Although significant work has been done to define species relationships within the Neotropical genus Micronycteris, the group has yet to be fully resolved. In Bolivia Micronycteris is represented by ...4 species: M. hirsuta, M. megalotis, M. minuta, and M. sanborni. Through examination of morphological characters and analyses of cranial measurements and genetic data, we determine that M. sanborni is not found in Bolivia and describe a new species closely related to it. The new species is morphometrically distinct from its congeners, forming a cluster separate from M. schmidtorum, M. minuta, and M. brosseti along principal component (PC) 1 (explaining 57.3% of the variation and correlated with maxillary toothrow length) and also separate from M. sanborni along PC 2 (explaining 35.4% of the variation and correlated with condylobasal length). The new species forms a statistically supported clade in all phylogenetic analyses; however, a sister relationship to M. sanborni is not supported. Genetic distance values that separate Micronycteris sp. nov. from its closest relatives range from 5.3% (versus M. sanborni) to 10.4% (versus M. minuta from Guyana). We diagnose and describe the new species in detail and name it in honor of the late Terry Lamon Yates for his contributions to Bolivian mammalogy. Micronycteris sp. nov. is Bolivia's 1st endemic bat species and because of its importance, the conservation implications are discussed.
BACKGROUND: The Andes-Amazon basin of Peru and Bolivia is one of the most data-poor, biologically rich, and rapidly changing areas of the world. Conservation scientists agree that this area hosts ...extremely high endemism, perhaps the highest in the world, yet we know little about the geographic distributions of these species and ecosystems within country boundaries. To address this need, we have developed conservation data on endemic biodiversity (~800 species of birds, mammals, amphibians, and plants) and terrestrial ecological systems (~90; groups of vegetation communities resulting from the action of ecological processes, substrates, and/or environmental gradients) with which we conduct a fine scale conservation prioritization across the Amazon watershed of Peru and Bolivia. We modelled the geographic distributions of 435 endemic plants and all 347 endemic vertebrate species, from existing museum and herbaria specimens at a regional conservation practitioner's scale (1:250,000-1:1,000,000), based on the best available tools and geographic data. We mapped ecological systems, endemic species concentrations, and irreplaceable areas with respect to national level protected areas. RESULTS: We found that sizes of endemic species distributions ranged widely (< 20 km² to > 200,000 km²) across the study area. Bird and mammal endemic species richness was greatest within a narrow 2500-3000 m elevation band along the length of the Andes Mountains. Endemic amphibian richness was highest at 1000-1500 m elevation and concentrated in the southern half of the study area. Geographical distribution of plant endemism was highly taxon-dependent. Irreplaceable areas, defined as locations with the highest number of species with narrow ranges, overlapped slightly with areas of high endemism, yet generally exhibited unique patterns across the study area by species group. We found that many endemic species and ecological systems are lacking national-level protection; a third of endemic species have distributions completely outside of national protected areas. Protected areas cover only 20% of areas of high endemism and 20% of irreplaceable areas. Almost 40% of the 91 ecological systems are in serious need of protection (= < 2% of their ranges protected). CONCLUSIONS: We identify for the first time, areas of high endemic species concentrations and high irreplaceability that have only been roughly indicated in the past at the continental scale. We conclude that new complementary protected areas are needed to safeguard these endemics and ecosystems. An expansion in protected areas will be challenged by geographically isolated micro-endemics, varied endemic patterns among taxa, increasing deforestation, resource extraction, and changes in climate. Relying on pre-existing collections, publically accessible datasets and tools, this working framework is exportable to other regions plagued by incomplete conservation data.
