Resurrección del género Monteverdia(Celastraceae) y el rescate de la memoria de Manuel de Monteverde y Bello

Background:The taxonomic rehabilitation of the genus Monteverdiain in 2017 has motivated numerous changes in the name of neotropical plants. Objective:Assess the current status of the nomenclature of Cuban taxa currently located in Monteverdia A. Rich. (Celastraceae). Methods: Historical-logical, analytical-synthetic and inductive-deductive to assess empirical information provided by the documentary analysis of printed sources and botanical collections. Results:The nomenclature of Cuban plants belonging to the Monteverdia genus is updated, for which it is designated: a lectotype in thefirst step and three in the second; clarifications in relation to three lectotypes and two localities where samples of significant interest were collected for this purpose and the existence of 15 specimens (from 7 herbaria) that they classify as typological material is disclosed, for the first time are made. 104 collections are listed, carried out over 190 years in the national territory, which corresponds to 19 numbers present in 17 specialized institutions in 9 countries, associated with names once assigned to taxa of this group. Conclusions:The mark of Manuel de Monteverde y Bello in the nomenclatureof the plants it has extended to wide spaces of the tropical America, fact that reinforces the cultural and patrimonial dimension of the Camagüey's science.Contexto:La rehabilitación taxonómica del género MonteverdiaA. Rich. en 2017 ha motivado numerosos cambios en el nombre de plantas neotropicales. Objetivo:Valorar el estado actual de la nomenclatura de los taxones cubanos ubicados actualmente en Monteverdia A. Rich. (Celastraceae). Métodos:Histórico-lógico, analítico-sintético e inductivo-deductivo para valorar información empírica aportada por el análisis documental de fuentes impresas y colecciones botánicas. Resultados:Se actualiza la nomenclatura de las plantas cubanas pertenecientes al género Monteverdia, para lo cual se designa: un lectotipo en primer paso y tres en segundo; se realizan precisiones con relación a tres lectotipos y dos localidades donde fueron colectadas muestras de significativo interés a tal efecto y se da a conocer, por primera vez, la existencia de 15 especímenes (procedentes de 7 herbarios) que clasifican como material tipológico. Se relacionan 104 recolecciones, realizadas a lo largo de 190 años en el territorio nacional, que corresponde a 19 números presentes en 17 instituciones especializados de 9 países, asociados a nombres alguna vez asignados a taxones de este grupo. Conclusiones:La huella de Manuel de Monteverde y Bello en la nomenclatura de las plantas se ha extendido a amplios espacios de la América tropical, lo cual refuerza la dimensión cultural y patrimonial de la ciencia camagüeyana

Precisiones sobre la nomenclatura y distribución de Coccothrinax yuraguana (Arecaceae)

Se asume como objetivo establecer precisiones sobre la nomenclatura y distribución de Coccothrinax yuraguana, una especie de palma endémica de Cuba occidental que se encuentra amenazada de extinción. Se realizó un análisis de 18 fuentes documentales que hacen referencia al taxón (incluidos dos protólogos), 39 especímenes correspondientes a cinco herbarios e información de campo recogida por el autor. Se designa un lectotipo y se da a conocer la presencia de cuatro isolectotipos en dos herbarios de Cuba y Estados Unidos. Se reporta la especie por primera vez para la provincia de Artemisa

Del patrimonio natural cubano; el género Roystonea (Arecaceae)

The nomenclature, taxonomy, typology, distribution and conservation of the Roystonea species reported for Cuba, from the heritage point of view, are summarized and updated. The documentary review method was used to assess, according to the current nomenclatural code that corresponds, information contained in protologues, catalogs, articles and herbarium specimens. Emphasis is placed on the meaning that the 'royal palm' acquires as a national tree, represented on the nation's shield. The existence of 65 herbarium collections is disclosed, with 229 duplicates, which, because they are inextricably linked to the nomenclature of the species, constitute exponents of the Cuban natural heritage.Se compendia y actualiza la nomenclatura, taxonomía, tipología, distribución y conservación de las especies de Roystonea reportadas para Cuba, desde el punto de vista patrimonial. Se utilizó la revisión documental, para valorar, según el código nomenclatural vigente que corresponde, información contenida en protólogos, catálogos, artículos y especímenes de herbario. Se enfatiza en el significado que adquiere la ʻpalma realʼ como árbol nacional, representado en el escudo de la nación. Se da a conocer la existencia de 65 recolecciones de herbario, con 229 duplicados, que, por estar indisolublemente ligadas a la nomenclatura de las especies, constituyen exponentes del patrimonio natural cubano

