Microdochium bolleyi (Ascomycota: Xylariales): Physiological characterization and structural features of its association with wheat; Microdochium bolleyi (Ascomycota: Xylariales): Caracterización fisiológica y caracteres estructurales de su asociación con trigo Rothen, Carolina Paola; Miranda, María Victoria; Fracchia, Sebastian; Godeas, Alicia Margarita; Rodriguez, Maria Alejandra Las raíces de las plantas hospedan una gran diversidad de hongos, entre ellos, se encuentran los Endofitos Septados Oscuros (ESO). Microdochium bolleyi coloniza las raíces de trigo y otros cereales, aunque algunos autores lo han considerado un patógeno débil, otros han demostrado su acción biocontroladora contra patógenos agresivos del suelo. En el presente trabajo, se aisló una cepa de M. bolleyi (22-1) de raíces de trigo. Esta cepa fue metabólicamente caracterizada y se realizó un ensayo de resíntesis bajo condiciones controladas con el fin de caracterizar la colonización del hongo en la raíz bajo microscopía óptica y de transmisión. Su crecimiento fue escaso en las fuentes de carbono y nitrógeno evaluadas, sintetizó indoles en cultivo in vitro, pero no mostró habilidades para solubilizar el fósforo, por último, solo se detectó actividad amilasa. La cepa 22-1 coloniza la corteza radicular del trigo, formando clamidosporas melanizadas inter e intracelularmente y en el interior de los pelos radiculares. Microdochium bolleyi (cepa 22-1) coloniza la raíz de trigo formando las típicas estructuras de los ESO y comportándose como un “verdadero endófito”, sin embargo, se necesitan más estudios para terminar de dilucidar su papel en la asociación con el trigo.; Plant roots can be colonized by asymptomatic fungal strains belonging to several taxa, among them, the group defined as Dark Septate Endophytes (DSE). Microdochium bolleyi commonly colonizes wheat roots and other crops. It is considered a weak pathogen or even a non-pathogenic fungal species, which has also been considered as a potential biocontrol agent against aggressive soil-borne pathogens in cereal crops. We isolated a strain of M. bolleyi from wheat roots sampled in a crop field in Argentina, and characterized its abilities to grow in different carbon and nitrogen sources, to produce indole and to solubilize phosphorus; also several enzymatic activities were evaluated. In addition, resynthesis was performed under controlled conditions in order to characterize root fungal colonization under both, optical and transmission microscopy. The strain 22-1 colonized wheat root parenchymal tissue, forming chlamysdospores inside parenchymal cells and root hairs, and poorly grew in carbon and nitrogen sources. This fungus also synthesized indoles in in vitro culture, but it cannot solubilize phosphorus. Only amylase activity was detected out of seven enzymatic activity measured. Microdochium bolleyi (strain 22-1) colonized the roots, it formed typical DSE fungal structures and behaved like a “true endophyte”; however further studies are necessary to elucidate its role in the association with wheat.

State-of-the-art and recent developments of immobilized polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases for enantioseparations by high-performance liquid chromatography (2013–2017) Padró, Juan Manuel; Keunchkarian, Sonia Polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases have been recognized as one of the most powerful ones for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) separations of chiral compounds in analytical and also in preparative scale. Immobilized polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases constitute a remarkable achievement due to their stable nature on working with standard or common solvents and also with those prohibited for using with coated phases. This review is mainly focused on the i. applications of these chiral stationary phases in numerous fields of HPLC separations; ii. comparative aspects between immobilized vs. coated polysaccharide-derived phases, and iii. revision of several theoretical studies such as enantiorecognition mechanism, mobile phase composition and column temperature effects.

