Neural encoding schemes of tactile information in afferent activity of the vibrissal system Farfan, Fernando Daniel; Albarracin, Ana Lia; Felice, Carmelo Jose When rats acquire sensory information by actively moving their vibrissae, a neural code is manifested at different levels of the sensory system. Behavioral studies in tactile discrimination agree that rats can distinguish different roughness surfaces by whisking their vibrissae. The present study explores the existence of neural encoding in the afferent activity of one vibrissal nerve. Two neural encoding schemes based on “events” were proposed (cumulative event count and median inter-event time). The events were detected by using an event detection algorithm based on multiscale decomposition of the signal (Continuous Wavelet Transform). The encoding schemes were quantitatively evaluated through the maximum amount of information which was obtained by the Shannon’s mutual information formula. Moreover, the effect of difference distances between rat snout and swept surfaces on the information values was also studied. We found that roughness information was encoded by events of 0.8 ms duration in the cumulative event count and event of 1.0 to 1.6 ms duration in the median inter-event count. It was also observed that an extreme decrease of the distance between rat snout and swept surfaces significantly reduces the information values and the capacity to discriminate among the sweep situations.

The star cluster age-metallicity relationship in the Small Magellanic Cloud Piatti, Andres Eduardo We present CCD Washington photometry of 11 Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) clusters for which age and metallicity estimates are provided. The 11 clusters are witnesses of the ∼ 2 Gyr bursting formation episode, according to their positions in the age-metallicity relationship (AMR). We added these clusters to the largest known SMC cluster sample with ages and metallicities put into an homogeneous scale, and found that two enhanced formation episodes at t ∼ 2 and 5-6 Gyr throughout the entire body of the galaxy, the absent of a metallicity gradient and a relative spread in metallicity for clusters older than ∼ 7 Gyr comprehensively describe the SMC AMR. In addition, based on the statistics of catalogued and studied clusters, we found that a total of seven relatively old/old clusters have not yet studied, and even a smaller number is obtained if the cluster spatial distribution is considered. A detailed version of this work can be seen in Piatti (2011, MNRAS, 418, L73).; Presentamos resultados sobre edades y metalicidades obtenidos a partir de fotometría CCD en el sistema de Washington para 11 cúmulos en la Nube Menor de Magallanes (NMM). Los 11 cúmulos resultaron ser testigos de un episodio de formación violento hace unos 2 mil millones de a˜nos, de acuerdo a su posición en la relación edad metalicidad (REM). Incluimos estos cúmulos a la muestra m´as numerosa de cúmulos en la NMM con edades y metalicidades estimadas en una escala homogénea, y encontramos que dos episodios de formación violentos hace unos 2 y 5-6 mil millones de a˜nos en todo el cuerpo de la galaxia, la ausencia de un gradiente de metalicidad y una relativa dispersión de las metalicidades para edades mayores a 7 mil millones de a˜nos describen globalmente la REM de la NMM. Además, en base a la estad´ıstica de los cúmulos catalogados y estudiados, encontramos que un total de 7 cúmulos viejos no han sido a´un estudiados, y un n´umero menor obtenemos si consideramos sus distribuciones espaciales.Una versión detallada de este trabajo puede verse en Piatti (2011, MNRAS, 418, L73).

Astrophysical properties of star fields in the Large Magellanic Cloud Piatti, Andres Eduardo We present CCD Washington CT1 photometry for the unprecedented database of some 5.5 million of stars distributed throughout the entire Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) main body. The quality and performance of the data were rigurously examined from extensive completeness artificial star tests over the whole mosaic image data set, so that field colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) were accurately produced. From the star field CMD Hess diagrams, we identified the peaks at the main -sequence turnoff and red clump locations to date the most dominant sub-population (or ”representative” population) in the stellar population mix, while their metallicities were estimated from the CMD location of the most populous red giant branch track. The dispersion associated with the mean ages and metallicities result in general a satisfactory estimate of the age/metallicity spread, although some few individual representative subfields have slightly larger age/metallicity spread. As far as we are aware, these larger age spread do not affect the subsequent analysis. A detailed version of this work can be seen in Piatti et al. (2012, AJ, 144, 100).

