The potential role of epigenetics on multipotent cell differentiation capacity of mesenchymal stromal cells Yannarelli, Gustavo Gabriel; Pacienza, Natalia Alejandra; Cuniberti, Luis Alberto; Medin, Jeffrey; Davies, John; Keating, Armand Human umbilical cord perivascular cells (HUCPVCs) are a readily available source of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) for cell therapy. We were interested in understanding how differences from human bone marrow (BM)-derived MSCs might yield insights into MSC biology. We found that HUCPVCs exhibited increased telomerase activity and longer telomeres compared with BM-MSCs. We also observed enhanced expression of the pluripotency factors OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG in HUCPVCs. The methylation of OCT4 and NANOG promoters was similar in both cell types, indicating that differences in the expression of pluripotency factors between the MSCs were not associated with epigenetic changes. MSC methylation at these loci is greater than reported for embryonic stem cells but less than in dermal fibroblasts, suggesting that multipotentiality of MSCs is epigenetically restricted. These results are consistent with the notion that the MSC population (whether BM- or HUCPV-derived) exhibits higher proliferative capacity and contains more progenitor cells than do dermal fibroblasts.

Mapping perpetrator prosecutions in Latin America Collins, Cath; Balardini, Lorena Soledad; Burt, Jo Marie This collaborative article examines how two academic institutions and one nongovernmental organization cooperated to map recent trial activity for past human rights violations, applying social science techniques to assist survivors’ and relatives’ groups as well as litigators in making informed strategic choices in their interactions with the formal justice system. The article discusses how methodologically rigorous data collection and data requests to public bodies can be used to advance a proaccountability agenda. The authors show how a range of civil society and state actors have changed justice system outcomes in Argentina, Chile and Peru and highlight some lessons learned about engaged, policy-relevant research.

Water state and carbonyl distribution populations in confined regions of lipid bilayers observed by FTIR spectroscopy Disalvo, Edgardo Anibal; Frías, María de los Ángeles It has been suggested that water in confined regions presents different properties than bulk water, mainly because of the changes in water population species that may be induced by the adjacent walls of different polarities in terms of hydrogen bond formation. In this context, it would be expected that lipids in the gel and the fluid states should offer different templates for water organization. The presence of water pockets or defects in lipid bilayers has been proposed to explain the insertion of charged and polar peptides and amino acids in membranes. In this work, we provide direct evidence by means of FTIR spectroscopy that water band profiles are changed whether lipids are in the solid state, in the gel state after heating and cooling across the phase transition, or in the fluid state. The different bands found in each case were assigned to different H-bonded water populations in agreement with the exposure of carbonyl groups.

Anti-inflammatory Activity of Bromelia hieronymi: Comparison with Bromelain Errasti, María Eugenia; Caffini, Nestor Oscar; Pelzer, Lilian Eugenia; Rotelli, Alejandra Ester Some plant proteases (e. g., papain, bromelain, ficin) have been used as anti-inflammatory agents for some years, and especially bromelain is still being used as alternative and/or complementary therapy to glucocorticoids, nonsteroidal antirheumatics, and immunomodulators. Bromelain is an extract rich in cysteine endopeptidases obtained from Ananas comosus. In this study the anti-inflammatory action of a partially purified extract of Bromelia hieronymi fruits, whose main components are cysteine endopeptidases, is presented. Different doses of a partially purified extract of B. hieronymi were assayed on carrageenan-induced and serotonine-induced rat paw edema, as well as in cotton pellet granuloma model. Doses with equal proteolytic activity of the partially purified extract and bromelain showed significantly similar anti-inflammatory responses. Treatment of the partially purified extract and bromelain with E-64 provoked loss of anti-inflammatory activity on carrageenan-induced paw edema, a fact which is consistent with the hypothesis that the proteolytic activity would be responsible for the anti-inflammatory action.

