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The retina is highly metabolically active, relying on glucose uptake and aerobic glycolysis. Situated in close contact to photoreceptors, a key function of cells in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is phagocytosis of damaged photoreceptor outer segments (POS). Here we identify RPE as a local source of insulin in the eye that is stimulated by POS phagocytosis. We show that Ins2 messenger RNA and insulin protein are produced by RPE cells and that this production correlates with RPE phagocytosis of POS. Genetic deletion of phagocytic receptors (‘loss of function’) reduces Ins2, whereas increasing the levels of the phagocytic receptor MerTK (‘gain of function’) increases Ins2 production in male mice. Contrary to pancreas-derived systemic insulin, RPE-derived local insulin is stimulated during starvation, which also increases RPE phagocytosis. Global or RPE-specific Ins2 gene deletion decreases retinal glucose uptake in starved male mice, dysregulates retinal physiology, causes defects in phototransduction and exacerbates photoreceptor loss in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa. Collectively, these data identify RPE cells as a phagocytosis-induced local source of insulin in the retina, with the potential to influence retinal physiology and disease.

Epilepsy surgery remains underutilized, in part because non-invasive methods of potential seizure foci localization are inadequate. We used high-resolution, parametric quantification from dynamic 2-[18F] fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography (dFDG-PET) imaging to locate hypometabolic foci in patients whose standard clinical static PET images were normal. We obtained dFDG-PET brain images with simultaneous EEG in a one-hour acquisition on seven patients with no MRI evidence of focal epilepsy to record uptake and focal radiation decay. Images were attenuation- and motion-corrected and co-registered with high-resolution T1-weighted patient MRI and segmented into 18 regions of interest (ROI) per hemisphere. Tracer uptake was calibrated with a model corrected blood input function with partial volume (PV) corrections to generate tracer parametric maps compared between mean radiation values between hemispheres with z-scores. We identified ROI with the lowest negative z scores (

Objective Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is specialized in thermogenesis. The conversion of energy into heat in brown adipocytes proceeds via stimulation of β-adrenergic receptor (βAR)-dependent signaling and activation of mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). We have previously demonstrated a functional role for pannexin-1 (Panx1) channels in white adipose tissue; however, it is not known whether Panx1 channels play a role in the regulation of brown adipocyte function. Here, we tested the hypothesis that Panx1 channels are involved in brown adipocyte activation and thermogenesis. Methods In an immortalized brown pre-adipocytes cell line, Panx1 currents were measured using patch-clamp electrophysiology. Flow cytometry was used for assessment of dye uptake and luminescence assays for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) release, and cellular temperature measurement was performed using a ratiometric fluorescence thermometer. We used RNA interference and expression plasmids to manipulate expression of wild-type and mutant Panx1. We used previously described adipocyte-specific Panx1 knockout mice (Panx1Adip-/-) and generated brown adipocyte-specific Panx1 knockout mice (Panx1BAT-/-) to study pharmacological or cold-induced thermogenesis. Glucose uptake into brown adipose tissue was quantified by positron emission tomography (PET) analysis of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) content. BAT temperature was measured using an implantable telemetric temperature probe. Results In brown adipocytes, Panx1 channel activity was induced either by apoptosis-dependent caspase activation or by β3AR stimulation via a novel mechanism that involves Gβγ subunit binding to Panx1. Inactivation of Panx1 channels in cultured brown adipocytes resulted in inhibition of β3AR-induced lipolysis, UCP-1 expression, and cellular thermogenesis. In mice, adiponectin-Cre-dependent genetic deletion of Panx1 in all adipose tissue depots resulted in defective β3AR agonist- or cold-induced thermogenesis in BAT and suppressed beigeing of white adipose tissue. UCP1-Cre-dependent Panx1 deletion specifically in brown adipocytes reduced the capacity for adaptive thermogenesis without affecting beigeing of white adipose tissue and aggravated diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance. Conclusions These data demonstrate that Gβγ-dependent Panx1 channel activation is involved in β3AR-induced thermogenic regulation in brown adipocytes. Identification of Panx1 channels in BAT as novel thermo-regulatory elements downstream of β3AR activation may have therapeutic implications., Highlights • Panx1 channel activation plays a critical role in thermogenic regulation in brown adipocytes. • Panx1 channel activity in brown adipocytes was induced by β3 adrenergic receptor stimulation. • Inactivation of Panx1 channels in cultured brown adipocytes resulted in defective cellular thermogenesis. • In mice, genetic deletion of Panx1 in all adipose tissue depots resulted in defective β3AR agonist- or cold-induced thermogenesis. • Panx1 deletion specifically in brown adipocytes reduced the capacity for adaptive thermogenesis and aggravated diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in mice.

