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Zingiberales es el nombre de un taxón de plantas perteneciente a la categoría taxonómica de orden, utilizado por sistemas de clasificación modernos como el sistema de clasificación APG III (2009) y el APWeb (2001 en adelante), en los que pertenece a las monocotiledóneas commelínidas, y es comprendido a su vez por 8 familias. Entre sus miembros se encuentran el jengibre, la flor mariposa, el ave del paraíso, el árbol del viajero, la achira y el banano. Las familias de este orden son bien conocidas por las modificaciones de su androceo (conjunto de estambres), de forma que lo que parece ser el perianto (pétalos y sépalos) son muchas veces estambres petaloideos (aplanados, coloridos y vistosos). Los miembros de este orden están principalmente restringidos a los trópicos.

Zingiberales es un grupo monofilético bien definido, con muchas apomorfías. Son hierbas de tamaño grande, sin tallo aéreo salvo el que da las flores, con hojas claramente diferenciadas en pecíolo y lámina, muchas veces desgarradas entre las venas secundarias, con flores de simetría bilateral (pero en clados más especializados sin plano de simetría), y con semillas con arilo. (APWeb)

Las hojas usualmente grandes y pecioladas con una vena central y venas secundarias transversas (peni-paralela), y las inflorescencias coloridas y bracteadas si bien no enteramente únicas entre las monocotiledóneas sirven para identificar miembros del orden a campo.

Descripción
Introducción teórica en Terminología descriptiva de las plantas

Son hierbas bastante grandes, a veces de tamaño monstruoso (como Musa, Ravenala o Strelitzia). Falta el tallo aéreo salvo el que da las flores.

Las hojas están bien diferenciadas en pecíolo y lámina, poseen vena media, venas laterales con forma de S y venación fina transversal. La venación es pinada (más específicamente peni-paralela), las láminas están muchas veces rotas entre las venas secundarias. La ubicación de las hojas inmaduras en la yema (ptyxis) es supervoluta (es decir, las dos mitades de la lámina están enrolladas en un tubo a lo largo del eje longitudinal, una mitad enrollada completamente dentro de la otra). El pecíolo posee canales de aire alargados.

Presentan raíces que surgen de la base del hipocótilo (en inglés, "collar roots", siendo la base del hipocótilo, de donde surgen las raíces, el "collar").

La inflorescencia se caracteriza por poseer brácteas grandes y persistentes.

Las flores son grandes y de simetría bilateral (pero en clados más especializados sin plano de simetría), el perianto todo del mismo color, con cáliz y corola. Poseen 5 estambres (el sexto, el miembro adaxial del verticilo interno, no está desarrollado), las anteras son largas. El polen es inaperturado (no posee aperturas), usualmente sin exina o con exina delgada y espinulosa (el polen no es resistente a la acetolisis). El ovario es ínfero, el tegumento externo del óvulo tiene más de 3 células de espesor, la micropila es biestomal (es decir, el canal al que se llama micropila está formada por los dos tegumentos del óvulo). Las células parietales poseen 1 (a veces 2) células de espesor. Presentan las células epidérmicas del nucelo elongadas a lo largo del radio ("nucellar pad"). El estilo es largo, el estigma es grande y húmedo.

El fruto es una cápsula, las semillas poseen arilo y perisperma, y son operculadas (es decir que poseen opérculo, el opérculo de la semilla es una porción de la cubierta seminal parecida a una tapita más o menos dura, que cae en la madurez de la semilla o durante la germnación), el opérculo es testal (es decir formado por la testa, que es el tegumento externo de la semilla). En la semilla presentan un "cuello" alrededor de la micropila (que se desarrolla desde el tegumento externo y forma una estructura anular en el perisperma que rodea al opérculo). La endotesta (parte interior de la testa, esa parte de la cubierta seminal que se desarrolla desde el tegumento externo) es esclerotizada y silicifiada. Las semillas presentan endosperma (tejido nutritivo diploide producto de la doble fecundación) nuclear (formado por células con núcleo), y perisperma (tejido nutritivo diploide formado a partir de la nucela) con almidón. El embrión es parecido a un tapón ("plug"). Como todas las monocotiledóneas poseen un único cotiledón que aquí no es fotosintético y tiene lígula.

Con respecto a la anatomía: poseen cámaras de aire en hojas y tallos, los haces vasculares del pecíolo se presentan en forma de arcos en la estela, los plástidos del tubo criboso también tienen granos de almidón, las ceras cuticulares se presentan en agregados tubulares, los vasos están más o menos limitados a las raíces, y el pecíolo (y la vena media) poseen canales de aire alargados. También poseen células de sílice en el haz de la vaina, aunque no es una apomorfía de este orden solamente.

Con respecto a la sistemática molecular, los análisis moleculares de ADN muestran que en este clado hay una deleción de 6 nucleótidos en el gen 'atpA. Una deleción de esa cantidad de nucleótidos es rara por lo que se hipotetiza que estaba en el ancestro común del clado y fue heredada por sus linajes supervivientes (es decir, es una apomorfía).

Las familias de este orden son bien conocidas por las modificaciones de su androceo, de forma que lo que parece ser el perianto son muchas veces estambres petaloideos, por lo que las flores suelen ser difíciles de interpretar y las piezas no siempre son lo que parecen ser.

Se puede ver una lista completa de caracteres del orden en la página del APWeb.

 Diversidad

La diversidad taxonómica de Zingiberales está presentada hasta género a nivel mundial en la flora de Kubitzki (ed. 1998). En cada región hay floras locales, en las regiones hispanoparlantes esperablemente en español, que describen las monocotiledóneas y si se encuentran en la región, las familias, géneros y especies de Zingiberales presentes en la región que la flora abarca, y pueden ser consultadas en instituciones dedicadas a la botánica con bibliotecas accesibles al público como universidades o jardines botánicos. Las floras pueden ser antiguas y no encontrarse en ellas las últimas especies descriptas en la región, por lo que una consulta a la última literatura taxonómica primaria (las últimas monografías taxonómicas, revisiones taxonómicas y los últimos inventarios (checklists) de las especies de cada familia y sus géneros en la región) o con un especialista local que esté al tanto de ellas puede ser necesaria. Los últimos volúmenes de las floras más modernas usualmente siguen una clasificación basada en el APG -pueden tener algunas diferencias-, pero muchas familias como pueden encontrarse en floras y volúmenes más antiguos sufrieron cambios importantes en los grupos que las componen o incluso en su concepto taxonómico por lo que una comparación con la circunscripción como aquí dada puede ser necesaria para sincronizarlas.

A continuación se repasará brevemente la diversidad de Zingiberales. Su función es tener una imagen de cada familia al leer las secciones de Ecología, Filogenia y Evolución.

 Ecología Kress y Specht 2005: "Probablemente las Zingiberales ancestrales estuvieron distribuidas en tierras de la Gondwana tropical que abarcaban las actuales América, África, y sudeste de Asia con dispersiones subsecuentes entre África y América; la distribución actual de Zingiberales parece ser producto de numerosos eventos de dispersión secundarios y terciarios entre las grandes regiones tropicales del mundo. La diversificación filogenética y la dispersión biogeográfica de Zingiberales fue en parte llevada a cabo por la radiación evolutiva y la diversificación de sus polinizadores animales asociados, que incluyen murciélagos, pájaros, mamíferos no voladores, e insectos. Seis de las 8 familias de Zingiberales contienen taxones especializados para la polinización por vertebrados, lo cual parece ser el estado plesiomórfico del orden. De estas 6 familias, dos son exclusivamente polinizadas por animales (Strelitziaceae, Heliconiaceae). La polinización por insectos también ocurre en seis familias con una (Marantaceae) o posiblemente dos (Lowiaceae) predominantemente especializadas para la polinización por insectos. (Kress y Specht 2005)

"Diversidad taxonómica y distribución geográfica. El grupo parafilético de las familias bananoides exhibe una diversidad taxonómica considerablemente más baja que las familias jengibroides (el núcleo de Zingiberales). Musaceae incluye 3 géneros con 42 especies actualmente distribuidas en Asia tropical y África (Liu et al. 2002b), si bien la evidencia fósil indica que los miembros de esta familia se encontraban en Norteamérica y posiblemente Europa en el Terciario (Manchester & Kress 1993). Los 3 géneros alopátricos de Strelitziaceae se distribuyen en Madagascar (Ravenala: una especie), el sur de África (Strelitzia: 3 especies) y la Cuenca del Amazonas (Phenakospermum: una especie), mientras que su familia hermana Lowiaceae con su único género Orchidantha (15 especies) está restringido al Sudeste de Asia. La familia más grande del grupo bananoide, Heliconiaceae, está formada por un único género Heliconia con unas 200 especies encontradas primariamente en los neotrópicos, pero con seis especies en la región del Pacífico desde Samoa a Sulawesi (Kress 1990b; Berry & Kress 1991; Kress et al. 1999). (Kress y Specht 2005)

"Tres de las familias jengibroides (Zingiberaceae, Costaceae, y Marantaceae) tienen miembros encontrados en regiones tropicales lrededor del mundo. La cuarta familia, Cannaceae, comprende 11 especies dentro del único género Canna, es nativa de los trópicos del Nuevo Mundo si bien una especie, Canna indica, es comúnmente cultivada en la mayoría de las áreas tropicales. Las dos familias más grandes del orden son Zingiberaceae con unos 53 géneros y unas 1000 especies y Marantaceae que contiene unos 30 géneros y unas 500 especies. Actualmente 4 géneros y unas 150 especies son reconocidas en Costaceae (excepto en Cannaceae, los cambios en los conceptos taxonómicos en la categoría de género podría cambiar radicalmente el número de taxones reconocidos en las familias jengibroides). (Kress y Specht 2005)

