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 given rituximab induction therapy and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) maintenance therapy. RTX was indicated for refractory and relapsing SLE. Several investigations done before and after RTX treatment and in the last follow up (done one year after starting Rituximab). Those included protein in urine, serum creatinine, double stranded DNA, C3, C4, and Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR). Proteinuria decreased significantly after RTX treatment and in the last measurement (P=0.01 and P=0.001, respectively). Serum creatinine significantly decreased only in the last measurement (P=0.02). Double stranded DNA decreased remarkably after treatment (P=0.01) with a further decrease in the last measurement (P=0.006). C3 and C4 increased after treatment but the increase was significant only for C3 (P=0.002) and this increase continues till the last measurement (P=0.0006). Active urine sediments found in fifteen patients and disappeared after RTX treatment. Rituximab can be promising in treating lupus nephritis when used along with traditional immunosuppressants. It can reduce disease activity and improve renal function in such patients.
Aim of the study: This study's goal was to determine how laser surface alteration affected wettability of injectable thermoplastic acrylic and heat cure acrylic denture base materials. Materials and methods: Injectable thermoplastic acrylic resin (Deflex) and heat cure acrylic (Procryla) were used in this study to produce forty-disc shaped specimens, 20 specimens for each material type. The control group was made up of ten samples of each type of plastic denture base material. The other ten samples were treated with a nano-pulse fiber-optic lens Nd:YAG laser. The results were looked at with the Kruskal-Wallis test and the unpaired t-test (a=.05). Results: Compared to the control groups, the laser-treated groups were more likely to sti
... Show MoreBackground:Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problems refer to a group of heterogeneous pain and dysfunction conditions involving the mastication, reducing life quality of the patients. Arthrocentesis is a simple and less invasive surgical method for the treatment of inflammatory-degenerative disease than other conservative procedures and better than arthroscope. This clinical study aimed at evaluating the benefit of arthrocentesis with injection of hyaluronic acid in the management of inflammatory-degenerative disease of the TMJ. Material and methods: Eighty consecutive patients were enrolled in this study with pain symptoms of TMJ, insufficient masticatory efficiency during function and limitation of mouth opening; they were assessed with
... Show MoreThe university press is an essential pillar in building an academic community to achieve its objectives in the service of society. Since the university press is a means of university media, which is issued by the departments or units of media in Iraqi universities as academic governmental-institutions, so it highlights the activities of the university and link them to its internal society in the first place as the university press is a mirror of the university and its voice is sincerely expressed. This research comes to know the extent of interest of the university press in various student issues.
In order to identify the problem of the research, the method of content analysis was adopted within the survey method
... Show MoreThe modernity of election practices of the elections in Iraq, according to the democratic approach, has led to a struggle between political rival forces reflecting a deep pressure on the tools involved in the management, marketing or control of these elections across the general social level. Hence the problem of research resides in answering the following question: What is the nature and size of the pressures affecting the media performance of Al-Iraqia News channel before the legislative elections of 2018 in Iraq?
The objectives of the research were the following:
1. to identify the nature of the pressures that limit the Al-Iraqia News channel’s perfo
The pharmacophore 2-aminothiazole has an interesting role in pharmaceutical chemistry as this led to the synthesis of many types of compounds with diverse biological activity. Schiff base derivatives at the same time contribute to drug evolution importantly. In this review, the Schiff base derivatives of 2-aminothiazole formed and some of their metal complexes are being focused on, and the antimicrobial and anticancer activity of them is being illustrated.
This article includes the preparation of luminescence materials from rare earth (Eu ) ion doping Yttrium Oxide (Y2O3) 70% and SiO2 25% and study the characteristics of phosphors for ultraviolet to visible conversion. The phosphor materials have been synthesized by two steps: Preparing the powder by solid state method using Y2O3, SiO2 and Eu2O3 with doping materials concentration (70%, 25% and 5%) respectively and different calcination temperature (1000, 1200 and 1400 oC).
The second step is to prepare the colloid solution by dispersing the produced powder in a polyvinyl alcohol solution (4%) .
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