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 paper presents research results of the vibration transmitted from the steering wheel of the tractor with a 2-wheel drive to the driver’s hands. The vibration measurements were carried out on the tractor randomly chosen from the collage of agriculture / university of Baghdad. Before testing the tractor was examined and adjusted following the producer’s recommendations. The vibration levels were measured during the operation tillage at idling and at full load .The field was 31.7 m above level sea. Soil was treated at soil constant moisture (17-20 %) with depth of plowing (17 cm). During operation the weather temperature was measured (15 C) and humidity was ( 27 % ) The vibration level on the steering wheel was measured and analyzed .T
... Show MoreThe paper presents research results of the vibration transmitted from the steering wheel of the
tractor with a 2-wheel drive to the driver’s hands. The vibration measurements were carried out on the
tractor randomly chosen from the collage of agriculture / university of Baghdad. Before testing the
tractor was examined and adjusted following the producer’s recommendations. The vibration levels
were measured during the operation tillage at idling and at full load .The field was 3١٫٧ m above level
sea. Soil was treated at soil constant moisture (1٧-20 %) with depth of plowing (١٧ cm). During
operation the weather temperature was measured (15 C) and humidity was ( 27 % ) The vibration level
on the steering whee
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Three scolopacids out of 150 are found infected with Haemoproteus scolopaci Galli-
Valerio 1929 and H. tringae n. sp. A detailed description of the new taxon is presented along
with a comparison of the diagnostic measurements between the two species.
Future wireless networks will require advance physical-layer techniques to meet the requirements of Internet of Everything (IoE) applications and massive communication systems. To this end, a massive MIMO (m-MIMO) system is to date considered one of the key technologies for future wireless networks. This is due to the capability of m-MIMO to bring a significant improvement in the spectral efficiency and energy efficiency. However, designing an efficient downlink (DL) training sequence for fast channel state information (CSI) estimation, i.e., with limited coherence time, in a frequency division duplex (FDD) m-MIMO system when users exhibit different correlation patterns, i.e., span distinct channel covariance matrices, is to date ve
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This study aimed to explain the criteria of managers at different levels of nursing in selecting effective nursing diagnosis.
In conventional content analysis, 10 nursing managers at different levels including head nurse, supervisor, and nursing manager were interviewed. Data was collected with semi-structured interviews and a narrative approach. Data analysis was performed using the Zhang–Wildemuth method simultaneously with sampling.
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The duty of care is the essence of the error of negligence under the English legal system, and without it, responsibility for negligence cannot be judged, regardless of the extent of the damage incurred. contained in English law. In view of the importance of proving the existence of the duty of care on the defendant so that it is possible to judge his responsibility for negligence, the need arises to find a general principle to which the defendant is subject in order to decide whether he owes the plaintiff with the duty of care and therefore responsible for the negligence, and this is what we will explain in the research topic the study.
This paper deals with the ideological positioning of the English poet John Donne in a selected poems of his i.e Holy Sonnet X, as regards the theme of death found therein. The researchers adopt an emerging branch of stylistics, called Critical Stylistics, as proposed by Jeffries (2010) in order to uncover the ideologies of the author regarding the topic concerned and how linguistic choices are used to slant ideas. The model is comprised of ten tools of analysis which, upon being applied to the selected data, have shown how the poet exploits language resources in order to pass his ideology and influence his readers. In this paper, the workings of only one tool are presented as applied to a certain portion of the data.
This study identified the genus Coelastrella Chodat, 1922 which was isolated from a sediment sample taken from the Tigris river in Baghdad Governorate, Iraq. The alga was isolated and cultured in modified Chu 10 media and the morphological features of the isolated algae were observed in light microscopy (LM); it showed some characteristic features of this genus, such as its ellipsoidal or lemon- shaped cells, a visible pyrenoid and the chloroplast parietal. To ensure correct identification of the isolated alga, a molecular analysis using 18S rRNA gene and DNA sequencing revealed a match with C. terrestris (Reisigl) Hedewald & N. Hanagata 2002. This species is a new record in Iraq
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