The star field age-metallicity relationship in the Large Magellanic Cloud Piatti, Andres Eduardo Presentamos resultados obtenidos a partir de datos CCD en el sistema fotométrico de Washington de ∼ 5.5 millones de estrellas distribuidas en toda la Nube Mayor de Magallanes (NMM). La calidad y performance de los datos fueron rigurosamente examinados a partir de numerosas pruebas de completitud con estrellas artificiales en todo el conjunto de imágenes mosaico, de modo que diagramas colormagnitud (DCM) fueron precisamente confeccionados. A partir de los DCM de Hess de las estrellas del campo, identificamos los picos del turnoff de la secuencia principal y del clump de las gigantes rojas para datar la sub-población más dominante (o población representativa) en la composición de poblaciones estelares, mientras que sus metalicidades fueron estimadas a partir de la ubicación de la rama de las gigantes rojas más poblada. La dispersión asociada con las edades y metalicidades medias resulta en general una estimación satisfactoria de la dispersión edad/metalicidad, aunque algunos pocos subcampos representativos individuales tienen una ligeramenta mayor dispersión edad/metalicidad. Hasta donde estamos seguros, esta mayor dispersión en edad no afecta posteriores análisis. Una versión detallada de este trabajo puede verse en Piatti et al. (2012, AJ, 144, 100).; We present CCD Washington CT1 photometry for the unprecedented database of some 5.5 million of stars distributed throughout the entire Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) main body. The quality and performance of the data were rigurously examined from extensive completeness artificial star tests over the whole mosaic image data set, so that field colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) were accurately produced. From the star field CMD Hess diagrams, we identified the peaks at the main-sequence turnoff and red clump locations to date the most dominant sub-population (or ”representative” population) in the stellar population mix, while their metallicities were estimated from the CMD location of the most populous red giant branch track. The dispersion associated with the mean ages and metallicities result in general a satisfactory estimate of the age/metallicity spread, although some few individual representative subfields have slightly larger age/metallicity spread. As far as we are aware, these larger age spread do not affect the subsequent analysis. A detailed version of this work can be seen in Piatti et al. (2012, AJ, 144, 100).

Scalar field perturbations in asymptotically Lifshitz black holes Giacomini, Alex; Giribet, Gaston Enrique; Leston, Mauricio; Oliva, Julio; Ray, Sourya We consider scalar field perturbations about asymptotically Lifshitz black holes with dynamical exponent z in D dimensions. We show that, for suitable boundary conditions, these Lifshitz black holes are stable under scalar field perturbations. For z=2, we explicitly compute the quasinormal mode frequencies, which result to be purely imaginary, and then obtain the damping-off of the scalar field perturbation in these backgrounds. The general analysis includes, in particular, the z=3 black hole solution of three-dimensional massive gravity.

First Archaeal rDNA sequences from coastal waters of Argentina: unexpected PCR characterization by using eukaryotic primers Covacevich, Fernanda; Silva, R. I.; Cumino, Andrea Carina; Caló, Gonzalo Federico; Negri, R. M.; Salerno, Graciela Lidia Muchos miembros de Archaea, un grupo de microroganismos descritos hace aproximadamente 30 años, colonizan ambientes extremos. Sin embargo, las investigaciones más recientes han demostrado que las arqueas también son abundantes componentes del plankton marino, siendo algunos grupos de Archaea componentes fundamentales de los ecosistemas marinos debido a su rol clave en los ciclos biogeoquímicos. Aunque la ubiquidad de las arqueas ha sido bien documentada, hasta el momento no hay registros de la presencia de representantes de este grupo en el mar Argentino. En un estudio de biodiversidad orientado a determinar secuencias de picoplancton utilizando cebadores universales para eucariotas, se encontraron secuencias de ADNr de Archaea en muestras recolectadas durante la primavera en una estación fija de monitorización (EPEA) en el mar Argentino. A partir de ADN ambiental y mediante el uso de la metodología de PCR, se obtuvieron dos fragmentos de aproximadamente 1700 y 1460 pb, que fueron separados y visualizados después de electroforesis en geles de agarosa y, luego, purificados, clonados y secuenciados. El análisis de BLAST mostró que las secuencias de tamaño superior correspondían a organismos eucariotas y las secuencias de menor tamaño pertenecían a Archaea. El análisis filogenético mostró que las secuencias de Archaea se agrupan con Euryarchaeota marina grupo II, caracterizado como un linaje metanógeno. Éste es el primer reporte de la presencia de secuencias de Euryarchaeota grupo II en aguas del mar Argentino. El hecho de que las secuencias de Archaea hayan sido amplificadas con cebadores no específicos para este grupo podría sugerir una inesperada abundancia de estos organismos durante los inicios de primavera en el mar Argentino.; Many members of Archaea, a group of prokaryotes recognized three decades ago, colonize extreme environments; however, new research has shown that Archaeans are also abundant components of plankton in the open sea, where they play a key role in the biogeochemical cycles. Although the widespread distribution of Archaea in the marine environment is well documented there are no reports on the detection of Archaea in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. During the search for picophytoplankton sequences using eukaryotic universal primers, we retrieved archaeal rDNA sequences from surface samples collected during the spring at a fixed monitoring station (EPEA) in the Argentine Sea. From environmental DNA and using PCR methodology, two DNA fragments of about 1700 and 1450 bp were visualized after electrophoresis in agarose gels, and separately purified, cloned, and sequenced. BLAST analysis showed that sequences of the highest size corresponded to eukaryotic organisms and, unexpectedly, those of about 1460 bp corresponded to archaeal organisms. Phylogenetic analysis showed that archaeal sequences belong to Euryarchaeota of marine group II, characterized as a methanogenic lineage. This is the first report on the presence of group II Euryarchaeota sequences in environmental water samples of the Argentine Sea. The fact that Archaea sequences were amplified with primers non-specific for this group may suggest an unexpected abundance of these organisms in the early spring in the Argentine Sea.