Ecological determinants of Tyrannus flycatcher nestling growth at north-And south-Temperate latitudes; Determinantes ecologicos del crecimiento del pichón de Tyrannus flycatcher en latitudes templadas del norte y del sur Tuero, Diego Tomas; Jahn, Alex; Husak, Michael S.; Roeder, Diane V.; Masson, Diego A.; Pucheta, Maria Florencia; Michels, Tyler J.; Quickle, Aaron; Vidoz, Julián Q.; Dominguez, Marisol; Reboreda, Juan Carlos La estrategia de historia de vida de un organismo se compone de un conjunto de caracteres fisiológicos, comportamentales y ecológicos, los cuales varían tanto a nivel intra como inter-especifico de acuerdo a la presión selectiva que opera sobre los individuos. En aves, se han propuesto dos factores ecológicos principales para explicar la variación intra e inter-especifica en el crecimiento de los pichones: la predación de nidos y la disponibilidad de alimento. Las tasas de crecimiento individuales de los pichones tienen importantes consecuencias sobre el éxito reproductivo debido a que la velocidad del crecimiento influye en el posterior rendimiento reproductivo y en la supervivencia. En el presente trabajo, estudiamos la relación entre factores ecológicos (e.g. nivel de precipitaciones y tasa de predación), y los patrones de crecimiento de pichones de dos especies de Atrapamoscas del Nuevo Mundo (Tyrannidae) del género Tyrannus (la Tijereta, T. savana y la Tijereta rosada, T. forficatus) que se reproducen a latitudes temperadas del norte y del sur. Se puso a prueba la hipótesis que la tasa de crecimiento de los pichones está influenciada por la tasa de predación de nidos y predecimos que el crecimiento de los pichones sería más rápido en especies que experimentan altas tasas de predación. También, se puso a prueba la hipótesis que la tasa de crecimiento de los pichones está relacionada con los niveles de precipitaciones (estimador de la abundancia de alimento) y predecimos que la tasa de crecimiento de los pichones sería mayor en sitios con mayores niveles de precipitaciones. La tasa de crecimiento no estuvo asociada con la tasa de predación en ninguna de las especies estudiadas, pero su variación estuvo relacionada con los niveles de precipitaciones. La tasa de crecimiento de los pichones fue mayor durante los años húmedos para la Tijereta rosada que vive en latitudes temperadas del norte. La tasa de crecimiento entre especies fue similar durante los años húmedos. Estos resultados indican que, por lo menos en una escala de tiempo ecológica, las precipitaciones explican la variación en la tasa de crecimiento tanto intra como inter-especifica en mayor grado que la predación en estas especies de Tyrannus. Finalmente, la variación en la tasa de crecimiento observada entre años secos y húmedos indica una alta plasticidad fenotípica en la tasa de crecimiento en este grupo de aves insectívoras.; An organism's life history strategy is made up of a suite of physiological, behavioral, and ecological traits, which vary at both the interspecific and intraspecific levels in accordance with selective pressures operating on individuals. For birds, 2 primary ecological factors have been proposed to explain intraspecific and interspecific variation in nestling growth: nest predation and food availability. Individual nestling growth rates have important consequences for overall fitness because growth speed could influence subsequent reproductive performance and survival. We studied the relationship between ecological factors (i.e. precipitation level and predation rate) and nestling growth patterns of 2 New World flycatcher species (Tyrannidae) of the genus Tyrannus (Fork-Tailed Flycatcher T. savana and Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher T. forficatus) breeding at south-And north-Temperate latitudes. We tested the hypothesis that nestling growth rates are driven by nest predation rates and predicted that nestling growth rates would be higher in species experiencing higher nest predation rates. We also tested the hypothesis that nestling growth rates are related to precipitation levels (a proxy for food abundance) and predicted that nestling growth rates would be higher at sites with higher precipitation levels. Growth rate was not associated with predation rate, but it varied with precipitation level, with faster nestling growth rates during wet years for the Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher living at north-Temperate latitudes. Among species, similar growth rates were found during wet years. These results indicate that, at least as proximate causes, precipitation explains intraspecific and interspecific growth rate variation in Tyrannus species to a larger degree than predation. Additionally, the variation in growth rate we observed between wet and dry years indicates a high level of plasticity in growth rate in this group of insectivorous birds.