"Diversidad de hábitat. Las Zingiberales se encuentran predominantemente en los trópicos húmedos (wet tropics) de Asia, África y América con unos pocos taxones (especies de Roscoea, Cautleya, Alpinia, Canna, y Thalia) alcanzando los subtrópicos y aun regiones templadas. Sería difícil encontrar una tierra baja húmeda tropical o bosque de elevación media en el que al menos muchos miembros del orden no sean componentes prominentes de la flora de debajo del dosel. Mientras que Heliconiaceae, Marantaceae, y Costaceae predominan en los neotrópicos, Zingiberaceae es más prevalente en los hábitats de debajo del dosel del Sudeste asiático. En estas regiones, Zingiberales son principalmente pequeñas a medianas hierbas, en algunos casos adquieren un hábito trepador similar al de las guiadoras (vine-like). Unas pocas especies de las zingiberáceas herbáceas (p.ej., Alpinia boia) y Heliconia (p.ej., H. titanium, H. gigantia) pueden alcanzar alturas de sus tallos que sobrepasan los 10 metros, pero sólo Ravenala madagascariensis (Strelitziaceae), una endémica de la isla de Madagascar, puede ser considerada un componente del dosel. Comúnmente referida como el árbol del viajero de Madagascar (Madagascar traveler's palm), Ravenala tiene troncos gruesos similares a los de las palmeras (palm-like) que empujan el abanico de la corona de hojas adentrándolo en las capas más altas del dosel. En adición a los hábitats bajo el dosel de bosques primarios, otros Zingiberales prefieren áreas más soleadas y ocupan o bien claros en los bosques, o márgenes de bosques y parches de sucesión secundaria abierta? (open secondary growth) a lo largo de ríos y corrientes de agua. Algunos miembros de Zingiberaceae, especialmente en la subfamilia Zingiberoideae, están adaptados a los climas monzónicos del Sudeste de Asia (Kress et al. 2002; Wood et al. 2000). Estas plantas han evolucionado la capacidad de entrar en dormición durante la estación seca cuando casi no cae lluvia por un período de 4 a 6 meses. En este lapso todas las partes sobre el nivel del suelo se desprenden y las plantas "hibernan" ("overwinter") como rizomas gruesos, carnosos que en algunas especies poseen raíces o tubérculos cargados de almidón. Justo antes o al menor signo de la estación húmeda, los individuos rompen la dormancia usualmente con tallos reproductivos y completan su ciclo durante los intensos meses de lluvias antes de que comience el próximo período seco. Algunos taxones en Marantaceae, Costaceae y Musaceae también han desarrollado esta capacidad de dormancia y se encuentran en los mismos hábitats junto con Zingiberaceae. Si bien estas plantas pueden soportar períodos significativos de condiciones extremadamente secas, no se encuentran Zingiberales distribuidos naturalmente en hábitats verdaderamente desérticos. En contraste con los Zingiberales que soportan un período extendido seco, muchas especies son consideradas como verdaderas acuáticas. Algunas Zingiberaceae (p.ej. Alpinia aquatica),
Marantaceae (Schumannianthus, Thalia spp.), Heliconiaceae (Heliconia marginata), y Cannaceae (Canna glauca y C. flaccida) se encuentran siempre creciendo a lo largo de márgenes de ríos, cuerpos de agua estancada clara (ponds), y áreas pantanosas (swampy areas) con sus rizomas enraizados bajo el agua por un significativo período del año. (Kress y Specht 2005)

"Diversificación de la biología floral y los sistemas de polinización. La amplia variación en la organización estructural básica de la flor en las 8 familias de Zingiberales (Fig. 5) indica que una diversidad significativa puede existir en la biología floral y los sistemas de polinización. La transformación evolutiva de los 5 o 6 estambres fértiles, productores de polen, de las familias bananoides a los diversos órganos petaloideos en las familias jengibroides proveen el potencial morfológico para la evolución de varios tipos de mecanismos de polinización. Las investigaciones hasta la fecha han probado que esta sugerencia es verdadera. La variedad de mecanismos de polinización es cortamente resumida aquí. Vertebrados. Todos los grandes grupos de polinizadores vertebrados han mostrado ser importantes visitantes de varios taxones de Zingiberales. Murciélagos consumidores de néctar tanto megaquirópteros como microquirópteros polinizan flores de especies de muchas familias del orden, especialmente las bananoides. En Asia algunos de los registros más antiguos de murciélagos polinizando Zingiberales documentaron la relación entre los murciélagos de la fruta consumidores de néctar () y el género Musa y posiblemente Ensete (van der Pijl 1936, Nur 1976, Itino et al. 1991). La polinización de especies del sur del Pacífico del género Heliconia por otros murciélagos megaquirópteros también ha sido mostrada (Kress 1985a). En el Neotrópico, el monotípico amazónico Phenakospermum de las strelitziáceas es dependiente de murciélagos microquirópteros de la familia Phyllostomidae para una polinización exitosa (Fig. 6, Kress y Stone 1993). Si bien las observaciones a campo tangibles todavía faltan, los caracteres florales como el tamaño y forma del perianto, el olor, y la fenología también sugieren que algunos miembros de Zingiberaceae (p.ej. especies de Alpinia en las islas del Pacífico) y Cannaceae (p.ej. Canna liliiflora de Bolivia y Perú) pueden ser primariamente polinizadas por murciélagos (Kress no publicado). La polinización por mamíferos no voladores ha sido demostrada para algunos miembros de Musaceae y Strelitziaceae. En Madagascar, el endémico Ravenala madagascariensis es polinizado por lémures, especialmente el  (Varecia variagata), el cual extrae grandes cantidades de néctar de las flores explosivas y al hacerlo transfiere polen entre las anteras y el estigma (Fig. 6, Kress et al. 1994). En adición se ha documentado que los tree shrews (especies de Tupaia) muchas veces visitan las flores de las especies silvestres de Ensete y Musa en Asia (Nur 1976, Itino et al. 1991) si bien su efectividad como polinizadores no ha sido adecuadamente documentada. Los caracteres florales y las observaciones preliminares sugieren que los tree shrews también visitan las flores de al menos una especie del género Orchidantha (O. fimbriata; Lowiaceae) en los bosques húmedos de bajas altitudes de Malasia (Kress no publicado), pero como en Musaceae, los datos tangibles sobre la polinización están ausentes. Estas flores no tienen nectarios, pero atraen a los visitantes florales por el pétalo medio, especializado, llamado labelo, que está expandido en una estructura carnosa que produce una sustancia dulce, azucarada y funciona de atractante y recompensa para estos mamíferos no voladores, crepusculares (ver más abajo las observaciones de la polinización por insectos en Lowiaceae). Las aves son el grupo más diverso de polinizadores vertebrados para los miembros de al menos 7 de las 8 familias de Zingiberales. Sunbirds (Nectarinidae) polinizan las flores de especies de Strelitzia en Sudáfrica (Frost y Frost 1981) y muchas especies del género Musa en Asia que tienen inflorescencias erectas, brillantemente coloridas (Itino et al. 1991, Kato 1996, Liu et al. 2002b). En Borneo la polinización por sunbird y spiderhunter ha sido informada para un número de géneros de debajo del estrato arbóreo de bosques húmedos de Zingiberaceae, incluyendo Amomum, Etlingera, Hornstedtia, y Plagiostachys (Classen 1987, Kato et al. 1993, Kato 1996, Sakai et al. 1999) y posiblemente Siamanthus como sugerido por Larsen y Mood (1998). El wattled honeyeater de Samoa y Fiji (Melaphagidae: Fulihao carunculata) son los polinizadores primarios de las dos especies nativas de Heliconia en estas Islas del Pacífico (Pedersen y Kress 1999). Los honeyeaters se ha documentado que son polinizadores del género Hornstedtia en Australia tropical (Ippolito y Armstrong 1993) y puede jugar un rol en la polinización del género pobremente conocido Tapeinochilos en Costaceae (Gideon 1996). Los colibríes (hummingbirds, Trochilidae) han evolucionado las relaciones filogenéticas más intrincadas como polinizadores en muchas familias de Zingiberales, primariamente Heliconiaceae, Costaceae, Zingiberaceae, y Cannaceae. En el género Heliconia amplia documentación ha sido provista sobre la ecología y evolución de características de colibríes y plantas que los vinculan en una relación altamente coevolutiva (p.ej. Stiles 1975; Linhart 1973; Kress 1985b; Feinsinger 1983; Kress & Beach 1994; Temeles et al. 2000; Temeles & Kress 2003). El largo y la curvatura de la flor, la posición de las anteras, los patrones fenológicos, y la cantidad de néctar y composición todos están asociados cercanamente con el tamaño y forma del pico (bill) así como con los requerimientos energéticos del polinizador. De todos los sistemas de polinización en Zingiberales, la relación entre heliconias y sus visitantes florales colibríes es la más concienzudamente estudiada y representa un ejemplo muy citado de coevolución y adaptación. Más trabajo de campo se necesita para investigar el rol que los colibríes juegan como polinizadores de los miembros neotropicales de Zingiberaceae (p.ej., Renealmia; Stiles 1975; Maas 1977; Kress & Beach 1994), Costaceae (Stiles 1975; Maas 1977; Sytsma & Pippen 1985; Kress & Beach 1994), Cannaceae (Kress & Beach 1994), e incluso unas pocas Marantaceae (Kennedy 2000). Insectos. Muchos grupos diferentes de insectos juegan roles importantes como vectores de polen en seis de las 8 familias de Zingiberales; Strelitziaceae y Heliconiaceae son exclusivamente polinizadas por vertebrados. Solo recientemente los escarabajos han conclusivamente demostrado polinizar las flores del género Orchidantha en Lowiaceae. Estas flores no tienen nectarios y engañan a sus polinizadores produciendo un olor fétido, como a excremento y por lo tanto atrae a los escarabajos de los excrementos a las flores (Fig. 6; Sakai & Inoue 1999). Se ha sugerido que en otras especies del género el labelo blanco imita a un hongo que también engaña a escarabajos especializados, que normalmente oviponen en hongos, para que visiten las flores (Pedersen 2003). Otra especie, O. chinensis, también produce olores fétidos, pero estas flores atraen pequeñas moscas de los excrementos, antes que escarabajos, las que se aparean en las flores y parecen facilitar la polinización en el proceso (Kress no publicados). La polinización por moscas no ha sido informada en otros Zingiberales. Las visitas florales de lepidópteros (mariposas y polillas) no han sido adecuadamente documentadas en este orden de plantas. En algunos géneros en Zingiberaceae, como Hedychium, Hitchenia, y Curcuma, las flores poseen tubos florales largos, se abren en los atardeceres, y pueden producir una fragancia fuerte, dulce, todas estas características sugieren polinización por long-tongued hawkmoths (Mood y Larsen 2001, Kress no publicado). Schumann (1904) citando estudios anteriores sugiere que tanto hawkmoths como mariposas polinizan varias especies de Hedychium, pero estas observaciones se sospecha que fueron hechas en plantas naturalizadas fuera de su distribución nativa. En Costaceae, las mariposas del género Eurybia han sido observadas visitando las flores de al menos una especie sudamericana, Costus scaber (Specht y Hanner pers. comm.). Más investigaciones de polinización por lepidópteros son por lo tanto requeridas en Zingiberaceae, Costaceae, y quizás algunas Marantaceae (p.ej. Comisia, Kennedy 2000). Las abejas son por lejos el insecto más común de los polinizadores en la categoría de especie en Zingiberales y probablemente son responsables por la polinización de la mayoría de los géneros del orden. La polinización por abejas está solo presente en un género de las familias bananoides, Musella en Musaceae donde es claramente secundariamente derivada de ancestros polinizados por vertebrados (Liu et al. 2002a). La polinización por un número de familias de abejas se encuentra en las 4 familias jengibroides y probablemente ocurre pantropicalmente, si bien es sorprendentemente pobremente documentada, especialmente en África. Documentos tempranos proveyeron evidencia de la polinización por abejas en Roscoea (Lynch 1882) y  Costus, Canna y Heliconia (Heide 1927) si bien las últimas observaciones fueron hechas en plantas no nativas, cultivadas en jardines. En el Sudeste de Asia, la polinización por ambas abejas small halictid and medium-sized anthophorid (Amegilla) ha sido demostrada (Kato et al. 193, Kato 1996, Sakai et al. 1999) en un número de géneros de Zingiberaceae (Alpinia, Amomum, Boesenbergia, Elettaria, Elettariopsis, Globba, Plagiostachys, Zingiber), Costaceae (Costus), y Marantaceae (Phacelophrynium, Stachyphrynium). En el Neotrópico la polinización por abejas es especialmente común en especies de Costus (Costaceae; Schemske 1981; Sytsma & Pippen 1985), Renealmia (Zingiberaceae; Maas 1977; Kress y Beach 1994) y al menos unas pocas especies de Canna (Cannaceae; Kress y Beach 1994). Miembros de Marantaceae poseen flores muy especializadas y altamente complejas con una presentación del polen secundaria y explosiva, y son polinizados primariamente por abejas euglossinas en los trópicos de América (Fig. 6) con Amegilla y las abejas halíctidas predominando en los trópicos del Viejo Mundo (Kennedy 1978, 2000). Dos estaminodios, que son petaloideos en las flores de las otras tres familias jengibroides, han evolucionado en un mecanismo de tipo revólver (trigger-like) en las flores de Marantaceae que permiten que solo un único efectivo polinizador visite la flor y puede promover la polinización cruzada en estas plantas (Kennedy 1978). Uno de los mecanismos florales más inusuales encontrado en Zingiberales ha evolucionado en especies de Alpinia y Amomum (Zingiberaceae) polinizadas por abejas grandes (p.ej. Xylocopa, fig. 6). Las especies que exhiben este mecanismo, llamado flexistyly (Li et al. 2001, 2002) tienen dos fenotipos florales específicos en una población: los individuos cataflexistyle poseen flores con estigmas que se mantienen erectos en la antesis y se vuelven hacia abajo al final de la mañana después de que la dehiscencia de la antera se completa, mientras que los estigmas de los individuos anaflexistyle que se vuelven hacia abajo y receptivos durante la apertura floral se vuelven reflejados hacia atrás (backwards) fuera del camino de las anteras dehiscentes de la misma flor al finalizar la mañana. Este mecanismo promueve el movimiento del polen entre individuos de los dos tipos florales en la población y aparentemente evolucionaron para asegurar la polinización cruzada. La gran diversidad floral en la familia Zingiberaceae sugiere que muchos sistemas de apareamiento interesantes y fenómenos florales, como la flexistyly, todavía tienen que ser descubiertos en esas plantas. (Kress y Specht 2005)APWeb':
Zingiberales son hierbas gigantes con flores de simetría bilateral bastante complejas, y están principalmente restringidas a los trópicos. Givnish et al. (2005, 2006) notan que la adquisición de la venación reticulada, los propágulos dispersados por animales y la tolerancia a los hábitats sombreados están vinculados en este grupo.

