The present invention provides a renal imaging agent comprising a nitroimidazole-type compound or a salt thereof. The renal imaging agent according to the present invention can be used in positron emission tomography.

Effective treatments of pain that accompanies post-operative surgeries are provided. Through the administration of an effective amount of a combination of bupivacaine and clonidine at or near a target site, one can alleviate or prevent pain. This administration of bupivacaine and clonidine or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof is particularly useful following surgery.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) targeting compounds are described. Uses of the compounds for imaging, therapy, cell sorting, and tumor mapping are also described.

A ceramic or polycrystalline scintillator composition is represented by the formula (Lu.sub.yGd.sub.3-y)(Ga.sub.xAl.sub.5-x)O.sub.12:Ce; wherein y=1±0.5; wherein x=3±0.25; and wherein Ce is in the range 0.01 mol % to 0.7 mol %. The scintillator composition finds application in the sensitive detection of ionizing radiation and may for example be used in the detection of gamma photons in the field of PET imaging.

A ceramic or polycrystalline scintillator composition is represented by the formula (Lu.sub.yGd.sub.3-y)(Ga.sub.xAl.sub.5-x)O.sub.12:Ce; wherein y=1±0.5; wherein x=3±0.25; and wherein Ce is in the range 0.01 mol % to 0.7 mol %. The scintillator composition finds application in the sensitive detection of ionizing radiation and may for example be used in the detection of gamma photons in the field of PET imaging.

The present invention relates to novel somatostatin analogs, dimers thereof, and methods of using the same to treat various diseases. Naturally occurring somatostatins (SSTs), which are also known as somatotropin release-inhibiting factors (SRIFs), have diverse biological effects in many cells and organs 10 throughout the body. They are produced by normal endocrine, gastrointestinal, immune and neuronal cells, as well as by certain tumors (Patel, Y. C, Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 20(3): 157-198 (1999); Froidevaux, et al., Biopolymers, 66(3): 161-83 (2002)).

The present invention relates to a mutant microbial host cell which has been modified, preferably in its genome, to result in a deficiency in the production of a polypeptide having α-amylase activity AmyC or an homologous thereof. It has been surprisingly found that when the mutant microbial host cell according to the invention is used in a method to produce a compound of interest, for example an enzyme, an improved purity of the product is obtained.

Readily available hydrophilic and small organofluorine moieties were condensed via “click chemistry” to generate nonionic hydrophilic fluorinated molecules with unique .sup.19F MR signatures. These were used to fabricate stable liposome formulations for imaging various tissue types. This approach was tailored to exploit the broad spectrum of organic .sup.19F molecular species and to generate probes with distinct .sup.19F MRI signatures for simultaneous assessment of multiple molecular targets within the same target volume.

A method for removing or controlling or quantifying the presence of aldehydes, in particular acetaldehyde, is described. Such a method is useful in prolonging the shelf life of a pharmaceutical product.

Methods and composition for cell-based therapy as well as somatostatin receptor-based therapy are described. For example, in certain aspects methods for administering an anti-tumor therapy using a signaling defective somatostatin receptor mutant are described. Furthermore, the invention provides compositions and methods involve a somatostatin constitutively active somatostatin receptor mutant.