Reassessing Neotropical angiosperm distribution patterns based on monographic data: a geometric interpolation approach

Monographic data rely on specimens deposited in herbaria and museums, which have been thoroughly revised by experts. However, monographic data have been rarely used to map species richness at large scale, mainly because of the difficulties caused by spatially heterogeneous sampling effort. In this paper we estimate patterns of species richness and narrow endemism, based on monographic data of 4,055 Neotropical angiosperm species. We propose a geometric interpolation method to derive species ranges at a 1° grid resolution. To this we apply an inverse distance-weighted summation scheme to derive maps of species richness and endemism. In the latter we also adjust for heterogeneous sampling effort. Finally, we test the robustness of the interpolated species ranges and derived species richness by applying the same method but using a leave-one-out-cross-validation (LOOCV). The derived map shows four distinct regions of elevated species richness: (1) Central America, (2) the Northern Andes, (3) Amazonia and (4) the Brazilian Atlantic coast (‘Mata Atlantica’). The region with the highest estimated species richness is Amazonia, with Central America following closely behind. Centers of narrow endemism are located over the entire Neotropics, several of them coinciding with regions of elevated species richness. Sampling effort has a minor influence on the interpolation of overall species richness, but it substantially influences the estimation of regions of narrow endemism. Thus, in order to improve maps of narrow endemism and resulting conservation efforts, more collection and identification activity is required.     

Solid-phase synthesis of polymyxin B1 and analogues via a safety-catch approach.

As part of a program towards the development of novel antibiotics, a convenient method for solid-phase synthesis of the cyclic cationic peptide polymyxin B1 and analogues thereof is described. The methodology, based on cleavage-by-cyclization using Kenner's safety-catch linker, yields crude products with purities ranging from 37-67%. Antibacterial assays revealed that analogues 23-26, in which the (S)-6-methyloctanoic acid moiety is replaced with shorter acyl chains, exhibit distinct antimicrobial activity. The results suggest that the length of the acyl chain is rather critical for antimicrobial activity. On the other hand, substitution of the hydrophobic ring-segment D-Phe-6/Leu-7 in polymyxin B1 with dipeptide mimics (i.e. analogues 27-33) resulted in almost complete loss of antimicrobial activity.     

Alterations in cerebrospinal fluid uridine,hypoxanthine, and xanthine in head-injured patients

1. Examination of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of head-injured patients reveals that the concentration of intraventricular xanthine is elevated and that of uridine is decreased relative to those of adult lumbar CSF. 2. No correlations were observed between CSF lactate and CSF hypoxanthine, xanthine, or uridine, suggesting that changes in purine metabolites and the pyrimidine nucleoside do not index similar cellular events as does lactic acid production. 3. Ventricular CSF from hydrocephalic infants had uridine and hypoxanthine concentrations not significantly different from those of normal adult lumbar CSF, but xanthine was significantly elevated. 4. Since uridine has anticonvulsant properties and is a crucial substrate for cerebral metabolism, it may be useful to evaluate this pyrimidine for use in the management of patients with head injury.     

Microflora of the upper respiratory tract in young children under normal conditions and in respiratory tract diseases. Microbial count of the upper respiratory tract in healthy children and in children with pneumonia

The results of the inoculation of material taken from the anterior section of the nasal cavity and from the pharyngeal mucosa of 50 healthy young children and 298 acute pneumonia patients were analyzed. 23 microbial species were isolated. In the samples taken from the anterior section of the nasal cavity, monocultures were detected in 86 samples and 54 variants of associations including 2-4 species, in 139 samples. In the samples taken from the pharynx, monocultures were detected in 59 samples and 180 variants of associations including 2-6 species, in 282 samples. Differences in the contamination of the nasal cavity and the pharynx in healthy children and in pneumonia patients were revealed. These differences were manifested in the structure of the microflora (monocultures, associations, their composition), the assortment of microbial species and their concentration. In young children with pneumonia the microflora of the upper respiratory tract was found to reflect the severity of acute pneumonia and the intensity of the pathological process in the lungs (uncomplicated, pyodestructive pneumonia, pyodestructive pneumonia with fatal termination, acute purulent pleurisy).     

Comparison of statistics for candidate-gene association studies using cases and parents.

Studies of association between candidate genes and disease can be designed to use cases with disease, and in place of nonrelated controls, their parents. The advantage of this design is the elimination of spurious differences due to ethnic differences between cases and nonrelated controls. However, several statistical methods of analysis have been proposed in the literature, and the choice of analysis is not always clear. We review some of the statistical methods currently developed and present two new statistical methods aimed at specific genetic hypotheses of dominance and recessivity of the candidate gene. These new methods can be more powerful than other current methods, as demonstrated by simulations. The basis of these new statistical methods is a likelihood approach. The advantage of the likelihood framework is that regression models can be developed to assess genotype-environment interactions, as well as the relative contribution that alleles at the candidate-gene locus make to the relative risk (RR) of disease. This latter development allows testing of (1) whether interactions between alleles exist, on the scale of log RR, and (2) whether alleles originating from the mother or father of a case impart different risks, i.e., genomic imprinting.