McKenna y Farrell (2005, 2006) discuten la diversificación de los escarabajos crisomélidos Cephaloleia en Zingiberales (también están presentes en otras comelínidas, y en Cyclanthaceae: véase también Staines 2004). Tanto la alimentación sobre los Zingiberales como la especialización de las larvas y particularmente adultos en las hojas jóvenes y enrolladas pueden haber aparecido una única vez, la asociación entre los escarabajos y Zingiberales puede datar del Cretácico muy tardío (Wilf et al. 2000, McKenna y Farrell 2006).

Las abejas euglosinas son polinizadores importantes de los Zingiberales neotropicales (Zucchi et al. 1969, Williams 1982).

 Filogenia Introducción teórica en Filogenia

La monofilia de este orden es sostenida por morfología (Dahlgren y Rasmussen 1983, Kress 1990, 1995, Stevenson y Loconte 1995, Stevenson et al. 2000, Tomlinson 1962), por análisis moleculares de ADN hechos sobre un solo gen (Chase et al. 1993,  1995b,  Smith et al. 1993, Källersjö et al. 1998, Soltis et al. 1997, Davis et al. 2004, Duvall et al. 1993), y sobre varios genes (Chase et al. 2000, Soltis et al. 2000).

Zingiberales es hermano de Commelinales, ver una discusión del clado Zingiberales+Commelinales en Commelinidae.

Una filogenia de las principales familias de Zingiberales sería así (Judd et al. 2007, modificado de Kress 1990, 1995, Kress et al. 2001, cet al. 2000, 2005, Chase et al. 2000):

Stevens en el APWeb es más conservador e incluye a Lowiaceae en su cladograma (enero de 2011):

Las relaciones filogenéticas dentro del orden fueron objeto de muchos estudios, pero todavía la mayoría de ellas no está clara. Han hecho análisis:
 Kress 1990;
 Kress 1995;
 Kress et al. 2001: el árbol mostrado por Stevens en el APWeb está basado en este estudio de 2 genes más morfología con un análisis de aproximaciones sucesivas "successive approximations". Musaceae aparece como el hermano de todo el resto pero el apoyo es débil.
 Wikström et al. 2001 con tres genes, encontró el árbol Musaceae [Heliconiacaeae [[Lowiaceae + Strelitziaceae] [el resto]]];
 Andersson y Chase 2001: Costaceae y Zingiberaceae no son obvios hermanos;
 Janssen y Bremer (2004)
 Givnish et al. (2006: un solo gen). Débil apoyo para el árbol [[Lowiaceae + Strelitziaceae], Heliconiaceae, Musaceae]
 Johansen (2005): 6 regiones de ADN, encontró que Lowiaceae y Strelitziaceae son sucesivos hermanos del resto de las Zingiberales, lo cual haría la reconstrucción de la evolución de los caracteres de las flores ambigua; pero el apoyo no fue fuerte y el muestreo fuera de Orchidanthera, el foco del trabajo, fue pobre.

Heliconiaceae, (Strelitziaceae+Lowiaceae) y Musaceae quizás constituyen un complejo parafilético, y las relaciones entre estas familias aún no está clara. Heliconiaceae se hipotetiza que es el clado hermano del núcleo, como lo sostienen posibles sinapomorfías como un estambre medio externo estéril, pétalos connados, y detalles de la anatomía de la raíz.

Strelitziaceae puede ser hermano de las familias ya mencionadas, todas poseen hojas dísticas.

Musaceae, la familia del banano, probablemente representa el clado hermano de un clado que contiene a todo el resto de las familias del orden, esta familia ha retenido la condición plesiomórfica (ancestral) de hojas de disposición espiralada.

Dentro del núcleo de las Zingiberales, las relaciones filogenéticas están muy bien comprendidas debido a cuidadosos estudios morfológicos y de ADN cloroplastídico (Dahlgren y Rasmussen 1983, Kress 1990, 1995, Kress et al. 2001, Tomlinson 1962, 1969a). Cannaceae, Marantaceae, Zingiberaceae, y Costaceae forman un clado basado en la reducción del androceo a un solo estambre funcional, la presencia de estaminodios vistosos, las semillas con más perisperma que endosperma, la falta de cristales de rafidio en los tejidos vegetativos, y las hojas que no se rompen fácilmente.

Dentro del núcleo, Marantaceae y Cannaceae se hipotetiza que son clados hermanos, como se evidencia por sus flores que no poseen plano de simetría, y su androceo con solo la mitad de un estambre fértil, la otra mitad de este estambre siendo expandida y estaminodial.

Zingiberaceae y Costaceae constituyen un clado que está sostenido por la inusual característica de poseer un solo estambre funcional más o menos aferrado al estilo, una lígula en el ápice de la vaina, los sépalos connados, los estaminodios fusionados, y la reducción de dos de los tres estigmas.

Hay que tener en cuenta que las relaciones [[Costaceae + Zingiberaceae] [Marantaceae + Cannaceae]] no son recuperadas en algunos de los análisis (por ejemplo Davis et al. 2004, pero en general los valores son muy bajos en ese trabajo; Soltis et al. 2007)

Taxonomía
Introducción teórica en Taxonomía

El orden fue reconocido por el APG III (2009), el Linear APG III (2009) le asignó los números de familia 82 a 89. El orden ya había sido reconocido por el APG II (2003).