Background In spontaneously hypertensive rats ( SHR ) we observed profound myocardial metabolic changes during early hypertension before development of cardiac dysfunction and left ventricular hypertrophy. In this study, we evaluated whether metformin improved myocardial metabolic abnormalities and simultaneously prevented contractile dysfunction and left ventricular hypertrophy in SHR . Methods and Results SHR and control Wistar–Kyoto rats were treated with metformin from 2 to 5 months of age, when SHR hearts exhibit metabolic abnormalities and develop cardiac dysfunction and left ventricular hypertrophy. We evaluated the effect of metformin on myocardial glucose uptake rates with dynamic 2‐[ 18 F] fluoro‐2‐deoxy‐D‐glucose positron emission tomography. We used cardiac MRI in vivo to assess the effect of metformin on ejection fraction, left ventricular mass, and end‐diastolic wall thickness, and also analyzed metabolites, AMP ‐activated protein kinase and mammalian target‐of‐rapamycin activities, and mean arterial blood pressure. Metformin‐treated SHR had lower mean arterial blood pressure but remained hypertensive. Cardiac glucose uptake rates, left ventricular mass/tibia length, wall thickness, and circulating free fatty acid levels decreased to normal, and ejection fraction improved in treated SHR . Hearts of treated SHR exhibited increased AMP ‐activated protein kinase phosphorylation and reduced mammalian target‐of‐rapamycin activity. Cardiac metabolite profiling demonstrated that metformin decreased fatty acyl carnitines and markers of oxidative stress in SHR . Conclusions Metformin reduced blood pressure, normalized myocardial glucose uptake, prevented left ventricular hypertrophy, and improved cardiac function in SHR . Metformin may exert its effects by normalizing myocardial AMPK and mammalian target‐of‐rapamycin activities, improving fatty acid oxidation, and reducing oxidative stress. Thus, metformin may be a new treatment to prevent or ameliorate chronic hypertension–induced left ventricular hypertrophy.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a generally fatal neurodegenerative disease of adults that produces weakness and atrophy due to dysfunction and death of upper and lower motor neurons. We used RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) to analyze expression of all mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-encoded respiratory genes in ALS and CTL human cervical spinal cords (hCSC) and isolated motor neurons. We analyzed with RNA-seq mtDNA gene expression in human neural stem cells (hNSC) exposed to recombinant human mitochondrial transcription factor A (rhTFAM), visualized in 3-dimensions clustered gene networks activated by rhTFAM, quantitated their interactions with other genes and determined their gene ontology (GO) families. RNA-seq and quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyses showed reduced mitochondrial gene expression in ALS hCSC and ALS motor neurons isolated by laser capture microdissection (LCM), and revealed that hNSC and CTL human cervical spinal cords were similar. Rats treated with i.v. rhTFAM showed a dose-response increase in brain respiration and an increase in spinal cord mitochondrial gene expression. Treatment of hNSC with rhTFAM increased expression of mtDNA-encoded respiratory genes and produced one major and several minor clusters of gene interactions. Gene ontology (GO) analysis of rhTFAM-stimulated gene clusters revealed enrichment in GO families involved in RNA and mRNA metabolism, suggesting mitochondrial-nuclear signaling. In postmortem ALS hCSC and LCM-isolated motor neurons we found reduced expression of mtDNA respiratory genes. In hNSC's rhTFAM increased mtDNA gene expression and stimulated mRNA metabolism by unclear mechanisms. rhTFAM may be useful in improving bioenergetic function in ALS.