Spectrofluorimetric determination of sildenafil: a new analytical alternative for its analysis Wang, Chien Chun; Fernandez, Liliana Patricia In aqueous solutions, sildenafil presents a very low fluorescence emission and a limited linear range. In presence of a cationic surfactant hexadecyltrim ethylammonium bromide (HTAB, method A) and anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS, method B) a great fluorescence enhancement was observed and the linearity range was enlarged. These surfactants-drug interactions lead to the development of two sensitive methods for sildenafil spectrofluorimetric determination. Nature of interactions between sildenafil and surfactants were studied and different parameters which influence these associations were discussed. Sildenafil was quantitatively determined at an emission wavelength of 435 nm and 415 nm by method A and B respectively with detection limit of 0.0012 µg mL-1 and 0.0016 µg mL-1. The methods have been successfully applied to the analysis of bulk drug, tablets and herbal medicines.

Silvopastoral use of Nothofagus antarctica in Southern Patagonian forests, influence over net nitrogen soil mineralization Bahamonde, Hector Alejandro; Peri, Pablo Luis; Alvarez, Roberto; Barneix, Atilio Jose; Moretto, Alicia Susana; Martínez Pastur, Guillermo José In most temperate forest, nitrogen (N) is considered a limiting factor. This becomes important in extreme environments, as Nothofagus antarctica forests, where the antecedents are scarce. Thinning practices in N. antarctica forests for silvopastoral uses may modify the soil N dynamics. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate the temporal variation of soil N in these ecosystems. The mineral extractable soil N, net nitrification and net N mineralization were evaluated under different crown cover and two site quality stands. The mineral N extractable (NH4 ??N ? NO3 -?N) was measured periodically. Net nitrification and net N mineralization were estimated through the technique of incubation of intact samples with tubes. The total mineral extractable N concentration varied between crown cover and dates, with no differences among site classes. The lowest and highest values were found in the minimal and intermediate crown cover, respectively. In the higher site quality stand, the annual net N mineralization was lower in the minimal crown cover reaching 11 kg N ha-1 year-1, and higher in the maximal crown cover (54 kg N ha-1 year-1). In the lower site quality stand there was no differences among crown cover. The same pattern was found for net nitrification. Thinning practices for silvopastoral use of these forests, keeping intermediate crown cover values, did not affect both N mineralization and nitrification. However, the results suggest that total trees removal from the ecosystem may decrease N mineralization and nitrification.

