Voces indígenas sobre "tierra adentro": una aproximación a la territorialidad fronteriza colonial en el área pampeano-norpatagónica; ndigenous voices about “tierra adentro”: an approach to colonial frontier territorialities in the Pampean-North Patagonian area Enrique, Laura Aylen Las extensas llanuras que se desplegaban en la frontera hispano-indígena al sur de la ciudad de Buenos Aires fueron el ámbito de negociaciones sobre los usos de los recursos y los territorios y los sentidos otorgados a ellos por los distintos grupos sociales que se disputaban el espacio pampeano-patagónico a fines del siglo XVIII. Parte de las dificultades para conocer las características de ese "paisaje mestizo" se deben a que las voces de los grupos indígenas que habitaban la región nos llegan mediadas por la escritura de los funcionarios virreinales y viajeros que interactuaban con ellos. No obstante, podemos descubrir rastros de las territorialidades indígenas en algunos documentos coloniales que nos posibilitan aproximarnos a los modos en que se organizaba la denominada "tierra adentro". Aquí nos proponemos estudiar qué aspectos son considerados significativos en la elaboración de las declaraciones e indagar sobre su incidencia en los procesos de configuración territorial. Sostenemos que las distorsiones propias de este tipo de registro escrito -pensado para ser consultado por las autoridades hispanas- nos posibilitan acercarnos a las estrategias de uso, apropiación y significación de los territorios desplegadas por los grupos indígenas.; The vast plains that were unfolded on the Spanish-indigenous border south of the city of Buenos Aires were the area of negotiations on the use of resources and territories and the meanings given to them by the different social groups that disputed the Pampean-Patagonian space at the end of the 18th century. One of the difficulties in knowing the characteristics of this “paisaje mestizo” is due to the fact that the voices of the indigenous groups that inhabited the region reach us mediated by the writing of viceregal officials and travelers who interacted with them. However, we can discover traces of indigenous territorialities in some colonial documents that allow us to approach the ways in which the so-called “tierra adentro” was organized. In this paper, we intend to study which aspects are considered significant in the preparation of testimonial statements and inquire about their impact on territorial configuration processes. We sustain that the distortions inherent to this type of written record (intended to be consulted by Hispanic authorities) allow us to approach the strategies of use, appropriation and significance of the territories deployed by indigenous groups.

Lactic Acid Bacteria Strains Differently Modulate Gut Microbiota and Metabolic and Immunological Parameters in High-Fat Diet-Fed Mice Fabersani Marrades, Mario Emanuel; Márquez, María Antonela; Russo, Matias Irineo; Ross, Gloria Romina; Torres, Sebastián; Fontana, Cecilia Alejandra; Puglisi, Edoardo; Medina, Roxana Beatriz; Gauffin Cano, María Paola Background: Dietary strategies, including the use of probiotics as preventive agents that modulate the gut microbiota and regulate the function of adipose tissue, are suitable tools for the prevention or amelioration of obesity and its comorbidities. We aimed to evaluate the effect of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with different adipo- and immuno-modulatory capacities on metabolic and immunological parameters and intestinal composition microbiota in high-fat-diet-induced in mice fed a high-fat diet Methods: Balb/c weaning male mice were fed a standard (SD) or high-fat diet (HFD) with or without supplementation with Limosilactobacillus fermentum CRL1446 (CRL1446), Lactococcus lactis CRL1434 (CRL1434), or Lacticaseibacillus casei CRL431 (CRL431) for 45 days. Biochemical and immunological parameters, white-adipose tissue histology, gut microbiota composition, and ex vivo cellular functionality (adipocytes and macrophages) were evaluated in SD and HFD mice. Results: CRL1446 and CRL1434 administration, unlike CRL431, induced significant changes in the body and adipose tissue weights and the size of adipocytes. Also, these strains caused a decrease in plasmatic glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, leptin, TNF-α, IL-6 levels, and an increase of IL-10. The CRL1446 and CRL1434 obese adipocyte in ex vivo functionality assays showed, after LPS stimulus, a reduction in leptin secretion compared to obese control, while with CRL431, no change was observed. In macrophages from obese mice fed with CRL1446 and CRL1434, after LPS stimulus, lower levels of MCP-1, TNF-α, IL-6 compared to obese control were observed. In contrast, CRL431 did not induce modification of cytokine values. Regarding gut microbiota, all strain administration caused a decrease in Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes index and diversity. As well as, related to genus results, all strains increased, mainly the genera Alistipes, Dorea, Barnesiella, and Clostridium XIVa. CRL1446 induced a higher increase in the Lactobacillus genus during the study period. Conclusions: The tested probiotic strains differentially modulated the intestinal microbiota and metabolic/immunological parameters in high-fat-diet-induced obese mice. These results suggest that CRL1446 and CRL1434 strains could be used as adjuvant probiotics strains for nutritional treatment to obesity and overweight. At the same time, the CRL431 strain could be more beneficial in pathologies that require regulation of the immune system.