The purpose of this work was to compute blood input function from the inferior vena cava (IVC) with partial volume (PV) corrections and compare to that obtained from the left ventricular blood pool (LVBP) with spill-over (SP) and PV corrections. These were then used to compute and validate rates of myocardial 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) uptake (Ki) from dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) images of rat hearts in vivo in comparison to that obtained from invasive arterial blood sampling. Whole body 60 min dynamic FDG PET/CT imaging of n = 8 control Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats were performed using Albira trimodal PET/CT/SPECT scanner. Image derived blood input function (IDIF) obtained from IVC corrected for PV averaging (IVC-PV) and IDIF from the left ventricular blood pool (LVBP) with SP and PV corrections (LVBP-SP-PV) were computed. Next, computed Ki (indirect comparison) in a 5-parameter (using IVC-PV) and a 15-parameter (using LVBP-SP-PV) 3-compartment models in WKY rat hearts in vivo were compared to that obtained using arterial blood sampling reported in literature in control Spraque Dawley (SD) rats. Using IVC-PV in a three-compartment five-parameter model resulted in a ~46% deviation in the mean computed Ki compared to that obtained with LVBP-SP-PV in a three-compartment 15-parameter model with a ~57% deviation in the mean computed Ki. The mean computed Ki in WKY rat hearts using the above methods, however, did not differ significantly to that obtained from invasive arterial blood sampling in SD rat hearts (p = 0.91 for IVC-PV and p = 0.58 for LVBP-SP-PV). Hence, Ki obtained in WKY rat hearts with input curve from IVC (IVC-PV) in a dynamic FDG PET scan is comparatively more repetitive to that obtained from the LVBP (LVBP-SP-PV). Ki computed using both the methods, however, agree well with each other and that obtained using arterial blood sampling.

This work presents a 300MS/s 10bit successive approximation analog to digital converter (SAR-ADC). It is designed in a 180nm technology suitable for co-integration with a photonic system. The ADC employs a loop embedded input buffer to reduce its input capacitance. A current steering DAC is implemented to eliminate kickback to the reference voltage. The proposed topology is independent of the input common mode voltage and thus enables the use of the current steering DAC. The implementation provides a low input capacitance of 386fF and suppresses nonlinearities from the buffer due to input common mode variations.

Ionizing radiation constitutes a health risk to imaging scientists and study animals. Both PET and CT produce ionizing radiation. CT doses in pre-clinical in vivo imaging typically range from 50 to 1,000 mGy and biological effects in mice at this dose range have been previously described. [18F]FDG body doses in mice have been estimated to be in the range of 100 mGy for [18F]FDG. Yearly, the average whole body doses due to handling of activity by PET technologists are reported to be 3-8 mSv. A preclinical PET/CT system is presented with design features which make it suitable for small animal low-dose imaging. The CT subsystem uses a X-source power that is optimized for small animal imaging. The system design incorporates a spatial beam shaper coupled with a highly sensitive flat-panel detector and very fast acquisition (

