Taxonomic revision of the tropical African group of Carex subsect. Elatae (sect. Spirostachyae, Cyperaceae)

The tropical African monophyletic group of Carex subsect. Elatae (sect. Spirostachyae) is distributed in continental tropical Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarene archipelago, and Bioko Island (32 km off the coast of West Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea). The first monographic treatment of this Carex group, as well as of the tribe Cariceae, was published by Kükenthal (as sect. Elatae Kük.). Recently, the first molecular (nrDNA, cpDNA) phylogeny of Carex sect. Elatae has been published, which also included the species of sect. Spirostachyae. In the resulting consensus trees, most species of sect. Elatae were embedded within core Spirostachyae and so this section was joined with sect. Spirostachyae as subsect. Elatae. Within subsect. Elatae, several groups were described, one of which was termed the “tropical African group”. Here we present a taxonomic revision of this group, based on more than 280 vouchers from 29 herbaria as well as in field trips in Tropical Africa. In the revision, we recognise 12 species (16 taxa) within the tropical African group, and so have somewhat modified our previous view, in which 10 species, 12 taxa were listed. One new species from Tanzania is included in this treatment, C. uluguruensis Luceño & M. Escudero. Several combinations are made, C. cyrtosaccus is treated as a synonym of C. vallis-rosetto and, finally, the binomial C. greenwayi has been recognised.Las especies de la subsección Elatae (sección Spirostachyae) del género Carex que se distribuyen por África tropical continental, Madagascar, el archipiélago de las Mascareñas y la isla de Bioko (a 32 km del litoral de África occidental, en el golfo de Guinea) forman un grupo monofilético. El primer tratamiento taxonómico de este grupo de cárices, así como de la tribu Cariceae en su conjunto, fue elaborado por Kükenthal (sección Elatae Kük.); recientemente, se ha publicado el primer estudio de filogenia mo - lecular (nrDNA, cpDNA) de los táxones de este grupo, junto con la inmensa mayoría de las restantes especies que Kükenthal incluyó en las secciones Elatae y Spirostachyae. Salvo escasas excepciones, los táxones incluidos se agruparon en un clado (“core Spirostachyae”) que contiene las especies de las dos secciones antes aludidas. En congruencia con estos resultados, la sección Elatae fue incluida en la sección Spirostachyae como susbsección Elatae. Dentro de dicha subsección se observaron varios clados; uno de ellos, el denominado “grupo de África tropical”, es el objeto del presente trabajo, en el que presentamos una revisión taxonómica basada en el estudio de más de 280 pliegos conservados en 29 herbarios, así como en trabajos de campo llevados a cabo en África tropical. Como resultado del análisis de dichos materiales hemos realizado una profunda reorganización taxonómica, fruto de la cual admitimos 12 especies (16 táxones) dentro del grupo de África tropical. Se describe además una nueva especie del NE de Tanzania, C. uluguruensis Luceño & M. Escudero. Asimismo, se llevan a cabo varias combinaciones nomenclaturales, el nombre de C. cyrtosaccus es considerado sinónimo de C. vallis-rosetto, y se reconoce el binomio C. grennwa