Academic performance achieved with a tradicional class vs multimedial aplication

El propósito de este estudio fue analizar los efectos sobre el aprendizaje, utilizando el recurso multimedial “Autoaprendizaje de la Biología General”, en el curso académico Ciencia Biológicas I, conformado por treinta estudiantes de la facultad de Medicina Veterinaria de la Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales, U.D.C.A. En principio, el proyecto se fundamentó en las teorías de aprendizaje que han influido en el diseño de aplicaciones orientadas a la adquisición de conocimiento. Como el grupo no se podía aleatorizar en su conformación, se utilizó un diseño cuasi- experimental, para lo cual se dividió en dos subgrupos y, alternadamente, se aplicó el recurso multimedial, de manera que el subgrupo sirviera de control, caso en el que recibió la temática correspondiente, mediante una clase tradicional. Se analizaron las diferencias de rendimiento académico entre cada subgrupo y entre los subgrupos; en este caso, el de control que utilizó la clase tradicional y para este tipo de tratamiento, se empleó el diseño cruzado o crossover. Se encontró que el rendimiento académico, en temas como las proteínas y los lípidos, la aplicación tiene efectos positivos, mientras que en otros no hay diferencia entre los dos recursos. En cuanto al diseño de las actividades del aplicativo, no es clara la relación con el rendimiento, ya que cuando estan presentes las animaciones, el rendimiento es más bajo y pareciera que, con las actividades de texto fijo e imágenes, es más alto.The purpose of this research was to analyze the effects on learning, when using the multimedia resource “Auto-learning Biology” in the academic course Biological Science I, composed of 30 students of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Applied Sciences and Environmental UDCA. Initially, the project was based on the learning theories which influenced the design of applications, aimed at the acquisition of knowledge. As the group could not be aleotorized, we used a quasi-experimental design, divided into two subgroups. The multimedia resource was alternately applied in a way that a subgroup could serve as control, in which case the thematic received, corresponded to traditional classroom teaching. Differences among the academic performance of each subgroup and among subgroups were established, being the control the traditional classroom teaching. For this type of treatment a crossover design was used. It was found that for the academic performance in areas such as proteins and lipids, the application of the multimedia resource had a positive impact on performance, while in other areas no difference between the two applications was obtained. As for the design of the activities of application, no clear connection with the performance was detected, since when animations were used, the yield was lower and apparently with the activities of fixed text and images, the performance is higherIncluye referencias bibliográfica

Rigorous Born Approximation and beyond for the Spin-Boson Model

Within the lowest-order Born approximation, we present an exact calculation of the time dynamics of the spin-boson model in the ohmic regime. We observe non-Markovian effects at zero temperature that scale with the system-bath coupling strength and cause qualitative changes in the evolution of coherence at intermediate times of order of the oscillation period. These changes could significantly affect the performance of these systems as qubits. In the biased case, we find a prompt loss of coherence at these intermediate times, whose decay rate is set by $\sqrt{\alpha}$, where $\alpha$ is the coupling strength to the environment. We also explore the calculation of the next order Born approximation: we show that, at the expense of very large computational complexity, interesting physical quantities can be rigorously computed at fourth order using computer algebra, presented completely in an accompanying Mathematica file. We compute the $O(\alpha)$ corrections to the long time behavior of the system density matrix; the result is identical to the reduced density matrix of the equilibrium state to the same order in $\alpha$. All these calculations indicate precision experimental tests that could confirm or refute the validity of the spin-boson model in a variety of systems.Comment: Greatly extended version of short paper cond-mat/0304118. Accompanying Mathematica notebook fop5.nb, available in Source, is an essential part of this work; it gives full details of the fourth-order Born calculation summarized in the text. fop5.nb is prepared in arXiv style (available from Wolfram Research

Discrete reduction patterns of parvalbumin and calbindin D-28k immunoreactivity in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus and the striate cortex of adult macaque monkeys after monocular enucleation

We analyzed the immunohistochemical distribution of the two calcium-binding proteins, parvalbumin (PV) and calbindin D-28k (CB), in the primary visual cortex and lateral dorsal geniculate nucleus (dLGN) of monocularly enucleated macaque monkeys (Macaca fascicularis and Macaca nemestrind) in order to determine how the expression of PV and CB is affected by functional inactivity. The monkeys survived 1-17 weeks after monocular enucleation. The distribution pattern of each of the proteins was examined immunocytochemically using monoclonal antibodies and compared with that of the metabolic marker cytochrome oxidase (CO). We recorded manually the number of immunostained neurons and estimated the concentration of immunoreactive staining product using a computerized image-acquisition system. Our results indicate a decrease of approximately 30% in the labeling of PV-immunoreactive (ir) neuropil particularly in those layers of denervated ocular-dominance columns receiving the geniculocortical input. There was no change in the number of PV-ir neurons in any compartment irrespective of the enucleation interval. For CB-ir, we found a 20% decrease in the neuropil labeling in layer 2/3 of the denervated ocular-dominance columns. In addition, a subset of pyramidal CB-ir neurons in layers 2 and 4B, which are weakly stained in control animals, showed decreased labeling. In the dLGN of enucleated animals, PV-ir and CB-ir were decreased only in the neuropil of the denervated layers. From these results, we conclude that cortical interneurons and geniculate projection neurons still express PV and CB in their cell bodies after disruption of the direct functional input from one eye. The only distinct decrease of PV and CB expression is seen in axon terminals from retinal ganglion cells in the dLGN, and in the axons and terminals of both geniculocortical projection cells and cortical interneurons in the cerebral corte

