Dual-Labeling Strategies for Nuclear and Fluorescence Molecular Imaging: A Review and Analysis

Molecular imaging is used for the detection of biochemical processes through the development of target-specific contrast agents. Separately, modalities such as nuclear and near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging have been shown to non-invasively monitor disease. More recently, merging of these modalities has shown promise owing to their comparable detection sensitivity and benefited from the development of dual-labeled imaging agents. Dual-labeled agents hold promise for whole-body and intraoperative imaging and could bridge the gap between surgical planning and image-guided resection with a single, molecularly targeted agent. In this review, we summarized the literature for dual-labeled antibodies and peptides that have been developed and have highlighted key considerations for incorporating NIRF dyes into nuclear labeling strategies. We also summarized our findings on several commercially available NIRF dyes and offer perspectives for developing a toolkit to select the optimal NIRF dye and radiometal combination for multimodality imaging

Locating sex-specific evidence on clinical questions in MEDLINE: a search filter for use on OvidSP™

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many recently published clinical studies report sex-specific data. This information may help to improve clinical decision-making for both sexes, but it is not easily accessible in MEDLINE. The aim of this project was to develop and validate a search filter that would facilitate the retrieval of studies reporting high quality sex-specific data on clinical questions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A filter was developed by screening titles, abstracts and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) in a set of 80 high quality and relevant papers, 75 of which were identified through a review of clinical guidelines and five through other means. The filter, for use on OvidSP™, consists of nine command lines for searching free text words in the title, abstract and MeSH of a paper. It was able to identify 74/80 (92.5%) of the articles from which it was derived. The filter was evaluated in a set of 622 recently published original studies on Alzheimer's disease and on asthma. It was validated against a reference of 98 studies from this set, which provided high quality, clinically relevant, sex-specific evidence. Recall and precision were used as performance measures.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The filter demonstrated 81/98 (83%) recall and 81/125 (65%) precision in retrieving relevant articles on Alzheimer's disease and on asthma. In comparison, only 30/98 (31%) recall would have been achieved if sex-specific MeSH terms only had been used.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This sex-specific search filter performs well in retrieving relevant papers, while its precision rate is good. It performs better than a search with sex-specific MeSH. The filter can be useful to anyone seeking sex-specific clinical evidence (e.g., guideline organizations, researchers, medical educators, clinicians).</p

Adenosine and lymphocyte regulation

Adenosine is a potent extracellular messenger that is produced in high concentrations under metabolically unfavourable conditions. Tissue hypoxia, consequent to a compromised cellular energy status, is followed by the enhanced breakdown of ATP leading to the release of adenosine. Through the interaction with A2 and A3 membrane receptors, adenosine is devoted to the restoration of tissue homeostasis, acting as a retaliatory metabolite. Several aspects of the immune response have to be taken into consideration and even though in general it is very important to dampen inflammation, in some circumstances, such as the case of cancer, it is also necessary to increase the activity of immune cells against pathogens. Therefore, adenosine receptors that are defined as ‘sensors–of metabolic changes in the local tissue environment may be very important targets for modulation of immune responses and drugs devoted to regulating the adenosinergic system are promising in different clinical situations

Accurate and Fast Simulation of Channel Noise in Conductance-Based Model Neurons by Diffusion Approximation

Stochastic channel gating is the major source of intrinsic neuronal noise whose functional consequences at the microcircuit- and network-levels have been only partly explored. A systematic study of this channel noise in large ensembles of biophysically detailed model neurons calls for the availability of fast numerical methods. In fact, exact techniques employ the microscopic simulation of the random opening and closing of individual ion channels, usually based on Markov models, whose computational loads are prohibitive for next generation massive computer models of the brain. In this work, we operatively define a procedure for translating any Markov model describing voltage- or ligand-gated membrane ion-conductances into an effective stochastic version, whose computer simulation is efficient, without compromising accuracy. Our approximation is based on an improved Langevin-like approach, which employs stochastic differential equations and no Montecarlo methods. As opposed to an earlier proposal recently debated in the literature, our approximation reproduces accurately the statistical properties of the exact microscopic simulations, under a variety of conditions, from spontaneous to evoked response features. In addition, our method is not restricted to the Hodgkin-Huxley sodium and potassium currents and is general for a variety of voltage- and ligand-gated ion currents. As a by-product, the analysis of the properties emerging in exact Markov schemes by standard probability calculus enables us for the first time to analytically identify the sources of inaccuracy of the previous proposal, while providing solid ground for its modification and improvement we present here

Potential Geographic Distribution of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Invasion (Halyomorpha halys)

BACKGROUND: The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), native to Asia, is becoming an invasive species with a rapidly expanding range in North America and Europe. In the US, it is a household pest and also caused unprecedented damage to agriculture crops. Exploring its climatic limits and estimating its potential geographic distribution can provide critical information for management strategies. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPALS: We used direct climate comparisons to explore the climatic niche occupied by native and invasive populations of BMSB. Ecological niche modelings based on the native range were used to anticipate the potential distribution of BMSB worldwide. Conversely, niche models based on the introduced range were used to locate the original invasive propagates in Asia. Areas with high invasion potential were identified by two niche modeling algorithms (i.e., Maxent and GARP). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Reduced dimensionality of environmental space improves native model transferability in the invade area. Projecting models from invasive population back to native distributional areas offers valuable information on the potential source regions of the invasive populations. Our models anticipated successfully the current disjunct distribution of BMSB in the US. The original propagates are hypothesized to have come from northern Japan or western Korea. High climate suitable areas at risk of invasion include latitudes between 30°-50° including northern Europe, northeastern North America, southern Australia and the North Island of New Zealand. Angola in Africa and Uruguay in South America also showed high climate suitability