Aqueous micellar two-phase system as an alternative method to selectively remove soy antinutritional factors Haidar, Carla Nahir; Coscueta, Ezequiel Ricardo; Cordisco, Estefanía; Nerli, Bibiana Beatriz; Pellegrini Malpiedi, Luciana In this work, different antinutritional factors (trypsin inhibitors, isoflavones and raffinose family oligosaccharides) were selectively removed from soy flour by using aqueous micellar two-phase systems (AMTPS). The effects of independent variables including temperature (30–60 °C), time (10–40 min) and solid to liquid ratio (0.025–0.050 g/L) on the extraction of each antinutritional factor were analyzed using a full factorial design. As general tendency, temperature and time were the most significant parameters (p < 0.05). The best condition for the selective recovery (97% of isoflavones at top phase, and more than 50% of the rest of ANFs at bottom phase) were 5 g/L of Genapol X-080, 0.2 moL/L of sodium citrate pH 5.00, 30 °C, 40 min and 0.050 g/L. Besides, in vitro gastrointestinal digestions assays demonstrated that the treated soy flour improved its protein digestibility. The findings of this work represent the introduction of a novel methodology to selectively remove soy antinutritional factors.

Phylogenetic relationships in Bulbostylis (Abildgaardieae: Cyperaceae) inferred from nuclear and plastid DNA sequence data Reutemann Arnolfo, Andrea Guadalupe; Ardissone, Rodrigo E.; Lopez, Maria Gabriela; Muchut, Sebastián Elías; Boldrini, Ilsi; Vegetti, Abelardo Carlos; Giussani, Liliana Mónica Previous molecular phylogenetic analyses of the family Cyperaceae based on rbcL sequences showed Bulbostylis as paraphyletic, with B. atrosanguinea and B. hispidula forming a clade with Nemum spadiceum. On the contrary, phylogenetic analyses of the tribe Abildgaardieae based on nuclear (ITS ribosomal region) and plastid sequences (trnL-F region) showed Bulbostylis as monophyletic, although they only incorporated four species of Bulbostylis and none of Nemum. In this work, we presented a phylogenetic hypothesis of Bulbostylis based on a comprehensive sampling, including species from different continents for the first time. New sequences of Abildgaardia, Crosslandia, Fimbristylis, and Nemum were included to test the monophyly of Bulbostylis. In total, 84 sequences of both ITS and trnL regions were generated. Analyses were performed using Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood, and parsimony. Ancestral state reconstruction was performed using ML, MCMC, and parsimony methods. In all analyses, Bulbostylis resulted paraphyletic as Nemum atracuminatum is nested within it. Most American species of Bulbostylis grouped together, but relationships amongst them appeared poorly resolved. Ancestral state reconstructions of native distribution suggest an African ancestor of Bulbostylis, with at least three introduction independent events of the species in America. Morphological diagnostic characters such as the ?style base permanence or detachment from the ripe achene?, and the ?micromorphological patterns of the achene surface? are homoplastic in this phylogenetic context, and therefore unsuitable to propose infrageneric groupings within the Bulbostylis.

Impact of age, clinical conditions, and lifestyle on routine semen parameters and sperm kinematics Verón, Gustavo Luis; Tissera, Andrea Daniela; Bello, Ricardo; Beltramone, Fernando; Estofan, Gustavo; Molina, Rosa Isabel; Vazquez, Monica Hebe To assess the impact of aging on routine semen and computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) motility parameters according to the current World Health Organization guidelines; and to evaluate the effect of obesity and lifestyle (alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking) in older men's semen.

The nuclear receptor field: a historical overview and future challenges Mazaira, Gisela Ileana; Zgajnar, Nadia Romina; Lotufo, Cecilia Maricel; Daneri Becerra, Cristina del Rosario; Sivils, Jeffrey C.; Soto, Olga B.; Cox, Marc B.; Galigniana, Mario Daniel In this article we summarize the birth of the field of nuclear receptors, the discovery ofuntransformed and transformed isoforms of ligand-binding macromolecules, the discovery of thethree-domain structure of the receptors, and the properties of the Hsp90-based heterocomplexresponsible for the overall structure of the oligomeric receptor and many aspects of the biologicaleffects. The discovery and properties of the subfamily of receptors called orphan receptors is alsooutlined. Novel molecular aspects of the mechanism of action of nuclear receptors and challengesto resolve in the near future are discussed.

