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 term "nano gold," also known as "gold nanoparticles," is commonly used. These particles are extremely small, with a diameter of less than 100 nm, which is only a fraction of the width of a human hair. Due to their tiny size, nano gold particles are often found in a colloidal solution, where they are suspended in a liquid stabilizer. This colloidal gold is essentially another name for nano gold. The main method for producing gold nanoparticles in a colloidal solution is the citrate synthesis technique, which involves combining different solutions to precipitate the gold nanoparticles. In biological systems, copper complexes play a significant role at the active sites of many metalloproteins. These complexes have potential applications in
... Show Moremajor goal of the next-generation wireless communication systems is the development of a reliable high-speed wireless communication system that supports high user mobility. They must focus on increasing the link throughput and the network capacity. In this paper a novel, spectral efficient system is proposed for generating and transmitting twodimensional (2-D) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols through 2- D inter-symbol interference (ISI) channel. Instead of conventional data mapping techniques, discrete finite Radon transform (FRAT) is used as a data mapping technique due to the increased orthogonality offered. As a result, the proposed structure gives a significant improvement in bit error rate (BER) performance. Th
... Show MoreFilm condensation of steam on a vertical tube is investigated numerically and experimentally, in the present work. A mathematical model was set based on the basic conservation laws of mass and energy, Nusselts analysis of film condensation, and empirical equations available in the literature. Then, a simulation program in FORTRAN language was developed which simulates the film condensation of steam on a vertical tube. A complete steam tables subprogram was also developed and incorporated with the main program. The experimental work was carried out using a steam condensation test bench. The inlet and outlet cooling water temperatures, steam temperature and pressure, tube surface temperature at center, and co
... Show MoreThe experiment was aimed to evaluate a locally manufactured a dual-action device used for measuring feed pellets durability. The device performs dropping process in conventional devices, then sifting process to separate the pellets from the crumbles simultaneously, with a control the motor speed by using the pulse width modulation (PWM) Technique. The device performance was compared with the durability measuring device of a moving drop box. Rotational speed, diameter of the die holes of the machine was used in this study. The results showed that increasing the rotational speed of the die from 280 to 300 and to 320 rpm, increasing the die holes diameter from 3 to 4 and to 5 mm, led to
The application of the test case prioritization method is a key part of system testing intended to think it through and sort out the issues early in the development stage. Traditional prioritization techniques frequently fail to take into account the complexities of big-scale test suites, growing systems and time constraints, therefore cannot fully fix this problem. The proposed study here will deal with a meta-heuristic hybrid method that focuses on addressing the challenges of the modern time. The strategy utilizes genetic algorithms alongside a black hole as a means to create a smooth tradeoff between exploring numerous possibilities and exploiting the best one. The proposed hybrid algorithm of genetic black hole (HGBH) uses the
... Show MoreIn this review, previous studies on the synthesis and characterization of the metal Complexes with paracetamol by elemental analysis, thermal analysis, (IR, NMR and UV-Vis (spectroscopy and conductivity. In reviewing these studies, the authors found that paracetamol can be coordinated through the pair of electrons on the hydroxyl O-atom, carbonyl O-atom, and N-atom of the amide group. If the paracetamol was a monodentate ligand, it will be coordinated by one of the following atoms O-hydroxyl, O-carbonyl or N-amide. But if the paracetamol was bidentate, it is coordinated by atoms (O-carbonyl and N-amide), (O-hydroxyl and N-amide) or (O-carbonyl and O-hydroxyl). The authors also found that free paracetamol and its complexes have antimicrobial
... Show MoreThis research provides a new method to study praise poetry that can be used as a course to teach English and Arabic to students in the College of Education. This research answers two questions: Is it possible to examine praise poetry as a tagmeme? Is this analysis of great help in teaching English and Arabic to students in the College of Education? The data that will be chosen for the purpose of analysis are two of Shakespeare's sonnets and two of AL Mulik's poems. The sonnets selected for this purpose are 17 and 18. AL Mulik's poems selected for the same purpose are 8 and 9. Each line in both English and Arabic data is numbered by the researcher herself. Then, those lines are grouped into sentences to facilitat
... Show MoreThe migration from IPv4 to IPv6 can not be achieved in a brief period, thus both protocols co-exist at certain years. IETF Next Generation Transition Working Group (NGtrans) developed IPv4/IPv6 transition mechanisms. Since Iraq infrastructure, including universities, companies and institutions still use IPv4 protocol only. This research article tries to highlight, discuss a required transition roadmap and extend the local knowledge and practice on IPv6. Also, it introduces a prototype model using Packet tracer (network simulator) deployed for the design and implementation of IPv6 migration. Finally, it compares and evaluates the performance of IPv6, IPv4 and dual stack using OPNET based on QoS metrics such as throughput, delay and point to
... Show MoreThis review covers recent progress in the synthesis of curcumin and the bioactivity of semisynthetic and synthetic analogs of curcumin. The review also shows how curcumin is a useful intermediate for the synthesis of more complex organic molecules; historical perspective; the process of preparing the metal complexes and characterization the produced complexes using various spectral and other techniques; shows the importance of curcumin and its derivatives for their potential applications in medical devices and broad-spectrum of medical application such as antibiotic ointment, alternative therapeutics, antifungal, and antibacterial activities