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.
The photo-electrochemical etching (PECE) method has been utilized to create pSi samples on n-type silicon wafers (Si). Using the etching time 12 and 22 min while maintaining the other parameters 10 mA/cm2 current density and HF acid at 75% concentration.. The capacitance and resistance variation were studied as the temperature increased and decreased for prepared samples at frequencies 10 and 20 kHz. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the bore width, depth, and porosity % were validated. The formation of porous silicon was confirmed by x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, the crystal size was decreased, and photoluminescence (PL) spectra revealed that the emission peaks were centered at 2q of 28.5619° and 28.7644° for et
... Show MoreThe effect of different antibiotics on growth pigment and plasmid curing of Serratia marcescens were studied, S. marcescens was cultured in media containing(16_500)µg/ml of antibiotics, curing mutants unable to produce prodigiosin and lost one plasmid band were obtained of of ampicillin, amoxillin, antibiotics concentrations (64 500) µg/ml metheprim, ultracloxam, azithromycin, cephalexin and erythromycin treated with (350 500) µg/ml of The mutant cells rose- light color and and refampicin revealed S.marcescens inhibited ciprodar and tetracyclin, lincomycin did not lost the plasmid band chlaforan
Ureteric obstruction is rarely noted in cases of gastric cancer. Its involvement by distant metastasis from gastric adenocarcinoma without direct invasion is an exceptionally unusual occurrence. This is the story of a 58-year-old man who arrived at the emergency department with acute flank pain and fever. He was initially diagnosed with obstructive pyelonephritis after the discovery of a new onset, complete ureteric obstruction on the left side. Subsequent investigations and follow-up revealed the presence of gastric adenocarcinoma with possible ureteric metastasis bilaterally, flank pain and hydronephrosis were the first and only presentations of gastric cancer. The rarity of the condition and the unusual presentation encouraged us to r
... Show MoreSoftware-defined networking (SDN) is an innovative network paradigm, offering substantial control of network operation through a network’s architecture. SDN is an ideal platform for implementing projects involving distributed applications, security solutions, and decentralized network administration in a multitenant data center environment due to its programmability. As its usage rapidly expands, network security threats are becoming more frequent, leading SDN security to be of significant concern. Machine-learning (ML) techniques for intrusion detection of DDoS attacks in SDN networks utilize standard datasets and fail to cover all classification aspects, resulting in under-coverage of attack diversity. This paper proposes a hybr
... Show MoreFree-electron lasers (FELs) are disruptive light sources that offer ultrashort pulses, wide spectral tunability, and superior coherence, making them promising candidates for next-generation photonic technologies. However, conventional FEL facilities are large-scale and complex, limiting their integration into communication systems. This study investigates the potential of compact FELs as scalable and versatile light sources for beyond-6G and quantum communication infrastructures. A theoretical framework was established to model resonance conditions, gain dynamics, coherence properties, pulse-duration-limited bit rates, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). These models were implemented in MATLAB simulations using parameters representativ
... Show MoreIn this work, lead oxide nanoparticles were prepared by laser ablation of lead target immersed in deionized water by using pulsed Nd:YAG laser with laser energy 400 mJ/pulse and different laser pulses. The chemical bonding of lead oxide nps was investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR); surface morphology and optical properties were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and UV-Visible spectroscopy respectively, and the size effect of lead oxide nanoparticles was studied on its antibacterial action against two types of bacteria Gram-negitive (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcusaurus) by diffusion method. The antibacterial property results show that the antibacterial activity of the Lead oxide NPs was
... Show MoreProcessing sulfur containing minerals is one of the biggest sources of acute anthropogenic pollution particularly in the form of acid mine drainage.
Abstract
Itraconazole is a triazole antifungal given orally for the treatment of oropharyngeal and vulvovaginal candidiasis, for systemic infections including aspergillosis, candidiasis, and for the prophylaxis of fungal infections in immunocompromised patients.
The study aimed to formulate a practical water-insoluble Itraconazole, with insufficient bioavailability as nanosuspension to increase aqueous solubility and improve its dissolution and oral bioavailability.
Itraconazole nanosuspension was produced by a
... Show MoreThe idea of Science and Technology Parks (STP) emerged in the 1950s. The Parks have accumulated several architectural functions, including research centers, scientific exhibitions and innovator residence, etc. As these Parks gradually spread, some of them were linked to university complexes, while others had independent sites. The STP have been linked to the prosperity of society by providing an environment that fosters a culture of innovation and transforming research and ideas based on innovation into a commercially marketed product. However, the functional architectural concept of the STP remained unclear. The objective of this paper is to clarifying the stages of development of Pa