Systematics within Gyps vultures: a clade at risk

Background  

Populations of the Oriental White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) have declined by over 95% within the past decade. This decline is largely due to incidental consumption of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory veterinary pharmaceutical diclofenac, commonly used to treat domestic livestock. The conservation status of other Gyps vultures in southern Asia is also of immediate concern, given the lack of knowledge regarding status of their populations and the continuing existence of taxonomic uncertainties. In this study, we assess phylogenetic relationships for all recognized species and the majority of subspecies within the genus Gyps. The continuing veterinary use of diclofenac is an unknown but potential risk to related species with similar feeding habits to Gyps bengalensis. Therefore, an accurate assessment of the phylogenetic relationships among Gyps vultures should aid in their conservation by clarifying taxonomic uncertainties, and enabling inference of their respective relatedness to susceptible G. bengalensis.     

Hypoxanthine Effect on Equilibrative and Concentrative Adenosine Transport in Human Lymphocytes. Implications in the Phatogenesis of Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome

We postulated that increased levels of hypoxanthine, a main characteristic of hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) deficiency, may influence adenosine function which could be related to some of the neurological features of the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. We have examined the effect of hypoxanthine on different adenosine transporters in peripheral blood lymphocytes from control subjects. Increased hypoxanthine concentrations (25 μM) significantly decreased adenosine transport. The equilibrative adenosine transporters (79.6% of the adenosine transport), both NBTI sensitive and NBTI insensitive, were affected significantly. In contrast, the concentrative adenosine transporters were not influenced by hypoxanthine. These results supports the hypothesis that increased hypoxanthine levels influence equilibrative (predominantly NBTI-insensitive type) adenosine transporters.     

Tendances en médecine nucléaire : renouvellement du TEP/TDM au sein du service de médecine nucléaire du centre hospitalier universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Suisse

After a technology life of a machine imaging positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography (PET/CT), the nuclear medicine department of the Centre hospitalier universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) has renewed its unique equipment. He realized at that time, a number of reorganizations for the arrival of the new “PET/CT”. This project is crucial for the nuclear medicine department and should be part of a rigorous approach to both the organization of replacement of equipment and on the adaptation of the host structure. The CHUV has chosen a new generation machine reducing the examination time, the amount of radiotracer and thus the dose to the patient while increasing the performance of lesion detection. To take full advantage of this technology, it was necessary to establish the needs of all stakeholders nuclear medicine department and associated them in the procedure in order to acquire. This process was organized by the Biomedical Engineering Department in order to offer the new technology to meet cost to expectations of doctors and patients.     

A Generator-Produced Gallium-68 Radiopharmaceutical for PET Imaging of Myocardial Perfusion

Lipophilic cationic technetium-99m-complexes are widely used for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). However, inherent uncertainties in the supply chain of molybdenum-99, the parent isotope required for manufacturing ⁹⁹Mo/^99mTc generators, intensifies the need for discovery of novel MPI agents incorporating alternative radionuclides. Recently, germanium/gallium (Ge/Ga) generators capable of producing high quality ⁶⁸Ga, an isotope with excellent emission characteristics for clinical PET imaging, have emerged. Herein, we report a novel ⁶⁸Ga-complex identified through mechanism-based cell screening that holds promise as a generator-produced radiopharmaceutical for PET MPI.