El orden posee en total 8 familias, con unas 1980 especies. Las familias con más representantes son Cannaceae, Marantaceae y Zingiberaceae.

Según el APG III, sin cambios desde el APG II (2003), las familias son (números de familia asignados según Lineal APG III 2009):
 Strelitziaceae (familia n.º 82) familia del ave del paraíso y el árbol del viajero
 Lowiaceae (familia n.º 83)
 Heliconiaceae (familia n.º 84)
 Musaceae (familia n.º 85) familia del banano
 Cannaceae (familia n.º 86) familia de la achira
 Marantaceae (familia n.º 87)
 Costaceae (familia n.º 88)
 Zingiberaceae (familia n.º 89) familia del jengibre y la flor mariposa.

Algunos autores (como Soltis et al. 2005) sostienen que las familias más pequeñas todavía se reconocen solo por razones históricas, y deberían ser integradas a sus familias más emparentadas.

 Evolución

El grupo troncal Zingiberales data de unos 114 millones de años, la divergencia dentro del grupo de cerca de 88 millones de años (Janssen y Bremer 2004), según Bremer (2000) las fechas son de 84 y 62 millones de años, y según Wikström et al. (2001) son de 81-73 y 62-38 millones de años. Sin embargo, Kress y Specht (2005) encuentran la fecha del grupo troncal en unos 158 millones de años hasta el presente (127-121 millones de años en Kress y Specht 2006), la divergencia del grupo corona habría empezado hace 95 millones de años (144-106 según Kress y Specht 2006).

Todas las familias salvo Cannaceae y Marantaceae habrían divergido hace unos 60 millones de años (todas hace 86-74 millones de años según Kress y Specht 2006). Janssen y Bremer (2004) encontraron las fechas de divergencia dentro de Zingiberales muy amplias (las estimadas con la optimización DELTRAN fueron notablemente más jóvenes que las estimadas de las otras dos formas).

El fósil conocido es Spirematospermum'', sin ubicar en familia, del Cretácico tardío.

Véase también
 Clasificación de los organismos vegetales

Referencias citadas

Bibliografía

Enlaces externos


They, people from correct line – Mt 7:14, haven't any pastors, because all where like A.A 1:14 – A.J.
ITS ALL INSPIARING TO LISTEN TO YOUR MUSIC, YOUR PREACHINGS AND ALL THE WORK OF GOD THAT YU DO. MY COMMENT IS THAT I WILL LIKE TO HAVE THIS SPIRIT THAT PASTOR MURPHY HAS. I AM A GROWING MUSICIAN AND MOST OF THE SONGS THAT PASTOR MURPHY SINGS. ITS THE KIND OF WORSHIP THAT I WANNA HAVE AND MOVE WITH HIS SPIRIT. MY PRAYER IS THAT I WOULD LIKE GOD TO DO IT TO ME. I NEED THE KIND OF WORSHIP THAT YOU HAVE. THIS IS MY SEASON FOR GRACE FOR FAVOUR TO REAP WHAT I HAVE SOWN.
Yes indeed! I declare and decree after the last couple of years of struggles and tragic loss recently within my family. This is my season for grace and favor. So ready !!! to reap what I have sown with faith and trust.


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Home | Star Trek Starships | Star Trek Shipyards Starfleet Starships: 2151-2293 The Encyclopedia of Starfleet Ships Plus Collectible
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Pulse Play wristband keeps your tennis, squash or badminton score so you don't have to
Sick of arguing over what the score really is? One startup thinks it's found the solution
by Sam Kieldsen
Follow @samkieldsen
07 May 2015 / 12:16IST
If you play a lot of racquet sports, chances are you've forgotten the score a few times. Or you haven't, but your opponent has and claims that it's something else. This is how McEnroe-style on-court meltdowns begin.
Well, one startup claims to have invented the solution in the form of Pulse Play, a wristband that keeps track of the scores in tennis, squash, badminton and ping pong (it works for singles and doubles, too).
A tap of its button updates the score and displays it for all players to see, and you can even have it read out to you in one of 50 different voices. Including Elvis and Homer Simpson. Which seems a little excessive, but they do say variety is the spice of life.
But the experience doesn't begin and end on match day. The band and its companion app (currently available for iOS and Android) keep a record of your entire match history and statistics, allowing you to track improvements in your game and compare your performances against other Pulse Play users in your friend group, your country or the world. The app also includes an opponent finder, allowing you to locate nearby Play-wearers and arrange a match.
The wristband itself communicates with your phone via long-range Bluetooth, features a seven-segment LED screen and 15 hours of battery life per charge. It's water resistant, lightweight (32g) and comes in eight different colours.
Pulse Play is currently seeking funding via crowdfunding site Indiegogo, and at the time of writing seems certain to hit its target of US$75,000 (about ₹48 lacs). Pledging US$75 (₹4800) or more is enough to get you one of the first bands off the production line, with October currently marked as the likely date of delivery.
[Source: Indiegogo]
Top 10 Fitness Trackers
Fitbit Versa Lite


2017: Started all 12 games in which he appeared during his debut season for the Gauchos … Made his UCSB debut on Sept. 23 in a 1-0 win over Portland … UCSB went 4-0-1 in his first five starts from Sept. 23 – Oct. 7 … Tallied a season-high four shots on two occasions against UC Riverside (Sept. 30) and UC Irvine (Oct. 7) … Scored his lone goal of the season during a 5-2 win over Cal State Fullerton (Sept. 28) … Totaled 15 shots with six coming on goal.
Appeared in 15 games while making four starts as a freshman … Tallied two goals and an assist … Scored first career goal in the 1st minute of play against UC Davis on Sept. 11 … Totaled 606 minutes on the pitch … Finished with 13 shots, six of which were on target … Scored his second goal of the season at No. 17 UCSB (Sept. 21) in a 4-3 win … Recorded an assist against St. Mary's on Oct. 16.
Played four years of varsity soccer and was a two-time captain at Dunn School in Los Olivos, Calif. … Named the 2015 CIF Southern Section Player of the Year … Two-time All-CIF selection … Earned Team MVP honors and All-State accolades … Scored 27 goals with 17 assists as a senior … Played for Santa Barbara Soccer Club and was California State and Regional Champions three times …Helped the team to a National Championship in 2013 and 2016.
Sahid Conteh was born on Jun. 10, 1998 in Freetown, Sierra Leone … Parents are Isha and Unisha … Plans to major in Economics at UCSB … Most memorable sporting moment is winning the National Championship with his club team … Roots for Liverpool and his favorite athlete is Coutinho … Favorite TV show is Prison Break.


These rice balls are meant to be cooked easily and to last for a long time…but do they sacrifice flavor for function?
Rice balls, also known as "onigiri", come in all shapes, sizes and flavors. Seriously, you can have a one-kilogram (2.2-pound) literal ball of rice stuffed with edamame soybeans, a palm-size disc-shaped rice ball with a dumpling on top, or even what looks like a rice sandwich. If you've got rice stuffed with something and molded into some kind of shape, then, well, what you've got is a rice ball.
Rice balls make a great snack, but they take a bit of work to make, and they don't last long once made. But food production company Onisi released a solution to that problem last year: "instant onigiri"! They're portable rice balls that have a five-year shelf-life (before opening the package), and can be made by just adding water!
Thinking they might be good in a pinch, but wondering if they're actually tasty, we bought two flavors to try out. We started with the seaweed flavor. The ingredients say that it's composed of cooked dry rice, which is also known as "quick-cooking" rice. It also contains dry ingredients for flavoring.
,,,the rice and seaweed turned out to be dry and crispy! This conclusion was further solidified by the fact that when you close up the bag and shake it, it makes a rattling noise like dry rice.
…poured water in up to the line….
…sealed it, and shook it up!
…we let it sit. When using room-temperature water, it takes 60 minutes for one of these rice balls to be ready, so we went to watch some dog videos while we waited.
One hour later, filled with the excitement of a new food and hungry for rice balls, we came to check on it. Was it ready?
It was! It had somehow become onigiri-shaped!
…voila! A seaweed rice ball!
It looked like an ordinary, fresh rice ball. The rice was soft and fluffy, and the seaweed moist. It looked like we'd bought one from a convenience store!
So good! …is not really what we'd say about the flavor of this instant rice ball, but it's not bad. The rice tastes decent, and the seaweed has a good texture. It's without a doubt a seaweed rice ball, though its flavor is not on par with a convenience store rice ball.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what is holding this rice ball back. Maybe it's because its flavor is a little brothy, or maybe the MSG taste is too strong. Regardless, to be able to make a rice ball with just water is pretty nice.
Next we tried a salmon-flavored one. This time, we tried cooking it with hot water instead of room temperature water, which only takes 15 minutes.
As before, we opened up the top, poured the water in….
…and voila! It was done!
It was steaming hot and looked delicious! It might have been our imagination, but it looked a lot fluffier than the seaweed one. We took a bite….
…and the salmon rice ball is a lot tastier than the seaweed one! It's still got a strong MSG flavor, but it feels like a solid rice ball. At the very least, it's a lot better than those ice-cold rice balls they give you on international flights.
In any case, the flavors are decent, and being easy to make is a definite plus. They'd be great to take as a mid-adventure snack on a hike or a long trip. Plus, since they are meant to last for up to five years, they'd also be great to put into an emergency preparedness kit. It's always best to be prepared!
Officially called Nigirazu Onigiri, you can buy these instant rice balls through Onisi's web shop in packs of 10 or 30. They're priced at 2,376 yen or 7,128 yen (US$21 or $63) depending on the pack. A trial set of three is also available for 712 yen, if you're not ready for complete commitment right away.


text:
Муравьевка или Муравьёвка — название населённых пунктов.

Азербайджан
 Муравьёвка — прежнее название села Ашагы Джурали Билясуварского района.

Белоруссия
 Муравьёвка — деревня в Ошмянском районе Гродненской области.
 Муравьёвка — деревня в Щучинском районе Гродненской области.

