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.
The research aims to detect the problems of educational reality faced by university professors and identify statistically significant differences in the academic problems of university instructors. It has adopted an analytical descriptive research approach to achieve research objectives and identifies the study community with professors of public and private universities. A random sample of 250 instructors was selected for the purpose of applying the questionnaire to them, knowing the academic problems encountered in the course of their work at universities, and adopting appropriate statistical means to process and analyze the data. The research concluded with a set of results, including that all fields (infrastructure, admission of
... Show MoreAs a result of recent developments in highway research as well as the increased use of vehicles, there has been a significant interest paid to the most current, effective, and precise Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). In the field of computer vision or digital image processing, the identification of specific objects in an image plays a crucial role in the creation of a comprehensive image. There is a challenge associated with Vehicle License Plate Recognition (VLPR) because of the variation in viewpoints, multiple formats, and non-uniform lighting conditions at the time of acquisition of the image, shape, and color, in addition, the difficulties like poor image resolution, blurry image, poor lighting, and low contrast, these
... Show MoreABSTRACT: In dental practice there are many wrong habits that should be recognized and treated. One of them is the irrational antibiotic (AB) administration by patient. This indeed created an important issue in dental clinics first of all drug resistance and super infection. This was analyzed in our study and then the causes were identified and a plan suggested in recommendation hope that it will minimize the outcomes. Results: all those patients were finally subjected to be clinically diagnosed and treated this lead to only one fact, these antibiotics are not effective in one way or another since they are not prescribed by dentist
The study aims to build a water quality index that fits the Iraqi aquatic systems and reflects the environmental reality of Iraqi water. The developed Iraqi Water Quality Index (IQWQI) includes physical and chemical components. To build the IQWQI, Delphi method was used to communicate with local and global experts in water quality indices for their opinion regarding the best and most important parameter we can use in building the index and the established weight of each parameter. From the data obtained in this study, 70% were used for building the model and 30% for evaluating the model. Multiple scenarios were applied to the model inputs to study the effects of increasing parameters. The model was built 4 by 4 until it reached 17 parame
... Show Moreنتيجة للتطورات الأخيرة في أبحاث الطرق السريعة بالإضافة إلى زيادة استخدام المركبات، كان هناك اهتمام كبير بنظام النقل الذكي الأكثر حداثة وفعالية ودقة (ITS) في مجال رؤية الكمبيوتر أو معالجة الصور الرقمية، يلعب تحديد كائنات معينة في صورة دورًا مهمًا في إنشاء صورة شاملة. هناك تحدٍ مرتبط بالتعرف على لوحة ترخيص السيارة (VLPR) بسبب الاختلاف في وجهة النظر، والتنسيقات المتعددة، وظروف الإضاءة غير الموحدة في وقت الحصول
... Show MoreTo study the qualitative changes in testis tissue after carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) administration and to determine whether citric acid (CA) has a protective effect against testis damage induced by CCl4. This study compared two types of CA by measuring the histoarchitecture of the testis and serum levels of progesterone, estrogen and testosterone on mice. One of the most produced organic acid is citric acid. In this study, CA produced by microbial fermentation using Aspergillus Niger 5mg/kg and derived from citrus limon 400mg/kg (lemon). Mice were treated with daily intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection for seven successive days after randomly separated into six groups: (1) control, (2) CCl4 (0.02%), (3) limon citric acid (400 mg/kg), (4) CCl4 (
... Show MoreBackground: Mothers are considered as the key role in effect on child's dental behavior. So it is important to involve her in oral health promotion program to prevent early childhood dental caries from occurring in early age. Objectives: To identify the knowledge, practice and attitude of mothers about the oral health of their children. And to measure the change in oral hygiene of children aged (4-7) years old after one month of interventional program on their mothers. Type of study: Non-randomized interventional.Methods: Non-randomized interventional study for one month in Al Shaab area in Baghdad to 65 mothers who have children aged (4-7) years .A modified administrated questionnaire is given to assess mothers’ knowledge, practice an
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