Molecular SPECT Imaging: An Overview

Molecular imaging has witnessed a tremendous change over the last decade. Growing interest and emphasis are placed on this specialized technology represented by developing new scanners, pharmaceutical drugs, diagnostic agents, new therapeutic regimens, and ultimately, significant improvement of patient health care. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) have their signature on paving the way to molecular diagnostics and personalized medicine. The former will be the topic of the current paper where the authors address the current position of the molecular SPECT imaging among other imaging techniques, describing strengths and weaknesses, differences between SPECT and PET, and focusing on different SPECT designs and detection systems. Radiopharmaceutical compounds of clinical as well-preclinical interest have also been reviewed. Moreover, the last section covers several application, of μSPECT imaging in many areas of disease detection and diagnosis

ASSESSMENT EFFECT OF ALOE VERA, AZADIRACHTA INDICA AND MORINGA OLEIFERA AQUEOUS EXTRACTS ON CARBON TETRACHLORIDE-INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN RATS

Objective: This experiment aims to investigate the hepatotherapeutic effect of Aloe vera (AV), Azadirachta indica (N), and Moringa oleifera (MO).Methods: Eighty albino rats have been divided into ten groups. The first group was fed on a basal diet while the second group was administered paraffin (10 ml/kg body weight) through gavage for four days. The third to the tenth groups received (5 ml/kg body weight) CCl4: liquid paraffin (2:1) for three days followed by (10 ml/kg body weight) CCl4: liquid paraffin (2:1) for one day through gavage. Group three kept without any treatment, other groups then received (AV) (60 mg/kg body weight), (MO) (200 mg/kg body weight), (N) (200 mg/kg body weight), bi-extract of (AV+N), bi-extracts of (AV+MO), bi-extract of (MO+N), and tri-extracts of (AV+N+MO) respectively for 36 d. The liver and blood were studied for hepatotoxicity and antioxidant indices.Results: Biochemical and histopathological analysis revealed that CCl4 elevated plasma liver enzymes (aspartate transaminase, alanine aminotransferase, and gamma glutamyl transferase). Carbon tetrachloride also caused an elevation in erythrocyte content of glutathione with a concomitant increase in the plasma malondialdehyde content, along with marked atrophy of hepatocytes. However, these effects were ameliorated by the treatment of rats with the different extracts.Conclusion: Results showed that administration of the aquatic extracts of Aloe vera, Neem, and Moringa (separately/mixedly) played a therapeutic role against CCl4-induced liver damage by improving liver enzyme activities, antioxidant blood parameters, and a liver histopathological picture of intoxicated rats.Keywords: Aloe vera, Azadirachta indica, Moringa oleifera, CCl4 hepatotoxicity, Antioxidant, Rat hepatocyte

Trump vs. Hillary: What went Viral during the 2016 US Presidential Election

In this paper, we present quantitative and qualitative analysis of the top retweeted tweets (viral tweets) pertaining to the US presidential elections from September 1, 2016 to Election Day on November 8, 2016. For everyday, we tagged the top 50 most retweeted tweets as supporting or attacking either candidate or as neutral/irrelevant. Then we analyzed the tweets in each class for: general trends and statistics; the most frequently used hashtags, terms, and locations; the most retweeted accounts and tweets; and the most shared news and links. In all we analyzed the 3,450 most viral tweets that grabbed the most attention during the US election and were retweeted in total 26.3 million times accounting over 40% of the total tweet volume pertaining to the US election in the aforementioned period. Our analysis of the tweets highlights some of the differences between the social media strategies of both candidates, the penetration of their messages, and the potential effect of attacks on bothComment: Paper to appear in Springer SocInfo 201

Dielectric Properties of the Quasi-Two-Dimensional Electron Liquid in Heterojunctions

A quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) electron liquid (EL) is formed at the interface of a semiconductor heterojunction. For an accurate characterization of the Q2D EL, many-body effects need to be taken into account beyond the random phase approximation. In this theoretical work, the self-consistent static local-field correction known as STLS is applied for the analysis of the Q2D EL. The penetration of the charge distribution to the barrier-acting material is taken into consideration through a variational approach. The Coulomb from factor that describes the effective 2D interaction is rigorously treated. The longitudinal dielectric function and the plasmon dispersion of the Q2D EL are presented for a wide range of electron and ionized acceptor densities choosing GaAs/AlGaAs as the physical system. Analytical expressions fitted to our results are also supplied to enable a widespread use of these results.Comment: 39 pages (in LaTeX), including 8 PostScript figure

PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF SOME CHELATING AGENTS AND ANTIOXIDANTS ON THE BIOHAZARDS PRODUCED FROM WATER POLLUTION BY HEAVY METALS IN WISTAR RATS: BIOLOGICAL, GENETIC AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY

Background: Heavy metals that normally cause problems are mercury (HgCl2) and lead acetate (LA). Chelating and inhibitor agents are the target to treat and overcome metal toxicity. The current study has been carried out to evaluate the protective effects of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and meso 2,3 dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) against HgCl2 and LA toxicity. Materials and Methods: Ninety male Wistar rats were divided into nine equal groups. The groups were administered NAC and/or DMSA in presence or absence of LA (LA; 0.2% in drinking water) or HgCl2 (2 mg/kg BW) for 2 consecutive months. Serum and organs were collected for biochemical, genetic and histopathological changes. Results: Biochemical results revealed that LA and HgCl2 significantly increased the levels of liver and kidney biomarkers. Administration of NAC and DMSA considerably improved these altered changes. LA and HgCl2 decreased serum levels of antioxidants and were ameliorated in NAC and DMSA administered rats. LA and HgCl2 administration upregulated expression of IL-1β and IL-8 that were normalized by NAC and DMSA. Kidneys of LA and HgCl2 groups showed intraluminal hyaline casts. Kidneys of DMSA-administrated rats showed mild hydropic degeneration of renal tubular epithelium in LA and HgCl2 groups. Kidneys of NAC administrated rats showed atrophy of capillary tufts. Kidneys of LA and HgCl2 administered rats which received DMSA and NAC showed normal glomerular structure. Liver histopathology showed sever changes that were ameliorated by NAC and DMSA. Conclusion: Taken together, usage of NAC and DMSA provide significant protection against LA and HgCl2-induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in male Wistar rats

Tracking mite trophic interactions by multiplex PCR

BACKGROUND A thorough knowledge of trophic webs in agroecosystems is essential to achieve successful biological pest control. Phytoseiid mites are the most efficient natural enemies of tetranychid mites, which include several important pests worldwide. Nevertheless, phytoseiids may feed on other food sources including other microarthropods, plants and even other phytoseiids (intraguild predation), which can interfere with biological control services. Molecular gut content analysis is a valuable tool for characterizing trophic interactions, mainly when working on microarthropods such as mites. We have designed new primers for Phytoseiidae, Tetranychidae and Thysanoptera identification and they have been multiplexed in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) together with universal plant primers. Additionally, we have estimated prey DNA detectability success over time (DS50) considering the most probable events in Spanish citrus orchards: the phytoseiid Euseius stipulatus as a predator, the phytoseiid Phytoseiulus persimilis as intraguild prey, and the thrips Frankliniella occidentalis and Anaphothrips obscurus as alternative prey to Tetranychus urticae. RESULTS The designed multiplex PCR allows the identification of phytoseiids (both predator and intraguild prey) and detects alternative food sources mentioned above in the gut of the phytoseiid predator. DS50 for E. stipulatus as the predator were 1.3, 2.3 and 18.7 h post feeding for F. occidentalis, A. obscurus and P. persimilis as prey, respectively. CONCLUSION Tracking of the trophic relationships within the citrus acarofauna, and the unveiling of the role of alternative food sources will pave the way for enhancing T. urticae biological control. This multiplex PCR approach could be applicable for these purposes in similar agroecosystems

Effects of quantum gravity on the inflationary parameters and thermodynamics of the early universe

The effects of generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) on the inflationary dynamics and the thermodynamics of the early universe are studied. Using the GUP approach, the tensorial and scalar density fluctuations in the inflation era are evaluated and compared with the standard case. We find a good agreement with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data. Assuming that a quantum gas of scalar particles is confined within a thin layer near the apparent horizon of the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker universe which satisfies the boundary condition, the number and entropy densities and the free energy arising form the quantum states are calculated using the GUP approach. A qualitative estimation for effects of the quantum gravity on all these thermodynamic quantities is introduced.Comment: 15 graghes, 7 figures with 17 eps graph