Россия
 Муравьёвка — село в Тамбовском районе Амурской области.
 Муравьёвка — деревня в Навлинском районе Брянской области.
 Муравьёвка — село в Хлевенском районе Липецкой области.
 Муравьёвка — село в Называевском районе Омской области.
 Муравьёвка — деревня в Новодеревеньковском районе Орловской области.
 Муравьёвка — посёлок в Пензенском районе Пензенской области.

Также:
 Муравьёвки — народное название церквей, строившихся при М. Н. Муравьёве в Северо-Западном крае Российской империи в стилях, характерных для великорусских регионов (для повышения лояльности местного населения к Российской империи).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


For more specifics on the guidelines – including the list of four newly-identified groups of people whose heart health will benefit from taking cholesterol-lowering medication – oops, I mean statins only – every day for the rest of their natural lives, read yesterday's Ethical Nag post, Can Statins Prevent My Head From Exploding?
What happens next? Your doctor will now review all 284 pages of the new guidelines, and then, in a bonding moment of shared decision-making, the two of you will soon sit down together to decide upon just the right course of action – oops, I mean drug prescription – based on what the guideline authors have recommended, in turn based on an (allegedly) flawed risk calculator that's predicted to significantly increase the very large pool of daily statin-using drug takers, even among healthy individuals formerly considered low-risk for future cardiovascular disease.
But first, let's set off for a behind-the-scenes visit to the people who actually write these treatment guidelines.
Clinical practice guidelines are published recommendations intended to optimize our medical care. When doctors follow good guidelines, they're less likely to order too many or too few tests, or to prescribe the wrong treatment for us.
"More than half of the doctors who wrote clinical practice guidelines in cardiology between 2004 and 2008 served as promotional speakers on behalf of industry, and a substantial number actually held stock in companies affected by the guidelines they wrote.
"Improper bias in the production of clinical practice guidelines can have a potentially more widespread adverse effect on patient care than individual practitioners' conflicts of interest.
Increasingly, these guidelines also play an emerging role in national policy to guide reimbursement, and serve as the standard of care in medical malpractice cases.
Did I mention that Dr. Neil J. Stone, the chair of the lipid expert panel tasked with writing the cholesterol treatment section of the guidelines, appears to be a good friend of the pharmaceutical companies that make statins?
For example, according to the financial conflict of interest database Integrity in Science, the cardiology professor at Northwestern University Medical School has reported accepting money for consultations and speakers bureau presentations from what reads like a Who's Who of Big Pharma companies, including Abbott, Merck, Pfizer, Kos, Novartis, Reliant, Wyeth, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck/Schering-Plough and Sankyo – several of them funders of the clinical research trials that have boosted multi-billion dollar blockbuster global sales of the very statins they also happened to manufacture.
Stone's not alone, of course. Seven of the 15 guideline authors disclosed financial relationships with the drug industry.
"No conceivable logic can defend the practice of including promotional speakers and stockholders on clinical practice guideline writing committees.
To add some perspective here, try to imagine for a moment what would happen if referees, umpires and game officials in professional sports were to start admitting that they're regularly taking cash from team owners.
If this type of conflict of interest were openly happening in sports instead of in medicine, such clearly inappropriate financial relationships would immediately render those on the take permanently unemployable in their chosen fields.
But in medicine, we call people who take cash from drug and medical device companies "thought leaders" or "key opinion leaders" or "experts" – and then we quote them in the media and are expected to blindly accept their (allegedly) flawed cardiac risk calculators.
"Judges do not hear cases in which they have a financial interest.
"Reporters do not write stories about companies in which they have a financial interest.
The trouble is, it's getting pretty darned tricky to line up enough experts to create treatment guidelines who aren't already in bed with industry.
The NHLBI, by the way, is the same organization that famously issued guidelines two years ago calling for universal cholesterol screening of all nine-year old children.
So let me see if I have this straight: a bunch of very intelligent brainiacs with the letters M.D. after their names spend five years working very hard writing these new guidelines, and their committee co-chair now says he just can't be quite sure if the accuracy of the guidelines' (allegedly) flawed cardiovascular disease risk calculator is trustworthy or not? By the way, you can download said risk calculator from the AHA website, but frankly, you might as well simply skip this step and tell your doctor you need to take statins.
Let's see how flawed this risk calculator might actually be.
Just for fun, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen said when she used the risk calculator, plugging in a 60-year-old man with normal cholesterol levels of 100 LDL ("bad" cholesterol) and 45 HDL ("good" cholesterol) and no risk factors – normal blood pressure, no diabetes and a non-smoker – the calculator assessed that he needed to take statins. So I'm going to stop using "allegedly" flawed from now on . . .
Check out Mayo Clinic's Statin/Aspirin Shared Decision Aid that's been used at Mayo since 2005 to help their patients assess their heart disease risk. (Thanks Dr. Victor Montori at Mayo for your heads up on this patient decision-making tool).
The most disturbing issue here for me seems to be that this group of guideline writers have essentially expanded the potential statin customer base so significantly that some estimate one in three middle-aged adults could now be prescribed a statin drug, but with only minimal lip service to address significant concerns about longterm drug side effects or even the conflicting research results behind the guidelines' recommendations, particularly in primary prevention.
Even more troubling, however, this move smells like a blanket endorsement of daily pharmaceuticals as an acceptable way to achieve good health.
"There is overtreatment that's been built into the risk calculator, and this is a warning sign about the overtreatment that's built into the guidelines themselves. There aren't brakes being put on the enthusiasm and overreaching of the experts.
"As described in the guidelines, these new criteria could result in more than 45 million middle-aged Americans who do not have cardiovascular disease being recommended for consideration of statin therapy.
"If you don't have heart disease, the best way to avoid getting it is so simple, so easy to understand, and so not up to your doctor.
"We believe that the new guidelines are not adequately supported by objective data, and that statins should not be recommended for this vastly expanded class of healthy people.
"Instead of converting millions of people into statin customers, we should be focusing on the real factors that undeniably reduce the risk of heart disease: healthy diets, exercise and avoiding smoking.
* It's worth mentioning here that Dr. Paul Ridker favours using LDL, HDL and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels to assess risk instead of the new guidelines' risk calculator tool. (CRP is an indicator of inflammation, which studies like JUPITER in 2008 suggested can be as important as cholesterol in contributing to heart attacks). But Ridker himself led those landmark studies and also stands to gain financially should CRP testing become the standard for heart disease risk assessment because he shares the legal patent on the CRP testing technology. The plot thickens . . .
Can statins prevent my head from exploding?
Is your doctor a "thought leader"?
Does the medical profession need to wean itself from its "pervasive dependence" on Big Pharma money?
"Integrity in Science" – who's paying the piper?
Paying illegal kickbacks to doctors: just the cost of doing business for Big Pharma?
Who's running the show in industry-sponsored drug trials?
TheNNT website from a bunch of very brainy physicians working in emergency medicine has the most helpful explanation of the statistical concept called Number Needed to Treat that I've seen yet, along with a list of credible resource links to check NNT stats on several therapies currently recommended for a number of different conditions.
This entry was posted in Big Pharma, Health care and tagged Alison Bass, cholesterol treatment guidelines, Dr. George Mensah, Dr. John Abramson, Dr. Marcia Angell, Dr. Neil J. Stone, Dr. Rita Redberg, Dr. Robert Eckel, Dr. Stephen Nissen, Dr. Victor Montori, Mayo Clinic Statin/Aspirin Decision Aid, statins by Carolyn Thomas. Bookmark the permalink.
This is an excellent summation of the problem with the guidelines. I heard an interview with one of the people on the panel on NPR, didn't catch his name. He kept admitting that most of panel had ties to big pharma, but that they didn't vote. Right, they only sat in on the meetings for years and colored the thinking of everyone there. This is disturbing on so many levels.
Will the new guidelines become the new standard of care?
Thanks Allison – that's a fair question. A review in Lancet of the effect of clinical guidelines on medical practice found that of 59 studies, all but 4 detected "significant improvements in the process of care" after the introduction of guidelines. Of course, I guess that brings up the definition of "improvement". According to these new guidelines, improvement could be millions more people eventually taking statins.
"Just for fun, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen said when she used the risk calculator, putting in a 60-year-old man with normal cholesterol levels of 100 LDL ("bad" cholesterol) and 45 HDL ("good" cholesterol) and no risk factors – normal blood pressure, no diabetes and a non-smoker". Have YOU used the calculator yourself? This description gives a risk of 1%.
A real can of worms was opened the day medicine went from treating what is there (illness) to treating what might happen one day. Risk calculators are crystal balls dressed up as science.
I've enjoyed your posts on this issue.
You've had a heart attack. Do you take a statin? And what dosage?
I've had a heart attack, too. I've gone back and forth in the intervening five years about whether or not I should take my current cardiologist-recommended statin. He's never told me how much statin I should take; he just tells me any amount will help stave off another heart attack. I'm currently on a low dose – 10mg – regimen, because I think a low dose is as effective and much safer than a high dose.
I'm 65. I eat healthy foods, I exercise a lot. I've passed my stress test and my cardiologist tells me I can run a marathon (I do ride my bike 100 miles in a day a couple of times a year).
However, I also have heart disease, as did my father, not to mention my heart attack. So my cardiologist would like me to take a statin. Statistics from studies I've seen seem to show the risk of all-cause mortality is lowered by about a 1/3 for those who take statins, compared to those who with heart disease who don't take statins. So taking a statin seems reasonable. (By the way, off of statins, I have very good cholesterol/triglyceride readings. There is some tenuous evidence, though, that heart disease can be reversed with low LDL, so for now I'm willing to get closer to that optimal LDL number).
Furthermore, even though exercise and healthy eating might be better at protecting me from a heart attack than a statin, what's wrong with adding protection, if that's what a statin can do? After all, we don't say, if we drive a car, that we won't worry about tire pressure or if the engine has enough oil or if the brakes work, just because we wear seat belts. All the protective measure we take when we drive a car, from wearing seat belts to basic maintenance, add up to a better chance of surviving an accident.
Dave, you and I share very similar concerns about our statin prescriptions, and even a similar 5-year time span since our cardiac events. Like you, I was also prescribed a statin in hospital following my MI (Crestor 20 mg). Like you, I've read all the studies suggesting that statins for secondary prevention in patients like us show good outcomes (and really, what all patients care about more than hitting a specific intermediate endpoint like a lower LDL #, e.g. will this help prevent another heart attack?) Yet what I've learned (and written about here, here, here, here) about pervasive drug research practices like selective outcome reporting, data mining, publication bias, medical ghostwriting, marketing-based medicine, blahblahblah leaves me highly skeptical of even the most well-publicized of studies.
Like you, I eat healthy and exercise every day. Your comment re 'optimal' LDL numbers, however, is just what the new guidelines are telling us we can forget about! What's a poor patient to believe when all is said and done?!
Before taking the statin, analyze why you probably had the heart attack. Were you over stressed? If so statin drugs will not reduce your stress. Were you overworked… statins don't reduce this as well. Consider that approx 100 people need to take statins over a five year period for one person to benefit. While approx 50% stop talking them due to side effects.