Documentary evidence for changing climatic and anthropogenic influences on the Bermejo Wetland in Mendoza, Argentina, during the 16th 20th century Prieto, Maria del Rosario; Rojas, Juan Facundo This paper examines the processes underlying changes to the once-extensive Bermejo Wetland, east of the city of Mendoza, Argentina (32550 S, 68510 W). Historical documents and maps from the 16th to 20th century are used to reconstruct environmental shifts. Historical documents indicate periods of increased snowfall in the adjacent Andes mountains, as well as high flow volumes in the Mendoza River. Data from georeferenced maps, the first from 1802 and the last from 1903, reflect the changes in the surface area of the wetland. The combined data sets show pulses of growth and retraction, in which major expansions coincided with more intense snowstorms and increased flow in the Mendoza River, which in turn influenced socio-economic activities. The wetland became progressively drier during the 19th century, before drying up completely around 1930, due in part to the construction of drainages and channels.

Research priorities for seabirds: improving conservation and management in the 21st century Lewison, R.; Oro, D.; Godley, B. J.; Underhill, L.; Bearhop, S.; Wilson, R. P.; Ainley, D.; Arcos, J. M.; Boersma, P. Dee; Garcia Borboroglu, Jorge Pablo; Boulinier, T.; Frederiksen, M.; Genovart, M.; González Solís, J.; Green, J. A.; Grémillet, D.; Hamer, K. C.; Hilton, G. M.; Hyrenbach, K. D.; Martínez Abraín, A.; Montevecchi, W. A.; Phillips, R. A.; Ryan, P. G.; Sagar, P.; Sydeman, W. J.; Wanless, S.; Watanuki, Y.; Weimerskirch, H.; Yorio, Pablo Martin Seabirds, a diverse group of bird species associated with the ocean during a significant part of their lives, are facing a growing number of threats in both their terrestrial and marine habitats, and many populations have experienced dramatic changes over the past decades. Seabirds are among the best-studied of marine vertebrates; years of research have played a central role in improving our understanding of seabird populations and have informed a broader understanding of marine ecological processes. In an effort to encourage future research and guide science directed at improving seabird population and habitat management and conservation, we identify 20 key areas where continued, robust and comprehensive inter-disciplinary science is most needed. Twenty-seven seabird researchers from 9 nations identified the 20 highest priority research questions, which were organized into six general categories: (i) population dynamics, (ii) spatial ecology, (iii) tropho-dynamics, (iv) fisheries interactions, (v) response to global change, and (vi) management of anthropogenic impacts (focusing on invasive species, contaminants and protected areas). While this is not an exhaustive list of all research needed to address the myriad conservation challenges seabirds face, the results of this effort represent an important synthesis of current expert opinion across sub-disciplines within seabird ecology. As this synthesis highlights, research, in conjunction with direct management, education, and community engagement, can play an important role in facilitating the conservation and management of seabird populations and of the ocean ecosystems on which they and we depend.

Association of AXIN2 with Non-syndromic Oral Clefts in Multiple Populations. Letra, A.; Bjork, B.; Cooper, M. E.; Szabo Rogers, H.; Deleyiannis, F. W.; Field, L. L.; Czeizel, A. E.; Ma, L.; Garlet, G. P.; Poletta, Fernando Adrián; Mereb, J. C.; López Camelo, Jorge Santiago; Castilla, Eduardo Enrique; Orioli, I. M.; Wendell, S.; Blanton, S. H.; Liu, K.; Hecht, J. T.; Marazita, M. L.; Vieira, A. R.; Silva, R. M. We have previously shown the association of AXIN2 with oral clefts in a US population. Here, we expanded our study to explore the association of 11 AXIN2 markers in 682 cleft families from multiple populations. Alleles for each AXIN2 marker were tested for transmission distortion with clefts by means of the Family-based Association Test. We observed an association with SNP rs7224837 and all clefts in the combined populations (p = 0.001), and with SNP rs3923086 and cleft lip and palate in Asian populations (p = 0.004). We confirmed our association findings in an additional 528 cleft families from the United States (p < 0.009). We tested for gene-gene interaction between AXIN2 and additional cleft susceptibility loci. We assessed and detected Axin2 mRNA and protein expression during murine palatogenesis. In addition, we also observed co-localization of Axin2 with Irf6 proteins, particularly in the epithelium. Our results continue to support a role for AXIN2 in the etiology of human clefting. Additional studies should be performed to improve our understanding of the biological mechanisms linking AXIN2 to oral clefts.