Properties of galaxies with ring structures Fernandez, Julia; Alonso, Sol; Mesa, Valeria Alejandra; Duplancic Videla, Maria Fernanda; Coldwell Lloveras, Georgina Vanesa Aims: We present a statistical analysis of different characteristics of ringed spiral galaxies with the aim of assessing the effects of rings on disk galaxy properties. Methods: We built a catalog of ringed galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 14 (SDSS-DR14). Via visual inspection of SDSS images, we classified the face-on spiral galaxies brighter than g < 16.0 mag into galaxies with: an inner ring, an outer ring, a nuclear ring, both an inner and an outer ring, and a pseudo-ring. In addition to rings, we recorded morphological types and the existence of bars, lenses, and galaxy pair companions with or without interaction. With the goal of providing an appropriate quantification of the influence of rings on galaxy properties, we also constructed a suitable control sample of non-ringed galaxies with similar redshift, magnitude, morphology, and local density environment distributions to those of ringed ones. Results: We found 1868 ringed galaxies, accounting for 22% of the full sample of spiral galaxies. In addition, within galaxies with ringed structures, 46% have an inner ring, 10% an outer ring, 20% both an inner and an outer ring, 6% a nuclear ring, and 18% a partial ring. Moreover, 64% of the ringed galaxies present bars. We also found that ringed galaxies have both a lower efficiency of star formation activity and older stellar populations (as derived with the Dn(4000) spectral index) with respect to non-ringed disk objects from the control sample. Moreover, there is a significant excess of ringed galaxies with red colors. These effects are more important for ringed galaxies that have inner rings and bars with respect to their counterparts that have some other types of rings and are non-barred. The color-magnitude and color-color diagrams show that ringed galaxies are mostly concentrated in the red region, while non-ringed spiral objects are more extended to the blue zone. Galaxies with ringed structures present an excess of high metallicity values compared to non-ringed ones, which show a 12 + Log(O/H) distribution toward lower values. These findings seem to indicate that rings are peculiar structures that produce an accelerating galactic evolution, strongly altering the physical properties of their host galaxies.