Reactive oxygen species may be involved in the signaling of equine sperm chemotaxis Moreno, Ayelen; Dominguez, Esteban Mauricio; Losinno, Luis; Giojalas, Laura Cecilia To find out the way to the oocyte, spermatozoa may be oriented by chemical cues (e.g., progesterone), transport mechanism called chemotaxis (Eisenbach et al. Reviews Molecular Cell Biology; 2006. 4:276-285). Only capacitated spermatozoa can orient their movement by chemotaxis, where part of the signaling (at least in humans) is mediated by the AC-cAMP-PKA pathway (Teves et al. PLoS ONE; 2009. 12: e8211) and oxidative state (Sanchez et al. Fertility and Sterility; 2010. 1:150-153). The aim of this work was to verify whether reactive oxidative species (ROS) are also involved in the chemotaxis signaling and by which mechanism. Sperm samples from three stallions where frozen-thawed, removing the seminal plasma and cryoprotectant by a modified swim up. Spermatozoa were incubated in BWW media, with or without capacitating conditions (25 mM NaHCO3 and 0.3%BSA), at 38.5°C at an atmosphere of 5% CO2 on air, for 45 minutes. For sperm chemotaxis assays, the Sperm Selection Assay (SSA) device was used (Gatica et al. Molecular Human Reproduction;2013. 9: 559-569) which consists of two wells connected by a tube. Well 1 (W1) was filled with the sperm suspension and well 2 (W2) with the attractant solution, which diffused along the connecting tube as a gradient. After the SSA, chemotactic spermatozoa are accumulated in W2. The percentage of sperm accumulation in W2 was determined as the difference between with and without attractant. Since sperm capacitation and chemotaxis are tight associated, the optimal concentration of H2O2 that induces capacitation was evaluated by protein tyrosine phosphorylation (PY). The level of capacitated spermatozoa was significantly increased with 0.2 μM H2O2 (p<0.001). We next investigated whether a gradient of H2O2 stimulates the chemotaxis signaling bypassing the progesterone receptor, strategy previously followed to study whether second messengers were involved in the chemotactic signal (Teves et al. PLoS ONE; 2009. 12: e8211). Under a gradient of 0.2μM H2O2, sperm accumulation in W2 was like that observed with a 10pM gradient of progesterone (positive control), (p=0.1543), suggesting that H2O2 may be involved in the chemotactic signal. To verify the latter possibility, spermatozoa were treated with several doses of: a chelator of cAMP TAT-cAMP sponge, an inhibitor of PKA (H89), and an inhibitor of protein phosphorylation in tyrosine (PF431396) which did not affect sperm motility and did not induce the acrosome reaction, (Teves et al. PLoS ONE; 2009. 12: e8211). Then, the cells were exposed to a gradient generated by a solution of 0.2μM H2O2 placed in W2. The three treatments significantly decreased sperm accumulation in W2 mediated by chemotaxis, suggesting that the increase in H2O2 takes place before the increase in cAMP, which is followed by PKA activation and PY, pathways that may be involved in equine sperm chemotaxis.

