Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune vesiculobullous mucocutaneous disease with life-threatening consequences. Rituximab (RTX) has recently emerged as an effective treatment for PV. Objectives: This study aims to determine changes in neutrophil and platelet counts for PV patients treated with RTX or corticosteroids combined with Imuran (azathioprine). Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology at Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. Thirty PV patients received two types of treatment: 15 patients were administered RTX and 15 patients took corticosteroids with Imuran (azathioprine). Neutrophil and platelet counts were detected at the hospital laboratory. Results: The age range of PV patients was 27–67 years, and the mean ±SD was 44.866 ± 10.979 years for the patient group treated with RTX and 44.133 ± 11.519 for the patient group treated with corticosteroids and Imuran. In patients treated with RTX, 26.6% were males and 73.33% were females, with a female-to-male ratio of 2.75:1. In patients treated with corticosteroids with Imuran, 40% were males and 60% were females, with a female-to-male ratio of 1.5:1. The results revealed that among patients treated with RTX, 30% of them had mucocutaneous lesions, 6.66% had oral lesions, and 13.33% had cutaneous lesions. Among the other groups treated with corticosteroids and Imuran, 23.33% had mucocutaneous lesions, 13.33% had oral lesions, and 13.33% had cutaneous lesions. Among the patients treated with RTX, 53.33% had normal range of neutrophil count, while 46.6% had neutrophil count above the NR, while in patients treated with corticosteroids and Imuran, 40% had a normal range and 60% had above the normal range. Conclusion: RTX was a more effective treatment compared to corticosteroids with Imuran because no patient remained in an active state during this study. PV was prevalent in females aged 40 years with mucocutaneous lesions.
High performance self-consolidating concrete HP-SCC is one of the most complex types of concrete which have the capacity to consolidated under its own weight, have excellent homogeneity and high durability. This study aims to focus on the possibility of using industrial by-products like Silica fumes SF in the preparation of HP-SCC enhanced with discrete steel fibers (DSF) and monofilament polypropylene fibers (PPF). From experimental results, it was found that using DSF with volume fraction of 0.50 %; a highly improvements were gained in the mechanical properties of HP-SCC. The compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength and elastic modulus improved about 65.7 %, 70.5 %, 41.7 % and 80.3 % at 28 days age, respectively
... Show MoreSulfamethoxazole (SMX) is the most significant antibiotic in the sulfonamide family. It was chosen as the representative of this category because of its widespread use. Starting with sulfamethoxazole, a new series of 2-Azetidinone (M1-M6) was synthesized, the structure of these new derivatives was confirmed using spectral methods, starting with the synthesis of Schiff’s bases by reflux of different aromatic benzaldehydes, separately, with Sulfamethoxazole in ethanol with few drops of acetic acid. The final compounds were obtained by ketene-imine synthesis of β-lactam using chloroacetyl chloride. The designed chemicals’ synthesis has been completed successfully. Physical parameters (melting points and Rf values), Fourier transfo
... Show MoreA group of amino derivatives [4-aminobenzenesulfonamide,4-amino-N¹ methylbenzenesulfonamide, or N¹-(4-aminophenylsulfonyl)acetamide] bound to carboxyl group of mefenamic acid a well known nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were designed and synthesized for evaluation as a potential anti-inflammatory agent. In vivo acute anti-inflammatory activity of the final compounds (9, 10 and 11) was evaluated in rat using egg-white induced edema model of inflammation in a dose equivalent to (7.5mg/Kg) of mefenamic acid. All tested compounds produced a significant reduction in paw edema with respect to the effect of propylene glycol 50% v/v (control group). Moreover, the 4-amino-N-methylbenzenesulfonamide derivative (c
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of different techniques for extraction and purification of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). An isolate of the virus free of possible contamination with other viruses infecting the same host and transmitted by the same vector Bemisia tabaci Genn. was obtained. This was realized by indicator plants and incubation period in the vector. Results obtained revealed that the virus infect Nicotiana glutinosa without visible symptoms, while Nicotiana tabaccum var. White Burley was not susceptible to the virus. The incubation period of the virus in the vector was found to be 21 hrs. These results indicate that the virus is TYLCV. Results showed that Butanol was more effective in clarification the
... Show MoreIn this research, new compounds were synthesized via the reaction of dichloroacetic acid with two moles of piperidine. The novel acid 1 was converted to its ester 2. Acid hydrizide 3 was prepared by the reaction of hydrazine hydrate with new ester 2, which was later used to prepare derivatives of Schiff bases 4-13. In the last step, Schiff bases and thioglycolic acid were reacted to give thiazolidine derivatives 14-23. All these compounds were diagnosed using melting points, FTIR, 1HNMR and mass spectroscopy. Scheme 1 shows all the synthesized compounds' reaction steps and structures. Keywords: Thiazolidine; Schiff bases; biological activity; piperidine; dichloroacetic acid.
The current study performs an explicit nonlinear finite element simulation to predict temperature distribution and consequent stresses during the friction stir welding (FSW) of AA 7075-T651 alloy. The ABAQUS® finite element software was used to model and analyze the process steps that involve plunging, dwelling, and traverse stages. Techniques such as Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation, adaptive meshing, and computational feature of mass scaling were utilized to simulate sequence events during the friction stir welding process. The contact between the welding tool and workpiece was modelled through applying Coulomb’s friction model with a nonlinear friction coefficient value. Also, the model considered the effect of nonlin
... Show MoreThe snthesis and characterization of cobalt(II), nickel(II), copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes of azo ligand 4-[(5-acetyl-2-aminophenyl)- diazenyl]-1,5-dimethyl-2-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-3(2H)-one derived from 4-aminoantipyrine and 4-aminoacetophenone are reported. The nature of the compounds have been studied followed by mole ratio and methods of continuous contrast, Beer′s law followed during a condensation rate (1 × 10-4 – 3 × 10-4 M). The analytical data showed that all the complexes are in 1:2 metal-ligand ratio. An octahedral geometry have been suggested for all the compounds and biological studies of all the complexes were evaluated against different types of antimicrobial strains.
At thermal energies near stellar conditions, nuclear reactions are sensitive to resonance strengths of the nuclear reaction cross-section. In this paper, the resonance strengths of nuclear reaction were evaluated numerically by means of nuclear reaction rate calculations using a written Matlab code, at the energies of interest in stellar nuclear reactions. The results were compared with standard reaction before and after application of a statistical analyses, to select the best parameters that made theoretical results as close as possible to the standard values. Fitting was made for different temperature ranges up to 10 GK, 0.6 GK and 0.25 GK. The evaluated results showed that as the temperature range becomes narrower, more error is ad
... Show MoreThis paper presents studying the performance of three types of polyethersulfone (PES) membrane for the simultaneous removal of Co2+ ions, Cd2+ ions, and Pb2+ ions from binary and ternary aqueous solutions. Co2+ ions, Cd2+ ions, and Pb2+ ions with two different initial concentrations (e.g., 10 and 50 ppm) were selected as examples of heavy metals that contaminate the groundwater as a result of geological and human activities. This study investigated the effect of types of PES membrane and metal ions concentration on the separation process. For the binary aqueous solutions, the permeation flux of the PES2 membranes was higher for the separation process of solutions containing 50 ppm of Cd2+ ions and 10 ppm of Co2+ ions (24.7 L
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