Acoustic analysis of spanish female deliberate creaky voice phonation

Existen diferentes ajustes o mecanismos laríngeos para producir la voz creaky, cualidad de voz que combina un sonido similar a una crepitación laríngea con frecuencia fundamental. 40 hablantes españolas de entre 20 a 35 años de edad, variedad centropeninsular, graban muestras de voz creaky y voz modal sin haber recibido entrenamiento previo. Se utiliza el programa informático Praat para extraer las siguientes medidas acústicas de la voz modal de cada una de las hablantes y de su correspondiente voz creaky: la diferencia en hercios entre ambas F0 y la diferencia en decibelios entre los dos primeros armónicos (H1-H2) y entre el primer armónico y el de mayor amplitud del tercer formante (H1-A3). Los resultados obtenidos revelan que la totalidad de las hablantes efectúan un descenso de la F0 modal. En cambio, la diferencia entre H1-H2 para la voz creaky es positiva para un 28% y la diferencia entre H1-A3 resulta ser positiva para un 55% de las hablantes, alejándose ambos valores de los considerados prototípicos. Por último, se observan tres grupos diferenciados de ajustes laríngeos atendiendo al valor de descenso de F0 y a la diferencia entre H1-H2.Creaky voice is a phonation type that can be produced by different laryngeal settings which are still under research. Forty young European Spanish female speakers with no previous training, recorded some samples in modal and creaky voice. Acoustic measures were extracted and analyzed using the Praat software in order to classify different phonatory strategies to produce a creaky voice. At first, we analyzed the F0 values for modal and creaky voice and secondly, we focused on the amplitude difference between the first and the second harmonic (H1-H2) and between the first harmonic and the one with the highest amplitude of the third formant (H1-A3). The results revealed: the female speakers produced the creaky voice phonation by lowering their modal F0, 28% of the speakers showed a positive amplitude between H1-H2 and 55% of speakers had also a positive result between H1-A3. These harmonics measures are contrary to the literature. Finally, considering the F0 rate decreasing value and H1-H2 amplitude difference, we discovered three different groups of phonatory strategies that must be analyzed conducting further experiments

Interaction patterns of brain activity across space, time and frequency. Part I: methods

We consider exploratory methods for the discovery of cortical functional connectivity. Typically, data for the i-th subject (i=1...NS) is represented as an NVxNT matrix Xi, corresponding to brain activity sampled at NT moments in time from NV cortical voxels. A widely used method of analysis first concatenates all subjects along the temporal dimension, and then performs an independent component analysis (ICA) for estimating the common cortical patterns of functional connectivity. There exist many other interesting variations of this technique, as reviewed in [Calhoun et al. 2009 Neuroimage 45: S163-172]. We present methods for the more general problem of discovering functional connectivity occurring at all possible time lags. For this purpose, brain activity is viewed as a function of space and time, which allows the use of the relatively new techniques of functional data analysis [Ramsay & Silverman 2005: Functional data analysis. New York: Springer]. In essence, our method first vectorizes the data from each subject, which constitutes the natural discrete representation of a function of several variables, followed by concatenation of all subjects. The singular value decomposition (SVD), as well as the ICA of this new matrix of dimension [rows=(NT*NV); columns=NS] will reveal spatio-temporal patterns of connectivity. As a further example, in the case of EEG neuroimaging, Xi of size NVxNW may represent spectral density for electric neuronal activity at NW discrete frequencies from NV cortical voxels, from the i-th EEG epoch. In this case our functional data analysis approach would reveal coupling of brain regions at possibly different frequencies.Comment: Technical report 2011-March-15, The KEY Institute for Brain-Mind Research Zurich, KMU Osak

Carex modesti (Cyperaceae), a new species from southern Tanzania

A new species of Carex (Cyperaceae), Carex modesti, is described from southern Tanzania. It grows on stream sides and peat bogs at about 2750 m in the Kitulo Plateau. It is morphologically distinct from the similar species C. vallis-rosetto by its creeping rhizomes, coriaceous leaves and solitary spikes arising in each node. Carex modesti is included in Carex sect. Spirostachyae subsect. Elatae together with other Carex species from the tropical African mountain

Technology Integration around the Geographic Information: A State of the Art

One of the elements that have popularized and facilitated the use of geographical information on a variety of computational applications has been the use of Web maps; this has opened new research challenges on different subjects, from locating places and people, the study of social behavior or the analyzing of the hidden structures of the terms used in a natural language query used for locating a place. However, the use of geographic information under technological features is not new, instead it has been part of a development and technological integration process. This paper presents a state of the art review about the application of geographic information under different approaches: its use on location based services, the collaborative user participation on it, its contextual-awareness, its use in the Semantic Web and the challenges of its use in natural languge queries. Finally, a prototype that integrates most of these areas is presented

How Principal Characteristics Including Experience, Leadership Style, Philosophy, and Education Influence Science Achievement

