Ovarian Damage During Chemotherapy in Autoimmune Diseases: Broad Health Implications beyond Fertility

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94402/1/Marder_2012_Ovarian_damage_chemotherapy_autoimmune.pdf165

MRI and 2D-CSI MR spectroscopy of the brain in the evaluation of patients with acute onset of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus

MRI and 2D-CSI spectroscopy were performed in eight patients with systemic lupus erythematosus who presented with acute onset of neuropsychiatric lupus (NP-SLE), and in seven normal controls to evaluate for differences in metabolic peaks and metabolic ratios between the two groups. Also, the interval change of the metabolic peaks and their ratios during treatment in the NP-SLE patient group was evaluated. Metabolic peaks for N -acetyl-aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatine (Cr), and lactate/lipids (LL) and their ratios (NAA/Cr, NAA/Cho, Cho/Cr, LL/Cr) were determined at initial presentation and 3 and 6 months later. In the eight lupus patients compared to the seven normal controls, NAA/Cho ratios were lower at presentation (1.05 vs 1.25; p  = 0.004) and decreased even further at the three month follow-up (0.92 vs 1.05; p  = 0.008). In contrast, both Cho/Cr (1.42 vs 1.26; p  = 0.026) and LL/Cr ratios (0.26 vs 0.19; p  = 0.002) were higher in the lupus patients at presentation compared to the controls and did not significantly change at three and six months follow-up. The NAA/Cr ratios were lower in the lupus patients compared to the controls at presentation but the difference was not statistically significant. However, the mean NAA/Cr significantly decreased from the initial examination to the three month follow-up (1.42 vs 1.32; p  = 0.049) but did not significantly change from the three to the six month follow-up examinations. The NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr, and NAA/Cho ratios varied significantly ( p  < 0.05, p  < 0.05, p  < 0.05, respectively) between the 17 different locations measured in the brain in all eight patients and seven controls. Both the NAA/Cr ratios and the Cho/Cr ratios were also significantly lower in the gray matter than in the white matter ( p  < 0.0001) in both patients and controls, whereas the LL/Cr and NAA/Cho ratios were not significantly different. In conclusion, 2D-CSI MR spectroscopy may be useful in the early detection of metabolic CNS changes in NP-SLE patients with acute onset of new neurological symptoms as well as in the follow-up after treatment to assess presence and changes in metabolic brain injury. However, although there are detectable differences between normal individuals and lupus patients it is currently unclear whether these relate to the acute episode. Future studies are needed comparing NP-SLE patients with active CNS involvement with those inactive disease.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46668/1/234_2005_Article_1371.pd

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types

Temporal dynamics of the shrub and herbaceous layer of an area of moist grassland in Alto Paraíso de Goiás, Brazil

Este trabalho avaliou a dinâmica estrutural e fl orística de uma comunidade de espécies herbáceo-arbustivas de uma área de campo limpo úmido em Alto Paraíso de Goiás, o primeiro inventário realizado em 2000 (T0) e o segundo em 2007 (T1). A diversidade de Shannon entre os períodos foi comparada pelo teste-t de Hutcheson e a similaridade fl orística, pelo índice de similaridade de Chao-Sørensen. As relações fl orísticas e a cobertura, entre os períodos e as linhas, foram avaliadas por meio de análises de correspondência retifi cada (DCA). Foram amostradas 98 espécies, 88 no T0 e 67 no T1, sendo 31 exclusivas do T0 e 10 do T1. A diversidade fl orística na comunidade foi elevada nos dois períodos, porém diferente entre esses (t = 7,12; p < 0,001), devido a variação no número e cobertura das espécies. A similaridade entre os dois inventários foi alta (Chao-Sørensen ± IC = 0,841 ± 0,074). A ordenação por DCA indicou relações entre a composição fl orística e a cobertura com o gradiente de umidade e de matéria orgânica no solo identifi cados em T0. Houve modifi cações nas linhas em zonas sazonais, as quais se tornaram mais semelhantes às linhas constantemente saturadas por água. Em um intervalo de sete anos o campo limpo úmido apresentou mudanças na composição fl orística e, principalmente na estrutura devido o aumento da cobertura de espécies perenes, cespitosas e entouceiradas, que foram favorecidas pela maior umidade no solo em resposta à elevação da pluviosidade da região. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTTh is study evaluated the fl oristic and structural dynamics of a community of herbaceous-shrub species in an area of moist grassland in Alto Paraíso de Goiás. Th e fi rst inventory was undertaken in 2000 (T0) and the second in 2007 (T1). Shannon’s diversity between the periods was compared by Hutchesons´s t-test, and the fl oristic similarity by the Chao-Sørensen similarity index. Floristic composition and cover, between periods and lines, were evaluated by detrended correspondence analysis (DCA). We sampled 98 species, 88 at T0 and 67 at T1; 31 were unique to T0 and 10 to T1. Floristic diversity in the community was high in both periods, but diff erent between them (t = 7.12, p <0.001), due to variation in species number and coverage. Similarity between the two surveys was high (Chao-Sørensen CI = ± 0.841 ± 0.074). Th e DCA ordination indicated relationships between the fl oristic composition and cover with a gradient of moisture and organic matter in the soil identifi ed in T0. Th ere were changes in the lines in the seasonal zones, which became more similar in those constantly saturated with water. During an interval of seven years the moist grassland showed changes in fl oristic composition and mainly in structure due to increased cover of the clumped tussock perennial species, which were favored by higher soil moisture due to high rainfall in the region