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.
Hollow core photonic bandgap fibers provide a new geometry for the realization and enhancement of many nonlinear optical effects. Such fibers offer novel guidance and dispersion properties that provide an advantage over conventional fibers for various applications. Dispersion, which expresses the variation with wavelength of the guided-mode group velocity, is one of the most important properties of optical fibers. Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) offer much larger flexibility than conventional fibers with respect to tailoring of the dispersion curve. This is partly due to the large refractive-index contrast available in the silica/air microstructures, and partly due to the possibility of making complex refractive-index structure over the fibe
... Show MoreConflict is a common but complicated phenomenon. It has been extensively researched in many domains, including philosophy, sociology, psychology, and linguistics. Using the Critical Discourse Approach, this study examines the issue of self-society conflict in The Handmaid’s Tale. The significance of this work lies in the identification and explanation of the discursive strategies that force the ideological polarization of the positively portrayed self versus the negatively portrayed other. The purpose of this study is to answer two questions: what are the discursive strategies used in The Handmaid’s Tale to create a positive or negative representation, and how are these strategies implemented? Five extracts from The Handmaid’s
... Show MoreFluorescence excitation by Nd:YAG pumped dye laser and single vibrational level fluorescence
spectra of 1,3 benzodioxole in a supersonic jet have been obtained and interpreted. The previous assignment of
the 0 0
0 band was incorrect. In addition, many other bands involving n20 and n19 vibrations of a2 symmetry were
confirmed. As far as a1 totally symmetric vibration is concerned. The n14 was assigned to be located in the fivemembered
ring whereas n13 seem to be located in the benzene ring as a result of the electronic transition in the
benzene ring which affects n13 and not n14 wavenumber.
Land snails constitute an important group of mollusks distributed worldwide. This study reports on land snails found in Iraq. A survey of terrestrial gastropods was performed during their activity seasons in gardens, agricultural lands and nurseries in Iraq from March 2022 to September 2023. Fifteen terrestrial snails belonging to seven families were documented. The species Euchondrus michonii (Bourguignat, 1853) was identified and recorded based on several distinct conchological characters for the first time in Iraq. The recently collected specimens, along with those previously recorded in Iraq, were included in this checklist. Essential information on each species is also presented. As there is no previous checklist or study that
... Show MoreThe research paper talks about one of the topics that deals with one of the high-style styles in the Holy Qur’an that carries with it a high and influential style in directing the Qur’anic context, as the verses are singled out with certain words, each of which came out to other meanings, which is what was called in the past “what the wording agreed and the meaning differed Or the so-called “faces and analogues” and the meaning of analogues in the language and the Qur’an; To mention a word in a place and it means a meaning other than the other, and to interpret each word with a meaning other than the other meant by the faces, and accordingly the goal of the research is in the linguistic significance, in order to reveal the tr
... Show MoreThe definition of "prostitute" and prostitution is a difficult one and a
question over which the legislators of many lands and nations differed. A
notable feature of prostitution is its epidemic increase at times of war,
revolution and armed commotion, on account of economic, social and
psychological factors generated by such conditions of mortal conflicts. Wars
invariably deprive young wives and lovers of their men folk, resulting in
financial , sexual and emotional frustrations . At no time is the natural
balance between the sexes more seriously disturbed than during wars, when
thousands of men are thrown into one sector of the country and hundreds of
towns and villages are left to women and children only. Lo
The analysis of detective novels has taken different aspects. The linguistic analysis of them, for example, has tackled the linguistic systems of morphology, phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. In line with the linguistic analysis, this study explores the various pragmatic and stylistic devices realized through detective novels for the purpose of misdirecting and deceiving the reader. The problem is that when readers try to reach to the truth, they face difficulties. They might not reach to the right solution or infer wrong conclusions because writers use some techniques to hide the truth and mislead them. This study aims at examining these techniques and devices; namely, Grice's Maxims and ambiguity as pragmatic devices on the
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