The purpose of this evaluation was to analyze the leadership characteristics of principals and determine how the characteristics influenced science achievement. The context of this inquiry was a school system in the southern United States where 55% of elementary students scored below grade level on the end-of-grade science assessment compared to the state average of 36%. I conducted a mixed-method study using extant science achievement data, science teacher survey data, principal survey data, and principal interview data. The survey and interview data demonstrated a disconnect between teachers’ perceptions and principals’ perceptions of science leadership provided by principals. I recommended a policy to improve science scores by providing professional development for principals. The policy included eight action steps to improve student proficiency in science: analyze science performance, set science goals, define instructional practices, establish clear priorities and parameters in which to act, build instructional capacity in the principals, establish indicators to monitor, align leadership behaviors to facilitate the change, and celebrate small wins (Odden, 2012; Kotter, 2012)

Carex modesti (Cyperaceae), a new species from southern Tanzania

A new species of Carex (Cyperaceae), Carex modesti, is described from southern Tanzania. It grows on stream sides and peat bogs at about 2750 m in the Kitulo Plateau. It is morphologically distinct from the similar species C. vallis-rosetto by its creeping rhizomes, coriaceous leaves and solitary spikes arising in each node. Carex modesti is included in Carex sect. Spirostachyae subsect. Elatae together with other Carex species from the tropical African mountain

Risk factors and protective factors for depression in early maturing females

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of early onset of menstruation and biological father absence on depression in females. Participants (n=46) were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire and a series of psychometric assessments. It was hypothesized that females who reached puberty earlier than their peers as well as females growing up in a one-parent household, with the biological father absent, would experience more depressive symptoms than females who reached puberty later than their peers or were being raised in two-parent households. Statistical analyses revealed early maturing females reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than on-time and late maturing females. Early-maturing females who were raised in one-parent households demonstrated higher levels of depressive symptoms than early-maturing females who were raised in two-parent households. Early maturing females in one-parent households also reported lower levels of perceived cohesiveness between family members. Implications for developing early intervention techniques for females at risk for developing Major Depressive Disorder are discussed

Typification of Carex helodes Link, Carex laevigata Sm. and Carex patula Link ex Schkuhr (Cyperaceae)

The name of Carex helodes Link is neotypified. This species has been erroneously considered as a synonym of Carex laevigata Sm. and Carex patula Schkuhr, which the names are also lectotypified. Each type is illustrated and discussed.Le nom de Carex helodes Link est néotypifié. Cette espèce a été considérée de manière erronée comme un synonyme de Carex laevigata Sm. et Carex patula Schkuhr dont les noms sont aussi lectotypifiés. Chaque type est illustré et discuté

Toxicodermias por Antihipertensivos Antagonistas de los Receptores de la Angiotensina II. Revisión bibliográfica

La hipertensión arterial (HTA) afecta en España a más de la mitad de la población mayor de 55 años. La prevención primaria o modificación del estilo de vida conforma la base de la pirámide en el abordaje de la hipertensión arterial. Por otra parte, una vez diagnosticada la hipertensión arterial y ante el control fallido de ésta a partir de un abordaje higiénico-dietético, se iniciará tratamiento farmacológico con el objetivo de control, reducción de la morbimortalidad cardiovascular y las complicaciones de órganos diana. Los Antagonistas de los Receptores de Angiotensina-II (ARA-II) constituyen uno de los principales fármacos empleados en el tratamiento farmacológico de la hipertensión arterial, tanto por su eficacia terapéutica y la reducción de la morbimortalidad, como por su tolerabilidad y baja incidencia de reacciones adversas severas. Sin embargo, un porcentaje no despreciable son reacciones adversas farmacológicas de tipo cutáneo (toxicodermias). En este contexto, es importante conocer los factores de riesgo para toxicodermias por ARA-II, los métodos diagnósticos y el manejo terapéutico. En este trabajo describimos las diferentes toxicodermias notificadas hasta la actualidad, destacando algunas tan graves como angioedema, Stevens-Johnson o enfermedades ampollosas autoinmunes. Principalmente en lo que respecta a la afectación general y el riesgo que conlleva, como en el caso del angioedema por su implicación potencialmente mortal.Grado en Medicin