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 present work investigates the effect of magneto – hydrodynamic (MHD) laminar natural convection flow on a vertical cylinder in presence of heat generation and radiation. The governing equations which used are Continuity, Momentum and Energy equations. These equations are transformed to dimensionless equations using Vorticity-Stream Function method and the resulting nonlinear system
of partial differential equations are then solved numerically using finite difference approximation. A thermal boundary condition of a constant wall temperature is considered. A computer program (Fortran 90) was built to calculate the rate of heat transfer in terms of local Nusselt number, total mean Nusselt number, velocity distribution as well as te
The field of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is the process of converting an image of text into a machine-readable text format. The classification of Arabic manuscripts in general is part of this field. In recent years, the processing of Arabian image databases by deep learning architectures has experienced a remarkable development. However, this remains insufficient to satisfy the enormous wealth of Arabic manuscripts. In this research, a deep learning architecture is used to address the issue of classifying Arabic letters written by hand. The method based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture as a self-extractor and classifier. Considering the nature of the dataset images (binary images), the contours of the alphabet
... Show MoreThe study aimed to reveal the extent of the first intermediate grade science curriculum focus on the national values, health, environmental, economic values, in the light of the education policy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in addition to present a proposed vision to strengthen it in the science curriculum for the first intermediate grade. The study was applied to the two books student and the two books of activity on the first-second semesters for the academic year 1441 AH. To analyze the curriculum content, the study used a verified card prepared by the researchers and a criterion for interpreting percentages. The study reached the following results: environmental values ranked first with a concentration of (43%), i.e. with an avera
... Show MoreThis research examines how Al-Sabah newspaper addressed violations of women’s rights in Iraq. Using content analysis, a sample of 157 articles published from July 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021, was analyzed. The study reveals diverse journalistic treatments, with interpretive approaches employed in addressing violations of Iraqi women’s rights. Social violations of women’s rights were the primary focus, and various forms of newspaper articles, including opinion pieces, were commonly used.
Background: Knowledge about the prevalence and distribution of pathologies in a particular location is important when a differential diagnosis is being formulated. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and the clinicopathological features of odontogenic cysts and tumors affecting the maxilla and to discuss the unusual presentation of those lesions within maxillary sinus.
Materials and Methods: A multicenter retrospective analysis was performed on pathology archives of patients who were diagnosed with maxillary odontogenic cysts and tumors from 2010 to 2020. Data were collected with respect to age, gender and location.
Result: A total of 384 cases was identified, 320 (83.3%) cases were diagnosed as odontogenic
... Show MoreIt is proposed and studied a prey-predator system with a Holling type II functional response that merges predation fear with a predator-dependent prey's refuge. Understanding the impact of fear and refuge on the system's dynamic behavior is one of the objectives. All conceivable steady-states are investigated for their stability. The persistence condition of the system has been established. Local bifurcation analysis is performed in the Sotomayor sense. Extensive numerical simulation with varied parameters was used to explore the system's global dynamics. A limit cycle and a point attractor are the two types of attractors in the system. It's also interesting to note that the system exhibits bi-stability between these 2 types of attractors.
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