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Anjing merupakan hewan peliharaan yang kurang populer di Indonesia, banyak anjing di Indonesia yang ditelantarkan dan membutuhkan pertolongan. Banyak pula pemilik anjing yang kekurangan informasi akan penyakit-penyakit anjing, padahal banyak penyakit yang jika tidak segera ditolong oleh pihak medis, bisa menimbulkan komplikasi penyakit, atau bahkan jika sangat terlambat menimbulkan kematian. Minimnya sumber informasi yang akurat mengenai anjing peliharaan membuat banyak orang bergabung dengan komunitas pemilik anjing, tentu saja disitu terdapat beberapa miss informasi dan informasi yang tidak akurat. Berdasarkan penelitian dari luar maupun dalam negeri, jenis kasus penyakit anjing yang masuk rumah sakit hewan adalah masalah pencernaan. Sekitar 35% dari data anjing yang dirawat di rumah sakit hewan mengidap penyakit pencernaan. Dengan adanya penelitian ini diharapkan orang orang yang mencari informasi mengenai anjing dapat terbantu dan sehingga anjing yang sakit dapat segera mendapat pertolongan pertama.

Background Expression of translocator protein (TSPO) on the outer mitochondrial membrane of activated microglia is strongly associated with neuroinflammation. The second-generation PET ligand [18F]FEPPA specifically binds TSPO to enable in vivo visualization and quantification of neuroinflammation. We optimized a fully automated radiosynthesis method and evaluated the utility of [18F]FEPPA, the second-generation PET ligand specifically binds TSPO, in a mouse model of systemic LPS challenge to detect TSPO-associated signals of central and peripheral inflammation. In vivo dynamic PET/MR imaging was performed in LPS-induced and control mice after [18F]FEPPA administration. The relationship between the [18F]FEPPA signal and the dose of LPS was assessed. The cytokine levels (i.e., TNF-α, Il-1β, Il-6) in LPS-induced mice were measured by RT-PCR. Standard uptake value (SUV), total volume of distribution (VT) and area under the curve (AUC) were determined based on the metabolite-uncorrected plasma input function. Western blotting and immunostaining were used to measure TSPO expression in the brain. Results The fully automated [18F]FEPPA radiosynthesis produced an uncorrected radiochemical yield of 30 ± 2% within 80 min, with a radiochemical purity greater than 99% and specific activity of 148.9‒216.8 GBq/µmol. Significant differences were observed in the brain after [18F]FEPPA administration: SUV, VT and AUC were 1.61 ± 0.1, 1.25 ± 0.12 and 1.58 ± 0.09-fold higher in LPS-injected mice than controls. TNF-α, Il-1β and Il-6 mRNA levels were also elevated in the brains of LPS-injected mice. Western blotting revealed TSPO (p p 18F]FEPPA signal-to-noise ratios than control mice. Conclusions Based on the current data on ligand specificity and selectivity in central tissues using 7 T PET/MR imaging, we demonstrate that [18F]FEPPA accumulations significant increased in the specific brain regions of systemic LPS-induced neuroinflammation (5 mg/kg). Future investigations are needed to determine the sensitivity of [18F]FEPPA as a biomarker of neuroinflammation as well as the correlation between the PET signal intensity and the expression levels of TSPO.

Peting is an age-old habit of keeping either domestic or wild animals as man’s companion. In Makurdi metropolis, residents also keep pets. This study was conducted with the objectives of assessing the Domestic and Wild Animal pets owned by residents of Makurdi Metropolis. Questionnaire was used and structured into 2 sections namely, socio- demographic characteristics of residents and ownership of domestic and wild animals pets. Simple and systematic random samplings were used to select sample locations in which a total of 250 questionnaires were administered; Descriptive statistics, Students t-test and chi-square analysis were used to analyzed data. Result showed that, out of the 250 respondents; 144 were male respondents while 106 were female respondents. Residents of Makurdi Metropolis owned both domestic and wild animal’s pets. The commonest domestic animal pet was the Dog. While the commonest wild animal pet was the Red Patas Monkey (Erythrocebus patas). It was therefore recommended that more Enlightenment campaigns on the danger of zoonotic diseases transmission associated with pets and their preventive measures should be given to residents of Makurdi metropolis to forestall future public health hazards.