FeCrAlloy monoliths coated with Ni/Al2O3 applied to the low-temperature production of ethylene Brussino, Paula; Bortolozzi, Juan Pablo; Sanz, Oihane; Montes, Mario; Ulla, Maria Alicia del H.; Banus, Ezequiel David This paper investigates the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to produce ethylene at low temperatures (500°C) in metallic structured substrates. To check this point, the FeCrAlloy® monoliths with different channel sizes (289 - 2360 cpsi) were prepared. The monoliths were coated with a Ni/Al2O3 catalyst (by washcoating of alumina and the latter nickel impregnation) and characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy-Dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), Temperature-Programmed Reduction (TPR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The catalytic results showed that all monoliths coated with ~300 mg of catalyst presented similar ethane conversion (15%) at  450°C. However, the lowest selectivity to ethylene was found for the monolith with the lower channel size and the higher geometric surface area, where a heterogeneous catalyst layer with Ni enriched islands was generated. Therefore, it can be said that the selectivity to ethylene is linked to the distribution of Ni species on the support (alumina). Nevertheless, in all cases the selectivity was high (above 70%). On the other hand, the stability in reaction tests of one of the coated monoliths was done. This structured catalyst proved to be more stable under reaction conditions than the powder catalyst, with an initial slight drop in the first 8 h but after that, constant activity for the 152 h left.

Proteomic study of the exponential-stationary growth phase transition in the haloarchaea Natrialba magadii and Haloferax volcanii Cerletti, Micaela; Gimenez, Maria Ines; Tröetschel, Christian; D'alessandro, Celeste Paola; Poetsch, Ansgar; de Castro, Rosana Esther; Paggi, Roberto Alejandro The dynamic changes that take place along the phases of microbial growth (lag, exponential, stationary, and death) have been widely studied in bacteria at the molecular and cellular levels, but little is known for archaea. In this study, a high-throughput approach was used to analyze and compare the proteomes of two haloarchaea during exponential and stationary growth: the neutrophilic Haloferax volcanii and the alkaliphilic Natrialba magadii. Almost 2000 proteins were identified in each species (≈50% of the predicted proteome). Among them, 532 and 432 were found to be differential between growth phases in H. volcanii and N. magadii, respectively. Changes upon entrance into stationary phase included an overall increase in proteins involved in the transport of small molecules and ions, stress response, and fatty acid catabolism. Proteins related to genetic processes and cell division showed a notorious decrease in amount. The data reported in this study not only contributes to our understanding of the exponential–stationary growth phase transition in extremophilic archaea but also provides the first comprehensive analysis of the proteome composition of N. magadii. The MS proteomics data have been deposited in the ProteomeXchange Consortium with the dataset identifier JPST000395.

Construcción de alternativas alimentarias en cuatro provincias de Argentina Perez, Daiana; Seplovich, Julieta; Gusman, Natalia; Vidal, Violeta En este trabajo reflexionamos sobre distintos procesos que buscan generar alternativas al sistema alimentario actual en nuestro país: las ferias de intercambio de semillas en Misiones; la experiencia de formación en agroecología desde la Unión de Trabajadores Rurales Sin Tierra (UST) en Mendoza; la primera feria agroecológica de la ciudad de Córdoba; y la construcción de alternativas productivas, económicas y de generación de conocimientos en Entre Ríos. Para esto previamente enmarcamos el contexto agroalimentario argentino y luego compartimos ciertas particularidades productivas e históricas de las distintas provincias seleccionadas para la investigación. Las experiencias son diversas, pero tienen algo en común: las cuatro buscan innovar y crear nuevas relaciones entre mujeres y hombres, y entre ellos y la naturaleza a partir de la producción, el consumo, el intercambio y la formación. Sus devenires serán inciertos, pero tienen una certeza: las relaciones actuales condujeron a una crisis civilizatoria.La metodología utilizada se basa en revisiones bibliográficas, entrevistas y observación participante enmarcadas en distintos proyectos de investigación y militancia. Por un lado, los apartados realizados en torno a las provincias de Córdoba y Entre Ríos forman parte de avances de tesis doctorales desarrolladas con el apoyo del sistema de becas del Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (Conicet): ?Sistemas alimentarios alternativos en el marco de la conflictividad agraria provincial: el caso de la Feria Agroecológica de Córdoba? y ?Experiencias de productores familiares en la construcción de alternativas de producción en Entre Ríos?. Por otro lado, la sección relativa a la provincia de Misiones recupera resultados de una tesis de licenciatura en antropología social sobre el Movimiento por la Semilla Campesina de Misiones y el apartado en torno a Mendoza se enmarca en un proyecto de extensión universitaria junto a la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo que realiza actividades en conjunto con la UST.