Paleogene calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy for two boreholes in the eastern Austral Basin, Patagonia, Argentina; Nanofósiles calcáreos paleógenos y biostratigrafía para dos pozos en el este de la Cuenca Austral, Patagonia, Argentina Perez Panera, Juan Pablo Calcareous nannofossils from two boreholes (Campo Bola and Sur Río Chico) in the subsurface of eastern Austral Basin, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, allowed the identification of Early to Middle Paleocene, Early to Middle Eocene and Late Eocene to Early Oligocene assemblages. These assemblages match the formations logged in the boreholes Campo Bola, Man Aike and Río Leona respectively, and represent three paleogene sedimentary cycles within the basin. These results permitted the reinterpretation of previous data from an adjacent borehole (Cerro Redondo). The southern boreholes (Cerro Redondo and Sur Río Chico) yield an Early to Middle Paleocene calcareous nannofossil assemblage and an almost continuous record of nannofossils from Early Eocene to Early Oligocene. A discontinuity is interpreted by the absence of Late Paleocene assemblages. The northern borehole (Campo Bola) yield only late Early Eocene to Early Oligocene assemblages. The data also indicates that the Paleogene beds unconformably overlie Upper Cretaceous strata; Nanofósiles calcáreos paleógenos y biostratigrafía para dos pozos en el este de la Cuenca Austral, Patagonia, Argentina. El estudio de los nanofósiles calcáreos recuperados en muestras de subsuelo de dos pozos de exploración (Campo Bola y Sur Río Chico) en el este de la Cuenca Austral, provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina, permitió reconocer asociaciones del Paleoceno Temprano a Medio, Eoceno Temprano a Medio y Eoceno Tardío a Oligoceno Temprano. Estas asociaciones son coincidentes con las formaciones atravesadas en los sondeos hechos en Campo Bola, Man Aike y Río Leona, respectivamente, y representan tres ciclos sedimentarios paleógenos dentro de la cuenca. Estos resultados permitieron la reinterpretación de datos previos de un pozo adyacente (Cerro Redondo). Los pozos ubicados al sur (Cerro Redondo y Sur Río Chico) contienen asociaciones de nanofósiles calcáreos del Paleoceno Temprano a Medio y un registro prácticamente continuo de nanofósiles del Eoceno Temprano al Oligoceno Temprano. Se interpreta una discontinuidad por ausencia de asociaciones del Paleoceno Tardío. El pozo ubicado más al norte (Campo Bola) contiene solo asociaciones del Eoceno Temprano tardío al Oligoceno Temprano.

Effects of iron polymaltose complex, ferrous fumarate and ferrous sulfate treatments in anemic pregnant rats, their fetuses and placentas Toblli, Jorge Eduardo; Cao, Gabriel Fernando; Oliveri, Leda María; Angerosa, Margarita Although oral iron preparations are widely prescribed to prevent and to treat iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy, comparative data on their effects to the mother, fetus and placenta are limited. In this study, the effects of oral iron polymaltose complex (IPC), ferrous fumarate (FF) and ferrous sulfate (FS) were compared in anemic pregnant rats, their fetuses and placentas. Hematological variables and oxidative stress markers in the liver, heart and kidneys of the dams and fetuses as well as the markers for oxidative stress, inflammation and hypoxia in placentas were assessed. Pregnancy outcome was measured by number of fetuses, and by neonate and placental weight. All therapies were comparably effective in correcting anemia. FS and FF, but not IPC, resulted in liver damage in dams and oxidative stress in dams, fetuses and placentas. FS group presented the highest catalase and GPx levels in dams, fetuses and placentas. IPC, but not FF or FS, restored normal TNF-α and IL6 expression levels in placentas whereas FS-treated animals presented the highest cytokine levels, suggesting a local inflammatory reaction. Anemia-induced high levels of HIF-1α were partially lowered by IPC and FF but further elevated by FS. Most of the negative effects associated with IDA were resolved by IPC treatment. Especially FS treatment was found to elicit hepatic damage in the dams, oxidative stress in the dams, fetuses and placenta as well as inflammation and high levels of HIF-1α in the placenta. Pregnancy outcome of FFand FS-treated animals was worse than that of IPC-treated animals.

Violencia, memoria, justicia: una entrevista a Pilar Calveiro Lazzara, Michael; Olivera Williams, María Rosa; Szurmuk, Mónica A fines de mayo de 2012, Pilar Calveiro visitó la Universidad de California, Davis en el marco de un seminario de posgrado titulado "Estudios de la memoria direcciones críticas", ofrecido en colaboración con la profesora Marta Cabrera y los estudiantes de la maestría en Estudios Culturales de la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá, Colombia. La entrevista fue dirigida desde Davis y contó con la participación de Michael J. Lazzara (UC Davis), María Rosa Olivera-Williams (Universidad de Notre Dame) y Mónica Szurmuk (Universidad de Buenos Aires). Cada entrevistador se ocupó de un área temática central de la obra de la profesora Calveiro.