Some Historical USB News: 11/04/2018 – U.S. BANK – CLIENTS WHOSE BUSINESS TRAVEL CARDS RUN ON.
But when the Treasury sold off AIG in 2012, taxpayers made a $23 billion profit. In 2008, the AIG bailout cost $182 billion. But when the Treasury sold off AIG in 2012, taxpayers made a $23 billion profit.
AIG benefits and perks, including insurance benefits, retirement benefits, and vacation policy. Reported anonymously by AIG employees.
"More than 80% of the insurance consumers are under-served. They pay a substantial premium year after year. This.
Insurance is the subject matter of the solicitation. Commencement of risk cover under the policy is subject to receipt of payable premium by Tata AIG General Insurance Company Limited. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms and conditions please refer sales brochure/policy wordings carefully, before concluding a sale.
As an example AIG insurance in the US at the start of the GFC had a $85 billion bailout to add some context to the size of the problem. HNA is busy doing fire sales of its assets to provide enough cas.
Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for. and errors and omissions insurance. In addition, this segment offers personal auto a.
The report found "questionable travel insurance marketing practices for policies that offer minimal coverage and often erect hurdles to the payment of claims. As.
Here are some of the fantastic exhibitors attending the GBTA convention: AIG Travel, Inc., a member of American. hotel content and distribution, car rental, mobile commerce and B2B payment solution.
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As I browse through the list of shows and movies that are offered for viewing on my television each night, I can't help but notice how many of these shows use foul language on a regular basis. Flipping through the stations I don't have to watch a show more than 2 minutes in some cases before I start hearing bad words. When I do hear one bad word, I promptly turn the channel onto something else. Such shows as Pawn Stars, Lizard Lick Towing, and the new Dallas series are three of the latest shows that have recently come to my attention. I can only imagine how many curse words I would hear if I watched an entire episode. This was, of course, before we acquired our TV Guardian which is a simple device that you hook up to your television which blocks all foul language in television shows and movies. Before T.V. Guardian came into my house, I had to flip through the channels and hope I didn't hear any foul language. Now, I can check out a show and if a curse word, or even a "not nice" word is uttered, the T.V. goes mute!
When I was a kid, it was rare to hear any curse words on any T.V. shows. That wasn't too long ago, and I cannot help but notice the difference in television today. The only shows I watch on a regular basis are Duck Dynasty and The Andy Griffith show. I do not agree with everything that the Robertson's on Duck Dynasty endorse, such as a praise team at their church, selling wine with the Duck Commander name on it, and Willie Robertson supporting the Left Behind movie. I do, however, support the fact that I can watch an entire episode of Duck Dynasty and I do not have to worry about hearing foul language or seeing any other inappropriate material. That is so refreshing nowadays! The Andy Griffith Show is also a great show! I wish shows nowadays were as good as those made back in the 50s and early 60s! Although The Andy Griffith Show shows dancing and social drinking at times, it is still a wonderful show that I also don't have to be concerned about having foul language or some other embarrassing material.
When it comes down to what a person watches, he or she has to think about what they are allowing their minds and the minds of their children to be exposed to. Watching a T.V. show which depicts someone using curse words or acting immorally can be an influence on you and others just as if you allowed such a person to spend time with you in your own home. Children are especially impressionable. I cannot tell you how many times I had a child for a client who cursed regularly due, in part, to what he or she was allowed to watch on television.
Ephesians 4:29 states; "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." Foul language does not help anyone. It only shows that the person using the curse words lacks the verbal capacity to think of anything else more appropriate to say. It can also become a habit, and the best way to avoid making a habit out of saying bad words is to not say one to begin with. According to Ephesians, we should only utter speech that will lift up the spirits of others rather than tear them down. We should also use speech that glorifies God (Psalm 19:14).
So, what's the best way to avoid using foul language which can be hurtful to others and is hurtful to God? Do not listen to it! Change the channel when someone on television or on a movie uses a bad word. Tell a friend or relative the error of their way if they choose to curse around you or your children. If you stand up for what is right, then you can guard yourself against temptation for wrongdoing, and likewise lead others to Christ! This not only goes for cursing, but for any sin that you witness or even do yourself. As Romans 8:31 states; "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us who can be against us?"
Since our Gospel Meeting is coming up at Campaign church of Christ this Sunday (October 26th), I wanted to talk about the importance of supporting and attending Gospel Meetings. These meetings are designed to help "revive" our love of God's Word and to make us even more excited about worshipping Him. It is also a great way to meet other church members and to hear new speakers. I have always loved attending Gospel Meetings! I remember telling my husband when we would attend these meetings together while we were dating, that going to Gospel Meetings was "like a field trip." The only difference to me between a Gospel Meeting and a field trip, however, is that a field trip is only temporary fun, but a Gospel Meeting helps me feel happy here and helps me find Eternal Happiness through God's Word.
It is important to attend Gospel Meetings for several reasons. Two big reasons are to edify ourselves and others. By attending a Gospel Meeting, Christians can "recharge their batteries" through listening to God's Word during the week. A typical week can become overwhelming at times, so getting a chance to hear a good sermon is an effective stress reliever! It allows the mind to focus on our Eternal Reward rather than the small issues we have here on Earth. It is easy to become discouraged when we face challenges in life. Attending a Gospel Meeting helps us remember that the real reason we are here is to serve the Lord, rather than focus on day to day problems that really do not matter at all. One does not have to wonder why they are here or the "meaning of life." The meaning of life is to glorify God and to keep his commandments. Leviticus 22:31 states; "Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD." A Gospel Meeting is a wonderful reminder of this fact! "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Galatians 6:9).
Not only can we edify ourselves, but we can also edify others. Just as others can be a source of comfort for us during trying times, we can be a source of comfort for them as well. Gospel Meetings typically draw a large attendance, and a person can see many people they usually do not see on a regular basis. Since we do not always have the ability to know what is going on in another person's life, we should always make a point to be cheerful and friendly to others when attending a Gospel Meeting. This is especially true for women, who are usually seated while some of the men are standing at the entrance to the church building as visitors come in. Women should greet both men and women, but make a point to focus on making visiting women feel welcome. Women enjoy talking to other women, and I know that I always feel even more welcome when women from a congregation I am visiting talk to me. When a person walks into a Gospel Meeting, he or she may be facing many challenges in life, and have come to find comfort. We, as women, are nurturers by nature, so we should be willing to show ourselves to be friendly. Who knows, but ours may be the only smile a visitor sees that day! "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do" (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
Being hospitable to others not only means being pleasant and friendly but also attending to their physical needs as well. A visiting preacher always enjoys good fellowship and a good meal so he can feel energized and able to keep preaching the Word. Many congregations either have fellowship meals at the church building each night of the Gospel meeting, or individual members help feed the visiting preacher. This shows the Gospel preacher that he is welcome and appreciated by the congregation. When I was a child, my grandparents would let a visiting preacher and his wife stay at their house the entire week of the Gospel Meeting. The visiting preacher and his wife would eat breakfast and lunch at my grandparents' house, and on each night of the Gospel Meeting, the church would hold a fellowship meal. This is the way visiting preachers were often treated years ago, and some congregations and its members still hold to this tradition. I think it's a great way to show the visiting preacher the love that Christians should have for one another. . "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10).
Another reason to attend Gospel Meetings is to teach others. The Gospel preacher holding the Meeting teaches us about the Bible and helps us keep our mind focused on God. We, too, can teach others how to be better Christians through our examples. We should invite as many as we can to the Gospel Meeting! Phone calls, cards, and handing out flyers are great ways of doing this! If we invite others to attend a Gospel Meeting, we are showing them that living the Christian life is very important to us. If we do invite others to the Meeting, we must be sure to attend ourselves. I have seen cases where visitors will come to a Gospel Meeting and say that a certain person invited them, but that person was not there. This does not leave a good impression on those who are either not baptized or just babes in Christ. By attending regularly scheduled church services, supporting your home congregation's Gospel Meeting, and Meetings held at other congregations, we are showing our love for God and for each other Let's all help ourselves and each other by attending Gospel Meetings! We do not have to attend every meeting held at every church of Christ, but we should want to at least support our home congregation! In doing so, we are helping ourselves and each other reach our reward in Heaven!
I want to invite everyone to attend our Gospel Meeting at Campaign church of Christ beginning October 26th and lasting through Wednesday, October 29th! Please see the flyer for service times!
"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25).
I am glad to see that this blog has gotten 100 views so far since its launch date Wednesday, October 15th, 2014! I am so happy that there are still those out there who want to read God's Word! I give God the Glory in this Good News! I plan to post another article soon!
During my years as a mental health Therapist, I have counseled clients ranging anywhere between the ages of 5 and 75. I have heard stories from people who come from all walks of life and I have made many attempts to help them to the fullest of my capacity. Since I chose to quit my job as a full-time Therapist to stay home with my baby, I have had time to look back on some of my clients and their stories and I am beginning to notice a common thread that ran through many of the seemingly complex and tangled issues they faced. Many of these people didn't have as much of an issue with the traumatic events that took place in their lives as they did with another problem they were dealing with on a daily basis. This problem was so severe in some cases that a client would suffer physical ailments due to this serious issue The problem I am talking about is negative thinking.
Negative thinking is a habit. Some people are more prone to do it than others, and most agree that it is a learned behavior. By learned behavior, I mean that a person is not simply born a negative thinker but he or she had to learn the habit from someone else. It usually starts early, in childhood, and goes on from there. The sequence of events usually goes the same way for most people. For example, one morning, you burn the biscuits. You then think to yourself "I have just burned the biscuits." Now, where your thought process goes from here determines whether or not you are a negative thinker. If, after mentally acknowledging what has just happened, you think of something positive to say to yourself such as " Oh well, I'll do better tomorrow morning," then that is good and healthy thinking. If, however, you think something like; "I'm horrible at cooking), then you suffer from negative thinking.
When I was in college, I was trained in what is known as Cognitive Behavior Therapy. That's just a fancy way of saying "you are what you think." In other words, if something bad happens, what we think about that event determines how we feel rather than the event itself determining how you feel. As was mentioned in the biscuit example, the more positive thought (I'll try again tomorrow) would make you feel a lot better than thinking that you are a horrible cook. There are actually 10 recognized forms of negative thinking or "cognitive distortions." I will explain those in more detail in future posts, Lord Willing.
So, what does the Bible say about negative thinking? 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says; "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? "God gave us this body and wants us to treat it well. That not only pertains to our physical well-being but also to our mental and emotional well-being. What we think affects our feelings and can also affect us physically. In my experience as a therapist, clients who complained of negative thinking also complained of chest pain, high blood pressure and emotional issues such as depression and anxiety.
Relationships can also be affected. I had a case where a woman almost divorced her husband because she was afraid that he would treat her wrongfully as her ex-boyfriend did when her husband did not give her a reason to make her think this way. I worked with her on practicing positive thinking and a couple of months later; she reported that she and her husband were happier together.
Perhaps the best verse, in my opinion, that shows how God wants us to think good and happy thoughts and not focus on the negative comes from the writing of Paul in Philippians 4:8; "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." This life on Earth is short, and we should focus more on going to Heaven rather than the small things that happen in this life.
After being blessed with my little girl for over 3 months now, I see why Jesus spoke so highly of children to his disciples in Mark 10:14 when he said" suffer the little children tocome unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." Children are gifts from God and I certainly feel that way about my baby. It's amazing how even a 3 month old can help me to put my life into perspective, and I have found that my daughter can teach me things, even at such a young age. Four things in particular come to mind when I think about the important lessons I can gather from my baby and from children in general.
2. Be Patient: When she is waiting to be fed or picked up, my baby usually doesn't cry right away. She lays and fidgets with her hands for a little while and then she starts babbling loudly. She rarely gets to the point of crying, which shows that she is willing to wait for something she wants. We, as Christians, can learn to be patient when waiting for both earthly and Spiritual gifts. Christians must not grow weary in waiting for God to reward them for living the right way in this life. Galatians 6:9 states; " And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Patience is a positive character trait that can benefit us in both this life and the next life.
3. Be Cheerful: Proverbs 15:13 says; A merry heart maketh a cheerfull countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." My baby wakes up every morning with a smile and in turn, she makes my day start off so much better! She is always happy and doesn't let things bother her for very long. We, as Christians should be the happiest people in this life because we know that, if we are faithful, we have a home in Heaven waiting for us. Those who live worldly lives do not have this blessing waiting for them. A baby is the closest being to God we can ever see in this life, and I am reminded of this fact with every smile my baby blesses me with!
4. Show unconditional love. Babies are so loving! They are eager to give and receive love no matter who you are. They show love toward others no matter what their social class or past consists of. Christians should be this loving toward both other Christians and non-Christians. We should love everyone so much that we want to see them reach Heaven. Therefore we must train our minds to not focus solely on the mistakes someone has made, but rather focus on showing love and kindness toward them. 1 Corinthians 4:13 says; " Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not, charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." My baby's innocence prohibits her from having ulterior motives for giving love. The sole purpose of her love is to unselfishly show how she feels about everyone she comes into contact with. We, as Christians, should be like babies in this way. Love and kindness can be shown in many different ways, including teaching others about God. We should seek out those who have not learned about God's Word and show love towards them through giving them the keys to Eternal Life. In so doing, we must show a loving attitude so that our word might be heard. So, showing love can have a positive affect in that it can help our relationship with other and help others have a relationship with God.
By becoming like children, we draw ourselves closer to God. Let's not think ourselves too intelligent or accomplished to learn from the smallest among us. They are newly come from God and have not yet experienced the troubles of this world. We can learn much from them and should take time each day to look at our children and mimic some of their ways. Jesus knew this when he said "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." (Luke 18:17.