Deber de memoria: El informe por entregas "Miseria de la prensa del Proceso" de la revista Humor: Periodismo, ética y denuncia en la escena postdictatorial argentina (1984); Duty of memory: The report “Miseria de la prensa del Proceso” in humor mkagazine: Press, ethics and denounce in the argentine postdictatorial scene (1984) Raíces, Eduardo El presente artículo analiza el informe “Miseria de la prensa del Proceso”, dedicado a denunciar las actitudes oportunistas de la prensa gráfica entre la última dictadura militar argentina (1976-1983) y la nueva etapa democrática. Fue realizado por Carlos Gabetta y Sergio Joselovsky y publicado en nueve entregas por la revista Humor durante varios meses de 1984. Se contempla el modo en que Humor se atribuyó autoridad para evaluar la conducta de los actores de prensa; el estilo y criterios de selección y cobertura de varias de las principales publicaciones de la época; y en particular las formas propuestas para evidenciar cambios en la línea editorial de los medios denunciados. Sirviéndonos del enfoque de estudios de memoria social fue posible señalar que el informe evaluó las actitudes periodísticas como “cómplices”, “victimizadas” y “heroicas”. Con ello, si bien evidenció oportunismos y resistencias, no logró dar cuenta acabada de los cambios y ambigüedades del funcionamiento mediático a lo largo del periodo. Pese a estas limitaciones, “Miseria…” supuso una estrategia de denuncia pionera durante la inmediata posdictadura de los dudosos valores democráticos de gran parte de la prensa, planteada en términos ético-profesionales y políticos desde un medio independiente con reconocimiento local e internacional.; Our essay deals with the Report “Miseria de la prensa del Proceso”, focused in denouncing opportunist attitudes by press between last Argentinean dictatorship (1976-1983) and the return of democratic régime. It was made by journalists Carlos Gabetta and Sergio Joselovsky and published in nine fascicules in Humor magazine during several months of 1984. It is Studied the way Humor self-attributed Authority to evaluate the conduct of press actors; the style and selection criteria of materials from main media of the era; and the strategies employed by Humor to put in evidence the changes in editorial line of denounced media. By using the approach of social memories studies, we stated that the Report classified press attitudes between complicity, victimization and heroism. If that classification exposed opportunist and resistant attitudes in press actors, failed to detect the changes and ambiguities of each media along the time. In spite of these limitations, we conclude that the Report involved an early strategy to denounce the apparent continuity in newspapers and magazines from dictatorship to constitutional régime and, thus, their dubious democratic values, posed in ethical-political terms by a well-known independent magazine.

El sueño, las palabras y la cosa: La filosofía de Marx frente a la Comuna; The Dream, the words and the thing: Marx’s philosophy facing the Commune Dominguez, Esteban En estas páginas me propongo reflexionar sobre un conjunto de cuestiones relativas a la filosofía de Marx a la luz de la experiencia de la Comuna de París. Más específicamente, quisiera señalar que la experiencia de Marx frente a la Comuna podría constituirse en un revelador de algunos trazos significativos de su filosofía. En primer lugar, propongo un análisis de la carta de Marx a Ruge en Kreuznach (1843), con el fin de reflexionar sobre la idea de la revolución que tiene el joven Marx, identificando dos pliegues críticos que la modifican y la proyectan transformada hacia la Comuna. En segundo lugar, propongo una relectura de La guerra civil en Francia (1871), atravesada por una disyunción interna entre la palabra científica, la palabra política y la palabra filosófica presentes en Marx, pero que se resisten a ser reapropiadas en un único discurso.; In this paper I aim to think about a set of different issues in relation to Marx’s philosophy on the light of the experience of Paris Commune. More specifically, I would like to point out that Marx’s experience facing the Commune could be constituted as a revealing indicator of some of the most significant outlines of his philosophy. Firstly, I am proposing an analysis of the letter from Marx to Ruge in Kreuznach (1843) with the purpose of thinking over young Marx’s revolution idea by identifying two critical aspects that modify and project it transformed towards the Commune. In second place, I present a re-reading of The Civil War in France (1871) crossed by an internal disjunction between the scientific, political and philosophical words that are present in Marx, but that resist to be reappropriated in a single speech.

