Pathogen identification by nuclear imaging – almost there?

Evaluation of Cardiac Mitochondrial Function by a Nuclear Imaging Technique using Technetium-99m-MIBI Uptake Kinetics

Mitochondria play an important role in energy production for the cell. The proper function of a myocardial cell largely depends on the functional capacity of the mitochondria.  Therefore it is necessary to establish a novel and reliable method for a non-invasive assessment of mitochondrial function and metabolism in humans. Although originally designed for evaluating myocardial perfusion, 99mTc...

Uncovering Special Nuclear Materials by Low-energy Nuclear Reaction Imaging

Weapons-grade uranium and plutonium could be used as nuclear explosives with extreme destructive potential. The problem of their detection, especially in standard cargo containers during transit, has been described as "searching for a needle in a haystack" because of the inherently low rate of spontaneous emission of characteristic penetrating radiation and the ease of its shielding. Currently,...

Health economics, equity, and efficiency: are we almost there?

Health care is a highly complex, dynamic, and creative sector of the economy. While health economics has to continue its efforts to improve its methods and tools to better inform decisions, the application needs to be aligned with the insights and models of other social sciences disciplines. Decisions may be guided by four concept models based on ethical and distributive justice: libertarian, c...

Reaching the target for global polio eradication - almost there!

TDP-43 in ALS: Stay on Target…Almost There

ALS is associated with RNA processing impairments involving the RNA-binding protein TDP-43. Pioneering a novel RNA beacon to illuminate RNA trafficking in neurons, Alami et al. (2014) discover a cytoplasmic function for TDP-43, suggesting a new disease mechanism.