Sindicalismo empresarial: problemas, conceptualización y economía política del sindicato Ghigliani, Pablo Esteban; Grigera, Juan Francisco; Schneider, Alejandro Miguel Revista Latino-americana de Estudos do Trabalho reSumen El artículo revisa críticamente los abordajes que ha tenido el “sindicalismo empresarial” desde las ciencias sociales en Argentina, argumentando que las aproximaciones existentes son insuficientes para dar cuenta del problema desde una dimensión socio-histórica y que los análisis se fundan en recortes que pierden de vista la imbricación del fenómeno en la economía política del sindicato. De este modo identificamos las dos corrientes más relevantes que han abordado el sindicalismo empresarial: quienes lo explicaron como ‘supervivencia organizativa’, reduciéndolo a un producto derivado de las negociaciones y concesiones que permitieron al gobierno evitar el enfrentamiento con las centrales obreras durante las reformas y quienes lo han asimilado a una modalidad más del business unionism norteamericano, perdiendo de vista la especificidad del fenómeno. El artículo concluye planteando un nuevo abordaje del tema y delineando los elementos fundamentales de análisis.; The article critically reviews studies on what the authors call “entrepreneurship unionism” in Argentina, identifying two major sets of arguments in the literature: those that explain it as a tactic of “organizational survival”, reducing it to a byproduct of negotiations and concessions by which the Menem administration could avert confrontation with unions during the reforms; and those that define it as a form of the United States’ “business unionism”, losing sight of the specificity of the phenomenon. The authors argue, first, that these approaches are insufficient to explain the socio-historical dimensions of the phenomenon; and second, that they lose sight of the array of social relations that constitute the economic mechanisms of unions’ material reproduction, that is, its political economy. In conclushion, the article outlines new approaches to the issue and identifies key elements of analysis.

Modos de habitar y estilos de vida. El espacio doméstico en las revistas especializadas Sanchez, Sandra Ines Las publicaciones especializadas han tenido desde siempre un rol difusor de las nuevas teorías sobre el ejercicio proyectual, la arquitectura y el diseño de objetos. Con el énfasis puesto de manera diferenciada en los campos disciplinar, profesional y académico, en estas publicaciones se evidenciaba siempre la construcción de un conocimiento proyectual que trascendía los programas arquitecturales, y la intencionalidad de acoplarse a las transformaciones culturales planteando respuestas que ponían en crisis la misma índole de las transformaciones. El trabajo consiste en el análisis de las cuestiones culturales que refieren a los usuarios y sus preferencias, modos de habitar, estilos de vida y estilizaciones que se encuentran profundamente más allá de la enseñanza del proyecto pero que atraviesan transversalmente el ejercicio proyectual aplicado al espacio doméstico, a partir de un estudio de algunos casos emergentes seleccionados de diferentes publicaciones especializadas de Buenos Aires desde la década del treinta hasta la actualidad.; Specialized publications have always focused on spreading the new theories about project planning, architecture and objects design. With a special emphasis laid on the professional and academic scopes, these publications constantly envisaged the development of project planning knowledge far beyond architectural programs with an intent to adjust to cultural transformations by producing replies that challenged the very nature of such transformations. The work involves the analysis of those cultural issues linked to users and their preferences, dwelling forms, life styles and stylizations that outreach project teaching but are however related to project practice applied to the household environment, as emerges from the analysis of certain cases extracted from various Buenos Aires‟ specialized publications since the „60s up to the present time.

Remarks on annihilators preserving congruence relations Celani, Sergio Arturo In this note we shall give some results on annihilators preserving congruence relations, or AP-congruences, in bounded distributive lattices. We shall give some new characterizations, and a topological interpretation of the notion of annihilator preserving congruences introduced in [JANOWITZ, M. F.: Annihilator preserving congruence relations of lattices, Algebra Universalis 5 (1975), 391–394]. As an application of these results, we shall prove that the quotient of a quasicomplemented lattice by means of a AP-congruence is a quasicomplemented lattice. Similarly, we will prove that the quotient of a normal latttice by means of a AP-congruence is also a normal lattice.

La basura y la investigación sobre el pasado Perez, Cecilia Beatriz; Casanueva, María Laura Desde el desarrollo del Garbage Project de William Rathje, en la Universidad de Arizona, los arqueólogos se han inclinado frente a los residuos producidos por el hombre para indagar acerca de su génesis, ya que los consideran un espejo de la sociedad que los produjo. Por eso, los consideran una herramienta eficiente para analizar la conducta humana, más allá de lo que puedan los hombres decir sobre sí mismos.