Determinants of Aedes mosquito density as an indicator of arbovirus transmission risk in three sites affected by co-circulation of globally spreading arboviruses in Colombia, Ecuador and Argentina Talbot, Benoit; Sander, Beate; Cevallos, Varsovia; González, Camila; Benítez, Denisse; Carissimo, Claudio; Carrasquilla Ferro, María C.; Gauto, Neris; Litwiñiuk, Sergio Leandro; López, Karen; Ortiz, Mario I.; Ponce, Patricio; Villota, Stephany D.; Zelaya, Fabian; Espinel, Mauricio; Wu, Jianhong; Miretti, Marcos Mateo; Kulkarni, Manisha A. Background: The global impact of Zika virus in Latin America has drawn renewed attention to circulating mosquito-borne viruses in this region, such as dengue and chikungunya. Our objective was to assess socio-ecological factors associated with Aedes mosquito vector density as a measure of arbovirus transmission risk in three cities of potentially recent Zika virus introduction: Ibagué, Colombia; Manta, Ecuador; and Posadas, Argentina, in order to inform disease mitigation strategies. Methods: We sampled Aedes mosquito populations in a total of 1086 households, using indoor and peridomestic mosquito collection methods, including light traps, resting traps, traps equipped with chemical attractant and aspirators. For each sampled household, we collected socio-economic data using structured questionnaires and data on microenvironmental conditions using iButton data loggers. Results: A total of 3230 female Aedes mosquitoes were collected, of which 99.8% were Aedes aegypti and 0.2% were Aedes albopictus. Mean female Aedes mosquito density per household was 1.71 (standard deviation: 2.84). We used mixed-effects generalized linear Poisson regression analyses to identify predictors of Aedes density, using month, neighborhood and country as random-effects variables. Across study sites, the number of household occupants [incidence rate ratio (IRR): 1.08, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01–1.14], presence of entry points for mosquitoes into the household (IRR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.30–1.76) and presence of decorative vegetation (IRR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.22–1.88) were associated with higher Aedes density; while being in the highest wealth tertile of household wealth (IRR: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.66–0.92), knowledge of how arboviruses are transmitted (IRR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.89–1.00) and regular emptying of water containers by occupants (IRR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.67–0.92) were associated with lower Aedes density. Conclusions: Our study addresses the complexities of arbovirus vectors of global significance at the interface between human and mosquito populations. Our results point to several predictors of Aedes mosquito vector density in countries with co-circulation of multiple Aedes-borne viruses, and point to modifiable risk factors that may be useful for disease prevention and control.

Jóvenes y violencia policial: Posibilidades y desafíos de la entrevista cualitativa; Young people and police violence: Possibilities and challenges of the qualitative interview Roldan, Macarena del Valle; Soloa, Emanuel; Bonvillani, Andrea El artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación cualitativa que analizó las experiencias de violencia policial vivenciadas por jóvenes de la ciudad de Córdoba, Argentina. Se trabajó con datos producidos a partir de entrevistas no estructuradas con doce jóvenes que dieron lugar a tres tópicos de discusión: las narrativas de los jóvenes acerca del encuentro con lo policial, las construcciones de masculinidad que ponen en juego allí y la implicación del/la investigador/a en la situación de entrevista. Finalmente, se discute acerca de las posibilidades y desafíos que presenta la entrevista con estos jóvenes desde una perspectiva metodológica y ético-política.

