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.
Understanding energy metabolism and intracellular energy transmission requires knowledge of the function and structure of the mitochondria. Issues with mitochondrial morphology, structure, and function are the most prevalent symptoms. They can damage organs such as the heart, brain, and muscle due to a variety of factors, such as oxidative damage, incorrect metabolism of energy, or genetic conditions. The control of cell metabolism and physiology depends on functional connections between mitochondrial and biological surroundings. Therefore, it is essential to research mitochondria in situ or in vivo without isolating them from their surrounding biological environment. Finding and spotting abnormal alterations in mitochondria is the
... Show MoreThe provided research paper offers a thorough analysis of the semiotic analysis present in tobacco-free initiative advertisements from the year 2021. The study delves into the intricate process of decoding the diverse signs, symbols, and visual components integrated into these anti-smoking campaigns. The core aim of this investigation is to comprehend and explore the semiotic tactics that underlie these advertisements, with a particular emphasis on visual communication as a pivotal tool in shaping the public's attitudes and behaviors towards tobacco usage. The research introduces a significant theoretical framework, the "Taxonomy of Image-Text Relations and Functions" theory, as proposed by Emily E. Marsh and Marilyn Dom
... Show MoreAs a kind of linguistic study, the study of presupposition in drama is one of captivating topic to explore, because of the capability of this topic to make people perceive the presupposition differently. Presupposition is one of the most important concepts in linguistics. It refers to the implicit inferences made in communication between people. These inferences are necessary to understand the utterances correctly. The research particularly endeavors to focus on the linguistic constructions that activate presupposition.
patterns of utterance stress in discourse direct attention to specific themes and reactions, controlling the flow and coherence of conversation. this study examines the utterance stress in Steve Harvey's selected episodes from a phono-stylistic perspective. this study is hoped to improve understanding of linguistic mechanism in talk show communication, highlighting the importance of phonetic features in transmitting meaning and increasing broadcast conversation participation. the researcher concentrates on the types of focus functions of utterance stress of some episodes available on YouTube. to conduct the analysis, the researcher adopts (Carr, 2013; Davenport& Hannahs 2005) to analyze utterance stress and Leech and Short (2007
... Show MoreAhmed ibn Imad ibn Yusuf al-Aqfhasi (808 AH / 1405 AD) is a small message that speaks about the Nile River in all its sides, despite its limited papers, but it is one of the manuscripts of the important geographical literature for its geographical, historical, religious and grammatical information. it was not limited to the information of the author alore, but taken from many sources below, which added to the importance of the fact that it has saved us the names of the sources that preceded him in mentioning this river with the names of its authors.The method of the Aqfhasi was characterized by scientific methodology in writing and clarity, with reference to some of the myths that people carried in their minds about the Nile River at tha
... Show MoreTopic management is the awareness of how speakers deal with initiating, developing, changing, and ending a topic and how they fix the relationship when a misunderstanding occurs. It is such an important unit of conversation as it includes the transition from one strategy to the other to be accomplished in a systematic and orderly manner. These strategies are impaired in dementia patients thus lead to communication breakdown. This study aims at detecting the dementia patients' topic management strategies in selected speeches and answering the questions of which of these strategies are fully or partially detected in these speeches. The researchers use a qualitative method to examine the speeches of those patients and they adopt an eclectic
... Show MoreIn recent years, there has been a rise in interest in the study of antibiotic occurrence in the aquatic environment due to the negative consequences of prolonged exposure and the potential for bacterial antibiotic resistance. Most antibiotic residues from treated wastewater end up in the aquatic environment as they are not eliminated in facilities that treat wastewater. Antibiotics must be identified in influent and effluent wastewater using reliable analytical techniques for several reasons. Firstly, monitoring antibiotic presence in aquatic environments. Secondly, assessing environmental risks, computing wastewater treatment plant removal efficiencies, and estimating antibiotic consumption. Therefore, this work aims to provide an overview
... Show MoreNarcissism is a complicated phenomenon that can be reflected in the narcissist’s language. Investigating narcissism in terms of linguistics, and pragmatics in particular, does not seem to have been given its due attention, as this study reveals. Thus, this study is an endeavor to discover how narcissism is reflected in the American movie Big Eyes (2014). It is known for introducing narcissistic behaviors. This paper aims to identify the types, motivations, and pragmatic manifestations of narcissism in the selected movie. Three pragmatic theories are chosen to scrutinize narcissism in the data: Searle’s speech acts (1969), Grice’s maxims breaching (1975), and Culppeper’s impoliteness (1996). To cope with the nature of the
... Show MoreIn the last few years, the Internet of Things (IoT) is gaining remarkable attention in both academic and industrial worlds. The main goal of the IoT is laying on describing everyday objects with different capabilities in an interconnected fashion to the Internet to share resources and to carry out the assigned tasks. Most of the IoT objects are heterogeneous in terms of the amount of energy, processing ability, memory storage, etc. However, one of the most important challenges facing the IoT networks is the energy-efficient task allocation. An efficient task allocation protocol in the IoT network should ensure the fair and efficient distribution of resources for all objects to collaborate dynamically with limited energy. The canonic
... Show MoreThe present study aims to investigate the various request constructions used in Classical Arabic and Modern Arabic language by identifying the differences in their usage in these two different genres. Also, the study attempts to trace the cases of felicitous and infelicitous requests in the Arabic language. Methodologically, the current study employs a web-based corpus tool (Sketch Engine) to analyze different corpora: the first one is Classical Arabic, represented by King Saud University Corpus of Classical Arabic, while the second is The Arabic Web Corpus “arTenTen” representing Modern Arabic. To do so, the study relies on felicity conditions to qualitatively interpret the quantitative data, i.e., following a mixed mode method
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