The peptide hormone ghrelin is produced in cardiomyocytes and acts through the myocardial growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR) to promote cardiomyocyte survival. Administration of ghrelin may have therapeutic effects on post–myocardial infarction (MI) outcomes. Therefore, there is a need to develop molecular imaging probes that can track the dynamics of GHSR in health and disease to better predict the effectiveness of ghrelin-based therapeutics. We designed a high-affinity GHSR ligand labeled with ¹⁸F for imaging by PET and characterized its in vivo properties in a canine model of MI. Methods: We rationally designed and radiolabeled with ¹⁸F a quinazolinone derivative ([¹⁸F]LCE470) with subnanomolar binding affinity to GHSR. We determined the sensitivity and in vivo and ex vivo specificity of [¹⁸F]LCE470 in a canine model of surgically induced MI using PET/MRI, which allowed for anatomic localization of tracer uptake and simultaneous determination of global cardiac function. Uptake of [¹⁸F]LCE470 was determined by time–activity curve and SUV analysis in 3 regions of the left ventricle—area of infarct, territory served by the left circumflex coronary artery, and remote myocardium—over a period of 1.5 y. Changes in cardiac perfusion were tracked by [¹³N]NH₃ PET. Results: The receptor binding affinity of LCE470 was measured at 0.33 nM, the highest known receptor binding affinity for a radiolabeled GHSR ligand. In vivo blocking studies in healthy hounds and ex vivo blocking studies in myocardial tissue showed the specificity of [¹⁸F]LCE470, and sensitivity was demonstrated by a positive correlation between tracer uptake and GHSR abundance. Post-MI changes in [¹⁸F]LCE470 uptake occurred independently of perfusion tracer distributions and changes in global cardiac function. We found that the regional distribution of [¹⁸F]LCE470 within the left ventricle diverged significantly within 1 d after MI and remained that way throughout the 1.5-y duration of the study. Conclusion: [¹⁸F]LCE470 is a high-affinity PET tracer that can detect changes in the regional distribution of myocardial GHSR after MI. In vivo PET molecular imaging of the global dynamics of GHSR may lead to improved GHSR-based therapeutics in the treatment of post-MI remodeling.

Tua Tagovailoa and Daniel Jones are among UPI senior sports writer Alex Butler's five must-start fantasy football quarterbacks for Week 10.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has pledged to get to the bottom of reports of military personnel experiencing mysterious illnesses while overseas.

The Pentagon on Monday ordered all Department of Defense civilian employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by no later than Nov. 22.

The nation's depleted supply of IV solutions is recovering after a North Carolina facility recently resumed production after Hurricane Helene temporarily put it out of business.

Quantum computing pioneer D-Wave today announced it had completed calibration and benchmarking the latest latest version of its Advantage2 quantum processor, a 4,400-plus-qubit device. D-Wave said that compared with the […]

The post D-Wave Readies 4,400-plus-qubit Advantage2 System for Use appeared first on HPCwire.

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday night announced his nomination of Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to head the Department of Defense.

SpaceX successful launched a South Korean communication satellite from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday afternoon.

Quick decisions could be costing you—find out how to improve them.

Despite a $6,100 teacher pay raise this spring, school districts report that they're starting the new academic year with nearly 500 teaching vacancies.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is not famous for pressuring states into desired outcomes, but did put at least two states' Title I funding on "high-risk" status last year.

The demand for substitute teacher positions is outpacing the supply, and the quality of those applying is a concern in many places.

A California organization is tasked with giving out $9.4 million in grants to local programs across the state to solve shortages.

Recruiters are visiting major U.S. cities in an attempt to lure teachers to Hawaii's schools.

A suburban Indianapolis district is signing up teachers to drive school buses before and after their usual time in the classroom.

The Calgary Flames' fifth game in eight nights and three time zones was a tough one they need to learn from

The Mississippi education department will be the first to operate a teacher residency program, which aims to increase retention and diversity in the profession.

It was Louisville women's basketball vs UT Martin at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center. See score updates and highlights from the road clash.

EAU CLAIRE— This weekend saw the first basketball games for Blugold men’s and women’s basketball during the Market & Johnson Blugold Tip-Off Tournament. The games were the first to be played at the Sonnentag Event Center, a part of the new $122 million multi-purpose facility which opened earlier this year. The event center has a capacity of 3,500 people for sporting events as compared to the ...

