A fundamental tenet of scientific research is that published results are open to independent validation and refutation. Minimum data standards aid data providers, users, and publishers by providing a specification of what is required to unambiguously interpret experimental findings. Here, we present the Minimum Information about a Flow Cytometry Experiment (MIFlowCyt) standard, stating the minimum information required to report flow cytometry (FCM) experiments. We brought together a crossdisciplinary international collaborative group of bioinformaticians, computational statisticians, software developers, instrument manufacturers, and clinical and basic research scientists to develop the standard. The standard was subsequently vetted by the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC) Data Standards Task Force, Standards Committee, membership, and Council. The MIFlowCyt standard includes recommendations about descriptions of the specimens and reagents included in the FCM experiment, the configuration of the instrument used to perform the assays, and the data processing approaches used to interpret the primary output data. MIFlowCyt has been adopted as a standard by ISAC, representing the FCM scientific community including scientists as well as software and hardware manufacturers. Adoption of MIFlowCyt by the scientific and publishing communities will facilitate third-party understanding and reuse of FCM data. ' 2008 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry Key termsimmunology; fluorescence-activated cell sorting; knowledge representation FLOW cytometry (FCM) systems have been available to investigators for over 30 years, and the field continues to advance at a rapid rate. FCM has been responsible for major progress in basic and clinical research by enabling the phenotypic and functional characterization of individual cells in a high-throughput manner. Advances in the technology now allow for automated, multiparametric analyses of thousands of samples per day (1). Each data set can consist of multidimensional descriptions of millions of individual cells, producing data similar in size and complexity to gene expression microarrays. Like the microarray field, the ability to collect FCM data is outpacing the computational means for data handling and analysis. Furthermore, the lack of reporting standardization limits collaboration, independent validation/refutation, and meta-analysis, and thus minimizes the value of the wealth

Seventy-five dogs with cytopathologically or histopathologically confirmed lymphoma received L-asparaginase, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, prednisone, and doxorubicin (COPLA) induction followed by chlorambucil, vincristine, and prednisone (LVP) maintenance between January 1994 and June 1997. Toxicity was evaluated using the National Cancer Institute (NCI) toxicity criteria. Age, weight, sex, and response were evaluated for prognostic significance against first remission duration. A complete response (CR) was obtained in 61 (80%) dogs, a partial response (PR) was obtained in nine (12%) dogs, and no response (NR) was obtained in five (8%) dogs. The median first remission duration was 25 weeks, with 17% and 5% of the dogs in remission at one and two years, respectively. Observed toxicity was low, with 84% of dogs given an NCI score of 1 or 2. Median survival time for dogs achieving CR was 36 weeks versus four weeks for those achieving PR or NR.

Background: Increased levels of circulating fatty acids caused by insulin resistance and increased adipocyte lipolysis can accumulate within the liver resulting in steatosis. This steatosis sensitizes the liver to inflammation and further injury which can lead to liver dysfunction. We performed microarray analysis on normal mouse liver tissue at different ages and type 2 diabetic liver exhibiting steatosis to identify differentially expressed genes involved in lipid accumulation and liver dysfunction.

Background: Combining diverse data streams across different levels of biological observation, such as molecular, cellular, and clinical chemistry responses, support a system-wide diagnostic approach. Recent progress in slidebased cytometry contributes to the development of tissomics, a high-throughput and high-content phenotyping methodology that provides data-rich profiles of cellular heterogeneity in tissues enabling correlative statistical treatments over multiple scales of biological hierarchies. Methods: Phenotypical data are covariants that can be used as biomarkers to identify relevant candidate genes by associating initiating molecular events with phenotypical changes and adverse outcomes. We introduce a procedure of combined statistical and analytical tools to identify and visualize such associations for nonpooled entities. The new utility is applied to a time-controlled, low-dose toxi-

Progress in automated analytics enables the generation of quantitative data about tissue previously limited to visual histopathology. Such reproducible data sets can be statistically correlated and clustered throughout the continuum of bioinformatics. The combined approach supports a system-wide view of biology and has a potential to accelerate developments for a personalized computational diagnosis.