Origins of neotropical leafy Hepaticae

The neotropical hepatic flora, predominantly constituted by members of the Jungermanniales and Metzgeriales, includes a disproportionate number of genera which are endemic (over 38) and a number which evidently originated here but have shown slight and in a geological sense, modern dispersal by solitary species. Endemism is confined almost to the Jungermanniales; it is to a large degree of a unique sort: confined to highly apomorphic derivatives, often extremely reduced, sometimes confervoid or thalloid (aside from 'normal' sexual branches). These endemics are derivatives of basically cool-Gondwanalandic suborders, chiefly Lepidoziineae and Cephaloziineae which, in the Antipodes today include a wide range of plesiomorphic taxa. The highest proportion of endemic genera, often stenotypic (1-3 species each) occurs in the upper montane zone: from upper Andean forest to páramo, to the edge of permanent snow and ice; a smaller number occurs at upper elevations of the Guyana Shield, but more occur in the riverine systems that dissect this shield. The taxa found there (i.a., Zoopsidella, Pteropsiella, Schusterolejeunea, Cephalantholejeunea) are among the most apomorphic of all hepatics. The amount of endemism is shown to be higher than in any comparable region of the globe. It is assumed that this is owing to: (a) isolation, exceeding 40 m.y. and probably exceeding 60 m.y.; (b) continuous tectonic activity, preserving the 'raw' and 'pioneer' habitats which are necessary for the survival of 'fugitive', 'shuttle' and other types of pioneer taxa; (c) the antiquity of the Guyana Shield and its riverine system; (d) creation of striking ecological gradients, many biotic islands; (e) fluctuation in extent and degree of isolation of these 'islands', leading to (f) rapid evolution due to genetic drift and perhaps enhanced selection pressures. It is concluded that part of the complexity of the flora is due to preservation of some elements on the old Guyana Shield but most is due to relatively rapid evolution during Tertiary times. A final contributing element has been the fact that movement of the South American plate has been primarily from east to west, so that the relevant land area has not been rafted into regions with very different climatic parameters: the degree of extinction seen in, e.g., India and Australia is not evident here. It is concluded that the amount of endemism seen, and its extreme kinds, 'need' in excess of the 40-60 m.y. time span which seems available. In particular, the large number of high elevation endemics, some (such as Ruizanthus) very isolated, cannot be satisfactorily explained by assuming their evolution in the few million years available since alpine regions were created by the rise of the Andes. It is almost necessary to conclude that limited 'pre-Andes' must have existed and that the ancestors of the isolated taxa seen today in alpine loci in Colombia and Venezuela originated elsewhere. The other side of the outlined scenario is that with the near-total isolation of tropical America until the Andes were elevated, and until the Pliocene connection to North America arose, one would expect to see few and scattered intruders from cool-Gondwanalandic areas and from Laurasia. The modern flora reflects exactly this

Interacting particles at a metal-insulator transition

We study the influence of many-particle interaction in a system which, in the single particle case, exhibits a metal-insulator transition induced by a finite amount of onsite pontential fluctuations. Thereby, we consider the problem of interacting particles in the one-dimensional quasiperiodic Aubry-Andre chain. We employ the density-matrix renormalization scheme to investigate the finite particle density situation. In the case of incommensurate densities, the expected transition from the single-particle analysis is reproduced. Generally speaking, interaction does not alter the incommensurate transition. For commensurate densities, we map out the entire phase diagram and find that the transition into a metallic state occurs for attractive interactions and infinite small fluctuations -- in contrast to the case of incommensurate densities. Our results for commensurate densities also show agreement with a recent analytic renormalization group approach.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures The original paper was splitted and rewritten. This is the published version of the DMRG part of the original pape

Laser-induced fluorescence-based detection of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide and comparison of different techniques during the PARADE 2011 field campaign

GANDALF (Gas Analyzer for Nitrogen Dioxide Applying Laser-induced Fluorescence), a new instrument for the detection of nitrogen dioxide based on the laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) technique, is presented in this paper. GANDALF is designed for ground-based and airborne deployment with a robust calibration system. In the current set-up, it uses a multi-mode diode laser (447–450&thinsp;nm) and performs in situ, continuous, and autonomous measurements with a laser pulse repetition rate of 5&thinsp;MHz. The performance of GANDALF was tested during the summer of year 2011 (15 August–10 September) in a field experiment at Kleiner Feldberg, Germany. The location is within a forested region with an urban influence, where NOx levels were between 0.12 and 22 parts per billion by volume (ppb). Based on the field results, the limit of detection is estimated at 5–10 parts per trillion by volume (ppt) in 60&thinsp;s at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 2. The overall accuracy and precision of the instrument are better than 5&thinsp;% (1σ) and 0.5 %+3&thinsp;ppt (1σ&thinsp;min−1), respectively. A comparison of nitrogen dioxide measurements based on several techniques during the field campaign PARADE 2011 is presented to explore methodic differences.</p

Polyyne Hybrid Compounds from Notopterygium incisum with Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Agonistic Effects

[Image: see text] In the search for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) active constituents from the roots and rhizomes of Notopterygium incisum, 11 new polyacetylene derivatives (1–11) were isolated. Their structures were elucidated by NMR and HRESIMS as new polyyne hybrid molecules of falcarindiol with sesquiterpenoid or phenylpropanoid moieties, named notoethers A–H (1–8) and notoincisols A–C (9–11), respectively. Notoincisol B (10) and notoincisol C (11) represent two new carbon skeletons. When tested for PPARγ activation in a luciferase reporter assay with HEK-293 cells, notoethers A–C (1–3), notoincisol A (9), and notoincisol B (10) showed promising agonistic activity (EC(50) values of 1.7 to 2.3 μM). In addition, notoincisol A (9) exhibited inhibitory activity on NO production of stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages

Non-Standard Errors

In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data-generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence-generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: Non-standard errors (NSEs). We study NSEs by letting 164 teams test the same hypotheses on the same data. NSEs turn out to be sizable, but smaller for better reproducible or higher rated research. Adding peer-review stages reduces NSEs. We further find that this type of uncertainty is underestimated by participants

Non-standard errors

In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data-generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: Non-standard errors (NSEs). We study NSEs by letting 164 teams test the same hypotheses on the same data. NSEs turn out to be sizable, but smaller for better reproducible or higher rated research. Adding peer-review stages reduces NSEs. We further find that this type of uncertainty is underestimated by participants

Relatório de estágio em farmácia comunitária

Relatório de estágio realizado no âmbito do Mestrado Integrado em Ciências Farmacêuticas, apresentado à Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Coimbr

Centrality evolution of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density over a broad pseudorapidity range in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

Peer reviewe

Austral Hepaticae XVII. Pachyschistochila Schust. et Engel, gen. nov

Volume: 50Start Page: 177End Page: 18