Background Sustained pressure overload leads to changes in cardiac metabolism, function, and structure. Both time course and causal relationships between these changes are not fully understood. Therefore, we studied spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) during early hypertension development and compared them to control Wistar Kyoto rats. Methods and Results We serially evaluated myocardial glucose uptake rates (Ki) with dynamic 2‐[ 18 F] fluoro‐2‐deoxy‐D‐glucose positron emission tomography, and ejection fraction and left ventricular mass to body weight ratios with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in vivo, determined glucose uptake and oxidation rates in isolated perfused hearts, and analyzed metabolites, mammalian target of rapamycin activity and endoplasmic reticulum stress in dissected hearts. When compared with Wistar Kyoto rats, SHR demonstrated increased glucose uptake rates (Ki) in vivo, and reduced ejection fraction as early as 2 months of age when hypertension was established. Isolated perfused SHR hearts showed increased glucose uptake and oxidation rates starting at 1 month. Cardiac metabolite analysis at 2 months of age revealed elevated pyruvate, fatty acyl‐ and branched chain amino acid‐derived carnitines, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Mammalian target of rapamycin activity increased in SHR beginning at 2 months. Left ventricular mass to body weight ratios and endoplasmic reticulum stress were elevated in 5 month‐old SHR. Conclusions Thus, in a genetic hypertension model, chronic cardiac pressure overload promptly leads to increased myocardial glucose uptake and oxidation, and to metabolite abnormalities. These coincide with, or precede, cardiac dysfunction while left ventricular hypertrophy develops only later. Myocardial metabolic changes may thus serve as early diagnostic markers for hypertension‐induced left ventricular hypertrophy.

A one-pot protocol for the diversity oriented synthesis of two N-polyheterocycles indoloazepinobenzimidazole and benzimidazotriazolobenzodiazepine from a common N(1)-alkyne-1,2-diamine building block is described. The approach involves sequential formation of benzimidazole through cyclocondensation and oxidation, which is followed by the formation of either an azepine ring (through alkyne activation and 6-endo-dig cyclization, 1,2-migration with ring expansion, and re-aromatization), or diazepine and triazole rings through 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition.

In this paper, a hybrid 1-bit full adder design employing both complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) logic and transmission gate logic is reported. The design was first implemented for 1 bit and then extended for 32 bit also. The circuit was implemented using Cadence Virtuoso tools in 180-and 90-nm technology. Performance parameters such as power, delay, and layout area were compared with the existing designs such as complementary pass-transistor logic, transmission gate adder, transmission function adder, hybrid pass-logic with static CMOS output drive full adder, and so on. For 1.8-V supply at 180-nm technology, the average power consumption (4.1563 $\mu $ W) was found to be extremely low with moderately low delay (224 ps) resulting from the deliberate incorporation of very weak CMOS inverters coupled with strong transmission gates. Corresponding values of the same were 1.17664 $\mu $ W and 91.3 ps at 90-nm technology operating at 1.2-V supply voltage. The design was further extended for implementing 32-bit full adder also, and was found to be working efficiently with only 5.578-ns (2.45-ns) delay and 112.79- $\mu $ W (53.36- $\mu $ W) power at 180-nm (90-nm) technology for 1.8-V (1.2-V) supply voltage. In comparison with the existing full adder designs, the present implementation was found to offer significant improvement in terms of power and speed.

Brain tumor detection and therapeutic evaluation continue to be very challenging. Distinguishing between radiation induced necrosis and recurrent or viable residual tumor in human glioblastoma has proved to be a particularly difficult task. The aim of this work is to extract the time course features of the pharmacokinetics of F18-FDG after intra-venous injection using dynamic Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging and utilize the features based on kinetic modeling and wavelet transform (WT) as new methods for brain tumor diagnosis other than MRI and static PET images. These methods provide additional functional information to assist with classification of tumor types, i.e., metastasis, recurrent tumor, versus treatment induced changes, such as radiation necrosis. When combined with the novel dedicated brain PET imagers this dynamic PET technique can provide an even more powerful new diagnostic tool.

We describe an efficient and straightforward synthesis of annulated pyridin-2(1H)-ones following condensation of acyl azides with internal alkynes via the ruthenium-catalyzed ortho C–H bond activation. The reaction in DCE proceeds via in situ generation of iminophosphoranes as directing group-coordination of Ru with N-atom-ortho cyclometallation-insertion of an alkyne into the Ru–C bond-protonation-reductive elimination in a domino sequence. The role and stability of in situ generated iminophosphorane and ruling out the possibility for the benzamide involvement was established using 1H and 31P NMR experiments.

