Background: Since the introduction of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) inhibitors including etanercept, their efficacy and safety in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been studied in many randomized controlled clinical trials. However, data regarding predictors of clinical response to anti-TNF therapy are still sparse.
Objective: To assess the predictors of response to etanercept in treatment of Iraqi patients with active RA.
Methods: An open label single group prospective study was conducted over 15 months on 190 Iraqi patients with RA. All the included patients were given etanercept at a dose of 50 mg by subcutaneous injection on
a weeklybases. Each patient was followed at regular intervals of baseline,1, 3 and 6 months for disease activity using Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28). Also we assess six different patients characteristics (age, gender, disease duration, the presence of rheumatoid factor, smoking status and the concomitant use of methotrexate) as predictors to etanercept response.
Results: Data analysis showed a significant improvement in DAS28 with etanercept use over a period of 6 months. Females were more respondent to treatment than males. The concomitant use of methotrexate showed highly significant correlation with the treatment response. The other variables had no significant effect on response to treatment.
Conclusion: Female gender and concomitant use of methotrexate have a significant correlation with response to etanercept treatment.
Many Iraqi students are reluctant to actively participate in the English
language classroom. This reluctance is attributed to a number of factors, above which
is students' lack of thinking skills necessary to express their points of view. This
eventually results in passive learning, a real problem in English language learning in
Iraq.
A need for educational reforms and innovations seems essential. These involve
developing relevant teaching materials, adopting learner-centered approach,
promoting learner autonomy, and enhancing critical thinking.
This study is hoped to assist teachers of English to initiate change and foster
the expansion of thinking, and adopt various new strategies to increase classroom
par
In the last decade, the web has rapidly become an attractive platform, and an indispensable part of our lives. Unfortunately, as our dependency on the web increases so programmers focus more on functionality and appearance than security, has resulted in the interest of attackers in exploiting serious security problems that target web applications and web-based information systems e.g. through an SQL injection attack. SQL injection in simple terms, is the process of passing SQL code into interactive web applications that employ database services such applications accept user input such as form and then include this input in database requests, typically SQL statements in a way that was not intende
... Show MoreDue to the difficulties that Iraqi students face when writing in the English language, this preliminary study aimed to improve students' writing skills by using online platforms remotely. Sixty first-year students from Al-Furat Al–Awsat Technical University participated in this study. Through these platforms, the researchers relied on stimuli, such as images, icons, and short titles to allow for deeper and more accurate participations. Data were collected through corrections, observations, and feedback from the researchers and peers. In addition, two pre and post-tests were conducted. The quantitative data were analysed by SPSS statistical Editor, whereas the qualitative data were analyzed using the Piot table, an Excel sheet. The resu
... Show MoreThis research presents a new study in reactive distillation by adopting a consecutive reaction . The adopted consecutive reaction was the saponification reaction of diethyl adipate with NaOH solution. The saponification reaction occurs in two steps. The distillation process had the role of withdrawing the intermediate product i.e. monoethyl adipate from the reacting mixture before the second conversion to disodium adipate occurred. It was found that monoethyl adipate appeared successfully in the distillate liquid. The percentage conversion from di-ester to monoester was greatly enhanced (reaching 86%) relative to only 15.3% for the case of reaction without distillation .This means 5 times enhancement . The presence of two layers in both the
... Show MoreComplexes of some metal ions with 2-thiotolylurea were prepared in ethanolic medium using (1:1) (Metal : Ligand) ratio yielded series of neutral complexes as the general formula [M(L)Cl2]. The prepared complexes were identified by atomic absorption FT.IR, UV-Visble spectra, molar conductivity and magnetic properties. From the above data the tetrahedral structure was suggested for all complexes.
Potential health and environmental effects of nanoparticles need to be thoroughly assessed before their widespread commercialization. The present investigation was planned with the aims to determine the effects of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) on blast (BI) and mitotic (MI) indices of cultured lymphocytes. The results revealed that BI (50.3±2.3, 30.2±1.9, 10.5±0.7 and 0.0%, respectively) and MI (70.1±2.9, 20.4±1.1, 5.3±0.1 and 0.0%, respectively) showed a gradual decreased percentage as the concentration of GNPs was increased from 0.085 to 0.66 µg/mL, and the difference was significant compared to control culture (81.6±2.5 and 90.2±3.7%, respectively). A maximum inhibition of BI and MI was occurred at the concentration 0.66 µg/mL. In
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