Injuries to the central nervous system (CNS) can cause severe neurological deficits. Axonal regrowth is a fundamental process for the reconstruction of compensatory neuronal networks after injury; however, it is extremely limited in the adult mammalian CNS. In this study, we conducted a loss-of-function genetic screen in cortical neurons, combined with a Web resource-based phenotypic screen, and identified synaptotagmin 4 (Syt4) as a novel regulator of axon elongation. Silencing Syt4 in primary cultured cortical neurons inhibits neurite elongation, with changes in gene expression involved in signaling pathways related to neuronal development. In a spinal cord injury model, inhibition of Syt4 expression in cortical neurons prevented axonal sprouting of the corticospinal tract, as well as neurological recovery after injury. These results provide a novel therapeutic approach to CNS injury by modulating Syt4 function.

The brain's extracellular matrix (ECM) regulates neuronal plasticity and animal behavior. ECM staining shows a net-like structure around a subset of neurons, a ring-like structure at the nodes of Ranvier, and diffuse staining in the interstitial matrix. However, understanding the structural features of ECM deposition across various neuronal types and subcellular compartments remains limited. To visualize the organization pattern and assembly process of the hyaluronan-scaffolded ECM in the brain, we fused a HaloTag to hyaluronan proteoglycan link protein 1, which links hyaluronan and proteoglycans. Expression or application of the probe in primary rat neuronal cultures enables us to identify spatial and temporal regulation of ECM deposition and heterogeneity in ECM aggregation among neuronal populations. Dual-color birthdating shows the ECM assembly process in culture and in vivo. Sparse expression in mouse brains of either sex reveals detailed ECM architectures around excitatory neurons and developmentally regulated dendritic ECM. Our study uncovers extensive structural features of the brain's ECM, suggesting diverse roles in regulating neuronal plasticity.

Rome - The experience of farmers who manage agricultural heritage can help achieve the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration's main goals: support and scale-up efforts [...]

Rome - The FAO - Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems Programme opens the process of establishing a new Scientific Advisory Groupfor the 2021-2022 term.  The Programme is seeking for [...]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, through the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme, will organise the International Symposium on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and Family Farming from [...]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme, is organizing the International Conference on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems 2021 [...]

Three sites in China - an ancient tea-producing area, a nomadic livestock-rearing region and a rain-fed stone terrace farming system - were formally recognised  as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage [...]

2022 marks the 20th anniversary of the FAO GIAHS Programme. FAO launched the GIAHS initiative at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002. Since its inception, [...]

Rome - Two new sites in Japan - an inland fisheries and associated paddy farming system centred on the country’s largest lake and a traditional fruit-growing area  believed to have been the [...]

For the first time ever, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will be hosting two back-to-back conferences looking at the challenges and solutions for sustainable livestock [...]

Salzburg – Austria, marked a significant milestone as it celebrated the formal recognition of Traditional Hay Milk Farming in the Austrian Alpine Arc as a FAO Globally Important Agricultural [...]

In this workshop, we will explore the role of innovation in supporting traditional practices that conserve agricultural heritage systems.  

Traditional agricultural practices, often rooted in the local communities and the knowledge [...]

Indonesia and Sao Tome and Principe receive their first designations from FAO along with Austria’s second system

In 1969, three men traveled to the moon cameras documented their every move

Recently digitized footage shows the Marine assault on Iwo Jima during World War II, including prepping equipment, arriving on the island and raising the flag. (U.S. Marine Corps History Division and Moving Image Research Collections, University of South Carolina)

Recently digitized footage shows Marine in dugouts in the field, working on building a hospital and assisting the wounded on the front lines. (U.S. Marine Corps History Division and Moving Image Research Collections, University of South Carolina)

Learn how to stage a sit-in right next to the Greensboro lunch counter, the location of one of the civil rights movement's most famous protests (Video by: Katy June-Friesen). Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Courage-at-the-Greensboro-Lunch-Counter.html

ARTICLE: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/civil-war-veterans-come-alive-in-audio-and-video-recordings-97841665/ In this exclusive clip from the 1930s, Confederate veterans step up to the mic and let out their version of the fearsome rallying cry.

Recently digitized footage shows the 5th Div. cemetery dedication on Iwo Jima with band, gun salute and officers speaking. In the final scene, tow Marines kneel over the temporary resting place of 3/13 PFC Ernest T. Langbeen. (U.S. Marine Corps History Division and Moving Image Research Collections, University of South Carolina)

[Harry Carney Home Movies], Ruth Ellington Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

From Smithsonian.com's story on Dave Shealy, Florida's self-proclaimed skunk ape expert: www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/trail-floridas-bigfoot-skunk-ape-180949981/

On June 6, 1944, allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France to fight Nazi Germany

Silent film footage taken in 1909 by Thomas Edison at Mark Twain's estate