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All Singapore870
North East45
Singapore660
South East72
South West51
For 2 people on Wed, 1/22
4:00 AM4:30 AM5:00 AM5:30 AM6:00 AM6:30 AM7:00 AM7:30 AM8:00 AM8:30 AM9:00 AM9:30 AM10:00 AM10:30 AM11:00 AM11:30 AM12:00 PM12:30 PM1:00 PM1:30 PM2:00 PM2:30 PM3:00 PM3:30 PM4:00 PM4:30 PM5:00 PM5:30 PM6:00 PM6:30 PM7:00 PM7:30 PM8:00 PM8:30 PM9:00 PM9:30 PM10:00 PM10:30 PM11:00 PM11:30 PM
80 Bras Basah Road Singapore, Singapore 189560
Szechuan Court
Daily - 12:00pm to 2:30pm (Dim Sum a la carte available, last order at 2:15pm)
Daily - 6:00pm to 10:30pm (Last order at 10:15pm)
A La Carte Dim Sum Buffet:
Saturday, Sunday & Public Holiday - 12:00pm to 3:00pm (Last order at 2:15pm)
Szechuan Kitchen
Monday to Sunday - 12:00pm to 3:00pm
Chinese (Sichuan)
icon/ic_parking_detailsCreated with Sketch.
Guests may park at Raffles City Shopping Centre. Carpark charges applies.
Please note that Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel the Stamford offer Valet services.
Swissotel the Stamford
$30nett for 24 hours
$15nett for 3 hours
Fairmont Singapore
$20nett for less than 24 hours
Take the MRT and alight at City Hall MRT station and walk towards the signs stating Fairmont Singapore & Swissôtel the Stamford.
Take the taxi to Fairmont Singapore & Swissôtel the Stamford lobby.
AMEX, JCB, MasterCard, Visa
Banquet, Beer, Corkage Fee, Non-Smoking, Private Room, Wheelchair Access, Wine
http://www.fairmont.com/singapore/dining/szechuancourt/
For large group bookings of 20 people and above or exclusivity, email fbsales.singapore@fairmont.com
Szechuan Court - Fairmont Singapore
An oasis of charm and elegance, the inimitable Szechuan Court & Kitchen is renowned for serving some of the finest Szechuan and Cantonese cuisine in Singapore. Accompany your meal with herbal tea or our famous eight treasures tea.
View menu on restaurant's website
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First single for up and coming Dc artist Artzie produced by Mizstration. This track gives you a cool party vibe so feel free to do your dance. This is also the first single off producer Mizstration upcoming mixtape "We Got Another one Vol One" set to drop soon.


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My first steps in windsurfing were in the mid 80's ! The first time I tasted the "Loft feeling" was in Tarifa with Monty Spindler. After 15 minutes of sailing with a proto Blade, I immediately understood that the sails worked differently! Acceleration, comfort, profile breathing ... and off-peak speed. It was in 2006… I have since that date used every year after all the new Racing Blade series, enjoying their constant evolution. I share my feelings with Monty each summer in Tarifa and test the prototypes to participate in the development of racing sails.
Living in Brittany at the tip of Finistère, frequently swept by the Atlantic depressions, Brest harbor and its spots around offer beautiful playgrounds, perfectly adapted to navigate with Loftsails in all conditions, slalom or waves. My goal at the moment : transmit my passion to my son, and he sails with Loftsails too!
Why Loftsails? the brand is back in my genes of windsurfer! because no other sails have brought me so much pleasure on the water. Sails inspire quality, performance, balance and durability. But also especially because they are developed by a talented and genius designer, who in addition is an excellent rider. Thanks Monty!


