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.
A reinforced concrete frame is referred as "RIGID FRAMES". However, researches indicate that the Beam-Column joint (BCJ) is definitely not rigid. In addition, extensive research shows that failure may occur at the joint instead of in the beam or the column. Joint failure is known to be a catastrophic type which is difficult to repair.
This study was carried out to investigate the effect of hoops and column axial load on the shear strength of high-strength fiber reinforced Beam-Column Joints by using a numerical model based on finite element method using computer program ANSYS (Version 11.0). The variables are: diameter of hoops and magnitude of column axial load.
The theoretical results obtained from ANSYS program are in a good a
KE Sharquie, AA Noaimi, MA Al-Shukri, Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications, 2015 - Cited by 3
The radial wave functions of the generalise dWoods–Saxon (GWS) potential within the two-body model of (Core + n) have been used to study the ground-state density distributions of protons, neutrons and matter and the associated root mean square (rms) radii of neutron-rich 14B, 22N, 23O and 24F halo nuclei. The calculated results show that the radial wave functions of the generalised Woods–Saxon potential within the two-body model succeed in reproducing neutron halo in these exotic nuclei. Elastic electron scattering form factors for these nuclei are studied by combining the charge density distributions with the plane-wave Born approximation (PWBA).
Binary mixtures of three, heavy oil-stocks was subjected to density measurements at temperatures of 30, 35 and 40 °C. and precise data was acquired on the volumetric behavior of these systems. The results are reported in terms of equations for excess specific volumes of mixtures. The heavy oil-stocks used were of good varity, namely 40 stock, 60 stock, and 150 stock. The lightest one is 40 stock with °API gravity 33.69 while 60 stock is a middle type and 150 stock is a heavy one, with °API gravity 27.74 and 23.79 respectively. Temperatures in the range of 30-40 °C have a minor effect on excess volume of heavy oil-stock binary mixture thus, insignificant expansion or shrinkage is observed by increasing the temperature this effect beco
... Show MorePolarization is an important property of light, which refers to the direction of electric field oscillations. Polarization modulation plays an essential role for polarization encoding quantum key distribution (QKD). Polarization is used to encode photons in the QKD systems. In this work, visible-range polarizers with optimal dimensions based on resonance grating waveguides have been numerically designed and investigated using the COMSOL Multiphysics Software. Two structures have been designed, namely a singlelayer metasurface grating (SLMG) polarizer and an interlayer metasurface grating (ILMG) polarizer. Both structures have demonstrated high extinction ratios, ~1.8·103 and 8.68·104 , and the bandwidths equal to 45 and 55 nm for th
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This study includes adding chemicals to gypseous soil to improve its collapse characteristics. The collapse behavior of gypseous soil brought from the north of Iraq (Salah El-Deen governorate) with a gypsum content of 59% was investigated using five types of additions (cement dust, powder sodium meta-silicate, powder activated carbon, sodium silicate solution, and granular activated carbon). The soil was mixed by weight with cement dust (10, 20, and 30%), powder sodium meta-silicate (6%), powder activated carbon (10%), sodium silicate solution (3, 6, and 9%), and granular activated carbon (5, 10, and 15%). The collapse potential is reduced by 86, 71, 43, 37, and 35% when 30% cement dust, 6% powder sodium meta-silicate, 10% powder activated
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ABSTRACTObjective: The objective of this study is to develop a controlled release matrix tablet of candesartan cilexetil to reduce the frequency of administration,enhance bioavailability and improve patient compliance; a once daily sustained release formulation of candesartan cilexetil is desirable.Methods: The prepared tablets from F1 to F24 were evaluated with different evaluation parameters like weight variation, drug content, friability,hardness, thickness and swelling ability. In vitro release for all formulas were studied depends on the type and amount of each polymer, i.e. (16 mg,32 mg and 48 mg) respectively beside to the combination effect of polymers on the release of the drug from the tablet.Results: In vitro release show
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