Mammalogy as a discipline was pursued in México since the mid-17th century. However, Mexican researchers were involved primarily in the mid-20th century, when national scientific journals were ...established to emphasize research on mammals. In 2010, the Asociación Mexicana de Mastozoología, A. C., initiated the journal Therya. Therya has now completed its first decade of publication, and in this work, we analyze the articles and scientific notes published in Therya, focused on the studies of mammals in Mexican territory, including researchers and institutions, to describe the path that mammalogy has taken in recent years in México. This synthesis therefore serves as a frame of reference for future mammalogy studies. We compiled all papers published in Therya during the period 2010-2019. We built a database gathering information from these publications such as authors, institutions and states of origin, study areas, capture methods, topics and taxa studied. We excluded from the analyses research outside of México. We did a descriptive statistics analysis including mean, proportions, percentage and trends for each and all the sections. Therya has published 181 articles and 52 scientific notes on mammals distributed in México. The majority of authors and institutions were from México City. The states of southeastern México were the most used as a study area, particularly Oaxaca and Chiapas. The orders Carnivora and Cetartiodactyla were the most studied, mainly using indirect methods. Trapping methods were most commonly used for small mammals. The least studied orders were Eulipotyphla, Cingulata, and Pilosa. The most studied topics are ecology, diversity, conservation and distribution. Therya has become one of the most important journals about mammal research in México. Research in mammalogy, as reflected in the pages of Therya, is based in academic institutions with the metropolitan area of México City, reflecting the institutional infrastructure and age, and possibly institutional budgetary factors. The southeast portion of the country is well studied due to the existence of regional institutions, as well as to the concentration of high biodiversity. The least studied regions of México may be the result of a reduced number of research groups and social insecurity. Much research is focused on small mammals, making Sherman traps and mist nets the most used trapping methods; carnivores and cetartiodactyls are the most studied groups, using indirect study methods reducing study costs and effort. Ecology, diversity and distribution are the most studied topics, these studies allow the development of management plans.
First record of Rhagomys (Mammalia: Sigmodontinae) in Bolivia Villalpando, Gabriela(Museo Nacional de Historia Natural Colección Boliviana de Fauna); Vargas, Julieta(Museo Nacional de Historia Natural Colección Boliviana de Fauna); Salazar-Bravo, Jorge(Texas Tech University Department of Biological Sciences)
Mastozoología neotropical,
2006, 20060101, Letnik:
13, Številka:
1
Journal Article
To investigate the diagnostic performance of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system for detection of COVID-19 in chest radiographs (CXR), and compare results to those of physicians working alone, or ...with AI support.
An AI system was fine-tuned to discriminate confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia, from other viral and bacterial pneumonia and non-pneumonia patients and used to review 302 CXR images from adult patients retrospectively sourced from nine different databases. Fifty-four physicians blind to diagnosis, were invited to interpret images under identical conditions in a test set, and randomly assigned either to receive or not receive support from the AI system. Comparisons were then made between diagnostic performance of physicians working with and without AI support. AI system performance was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC), and sensitivity and specificity of physician performance compared to that of the AI system.
Discrimination by the AI system of COVID-19 pneumonia showed an AUROC curve of 0.96 in the validation and 0.83 in the external test set, respectively. The AI system outperformed physicians in the AUROC overall (70% increase in sensitivity and 1% increase in specificity, p < 0.0001). When working with AI support, physicians increased their diagnostic sensitivity from 47% to 61% (p < 0.001), although specificity decreased from 79% to 75% (p = 0.007).
Our results suggest interpreting chest radiographs (CXR) supported by AI, increases physician diagnostic sensitivity for COVID-19 detection. This approach involving a human-machine partnership may help expedite triaging efforts and improve resource allocation in the current crisis.
•An AI system predicted COVID-19 pneumonia with AUROC of 0.96 and 0.83 in the validation and external test sets respectively.•The AI system outperformed physicians (70% increase in sensitivity and 1% increase in specificity, p < 0.0001).•With AI support, physicians had increased sensitivity (47% vs 61%, p < 0.001) but decreased specificity (79% vs 75%, p = 0.001).
