PREMISE OF THE STUDY Reconstructions of ancestral character states are among the most widely used analyses for evaluating the morphological, cytological, or ecological evolution of an organismic lineage. The software application Mesquite remains the most popular application for such reconstructions among plant scientists, even though its support for automating complex analyses is limited. A sof...

We studied the efficacy of water-soluble extracts from four Ajuga spp on the post-embryonic development of two exopterygota (sucking insect) species. To allow comparison between different Ajuga species, results are expressed in terms of quantity of plant extracted per litre of test solution. Crude methanolic extracts of all Ajuga plants tested, with the exception of A genevensis, showed conside...

In a study of residues from gourd and squash artifacts, we recovered starch grains from manioc (Manihot esculenta), potato (Solanum sp.), chili pepper (Capsicum spp.), arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea), and algarrobo (Prosopis sp.) from feasting contexts at the Buena Vista site, a central Peruvian preceramic site dating to approximately 2200 calendar years B.C. This study has implications for the...

Juliflorine, the main alkaloid isolated from Prosopis juliflora was tested for its antibacterial activity against both the Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. Filter paper disks impregnated with juliflorine were placed on streaked agar medium. Zones of growth inhibition for Campylobacter spp occurred at 10 pg per disk. Other enteropathogens (including the species of Salmonella, Shigella, ...

Cattle egret Bubulcus ibis (Linnaeus, 1758) is a highly synanthropic species, which has been benefitted by the increase of livestock in recent decades (Sick, 1997). The species originates from the Old World and spread to all the continents, with the exception of Antarctica (Martínez-Vilalta and Moltis, 1992). Three current concerns of this expansion and population growth are: competition for re...

Fou r coprolite s were exceveted with Burial S at Ventena Cave . a part ially mummified five-year-old child. Two coprolites were p1Ulular and dark. in cokx and two were fibrous and light in color . The coprolisn are remains of the child 's intestinal contents and were submitted for dietary andparasitological anal ysis. No parasites were found. The fibrous coprolites proved to be remains of high...

The gall wasp genus Eschatocerus (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae, Eschatocerini), a cynipid genus of gall inducers on Prosopis and Acacia species (Fabaceae), endemic to southern South America, is revised. Complete descriptions of the external morphology of the genus and its three known species, illustrated with scanning electron photographs, are given for the first time, and an updated key for the iden...

The highly diastereoselective anti-aminohydroxylation of (E)-gamma-tri-iso-propylsilyloxy-alpha,beta-unsaturated esters, via conjugate addition of lithium (S)-N-benzyl-N-(alpha-methylbenzyl)amide and subsequent in situ enolate oxidation with (+)-(camphorsulfonyl)oxaziridine, has been used as the key step in the asymmetric synthesis of N,O,O,O-tetra-acetyl d-lyxo-phytosphingosine (20% yield over...