Control predictivo para seguimiento de sistemas no lineales. Aplicación a una planta piloto. Ferramosca, Antonio; Gruber, J. K.; Limon, D.; Camacho, E.F. Este artículo trata el problema del diseño de un controlador predictivo para seguimiento de referencias cambiantes, en el caso de sistemas no lineales. Los controladores predictivos proveen leyes de control adecuadas para regular sistemas lineales o no lineales a un punto de equilibrio dado garantizando la satisfacción de restricciones y la estabilidad asintótica. Pero si este punto
de equilibrio cambia, el controlador podría perder la estabilidad o incluso la factibilidad y por lo tanto sería incapaz de seguir la referencia deseada. En (Ferramosca et al., 2009a) se ha propuesto un controlador predictivo para seguimiento de referencias capaz de garantizar factibilidad y convergencia al punto de equilibrio a pesar de los cambios que este pueda sufrir. En este artículo, este controlador se utiliza para controlar en tiempo real una planta piloto de procesos. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que el controlador predictivo para seguimiento es capaz de controlar plantas con dinámicas no lineales y restricciones. El experimento demuestra cómo el controlador garantiza estabilidad, factibilidad y convergencia también en caso de referencias no alcanzables.; This paper deals with the tracking problem for constrained nonlinear systems using a model predictive control (MPC) law. MPC provides a control law suitable for regulating constrained linear and nonlinear systems to a given target steady state. However, when the target operating point changes, the feasibility of the controller may be lost and the controller fails to track the reference. Recently, a novel MPC for tracking constrained nonlinear systems has been presented (Ferramosca et al., 2009a). This is capable to steer the system to any reference, even in the case of changing references. In this paper, this controller is used for the real-time control of a chemical pilot plant. The obtained experimental results demonstrate that the MPC for tracking is suitable for the control of plants with nonlinear dynamics since it ensures stability and offset-free convergence in case of large changes in the reference even using short prediction horizons. Besides, in case of unreachable set points, the controller steers the system to the closest reachable equilibrium point.

Nutritional and phytochemical study of Ilex paraguariensis fruits Cogoi, Laura Carolina; Giacomino, M. Silvia; Pellegrino, Nestor; Anesini, Claudia Alejandra; Filip, Rosana Yerba mate is defined as the product constituted by the dried, slightly roasted, and milled leaves of Ilex paraguariensis. However, the fruits of this species are often found in the commercial product. Nowadays the fruits are considered a byproduct. The objective of this work was to obtain the preliminary data of minerals, lipids, methylxanthines and polyphenols in the ripe fruits of I. paraguariensis. The results showed a considerable amount of total dietary fiber ( g/100 g) and nutritionally valuable minerals: potassium ( mg/100 g), iron ( mg/100 g), magnesium ( mg/100 g), calcium ( mg/100 g), copper ( mg/100 g), zinc ( mg/100 g), and sodium ( mg/100 g). The lipid content was 4.5 g/100 g. Oleic acid was the predominant unsaturated fatty acid ( g/100 g). Linoleic acid ( g/100 g) was also present. Methylxanthines were quantified: caffeine () and theobromine () g/100 g. The total polyphenol content was  g/100 g. The results obtained in this work suggest the potential value of the fruits of I. paraguariensis for the development of novel products in the food and pharmaceutical industries. This paper aims to contribute to the scientific knowledge of a natural by-product from industry regarding the need of foods and medicines for the new millennium.

