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.
Since the appearance of COVID-19 disease as an epidemic and pandemic disease, many studies are performed to uncover the genetic nature of the newly discovered coronavirus with unique clinical features. The last three human coronavirus outbreaks, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 are caused by Beta-Coronaviruses. Horizontal genetic materials transfer was proven from one coronavirus to the other coronavirus of non-human origin like infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) of avian. Horizontal genetic materials transfer was also from non-corona viruses like astroviruses and equine rhinovirus (ERV-2) or from coronavirus-unrelated viruses, like influenza virus type C. However, SARS-CoV-2 is identical to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Interestingly, Wuhan ci
... Show MoreA review of the literature on intellectual capital development was conducted using systemic criteria for the inclusion of relevant studies. The concepts behind the ideas explored in the present study were discussed in respect to the subject matter. Examining the past state of the art in the intellectual capital sector for achieving high levels of innovation performance provided a multidimensional picture of intellectual capital, innovation performance, and dynamic capabilities. The present review was designed to illustrate the correlation between intellectual capital and innovation performance, as well as the role of dynamic capabilities in moderating the relationship between these constructs. Accordingly, we presented an extensive
... Show MoreAs technology advances and develops, the need for strong and simple authentication mechanisms that can help protect data intensifies. The contemporary approach to giving access control is through graphical passwords comprising images, patterns, or graphical items. The objective of this review was to determine the documented security risks that are related to the use of graphical passwords, together with the measures that have been taken to prevent them. The review was intended to present an extensive literature review of the subject matter on graphical password protection and to point toward potential future research directions. Many attacks, such as shoulder surfing attacks, SQL injection attacks, and spyware attacks, can easily ex
... Show MorePsidium guajava, belonging to the Myrtaceae family, thrives in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. This important tropical fruit finds widespread cultivation in countries like India, Indonesia, Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and South America. Throughout its various parts, including fruits, leaves, and barks, guava boasts a rich reservoir of bioactive compounds that have been traditionally utilized as folkloric herbal medicines, offering numerous therapeutic applications. Within guava, an extensive array of Various compounds with antioxidative properties and phytochemical constituents are present, including essential oils, polysaccharides, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, triterpenoids, alkaloids, steroids, glycosides, tannins, fl
... Show MoreThe evolution of cryptography has been crucial to preservation subtle information in the digital age. From early cipher algorithms implemented in earliest societies to recent cryptography methods, cryptography has developed alongside developments in computing field. The growing in cyber threats and the increase of comprehensive digital communications have highlighted the significance of selecting effective and robust cryptographic techniques. This article reviews various cryptography algorithms, containing symmetric key and asymmetric key cryptography, via evaluating them according to security asset, complexity, and execution speed. The main outcomes demonstrate the growing trust on elliptic curve cryptography outstanding its capabi
... Show MoreExplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) techniques enable transparency and trust in automated visual inspection systems by making black-box machine learning models understandable. While XAI has been widely applied, prior reviews have not addressed the specific demands of industrial and medical inspection tasks. This paper reviews studies applying XAI techniques to visual inspection across industrial and medical domains. A systematic search was conducted in IEEE Xplore, Scopus, PubMed, arXiv, and Web of Science for studies published between 2014 and 2025, with inclusion criteria requiring the application of XAI in inspection tasks using public or domain-specific datasets. From an initial pool of studies, 75 were included and categorized in
... Show MoreBackground: Antimicrobial prescribing patterns have an important role in the emergence of resistance, and community pharmacists have a substantial influence on this issue. Objective: To assess community pharmacists' behaviors and attitudes toward antimicrobial dispensing, determine their proportions and categories, and examine the underlying rationales for this practice. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists in Iraq was conducted from June to August 2023, using a self-administered validated questionnaire. The attitudes, practices, and motivations driving the distribution of antimicrobials without a prescription (AWP) were explored in three areas. Results: A sizable proportion (61.6%) of respondents rejected
... Show MoreThe aims of this study to diagnose the role of the (relationship and impact) Academic driving practices dimensions (model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, encourage the heart ) in the activation of human capital (investment and development) for (knowledge, skills, expertise, creative and training capabilities) in a sample of university professors in Baghdad city(Baghdad University, Al Mustansiriya University, University of Technology). (367 )samples were distributed to (232 at the University of Baghdad, 97 at Al-Mustansiriya University and 38 at the University of Technology). The goals of descriptive analytical method research have been used, questionnaire has been a main tool for dat
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