Arnold Heim (1882-1965) geólogo-naturalista suizo: El primer Miembro correspondiente de la Sociedad Geológica Argentina Cingolani, Carlos Alberto; Uriz, Norberto Javier; Carrasquero, Silvia Irene; Bidone, Andrea Rosa; Arnol, Jonatan Ariel La intensa actividad geológica y de naturalista multifacético en diversas partes del mundo, convirtieron al Dr. Arnold Heim en una destacada personalidad para la época. Se formó académicamente en la escuela geológica suiza de Zúrich. Son conocidos los detallados trabajos en la Precordillera, Patagonia y otros sectores publicados durante su estadía en Sudamérica. Fue seleccionado en 1946, como el primer Miembro Correspondiente de la Sociedad Geológica Argentina. Además de la actividad en la prospección de petróleo, publicó unos 300 trabajos científicos, incluyendo descripciones de sus viajes con relatos completos de flora y fauna, y de los habitantes de la región visitada y sus costumbres. Formó parte de la primera expedición científica suiza a los Himalayas, donde realizó junto a su discípulo A. Gansser relevantes observaciones estratigráficas y tectónicas, con el descubrimiento de rocas ofiolíticas como relictos del antiguo Mar de Tethys y la interpretación de una colisión continental. Ha dejado una valiosa documentación de fotos, mapas y correspondencia preservada en la Biblioteca ETH de Zúrich. En 1939 con 57 años llega a Sudamérica, donde se siente sorprendido por la desbordante naturaleza del sur chileno-argentino. El objetivo era explorar la zona del Lago General Carrera-Buenos Aires, el Campo de Hielo Patagónico Norte y el destino final, ascender el Monte San Valentín. Luego fue contratado por la Dirección de Minas de Buenos Aires para estudios geotécnicos en San Juan y La Rioja, entre otros. Sus detallados esquemas estructurales de Barreal, Rinconada y el río San Juan, aún tienen vigencia. Fue un geólogo viajero incansable, a quien se lo llegó a conocer como el "Humboldt suizo".; The intense geological and naturalistic activity of Dr. Arnold Heim in various parts of the world, lead him to become an outstanding personality for the time. He obtained a PhD at the University of Zürich. The detailed manuscripts of the Precordillera, Patagonia and other sectors published by A. Heim during his stays in Argentina and Chile are well known. He was designed in 1946, as the first Corresponding Member of the Argentine Geological Society. In addition to his activity in oil prospecting, about 300 scientific publications are recorded; descriptions of the trips are included with complete accounts of flora and fauna and of the inhabitants of the visited regions and their customs, as well as maps and geographical works. An important milestone in his life was the possibility of being part of the first Swiss scientific expedition to the Himalayas, where he head with his disciple A. Gansser. The results were relevant stratigraphic and tectonic observations with the discovery of ophiolitic rocks of the ancient Tethys Sea and the interpretation of a continental collision. In all cases, he has left valuable documentation such as photos, maps and correspondence preserved in the ETH Bibliothek in Zürich. In 1939 with 57 years old arrived in South America. Upon arriving, he is surprised by the overwhelming nature offered by the southern Chilean-Argentine region. The initial objective of his trip was to explore the area of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field and the final destination, ascend Mount San Valentín. He was then hired by the ‘Dirección de Minas’ of Buenos Aires for various geotechnical studies in San Juan and La Rioja, among others. The detailed structural schemes of Barreal, Rinconada, and the San Juan river, are still valid. Along his life Heim was a tireless traveling geologist, who came to mention him as the “Swiss Humboldt”.

Community Mortality due to Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Argentina: Population-based surveillance study Caballero, Mauricio Tomás; Bianchi, Alejandra Silvina; Diaz Grigaites, Sebastian; de la Iglesia Niveyro, Paola Ximena; Nuño, Alejandra; Valle, Sandra; Afarian, Gabriela; Esperante, Sebastian; Ferreti, Adrián; Jares Baglivo, Sofía; De Luca, Julián; Álvarez Paggi, Damián Jorge; Diamanti, Adriana; Bassat, Quique; Polack, Fernando Pedro Background. Many deaths in infants from low-middle income countries (LMICs) occur at home or upon arrival to health facilities. Although acute lower respiratory tract illness plays an important role in community mortality, the accuracy of mortality rates due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remains unknown. Methods. An active surveillance study among children aged under 5 years old (U5) was performed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, between January and December 2019, to define the burden and role of RSV in childhood community mortality. Results. A total of 63 families of children U5 participated in the study. Based on a combined approach of tissue sampling, verbal autopsies, and expert’s analysis, RSV infection was found in the causal chain of 11 from 12 cases with positive molecular biology results in respiratory samples. The estimated mortality rate due to RSV among infants was 0.27 deaths/1000 live births. The mean age of RSV-related household deaths was 2.8 months of age (standard deviation [SD] 1.7), and 8/12 were male infants (66.7%). Dying at home from RSV was associated with Streptococcus pneumoniae and/or Moraxella catarrhalis lung coinfection (75%), living in slums and settlement (odds ratio [OR], 17.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3–219.2), and other underlying comorbidities (OR, 14.87; 95% CI, 1.3–164.6). Conclusions. Infant community mortality rates due to RSV are higher than those reported in industrialized countries and similar to those reported in hospital-based studies in the same catchment population.

