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.
Conflict is a common but complicated phenomenon. It has been extensively researched in many domains, including philosophy, sociology, psychology, and linguistics. Using the Critical Discourse Approach, this study examines the issue of self-society conflict in The Handmaid’s Tale. The significance of this work lies in the identification and explanation of the discursive strategies that force the ideological polarization of the positively portrayed self versus the negatively portrayed other. The purpose of this study is to answer two questions: what are the discursive strategies used in The Handmaid’s Tale to create a positive or negative representation, and how are these strategies implemented? Five extracts from The Handmaid’s
... Show MoreMarriage is considered one of the strongest ties that links between two human beings , but after the evolutions that happened in our Arab communities and specifically in the Iraqi community , marriage through the internet websites appeared . this kind of marriage is considered one of the new phenomena that appeared in the present time in many societies. That was through internet websites like yahoo , Facebook and other websites that have chat features.
The Islamic sharia looks negatively at marriage through the internet announcing that this way is harmful for both the man and the woman
Although language research has focused on blackmail in general, less attention has been paid to emotional blackmail. To date, researchers could not locate any literature that examines emotional blackmail from a linguistic standpoint. The current study is intended to fill this gap by scrutinizing emotional blackmail from a pragma-stylistic point of view by examining the style of the characters in selected episodes extracted from the American Breaking Bad series. To carry out the study, an eclectic model comprising kinds of emotional blackmailers by Forward and Frazier (1997), Searles’ speech acts (1979), Grice’s maxims (1975), Brown and Levinson’s politeness (1987), Culpeper’s impoliteness (1996), and Simpson’s stylistic le
... Show MoreIn recent years, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are attracting more attention in many fields as they are extensively used in a wide range of applications, such as environment monitoring, the Internet of Things, industrial operation control, electric distribution, and the oil industry. One of the major concerns in these networks is the limited energy sources. Clustering and routing algorithms represent one of the critical issues that directly contribute to power consumption in WSNs. Therefore, optimization techniques and routing protocols for such networks have to be studied and developed. This paper focuses on the most recent studies and algorithms that handle energy-efficiency clustering and routing in WSNs. In addition, the prime
... Show Morefashion designers who have benefited greatly from the mobilization of ancient aesthetic ideas in the heritage of the people and guaranteed in their productions so that there is no change In the aesthetic value created by the designers of the research in the ancient heritage to find new signs that reflect the connection of man to the present as the aesthetic value of all the man created by the designs of fabrics and fashion through the ages The problem of research was determined in the absence of a precise understanding of the nature of classical thought in fashion and the absence of a clear perception of the sustainability of this thought in contemporary fashion. He
... Show MoreBackground: The risk of antibiotics resistance (AR) increases due to excessive of antibiotics either by health care provider or by the patients.
Objective: The assessment of the self-medication Practice of over the counter drugs and other prescription drugs and its associated risk factor.
Subjects and Methods: Study design: A descriptive study was conducted from “20th December 2019 to 08th January 2021”. A pre validated and structured questionnaire in English and Urdu language was created to avoid language barrier including personal detail, reasons and source and knowledge about over the counter drugs and Antibiotics. Sample of the study was randomly selected.
... Show MoreAddressed the problem of the research is marked (experimentation in caves fee) concept and its role in experimentation deviate Display Num formal charges caves. The search came in four sections: general framework for research and identified the research problem and the need for him. With an indication of the importance of his presence. Then specify the search for the goals of (revealed the nature and role of experimentation in determining the nature of Manifesting fee documented on the walls of caves), followed by the establishment of the three search limits (objectivity, the temporal and spatial) were then determine the terms related to the title. Then provide the theoretical framework and indicators that resulted from academic theorizi
... Show MoreThe photoconductivity and its dependence on light intensity have been investigated in a-Ge20Se80 thin films as a function of temperature between (293–323)K. The result showed that the photoconductivity and photosensitivity increase with increase of annealing temperature. This behavior is interpreted in terms of the dispersive diffusion –controlled recombination of localized electrons and holes.