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.
Augmented reality technology is a modern technique used in all fields, including: medicine, engineering and education, and has received attention from officials in the educational process at present; The focus of this research is on the degree of use of augmented reality among field experience students in the project's optimal investment program for teaching staff and their difficulties, applied to a sample of 75 students, through a questionnaire prepared by the researcher as a tool to determine the degree of use, as well as difficulties. The researcher addressed the subject through two main axes to determine the degree of use, as well as the difficulties preventing teachers and learners from using this technique. The results of the rese
... Show More
(1)
The field study of this paper focused on the motives for lawyers to use the website
of the Supreme Judicial Council, and the gratifications achieved as a result of its use.
This study sought to achieve a number of goals, including:
1. Monitoring the patterns of lawyers’ use of the website of the Supreme Judicial Council.
2. Determining the forms that lawyers use to interact on the website of the Supreme
Judicial Council.
This study is a descriptive in kind as the researcher relied on the ‘survey method’ in
its study of the external audience (lawyers) using the questionnaire and scale toolThe questionnaire was distributed among a deliberately chosen sample, consisting of
(160) lawyers who used the website of
Is the subject of the financial structure of the most important topics for which she received the interests of scientific research in the field of financial management , as it emerged several theories about choosing a financial structure appropriate for the facility and behavior change funding them , and in spite of that there is no agreement on a specific theory answer various questions in this regard , and a special issue of the financial structure optimization.
The objective of the research was to identify the most important theories of the structure of modern financial theory has been to focus on the capture of financial firms in two different stages of their life cycle , so-called growth and ma
... Show More
(3)
Background: L. sativum, are traditionally used for the treatment of various diseases and thought to have medicinal value. Isolates from many part of the world is now multidrug resistant. Therefore, there is an urgent need to look for and test an alternative herbal drug.
Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial activity of L. Sativum seed extract against multi drug resistant (MDR) and sensitive Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates.
Subjects and Methods: An ethanolic and aqueous stock extracts were prepared from L. sativum seed plant then serial dilutions were prepared and the obtained concentrations (50, 25, 12.5 and 6.2 mg/ml) were tested against 30 multidrug-resistan
... Show More
(1)
The ligand 4-(2-aminmo-5-nitro-phenylazo)-1,5-dimethyl-2-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-pyrazol-3-one derived from 4-aminoantipyrine and 4-nitroaniline was synthesized. The synthesized ligand was characterized by 1HNMR, FT-IR, UV-Vis spectra and (C.H.N) analysis. Complexes of (YIII and LaIII ) with the ligand were prepared in aqueous ethanol with a 1:2 M:L ratio and at optimum pH. The prepared complexes were characterized by using flame atomic absorption, FT-IR, UV-Vis spectra,(C.H.N) analysis and conductivity measurement. The stoichiometry of complexes was studied by the mole ratio and job methods. A concentration range (1×10-4 - 3×10-4 M) obeyed Beer's law, the complex solutions show high values of molar absorption. On the basis of physicochemical
... Show More
(2)
English allows for consonant sequences at the beginning of words, which poses a challenge for speakers of other languages, especially those whose native languages do not contain such sequences, such as Arabic. Therefore, this study aims to investigate students’ recognition and production of initial consecutive consonants in relation to gender, and the significance of the statistical differences between students in recognition and pronunciation of consecutive consonants. Consequently, a cohort of fifty-two Iraqi college students (18 males and 34 females) were selected as a sample. A multiple-choice test of two phases was used as a research instrument. The results showed that females outperformed males in recognizing and producing c
... Show MoreA series of metal ion complexes of some divalent transition metal ions having the general composition [ML2Cl2]nH2O with 2-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-ylamino)-2- (5-chloro-2-hydroxy phenyl) acetonitrile ligand has been prepared from 5-chloro-2-hydroxy-benzaldehyde and benzo[d]thiazol-2-amine. Existence of cyanide as potassium cyanide in acidic medium was considered, characterized by elemental chemical analysis, conductance of molarity, magnetic susceptibility measurements, FTIR electronic spectral studies and mole ratio method. FTIR indicates the participation of amino and acetonitrile nitrogen which is coordinated with the central metal ion.
In this work the strain energy of tetrahedrane and its nitrogen substituted molecules were calculated by isodesmic reaction method according to DFT quantum chemical fashion, the used basis set was 6-31G/B3-LYP, in addition all structures were optimized by RM1 semi-empirical method. From the obtained data we estimate an empirical equation connect between strain energy of the molecule with charge functions represented by dipole moment of the molecule plus accumulated charge density involved within the tetrahedron frame plus the number of nitrogen atoms. The results indicate the charge spreading factors by polarization and processes are the most important factors in decreasing the strain energy.