An OpenFOAM Application for Solving the Black Oil Problem Fioroni, Soledad; Larreteguy, Axel Eduardo; Savioli, Gabriela Beatriz An OpenFOAM application to address black oil problems using the finite volume technique is presented, along with the first results of the new solver. The black oil formulation is well known in petroleum reservoir engineering and widely implemented in primary and secondary recovery processes. Simulation of three-phase flow in porous media including fluid and rock compressibility requires careful consideration in the numerical model in order to guarantee a conservative calculation. Therefore, a detailed mathematical model and its implementation, with emphasis on the numerical treatment, are presented in this work. The solver is validated over several case studies comparing its results against a semi-analytical solution and those obtained by both in house and commercial simulators reported in the literature, thus proving to successfully represent compressible and incompressible multiphase flow in porous media.

Apropiaciones historiográficas en la dramaturgia argentina de la posdictadura: los casos Raúl Dargoltz y Juan Raúl Rithner; Historiographic Appropriations in the Argentine Post-dictatorship Dramaturgy: the Raúl Dargoltz and Juan Raúl Rithner Cases Tossi, Mauricio Antonio En el contexto de la posdictadura argentina, las dramaturgias de la Patagonia y el Noroeste han actualizado el potencial estético del teatro histórico moderno, mediante una particular relectura del teatro documental. Así, determinadas obras de Raúl Dargoltz y Juan Raúl Rithner exponen modos específicos de apropiación de referentes historiográficos del norte y el sur del país. A pesar de sus fronteras geográficas, estas dramaturgias evidencian una solidaridad poética entre ambas regiones, al optar por la resignificación de procedimientos estéticos que, entre otros efectos, contribuyen al abordaje de interrogantes comunitarios sobre los sentidos del pasado reciente.; In the context of the Argentine post-dictatorship, the dramaturgies of Patagonia and the Northwest have updated the aesthetic potential of modern historical theater, through a particular rereading of documentary theater. Thus, certain plays by Raúl Dargoltz and Juan Raúl Rithner expose specific ways of appropriating historiographic references from the north and south of the country. Despite their geographical borders, these dramaturgies show a poetic solidarity between both regions, by opting for the resignification of aesthetic procedures that, among other effects, contribute to addressing community questions about the meanings of the recent past.

Antibody-based inhibition of pathogenic new world hemorrhagic fever mammarenaviruses by steric occlusion of the human transferrin receptor 1 apical domain Ferrero, Sol; Flores, Maria D.; Short, Connor; Vázquez, Cecilia Alejandra; Clark, Lars E.; Ziegenbein, James; Zink, Samantha; Fuentes, Daniel; Payés, Cristian; Batto, María V.; Collazo, Michael; García, Cybele C.; Abraham, Jonathan; Cordo, Sandra Myriam; Rodriguez, Jose A.; Helguera, Gustavo Fernando Pathogenic clade B New World mammarenaviruses (NWM) can cause Argentine, Venezuelan, Brazilian, and Bolivian hemorrhagic fevers. Sequence variability among NWM glycoproteins (GP) poses a challenge to the development of broadly neutralizing therapeutics against the entire clade of viruses. However, blockade of their shared binding site on the apical domain of human transferrin receptor 1 (hTfR1/CD71) presents an opportunity for the development of effective and broadly neutralizing therapeutics. Here, we demonstrate that the murine monoclonal antibody OKT9, which targets the apical domain of hTfR1, can sterically block cellular entry by viral particles presenting clade B NWM glycoproteins (GP1-GP2). OKT9 blockade is also effective against viral particles pseudotyped with glycoproteins of a recently identified pathogenic Sabia-like virus. With nanomolar affinity for hTfR1, the OKT9 antigen binding fragment (OKT9-Fab) sterically blocks clade B NWM-GP1s and reduces infectivity of an attenuated strain of Junin virus. Binding of OKT9 to the hTfR1 ectodomain in its soluble, dimeric state produces stable assemblies that are observable by negative-stain electron microscopy. A model of the OKT9-sTfR1 complex, informed by the known crystallographic structure of sTfR1 and a newly determined structure of the OKT9 antigen binding fragment (Fab), suggests that OKT9 and the Machupo virus GP1 share a binding site on the hTfR1 apical domain. The structural basis for this interaction presents a framework for the design and development of high-affinity, broadly acting agents targeting clade B NWMs. IMPORTANCE Pathogenic clade B NWMs cause grave infectious diseases, the South American hemorrhagic fevers. Their etiological agents are Junin (JUNV), Guanarito (GTOV), Sabiá (SABV), Machupo (MACV), Chapare (CHAV), and a new Sabiá-like (SABV-L) virus recently identified in Brazil. These are priority A pathogens due to their high infectivity and mortality, their potential for person-to-person transmission, and the limited availability of effective therapeutics and vaccines to curb their effects. While low homology between surface glycoproteins of NWMs foils efforts to develop broadly neutralizing therapies targeting NWMs, this work provides structural evidence that OKT9, a monoclonal antibody targeting a single NWM glycoprotein binding site on hTfR1, can efficiently prevent their entry into cells.

