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.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Benson Relaxation Technique (BRT) in reducing pain during femoral artery sheath removal after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods and Materials: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at three cardiac centers in Iraq. A total of 58 patients undergoing therapeutic PCI were randomly assigned into two groups: intervention (n=27) and control (n=31). The intervention group received BRT for 10 minutes before and after sheath removal. Pain was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) immediately after the procedure. Demographic data and clinical variables were collected. Data were analyzed using SPSS v26 and non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U, Krus
... Show MoreThis research a study model of linear regression problem of autocorrelation of random error is spread when a normal distribution as used in linear regression analysis for relationship between variables and through this relationship can predict the value of a variable with the values of other variables, and was comparing methods (method of least squares, method of the average un-weighted, Thiel method and Laplace method) using the mean square error (MSE) boxes and simulation and the study included fore sizes of samples (15, 30, 60, 100). The results showed that the least-squares method is best, applying the fore methods of buckwheat production data and the cultivated area of the provinces of Iraq for years (2010), (2011), (2012),
... Show MoreAt the beginning of the nineties increased responsibility of the auditor to the community as the demand for auditing the environmental performance for the economic units in addition to audit the financial performance. With the aim of preserving the environment and reducing the damagse as aresult of the negative effects of the activities of these units.
The researh deal with two sides the first one identifies the theoretical framework of the concept of environmental audits, requirements, methods, types of procedures, and duties of the auditor in conducting environmental audits. It also deals with the concept of the enviro
... Show MoreTwo groups of chronic hepatitis B and C virus patients were divided into Pre-treated patients (25 CHB patients with positive HBs Ag for more than 6 months and 40 CHC patients), and post-treated patients [12 CHB patients (4, 6, and 2 were treated with lamivudine, IFN-? and combination of LMV + IFN-? respectively), and 27 patients for CHC (3, 13 and 11 patients were treated with Ribavirin, IFN-? and combination therapy (RBV+ IFN-?) respectively].These patients were followed up for 6 months. By using ELISA technique, levels of IL-6, IL-10, IFN-? and TNF-? were measured in vivo and in vitro (supernatant of PBMCs stimulated with PHA) and compared with healthy control. The mean level of IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-? in CHB patients showed significant dif
... Show MoreOver the course of two centuries, Portugal emerged as one of the most powerful European empires, with colonies stretching from Asia and Africa to Brazil. A significant factor in this expansion was the role of winds, which carried one of Cabral’s ships westward, landing unexpectedly on unknown shores—the Brazilian coasts. These territories later became some of Portugal’s richest and most important colonies. Therefore, the study begins in the 16th century and concludes at the end of the 17th century. The study was divided into four sections. The first section addressed Portugal's discovery 0022 of Brazil and its naming before it gained economic importance. The second section discussed the Portuguese occupation of Brazil in 1530 and its
... Show MoreThis study aimed to clarify the importance of ecological taxation in achieving sustainable development, by analyzing a set of economic measures such as taxes, taxes levied by the legislation in the field of ecology, to fight against pollution. And we tried to evaluate this initiative in Algeria. The results of the study showed that economic measures of ecological taxation contribute to achieving sustainable development, and Although Algeria has adopted a series of ecological tax mechanisms, it is far from keeping pace with developments in this area.
Abstract: This research aims to investigate and analyze the most pressing issues facing the Iraqi economy, namely economic stability and inclusive growth Consequently, the present study investigates the effect of inflation and unemployment, which are significant contributors to economic instability, on inclusive growth dimensions such as GDP, education, health, governance, poverty, income inequality, and environmental performance. From 1991 to 2021, secondary data were collected using World Bank Indicators (WDI) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) databases. The researchers also employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to determine the relationship between variables. The study revealed that fluct
... Show MoreAbstract: The aim of this study was to identify the Distress Tolerance among the Employees in Media and Communication in Baghdad.and to identify the significance of the differences between sex ,scientific specialization ,age,and marital status. and the researcher used the Distrees Tolerance measure for Simon &Gahar 2005. The sample of the study consisted of(37)Employees.The Scale of Distrees Tolerance were used as the study tools after being checked for their Validity and Reliability. The research results indicated that employees have high scores on the scale of stress tolerance and that there are statistically significant differences between the age groups and between married and unmarried people a
... Show MoreIn this paper, an attempt was made to measure and interpret the impact of several variables on global maritime transport, including: OECD industrial productions, high growth rates of some developing countries, and growth in world GDP. These variables contribute to higher rates of maritime transport revenues of 800 billion dollars annually; in the form of numerical sequences. The dry canal in Iraq was assumed to transfer 99 million tons of goods annually. This was made sure through the economic feasibility of the difference between maritime and land transport through railways. The effect of geographical and anthropological nature of Iraq on this project was studied too. Our findings indicated that the project will not drive growth
... Show MoreAll the available reports on the issue of infertility confirmed the increase in this population problem worldwide. Although the accurate estimate of the number of infertile people is due to several reasons, including the discrepancy in the true definition of infertility (whether it extends for one, two or five years of failed pregnancy attempts), as well as the great discrepancy in the size of the selected population groups (large population sample size versus epidemiological studies) and defining the category that diagnosed included (individuals, women, or couples). The goal of today’s IVF program is to obtain high-quality embryos with high efficiency in development, which leads to an increase in live birth rates.