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 paper the definition of fuzzy anti-normed linear spaces and its basic properties are used to prove some properties of a finite dimensional fuzzy anti-normed linear space.
The antiphytopathogenic effects of the crude methanol extract of Cladophora glomerata (Lin.) Kützing (Cladophoraceae) which isolated from Al Rashidiya region at north of Baghdad was investigated against two type of plant fungi (Pythium altimum and Rhizoctonia solani) which causes damping off disease where isolated from covered cucumber field in Al-Alyosifia region. Hot methanol extract showed antifungal activity against the two species of fungi in different concentrations(10,25,50 mg/ml) of extract to Cladophora glomerata as percentage inhibition (51.63 ,72.8 ,83.71) and (56.18 ,77.41 ,100)comparing with Pythium altimum and Rhizoctonia solani respectively .primary detection of active compounds showed that macroalgae (Cladoph
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In this research, we have added nano anatase TiO2 as a partial replacement of Portland cement by a weight percentage of (0.25 to 1%) for the development of properties for protection against bacteria. The control mix was made by using "the cement to sand" proportion about (1: 2.75) with the "water to cement" proportion of (0.5) to study the structure, porosity, water absorption, density, mechanical properties, as well as anti-bacterial behavior. Inspections have been done such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscope (AFM) for mortar. Experimental results showed that after the addition of Nano powders in cement mortar, the structural properties improved significantly with the development of hydration o
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Treatment of a high strength acidic industrial wastewater was attempted by activated carbon
adsorption to evaluate the feasibility of yielding effluents of reusable qualities. The experimental
methods which were employed in this investigation included batch and column studies. The
former was used to evaluate the rate and equilibrium of carbon adsorption, while the latter was
used to determine treatment efficiencies and performance characteristics. Fixed bed and expanded
bed adsorbers were constructed in the column studies. In this study, the adsorption behavior of acetic acid onto activated carbon was examined as a function of the concentration of the adsorbate, contact time and adsorbent dosage. The adsorption data was mo
Abstract
In this paper, fatigue damage accumulation were studied using many methods i.e.Corton-Dalon (CD),Corton-Dalon-Marsh(CDM), new non-linear model and experimental method. The prediction of fatigue lifetimes based on the two classical methods, Corton-Dalon (CD)andCorton-Dalon-Marsh (CDM), are uneconomic and non-conservative respectively. However satisfactory predictions were obtained by applying the proposed non-linear model (present model) for medium carbon steel compared with experimental work. Many shortcomings of the two classical methods are related to their inability to take into account the surface treatment effect as shot peening. It is clear that the new model shows that a much better and cons
... Show MoreThe prevalence of diabetes is increasing rapidly and is now recognized as a significant global health problem. Diabetes occurs when a person does not produce enough insulin due to an imbalance in insulin production. This can lead to the failure of organs and tissues such as the kidneys, heart, blood vessels, eyes, nerves, and kidneys. As a result, early diagnosis and classification of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are critical to aiding physician assessments. Subsequently, the current study aims to determine irisin levels in patients with T2DM and pre-DM as early predictors for disease cases. The current study included 138 subjects divided into three groups based on fasting blood glucose (FBG) and glycosylated hemoglobi
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The parliamentary election is one of the features of democratic systems that give individuals the right to participate in government and political election-making. Typically, the process of parliamentary elections received wide attention from media, as well as attention from large segments of the public because they understand the vast importance to assume political positions and associated fates of people and their destinies. Its importance comes from the fact that it allows citizens the right to participate in managing the public affairs by granting their confidence and voices to the elected president or his representatives in the parliamentary.
Media task is to emerge democratic societies, in particular, in the mission of urging p