A practically useful method following Cahn-Ingold-Prelog R/S system is described for establishing R/S configuration in chiral compounds. The method is based on the fact that in a given tetrahedral chiral carbon sequential rotation of any three groups in any of the four triangular formats does not affect the configuration. This provides an opportunity to rotate the three groups particularly including the lowest priority group either in a clock- or anticlock wise manner till the lowest priority group is behind the plane of the paper and thus viewing the molecule from the front for establishing R/S configuration. The utility of the method has been demonstrated in chiral compounds involving both cyclic and acyclic structures bearing one/two carbon atom(s).

We report the diversity-oriented synthesis of pyrido- and pyrimido-indoles from an acid-catalyzed three component (3C) reaction involving ethyl 2-amino-1H-indole-3-carboxylates, arylaldehydes, and terminal alkynes. In the presence of a Bronsted acid such as trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), the 3C reaction furnished a mixture of pyrido- and pyrimido-indoles, whereas when catalyzed by Yb(OTf)3 as a Lewis acid, pyrimidoindoles were obtained as the single product. The findings demonstrate the ability to control reaction products through change in the acid catalyst. The salient feature during TFA-catalyzed 3C reaction is that two different pathways are followed in one pot after propargylamine formation. The two cascade cyclizations comprise in situ decarboxylation-carbocyclization and an intramolecular hydroamination to afford products with different connectivity.

A one-pot protocol for the diversity-oriented synthesis of two indole-based annulated polyheterocycles, ketoindoloquinoxalines and indolotriazoloquinoxalines, has been described. The salient features of the methodology involves either a metal/O2-catalyzed aminooxygenation or a [3 + 2] cycloaddition pathway.

We describe two simple straightforward syntheses of triazolo isoquinolines (3) and isochromenes (7) from 2-alkynylbenzaldehydes (1) as a common synthon. The synthetic strategy for 3 involves formation of the (E)-1-(2-nitrovinyl)-2-(alkynyl)benzene species 2 via condensation of synthon 1 with nitromethane followed by a [3 + 2] cycloaddition/extrusion of the nitro group/regioselective 6-endo cyclization domino sequence. In yet another strategy, the synthon 1 was condensed with nitromethane followed by electrophilic iodo cyclization of the resulting 2-nitro-1-(2-(alkynyl)phenyl)ethanol (6) to furnish iodo isochromene derivatives. The salient feature of the above two strategies involves formation of the corresponding heterocycles under metal-free conditions in good yields.

A two-step protocol for the diversity-oriented synthesis of annulated indoles following MCR-post MCR modification concept is described. The reaction initially proceeds through the annulation of 2-(2,2-dibromovinyl)aniline, an isocyanate, and a terminal alkyne in a three-component tandem format via Cu/Pd-catalyzed cross coupling to afford N-1 and C-2 functionalized indole. In the subsequent step, the enyne-urea derivative undergoes chemo- and regioselective 6-endo cyclization to afford O-cyclized product in the presence of Au(I)/AgNO3 and N-cyclized product in the presence of Au(I)/AgOTf under a post-MCR modification step. A mechanistic investigation following a recent pioneering work on the silver effect in gold catalysis (Shi, X. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 9012) explains the role of counterion on Au/Ag-catalyzed regiodivergent pathways.

