Development of new copper-64 labeled rhodamine: a potential PET myocardial perfusion imaging agent

Abstract Background Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is one of the most commonly performed investigations in nuclear medicine procedures. Due to the longer half-life of the emerging positron emitter copper-64 and its availability from low energy cyclotron, together with its well-known coordination chemistry, we have synthesized 64Cu-labeled NOTA- and 64Cu-NOTAM-rhodamine conjugates as potential cardiac imaging agents using PET. Results 64Cu-NOTA- and 64Cu-NOTAM-rhodamine conjugates were synthesized using a traightforward and one-step simple reaction. Radiochemical yields were greater than 97% (decay corrected), with a total synthesis time of less than 25 min. Radiochemical purities were always greater than 98% as assessed by TLC and HPLC. These synthetic approaches hold considerable promise as a simple method for 64Cu-rhodamine conjugates synthesis, with high radiochemical yield and purity. Biodistribution studies in normal Fischer rats at 60 min post-injection, demonstrated significant heart uptake and a good biodistribution profile for both the radioconjugates. However, the 64Cu-NOTAM-rhodamine conjugate has shown more heart uptake (~ 10% ID/g) over the 64Cu-NOTA-rhodamine conjugate (5.6% ID/g). Conclusions These results demonstrate that these radioconjugates may be useful probes for the PET evaluation of MPI

Career Readiness Among Saudi Pharmacy Students: Exploring the Need for and the Impact of Career Counseling Services

Purpose: Employers place emphasis on graduates’ work experience and interpersonal skills while academia mainly focuses on developing students’ learning ability. One proposed strategy is through career guidance by universities; however, supportive evidence is lacking. This study explored the career readiness of pharmacy students for the Saudi job market. It also examined the availability of career guidance services for pharmacy students and alumni in Saudi Arabia and the impact of such services on recipients’ career path choices and development of competencies. Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized an online-based survey. Pharmacy students in the last three years of their program and recent graduates participated in the survey. The study used descriptive statistics to describe participants’ demographic data. Respondents were asked to rate aspects related to career readiness on a 5-point Likert scale, and their responses were reported as frequencies with percentages or means as appropriate. Comparisons between groups were made using t-test or one-way ANOVA as required. Results: A total of 576 responses were collected. About 25% of participants acknowledged the career guidance services provided at their pharmacy college, whereas the majority indicated that they have never reached out to a career counselor at their university (89.6%). The highest level of disagreement was noticed in impact of career guidance services on participants’ establishment of their CV/portfolio (50.7%). Using the work readiness scale, the lowest mean was seen in the social intelligence domain (3.64 ± 0.94). Conclusion: Although substantial proportion of students reported the presence of career guidance services in their university or college, very few stated that they had utilized such services. This could have impacted the students’ career readiness for the rapidly changing Saudi job market. Therefore, proper measures to advertise the availability of career guidance services in Saudi pharmacy schools have to be implemented

Supplemental Material, Supplemenatary_figure_S1 - Maternal Glucose Supplementation in a Murine Model of Chorioamnionitis Alleviates Dysregulation of Autophagy in Fetal Brain

<p> Supplemental Material, Supplemenatary_figure_S1 for Maternal Glucose Supplementation in a Murine Model of Chorioamnionitis Alleviates Dysregulation of Autophagy in Fetal Brain by Jun Lei, Wenyu Zhong, Ahmad Almalki, Hongxi Zhao, Hattan Arif, Rayyan Rozzah, Ghada Al Yousif, Nader Alhejaily, Dan Wu, Michael McLane and Irina Burd in Reproductive Sciences </p