Association of monthly frequencies of diverse diseases in the calls to the public emergency service of the city of Buenos Aires during 1999–2004 with meteorological variables and seasons Alexander, Pedro Manfredo This work aims to study associations between monthly averages of meteorological variables and monthly frequencies of diverse diseases in the calls to the public ambulance emergency service of the city of Buenos Aires during the years 1999–2004. Throughout this time period no changes were made in the classification codes of the illnesses. Heart disease, arrhythmia, heart failure, cardiopulmonary arrest, angina pectoris, psychiatric diseases, stroke, transient ischemic attack, syncope and the total number of calls were analyzed against 11 weather variables and the four seasons. All illnesses exhibited some seasonal behavior, except cardiorespiratory arrest and angina pectoris. The largest frequencies of illnesses that exhibited some association with the meteorological variables used to occur in winter, except the psychiatric cases. Heart failure, stroke, psychiatric diseases and the total number of calls showed significant correlations with the 11 meteorological variables considered, and the largest indices (absolute values above 0.6) were found for the former two pathologies. On the other side, cardiorespiratory arrest and angina pectoris revealed no significant correlations and nearly null indices. Variables associated with temperature were the meteorological proxies with the largest correlations against diseases. Pressure and humidity mostly exhibited positive correlations, which is the opposite of variables related to temperature. Contrary to all other diseases, psychiatric pathologies showed a clear predominance of positive correlations. Finally, the association degree of the medical dataset with recurrent patterns was further evaluated through Fourier analysis, to assess the presence of statistically significant behavior. In the Northern Hemisphere high morbidity and mortality rates in December are usually assigned to diverse factors in relation to the holidays, but such an effect is not observed in the present analysis. There seems to be no clearly preferred meteorological proxy among the different types of temperatures used. It is shown that the amount of occurrences depends mainly on season rather on its strength quantified by temperature.

Adlayers of Alkanedithiols on Au(111): effect of disulfide reducing agent Cometto, Fernando Pablo; Ruano Sandoval, Gustavo Daniel; Ascolani, Hugo del Lujan; Zampieri, Guillermo Enrique High-resolution photoemission spectroscopy is used to characterize adlayers of ethane-, hexane-, and nonanedithiol molecules grown on Au(111) surfaces by the immersion method. The effect of using a reducing agent during and after the immersion to inhibit or eliminate S–S bonds is investigated. Our results demonstrate that immersion 24 h in millimolar dithiol ethanolic solutions gives rise to the formation of multilayers; this effect is more pronounced in the case of ethanedithiol, the shortest molecule. A post-treatment with a disulfide reducing agent is effective to produce monolayers of standing-up molecules; this effect is again more pronounced in the case of ethanedithiol. Finally, the immersion 24 h in a solution containing dithiol and the reducing agent gives an unexpected result: most molecules remain adsorbed in the lying-down configuration; in this case, the almost complete suppression of the standing-up phase occurs equally with the three types of molecules, which suggests that the formation of S–S bonds must be important for the lifting of the molecules.

Memoria, proliferación y fama en la Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España Añon, Valeria La memoria como tema y como tópico ha sido una de las principales preocupaciones de la crítica en relación con las crónicas de la conquista de México (y las crónicas de Indias en general). Su mención incluye la tensión entre experiencia y saber letrado, el estatuto del testigo de vista en el relato de la historia, la disputa en torno del discurso historiográfico y la autoridad enunciativa. En este marco, la Historia verdadera de Bernal Díaz del Castillo se ha constituido en un texto privilegiado en el que leer las inflexiones de la memoria, en particular debido a la insistencia de un narrador que se define a sí mismo como un gran memorioso. En este trabajo me propongo dar cuenta de las inflexiones discursivas de la memoria, indagar en qué consiste –textual y retóricamente– esta apelación a la memoria, cómo se articula con el olvido, cuál es el rol de la alegoría y la apelación a la Fama en los capítulos liminares, y cuáles son los usos de la memoria que hacen a la peculiar melodía y sabor de la Historia verdadera.; In literary and critical colonial studies, memory as an issue and as a topic has been, at least from the last three decades, one of the fundamental ways of going through the corpus of chronicles of the Conquest of México. Talking about memory implies a reflection on experience, literacy, testimony and eyewitnesses, and the polemics between historical discourses and direct experience. In this context, one of the outstanding texts has been the Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España, written by Bernal Díaz del Castillo, who defines himself as a soldier with a huge memory and as a truthful narrator. In this article, we aim to analyze this reflection on memory and forgetfulness, and on memory as a form of discursive organization, as well as to define its role in the several polemics in which Bernal Díaz has been part of as an encomendero and as a former soldier.; A memória tem sido uma das principais preocupações da crítica em relação às crônicas da conquista do México (e as crônicas das Índias, em geral). Seu campo de estudo inclui a tensão entre a experiência e o saber letrado, a autoridade da testemunha ocular, a disputa sobre o discurso historiográfico e a autoridade enunciativa. Neste contexto, a Verdadeira História de Bernal Díaz del Castillo tornou-se texto central na leitura das inflexões da memória, principalmente devido à insistência de um narrador que descreve-se como um grande memorialista. Neste artigo pretendo explicar as inflexões da memória, analisar como este apelo a memoria é feito do ponto de vista retórico, qual é o papel do esquecimento, qual é o papel da alegoria da Fama, e como os usos da memória fornecem essa melodia e sabor peculiar à história de Bernal Díaz del Castillo.

