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.
lar water heating systems with heat pipes of three diameter groups of 16, 22 and 28.5 mm. The first and third groups had evaporator lengths of 1150, 1300 and 1550 mm. The second group had an additional length of 1800 mm. all heat pipes were of fixed condenser length of 200 mm. Ethanol at 50% fill charge ratio of the evaporator volume was used as the heat pipes working fluid. Each heat pipe condenser section was inserted in a storage tank and the evaporator section inserted into an evacuated glass tube of the Owens- Illinois type. The combined heat pipe and evacuated glass tube form an active solar collector of a unique design.
The resulting ten solar water heating systems were tested outdoors under the meteorological conditions of Bag
Various speech enhancement Algorithms (SEA) have been developed in the last few decades. Each algorithm has its advantages and disadvantages because the speech signal is affected by environmental situations. Distortion of speech results in the loss of important features that make this signal challenging to understand. SEA aims to improve the intelligibility and quality of speech that different types of noise have degraded. In most applications, quality improvement is highly desirable as it can reduce listener fatigue, especially when the listener is exposed to high noise levels for extended periods (e.g., manufacturing). SEA reduces or suppresses the background noise to some degree, sometimes called noise suppression alg
... Show MoreFeasibility of biosorbent of England bamboo plant origin was tested for removal of priority metal ions such as Cu and Zn from aqueous solutions in single metal state. Batch single metal state experiments were performed to determine the effect of dosage (0.5, 1 and 1.5 g), pH (3, 4, 4.5, 5 and 6), mixing speed (90, 111, 131, 156 and 170 rpm), temperature (20, 25, 30 and 35 °C) and metal ion concentration (10, 50, 70, 90 and 100 mg/L) on the ability of dried biomass to remove metal from solutions which were investigated. Dried powder of bamboo removed (for single metal state) about 74 % Cu and 69% Zn and maximum uptake of Cu and Zn was 7.39 mg/g and 6.96 mg/g respectively, from 100 mg/L of synthetic metal solution in 120 min. of contact t
... Show MoreTwo samples of (Ag NPs-zeolite) nanocomposite thin films have been prepared by easy hydrothermal method for 4 hours and 8 hours inside the hydrothermal autoclave at temperatures of 100°C. The two samples were used in a photoelectrochemical cell as a photocatalyst inside a cell consisting of three electrodes: the working electrode photoanode (AgNPs-zeolite), platinum as a cathode electrode, and Ag/AgCl as a reference electrode, to study the performance of AgNPs-zeolite under dark current and 473 nm laser light for water splitting. The results show the high performance of an eight-hour sample with high crystallinity compared with a four-hour sample as a reliable photocatalyst to generate hydrogen for renewable energies.
This paper presents designing an adaptive state feedback controller (ASFC) for a magnetic levitation system (MLS), which is an unstable system and has high nonlinearity and represents a challenging control problem. First, a nonadaptive state feedback controller (SFC) is designed by linearization about a selected equilibrium point and designing a SFC by pole-placement method to achieve maximum overshoot of 1.5% and settling time of 1s (5% criterion). When the operating point changes, the designed controller can no longer achieve the design specifications, since it is designed based on a linearization about a different operating point. This gives rise to utilizing the adaptive control scheme to parameterize the state feedback controll
... Show MoreAneurysms of the cortical branches of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) are rare. They usually are secondary to traumatic or infectious etiologies and are rarely idiopathic. The specific characteristics of idiopathic aneurysms in such location are not well defined in the literature. The authors report a rare case of a ruptured giant idiopathic cortical MCA aneurysm with review of the available literature on this clinical entity.
A 24-year-old female presented with headache, disturbed level of consciousness, and right-sided weakness. Imaging studies showed a left frontoparietal intracer
The objective of this study is to verify the overall performance and evaluate the wastewater quality of the wastewater treatment plant at the Abu Ghraib Dairy Factory and compare the results with the Iraqi Quality Standards (IQS) for effluent disposal and with the national determinants of treated water use. Agricultural irrigation wastewater, which included daily assessment records of the main parameters affecting wastewater [five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (T.D.S), total suspended solids (TSS), phosphate (PO4), nitrate (NO3), hydrogen ion concentration (pH)] obtained from the quality control department of Abu Ghraib dairy plant registered from January 2017 to December 2020. Th
... Show MoreABSTRACT Possible interference of vamin nutritional solution with the activity of several B-lactam antibiotics against E.coli was evaluated in vitro.In Minimal basal salts-glucose medium rapid growth inhibition of sensitive E. coli was induced by 4 µg/ml of ampicillin / cloxaillin, 8 µg/ml of ampicillin, 6 µg/ml of carbencillin, hostacillin, and cephalotin, and by 32 µg/ml of penicillin G and cloxacillin. Significant inactivation of up to 32 µg/ml of carbencillin, cephalotin, penicillin G, and hostacillin was induced by addition of 1:20 v/v vamin. This inactivation was due to the presence of specific amino acids in the mixture. Deletions of amino acids revealed that valine, leucine, isoleucine, tyrosine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, cys
... Show MoreFree Space Optical (FSO) technology offers highly directional, high bandwidth communication channels. This technology can provide fiber-like data rate over short distances. In order to improve security associated with data transmission in FSO networks, a secure communication method based on chaotic technique is presented. In this paper, we have turned our focus on a specific class of piece wise linear one-dimensional chaotic maps. Simulation results indicate that this approach has the advantage of possessing excellent correlation property. In this paper we examine the security vulnerabilities of single FSO links and propose a solution to this problem by implementing the chaotic signal generator “reconfigurable tent map”. As synchronizat
... Show MoreEndophytic bacteria produced analogous secondary metabolites of their hosts. Similarly, the ability to generate antioxidants is not an exception. Dragon scales (Pyrrosia piloselloides), an epiphytic plant of the Polypodiaceae family, are frequently overlooked. This research aims to isolate antioxidant-producing bacteria from dragon-scale fern leaves. The antioxidant activities were tested after the extraction procedure using ethanolic extract. Bacteria were characterized and selected as candidates for antioxidant production by screening for the production of total phenolic compounds. Antioxidant levels were determined utilizing the ABTS, FRAP, and DPPH techniques. The preliminary findings of the entire phenolic compound test rev
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