En las últimas casamatas: El movimiento estudiantil de la UBA en 1975 Millán, Mariano Ignacio En este artículo analizamos la experiencia del movimiento estudiantil de la Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) durante 1975, observando sus enfrentamientos. Se subrayan los cambios en los modos de acción, escenarios y posicionamientos políticos y universitarios respecto de los años previos. Estos elementos resultan clave para comprender la creciente influencia de las agrupaciones reformistas del Movimiento de Orientación Reformista y Franja Morada, el declive de la Juventud Universitaria Peronista, el drástico viraje de Frente de Agrupaciones Universidades De Izquierda y la circulación de ideas similares a las imperantes en los ´80.

Chronic exposure to environmental stressors enhances production of natural and specific antibodies in rats Cuervo Bustamante, Pablo Fernando; Beldomenico, Pablo Martín; Sanchez, Amorina; Pietrobon, Elisa Olivia; Valdez, Susana Ruth; Racca, Andrea Laura Although the immunosuppressive effect of chronic stress has been established, a stress response that downregulates the whole immune system does not make biological sense, especially if an animal has to endure difficult times in which there is also increased infection risk. At high animal densities, animals are faced simultaneously with food restriction (FR), social conflict (SC), and greater parasite–pathogen exposure. We hypothesized that the stress response to chronic stressors that covary with infection risk is not entirely immunosuppressive. Our prediction was that a chronically stressed animal would respond by enhancing innate defenses, while reducing investment in acquired immunity. In a laboratory setting, rats were exposed to prolonged FR and/or SC, and natural and specific antibody levels were repeatedly measured. Our prediction was fulfilled only partly, as FR and SC interacted to enhance natural antibodies, but rats exposed to either or both stressors also showed significantly higher levels of specific antibodies. These results suggest that, in the rat, chronic stress results in a prioritization of both innate and acquired humoral defenses, which makes biological sense provided the stressors examined usually signal an increased infection risk.

Enunciación, interpelación y producción de políticas educativas recientes. Preguntas desde la teorización del populismo Southwell, Myriam Monica Este artículo reseña tres momentos de la historia educacional argentina reciente, analizando cómo se organizaron los discursos en torno a las disputas por un grupo de significantes. Luego de estos desplazamientos, se presentan unas primeras reflexiones sobre la posición ideológica que se está desplegando en el presente del Estado argentino a partir del cuestionamiento de las décadas previas a través de la noción de populismo.; This article reviews three moments of recent Argentine educational history, analyzing how discourses were organized around disputes by a group of signifiers. After these displacements, we present some first reflections on the ideological position that is unfolding in the present of the Argentine State from the questioning of the previous decades through the notion of populism.

Numerical modelling of 3D sloshing experiments in rectangular tanks Battaglia, Laura; Cruchaga, Marcela; Storti, Mario Alberto; D'elia, Jorge; Núñez Aedo, Jonathan Ricardo; Reinoso, Ricardo This work encompasses numerical and experimental studies of three-dimensional (3D) sloshing problems. The two-fluid viscous flow, which is solved within a stabilized finite element context, involves liquid and gaseous phases. The free surface is captured with a level set (LS) method, including the bounded renormalization with continuous penalization technique, to avoid the well-known spreading of the marker function. Specifically, this technique is improved with a volume-preserving algorithm for long-term analyses. To verify the numerical model, the responses of free-sloshing cases are compared with analytical solutions and other results computed using a Lagrangian technique. These simulations assess the influence of considering two-dimensional (2D) and 3D analyses, as well as the effects of depth and viscosity. This work presents data obtained from a forced sloshing experiment that is specifically devoted to 3D free surface behaviour. Free surface evolution measurements are used to validate the numerical method. Moreover, the effect of the initial conditions used to promote 3D behaviour in the modelling is evaluated.

A silica/carbon composite as anode for lithium-ion batteries with a large rate capability: Experiment and theoretical considerations Lener, German; Garcia Blanco, Andres Alberto; Furlong, Octavio Javier; Nazzarro, Marcelo Sandro; Sapag, Manuel Karim; Barraco Diaz, Daniel Eugenio; Leiva, Ezequiel Pedro M. New generations of materials are necessary to provide practical and economical solutions for electrode fabrication in lithium ion batteries. To this end, in the present work we propose a negative electrode based on a SiO2/C interconnected composite able to charge/discharge at high current regimes while maintaining a very good capacity. In order to have a better understanding of the phenomena that occur in the charge/discharge process, we combined experimental techniques (XPS, DRX, EIS, etc.) with theoretical calculations based on DFT to obtain the thermodynamics of the formation of the reaction products as a function of the cell potential. These results were combined with our experiments and results from the literature to demonstrate the different reactions that could occur. The present material provides a superior performance compared with analogous materials from the literature and may thus be an important tool for obtaining practical solutions in both stationary and mobile electrical devices.

Análisis territorial y temporal del consumo eléctrico en el sector residencial de Argentina (1995-2014); Territorial and temporal analysis of electrical consumption in the residential sector of Argentina (1995-2014); Analyse territoriale et temporaire de la consommation électrique dans le secteur résidentiel de l’Argentine (1995-2014) Chevez, Pedro Joaquín; Martini, Irene; Discoli, Carlos Alberto Se presenta un análisis del consumo eléctrico residencial argentino con el objetivo de comprender: (i) la interacción entre variables climáticas y socio-demográficas en la determinación del consumo eléctrico residencial de las diferentes regiones del país; (ii) la interacción entre dichas variables y el equipamiento domiciliario en la determinación de la demanda eléctrica residencial de las distintas provincias del país; (iii) la relación entre la trayectoria de la demanda por usuario y la evolución del equipamiento a nivel nacional (1995-2014); (iv) la relación entre la demanda por usuario, salario real y tarifa utilizando como ejemplo a la ciudad de La Plata (1995-2014). Para ello, se utiliza cartografía temática, bases de datos climáticas y energéticas, el Censo Nacional y la Encuesta Nacional de Gastos de Hogares (ENGHo), que permiten caracterizar municipios y provincias, recopilar información de años anteriores, construir indicadores de equipamiento y analizar series históricas. Se observa que las mayores demandas eléctricas se presentan en regiones cálidas, justificadas por el uso del equipamiento de climatización de verano. El crecimiento histórico de la demanda a nivel nacional muestra una evolución prácticamente lineal, justificada la incorporación y el recambio de equipamiento. Asimismo, la evolución del consumo por usuario no demuestra relaciones asociadas a cambios tarifarios, subsidios o salarios.; This paper presents an analysis of the argentinean residential electricity consumption with the objective of understanding: (i) the interaction between climatic and socio-demographic variables in the determination of the residential electricity consumption of the different regions of the country; (ii) the interaction between these variables and household equipment in the determination of residential electricity demand in the different provinces of the country; (iii) the relationship between the demand per user trajectory and the evolution of the home appliances at the national level (1995-2014); and (iv) the relationship between the trajectory of demand per user, the real wage and subsidies in the last decades using as a case study the city of La Plata (1995-2014). For this purpose, thematic cartography, climate and energy databases, the National Census and the National Survey of Household Expenditures (ENGHo) are used to characterize municipalities and provinces, to collect information from previous years, to construct equipment indicators and to analyze historical series. It is observed that the greatest demands are observed in warm regions, justified by the use of HVAC systems. The historical growth of demand at the national level shows a practically linear evolution, justified by the incorporation and the replacement of equipment. Likewise, the evolution of consumption per user does not demonstrate direct relations with tariff changes, subsidies or salaries.; Ce travail représente un analyse de la consommation électrique résidentiel argentine avec l’objectif de comprendre: (i) l’interaction entre les variables climatiques et sociodémographiques dans la détermination de la consommation d’électricité résidentielle des différentes régions du pays; (ii) l’interaction entre ces variables et l’équipement ménager dans la détermination de la demande d’électricité résidentielle dans les différentes provinces du pays; (iii) la relation entre le chemin de la demande par usager et l’incorporation ou remplacement de l’équipement au niveau national (1995-2014); et (iv) la relation entre le chemin de la demande par usager, le salaire réal et le prix, on prend comme situation d’étude la ville de La Plata (1995-2014). Pour ce faire, la cartographie thématique est utilisé, ainsi que des bases de données sur le climat, l’énergie, du Recensement National et Enquête sur les Dépenses des Ménages (ENGHo). Ceux-ci permettent de caractériser et de comparer les groupes de provinces, ainsi que de recueillir des informations des années précédentes, construire des indicateurs d’équipement et d’analyser des séries historiques. On observe que les plus hautes demandes de l’énergie électrique au niveau national s’observent aux regions chaudes, cettes demandes justifieés pour l’usage de l’équipement de climatisation d’été. La croissance historique de la demande au niveau national on trouve un comportement pratiquement linéaire soutenu pour un impact clair de l’incorporation et recharge de l’équipement. En outre, l’évolution de la consommation moyenne par usager ne montre pas les relations directes asocieés au changement des taux, aides ou conditions salaraires.

Primer registro del género Actinostachys (Schizaeaceae) para Argentina; First record of the genus Actinostachys (Schizaeaceae) for Argentina Marquez, Gonzalo Javier; Keller, Hector Alejandro Se registra por primera vez para la flora Argentina el helecho Actinostachys pennula (Schizaeaceae), sobre la base de material recién recolectado en el nordeste de la provincia de Misiones. Se incluye una descripción de la especie, observaciones ecológicas, e ilustraciones del esporofito y esporas características de la especie.; First record of the genus Actinostachys (Schizaeaceae) for Argentina. The fern Actinostachys pennula (Schizaeaceae) is cited for the first time from Argentina, on the basis of material recently collected in the northeast of Misiones province. It is provided a description of the species, ecological observations, and illustrations of sporophyte and spores.

The causal effect of an extra year of schooling on skills and knowledge in Latin America. Evidence from PISA Marchionni, Mariana; Vazquez, Emmanuel In this paper, we estimate the causal effect of an extra year of schooling on mathematics performance for seven Latin American countries based on PISA 2012. To that end we exploit exogenous variation in students’ birthdates around the school entry cut-off date using both sharp and fuzzy Regression Discontinuity designs. We find strong effects of an extra year of schooling in most countries, which amount to a 30% increase in PISA test scores in Brazil, 18% in Uruguay, 7% in Argentina and 6% in Costa Rica. These effects differ from the typical estimates obtained from simple regressions or multilevel models and are large enough to allow 15-year-old students to reach higher proficiency levels, suggesting significant potential gains of reducing dropout rates in the region. Finally, we stress the importance of taking into account the effects of school entry cut-off dates on PISA samples to avoid making unfair international comparisons.

A preliminary study of Hello Barbie in Brazil and Argentina Fantinato, Marcelo; Hung, Patrick C.K.; Jiang, Ying; Roa, Jorge; Villarreal, Pablo David; Melaisi, Mohammed; Amancio, Fernanda A smart city is an urban development vision based on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the Internet of things (IoT) for the city?s management and operations. The smart city concept is raised simultaneously in many modern societies. IoT is always playing an important role as smart devices to support complex scenarios in smart cities. A smart toy, such as ?Hello Barbie,? is a smart device consisting of a physical toy component that connects to a computing system with online services through networking to enhance the functionality of a traditional toy. In this research, we particularly studied Brazilian and Argentinian consumers? perceived innovativeness, risks and benefits of smart toys and their purchase intention toward such toys. Results indicate that Brazilian consumers have better perception and evaluation of the toy and thus higher purchase intention than Argentinian consumers do. Such difference may be explained by the cultural differences between the two countries, such as relatively low vs. high uncertainty avoidance. We also provide our recommendations for smart toys manufacturers to address these issues for the future products.