Biopolítica y ambiente en cuestión: lugares de la basura Grinberg, Silvia Mariela; Dafunchio, Sofia; Mantiñán, Luciano Martín Actualmente, adquirió especial centralidad la basura y su valor. En este trabajo, enmarcado en estudios de gubernamentalidad y de Biopolítica en el siglo XXI, describimos los vínculos y relaciones que los habitantes de un barrio (“villa miseria”) establecen cotidianamente con la basura. El trabajo de investigación, base de este artículo, se desarrolla desde 2008 en un barrio de la región metropolitana de la ciudad de Buenos Aires que creció al calor de los procesos de metropolización selectiva y degradación ambiental que caracteriza a la pobreza urbana desde fines del siglo XX. La basura atraviesa hoy la cuestión urbana y la sociedad de consumo, constante productora de cosas desechables. Mediante un trabajo de campo etnográfico, estudiamos las dinámicas que adquiere la basura en la vida del barrio y los modos en que se hace presente en la cotidianidad de las escuelas; específicamente, cómo es pensada y vivida atendiendo a la tensión entre desecho y valor que contiene la basura. Es un área que ha crecido históricamente ligada con el cartoneo y con la recolección de basura en el relleno sanitario de la ciudad. Abordamos los conflictos y contradicciones que genera vivir entre la basura, fuente de vida y de contaminación.; At present, garbage and its value became especially central issues. In this paper, framed in studies of governmentality and biopolitics in the XXI century, we describe the links and relationships that residents of a neighborhood, (“slum”), establish daily with trash. The research, on which this article is based, is developed since 2008 in a district of the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires who grew up as part of selective metropolization processes and environmental degradation that characterizes urban poverty since the late twentieth century. Trash crosses, in the present, urban issues, and, the consumer society, permanent producer of disposable things. Through ieldwork, developed from an ethnographic approach, we focus on the dynamics that takes away the life of the neighborhood and the ways in which it is present in the daily life of schools. Speciically, is looked into and thought lived addressing the tension between value and waste containing garbage. This is an area of the city of Buenos Aires that has grown historically linked with cardboard men, rag-picker, and garbage collection in the city landill. Here, we address the conlicts and contradictions generated of living among garbage, that is both life resource and contamination.

Mercado de viviendas en Rosario: caracterización y dinámica entre 1920 y 1948 Cutruneo, Jimena Paula Partiendo de las condiciones existentes propias del proceso de metropolización iniciado en Argentina hacia 1880, en este artículo se analizan los rasgos generales del mercado inmobiliario de la ciudad de Rosario entre los años 1920 y 1948. Poniendo especial atención en el mercado de viviendas, se presenta la relación con variables de la economía nacional y local. En este sentido, se exponen -entre otras cuestiones- la situación de los transportes públicos, las infraestructuras y los movimientos comerciales producidos en las distintas zonas de la planta urbana para estos años. A la vez que se establecen algunas aproximaciones respecto de la relación entre los vaivenes del mercado inmobiliario de viviendas y ciertas políticas que desde distintos niveles gubernamentales (sea nacional o municipal) condicionaron esta actividad.; Based on existing conditions within the process of metropolization began in Argentina in 1880, this artile discusses the general traits of the housing market in the city of Rosario between 1920 and 1948. Paying special attention to the housing market, presents the variables related to national and local ecoomy. In this sense, they are exposed, among other issues, the situation of public transport, infrastructure and trade flows produced in different parts of the urban for these years. While some approaches are established regarding the relationship between the fuctuations in the housing market and certain housing policies from different level of government (whether national or municipal) conditioned activity.

