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.
In this study, polymeric coating was developed by incorporating nano graphene in the polymer blend with applications to oil storage tanks. The oil storage tanks samples were brought from the oil Pipeline Company / Doura refinery in Baghdad. The coating polymer was formed with a blend (epoxy resin and repcoat ZR). The proportion of mixing the mixture was 3:1:1 epoxy resin 21.06 gm: repcoat ZR 10.53 gm: hardener 10.53 gm. The blend/graphene was prepared using in stui-polymerization method with different weight percentage 1, 3, 5, and 7 wt % added to blend. The resulting solution was put in a glass tube on a magnetic stirrer for one hour at a temperature of 40 °C. The result of contact angle and wate
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A set newly complexes with the general formula [M(L)Cl2] are resulting from the reaction of a new schiff base ligand [Ethyl (6R,7R)-7-((E)-2-((2-ethoxy-2- oxoethoxy)imino)-2-(2-(((E)-4-nitrobenzylidene) amino) thiazol -4- yl) acetamido) -8- oxo -3- vinyl -5- thia -1-aza bicyclo [4. 2.0] oct -2- ene -2- carboxylate] (L). This ligand was derived from the reaction of the two substances 4-nitrobenzaldehyde and precursor (P). Reaction the ligand with metal ions M= Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Cd(II) afforded new complexes which are characterized by FT-IR and Electronic Spectra. These measurements indicate that the complexes have a tetrahedral geometry. The Penicillin-Binding Protein 3 (PBP3) of Staphylococcus aureus and the target protein
... Show Moreفي هذا العصر - الذي داهمت في الأخطار لغة الفصاحة والبيان - يبقى القرآن الكريم أعظم حافظ للغة السليمة ، وأكبر معين لأهلها للحفاظ على ثرائها وبلاغتها ، فهي باقية ببقائه ما بقي الليل والنهار .
وهذا البحث يدور حول حفظ القرآن الكريم وأثره على لغة الطفل، ويتكون من مقدمة : وفيها بيان أهمية الموضوع ، وخطة البحث ، ومنهجه، وثلاثة مباحث:
المبحث الأول : فضل حفظ القرآن الكريم ، وفوائد حفظه إجمالاً ، والمبحث الثاني :
... Show MoreBackground: Appreciation of the crucial role of risk factors in the development of coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the most significant advances in the understanding of this important disease. Extensive epidemiological research has established cigarette smoking, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension as independent risk factors for CADObjective: To determine the prevalence of the 4 conventional risk factors(cigarette smoking, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension) among patients with CAD and to determine the correlation of Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk score with the extent of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with unstable angina /non ST elevation myocardial infarction (UA/NSTEMI).Methods: We
... Show MoreUrinary tract infection is a bacterial infection that often affects the bladder and thus the urinary system. E. coli is one of the leading uropathogenic bacteria that cause urinary tract infections. Uropathogenic E. coli is highly effective and successful in causing urinary tract infections through biofilm formation and urothelial cell invasion mechanisms. Other organisms that cause urinary tract infections include members of the Enterobacteriaceae family, streptococci and staphylococci species and perch. In addition, K.penumoniae is another important gram-negative bacterium that causes urinary tract infections. With the PCR technique, unseen bacterial species can be detected using standard clinical microbiology methods. In this study, the
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The present research aims at identifying the relationship between intuitive thinking and mental alertness. The researcher used two tools: the intuitive thinking scale built by the researcher and consists of (40) paragraphs fall under four alternatives, while the second tool is the mental alertness scale consists of (70) paragraphs that the researcher built, and was verified psychometric properties of the two scales of honesty After the collection of information and statistical processing, the researcher reached the following results: 1. The results showed that the students of the third stage / Faculty of Education enjoy intuitive thinking. 2. The results showed that the students of the third stage / Faculty of Education enjoy mental alertne
... Show Morethis research is to identify the level of information awareness of the chemistry students in their fourth year studying at Ibn Al-Haytham Education College of pure sciences at the University of Baghdad. The research sample consisted of (107) male and female students out of the total number of (153) students studying during the (2017-2018) academic year, The sample therefore represents 71% of the total students. The research methodology used consisted of two parts. The first part is concerned with measuring information awareness using a multiple choice type of test related to (40) issues. The students were required to select the between (5) alternative answers for each issue. The objectives of the test and the issues used are to measure the
... Show MoreThe experiment was carried out in the green house of botanical garden belong to Department of Biology/College of Education for Pure Science Ibn AL-Haitham, University of Baghdad for growing season 2017-2018 to evaluate effect of lead stress with concentrations (0, 50, 100, 150) mg.L -1 and Selenium concentrations (0, 15, 30) mg.L-1 on growth of dill plant using pots. The experiment was designed according to completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Result indicated that dill plants subjected to lead stress with height concentrations caused decrease in plant parameters (plant height, no. of branches. plant-1, root length, shoot dry weight, the content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, protein concentration, no. of umbe
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A thin film of SnSe were deposited by thermal evaporation technique on 400 ±20 nm thick glass substrates of these films were annealed at different temperatures (100,150,200 ⁰C), The effect of annealing on the characteristics of the nano crystalline SnSe thin films was investigated using XRD, UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), and Hall effect measurements. The results of X-ray displayed that all the thin films have polycrystalline and orthorhombic structure in nature, while UV-VIS study showed that the SnSe has direct band gap of nano crystalline and it is changed from 60.12 to 94.70 nm with increasing annealing temperature. Hall effect measurements showed that all the films have a positive Hall coeffic
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INFLUENCE OF SOME FACTOR ON SOMATIC EMBRYOS INDUCTION AND GERMINATION OF DATE PALM CV BARHI BY USING CELL SUSPENSION CULTURE TECHNIQUEe