Omeprazole Impairs Vascular Redox Biology And Causes Xanthine Oxidoreductase-mediated Endothelial Dysfunction

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are widely used drugs that may increase the cardiovascular risk by mechanisms not entirely known. While PPIs increase asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels and inhibit nitric oxide production, it is unknown whether impaired vascular redox biology resulting of increased xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) activity mediates PPIs-induced endothelial dysfunction (ED). We examined whether increased XOR activity impairs vascular redox biology and causes ED in rats treated with omeprazole. We also examined whether omeprazole aggravates the ED found in hypertension. Treatment with omeprazole reduced endothelium-dependent aortic responses to acetylcholine without causing hypertension. However, omeprazole did not aggravate two-kidney, one-clip (2KIC) hypertension, nor hypertension-induced ED. Omeprazole and 2K1C increased vascular oxidative stress as assessed with dihydroethidium (DHE), which reacts with superoxide, and by the lucigenin chemiluminescence assay. The selective XOR inhibitor febuxostat blunted both effects induced by omeprazole. Treatment with omeprazole increased plasma ADMA concentrations, XOR activity and systemic markers of oxidative stress. Incubation of aortic rings with ADMA increased XOR activity, DHE fluorescence and lucigenin chemiluminescence signals, and febuxostat blunted these effects. Providing functional evidence that omeprazole causes ED by XOR-mediated mechanisms, we found that febuxostat blunted the ED caused by omeprazole treatment. This study shows that treatment with omeprazole impairs the vascular redox biology by XOR-mediated mechanisms leading to ED. While omeprazole did not further impair hypertension-induced ED, further studies in less severe animal models are warranted. Our findings may have major relevance, particularly to patients with cardiovascular diseases taking PPIs. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.9134143Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) [2014-23946-0]Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq)CAPES (Coordenadoria de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Reconocimiento de Croton moschatus (Euphorbiaceae) para la nomenclatura de las plantas cubanas

The previously overlooked name Croton moschatus Monteverde & P.Betancourt is here recognized for a Cuban endemic species on the basis that it was validly published and has priority over the heterotypic synonyms C. claraensis Urb. and C. sagranus Müll.Arg. In this work, a neotype for the name C. moschatus is designated and lectotypes are designated for C. claraensis and C. stenophyllus Griseb. var. rosmarinifolius Müll.Arg. We also comment on the confusion surrounding the uses of C. moschatus and other relevant historical aspects.El nombre Croton moschatus Monteverde & P.Betancourt, previamente ignorado, es reconocido aquí para una especie endémica de Cuba sobre la base de que fue válidamente publicado y porque tiene prioridad sobre los sinónimos heterotípicos C. claraensis Urb. y C. sagranus Müll. Arg. En este trabajo se designa un neótipo para el nombre C. moschatus y lectótipos para C. claraensis y C. stenophyllus Griseb. var. rosmarinifolius Müll.Arg. Se incluyen también comentarios sobre una posible confusión sobre el uso C. moschatus y otros aspectos históricos relevantes

Graphite: A Distributed Parallel Simulator for Multicores

This paper introduces the open-source Graphite distributed parallel multicore simulator infrastructure. Graphite is designed from the ground up for exploration of future multicore processors containing dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of cores. It provides high performance for fast design space exploration and software development for future processors. Several techniques are used to achieve this performance including: direct execution, multi-machine distribution, analytical modeling, and lax synchronization. Graphite is capable of accelerating simulations by leveraging several machines. It can distribute simulation of an off-the-shelf threaded application across a cluster of commodity Linux machines with no modification to the source code. It does this by providing a single, shared address space and consistent single-process image across machines. Graphite is designed to be a simulation framework, allowing different component models to be easily replaced to either model different architectures or tradeoff accuracy for performance. We evaluate Graphite from a number of perspectives and demonstrate that it can simulate target architectures containing over 1000 cores on ten 8-core servers. Performance scales well as more machines are added with near linear speedup in many cases. Simulation slowdown is as low as 41x versus native execution for some applications. The Graphite infrastructure and existing models will be released as open-source software to allow the community to simulate their own architectures and extend and improve the framework