Temptation and self-control: some evidence and applications

This paper studies the empirical relevance of temptation and self-control using household-level data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey. We estimate an infinite-horizon consumption-savings model that allows, but does not require, temptation and self-control in preferences. To help identify the presence of temptation, we exploit an implication of the theory that a tempted individual has a preference for commitment. In the presence of temptation, the cross-sectional distribution of the wealth-consumption ratio, in addition to that of consumption growth, becomes a determinant of the asset-pricing kernel, and the importance of this additional pricing factor depends on the strength of temptation. The estimates that we obtain provide statistical evidence supporting the presence of temptation. Based on our estimates, we explore some quantitative implications of this class of preferences on equity premium and on the welfare cost of business cycles.Asset pricing ; Welfare

Fully automated synthesis of [18F]T807, a PET tau tracer for Alzheimer’s disease

The authentic standard T807 and its nitro-precursor T807P as well as t-Boc-protected T807P precursor for radiolabeling were synthesized from (4-bromophenyl)boronic acid, 3-bromo-4-nitropyridine and 3-bromo-6-nitropyridine with overall chemical yield 27% in three steps, 4–7% in three to five steps, and 3–8% in four to five steps, respectively. [18F]T807 was synthesized from T807P by the nucleophilic [18F]fluorination with K[18F]F/Kryptofix 2.2.2 in DMSO at 140 °C followed by reduction with Fe powder/HCOOH through manual synthesis with 5–10% decay corrected radiochemical yield in two steps. [18F]T807 was also synthesized from t-Boc-protected T807P by a concurrent [18F]fluorination and deprotection with K[18F]F/Kryptofix 2.2.2 in DMSO at 140 °C and purified by HPLC-SPE method in a home-built automated [18F]radiosynthesis module with 20–30% decay corrected radiochemical yield in one step. The specific activity of [18F]T807 at end of bombardment (EOB) was 37–370 GBq/μmol

Synthesis of [11C]MK-1064 as a new PET radioligand for imaging of orexin-2 receptor

The reference standard MK-1064 {5″-chloro-N-((5,6-dimethoxypyridin-2-yl)methyl)-[2,2′:5′,3″-terpyridine]-3′-carboxamide} was synthesized from methyl 2-chloro-5-iodonicotinate and 5-(chloropyridin-3-yl)boronic acid in 4 steps with 33% overall chemical yield. The precursor desmethyl-MK-1064 {5″-chloro-N-((5-hydroxy-6-methoxypyridin-2-yl)methyl)-[2,2′:5′,3″-terpyridine]-3′-carboxamide} for radiolabeling was synthesized from 2-bromopyridin-3-ol and 5″-chloro-[2,2′:5′,3″-terpyridine]-3′-carboxylic acid in 6 steps with 17% overall chemical yield. The target tracer [11C]MK-1064 {5″-chloro-N-((5-[11C]methoxy-6-methoxypyridin-2-yl)methyl)-[2,2′:5′,3″-terpyridine]-3′-carboxamide} was prepared by O-[11C]methylation of its corresponding precursor desmethyl-MK-1064 with [11C]CH3OTf under basic condition and isolated by a simplified solid-phase extraction (SPE) method in 50–60% decay corrected radiochemical yields based on [11C]CO2 at end of bombardment (EOB). The overall synthesis time from EOB was 23 min, the radiochemical purity was >99%, and the specific activity at end of synthesis (EOS) was 185–555 GBq/μmol

Synthesis of carbon-11-labeled CK1 inhibitors as new potential PET radiotracers for imaging of Alzheimer’s disease

The reference standards methyl 3-((2,2-difluoro-5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2-d]imidazol-6-yl)carbamoyl)benzoate (5a) and N-(2,2-difluoro-5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2-d]imidazol-6-yl)-3-methoxybenzamide (5c), and their corresponding desmethylated precursors 3-((2,2-difluoro-5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2-d]imidazol-6-yl)carbamoyl)benzoic acid (6a) and N-(2,2-difluoro-5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2-d]imidazol-6-yl)-3-hydroxybenzamide (6b), were synthesized from 5-amino-2,2-difluoro-1,3-benzodioxole and 3-substituted benzoic acids in 5 and 6 steps with 33% and 11%, 30% and 7% overall chemical yield, respectively. Carbon-11-labeled casein kinase 1 (CK1) inhibitors, [11C]methyl 3-((2,2-difluoro-5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2-d]imidazol-6-yl)carbamoyl)benzoate ([11C]5a) and N-(2,2-difluoro-5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2-d]imidazol-6-yl)-3-[11C]methoxybenzamide ([11C]5c), were prepared from their O-desmethylated precursor 6a or 6b with [11C]CH3OTf through O-[11C]methylation and isolated by HPLC combined with SPE in 40–45% radiochemical yield, based on [11C]CO2 and decay corrected to end of bombardment (EOB). The radiochemical purity was >99%, and the molar activity (MA) at EOB was 370–740 GBq/μmol with a total synthesis time of ∼40-min from EOB

Synthesis of carbon-11-labeled isonicotinamides as new potential PET agents for imaging of GSK-3 enzyme in Alzheimer’s disease

The authentic standards 2-(cyclopropanecarboxamido)-N-(4-methoxypyridin-3-yl)isonicotinamide (4a) and 2-(cyclopropanecarboxamido)-N-(4-(4-methoxyphenyl)pyridin-3-yl)isonicotinamide (7a), and their corresponding precursors 2-(cyclopropanecarboxamido)-N-(4-hydroxypyridin-3-yl)isonicotinamide (4b) and 2-(cyclopropanecarboxamido)-N-(4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)pyridin-3-yl)isonicotinamide (7b) were synthesized from methyl 2-aminoisonicotinate and cyclopropanecarbonyl chloride with overall chemical yield 47% in three steps, 22% in four steps, 40% in three steps, and 17% in four steps, respectively. The target tracers 2-(cyclopropanecarboxamido)-N-(4-[11C]methoxypyridin-3-yl)isonicotinamide ([11C]4a) and 2-(cyclopropanecarboxamido)-N-(4-(4-[11C]methoxyphenyl)pyridin-3-yl)isonicotinamide ([11C]7a) were prepared from the precursors (4b and 7b) with [11C]CH3OTf through O-[11C]methylation and isolated by HPLC combined with SPE in 40–50% radiochemical yield, based on [11C]CO2 and decay corrected to end of bombardment (EOB). The radiochemical purity was >99%, and the specific activity (SA) at EOB was 370–1110 GBq/μmol with a total synthesis time of ∼40-min from EOB

Radioligands targeting purinergic P2X7 receptor

The purinergic P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) is an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) ligand-gated cationic channel receptor. P2X7R is closely associated with various inflammatory, immune, cancer, neurological, musculoskeletal and cardiovascular disorders. P2X7R is an interesting therapeutic target as well as molecular imaging target. This brief digest highlights the radioligands targeting P2X7R recently developed in drug discovery and molecular imaging agent development