Accumulation of methotrexate in human tissues following high-dose methotrexate therapy

Methotrexate concentration was analyzed in a number of tissues of a patient of osteogenic sarcoma who had been on high-dose methotrexate therapy for nearly 6 months. Gall bladder and kidney contained the highest concentration of the drug, followed by testis, small intestine, skeletal muscle, bone marrow, lung, spleen, heart and liver. Although, compared to kidney the liver contained relatively small amount of the drug, yet nearly 1/5th of the total drug in liver was in bound form. This bound form of methotrexate is most likely associated with multiple forms of dihydrofolate reductase. The total concentration of methotrexate in kidney is 80 fold higher than the concentration of the drug in liver and 28 fold higher than the concentration in bone marrow. This suggests that in high-dose methotrexate therapy, nephrotoxicity is the more immediate threat to the patient than hepatotoxicity and bone marrow suppression

Methotrexate as an alternative to surgery in ectopic pregnancy: A new role for an old drug

Abstract is not provided by the author/publishe

Methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase gene and coronary artery disease

Abstract is not provided by the author/publishe

Variability in lipid profile in patients with acute myocardial infarction from two tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan

Objective: To investigate changes in total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and triglycerides in serum of Pakistani patients with AMI due to age, gender, body mass index (BMI), diabetes, hypertension, and smoking, and also find out the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL-cholesterol and isolated low-HDL cholesterol in them.Patients and Methods: Serum samples from 451 consecutive AMI patients (250 from National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi and 201 from Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, Rawalpindi) were analyzed for total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides using kit methods. LDL-cholesterol was determined using the Friedewald formula.Results: Mean serum concentrations of total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides in AMI patients were found to be 181 +/- 50 mg/dl, 35.7 +/- 11.3 mg/dl, 110 +/- 47 mg/dl and 177 +/- 127 mg/dl, respectively. Mean levels of total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol were not significantly affected by age, gender, BMI, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and smoking. Mean LDL-cholesterol concentration, however, was found to be significantly increased in diabetes mellitus (p=0.047), while age, gender, BMI, hypertension and smoking had no significant effect on the levels of this lipoprotein. Mean levels of triglycerides were significantly decreased in older patients (\u3e50 years) compared to younger (\u3c50 \u3eyears) ones (p=0.019). Gender, BMI, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and smoking, however, had no effect on triglyceride levels The frequencies of hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL-cholesterol and isolated low-HDL-cholesterol were found to be 30.6%, 30.1%, 48.6% and 34.1%, respectively.Conclusion: High prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL-cholesterol (which constitute a component of metabolic syndrome) in Pakistani AMI patients is suggestive that these two lipid abnormalities could be playing a major role in the development of atherosclerosis in Pakistani population

Wall-crossing, free fermions and crystal melting

We describe wall-crossing for local, toric Calabi-Yau manifolds without compact four-cycles, in terms of free fermions, vertex operators, and crystal melting. Firstly, to each such manifold we associate two states in the free fermion Hilbert space. The overlap of these states reproduces the BPS partition function corresponding to the non-commutative Donaldson-Thomas invariants, given by the modulus square of the topological string partition function. Secondly, we introduce the wall-crossing operators which represent crossing the walls of marginal stability associated to changes of the B-field through each two-cycle in the manifold. BPS partition functions in non-trivial chambers are given by the expectation values of these operators. Thirdly, we discuss crystal interpretation of such correlators for this whole class of manifolds. We describe evolution of these crystals upon a change of the moduli, and find crystal interpretation of the flop transition and the DT/PT transition. The crystals which we find generalize and unify various other Calabi-Yau crystal models which appeared in literature in recent years.Comment: 61 pages, 14 figures, published versio

Implementation of Serious Games Inspired by Baluran National Park to Improve Students\u27 Critical Thinking Ability

The purpose of this study is to implement Baluran National Park-based Serious Game to enhance the students\u27 creative thinking skill and motivation to learn. The subject of the study were 60 students of SMP Negeri 1 Asembagus, Situbondo regency. The sample was divided into three groups. Two groups were chosen as experimental classes and the other group as the control class. Both of the experimental groups were given treatment using serious game based on Baluran National Park. The instruments used were observation sheet, pre-test, and post-test. Baluran National Parks-based serious game was effective in improving the students\u27 creative thinking skill and motivation to learn science subjects

Aggregation of apolar peptides in organic solvents. Concentration dependence of <SUP>1</SUP>H-nmr parameters for peptide NH groups in 3<SUB>10</SUB> helical decapeptide fragment of suzukacillin

Peptide NH chemical shifts and their temperature dependences have been monitored as a function of concentration for the decapeptide, Boc-Aib-Pro-Val-Aib-Val-Ala-Aib-Ala-Aib-Aib-OMe in CDCl3(0.001-0.06M) and (CD3)2SO (0.001-0.03M). The chemical shifts and temperature coefficients for all nine NH groups show no significant concentration dependence in (CD3)2SO. Seven NH groups yield low values of temperature coefficients over the entire range, while one yields an intermediate value. In CDCl3, the Aib(1) NH group shows a large concentration dependence of both chemical shift and temperature coefficient, in contrast to the other eight NH groups. The data suggest that in (CD3)2SO, the peptide adopts a 310 helical conformation and is monomeric over the entire concentration range. In CDCl3, the 310 helical peptide associates at a concentration of 0.01M, with the Aib(1) NH involved in an intermolecular hydrogen bond. Association does not disrupt the intramolecular hydrogen-bonding pattern in the decapeptide

Strain-gradient mediated local conduction in strained bismuth ferrite films

It has been recently shown that the strain gradient is able to separate the light-excited electron-hole pairs in semiconductors, but how it affects the photoelectric properties of the photo-active materials remains an open question. Here, we demonstrate the critical role of the strain gradient in mediating local photoelectric properties in the strained BiFeO3 thin films by systematically characterizing the local conduction with nanometre lateral resolution in both dark and illuminated conditions. Due to the giant strain gradient manifested at the morphotropic phase boundaries, the associated flexo-photovoltaic effect induces on one side an enhanced photoconduction in the R-phase, and on the other side a negative photoconductivity in the morphotropic [Formula: see text]-phase. This work offers insight and implication of the strain gradient on the electronic properties in both optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices