Dynamic capabilities in the software and information services industry. A case-study analysis in Argentina from a business model perspective Obaya, Martín; Robert, Veronica; Lerena, Octavio; Yoguel, Gabriel Leopoldo This study explores the relation between the strategies and business models (BM) configurations and the capability-augmenting efforts pursued software and information services (SIS). Through a multiple case-study research design, examining four SIS firms operating in Argentina, it seeks to understand, in particular, the nature of the dynamic capabilities (DC) developed by these firms, i.e. their ability to integrate, reconfigure and enlarge their base of strategic resources and ordinary capabilities. The findings of the study shed light on the two-way relation between the components of the BM and the nature DC. In the case of standardized product-oriented strategies, firms privilege integrating ‘sense’ DC to grasp market’s needs and demands with ‘seize’ DC to develop products able to exploit commercialization opportunities. In service-oriented strategies, ‘sense’ DC are focused on the identification of the features among the wide variety of customers’ demands which are scalable. Whereas ‘seize’ DC are rather focused on project management skills to integrate the architectures and accumulated reusable pieces of codes with capabilities to continuous improvement processes.

Bodies in the tip: Deaths and politicised deaths in Buenos Aires's refuse Perelman, Mariano Daniel The appearance of corpses in rubbish tips is not a recent phenomenon. In Argentina, tips have served not only as sites for the disposal of bodies but also as murder scenes. Many of these other bodies found in such places belong to individuals who have suered violent deaths, which go on to become public issues, or else are ‘politicised deaths’. Focusing on two cases that have received diering degrees of social, political and media attention – Diego Duarte, a 15-year-old boy from a poor background who went waste-picking on an open dump and never came back, and Ángeles Rawson, a girl of 16 murdered in the middle-class neighbourhood of Colegiales, whose body was found in the same tip – this article deals with the social meanings of bodies that appear in landlls. In each case, there followed a series of events that placed a certain construction on the death – and, more importantly, the life – of the victim. Corpses, once recognised, become people, and through this process they are given new life. It is my contention that bodies in rubbish tips express – and congure – not only the limits of the social but also, in some cases, the limits of the human itse

Entre la educación estatal y la privada: el dilema ideológico del judeo-progresismo argentino (1955-1995); Between State and Private Education: the Ideological Dilemma of Argentine Progressive Jews (1955-1995) Visacovsky, Saba Nerina El presente artículo reconstruye un dilema político-educativo que atravesó a los judíos progresistas argentinos adheridos al Idisher Cultur Farband o ICUF (Federación de Entidades Culturales Judías), entre 1955 y 1995. Los «icufistas» (de ahora en más), cercanos al Partido Comunista, defendieron con vehemencia los principios de la educación laica, gratuita y obligatoria plasmada en la Ley 1420 (1884), y los postulados de autonomía, co-gobierno y libertad de cátedra de la Reforma Universitaria (1918). En 1958, frente al conflicto «laica o libre», que polarizó a la ciudadanía entre quienes defendían una educación privada-confesional y quienes abogaban por la exclusividad de un estado laico educador, los icufistas se manifestaron activamente junto a estos últimos. Paralelamente a ello, sostenían una red de escuelas idiomáticas en ídish (shules) fundadas por los inmigrantes, que cumplían un rol «complementario» y fueron declinando hacia la década del sesenta. Para salvarlas había que convertirlas en escuelas integrales privadas de tiempo completo, pero aquello iba en contra de sus principios a favor de una educación pública e igualitaria. En el IX° Congreso del ICUF, en 1968, los delegados de todo el país votaron a favor de seguir con los shules hasta donde se pudiera, pero no competir con la escuela estatal. Sin embargo, en los noventa, dos décadas más tarde, el ICUF acompañó la apertura de una escuela laica privada en una de sus instituciones; ¿qué transformaciones sociales y políticas generaron este cambio?, ¿cómo lograron compatibilizar un discurso a favor de la educación estatal y el desarrollo de una escuela privada? Basado en un extenso trabajo de investigación, este artículo analiza, a la luz del contexto nacional e internacional, los dilemas educativos de ese colectivo judeo-progresista, identificado con los sectores medios argentinos.; This article reconstructs a political-educational dilemma that plagued the progressive Argentine Jews of the Yiddisher Kultur Farband (YKUF), or Federation of Jewish Cultural Entities (from now on, «the Ykufists»), between 1955 and 1995. Ideologically close to the Communists, they defended the secular, gratuitous and compulsory education principles embodied in Law 1420 (1884), and the postulates of autonomy, co-government and freedom of University Reform (1918). In 1958, faced with the «secular or free» conflict, which polarized the citizenship between those who defended a private-confessional education and those who advocated the exclusiveness of a secular state education, the Ykufists actively demonstrated their affinity with the latter. Parallel to this, they supported a network of idiomatic schools in Yiddish (shules), founded by immigrants, which played a «complementary» role. These shules declined towards the 1960s. To save them, they had to be turned into full-time private schools, but that would go against their principles in favour of a public and egalitarian education. At the 9th YKUF Congress in 1968, delegates from all over the country voted to continue with the shules for as long as possible, but not to compete with the state school. However, two decades later, in the nineties, YKUF was happy for a private secular school to be opened in one of its institutions; what social and political transformations generated this change? How did they manage to reconcile a discourse in favour of state education and then green light a private school? Based on extensive research, this article analyses, in light of the national and international context, the educational dilemmas of this progressive Jewish group, which identified with the Argentine middle classes.

Acacia caven gum studies of hydrodynamic parameters Tonelli, Franco; Masuelli, Martin Alberto The acacia caven gum (ACG) is an exudate from Acacia caven tree, this gum is dissolved in water and purified by precipitation with ethanol. In this paper the intrinsic viscosity, [η], is calculated by dissimilar equations, as Huggins, Kramer, Arrhenius-Rother-Hoffmann, Staudinger & Heuer, Square (S), Square root (SR), S-SR average plot, average values of S-SR, and being Kraemer is taken as standard. The different methods are evaluated and compared. From [η] measurements are determined the molecular weight (MV) and hydrodynamic radius (RH), with values of 1060 Kg/mol and 24 nm, respectively. This polysaccharide acquires a random coil conformation with Mark-Houwink parameters of a=0.5507 and k=0.0225 cm3/g. This polysaccharide is applied as thickener, coemulsifier and gelling in different industry.

"Para no estar sin hacer nada": formación para la inserción laboral de personas inmigrantes en Barcelona; “To not be doing nothing”: labour market training for immigrants in Barcelona Yufra, Laura Cristina; Santamaría Lorenzo, Enrique En este artículo nos hemos propuesto analizar las políticas de formación que se dirigen a la inserción laboral de las personas inmigrantes en la ciudad de Barcelona. Sirviéndonos de la propuesta de Chris Shore y Susan Wright (1997) de llevar a cabo una antropología de las políticas, hemos podido reconocer la explicitación de las características ideales que se espera que presenten las personas inmigrantes. Es decir, hemos podido identificar la recurrente solicitud de atenuación o de eliminación de las particularidades culturales, que supuestamente inciden de manera negativa en su inserción laboral, así como también, la recomendación de que se muestren siempre activos en la búsqueda de empleo. De igual modo, hemos podido reconocer los procesos de descalificación de los saberes de las personas inmigrantes y su consecuente “inclusión diferencial” en el segmentado mercado de trabajo; In this article we have proposed to analyse the training policies aimed at labour market integration for immigrants in the city of Barcelona. Making use of the proposal by Chris Shore and Susan Wright (1997) to develop an anthropology of policy, we have identified the specifications of the ideal characteristics that immigrants are expected to display. In other words, we have identified recurring requests for attenuation or elimination of cultural particularities, which supposedly have a negative impact on labour market integration, as well as the recommendation that immigrants always show themselves to be actively seeking work. We have also recognised processes involving downgrading of the knowledge that immigrants have and their consequent “differential inclusion” in the segmented labour market.

Non-monetary indicators to monitor SDG targets 1.2 and 1.4: standards, availability, comparability and quality Santos, Maria Emma This report offers a review of 14 non-monetary indicators of poverty to monitor progress towards the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) “End poverty in all its forms everywhere”. The reviewed indicators are housing materials, overcrowding, housing tenure, durable goods, access to safe water and improved sanitation, access to clean sources of energy, garbage collection and nearby sources of contamination, (public) transportation, child attendance to school and adult schooling, employment, social security and access to health care. For each of these indicators the study offers (a) short motivation about the capacity to “capture the essence” of some dimension of poverty, (b) a review of the indicator’s most prevalent specification/s and an indication of the minimum international standard – if there is one – for a satisfactory achievement, (c) a general assessment of current data availability, considering the most prominent standardised household surveys across the world, and (d) discussion and recommendations on each indicator’s specification and standard to be used homogeneously across countries. Two overarching messages from this report are: (1) that it is important to continue building international consensus regarding the desirable minimum thresholds and (2) that there is still room and need for significant improvements in data collection.

A new species of Eptesicus (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) from Argentina Sánchez, Rocío Tatiana; Montani, María Eugenia; Tomasco Introini, Ivanna Haydée; Díaz, María Mónica; Barquez, Ruben Marcos En Sudamérica se distribuyen ocho especies de murciélagos del género Eptesicus de las cuales cuatro están presentes en Argentina. Aquí describimos una nueva especie de este género sobre la base de ejemplares procedentes de la provincia de La Rioja y un ejemplar de la provincia de Mendoza, Argentina, depositado en una colección de museo. Esta nueva especie se distingue de las otras especies del género Eptesicus por su coloración dorada a marrón amarillenta, por el fuerte contraste entre la coloración dorsal y la ventral, el antebrazo grande (> 41 mm) y el pelaje dorsal relativamente corto (~6 mm). Se incluye una descripción detallada de la morfología externa y craneal de la nueva especie y se compara con especies de tamaño similar y presentes en el área de distribución. Se realizó una prueba de Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney y un Análisis de Función Lineal Discriminante, con el objetivo de evaluar las diferencias morfométricas entre las especies de Eptesicus. Las filogenias obtenidas por diferentes criterios y con el uso de diferentes genes son coincidentes en cuanto a las relaciones de la nueva especie.; Eight species of the bat genus Eptesicus are distributed in South America of which four are known from Argentina. Here, we describe a new species, based on specimens collected from La Rioja Province, and one specimen from Mendoza Province, Argentina, deposited in a museum collection. This new species of Eptesicus can be distinguished from other congeners by its golden to yellowish-brown coloration, strong contrast between dorsal and ventral fur color, long forearm (> 41 mm), and by the relatively short (~ 6 mm) dorsal fur. A detailed description of the external and cranial morphology of the new species, as well as comparisons with other species of similar size, and present in the same distributional area, are included. A Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test and a discriminant linear function analysis were performed to assess the morphometric differences among species of Eptesicus. The phylogenies obtained by different criteria, as well as those obtained independently from different genes, are in agreement with regard to the relationships of the new species.

Fossils reveal long-term continuous and parallel innovation in the sacro-caudo-pelvic complex of the highly aquatic pipid frogs Gomez, Raul Orencio; Pérez Ben, Celeste Marina Within the already peculiar Bauplan of anurans, pipid frogs have evolved an array of bizarre features that are commonly linked to their highly aquatic lifestyle. Among the latter, there are several distinctive sacro-caudo-pelvic features shared by extant pipids, which have been regarded as evolutionary novelties taking part of a specialized fore-aft-sliding ilio-sacral joint. Pipids and their kin (pipimorphs) have a rich fossil record documenting 130 million years of uninterrupted evolution in aquatic environments, which, along with our current understanding of their phylogeny and recently available musculoskeletal data, allows us to inquire on the patterns and processes that have led to their distinctive sacro-caudo-pelvic system with a deep-time perspective. Here, we take a phylomorphospace approach based on discrete character matrices and a scaffold tree derived from recent studies, making comparisons of morphospace occupation between pipids and other anurans, and morphospace occupation, disparity, levels of homoplasy, and shared evolving characters between different groups and/or over time across pipimorphs. In doing so, we focus on trends of morphological diversification and discuss the potential role that ecological and developmental constraints might have had in driving the evolution of the sacro-caudo-pelvic complex of pipid frogs. Our main findings reveal a pattern of continuous and parallel innovation early in the history of pipids, followed by arrested evolution of novel morphologies toward the Recent. The latter, in turn, is mirrored by rampant homoplasy in the ilio-sacral sliding joint among extant pipid frogs. This study highlights the importance of fossils in revealing macroevolutionary patterns that will be otherwise veiled based on neontological data alone.

Physiological maturity as a function of seed and pod water concentration in spring rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) Menendez, Yesica Cristina; Botto, Javier Francisco; Gomez, Nora V.; Miralles, Daniel Julio; Rondanini, Deborah Paola Determining the optimum time for rapeseed harvest is challenging due to non-uniform seed maturity resulting from asynchronous flowering and pod dehiscence from sequential racemes. Identifying physiological maturity (PM) by visual methods is subjective and results can be affected by environmental conditions. PM can be determined using a quantitative model based on seed water concentration (SWC) as previously demonstrated for several other crops, although not yet developed for rapeseed crop. The objective of this work was to study the relationship between the dynamics of seed dry weight and water concentration in seven spring rapeseed cultivars grown at two contrasting densities (15 and 60 pl m−2) in three experiments at one location in Buenos Aires (Argentina). We evaluated the timing of PM on the basis of SWC in seeds located in the main raceme, second and fourth floral branches. The evolution of seed fresh and dry weight was followed bi-weekly from the beginning of flowering to harvest maturity. In Exp. 1, the grain-filling duration ranged from 39 to 57 days (700–1100 °C d) and the growth of seeds from floral branches finished 3–8 days later than those from the main raceme. Seed dry weight at PM ranged from 2.4 to 2.7 and from 3.0 to 3.2 mg for Lynx and Monty cultivars, respectively, without significant effects of floral position or plant density. Bi-linear functions were used to fit the relationship between relative seed dry weight (RSDW) and SWC relationships (R2 from 0.85 to 0.95). Across cultivars and floral positions, PM was attained when seeds exhibited 46.3 ± 0.7% SWC (R2 = 0.90, P < 0.001, n = 441). This model was validated against independent data from Exps. 2 and 3, successfully simulating the dynamics of relative seed dry weight based on fruit WC (r = 0.88; P < 0.001, n = 275). At PM, the water content (WC) of whole pod was about 70% and the pod shattering began after this point, when the WC of the pod dropped drastically. We conclude that under non-stressful conditions, PM in rapeseed occurs at 46% SWC. Swathing can be conducted from SWC < 46%, instead of the currently recommended 35%, advancing the harvest and leaving the land available for sowing the next crop, which would represent an advantage for double cropping in intensified agricultural systems.

Impact of HIV-ART on the restoration of Th17 and Treg cells in blood and female genital mucosa Caruso, María Paula; Falivene, Juliana; Holgado, María Pía; Zurita, Diego Hernán(EXT); Laufer, Natalia Lorna; Castro, Carina Lorena; Nico, Ángeles; Maeto, Cynthia Alejandra; Salido, Jimena Patricia; Perez, Hector; Acevedo González, Horacio Anselmo; Cahn, Pedro; Sued, Omar Gustavo; Fink, Valeria Irene; Turk, Gabriela Julia Ana; Gherardi, Maria Magdalena The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of antiretroviral treatment (ART) on the proportion and functions of Th17 and Treg cells in peripheral blood and female genital tract (FGT) respectively. To this aim, samples from 41 HIV-neg, 33 HIV+ ART-naïve and 32 HIV+ ART+ subjects were obtained. In peripheral blood, altered Th17 and Th17/Treg proportions were normalized in HIV+ ART+, but certain abnormal Treg and activated T-cell proportions were still observed. In FGT, abnormal patterns of secretion for Th17-related cytokines were observed in cervical mononuclear cells (CMCs) from HIV+ women, even in those from HIV+ ART+, compared to the HIV-neg group. Moreover, these altered patterns of secretion were associated with diminished levels of CXCL5 and CXCL1 chemokines and with an immunoregulatory skew in the CCL17/CCL20 ratio in ectocervix samples of these women. Finally, ART did not restore proportions of Th17-precursor cells with gut-homing potential in PBMCs, and positive correlations between these cells and the levels of IL-17F and IL-21 production by CMCs may suggest that a better homing of these cells to the intestine could also imply a better restoration of these cells in the female genital tract. These results indicate that antiretroviral treatment did not restore Th17-related immune functions completely at the female mucosal level.

Joint species movement modeling: How do traits influence movements? Ovaskainen, Otso; Leal Ramos, Danielle; Slade, Eleanor; Merckx, Thomas; Tikhonov, Gleb; Pennanen, Juho; Pizo, Marco Aurélio; Ribeiro, Milton Cezar; Morales, Juan Manuel Joint species distribution modeling has enabled researchers to move from species‐level to community‐level analyses, leading to statistically more efficient and ecologically more informative use of data. Here, we propose joint species movement modeling (JSMM) as an analogous approach that enables inferring both species‐ and community‐level movement parameters from multispecies movement data. The species‐level movement parameters are modeled as a function of species traits and phylogenetic relationships, allowing one to ask how species traits influence movements, and whether phylogenetically related species are similar in their movement behavior. We illustrate the modeling framework with two contrasting case studies: a stochastic redistribution model for direct observations of bird movements and a spatially structured diffusion model for capture–recapture data on moth movements. In both cases, the JSMM identified several traits that explain differences in movement behavior among species, such as movement rate increasing with body size in both birds and moths. We show with simulations that the JSMM approach increases precision of species‐specific parameter estimates by borrowing information from other species that are closely related or have similar traits. The JSMM framework is applicable for many kinds of data, and it facilitates a mechanistic understanding of the causes and consequences of interspecific variation in movement behavior.

Refining predictions of population decline at species’ rear edges Vilà Cabrera, Albert; Premoli Il'grande, Andrea Cecilia; Jump, Alistair According to broad‐scale application of biogeographical theory, widespread retractions of species' rear edges should be seen in response to ongoing climate change. This prediction rests on the assumption that rear edge populations are “marginal” since they occur at the limit of the species' ecological tolerance and are expected to decline in performance as climate warming pushes them to extirpation. However, conflicts between observations and predictions are increasingly accumulating and little progress has been made in explaining this disparity. We argue that a revision of the concept of marginality is necessary, together with explicit testing of population decline, which is increasingly possible as data availability improves. Such action should be based on taking the population perspective across a species' rear edge, encompassing the ecological, geographical and genetic dimensions of marginality. Refining our understanding of rear edge populations is essential to advance our ability to monitor, predict and plan for the impacts of environmental change on species range dynamics.

Afrontando el invierno: La rana de ceja corta se reproduce y desarrolla en condiciones climáticas adversas Jara, Fabian Gaston; Cuello, Maria Elena; Úbeda, Carmen A. Los anfibios anuros del bosque andino-patagónico muestran una amplia variedad de adaptaciones a diferentes ambientes acuáticos y a condiciones ambientales regionales. Dentro de estas adaptaciones se destacan particularidades en el ciclo de vida, como por ejemplo que todo o la mayor parte del ciclo transcurra fuera del agua. Este trabajo resume información sobre el ciclo de vida del anuro Batrachyla taeniata, especie conocida como rana de ceja corta, que se reproduce desde mediados del verano hasta mediados del otoño, colocando sus huevos en el suelo húmedo inundable de los bosques donde éstos se incuban. Particularmente, nuestros estudios se llevaron a cabo en el bosque del Parque Municipal Llao Llao, donde la especie habita diferentes ambientes acuáticos. Los renacuajos eclosionan cuando las lluvias otoñales producen el ascenso del nivel de agua o durante la inundación de un humedal, en un estado de desarrollo que les permite alimentarse inmediatamente y continuar su crecimiento en el agua a muy bajas temperaturas durante varios meses antes del arribo de la primavera. A través de observaciones de campo y de la incubación de huevos en condiciones de laboratorio, pudimos determinar la alta dependencia que existe entre las precipitaciones, la temperatura y el desarrollo efectivo de los huevos y su posterior eclosión. Finalmente, señalamos los potenciales efectos del cambio climático a escala regional y cómo este fenómeno podría afectar la supervivencia de esta especie común de los bosques húmedos del Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi.; Anuran amphibians of the Andean-Patagonian forest show a wide variety of adaptations to different aquatic environments and regional environmental conditions. These adaptations include particularities in their life cycles, such as that all or most of the cycle occur out of water. This work summarizes information about the life cycle of the anuran Batrachyla taeniata, or banded wood frog, which reproduces from midsummer to midautumn, laying eggs out of the water, in the moist soil, where they are incubated. Particularly our studies were carried out in the forest of the Llao Llao Municipal Park, where the species lives in different aquatic environments. Tadpoles hatch when autumn rains cause an increase in water level or during flooding of a wetland, in a state of development that allows them to feed immediately and continue their growth in the water at low temperatures for several months before arrival of spring. Through field observations and incubation of eggs under laboratory conditions we were able to determine the high dependence that exists between precipitation, temperature and the effective development of eggs and their subsequent hatching. Finally, we point out the potential effects of climate change on a regional scale and how this phenomenon could affect the survival of this common species of rainforests of the Nahuel Huapi National Park.

The evolution of the axial skeleton intercentrum system in snakes revealed by new data from the Cretaceous snakes Dinilysia and Najash Garberoglio, Fernando Fabio; Gómez, Raúl Albero; Simões, Tiago R.; Caldwell, Michael Wayne; Apesteguía, Sebastián Snakes are an extremely modifed and long-lived clade of lizards that have either lost or highly altered many of the synapomorphies that would clearly link them to their closest sister-group among squamates. We focus here on one postcranial morphological complex, the intercentrum system which in most non-ophidian squamates is limited to the cervical and caudal regions. The Cervical Intercentrum System (CeIS) is composed of a single intercentral element that sometimes articulates with a ventral projection (hypapophyses) of the centrum; the Caudal Intercentrum System (CaIS) is formed by an intercentral element, the haemal arch/chevron bone, and paired ventral projections of the centrum, the haemapophyses. In modern snakes, the intercentrum element of the CeIS is considered lost or fused to the hypaphophysis, and the chevron bone in CaIS is considered lost. Here, we describe new specimens of the early snake Dinilysia patagonica, and reinterpret previously known specimens of Dinilysia and Najash rionegrina, that do not show the expected snake morphology. The anatomy of these fossil taxa unambiguously shows that free cervical and caudal intercentra attached to distinct downgrowths (hypapophyses and haemapophyses) of the centra, are present in basal fossil snakes, and agrees with the proposed loss of post atlas-axis intercentra in later evolving snakes.

A new specimen with skull and vertebrae of Najash rionegrina (Lepidosauria: Ophidia) from the early Late Cretaceous of Patagonia Garberoglio, Fernando Fabio; Gomez, Raul Orencio; Apesteguía, Sebastián; Caldwell, Michael Wayne; Sánchez, María L.; Veiga, Gonzalo Diego The limbed snake Najash rionegrina from the Cenomanian (early Late Cretaceous) of the La Buitrera Palaeontological Area (LBPA), northern Patagonia is a key taxon in any study of the origin and early evolution of snakes. The original concept of the taxon was based on the holotype and a number of referred specimens including an isolated partial skull; a conservative rebuttal argued this concept was too broad due to the lack of association between the holotype elements and the referred specimens. Here we describe a new snake specimen consisting of a partial skull and closely associated vertebrae from the La Buitrera Locality, one of many productive snake localities within the LBPA. The analysis of the vertebrae of the new specimen identifies distinct features shared with the vertebrae of the N. rionegrina holotype; the partial skull of the new specimen is also identical to the partial skull that formed part of the original concept of N. rionegrina. Phylogenetic analysis, using data from the type and referred specimens, and new materials described here, reconstructs N. rionegrina as a basal snake in a ?madtsoiid? clade outside of crown-group Serpentes. These new morphologies, and autapomorphies recognized in character analyses, permit the construction of a new and expanded diagnosis of N. rionegrina.

Silver Nanoparticle-Based Arrays into Mesoporous Thin Films Structures for Photoelectronic Circuits Delgado, Diana Catherine; Di Donato, Andrés Leonardo; Catalano, Paolo Nicolás; Bellino, Gabriel Martín Background: Silver nanosystems have attracted considerable attention for numerous applications in optoelectronics. The localized surface plasmon of silver nanoparticles embedded into mesoporous titania gives rise to an enhancement of local optical field in the vicinity of Ag nanoparticles which act as efficient light-trapping components, resulting in a visible wavelength-dependent photocurrent. Objective: In this paper, we synthetized patterned nanocomposites formed by titania mesoporous thin films loaded with alkanethiol functionalized Ag nanoparticles and we demonstrated that these stable and accessible nanostructures possess a photocurrent response. Method: Mesoporous thin films are created by combining sol-gel synthesis and template selfassembly. Based on a photolithography technique, silver nanoparticles were selectively photodeposited and then stabilized with octanethiols. Current vs. voltage curves with and without light were compared, where selective light wavelength measurements were achieved by using visible bandpass filters. The optofluidic behavior was evaluated by placing a drop of solutions on the mesoporous film. Results: We demonstrate photocurrent in these mesoporous thin film structures decorated with chemistabilized Ag nanoparticle-based conductive arrays, with significantly enhanced photocurrent peak at the plasmon resonant wavelength around 540 nm. Our findings offer a possibility to perform improved fluid detection with silver-mesoporous titania electronic devices. Conclusion: We showed that an optofluidic sensitive nanocomposite circuit consisting of alkanethiol-functionalized metal nanoparticles embedded in a mesoporous oxide thin film matrix can be produced.

A penalized time-frequency band feature selection and classification procedure for improved motor intention decoding in multichannel EEG Peterson, Victoria; Wyser, Dominik; Lambercy, Olivier; Spies, Ruben Daniel; Gassert, Roger Objective. Motor imagery brain-computer interfaces (MI-BCIs) based on electroencephalography (EEG), a promising technology to provide assistance and support rehabilitation of neurological patients with sensorimotor impairments, require a reliable and adaptable subject-specific model to efficiently decode motor intention. The most popular EEG feature extraction algorithm for MI-BCIs is the common spatial patterns (CSP) method, but its performance strongly depends on the predefined frequency band and time segment length for analyzing the EEG signal. Approach. In this work, a novel method for efficiently decoding motor intention for EEG-based BCIs performing multiple frequency band analysis in multiple EEG segments is presented. This decoding algorithm uses raw multichannel EEG data which are decomposed into specific temporal and frequency bands. Features are extracted at each - band by using CSP. Feature selection and classification are simultaneously performed by means of a fast procedure, based on elastic-net regression, which allows for the inclusion of a priori discriminative information into the model. The effectiveness of the proposed method is tested off-line on two public EEG-based MI-BCI datasets and on a self-acquired dataset in two configurations: multiple temporal windows and single temporal window. Main results. The experimental results show that the proposed multiple time-frequency band method yields overall accuracy improvements of up to (average accuracy of 84.8%) as compared to the best current state-of-the-art methods based on filter bank analysis and CSP for MI detection. Also, classification variability is reduced, making the proposed method more robust to intra-subject EEG fluctuations. Significance. This paper presents a novel approach for improving motor intention detection by automatically selecting subject-specific spatio-temporal-spectral features, especially when MI has to be detected against rest condition. This technique contributes to the further advancement and application of EEG-based MI-BCIs for assistance and neurorehabilitation therapy.