Barroco y vitalismo en la construcción de un espacio imaginario: la vida breve (1950) de Juan Carlos Onetti Linares, Maximiliano Las múltiples, intensas, conmovedoras vidas breves narradas por Juan Carlos Onetti parecieran, a veces, carecer de énfasis, transcurrir apagadas casi sin acaecer. Es el momento en que el incipit se enfrenta con la clausura para fundirse y, acaso, autorrectificarse: "Puedo alejarme tranquilo; cruzo la plazoleta y usted camina a mi lado, alcanzamos la esquina y remontamos la desierta calle arbolada, sin huir de nadie, sin buscar ningún encuentro, arrastrando un poco los pies, más por felicidad que por cansancio" (párrafo final de LVB, 294- 295, destacado nuestro). Sin embargo y por eso mismo, como lo demuestra esta novela capital en la narrativa hispanoamericana del siglo XX, el espesor de sus temas, la novedad de los recursos técnicos incorporados en su redacción y la demoledora belleza conque resultó plasmada configuran una escritura gozosamente ineludible. Este cierre remite al principio, resemantiza el "mundo loco" de la Queca porque ahora ya no es un hablar sobre el carnaval sino que ahora se está, concretamente, en el carnaval, un tempo que Onetti lleva a la ficción para que ésta se introduzca en lo real: los personajes han elegido un disfraz (Calderón planteaba con el "Gran Teatro del Mundo" que cada uno cumple el rol que Dios distribuyó entre los hombres: uno es rey, el otro es mendigo, el otro panadero, el de más allá un joyero, y el que está al lado un sirviente y lo importante no es salirse del rol sino cumplirlo lo mejor posible) y con él escapan, disparan, se fugan, se evaden, se liberan de la realidad y por eso entran en otra realidad. Los límites entre realidad y realidad son a veces lábiles pero siempre hay una frontera que es necesario cruzar. El barroco y el vitalismo como componentes esenciales de los devenires textuales en onetti.

Oscillations and translation of a free cylinder in a viscous confined flow D'angelo, María Verónica; Hulin, Jean-Pierre; Auradou, Harold An oscillatory instability has been observed experimentally on an horizontal cylinder free to move and rotate between two parallel vertical walls of distance H. The vertical motion of the cylinder, its rotation about its axis, and its transverse motion across the gap have been investigated as a function of its diameter D, its density ρs, of the mean vertical velocity U of the fluid, and of its viscosity ν. The relevant Reynolds number Re is shown to be based on the cell aperture H and on the relative velocity Vr between the fluid and the cylinder. For a blockage ratio D/H above 0.5 and Re above 20, oscillations of the rolling angle of the cylinder about its axis and of its transverse coordinate in the gap were observed together with periodic variations of the vertical velocity. For a given fluid-cylinder pair, the relative velocity Vr as well as the frequency f and the amplitude of the transverse velocity for these oscillations are nearly independent of the flow velocity U. For given cylinder density and fluid characteristics, f is also nearly independent of the ratio D/H in the range investigated. The oscillations could be observed down to values of Re as low as 30: this is lower than usual values for vortex shedding in confined geometries, which suggests that one might deal with a different instability mechanism.

PPARγ ligand treatment inhibits cardiac inflammatory mediators induced by infection with different lethality strains of Trypanosoma cruzi Penas, Federico Nicolás; Mirkin, Gerardo A.; Hovsepian, Eugenia; Cevey, Ágata Carolina; Caccuri, Roberto Luis; Sales, Maria Elena; Goren, Nora Beatriz Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), the etiological agent of Chagas' disease, causes cardiac alterations in the host. Although the main clinical manifestations arise during the chronic stage, the mechanisms leading to heart damage develop early during infection. In fact, an intense inflammatory response is observed from acute stage of infection. Recently, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) have attracted research interest due to their participation in the modulation of inflammation. In this work we addressed the role of 15-Deoxy-∆12,14 ProstaglandinJ2 (15dPGJ2), a PPARγ natural ligand in the regulation of inflammatory mediators, in acute and chronic experimental mouse models of Chagas' disease with the RA and K98 T. cruzi strains, respectively. This work demonstrates that 15dPGJ2 treatment inhibits the expression and activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2) as well as TNF-α and IL-6 mRNA levels. Also, expression and activity of metalloproteinases 2 (MMP-2) and 9 (MMP9) were inhibited by 15dPGJ2. Moreover GW9662, a specific PPARγ antagonist, revealed the participation of other signaling pathways since, in GW9662 presence, 15dPJG2 had a partial effect on the inhibition of inflammatory parameters in the acute model of infection. Accordingly, NF-κB activation was demonstrated, assessing p65 nuclear translocation in the hearts of infected mice with both T. cruzi strains. Such effect was inhibited after 15dPGJ2 treatment. Our findings support the concept that in vivo PPARγ and NF-κB pathways are implicated in the inhibitory effects of 15dPGJ2 on inflammatory mediators at different times depending on whether the infection is caused by the lethal or non-lethal T. cruzi strain.