// Xiao Bao 1, 2, 3, 4, * , Zhongyi Yang 1, 2, 3, 4, * , Siyang Wang 1, 2, 3, 4 , Yujia Zheng 1, 2, 3, 4 , Mingwei Wang 1, 2, 3, 4 , Bingxin Gu 1, 2, 3, 4 , Jianping Zhang 1, 2, 3, 4 , Yongping Zhang 1, 2, 3, 4 , Yingjian Zhang 1, 2, 3, 4 1 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai 200032, China 2 Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China 3 Center for Biomedical Imaging, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China 4 Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Molecular Imaging Probes, Shanghai 200032, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Yingjian Zhang, e-mail: yjzhang111@aliyun.com Keywords: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, nude mouse, 18 F-ML-10, animal-PET/CT, irradiation sensitivity Received: June 19, 2015 Accepted: February 16, 2016 Published: March 03, 2016 ABSTRACT Previous studies have reported that the radiosensitivity is associated with apoptosis. Hereby, we aimed to investigate the value of 18 F-ML-10 PET/CT, which selectively targeted cells undergoing apoptosis, in predicting radiosensitivity of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) xenografts. We used CNE1 (highly differentiated) and CNE2 (poorly differentiated) NPC cell lines to construct tumor models, which had very different radiosensitivities. After irradiation, the volumes of CNE2 tumors decreased significantly while those of CNE1 tumors increased. In 18 F-ML-10 imaging, the values of tumor/muscle (T/M) between CNE1 and CNE2 mice were statistically different at both 24 h and 48 h after irradiation. Besides, ΔT/M 1-0 and ΔT/M 2-0 of CNE2 mice were higher than those of CNE1 mice, demonstrating obvious discrepancy. Furthermore, we observed obvious changes of radioactive distribution in CNE2 group. On the contrary, T/M of 18 F-FDG in irradiation group revealed no obvious change in both CNE1 and CNE2 groups. In conclusion, 18 F-ML-10 animal PET/CT showed its potential to predict radiosensitivity in NPC.

To design, build, and evaluate an animal PET scanner, which can be used with non-human primates under conscious condition, incorporating flat-panel position-sensitive photomultiplier tubes (PS-PMTs).The system contains 30 detector modules, each having two PS-PMTs and 16×18 lutetium–yttrium oxyortho-silicate scintillation crystal arrays. The system has 17,280 crystals (480 per ring) arranged in 36 rings, with a diameter of 508 mm and axial extent of 108 mm. The gantry tilt mechanism enables PET studies to be performed on a monkey in the sitting position. Data can be acquired in either the 2D or 3D mode, with the slice collimators being retracted in the 3D mode.At the center of the field-of-view, radial resolution is 2.7 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) and tangential resolution is 2.4 mm FWHM, while axial resolution is 2.5 mm FWHM for direct slices and 2.7 mm FWHM for cross slices. Scatter fraction, count rate capability, and sensitivity were evaluated using a cylindrical phantom 10 cm in diameter. The noise equivalent count rate in the 3D mode is equivalent to that in the 2D mode at a three times higher radioactivity level. Total system sensitivity is 1.3 kcps/(kBq/mL) in 2D mode and 7.4 kcps/(kBq/mL) in the 3D mode. Animal studies with a monkey were performed to evaluate the imaging capabilities of the scanner.The new PET scanner will be a useful research tool with non-human primates for pre-clinical drug development.

Spatial resolution is one of the most important performance in PET system. Higher spatial resolution can give more information about the region of interest in animal PET imaging. In this work, we implement a high resolution (approximate 0.7 mm) all digital animal PET system using improved Trans-PET detectors. The improved detector module uses 24×24 crystal array for higher intrinsic spatial resolution and each elements is 1.0×1.0×13.0mm3. The detector has an overall energy resolution of 13.8% FWHM @ 511keV. In addition, our preliminary imaging study shows that the all digital animal PET system can resolve 0.7 mm diameter rods separated by 1.4 mm.

