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

Many literary research papers have dealt with the work of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale (1985) as a feminist work. However, nearly few studies combine social oppression with religious extremism. To bridge this gap, the present study aims at exploring the use of totalitarian theocracy of terror to oppress its citizens in the name of religion. In other words, it explicates the way religion is used to brutally suppress and exploit people in general and vulnerable women in particular. To meet this objective, the study adopted the qualitative descriptive method to describe how religion is used as a contradictory controlling means in Gilead discourse. It also adopted the Foucault theory in analyzing the data of the study, illu

The liver is one of the largest glands in the digestive system and performs 13 various functions, including the secretion of hormones and enzymes. The gallbladder serves as a storage reservoir for secretions before they are released into the digestive system through the duodenum. The bile ducts branch from the liver’s lobes and ultimately connect to the digestive system, making this structure significant and distinct among different animal species. This review focuses on the differences between dogs and cats, highlighting the importance of these differences from both health and pathological perspectives. After conducting a detailed scientific review of the biliary tree in dogs and cats, we concluded that cats are more susceptible

Preserving the Past and Building the Future: A Sustainable Urban Plan for Mosul, Iraq

Seven leafhoppers (Cicadeilidae). and one plantboppei (Delpbacidae), Homoptera were identified from a one year operated light trap at the College of Agiculture farm in Abu¬Ghraib. The leafhoppers were: Balclutha hortensis Lind.; B. rufaofasciata Merine.; psammctettix alien us Dahlbem.; P. striatus L.; Extianus capicola.; Neoaliturus haematoceps H. R.; and Orozius albicnctus Dist. The planthopper was Sogatella vibix Haupt. one year records of their populations, indicated that B. rufofasciata occured during the fall from October 10 until December 18; E. capicola from October 24 until November 21 and again in the summer from March to October. The others occured only during the summer, from the end of March and early April until Mid-Septemb

Young people represent the power and cornerstone of societies and their superiority is linked to their well-being. Their empowerment is as essential as the heart to the body, if it is corrupt, then the whole body is corrupt, and vice versa. The exposure to extremism and pressure from their families leads to violent acts and crimes for obtaining money through unknown organized bodies. This will drive them to fail in their life in an attempt to fulfill their most basic needs, which they have been deprived of by their families, the government, and other institutions. Therefore, governments should provide job opportunities for young people and provide entertainment centers, sports clubs, and family education centers that raise awareness of s

This work presents a design for a pressure swing adsorption process (PSA) to separate oxygen from air with approximately 95% purity, suitable for different numbers of columns and arrangements. The product refill PSA process was found to perform 33% better (weight of zeolite required or productivity) than the pressure equalization process. The design is based on the adsorption equilibrium of a binary mixture of O₂ and N₂ for two of the most commonly used adsorbents, 5A & 13X, and extension from a single column approach. Zeolite 13X was found to perform 6% better than zeolite 5A. The most effective variables were determined to be the adsorption step time and the operational pressure. Increasing the adsorption step

Background: Opportunistic viral infections make an important threat to renal transplantation recipients (RTRs), and with the use of more intense newly-developed immunosuppressive drugs; the risk of renal allograft loss due to reactivation of these viruses has increased considerably. At the top priority of these viruses lie BK polyomavirus (BKV) and human cytomegalovirus (CMV). Reactivation of these viruses in these chronically immunosuppressed RTRs can lead to renal impairment and subsequently allograft loss, unless early detected and properly treated. Objectives: The study aimed to detect and quantify plasma viral load of BKV and CMV in RTRs using quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR), in order to study the prevalence of these two viruses i