Role of Total Body PET/CT in Inflammatory Disorders.

Inflammatory disorders historically have been difficult to monitor with conventional PET imaging due to limitations including radiation exposure, lack of validated imaging biomarkers, low spatial resolution, and long acquisition durations. However, the recent development of long-axial field-of-view (LAFOV) PET/CT scanners may allow utilization of novel noninvasive biomarkers to diagnose, predict outcomes, and monitor therapeutic response of inflammatory conditions. LAFOV PET scanners can image most of the human body (if not the entire body) simultaneously in one bed position, with improved signal collection efficiency compared to conventional PET scanners.

A Critical Appraisal of Educational Theory to Examine HBCU and Black Students' Professional Identity Formation.

Objectives: This article explores educational theories and existing literature that describe the impact of Historically Black College or University (HBCU) educational environments on Black students' personal and professional development. Literature on professional identity formation (PIF) in pharmacy education is also examined to describe the influence of HBCU pharmacy education on Black pharmacy students' PIF.

Findings: Tinto's theory of student retention, Arroyo and Gasman's HBCU educational framework, and Bank's theory of multicultural education are described, as key elements of HBCU education that foster PIF in minoritized student populations.

Reduction of Amyloid in the Brain and Retina After Treatment With IVIG for Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Objective: To assess whether intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) results in a reduction in amyloid in the central nervous system (CNS).

Methods: Five subjects with MCI underwent baseline Florbetapir positron emission tomography and retinal autofluorescent imaging. All were administered IVIG (Octagam 10%) at 0.

Implementation of a Flipped Classroom for Nuclear Medicine Physician CME.

Introduction: Increasingly, emerging technologies are expanding instructional possibilities, with new methods being adopted to improve knowledge acquisition and retention. Within medical education, many new techniques have been employed in the undergraduate setting, with less utilization thus far in the continuing medical education (CME) sphere. This paper discusses the use of a new method for CME-the "flipped classroom," widely used in undergraduate medical education.

Use of Marrow Scintigraphy to Confirm Compensatory Marrow Rather than Active Myeloma.

We present the case of a 40-year-old male with multiple myeloma for whom bone marrow scintigraphy was utilized to help differentiate between active bony myelomatous disease versus treated lesions with compensatory marrow uptake. This case demonstrates technetium (Tc-99m) sulfur colloid imaging as an inexpensive technique to quickly distinguish between active focal bone disease and reactive marrow.

Reducing perceived pain levels during nonbreast lymphoscintigraphy.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to quantify the reduction of perceived pain levels during lymphoscintigraphy for melanoma by altering the pH of the Tc-sulfur colloid to near the physiologic value of 7.40.

Patients And Methods: This is an institutional review board- and Food and Drug Administration-approved randomized, double-blinded, prospective crossover trial, registered with clinicaltrials.

Localization of cardiac sodium channels in caveolin-rich membrane domains: regulation of sodium current amplitude.

This study demonstrates that caveolae, omega-shaped membrane invaginations, are involved in cardiac sodium channel regulation by a mechanism involving the alpha subunit of the stimulatory heterotrimeric G-protein, Galpha(s), via stimulation of the cell surface beta-adrenergic receptor. Stimulation of beta-adrenergic receptors with 10 micromol/L isoproterenol in the presence of a protein kinase A inhibitor increased the whole-cell sodium current by a "direct" cAMP-independent G-protein mechanism. The addition of antibodies against caveolin-3 to the cell's cytoplasm via the pipette solution abrogated this direct G protein-induced increase in sodium current, whereas antibodies to caveolin-1 or caveolin-2 did not.