Fracture toughness of HSLA coiled tubing used in oil wells operations Wainstein, Jessica Elvira; Perez Ipiña, Juan Elias Coiled Tubings are thin walled steel tubes of 25-89 mm diameter and thousands meters long, used in the oil industry for production and maintenance services. They suffer plastic deformation during unwinding of the reel, passing through a goosneck arch guide and an injector unit. Strain levels are of 2-3%, making the tubing fail by low cycle fatigue in around 100 wrap-unwrap cycles. As coiled tubing material generally behaves in a ductile manner at surface and down well temperatures, the R curve has to be known to make instability analyses. J-R curves were determined to characterize the fracture toughness of nonused coiled tubing, using nonstandard specimens due to difficulties with their small thickness and diameters. Different crack lengths and crack locations were tested to analyze the 2C 0W ratio and the influence of the longitudinal weld. The R curves obtained show crack arc length dependence and are influenced by the position of the longitudinal weld.

Asymmetric forest transition driven by the interaction of socioeconomic development and environmental heterogeneity in Central America Redo, Daniel J.; Grau, Hector Ricardo; Aide, T. Mitchell; Clark, Matthew L. Forest transitions (FT) have been observed in many developed countries and more recently in the developing world. However, our knowledge of FT from tropical regions is mostly derived from case studies from within a particular country, making it difficult to generalize findings across larger regions. Here we overcome these difficulties by conducting a recent (2001-2010) satellite-based analysis of trends in forest cover across Central America, stratified by biomes, which we related to socioeconomic variables associated with human development. Results show a net decrease of woody vegetation resulting from 12,201 km2 of deforestation of moist forests and 6,825 km2 of regrowth of conifer and dry forests. The Human Development Index was the socioeconomic variable best associated with forest cover change. The least-developed countries, Nicaragua and Guatemala, experienced both rapid deforestation of moist forests and significant recovery of conifer and dry forests. In contrast, the most developed countries, Panama and Costa Rica, had net woody vegetation gain and amore stable forest cover configuration. These results imply a good agreement with FT predictions of forest change in relation to socioeconomic development, but strong asymmetry in rates and directions of change largely dependent upon the biomewhere change is occurring. The FT model should be refined by incorporating ecological and socioeconomic heterogeneity, particularly inmulticountry and regional studies. These asymmetric patterns of forest change should be evaluatedwhen developing strategies for conserving biodiversity and environmental services.

Argentina: Camino del desendeudamiento (1991-2011) Nemiña, Pablo Luis El presente artículo analiza las transformaciones de la política financiera en la Argentina durante el período 1991-2011. Para ello, se estudian las principales acciones del Estado orientadas a enfrentar la problemática de la deuda pública y el financiamiento, así como las relaciones establecidas con el sector financiero y el FMI. La evolución de la política financiera argentina resalta uno de los contrapuntos más sobresalientes entre el período de la convertibilidad vigente hasta 2001 y la etapa posterior. El régimen de convertibilidad implicó el sostenimiento de una moneda nacional sobrevaluada, la cual determinó el progresivo incremento de la deuda pública y alentó el proceso de financiarización de la economía. En cambio, el régimen de la posconvertibilidad, apoyado en el mantenimiento de un tipo de cambio competitivo junto al superávit fiscal y comercial, ha contribuido a promover la actividad productiva por sobre la financiera. Esto, junto a la reestructuración de la deuda, ha permitido sostener un proceso de reducción gradual del endeudamiento público en términos relativos, liberando recursos para fomentar el mercado interno. Consecuentemente, con posterioridad a 2002 se observa una erosión de la capacidad de condicionamiento estructural sobre la dinámica del crecimiento de los acreedores, el FMI, y el sector financiero en general, en simultáneo con la obtención de mayores grados de autonomía financiera por parte del Gobierno Nacional. Finalmente, se analizan los desafíos que impone la crisis internacional a la continuación de este sendero.; This article analyzes the transformation in Argentina’s financial policies during the period of 1991-2011, examining the principal actions of the State oriented towards confronting the various problems of the public debt burden and its financing, as well as the relationships established with the financial sector and the IMF. The evolution of the country’s financial policies highlights one of the most notable differences between the period of convertibility, which ended in 2001, and the posterior period. The convertibility regime brought with it an overvalued currency, which determined the progressive increase in public debt and amplified the process of the financialization of the Argentine economy. On the other hand, the post-convertibility regime, supported by the maintenance of a competitive exchange rate together with fiscal and trade surpluses, has contributed to the promotion of productive over financial activity. Together with the debt restructuring, a process of gradual reduction in the relative weight of public debt has taken hold, freeing up resources to stimulate the domestic market. Consequently, after 2002 there is a clear erosion in the capacity of creditors, the IMF, and the financial sector in general to structurally condition growth dynamics; simultaneously, the national government gained greater degrees of financial autonomy. Finally, the article analyzes the challenges that the international crisis imposes on this evolution.

