With contributions by: Abreu, Maria C.; Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro; Agra, Maria F.; Almeida Jr., Eduardo B.; Almeida, Gracineide S.S.; Almeida, Rafael F.; Alves, Flávio M.; Alves, Marccus; Alves-Araujo, Anderson; Amaral, Maria C.E.; Amorim, André M.; Amorim, Bruno; Andrade, Ivanilza M.; Andreata, Regina H.P.; Andrino, Caroline O.; Anunciação, Elisete A.; Aona, Lidyanne Y.S.; Aranguren, Yani; Aranha Filho, João L.M.; Araújo, Andrea O.; Araújo, Ariclenes A.M.; Araújo, Diogo; Arbo, María M.; Assis, Leandro; Assis, Marta C.; Assunção, Vivian A.; Athiê-Souza, Sarah M.; Azevedo, Cecilia O.; Baitello, João B.; Barberena, Felipe F.V.A.; Barbosa, Maria R.V.; Barros, Fábio; Barros, Lucas A.V.; Barros, Michel J.F.; Baumgratz, José F.A.; Bernacci, Luis C.; Berry, Paul E.; Bigio, Narcísio C.; Biral, Leonardo; Bittrich, Volker; Borges, Rafael A.X.; Bortoluzzi, Roseli L.C.; Bove, Cláudia P.; Bovini, Massimo G.; Braga, João M.A.; Braz, Denise M.; Bringel Jr., João B.A.; Bruniera, Carla P.; Buturi, Camila V.; Cabral, Elza; Cabral, Fernanda N.; Caddah, Mayara K.; Caires, Claudenir S.; Calazans, Luana S.B.; Calió, Maria F.; Camargo, Rodrigo A.; Campbell, Lisa; Canto-Dorow, Thais S.; Carauta, Jorge P.P. †; Cardiel, José M.; Cardoso, Domingos B.O.S.; Cardoso, Leandro J.T.; Carneiro, Camila R.; Carneiro, Cláudia E.; Carneiro-Torres, Daniela S.; Carrijo, Tatiana T.; Caruzo, Maria B.R.; Carvalho, Maria L.S.; Carvalho-Silva, Micheline; Castello, Ana C.D.; Cavalheiro, Larissa; Cervi, Armando C. †; Chacon, Roberta G.; Chautems, Alain; Chiavegatto, Berenice; Chukr, Nádia S.; Coelho, Alexa A.O.P.; Coelho, Marcus A.N.; Coelho, Rubens L.G.; Cordeiro, Inês; Cordula, Elizabeth; Cornejo, Xavier; Côrtes, Ana L.A.; Costa, Andrea F.; Costa, Fabiane N.; Costa, Jorge A.S.; Costa, Leila C.; Costa-e-Silva, Maria B.; Costa-Lima, James L.; Cota, Maria R.C.; Couto, Ricardo S.; Daly, Douglas C.; De Stefano, Rodrigo D.; De Toni, Karen; Dematteis, Massimiliano; Dettke, Greta A.; Di Maio, Fernando R.; Dórea, Marcos C.; Duarte, Marília C.; Dutilh, Julie H.A.; Dutra, Valquíria F.; Echternacht, Lívia; Eggers, Lilian; Esteves, Gerleni; Ezcurra, Cecilia; Falcão Junior, Marcus J.A.; Feres, Fabíola; Fernandes, José M.; Ferreira, D.M.C.; Ferreira, Fabrício M.; Ferreira, Gabriel E.; Ferreira, Priscila P.A.; Ferreira, Silvana C.; Ferrucci, Maria S.; Fiaschi, Pedro; Filgueiras, Tarciso S.; Firens, Marcela; Flores, Andreia S.; Forero, Enrique; Forster, Wellington; Fortuna-Perez, Ana P.; Fortunato, Reneé H.; Fraga, Cláudio N.; França, Flávio; Francener, Augusto; Freitas, Joelcio; Freitas, Maria F.; Fritsch, Peter W.; Furtado, Samyra G.; Gaglioti, André L.; Garcia, Flávia C.P.; Germano Filho, Pedro; Giacomin, Leandro; Gil, André S.B.; Giulietti, Ana M.; Godoy, Silvana A.P. ; Goldenberg, Renato; Gomes da Costa, Géssica A.; Gomes, Mário; Gomes-Klein, Vera L.; Gonçalves, Eduardo Gomes; Graham, Shirley; Groppo, Milton; Guedes. Juliana S.; Guimarães, Leonardo R.S.; Guimarães, Paulo J.F.; Guimarães, Elsie F.; Gutierrez, Raul; Harley, Raymond; Hassemer, Gus...