The opening of the Magellan Strait and its geodynamic implications Ghiglione, Matias; Navarrete Rodríguez, Ángela Teresa; Gonzalez Guillot, Mauricio Alberto; Bujalesky, Gustavo Gabriel The existence of a Neogene-Quaternary rift system responsible for the opening of the eastern Magellan strait has been one of the more peculiar tectonic features of the southernmost Andes since its discovery more than a decade ago. However, until now there has been no explanation pinpointing the specific tectonic factors that led to the development of the rift. This work focuses on the interaction between the fault systems and the tectonic regimes that have affected Tierra del Fuego north of the South America–Scotia left lateral strike-slip plate boundary. Due to a good match between a Jurassic extensional fault array orientation and the principal stress directions related to the strike-slip plate boundary, we conclude that Jurassic transfer faults reactivated extensionally generating the Magellan rift system. This process was enhanced by northward continental drift, and has implications for the geodynamic behind the separation of South America from Antarctica.

Anxiogenic-like effects of Uncaria tomentosa (Willd) DC aqueous extract in an elevated plus-maze test in mice: a preliminary study Bigliani, María Celeste; Rosso, María Celeste; Zunino, María Paula; Baiardi, Gustavo Carlos; Ponce, Andrés Alberto The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of orally administered Uncaria tomentosa aqueous extracts (UTE) (Willd. ex Roem. & Schult.) DC. (Rubiaceae) during 7, 15, 30 and 90 days of treatment on the expression of anxiety, as expressed in the elevated plus maze test in male Albino Swiss mice. UTE revealed an anxiogenic effect in relation to the control group at 15 and 30 days, but it was reversed after 90 days of administration, without affecting the locomotor activity or any deleterious effects on the overall performance of the animal, either for its ambulation, or clinical status, and body weight and organ weight/body weight from liver, lung and kidney were unaffected. These biphasic effects are usually indicative of heterogeneity in sites of action due to the presence of many alkaloids (speciophylline, uncarine F and uncarine E) and flavanols (catechin and epigallocatechin) identified and isolated from UTE.

Analysis of the pX region of bovine leukemia virus in different clinical stages of Enzootic Bovine Leukemia in Argentine Holstein cattle Panei, Carlos Javier; Serena, Maria Soledad; Metz, German Ernesto; Bravi, Maria Emilia; Gonzalez, Ester Teresa; Echeverria, Maria Gabriela Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infection in cattle causes Enzootic Bovine Leukemia (EBL). About 30% of infected cattle develop persistent lymphocytosis (PL), a 0.1–5% develops tumors, and a 70% remains asymptomatic in an aleukemic stage (AL). Regulatory genes of BLV (Tax, Rex, R3 and G4) are located in a region known as pXBLV. The variability of those genes had been postulated with the progression of the disease. The aim ofthis work was to compare the wild-type proviral pXBLV region at different stages of BLV natural infected cattle from Argentine Holstein. Pairs of primers were designed to amplify the proviral pX region of 12 cattle by PCR, and products were then sequenced, aligned and compared both with each other and with the reference sequence. Results show a divergence percentage from 0 to 6.1 for the Tax gene, from 0 to 9.4% for the Rex gene, from 0 to 12.1% for the R3 gene and finally from 0 to 6.5% for the G4 gene. Results obtained with hierarchical clustering showed two clusters well differentiated, where the members of each cluster are cattle that had tumor, PL and AL, not allowing differentiate those two cluster by clinical stage.