Los hidrocarburos no convencionales en el escenario energético argentino Pérez Roig, Diego Desde diciembre de 2010, y sobre todo a partir del conflicto que Repsol mantuvo con el Estado nacional y los provinciales entre enero y mayo de 2012, se ha instalado en la agenda pública la necesidad de avanzar en la extracción de hidrocarburos no convencionales: depósitos de petróleo y gas alojados a gran profundidad en formaciones geológicas de baja porosidad y permeabilidad, cuyas reservas ubicarían a la Argentina en tercer lugar, detrás de China y Estados Unidos. En el siguiente trabajo analizaré los factores estructurales internos y externos que alientan esta potencial "revolución" del sector en el país, y sus posibles consecuencias sociales y ecológicas.

Convención Internacional de los Derechos del Niño: Hacia un abordaje desacralizador Barna Cingolani, Agustin Learco Los estudios referentes a las formas de gestionar la niñez que no transita por los carriles esperados por las perspectivas hegemónicas han ganado, en las últimas décadas, cada vez más protagonismo. Desde principios de la década de los 90, en Argentina, muchos intelectuales comenzaron a visualizar en la Convención Internacional de los Derechos del Niño (CIDN) una posible vía emancipatoria para la niñez, en particular para los “menores” y a bregar por la adecuación de las normativas domésticas del país a los parámetros de la CIDN, como una herramienta que permita derrotar, cultural y materialmente, el denominado “paradigma de patronato”. Estos trabajos, si bien significan un aporte para la comprensión de las formas de gobierno de la infancia, portan asimismo un riesgo intrínseco, suelen concebir al enfoque de los derechos del niño como un bien en sí mismo, como un valor axiomático portador de un ideal moral superador. De este modo la CIDN se transforma en un ente abstracto y superior, ajeno a las prácticas sociales e históricas y, por ende, inaccesible al análisis crítico. Consideramos que perspectivas como estas corren el riesgo de esencializar sus objetos de indagación y velar la complejidad de los procesos sociopolíticos. Intentaremos, en este trabajo, realizar un ejercicio desacralizador, que resitué a la CIDN como un producto histórico particular, anclado en un contexto determinado y atravesado por relaciones de poder e intereses geopolíticos. A estos fines realizaremos un racconto histórico de las legislaciones transnacionales de niñez, así como ciertas tensiones y voces disonantes, hasta su punto culmine, la redacción de la Convención.; Studies concerning the ways of children managing, the ones that doesn’t fit well on the mainstream types expected by the elites, had gained an increasing interest in the last decades. In Argentina, since the beginnings of the nineties, many intellectuals began to visualize the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as a way to emancipate childhood, particularly those cataloged as “minors”. They also began to strive for the adequacy of domestic rules to the parameters of the CRC, as a tool that’d allow to defeat culturally and materially, the “patronage paradigm”. Although these analyses represented a contribution to understanding the ways of child government, they carry an inherent risk within: they usually tend to understand the children rights approach as a good in itself, as an axiomatic value that carries a transcending moral ideal. Thereby, the CRC becomes an abstract and superior entity, alien to the social and historical practices, and inaccessible to critical analysis. We believe that these perspectives carry the risk of essentializing their objects of inquiry and overshadowing the complexity of sociopolitical processes. In this paper we will try to carry out a desacralizing exercise that’d relocate the CRC as a particular historical product, anchored in a context, and crossed by power relations and geopolitical interests. For this porpoise, we will perform an historical inquest about the transnational legislation referring children, seeking out for dissonant voices and tensions, to its culminating point, the redaction of the CRC.