Sexual selection and inbreeding: Two efficient ways to limit the accumulation of deleterious mutations Noël, Elsa; Fruitet, Elise; Lelaurin, Dennyss; Bonel, Nicolás; Ségard, Adeline; Sarda, Violette; Jarne, Philippe; David, Patrice Theory and empirical data showed that two processes can boost selection against deleterious mutations, thus facilitating the purging of the mutation load: inbreeding, by exposing recessive deleterious alleles to selection in homozygous form, and sexual selection, by enhancing the relative reproductive success of males with small mutation loads. These processes tend to be mutually exclusive because sexual selection is reduced under mating systems that promote inbreeding, such as self‐fertilization in hermaphrodites. We estimated the relative efficiency of inbreeding and sexual selection at purging the genetic load, using 50 generations of experimental evolution, in a hermaphroditic snail (Physa acuta). To this end, we generated lines that were exposed to various intensities of inbreeding, sexual selection (on the male function), and nonsexual selection (on the female function). We measured how these regimes affected the mutation load, quantified through the survival of outcrossed and selfed juveniles. We found that juvenile survival strongly decreased in outbred lines with reduced male selection, but not when female selection was relaxed, showing that male‐specific sexual selection does purge deleterious mutations. However, in lines exposed to inbreeding, where sexual selection was also relaxed, survival did not decrease, and even increased for self‐fertilized juveniles, showing that purging through inbreeding can compensate for the absence of sexual selection. Our results point to the further question of whether a mixed strategy combining the advantages of both mechanisms of genetic purging could be evolutionary stable.

Fosfomycin in vivo penetration in swine intestinal cells Pérez, Denisa Soledad; Martínez, Guadalupe; Fernández Paggi, María Belén; Decundo, Julieta María; Romanelli, Agustina; Mozo, Joaquín; Dieguez, Susana Nelly; Soraci, Alejandro Luis Enteric diseases have a high economic impact on animal production, being the interstitial and intracellular fluids, the main sites of infection (biophase) of the pathogens responsible for these disorders. Fosfomycin is an antibiotic widely used for the treatment and prevention of swine infections caused by resistant bacteria. For most of the important pathogens in swine production, fosfomycin MIC90 has been established in 0.25-4 µg/mL. Calcium fosfomycin concentrations in swine intestinal cells were previously determined by in vitro and ex vivo studies, although, still now, there are no in vivo studies showing the exposure of minimum inhibitory concentrations of fosfomycin in the enteric infectious site. According to this background, the aim of this research was to determine in vivo calcium fosfomycin concentrations on swine intestinal cells. Four clinically healthy post-weaning piglets 4-5 weeks old were used. Animals were sacrificed after 15 days of calcium fosfomycin consumption in the drinking water (30 mg/kg). After slaughtering, jejunum was removed. Intracellular concentrations of the antibiotic were analyzed by HPLC MS/MS and they ranged from 0.82 to 2.05 µg/mL. These concentrations exceed the MIC90 of intestinal pathogens such as E.coli (0.5 μg/mL), although they are lower than the MIC90 of Salmonella enterica (4 μg/mL).

Encapsulation of fish oil in soybean protein particles by emulsification and spray drying Di Giorgio, Luciana; Salgado, Pablo Rodrigo; Mauri, Adriana Noemi This manuscript reports a systematic study of encapsulation of fish oil into soybean microparticles by emulsification and subsequent spray drying in order to protect it from lipid autoxidation and/or facilitate its handling for incorporation into healthy food products. In particular, the effect of the formulation and the emulsification technique on the physicochemical properties of the resulting emulsions and encapsulates was evaluated. Two emulsifying processes and four protein:oil ratios were analyzed. Soy proteins managed to encapsulate the fish oil, masking its characteristic odor and its oily texture into matrix type microcapsules, as was observed by confocal microscopy. The emulsification process was determinant in the efficiency of drying and encapsulation as well as in the protection exerted on the oil oxidative stability. Although both, emulsifying and drying processes caused certain initial oil oxidation (verified by peroxide and TBA indexes), some of the studied systems showed a good perspective of oxidative stability over time (studied by accelerated rancimat test).