An estimate of the number of tropical tree species

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher’s alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼40,000 and ∼53,000, i.e. at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼19,000–25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼4,500–6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa

Standardized Assessment of Biodiversity Trends in Tropical Forest Protected Areas: The End Is Not in Sight

Extinction rates in the Anthropocene are three orders of magnitude higher than background and disproportionately occur in the tropics, home of half the world’s species. Despite global efforts to combat tropical species extinctions, lack of high-quality, objective information on tropical biodiversity has hampered quantitative evaluation of conservation strategies. In particular, the scarcity of population-level monitoring in tropical forests has stymied assessment of biodiversity outcomes, such as the status and trends of animal populations in protected areas. Here, we evaluate occupancy trends for 511 populations of terrestrial mammals and birds, representing 244 species from 15 tropical forest protected areas on three continents. For the first time to our knowledge, we use annual surveys from tropical forests worldwide that employ a standardized camera trapping protocol, and we compute data analytics that correct for imperfect detection. We found that occupancy declined in 22%, increased in 17%, and exhibited no change in 22% of populations during the last 3–8 years, while 39% of populations were detected too infrequently to assess occupancy changes. Despite extensive variability in occupancy trends, these 15 tropical protected areas have not exhibited systematic declines in biodiversity (i.e., occupancy, richness, or evenness) at the community level. Our results differ from reports of widespread biodiversity declines based on aggregated secondary data and expert opinion and suggest less extreme deterioration in tropical forest protected areas. We simultaneously fill an important conservation data gap and demonstrate the value of large-scale monitoring infrastructure and powerful analytics, which can be scaled to incorporate additional sites, ecosystems, and monitoring methods. In an era of catastrophic biodiversity loss, robust indicators produced from standardized monitoring infrastructure are critical to accurately assess population outcomes and identify conservation strategies that can avert biodiversity collapse. © 2016 Beaudrot et al

Atención médica integral en pacientes con enfermedad hepática

La atención médica integral representa el instrumento metodológico más efectivo para mejorar de manera constante la calidad de vida e incremento de los cuidados de los pacientes afectados con enfermedades hepáticas. Esta política sanitaria, responde a  un método sistematizado y organizado dirigido a brindar cuidados, a través de la valoración, diagnóstico, planificación, intervención y evaluación de acuerdo a las respuestas humanas de la persona, utilizando el método científico como sustento de las acciones, lo que permite abordar un plan de cuidados, según sea la patología  y gravedad del enfermo, considerándose para ello que, los pacientes con enfermedad hepática (enfermedades del hígado), crónicas, encontrándose entre ellas, la hepatitis A, B y C, Hígado Graso, Enfermedades Autoinmunes y la  Cirrosis; esta última caracterizada por tener mayor riesgo de readmisión hospitalaria, hallándose una mortalidad de 13% a los 90 días, y que las causas más comunes de esta afección médica en países desarrollados son la hepatitis viral crónica tanto B o C, hepatopatía alcohólica, hemocromatosis y hepatopatía no alcohólica, menos comunes son la hepatitis autoinmune, cirrosis biliar primaria y secundaria, colangitis esclerosante primaria, medicación como metotrexate e isoniazida, enfermedad de Wilson, deficiencia de alfa-1 antitripsina, padecimientos éstos que por su condición clínica, deben ser tratados bajo orientaciones médicas dirigidas por los diferentes programas y políticas en salud, los cuales tienen como propósito garantizar a las poblaciones (en este caso pacientes con enfermedades hepáticas) la continuidad de los cuidados garantizando sobre bases científicas, tanto la evaluación, como la aplicación del tratamiento adecuado; de ahí, la importancia que tienen estos servicios de atención sanitaria, los cuales buscan brindar a los pacientes con insuficiencia hepática crónica un diagnóstico oportuno y la identificación de factores precipitantes, lográndose de esa forma, mejorar el estado clínico de la persona

Phytophthora capsici: the diseases it causes and management strategies to produce healthier vegetable crops.