In order to decrease human stress, Animal Assisted Therapy which applies pets to heal humans is attracted. However, since animals are insanitary and unsafe, it is difficult to practically apply animal pets in hospitals. For the reason, on behalf of animal pets, pet robots have been attracted. Since pet robots would have no problems in sanitation and safety, they are able to be applied as a substitute for animal pets in the therapy. In our previous study where pet robots distinguish their owners like an animal pet, we used a puppet type pet robot which has pressure type touch sensors. However, the accuracy of our method was not sufficient to practical use. In this paper, we propose a method to improve the accuracy of the distinction. The proposed method can be applied for capacitive touch sensors such as installed in AIBO in addition to pressure type touch sensors. Besides, this paper shows performance of the proposed method from experimental results and confirms the proposed method has improved performance of the distinction in the conventional method.

The performance of a novel type of animal PET camera, the quad High-Density Avalanche Chamber (HIDAC) was assessed for a non-rotating 16-module system. Spatial resolution was 1.0 mm, and invariant within a standard deviation ⩽5%. Absolute sensitivity was 0.95%, and the scatter-background corrected sensitivity was 0.75%. The count rate capability was linear at typical activities used in animal imaging, with a 20% loss at 11.5 MBq. The camera demonstrates small regions of radiotracer uptake with excellent detail in the mouse.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop ECG and respiratory gating in combination with listmode acquisition for the quadHIDAC small-animal PET scanner. Methods: ECG and respiratory gating was realized with the help of an external trigger device (BioVET) synchronized with the listmode acquisition. Listmode data of a mouse acquisition (injected with 6.5 MBq of 18 F-FDG) were sorted according to three different gating definitions: 12 cardiac gates, 8 respiratory gates and a combination of 8 cardiac and 8 respiratory gates. Images were reconstructed with filtered back-projection (ramp filter), and parameters like left ventricular wall thickness (WT), wall-to-wall separation (WS) and blood to myocardium activity ratios (BMR) were calculated. Results: Cardiac gated images show improvement of all parameters (WT 2.6 mm, WS 4.1 mm, BRM 2.3) in diastole compared to ungated images (WT 3.0 mm, WS 3.4 mm, BMR 1.3). Respiratory gating had little effect on calculated parameters. Conclusion: ECG gating with the quadHIDAC can improve myocardial image quality in mice. This could have a major impact on the calculation of an image-derived input function for kinetic modelling.

▪ Abstract Biological research has been accelerated by the development of noninvasive imaging techniques and by use of genetically engineered mice to model human diseases and normal development. Because these mice can be expensive, noninvasive imaging techniques, such as high-resolution positron emission tomography (PET), that permit longitudinal studies of the same animals are very attractive. Such studies reduce the number of animals used, reduce intersubject variability, and improve the accuracy of biological models. PET provides quantitative measurements of the spatiotemporal distribution of radiotracers and is an extremely powerful tool in using molecular imaging to study biology, to monitor disease intervention, and to establish pharmacokinetics for new drugs. The design of animal PET scanners has improved significantly in the past decade and can provide adequate image resolution and sensitivity to study transgenic mice. This article reviews the fundamental and technical challenges of small-animal PET imaging, with a particular focus on the latest developments and future directions of detector technologies and system design.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is the most selective and sensitive method for measuring molecular pathways and interactions in vivo. Within the area of drug development, PET can be used in several ways. The drug itself can be labelled with a positron emitter. This enables direct PET measurements of tissue drug concentrations, allowing for an assessment as to whether these concentrations are high enough for therapeutic purposes. A second application is the measurement of perfusion or metabolism during or following treatment. The best known example is the measurement of tumour metabolism as a marker of response to chemotherapy. Finally, mechanisms of action can be measured directly. In particular, receptor occupancy or enzyme inhibition can be measured using established radioligands for the molecular targets under investigation. Occupancy can be measured as a function of both administered dose and time after drug administration, allowing for optimal dose and dosing regimens to be determined based on only a small number of subjects. PET studies in experimental animals open up further possibilities. By using appropriate models of disease, effects due to progression of disease and those due to acute or chronic therapy can be studied separately even in the same animal.