We report a range extension of Atractus boettgeri, a rare snake endemic to Bolivia. This species differs from Atractus taeniatus by a higher segmental count (well outside the range for A. taeniatus) ...and by having only 6 maxillary teeth as opposed to 8-9 in A. taeniatus. In addition, A. boettgeri differs from A. emmeli in having 6-6 supralabials (versus 7-7) and fewer ventrals (175-177 versus 181-189 in females). All known records of A. boettgeri indicate an association between this species and the Cerrado vegetation of central Bolivia. This report is also unique in that the specimen reported herein was found in the stomach of a Common Long-Nosed Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus).
We report a range extension of Atractus boettgeri, a rare snake endemic to Bolivia. This species differs from Atractus taeniatus by a higher segmental count (well outside the range for A. taeniatus) ...and by having only 6 maxillary teeth as opposed to 8-9 in A. taeniatus. In addition, A. boettgeri differs from A. emmeli in having 6-6 supralabials (versus 7-7) and fewer ventrals (175-177 versus 181-189 in females). All known records of A. boettgeri indicate an association between this species and the Cerrado vegetation of central Bolivia. This report is also unique in that the specimen reported herein was found in the stomach of a Common Long-Nosed Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus).Se reporta una extensión de en la distribución de la especie Atractus boettgeri, una serpiente endémica de Bolivia. Esta especie se diferencia de A. taeniatus por tener un número segmental muy por encima del intervalo descrito para A. taeniatus y por tener sólo 6 dientes maxilares, en vez de 8-9 en A. taeniatus. Además, A. boettgeri se diferencia de A. emmeli por tener escamas supralabiales en patrón 6-6 (en vez de 7-7) y tener un conteo de escamas ventrales menor en hembras (175-177 versus 181-189). Incluyendo éste, todos los registros conocidos para A. boettgeri parecen estar asociados con la vegetación del Cerrado en Bolivia. El ejemplar se encontró en el estómago del tatú común (Dasypus novemcinctus).
Pharmaceutical Medicine in Mexico Cohen-Muñoz, Vanessa; Llópiz-Avilés, Marlene; Llorens, Fabián ...
Pharmaceutical medicine,
08/2010, Letnik:
24, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Pharmaceutical Medicine is a scientific medical discipline concerned with the discovery, development, evaluation, registration, monitoring and medical aspects of the marketing of medicines for the ...benefit of patients and the public health. This discipline has gone through an important evolution on a worldwide scale in the last 50 years. However, in Mexico and Latin America, its development has been recent and very satisfactory, both on an organizational level, as well as academically. Pharmaceutical Medicine in Mexico has reached a level of development that must be reinforced and perfected for maintaining regional and global leadership. Mexico's current level of development can be measured by the new empowerment of undergraduate and specialist educational programmes for those interested in Pharmaceutical Medicine at both public and private universities. Mexico is the first country in Latin America to obtain official recognition and support by one of two most renowned upper education and postgraduate institutions in the country. In addition, local associations, such as the Association of Medical Specialists in the Pharmaceutical Industry (Asociación de Médicos Especialistas en la Industria Farmacéutica, A.C. AMEIFAC), have become major drivers for the development and growth of Pharmaceutical Medicine in Mexico by performing multiple activities of relevance to the discipline. Important examples include the publishing of books and articles, organizing presentations, workshops, symposia and forums, and participating in both national and international conferences, such as the 6th Latin American Congress on Clinical Research held in Mexico City in 2009, and the 7th Latin American Congress on Clinical Research, which will be held in Sao Paolo, Brazil in late 2010. AMEIFAC also organizes important social and educational events such as bi-monthly seminars, annual meetings and a biennial congress for the entire pharmaceutical and academic arena in Mexico. Topics such as pharmacoeconomics, sustainable development and fast-tracking oncology clinical trials are only some of the many topics covered during these gatherings. A new age of maturity and solidification of Pharmaceutical Medicine as a specialty and medical development realm in both Mexico and throughout the world is underway. Our growth and development will continue to flourish as Pharmaceutical Medicine gains increasing global recognition as a vital part of future drug, biotechnological and device development. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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