Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Osteossarcoma: experiência do Serviço de Oncologia Pediátrica da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo

OBJETIVOS: Descrever as características clínico-laboratoriais das crianças e adolescentes com osteossarcoma acompanhadas no Serviço de Oncologia Pediátrica da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo e determinar as taxas de sobrevida livre de evento e sobrevida global, correlacionando-as com os principais fatores prognósticos. MÉTODOS: Estudo retrospectivo realizado no Serviço de Oncologia Pediátrica da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo compreendendo o período entre abril de 1991 e setembro de 2002. Nesse período foram diagnosticados 60 casos de osteossarcoma. Observaram-se predomínio do sexo masculino (61,7%), raça não-branca (65%) e idade superior a 10 anos (70%); história de trauma prévio em 53,3%, relato de dor em 95% e aumento de volume em 80% dos casos. O joelho foi a região mais comprometida (74,9%). Em 70,7% dos casos o tumor apresentava tamanho inferior a 1/3 do comprimento do osso afetado, em 25% o nível sérico de desidrogenase láctica era igual ou maior que 500U/L e em 48,3% o nível de fosfatase alcalina era igual ou maior que 1.000U/L, 25% dos pacientes apresentavam metástase pulmonar visível ao diagnóstico e 53,3% pertenciam ao subtipo osteoblástico. O tratamento quimioterápico pré e pós-operatório foi realizado em 78,3% dos pacientes, 64% foram submetidos a procedimento cirúrgico conservador, 68,1% apresentaram necrose tumoral graus I e II e houve recidiva em 60% dos casos. RESULTADOS: Com seguimento de 48 meses observaram-se sobrevida livre de doença em 28,6% dos pacientes e sobrevida global de 38,4%. CONCLUSÕES: Os autores concluem que o diagnóstico precoce é fundamental, assim como novos estudos são necessários para aprimorar o manuseio e o tratamento desses pacientes e melhorar a sobrevida

Comparative study of smokers, ex-smokers, and nonsmokers who have experienced myocardial infarction

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of smoking on in-hospital morbidity and mortality in patients who have experienced acute myocardial infarction and to assess the association between smoking and other cardiovascular risk factors and clinical data. METHODS: A prospective cohort study analyzed 121 patients, including 54 smokers, 35 ex-smokers, and 32 nonsmokers. RESULTS: Using the chi-square test (P<0.05), an association between smoking and the risk factors sex, age, and diabetes was documented. Among the morbidity and mortality variables, only acute pulmonary edema showed a statistically significant difference (OR=9.5; 95% CI), which was greater in the ex-smoker group than in the nonsmoker group. CONCLUSION: An association between smoking and some cardiovascular risk factors was observed, but no statistical difference in morbidity and mortality was observed in the groups studied, except for the variable acute pulmonary edema

Classificação histológica de 1.025 casos de linfoma de Hodgkin do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: It is currently asserted that, in industrialized countries, nodular sclerosis is the most frequent type of Hodgkin's lymphoma, in contrast to developing countries, where mixed cellularity and lymphocyte depletion are more frequently seen. The objective was to review histological data from cases of Hodgkin's lymphoma from São Paulo and Campinas cities. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional histopathological analysis, in four university hospitals and one cancer care center. METHODS: 1,025 cases diagnosed as Hodgkin's lymphoma between 1990 and 2000 were collected from five institutions; 631 of them (61.5%) had been immunophenotyped using antibodies to CD20, CD3, CD15 and CD30. The relative frequencies of histological types (as informed by the contributing authors, who are hematopathologists in their institutions) were determined according to age and gender. RESULTS: The Hodgkin's lymphoma types were distributed as follows: lymphocyte predominance 4.8%, nodular sclerosis 69.2%, mixed cellularity 21.1% and lymphocyte depletion 4.6%. CONCLUSIONS: The controversy regarding the frequencies of Hodgkin's lymphoma types within the Brazilian setting seems to be due to the small number of cases in previous studies. The present data show a picture close to the situation in the industrialized countries.CONTEXTO E OBJETIVO: Tem-se afirmado correntemente que, em países industrializados, a esclerose nodular é o tipo mais freqüente de linfoma de Hodgkin, ao contrário de países em desenvolvimento, onde a celularidade mista e a depleção linfocitária são mais freqüentes. O objetivo do estudo é rever os dados histológicos de linfoma de Hodgkin das cidades de São Paulo e Campinas. TIPO DE ESTUDO E LOCAL: Transversal, por análise histopatológica, em quatro hospitais universitários e um centro oncológico de referência. MÉTODOS: 1.025 casos com o diagnóstico de linfoma de Hodgkin entre 1990 e 2000 foram coletados de cinco instituições. Em 631 (61,5%) casos fora feito estudo imunoistoquímico para os marcadores CD20, CD3, CD15 e CD30. As freqüências relativas dos tipos histológicos (informadas pelos autores que são hematopatologistas de suas respectivas instituições) foram determinadas nos diversos grupos etários e por gênero. RESULTADOS: Os tipos de linfoma de Hodgkin foram assim distribuídos: predominância linfocitária 4,8%, esclerose nodular 69,2%, celularidade mista 21,1% e depleção linfocitária 4,6%. CONCLUSÕES: Dados controversos sobre a freqüência dos tipos de linfoma de Hodgkin em nosso meio parecem ser devidos ao pequeno número de casos dos trabalhos anteriores. Nossos dados são comparáveis aos dos países industrializados.Universidade Estadual de CampinasSanta Casa de Misericórdia de São PauloFundação Antônio Prudente Hospital do Câncer de São PauloUniversidade de São Paulo Hospital das ClínicasUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de MedicinaUNIFESP, EPMSciEL