The use of propolis as a functional food ingredient: A review Irigoiti, Yanet; Navarro, Alba Sofia del Rosario; Yamul, Diego Karim; Libonatti, Claudia Carina; Tabera, Anahi; Basualdo, Marina Background: Propolis is a resinous product collected by bees from different plant species that contains numerous compounds with biological activity like antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, among others. These properties make propolis the ideal candidate to be used as a functional ingredient in foods, beyond its known use as an additive. Scope and approach: This article provides a review of the latest papers about the chemical composition (especially polyphenols, flavonoids and terpenes), antimicrobial activity and antioxidant properties of propolis as a functional food ingredient. Besides, this article also reviews the newest technologies developed to incorporate propolis in food systems keeping its antioxidant properties and masking its off-flavour. Key findings and conclusions: Despite the differences in the chemical composition of propolis from all over the world, all of them show antioxidant and pharmacological activity making propolis an attractive natural product to be included in foods as a functional ingredient. Many researchers have proposed the use of encapsulation techniques like spray drying, which allows transforming the ethanolic propolis extract into an easily-handled alcohol-free powder appropriate to be incorporated in food systems. The inclusion of propolis in nanoparticles, biopolymers films and sucrose matrix is also promising. Based on the papers reviewed, further studies are needed relating the incorporation of propolis in foodstuffs, the dose at which its antioxidant or biological properties are effective and the sensory properties of the final product.

Shining bright in the dusk: How do bat-pollinated flowers reflect light? Domingos-Melo, Arthur; de Brito, Vinícius Lourenço Garcia; Sersic, Alicia Noemi; Cocucci, Andrea Aristides; Lunau, Klaus; Machado, Isabel Cristina Specialization in nectarivory is an uncommon condition among bats, and it is restricted to two subfamilies of neotropical phyllostomids (Glossophaginae and Lonchophyllinae) which encompass dozens of bats with striking morpho-physiological adaptations to exploit floral nectar (Muchhala and Tschapka 2020). Such bats commonly start the search for flowers before the sun goes down, when the flowers are freshly opened (Sazima and Sazima 1975). After spotting a resource, nectarivorous bats prefer to use spatial memory instead of floral clues to look for new flowers (Carter et al. 2010). Therefore, it may be essential that chiropterophilous (i.e. bat-pollinated) flowers are attractive to bats during the early part of their searching routine when they build in their minds a trace of their foraging bouts. It is known that bats find flowers by integrating acoustic and olfactory cues, which are very useful in dark conditions (Gonzalez-Terrazas et al. 2016). However, since there still is plenty of light striking flowers during twilight, the question emerges: Do these flowers reflect light that also draws the attention of bats by addressing their color vision abilities?