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Background:Osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease are interconnected entities with pathophysiological similarities. Bisphosphonates are therapeutic options available for resorptive bone diseases; however, experimental evidence has demonstrated a role for bisphosphonates in the inhibition of atherogenesis.Methods:A systematic review of the vascular effects of bisphosphonates on atherosclerosis was performed. Vascular effects were evaluated by the thickening of the intima-media of carotid arteries and calcification of the coronary and aorta arteries. Electronic databases PubMed, The Cochrane Library, and Embase from January 1980 to May 2011 were searched.Results:Of 169 potentially relevant articles, 9 clinical trials were selected. Two articles showed the benefit of the use of etidronate (−0.038 mm, P < 0.005) and alendronate (−0.025 mm, P < 0.05) on carotid artery intima-media thickening (CIMT) after one year. One article found no changes associated with the use of alendronate. The use of risedronate was associated with a reduction of plaque score on the carotid arteries (decrease of 1% at 1 year, P = 0.015). Of those studies that evaluated the effect on coronary artery calcification (CAC), the results are conflicting: one study showed no changes with use of etidronate and in another, etidronate resulted in inhibition of the process of CAC after 1 year of follow-up (−372 mm3 in CAC score, P < 0.01). Three studies showed positive effects of etidronate on the aortic calcificaton (AC) score, showing no effect with use of ibandronate, and another showed a inhibition in the progression of the abdominal AC score with use of risendronate (P = 0.043).Conclusion:Bisphosphonates seem to have an inhibitory effect on the atherosclerotic process; however, larger placebo-controlled studies are needed to better clarify this issue.

The shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora.

Cuphea sect. Euandra subsect. Oidemation comprises a non-monophyletic group of species defined by possession of a fire-resistant xylopodium. The xylopodium is a frequent feature of plants occurring in the seasonally and ecologically dry cerrados and savannas of South America. Subsect. Oidemation has diversified particularly in these habitats in eastern Brazil and adjacent Paraguay. Twenty species and five varieties are recognised: eleven species are endemic to Brazil; one each is endemic to Paraguay and Florida, USA; and seven are distributed in Brazil and adjacent areas of Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and/or Argentina. Their morphology, including pollen and seed morphology, and chromosome numbers are reviewed. The presence of at least three major pollen types and two base chromosome numbers suggests the subsection is para- or polyphyletic; phylogenetic information based on molecular data for species of the subsection is limited. Diverse diploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid chromosome numbers point to polyploidy as an important mechanism of speciation in this group. A key to the species is accompanied by descriptions, illustrations and distribution maps.The subsection is lectotypified by C. retrorsicapilla and lectotypes are designated for C. acicularis, C. aspera, C. confertiflora, C. crulsiana, C. emarginata, C. enneanthera, C. excoriata, C. ferruginea, C. ferruginea var. acuminata, C. hyssopoides, C. remotifolia, C. retrorsicapilla, C. sperguloides, C. spermacoce var. angustata, and C. spermacoce var. elongata. A new combination is made for C. retrorsicapilla var. enneanthera.

Diplusodon is the second–largest genus of the Lythraceae with 103 species of shrubs or subshrubs endemic to the Cerrado Domain. Many species are narrow endemics, restricted to campos rupestres on quartzite rocks, while others are found in cerrado and, more rarely, in gallery, or dry forest margins. Phylogenetic relationships inferred from nuclear ITS and ETS sequences strongly support the monophyly of Diplusodon. We found four major clades, three of which are strongly correlated with endemism and are centered in the Espinhaço Range (CEP), the Plateau Goiano (PG) and the Chapada Diamantina (CD). The fourth clade was designated the Cerrado clade (C), containing species from all three centers of diversity as well as widely distributed species and several species of lower–elevation cerrado. Species with the most plesiomorphic features occur in the clades east of the São Francisco River (C, CEP, CD), while the greatest morphological diversity is found in the PG. The crown node of the genus is estimated to date to the late Pliocene, likely diversifying in the campos rupestres, where most of the later Pleistocene speciation bursts also appear to have occurred. These patterns of diversification in Diplusodon appear to agree with old stable landscapes (OSL) theory, where high levels of in situ speciation in islands of campo rupestre, possibly isolated by more intense fire regimes of the surrounding cerrado vegetation, resulted in accumulation of high numbers of microendemic species. However, the adaptability of the genus is evidenced by multiple dispersal events to lower elevation cerrado, several long–distance dispersals, notably in the C clade, and the presence, in several clades, of species found both in campo rupestre and cerrado habitats.

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