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A fashion photographer's kitbag: what Jaroslav Monchak couldn't work without...
Mirrorless and DSLR camera systems both have their place in fashion photography, and Canon Ambassador Jaroslav Monchak uses them both. Taken on a Canon EOS 5DS R with a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 50mm, 1/640 sec, f/4.0 and ISO320. © Jaroslav Monchak
Working with Canon full-frame mirrorless and DSLR cameras, fashion photographer and Canon Ambassador Jaroslav Monchak enjoys the best of both worlds with his kitbag favourites, he reveals. And not only does he mix up his camera bodies, he also uses more than just a classic 50mm lens.
Jaroslav has been shooting fashion for the past decade, and, with the advent of the Canon EOS R full-frame mirrorless camera, his workflow has started to change. For more flexible, creative photoshoots, Jaroslav favours the EOS R. Meanwhile, for the heavy lifting of commercial work, he relies on the Canon EOS 5DS R. With this approach he finds it easier to get high-quality images, no matter what the project is. "Canon's full-frame mirrorless cameras provide fast autofocus and excellent performance in such a small package. This is truly a revolution," says Jaroslav.
As a member of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers, Jaroslav represents Ukraine in the international photographic community, so it's important that his work with both natural and studio lighting is top-notch. "The light in photography is an extremely important factor for me," he says. "I like to work with both natural and artificial light, but I try not to mix them with each other."
That means the optical quality of his lenses needs to complement the high resolution and wide dynamic range of his camera bodies. Not only that, but as the founder of photography school Lighthouse, he has to keep up-to-date with the latest camera tech in order to teach his students everything they need to know.
So let's take a look at what's in Jaroslav's fashion photography kitbag, with four of his favourite, must-have Canon cameras and lenses.
In this photo for a clothing brand, the jewels on the model's outfit glow under UV light – an effect that Jaroslav and his team enhanced by painting the model's arms with UV paint. UV lights are notoriously dark, so Jaroslav also placed an LED panel alongside his UV light, with an additional blue gel, to expose the model correctly while retaining the same colour tone. A red-gelled spotlight in the background adds depth to the photo. Taken on a Canon EOS R with a Canon RF 50mm F1.2 L USM lens at 1/160 sec, f/2.8 and ISO2500. © Jaroslav Monchak
A full-frame 30.3 Megapixel sensor with impressive detail, ISO performance and Dual Pixel CMOS AF. Alongside the new RF lenses, Canon EOS R offers the ultimate shooting experience to take your storytelling further.
1. Canon EOS R
"The Canon EOS R is the body I use mostly for my personal photo shoots – the ones that are a little more creative," says Jaroslav. "The first thing I look for in a camera body is how it captures the colour and light quality of a scene. Historically, Canon bodies have done this well and the Canon EOS R is no different. The colour in the photos, straight out of camera, looks realistic."
Jaroslav also finds that, although ergonomics are of less importance to him than image quality and colour rendering, the better a camera feels in his hands, the more comfortable he is with shooting for longer.
Moving to a full-frame mirrorless body with its electronic viewfinder (EVF) has come with a short period of adjustment for Jaroslav. "The electronic viewfinder has a slight delay [in showing you the image] compared with optical viewfinders," says Jaroslav, "But the benefit of using an electronic viewfinder is that you can see the dynamic range that will be captured when you press the button. So, what you see is what you get."
This setup was created for Jaroslav's photography school, Lighthouse, to demonstrate how to use natural light combined with model direction. Jaroslav used only window light in the scene, without any reflectors, lamps, flash lighting or other light modifiers. Taken on a Canon EOS 5DS R with a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 70mm, 1/320 sec, f/3.2 and ISO500. © Jaroslav Monchak
Designed to deliver the ultimate in DSLR image quality, with 50.6-megapixel resolution and a low-pass cancellation filter that maximises the sharpness of the camera's sensor.
2. Canon EOS 5DS R
Mirrorless cameras grow in popularity, but DSLRs have lost none of their shine. For many photographers, including Jaroslav, they are still the go-to camera system for professional work. "For commercial projects, I still prefer to use the Canon EOS 5DS R because the camera has such a high resolution," he says.
The Canon EOS 5DS R packs an impressive 50.6 megapixel image sensor, which records an outstanding level of detail. "My commercial clients demand a high-quality image – often for billboards or huge posters," Jaroslav continues. "That's why the Canon EOS 5DS R is still my go-to for that. I also find the Canon EOS 5DS R has an impressive dynamic range, and that allows me to tease out detail in post-processing software that I wouldn't otherwise be able to get."
Image sensors with limited dynamic ranges will incur some loss of data in dark or bright areas, which gives much less margin for error. The wide dynamic range of the Canon EOS 5DS R, however, enables Jaroslav to enhance images lit with natural light. For example, window light – although soft and flattering for portraits – does fall off in brightness quickly. If subjects are placed further away from the window, light levels can be considerably lower. Being able to save some of the darker areas means Jaroslav can shoot naturally-lit fashion stills without the use of light modifiers like reflectors, or lamps or additional studio lighting, to introduce more light.
Here Jaroslav utilised a wider aperture on the Canon RF 50mm F1.2L USM in a low light situation. He placed the model to the right edge of the frame and relied on the lens's edge-to-edge sharpness to keep his model tack-sharp when combined with a shallow depth of field. Taken on a Canon EOS R with a Canon RF 50mm F1.2L USM lens at 1/125 sec, f/6.3 and ISO100. © Jaroslav Monchak
The RF lens that sets new standards in photographic performance, delivering supreme sharpness, extra creative control and a low-light performance that's simply remarkable.
3. Canon RF 50mm F1.2L USM
Like many fashion and portrait photographers, Jaroslav is a long-time fan of the 50mm focal length, particularly in a prime lens. He started out shooting with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM and spent years working with it in combination with the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM to give him some added reach and compressed perspective. But he upgraded to the Canon RF 50mm F1.2L USM lens when it was released, for its improved optical clarity and wider maximum aperture.
"The edge-to-edge sharpness in this lens is fantastic, especially when paired with the Canon EOS R, which I like to do," he says. "Making high-end fashion photographs, I need to ensure that the photos are crisp and sharp in every respect where I need them to be, and this lens delivers that. For me, this lens is perfect whether shooting in natural light or with studio lighting."
Having ultimate sharpness around the edge of the frame means that Jaroslav can position his models anywhere in the scene, confident that he can place the focus where he wants and get sharp and consistent results. With a wide maximum aperture of f/1.2 this also means it's good in low light.
Shot from high up above the models, Jaroslav angled the camera down as they posed. Two mirrors flanked them with lamp lights in the centre of the mirrors in the background. Taken on a Canon EOS 5DS R with a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 24mm, 1/125 sec, f/4.0 and ISO800. © Jaroslav Monchak
Another version of a similar scene was created by positioning the camera down at eye-level with the models. In this composition, there was a risk of flare due to the direct light from the lamps, but the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens elements' Super Spectra coating made short work of it to deliver a clear image. Taken on a Canon EOS 5DS R with a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 35mm, 1/125 sec, f/2.8 and ISO1250. © Jaroslav Monchak
A professional everyday L-series zoom that delivers high image quality with a constant f/2.8 aperture.
4. Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
Jaroslav's current favourite (and most used) lens is the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM. He says, "I really like the range of its focal length. I use it mainly in the photo studio, and the zoom function means I can recompose my shot without having to reposition the camera." Combining the 24mm wide-angle end of the zoom lens with a unique angle can help embellish a photograph's story.
In his image above-left, he set the lens to a 24mm focal length and shot from high above the models, aiming down. "This photograph was made for a fashion designer," he continues. "The aim of the series was to capture the elegance of the outfits, so I had to include the whole product in the final picture. I got high up above the models and used a wide-angle so that I could get in close among the mirrors that were positioned either side of me. There wasn't room for much else in the frame so I used the lamps in the background to light the scene."
Jaroslav also likes shooting directly into the sun with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM. "The coating of this lens is so good that I can shoot directly into the sunlight and be met with minimal flare in my image," he says. "That means my clients can see the product or subject better, but I can also use this backlighting style to fill the shot with energy."
The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens has two types of coatings. The Super Spectra coating helps to reduce internal flare and ghosting in the image and is optimised for each EF lens to ensure consistent colour balances across the EF range. Also, the Fluorine coating covers both the front and rear elements to protect the glass from raindrops or fingerprints.
Jaroslav says: "If I had to start my photography career all over again today, I think I'd jump straight in and buy the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens for its versatility in focal length and its wide, constant, maximum aperture throughout that focal range."
Written by Jason Parnell-Brookes
Jaroslav Monchak's kitbag
The key kit for fashion photography
A full-frame 30.3 Megapixel sensor with impressive detail, ISO performance and Dual Pixel CMOS AF. "Using the electronic viewfinder, you can see the dynamic range that will be captured when you press the button. So, what you see is what you get," says Jaroslav.
The 50.6MP full frame CMOS sensor in this DSLR is capable of recording extraordinary levels of detail. The ultra-high resolution enables extensive cropping and still delivers sharp image quality.
The RF lens that sets new standards in photographic performance, delivering supreme sharpness, extra creative control and a low-light performance that's simply remarkable. "The edge-to-edge sharpness in this lens is fantastic," says Jaroslav. "For me, this lens is perfect whether shooting in natural light or with studio lighting."
A professional-quality standard zoom that offers outstanding image quality and a fast f/2.8 aperture throughout its zoom range. Jaroslav says: "I really like the range of its focal length. I use it mainly in the photo studio, and the zoom function means I can recompose my shot without having to reposition the camera."
Photographing body painting with the Canon EOS R
Photographer Antonio Gibotta talks about shooting models covered in fluorescent paint, in a studio lit only by UV lamps.
Creative portraiture with the Canon RF 85mm F1.2L USM lens
Pro photographer Rosie Hardy reveals the story behind her first portrait shoots with the Canon EOS R and the RF 85mm F1.2L USM lens.
Javier Cortés: the lens I couldn't work without
The Canon Ambassador talks about his long-lasting love affair with his Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens.
Young Photographer: learning fashion photography
In a collaborative project with Getty Images and Canon, fashion photographer Wanda Martin teaches emerging talent Rianna Gayle her key techniques.
Inside a fashion photographer's kitbag


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Joan, John and Mary Shakespeare's first child, was baptized on September 15, 1558, according to the Holy Trinity Church parish register. Next to the entry, an "X" added by a later hand highlights its significance. Stratford's parish registers do not survive earlier than March 1558, but, given that Mary Shakespeare was single when her father, Robert Arden, made his will two years earlier in November 1556, there is no real doubt that Joan was her first child. Therefore, unless Mary was already pregnant at the time of her marriage to John Shakespeare, or Joan was born prematurely, we can date John and Mary's marriage to mid-to-late 1557.
This is the only known reference to Joan. She presumably died soon afterwards, possibly during the severe influenza and typhus epidemics of the late 1550s, which some historians believe reduced the country's population by up to 20%. However, a record of her burial has not been traced. Stratford's burial register does show a very high mortality rate from September 1558 to March 1559, but this is followed by a mere trickle of burials for the rest of the year and for much of 1560. This cannot represent a sudden and dramatic reduction in Stratford deaths, but more likely reflects a breakdown in recordkeeping as the result of the severe epidemic, one victim of which was probably John Shakespeare's daughter.
The register shown here is a 1600 copy of the one in use in 1558. If the recordkeeping was muddled or incomplete because of high mortality in the 1550s, this would have been readily apparent from the state of the original register. Its copying in 1600, however, makes it more difficult to detect the collapse in burial registration.