Exotic-animal pet owners are a growing demographic group among individuals seeking veterinary care, yet very little information is known about their specific demographics, personal characteristics, and expenditure tendencies. A voluntary, in-clinic survey was performed to gather preliminary data in these areas on owners at an exclusively exotic-animal hospital in Utah. Of the 115 owners completing the survey, 39.8% brought in psittacine birds, 22.1% ferrets, and 38.1% other exotics. The demographic profile for the survey population was 33.6 years old, predominately female, well educated, and financially middle class. Most exotic pets were brought to veterinary hospitals because of a perceived illness by the owner. Most owners were interested in receiving future services, with bird owners most interested in diagnostic tests; small-mammal owners in receiving physical examinations, dental procedures, and vaccinations; and reptile owners in having pets sexed and receiving husbandry/diet information. In general, the owners were low self-monitors, indicating greater likelihood of attitude-behavior consistency. Although interpersonal orientation values were more variable, the higher the interpersonal orientation score, the closer the owner felt to the pet, especially among small-mammal owners. Owners with a greater perceived bond with their pet were interested in receiving a greater number of services in the future than those not as close. Owner perception of what they would spend and what they did spend were very similar, about $81 US per visit.

Using longitudinal micro positron emission tomography (microPET)/computed tomography (CT) studies, we quantified changes in myocardial metabolism and perfusion in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), a model of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Fatty acid and glucose metabolism were quantified in the hearts of SHRs and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) normotensive rats using long-chain fatty acid analog 18 F-fluoro-6-thia heptadecanoic acid ( 18 F-FTHA) and glucose analog 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) under normal or fasting conditions. We also used 18 F-fluorodihydrorotenol ( 18 F-FDHROL) to investigate perfusion in their hearts without fasting. Rats were imaged at 4 or 5 times over their life cycle. Compartment modeling was used to estimate the rate constants for the radiotracers. Blood samples were obtained and analyzed for glucose and free fatty acid concentrations. SHRs demonstrated no significant difference in 18 F-FDHROL wash-in rate constant ( P = .1) and distribution volume ( P = .1), significantly higher 18 F-FDG myocardial influx rate constant ( P = 4×10 −8 ), and significantly lower 18 F-FTHA myocardial influx rate constant ( P = .007) than WKYs during the 2009-2010 study without fasting. SHRs demonstrated a significantly higher 18 F-FDHROL wash-in rate constant ( P = 5×10 −6 ) and distribution volume ( P = 3×10 −8 ), significantly higher 18 F-FDG myocardial influx rate constant ( P = 3×10 −8 ), and a higher trend of 18 F-FTHA myocardial influx rate constant (not significant, P = .1) than WKYs during the 2011–2012 study with fasting. Changes in glucose plasma concentrations were generally negatively correlated with corresponding radiotracer influx rate constant changes. The study indicates a switch from preferred fatty acid metabolism to increased glucose metabolism with hypertrophy. Increased perfusion during the 2011-2012 study may be indicative of increased aerobic metabolism in the SHR model of LVH.

To evaluate the effect of entorhinal cortical lesion on cerebral cortical function, we studied cerebral glucose utilization (CMRGlc) using a high resolution PET scanner after quinolinic acid lesion of the unilateral entorhinal cortex in rats. [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose PET was performed at 4 days and 4 weeks after surgery, and CMRGlc in the bilateral frontal, parietal and temporal regions were analyzed. At 4 days, the entorhinal lesion induced a 12-15% decrease in CMRGlc of frontal, parietal and temporal regions ipsilateral to the lesion. The hypometabolism continued at 4 weeks in the temporal region. These findings suggest that entorhinal lesion induces cerebral cortical hypometabolism, which implies a pathogenetic role of entorhinal area on the cortical hypometabolism in Alzheimer's disease.

This work aimed to develop and evaluate the CT imaging performance in Nucmed Inliview 3000 animal PET/SPECT/CT system.