Variation of the quality of life in patients treated with breast cancer and submitted to a program of aerobic exercises

Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar o efeito de um programa de exercícios na qualidade de vida em pacientes que tiveram câncer de mama. Metodologia: Foram diagnosticadas 29 mulheres com câncer de mama e tratadas com intuito de cura, sendo submetidas a dez semanas de exercícios aeróbios (caminhada ou corrida leve). Os exercícios foram realizados três vezes por semana. Para instrumentos no controle da intensidade dos exercícios se utilizou a escala de percepção de esforço de BORG e monitor de frequência cardíaca (POLAR FS-1). Para a avaliação dos estados de humor, utilizou-se o score POMS - Profile of Mood States no início da primeira semana e no final da décima semana do programa de exercícios. A qualidade de vida foi mensurada no início e no final do estudo através do score SF-36. Resultados: Com exceção da confusão mental (p= 0,123), todas as outras variáveis dos estados de humor do score POMS demonstraram melhoras significativas no final do trabalho (p< 0,05) e, também, as variáveis relacionadas aos aspectos físicos e psicológicos (p< 0,05). A capacidade aeróbia também aumentou significativamente (762,7m pré versus 1025,3m pós p< 0,05). O percentual de gordura corporal também sofreu influência positiva dos exercícios, indo de 30,9% no início do programa para 29,5% ao final (p< 0,05). Não foi detectada variação significativa no peso corporal das pacientes. Conclusão: De forma geral, os exercícios aeróbios demonstraram impactos positivos na melhora da qualidade de vida e nos estados de humor nas participantes deste estudo após dez semana

Histological classification of 1,025 cases of Hodgkin's lymphoma from the State of São Paulo, Brazil

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: It is currently asserted that, in industrialized countries, nodular sclerosis is the most frequent type of Hodgkin's lymphoma, in contrast to developing countries, where mixed cellularity and lymphocyte depletion are more frequently seen. The objective was to review histological data from cases of Hodgkin's lymphoma from São Paulo and Campinas cities. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional histopathological analysis, in four university hospitals and one cancer care center. METHODS: 1,025 cases diagnosed as Hodgkin's lymphoma between 1990 and 2000 were collected from five institutions; 631 of them (61.5%) had been immunophenotyped using antibodies to CD20, CD3, CD15 and CD30. The relative frequencies of histological types (as informed by the contributing authors, who are hematopathologists in their institutions) were determined according to age and gender. RESULTS: The Hodgkin's lymphoma types were distributed as follows: lymphocyte predominance 4.8%, nodular sclerosis 69.2%, mixed cellularity 21.1% and lymphocyte depletion 4.6%. CONCLUSIONS: The controversy regarding the frequencies of Hodgkin's lymphoma types within the Brazilian setting seems to be due to the small number of cases in previous studies. The present data show a picture close to the situation in the industrialized countries