The aim of this review is to address topics related to etiology and symptoms of the diseases caused by this oomycete (leaf blight, root rot, crown rot and fruit rot), as well as the integration and application of different control alternatives, such as genetics, cultural, physical, biological, and chemical. Crops such as sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum), chili pepper (Capsicum spp.), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), eggplant (S. melongena), cucurbits (Cucumis sativus, Cucurbita spp.), among others, are subject to considerable economic losses induced by this pathogen

Factores de riesgo que inciden para la presencia del cáncer cervicouterino

El cáncer es la primera causa de muerte en todo el mundo y entre sus múltiples tipos el CCU es el segundo tipo de cáncer en mujeres a nivel mundial. Existen algunos factores de riesgo que pueden aumentar las probabilidades de que el CCU se presente y es en estas circunstancias o situaciones que se basa la presente investigación. Para su desarrollo se llevó a cabo una revisión de material documental bibliográfico actualizado. El análisis y estudio de los factores de riesgo del cáncer y las medidas que se puedan adoptar para su disminución, constituyen una parte importante en la lucha contra la enfermedad. En el caso del CCU, este análisis y estudio, conjuntamente con las medidas preventivas, el diagnóstico precoz y el tratamiento de las lesiones precancerosas, son las armas fundamentales para su combate. En conclusión, el factor de riesgo más vinculado con la presencia del cáncer cervicouterino es la infección por el virus del papiloma humano (VPH), seguido del inicio de relaciones sexuales a temprana edad, las relaciones sexuales con múltiples parejas y el tabaquismo. Asimismo, la confluencia dos o más factores aumenta considerablemente el riesgo de contraer la enfermedad.

Antioxidant and Free Radical Scavenging Activity of Phenolics from Bidens humilis *

A bioassay-oriented approach led to the isolation of 11 compounds, including three new natural flavonoids, (2S)-isookanin 7-O-α-L-arabinopyranoside (1), (2S)-isookanin 7-O-(2''-acetyl)-α-L-arabinopyranoside (2), and luteolin 7-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-β-D-galactopyranoside (6), from Bidens humilis aerial parts. Their structures were determined via spectroscopic analyses including two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance. The antioxidant activity of all compounds was also tested by three different assays. The Relative Antioxidant Capacity Index (RACI) is applied herein, from the perspective of statistics, by integrating the antioxidant capacity data determined by these chemical methods

α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitor activities of secondary metabolites from Arcytophyllum thymifolium

Plants belonging to Arcytophyllum genus are widespread in Central and South America mainly in Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia [1]. Aerial parts infusion and/or decoction are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of colic and indigestion [2]. Only one study was previously reported in the literature, showing the presence of flavonoids and triterpenoids from Arcytophyllum genus [3]. A. thymifolium (Ruiz & PAV) Standl (Rubiaceae) is a shrub growing in Ecuador in the typical Ande mountain ecosystem [1]. In the present study, a phytochemical investigation of A. thymifolium aerial parts was performed for the first time. The dried and powdered plant material was sequentially extracted with n-hexane, CHCl3, CHCl3-MeOH (9:1) and MeOH. The CHCl3 extract was first subjected to a flash chromatography through Biotage Isolera™, and fractions obtained were successively eluted on RP-HPLC and HPCPC. The MeOH extract was partitioned between n-BuOH and H2O and the n-BuOH fraction was preliminary chromatographed on Sephadex LH-20 column, subsequently, fractions obtained were submitted to RP-HPLC. Twenty-three compounds (8 coumarins, 4 flavonoids, 9 iridoids, 2 caffeic acid derivatives), including five new secondary metabolites, were finally isolated and identified by NMR and MS analyses. The hypoglycaemic properties of known and new compounds were also evaluated measuring extracts and pure compounds α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory effects, by using acarbose as positive control [4]. The iridoid asperulosidic acid showed the higher activity as α-amylase inhibitor, having an IC50 of 70 μM, moderately higher than acarbose (IC50 26.3 µM), while the new flavanone 7-O-(3-metylbut-2-enyl)oxy eriodictyol resulted to be the most active as α-glucosidase inhibitor with an IC50 of 30 μM, sensibly lower than acarbose (IC50 402.7 µM). A molecular docking study is in progress to gain information on β-glucosidase-7-O-(3-metylbut-2-enyl)oxy eriodictyol interaction