Copper radionuclides and radiopharmaceuticals in nuclear medicine

The chemistry, radiochemistry, radiobiology, and radiopharmacology of radiopharmaceuticals containing copper radionuclides are reviewed. Copper radionuclides offer application in positron emission tomography, targeted radiotherapy, and single photon imaging. The chemistry of copper is relatively simple and well-suited to radiopharmaceutical application. Current radiopharmaceuticals include biomolecules labelled via bifunctional chelators primarily based on cyclic polyaminocarboxylates and polyamines, and pyruvaldehyde-bis(N⁴-methylthiosemicarbazone) (PTSM) and its analogues. The chemistry of copper, of which only a fraction has yet been exploited, is likely to be applied more fully in the future.     

Techniques in facial identification: Computer-aided facial reconstruction using a laser scanner and video superimposition

A facial image was reconstructed from the skull, part of a complete skeleton found in woodland, of a male person who had hanged himself from a tree. In addition, video superimposition was carried out with antemortem photographs of a person suspected of being the victim, and a good match was obtained. In a further case, a cheaper video-transparency superimposition was carried out, with identity later being confirmed on the basis of dental records. The techniques and the problems encountered are discussed. According to our experience, 3D computer reconstruction and video superimposition have a useful role in the process of identification, particularly in the early stages of an investigation and when other more definitive methods may not be available.     

The Complex Nature of Interactive Neuroregeneration-Related Molecules

We review the growing list of molecules that may be involved in wound healing in the central nervous system (CNS). It is known that many of these molecules are present during normal development and neoplastic growth in both neural and nonneural tissues, often in areas where pattern formation or tissue remodeling is evident; however, their functional roles are often quite elusive. In order to understand the changes that occur in and around a brain wound, we review proposed functions of neuroregeneration-related molecules in in vitro and in vivo preparations, as well as note their expression in other healing tissues including skin. A hypothesis that wound healing events in the CNS supersede neuritic growth around a lesion is presented. In contrast to the classical view of failed regeneration, there may be significant amounts of circuit reorganization that occur following injury, and such plasticity may be further enhanced by manipulating the molecular environment around a brain wound and in synaptically related structures.     

Risk of developing AIDS in HIV-infected cohorts of hemophilic and homosexual men

The latency period and/or incidence of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) may differ in persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus by different routes or having different "cofactors." We compared 79 hemophilic men in Pennsylvania and 117 homosexual and bisexual men in California, all having known dates of infection and long postinfection observation periods, to examine these hypotheses. By 1987, twenty-one percent of the hemophilic and 27% of the homosexual men had developed AIDS. However, seroconversion patterns differed for the two groups, and when this was taken into account, the conditional odds ratio for AIDS was 1.20. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed no significant difference in the cumulative proportion with AIDS, from time of infection. These results are limited by the small size and geographically localized nature of our study populations, but they suggest that currently the relative length of human immunodeficiency virus infection is of primary importance in comparing disease outcome for different populations.