A one-pot protocol for the synthesis of indole-based annulated polyheterocycles involving consecutive 7-endo-trig and electrophilic 6-endo-dig cyclizations is described. The reaction proceeds initially through annulation of 5-methoxyindole, 2-amino benzyl alcohol and 2-alkynylbenzaldehyde

We proposed that metabolic remodeling in the form of increased uptake of the myocardial glucose analog 18F-FDG precedes and triggers the onset of severe contractile dysfunction in pressure-overload left ventricular hypertrophy in vivo. To test this hypothesis, we used a mouse model of transverse aortic constriction (TAC) together with PET and assessed serial changes in cardiac metabolism and function over 7 d. Methods: Scans of 16 C57BL/6 male mice were obtained using a small-animal PET device under sevoflurane anesthesia. A 10-min transmission scan was followed by a 60-min dynamic 18F-FDG PET scan with cardiac and respiratory gating. Blood glucose levels were measured before and after the emission scan. TAC and sham surgeries were performed after baseline imaging. Osmotic mini pumps containing either propranolol (5 mg/kg/d) or vehicle alone were implanted subcutaneously at the end of surgery. Subsequent scans were taken at days 1 and 7 after surgery. A compartment model, in which the blood input function with spillover and partial-volume corrections and the metabolic rate constants in a 3-compartment model are simultaneously estimated, was used to determine the net myocardial 18F-FDG influx constant, Ki. The rate of myocardial glucose utilization, rMGU, was also computed. Estimations of the ejection fractions were based on the high-resolution gated PET images. Results: Mice undergoing TAC surgery exhibited an increase in the Ki (580%) and glucose utilization the day after surgery, indicating early adaptive response. On day 7, the ejection fraction had decreased by 24%, indicating a maladaptive response. Average Ki increases were not linearly associated with increases in rMGU. Ki exceeded rMGU by 29% in the TAC mice. TAC mice treated with propranolol attenuated the rate of 18F-FDG uptake, diminished mismatch between Ki and rMGU (9%), and rescued cardiac function. Conclusion: Metabolic maladaptation precedes the onset of severe contractile dysfunction. Both are prevented by treatment with propranolol. The early detection of metabolic remodeling may offer a metabolic target for modulation of hypertrophy.

An unprecedented protocol for the transformation of benzoyl azides into benzonitrile derivatives via iminophosphoranes generated in situ is described. The strategy was successfully applied to the de-novo synthesis of 2-alkenylated benzonitrile derivatives from benzoyl azides through ortho C-H activation/alkenylation followed by subsequent rearrangement. The salient features of this protocol involve incorporation of two important functionalities through cyanation and olefination in one pot under mild reaction conditions by using a less expensive Ru catalyst. The mechanism was established by isolating and characterising (using (31) P NMR) an intermediate with two ortho functionalities, iminophosphorane and olefin, under specific reaction conditions.

A concise construction of benzo[a]phenanthridines involving multicomponent tandem reaction/carbocyclization in a sequential format is described. The reaction proceeds initially via formation of a 4-aryl-3-arylethynyl-isoquinoline from 2-bromobenzaldehyde/tert-butylamine/1,3-diyne in a three component format followed by a second ring closure either via gold/silver catalyzed intramolecular hydroarylation or via iodo-catalyzed regioselective 6-endo-dig electrophilic cyclization. The salient feature of the strategy involves a three component reaction followed by transformation of the resulting product in to polyheterocycles with increased structural complexity in two steps.

A PECAM-1 specific PET imaging agent, PECAM-1-Ab-DOTA-(64)Cu, was synthesized by conjugating the anti-mouse PECAM-1 antibody with 2,2',2",2"'-(1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetrayl)tetraacetic acid (DOTA) and subsequent labeling with (64)Cu. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) was successfully performed in a mouse model of myocardial infarction (MI) induced by an ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, indicating the elevated expression of PECAM-1.

This micro review focuses on the application of the modified Pictet-Spengler reaction to the synthesis of diverse polyheterocy- cles with structural resemblance to natural products. The modified Pictet-Spengler reaction takes use of tethered biheterocycles compris- ing nucleophilic partner and a source for electrophilic partner followed by their condensation with aldehydes/ketones to furnish annulated polyheterocycles. Using this strategy engineering of numerous tethered biheterocycles into annulated polyheterocycles has been success- fully carried out using both 6-endo as well as 7-endo cyclizations.