Nanoparticles are at the leading edge of the rapidly developing field of material science in nanotechnology, with many potential applications in clinical medicine and research. Due to their unique size-dependent properties, nanoparticles offer the possibility to develop both new therapeutic and diagnostic tools. The ability to incorporate drugs into nanosystems constitutes a new paradigm in pharmacotherapy that could be used for cell-targeted drug delivery. In addition to these therapeutic options, nanoparticle-based imaging creates a field, in which this new technology has set the stage for an evolutionary leap in diagnostic imaging. Based on the recent progress in nanobiotechnology, nanoparticles have the potential to become useful tools as therapeutic and diagnostic tools in the near future.

Recently, we reported an animal semiconductor PET with the spatial resolution of 0.8 mm FWHM within the central 20 mm-diameter of FOV for the purpose of biomedical study using rats and mice. This ultra high spatial resolution was obtained by the use of small CdTe elements of 1.1mm x 1.0 mm x 5 mm. The FOV of this PET is 64 mm in diameter and 26 mm in axis. We applied to observe small tumors in mouse and succeeded to 1 Q obtain [ F]FDG images of mouse mammary carcinoma of ~1mm size.

The aim of this study was to establish the procedures for 3D voxel-based statistical analysis of 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) images of a cat's brain obtained using a small animal-dedicated PET system and to assess the utility of this approach in investigating the cerebral glucose metabolism in an animal model of cortical deafness.This study compared several different strategies for the spatial processing of PET data acquired twice from eight cats before and after inducing deafness in terms of the comparability of the statistical analysis results to the established pattern of the cerebral glucose metabolic changes in the deaf animals.The accuracy of the spatial preprocessing procedures and the statistical significance of the comparison were improved by removing the background activities outside the brain regions. The use of the spatial normalization parameters obtained from the mean image of the realigned data set for individual data also helped improve the statistical significance of the paired t testing. It was also found that an adjustment of the registration options was also important for increasing the precision of the realignment.A method for voxel-based analysis of the PET data of a cat's brain was optimized. The results demonstrated the high localization accuracy and specificity of this method, which is expected to be useful for examining the brain PET data of medium-sized animals such as cats.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a lethal disease afflicting many thousands of patients worldwide. We have previously developed an oral thioacetamide (TAA)-induced model of rat CCA that recapitulates the histologic progression of human CCA. Our objective was to evaluate the feasibility of animal PET in detecting CCA in the setting of the TAA rat model. Male Sprague–Dawley rats (n = 30) were used in this study. Drinking water with TAA 300 mg/l was administered orally in 26 rats, and animal PET was performed at 20 weeks after initiation of TAA. A total of four rats served as controls. Animal PET images were acquired sequentially using both C-11 acetate and 2-deoxy-2-[F-18]fluoro-d-glucose (FDG) to determine the optimal tracer. Dynamic animal PET images were collected to assess the optimal scan time based on the highest tumor-to-liver (T/L) ratio using time–activity curves. Animal PET findings were compared lesion by lesion with the results of autoradiography and the histological data. FDG animal PET images had a higher T/L ratio compared to images obtained with C-11 acetate as a marker. The optimal scan time for FDG animal PET was determined as 90 min postinjection of the tracer. This was when the T/L ratio reached its peak. Necropsy and histology confirmed the presence of TAA-induced CCA in 22 rats (84.6 %). Static animal PET images showed intense FDG uptake in 17 of the 22 tumor-bearing animals (77.3%). The average T/L ratio was 1.60 ± 0.09. The sensitivity and specificity of animal PET in the detection of CCA were 77% (17/22) and 100% (4/4), respectively. We conclude that animal PET in the setting of the TAA rat model seems to be feasible for the detection of CCA. Future translational studies are needed to confirm and expand our findings.

