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.
Many cities suffer from the large spread of slums, especially the cities of the Middle East. The purpose of the paper is to study the reality of informal housing in Al-Barrakia and the most important problems that it suffers from. The paper also seeks to study the presence or absence of a correlation between urban safety indicators and urban containment indicators as one of the methods of developing and planning cities. This can be achieved through sustainable urban management. The slums are a source of many urban problems that threaten the security and safety of the residents and represent a focus for the concentration of crimes and drugs. The paper seeks to answer the following question: How can urban safety be improved through urban cont
... Show MoreThe Quiet American could be considered as one of Graham Greene’s most distinguished books; it is an epochal novel written during the phase of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The novel deals with the interference of the United States in Vietnam ten years before Vietnam’s war. The role the Americans played in arousing an inner political crisis in the country previous to her military invention. The book reflects that this action was not out of American government concern about Vietnamese people themselves but merely a political foreign affair. They wanted to stop communism from spreading widely and reducing its role in the East. This paper attempts to analyse the novel concentrating on the message Greene intend
... Show MoreIn this paper, a new form of 2D-plane curves is produced and graphically studied. The name of my daughter "Noor" has been given to this curve; therefore, Noor term describes this curve whenever it is used in this paper. This curve is a form of these opened curves as it extends in the infinity along both sides from the origin point. The curve is designed by a circle/ ellipse which are drawing curvatures that tangent at the origin point, where its circumference is passed through the (0,2a). By sharing two vertical lined points of both the circle diameter and the major axis of the ellipse, the parametric equation is derived. In this paper, a set of various cases of Noor curve are graphically studied by two curvature cases;
... Show MoreBackground : Xanthomatosis is a disease in which large tendon tumors can occur, especially in the Achilles tendon. This disease is a rare interesting orthopaedic condition.
Case Report:A case of a twenty eight year old girl patient with giant bilateral Achilles tendon xanthomas in which both tumors were resected.
There was no ulceration on the both sides. The patient was treated by total resection of the lesion and reconstruction using tendon transfer of the Peroneus brevis and Flexor hallusis longus. Postoperative treatment consisted of six weeks lower leg cast immobilization followed by partial weight bearing. After 4 months the patient was able to walk pain free without any difficultie
... Show MoreBackground: Giant middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysms are surgically challenging lesions. Because of the complexity and variability of these aneurysms, a customized surgical technique is often needed for each case. In this article, we present a modified clip reconstruction technique of a ruptured complex giant partially thrombosed middle cerebral artery aneurysm.
Case description: The aneurysm was exposed using the pterional approach. Following proximal control, the aneurysm sac was decompressed. Then, we applied permanent clips to reconstruct the aneurysm neck. The configuration of the aneurysm mandated a tailored clipping pattern to account for resi
... Show MoreBackground : Xanthomatosis is a disease in which large tendon tumors can occur, especially in the Achilles tendon. This disease is a rare interesting orthopaedic condition. Case Report:A case of a twenty eight year old girl patient with giant bilateral Achilles tendon xanthomas in which both tumors were resected. There was no ulceration on the both sides. The patient was treated by total resection of the lesion and reconstruction using tendon transfer of the Peroneus brevis and Flexor hallusis longus. Postoperative treatment consisted of six weeks lower leg cast immobilization followed by partial weight bearing. After 4 months the patient was able to walk pain free without any difficulties. It has been suggested that total resection with au
... Show MoreThe article approaches the characteristics of Russian literature in the time of Khrushchev or the "thaw" period a very short period of Soviet history, characterized by the easing of the dictatorship of power and relaxation in various areas of people's lives. The interest in the research is focused on the importance of interpreting the family portrait in a short but distinct period in the development of Russian/Soviet literature. The research material is the story of Sholokhov's “The Fate of Man” 1956, the story of Panova “Serioga” 1955, and Abramov’s story “Fatherless” 1961. В статье рассматриваются особенности художественной литературы периода хруще
... Show MoreThe research aims to identify the most important variables affecting shooting from jumping high and compare them for the two foot the weak and strong, where the researchers adopted the descriptive method, and the sample was chosen by the intentional method, which consists of (4) players from the Iraqi Sports Army Club, where these variables were studied and their impact on The accuracy of aiming at the two men, and the researchers concluded that most of the players have more accuracy in aiming at the strong leg than at the weak leg, which leads to the loss of many real opportunities during the match because of the players changing the situation or wasting the available opportunity when the position of correction is an opportunity for the w
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