A one pot synthesis of 1H-benzo[g]indoles, tetrahydrobenzo[h]quinolines, and naphtho[1,2-b]azepines from 2-alkynyl benzaldehydes and cyclic amino acids is reported. The salient feature of the strategy involves formation of three new bonds (one CN and two CC bonds) by a metal-free decarboxylation/cyclization/one-carbon ring expansion sequence in one pot.

Objectives: Hypertension (HTN) is a common cause of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Sustained pressure overload induces a permanent myocardial switch from fatty-acid to glucose metabolism. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that metabolic remodeling, characterized by increased myocardial glucose uptake, precedes structural and functional remodeling in HTN-induced LVH. Methods: We recruited 31 patients: 11 with HTN only, 9 with HTN and LVH and 11 normotensive controls without LVH. Transthoracic echocardiography was performed to assess the function, mass, wall thickness and diastolic function of the left ventricle. Positron emission tomography imaging was performed, and the rate of myocardial 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose uptake, Ki, was determined using a 3-compartment kinetic model. Results: The mean Ki values were significantly higher in HTN patients than in those with HTN and LVH (p < 0.001) and in controls (p = 0.003). The unexpected decrease in Ki with LVH may be secondary to a decreased Ki with diastolic dysfunction (DD), 0.039 ± 0.032 versus 0.072 ± 0.013 (p = 0.004). There was also a significant stepwise decrease in Ki with increasing DD grade (p = 0.04). Conclusion: Glucose metabolic remodeling is detectable in hypertensive patients before the development of LVH. Furthermore, lower glucose uptake rates are observed in patients with DD. The mechanism for this last finding requires further investigation.

To establish an accurate and automatic image segmentation method for extracting the tumor from the healthy tissue using the dedicated 18F-FDG Mammography with Molecular Imaging (MAMMI) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) dynamic images of breast in vivo, the paper presents a novel method using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) combined with time activity curves (TAC) of each voxel as input vector. TACs voxel by voxel were obtained from PET images with average filtering and least-squares fitting algorithm to improve the signal noise ratio (SNR). The data was then normalized and constructed as input feature vectors of the ANN network to train or segment the tumor regions. The initial pilot validation with 2 patient's data of the proposed method using FDG has shown promising results.

An efficient strategy for the stereo- and regio-selective synthesis of N -alkenynes has been described. The salient feature of the reaction involves hydro-amination/amidation of 1,3-diynes with indoles/azoles/amides via transition-metal catalyzed activation of N–H bond. The resulting N -alkenynes derived from N -heterocycles and cyclic amides were obtained as a mixture of Z / E isomers with Z -stereoselectivity ranging from 60% to 95%. In contrast, acyclic amides afforded N -alkenynes with exclusive E -stereoselectivity, albeit in reduced yield ranging from ∼10% to 41%.

A simple, highly efficient three-component reaction involving acid chlorides, terminal alkynes, and ethyl 2-amino-1H-indole-3-carboxylates, for the synthesis of highly diversified pyrimido[1,2-a]indoles has been described. The salient feature of the reaction involves sequential Sonogashira and [3+3] cyclocondensation reactions.

An efficient and rapid synthetic strategy for the naturally occurring indoloazepinone scaffold via a three-component reaction of indole-2-carboxamides, 1,3-disubstituted propargyl alcohols, and I2 is described. The strategy involves a C–H functionalization–alkyne activation–intramolecular hydroamidation–deprotonation domino sequence. The salient feature of this sequence is regioselective electrophilic 7-endo-dig iodo-cyclization during the intramolecular hydroamidation to afford a seven-membered azepinone ring annulated to the indole.

Two simple, highly efficient three component tandem reactions for the synthesis of diversified NaNb di-carbamate-4,9-dihydro-3-iodo-α-carbolines and Na-carbamate-3-iodo-α-carbolines have been described. The strategy involves one-pot condensation of bis-carbamate protected 2-amino indoles with disubstituted propargyl alcohols and I2/ICl. The salient feature of the reaction involves iodocyclo-elimination of Nb-linked carbamate under mild condition in the final step.