Background Recently, the affective relationship between humans and animals has shown a potentially beneficial effects in clinical domains. However, the claim of different studies of the benefits of animal-assisted activities (AAA) is still lacking evidence base data. Objectives To gain insights into the effectiveness of AAA, physiotherapy and psychological support in SSc. Methods 12 SSc female patients (mean age of 60.52±8.3) were treated once a week by a team made of a dog-handler a rheumatologist and a psychologist. They underwent 10 dog-assisted interventions. At onset and after 3 months, the questionnaires and self reports were completed: pain evaluation (VAS 0-100), emotional and affective evaluation (Happy Face-Sad Face Scale), state anxiety (STAI), and a specific designed self report on the liking and satisfaction of the AAA interventions (AAA-Q). Results Significant improvements were reported for pain perception, mood, and other measures of distress among patients after AAA. Pain decreased significantly (p 76±7.5 vs 62±4.3) significantly different before and after AAA (p Conclusions This is the first study measuring the efficacy of AAA (with dogs) on the physiological, emotional, social well-being and pain perception in SSc. The study provides the evidence for pain control with enhancement of the psychosocial well-being. AAA integrated with the traditional medical approach may provide a good support for SSc patients. Disclosure of Interest None declared

Imaging technologies have experienced rapid progress and are currently used widely both in medical diagnostics and in research. Imaging beyond X-ray and standard MRI became established in recent years. The extended set of imaging methodologies available allows methods to be selected according to the actual needs or even the combination of different imaging principles to obtain further improved read-outs. The symposium consisted of four overview lectures. Three speakers from academia and one speaker from industry described different techniques, recent developments and future needs from various perspectives in the lectures entitled: Non-Invasive Imaging in Biomedical Research: Annotating Structure with Molecular Information; Molecular Imaging with PET Tracers and Animal PET Scanners; Nuclear (PET- and SPECT-) Imaging Agents from Research to Approval (Perspectives from a Pharma Company Working on in vivo Diagnostics); Cognitive Neuroscience and Brain Imaging.

Mobile practice is an exciting, interesting, and profitable means to deliver high-quality veterinary care to exotic animal-owning clients. The advantages and disadvantages should be considered carefully when considering this type of practice.

Radioactive isotopes are uniquely applicable to observe reactions or circuits of reactions at the molecular level without disturbing the system being studied. The advent of molecular imaging modalities, particularly positron emission tomography (PET), is a major breakthrough for the visualisation and quantitative assessment of cellular and molecular processes occurring in living tissues. The recent development of animal PET scanners that offers 2-mm resolution and is tailored to laboratory rodent models, has made a further great impact on in vivo biochemistry. With these live-imaging modalities at hand, radiotracer-based technologies allow to look directly at biochemical distribution and interaction processes. Tremendous progress made in radiotracer chemistry, primarily in carbon-11 and fluorine-18 radiochemistry, and in the design of imaging devices strengthens the usefulness of radiotracers in nuclear medicine and drug research and development and opens exciting opportunities for new applications, e.g., in food science.

In vivo studies on animals are required for the development of new drugs and radioactive tracers, the monitoring of gene therapy and the development of new medical treatments. Two high resolution positron emission tomographs (PET) were compared in the scope of this work with regard to their suitability for high resolution animal PET scans. The ECAT HRRT is a dedicated whole human brain scanner with a resolution of less than 2.5 mm in the center of the field of view (FOV). With its extended FOV the HRRT is also suitable for animal scans with more than one animal simultaneously. The microPET/spl reg/ R4 is a dedicated animal PET scanner, designed for studies of rodents.

Among the several imaging technologies applied to in vivo studies of research animals, positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear imaging technique that permits the spatial and temporal distribution of compounds labeled with a positron-emitting radionuclide to be determined noninvasively. It can be viewed as an in vivo analog of classic autoradiographic methods. Many different positron-labeled compounds have been synthesized as tracers that target a range of specific markers or pathways. These tracers permit the measurement of quantities of biological interest ranging from glucose metabolism to gene expression. PET has been extensively used in imaging studies of larger research animals such as dogs and nonhuman primates. Now, using newly developed high-resolution dedicated animal PET scanners, these types of studies can be performed in small laboratory animals such as mice and rats. The entire whole-body biodistribution kinetics can be determined in a single imaging study in a single animal. This technique should enable statistically significant biodistribution data to be obtained from a handful of animals, compared with the tens or hundreds of animals that might be required for a similar study by autoradiography. PET also enables repeat studies in a single subject, facilitating longitudinal study designs and permitting each animal to serve as its own control in experiments designed to evaluate the effects of a particular interventional strategy. This paper provides a basic overview of the methodology of PET imaging, a discussion of the advantages and drawbacks of PET as a tool in animal research, a description of the latest generation of dedicated animal PET scanners, and a review of a few of the many applications of PET in animal research to date.

