn disrupts the innate immune system and increases susceptibility to bacterial infection. Objective: This study was carried out to determine the bacterial isolates and study their antimicrobial susceptibility in burned wound infections at one burn's hospital in Baghdad.Type of study:Cross-sectional study.Methods: The bacteria were identified at species level by using Analytic Profile Index (API) system and The antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed according to Kirby-Bauer (disk diffusion) technique.Results: Over a period of one year (from October 2014 to October 2015). Out of 848 patients with different degrees of burns
... Show MoreConducting polyaniline / ZnO nano composites are synthesized
using a simplified cheap method with one step in –situ chemical
polymerization, and AC conductivity (σac) of the prepared samples is
studied in the range of frequency from 50 Hz to 15MHz.). The
presence of polarons in the conjugated polymer chain are responsible
for the ac conductivity is reliance on the frequency in these
composites. The effect of increasing the ZnO nano particle
concentration irradiation and gamma radiation on the electric
conductivity was analyzed. The result showed that the
nanocomposite prepared has the highest conductivity, from pure
polyaniline and the exponential factor S was found increasing with
ZnO content it was 0
This study reports the fabrication of tin oxide (SnO2) thin films using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The effect of 60Co (300, 900, and 1200 Gy) gamma radiation on the structural, morphological, and optical features is systematically demonstrated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and ultraviolet-visible light analysis (UV-Vis), respectively In XRD tests, the size of the crystallites decreased from 45.5 to 40.8 nm for the control samples and from 1200 Gy to 60Co for the irradiated samples. Using FESEM analysis, the particle diameter revealed a similar trend to that attained using XRD; in particular, the average diameters were 93.8 and
... Show MoreThis study was conducted at the poultry research station to the office of Agricultural Research / Ministry of Agriculture / during the period 4/1/2016 to 5/5/2016 and 336 one-day-old Ross308 chicks were used, and fed on diets provided with dried dill (Anethum gravelens) at levels 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8% for treatments D2, D3 and D4, respectively, and they were compared with the control treatment D1. Each treatment included three replicates in each replicate contain 28 birds, in order to study the effect of adding different levels of dried dill plant on the productive performance and some characteristics of the carcass for broilers. The results showed a significant increase (p<0.05) in the average body weight at 5 weeks of age for the treatments (
... Show MoreWater samples from a variety of sources in Kelantan, Malaysia (lakes, ponds, rivers, ditches, fish farms, and sewage) were screened for the presence of bacteriophages infecting
The study aimed to prepare a nanocapsules formulation from the acetonic extract of Moringa oleifera leaves, using polymeric capsules, and test its toxicity against the third instar larvae of Culex pipiens mosquitoes. The leaf extract was prepared using acetone as a solvent, and the nano polymeric capsules were prepared using the synthetic polymer polyethylene glycol 4000. The results showed the successful preparation of nano polymeric capsules from the leaf extract, with an average particle size of 259.2 nm, and a nanocapsule diameter of 263.83 nm, as determined by DLS and SEM analysis, respectively. The toxicity results indicated that the nano polymeric capsules of the leaf extract exhibited higher mortality rates, reaching 97.6% a
... Show MoreThe current study aims to investigate the relationship between lipid peroxidation, represented by seminal malondialdehyde (MDA) level, and integrity of sperm plasma membrane, represented by the hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) test score, in infertile men. One hundred and twenty Iraqi men (20 fertile and 100 infertile) shared in this study during their attendance to the High Institute for Infertility Diagnosis and Assisted Reproductive Technologies/Al- Nahrain University. The mean age of the fertile men was (30.46±0.78) years while the mean age of infertile men was (32.58±0.64) years with the duration of infertility (5.36±0.33) years. Semen samples were collected and the parameters of seminal fluid analysis were assessed; also, the HOS
... Show MoreIt is believed that Organizations around the world should be prepared for the transition to IPv6 and make sure they have the " know how" to be able to succeed in choosing the right migration to start time. This paper focuses on the transition to IPv6 mechanisms. Also, this paper proposes and tests a deployment of IPv6 prototype within the intranet of the University of Baghdad (BUniv) using virtualization software. Also, it deals with security issues, improvements and extensions of IPv6 network using firewalls, Virtual Private Network ( VPN), Access list ( ACLs). Finally, the performance of the obtainable intrusion detection model is assessed and compared with three approaches.