An efficient method for the synthesis of a library based on thenaturally occurring 5-7-6 tricyclic 5 H-pyrrolo[2,1- C][1,4]benzodiazepin-5-oneskeleton and its derivatives via cationic π-(7- ENDO) cyclization is described.

An efficient and versatile method for the synthesis of indole-based polycyclic indolo-benzazepine and its derivatives through water-accelerated cationic π-cyclisation is described. The strategy involves condensation of arylamine moieties linked to C-4 in indole/azaindole systems with arylaldehydes in water containing catalytic amount of Bronsted acids. The C-C bond formation in water is complete within 10-30 min, furnishing the title compounds in excellent yields and purities, whereas in organic solvents 10-12 h are required. Furthermore, aldehydes both with electron-donating and-withdrawing substituents facilitate the π-cyclisation equally.

The purpose of this study was to determine if accurate image-derived input functions (IDIF) can be measured from cardiac gated positron emission tomography (PET) images reconstructed using ordered subset expectation maximization–maximum a posteriori (OSEM-MAP) without further correction. IDIFs from the left ventricle were measured from cardiac gated PET images reconstructed using OSEM-MAP with computed tomography (CT)-based attenuation correction for five C57/BL6 mice. The accuracy of the IDIF was tested against blood samples using Bland–Altman analysis. Image-derived blood radioactivity concentration values were not significantly different from sampled blood values at two late time points as determined by a paired t test (P = 0.97). Bland–Altman analysis revealed a mean difference of 0.06 μCi/ml (1%). Using kinetic analysis, the mean myocardial 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-d-glucose uptake rate constant based on the IDIF was comparable to values reported in the literature based on physical blood sampling. Accurate IDIFs can be obtained non-invasively. Although reconstruction times are increased, no further spillover corrections are necessary for IDIFs derived from gated, OSEM-MAP reconstructed images with attenuation correction.

An efficient catalyst/ligand-free synthesis of benzimidazoles and quinazolinones from amidines in quantitative yields has been described.

The three-compartment model with spillover (SP) and partial volume (PV) corrections has been widely used for noninvasive kinetic parameter studies of dynamic 2-[18F] fluoro-2deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography images of small animal hearts in vivo. However, the approach still suffers from estimation uncertainty or slow convergence caused by the commonly used optimization algorithms. The aim of this study was to develop an improved optimization algorithm with better estimation performance. Femoral artery blood samples, image-derived input functions from heart ventricles and myocardial time–activity curves (TACs) were derived from data on 16 C57BL/6 mice obtained from the UCLA Mouse Quantitation Program. Parametric equations of the average myocardium and the blood pool TACs with SP and PV corrections in a three-compartment tracer kinetic model were formulated. A hybrid method integrating artificial immune-system and interior-reflective Newton methods were developed to solve the equations. Two penalty functions and one late time-point tail vein blood sample were used to constrain the objective function. The estimation accuracy of the method was validated by comparing results with experimental values using the errors in the areas under curves (AUCs) of the model corrected input function (MCIF) and the 18F-FDG influx constant K i . Moreover, the elapsed time was used to measure the convergence speed. The overall AUC error of MCIF for the 16 mice averaged −1.4 ± 8.2%, with correlation coefficients of 0.9706. Similar results can be seen in the overall K i error percentage, which was 0.4 ± 5.8% with a correlation coefficient of 0.9912. The t-test P value for both showed no significant difference. The mean and standard deviation of the MCIF AUC and K i percentage errors have lower values compared to the previously published methods. The computation time of the hybrid method is also several times lower than using just a stochastic algorithm. The proposed method significantly improved the model estimation performance in terms of the accuracy of the MCIF and K i , as well as the convergence speed.