Background Fluorine-18 fluoroethoxybenzovesamicol ([18F]FEOBV) is a radioligand for the selective imaging of the vesicular acetylcholine transporter with positron emission tomography (PET). The current study demonstrates that pathological cortical cholinergic deafferentation can be quantified in vivo with [18F]FEOBV PET, yielding analogous results to postmortem histological techniques. Methods Fifteen male rats (3 months old) underwent a cerebral infusion of 192 IgG-saporin at the level of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis. They were scanned using [18F]FEOBV PET, then sacrificed, and their brain tissues collected for immunostaining and quantification of cholinergic denervation using optical density (OD). Results For both PET binding and postmortem OD, the highest losses were found in the cortical areas, with the highest reductions in the orbitofrontal, sensorimotor, and cingulate cortices. In addition, OD quantification in the affected areas accurately predicts [18F]FEOBV uptake in the same regions when regressed linearly. Conclusions These findings support [18F]FEOBV as a reliable imaging agent for eventual use in human neurodegenerative conditions in which cholinergic losses are an important aspect.

Purpose: To utilize serial PETimaging it is important to minimize the effect of repositioning errors and anatomical changes. Compensating for these errors requires an objective and reliable method of deformable image registration. Here we report on the methodology used to deformably co‐register serial PETimages using CTanatomy and compare intratumoral distributions of FDG and FLT as imaged in the same animal with PET/CT on two consecutive days. Methods: Nude mice bearing FaDu (human H&N) tumor xenografts were imaged with 18F‐FDG and 18F‐FLT on two consecutive days using a dedicated small animal PET/CT scanner (Siemens Inveon). Both data sets were reconstructed and loaded into Pinnacle 9.1. Despite careful repositioning of the animal using an animal‐specific pad with recorded landmarks, misalignment of FDG and FLT PETimages hindered direct voxel‐by‐voxel analysis. To perform an objective co‐registration of the PETimages, we relied on associated CTimages. Animal bodies and tumors were contoured on both CT scans. A mesh was generated from the contours for visualization purposes. The CTimages were deformably registered with a demons algorithm, and the resulting displacement vector field was applied to the FLT image, allowing for voxel‐by‐voxel analysis of co‐registered FLT and FDG PETimages in Matlab. Results: Based off of visual inspection, the deformable image registration tools available in Pinnacle are adequate for co‐registration of the animal PET/CT images despite the deformations caused by repositioning. Voxel‐by‐voxel analysis of co‐registered FLT and FDG PET/CT images produced correlation coefficients ranging from .45 to .55, p

Summary and Conclusions 1. The third instance of a generalized infection in a dog by Histoplasma capsulatum is reported. 2. Material was not available for the cultivation or passage to other animals, but the morphologic characteristics and the reactions of the host are identical with previously described cases of this disease. 3. The importance of the occurrence of the disease in an animal pet in an area in which a number of human cases have been reported is stressed. 4. The possibility of the various methods of transmission from dog to man as postulated by De Monbreun is discussed. 5. The majority of evidence suggests either the respiratory or the gastro-intestinal tracts as the portal of entry.

To the Editor. —Clinical allergy's most distressing problem is its inability to validate solid clinical observations with any degree of scientific validity. This relates to the editorial by Schwartz 1 in the August Archives. Dr Schwartz refers to skin tests as "validating" clinical observations. Skin tests are never quantitative and experience indicates that they are only corroborative. When the skin test result disagrees with clinical facts it should be disregarded. A patient who is clearly clinically sensitive whether to hymenoptera, to an animal pet, to pollen, or any other allergens may have a negative skin test just as a positive skin test may be seen in the absence of clinical evidence. It would be impossible to practice effectively without accepting such a dictum. Believe the patient, not the skin test, should be axiomatic unless the test is corroborative. I would not question the effectiveness of venom in testing and