Search

Biodiversity records are of great importance, especially in light of the biodiversity crisis. Here, we present a study on the diversity of rotifers in Bolivia based on an extensive investigation of the literature published so far. Through this approach and an analysis of samples from 207 water bodies of the country, we updated the checklist of reported species. This study revealed a total of 195 species of rotifers previously reported; we identified 153 species in our samples, with 84 of them being reported for the first time in Bolivia. Thus, a total of 279 species are known at present in this country. Our findings suggest that Bolivia has a rich and diverse rotifer community, with many species likely to be unique to the region.

Among the teaching-learning virtual environments figures the Teaching Virtual Clinic that is an educational space of great transcendency in the university context of medical sciences, which contains health situations grouped in different specialties and sections with specific characteristics as for objectives and organization, what favors the integration of teaching activities with or without physical presence, and the social exchange between people that share common problems and interests, with the perspective of the permanent construction of knowledge, starting from very well defined rectors principles, as creating, sharing and collaborating.

Teaching Virtual Clinic has occupied an essential place as virtual environment of the teaching-learning process, since it supposes an essential change in the university didactics of medical sciences, that demands a more dynamic, interactive and active teaching process in the treatment of health situations, based on the social exchange between people that share similar problems and interests, and with the perspective of the permanent construction of knowledge, starting from well defined guiding principles, as creating, sharing and collaborating.

Due to the emergence of the information and communication technologies, transformations have emerged in the educational systems, to advance toward new teaching models that place the professional staff in the center during post degree training, and which potentiate their abilities to learn in an on-line interconnected and cooperative atmosphere. Some of the current difficulties which have arisen with the implementation of MEDISAN in the platform Open Journal Systems are exposed in this work, that demand a digital literacy and which make of these technologies effective tools that should be incorporate as an educational innovation process, to satisfy the professional's needs in the investigative environment, by means of the access to new interactive platforms.

Se realizó una investigación de desarrollo en la Facultad de Estomatología de la Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Santiago de Cuba, durante los cursos 2012 - 2013 y 2013 - 2014, con vistas a identificar las limitaciones de estudiantes y profesionales en la realización de la entrevista médico-paciente en idioma inglés en las especialidades odontológicas. Se emplearon métodos teóricos y empíricos. Los resultados obtenidos sustentaron la elaboración de una guía didáctica con preguntas, indicaciones y orientaciones, que permite la adquisición del lenguaje específico de la profesión, con la cual se logra contribuir a la formación de la competencia comunicativa al considerar los aspectos fundamentales de esta entrevista y una mejor utilización del idioma inglés como lengua extranjera

At present, the warehouse of information sources in thousands of journals makes very difficult the correct identification and recovery of the scientific production of researchers. During the last years, attempts of different organizations have been made to create a permanent unique register for authors, which permits to identify their articles wherever they are published and without taking into account the specificity in the author’s name, publishing and processing practices in data bases, and different bibliographic description styles as well. Among these identifiers ORCID (Open Researcher and Contribution ID) has had the greatest possibilities of becoming universal to achieve visibility and positioning of Latin-American universities in the present international context, that´s why MEDISAN will start showing the ORCID register of its authors from January 2017 on.

En la actualidad el auge de la información en miles de revistas dificulta la correcta identificación y recuperación de la producción científica de los investigadores. Durante los últimos años se han realizado intentos por parte de distintas organizaciones para crear un registro único permanente para los autores, que permita identificar sus artículos dondequiera que estos se ubiquen y con independencia de las especificidades de la escritura del nombre de los autores, las prácticas editoriales y el procesamiento en las bases de datos, así como de los diversos estilos de descripción bibliográfica. Entre estos identificadores ORCID (Open Researcher and Contribution ID), ha tenido las mayores posibilidades de universalizarse para lograr la visibilidad y el posicionamiento de las universidades de Latinoamérica en el contexto internacional actual, es por ello que la revista MEDISAN comenzará a mostrar el registro ORCID de sus autores a partir de enero del 2017

Abstract  We describe the limnological changes between 1989 and 2006 in an urban, shallow lake, Laguna Alalay, located in the Andean valley of Cochabamba (Bolivia). Until 1960, water diversion to the lake was used to lower the inundation risk of Cochabamba city. In the 1980s and 1990s, the high waterfowl diversity and recreational services provided by the lake increased its conservation value. However, the population increase and the discharge of wastewater rich in nutrients increased eutrophication, and the lake became characterized by an annual alternation of submerged macrophytes and phytoplankton. The main aim of the present study is to analyze the response of the lake to manipulations implemented by local authorities: (a) sediment removal and accidental introduction of the exotic fish species Odontesthes bonariensis in 1997 and (b) manual mass removal of floating macrophytes during 2004–2006. The sediment removal and species introduction had several unpredictable consequences for the functioning of the lake, namely the transition to a permanent turbid water state and the persistent dominance of floating macrophytes. A general conclusion of our study is that any lake recovery measures in Bolivia should consider not only ecological, but also socio-economic and political aspects. Taking these into account, restoration of the submerged macrophyte-dominated state may not be that universally desirable as is widely held. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]