ß-eye: A benchtop system for in vivo molecular screening of labeled compounds.

Preclinical nuclear molecular imaging speeds up the mean time from synthesis to market, in drug development process. Commercial imaging systems have in general high cost, require high-cost service contracts, special facilities and trained staff. In the current work, we present ß-eye, a benchtop system for in vivo molecular screening of labeled compounds with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) isotopes. The developed system is based on a dual-head geometry, offering simplicity and decreased cost. The goal of the design is to provide 2D, real-time radionuclide images of mice, allowing the recording of fast frames and thus perform fast kinetic studies, with spatial resolution of ∼2 mm. Performance evaluation demonstrates the ability of ß-eye to provide quantitative results for injected activities lower than 1.5 MBq, which is adequate for pharmacodynamic studies in small mice.

Children's views on aging: their attitudes and values.

Children's perceptions and attitudes about aging and older adults are investigated using a version of Children's Views on Aging (CVoA), a four-part validated instrument designed to assess school-age children's views on older adults and aging. The instrument has been adapted to enable children to make value judgements about their responses to questions on the CVoA. The study reports children's perceptions and attitudes about aging are not as negative as adults conclude. Children are positively affected by interactions with older adults, they describe physical signs of aging without judgement, and respond negatively to some of the unpleasant conditions associated with aging.