Modeling air pollution-related hospital admissions employing remote sensing and geographical information systems Tavera Busso, Iván; Rodriguez Nuñez, Martin; Amarillo, Ana Carolina; Mettan, Fabricio; Carreras, Hebe Alejandra Land-use regression models and remote sensing data have been widely employed to forecast atmospheric aerosol levels. Recently, these methodologies have been combined to predict the influence of this pollutant on human health. However, traditional land-use regression models do not often consider the complex interactions between predictors, and most of these do not include socioeconomic variables. Thus, in the present study, we aimed to estimate suspended particle-related hospital admissions by employing remote sensing, meteorological, environmental, and demographic parameters. In this cohort study, we analyzed 1,612,049 hospital admissions from Córdoba city, Argentina, from 2005 to 2011, and developed several regression and machine learning land-use models to compare their predictive powers. We found that childhood was the age group with the highest number of hospital admissions related with upper respiratory tract diseases. When predicting population-normalized hospital admissions, the machine learning models, in particular the generalized boosted machine, revealed a better performance than regression models, exhibiting the lowest root mean square error (0.4264) in the test data set. This model also achieved the best R2adj (0.6088) when plotting predicted vs. reported normalized cases. The most important predictors were the meteorological variables, followed by the aerosol optical depth and the planet boundary layer height. Some other predictors, such as educational level, land value, and unsatisfied basic needs, showed less relevance but enhanced the model's prediction power. Furthermore, the predictive power increased after a 1-day lag in hospital admissions (RMSE = 0.4121), highlighting the importance of meteorological and environmental variables in the onset of respiratory diseases.

Fighting antimicrobial resistant microorganisms: Current status and emerging strategies using nanomaterials Paraje, María Gabriela; Páez, Paulina Laura The high prevalence of pathogens resistant to antimicrobials poses a huge threat to the treatment of a wide range of serious infections. Emerging strategies using nanoparticles to treat these infections is promissory, thus, the current research emphasizes the development of promising new antimicrobial drugs in the near future. Nanotechnology offers the opportunity to exploit the biological properties of these materials by manipulating their size to dimensions on the nanometer scale. The importance of the eradication of bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses resistant to multiples antimicrobials in the first moments of colonization justify the need to find new therapeutic alternatives associated with the eradication and control of infections. The main objective of antimicrobial treatment is to minimize the microbial inoculum, which implies the need to use biocidal drugs, which do not allow the selection of resistance mechanisms.

The few effective antimicrobials against resistant microorganisms emphasize the need for new approaches through the development of different therapeutic strategies. Due to their small size and large surface area, nanomaterials possess excellent electrical, optical, magnetic, structural, and chemical properties. Optimizing the interface between biomolecules and/or ligands with nanostructured materials is currently a promising path for research of new antimicrobial therapies. The fact that nanoparticles are similar in size to intra- and extra-cellular biological components allows them to specifically interact with molecular and sub-cellular processes and manipulate biological states, structures, and functions in a radically new way, making them extremely attractive for new biomedical applications. The combination of materials science and nanomedicine has given rise to a new alternative field that involves the functionalization of nanostructures with different biologically active materials. The potential microbiological impact of nanoparticles is not only determined by their physicochemical properties, but also by the interactions of these with the immediate surrounding biological environments.

Biofabrication of functional protein nanoparticles through simple His-tag engineering López Laguna, Hèctor; Sanchez, Julieta Maria; Carratalá, José Vicente; Rojas Peña, Mauricio; Sánchez García, Laura; Parladé, Eloi; Sánchez Chardi, Alejandro; Voltà Durán, Eric; Serna, Naroa; Cano Garrido, Olivia; Flores Mamani, Sandra Soledad; Ferrer Miralles, Neus; Nolan, María Verónica; de Marco, Ario; Roher, Nerea; Unzueta, Ugutz; Vazquez, Esther; Villaverde, Antonio We have developed a simple, robust and fully transversal approach for the a-la-carte fabrication of functional multimeric nanoparticles with potential biomedical applications, validated here by a set of diverse and unrelated polypeptides. The proposed concept is based on the controlled coordination between Zn2+ ions and His residues in His-tagged proteins. This approach results in the spontaneous and reproducible protein assembling as nanoscale oligomers that keep the original functionalities of the protein building blocks. The assembling of these materials is not linked to particular polypeptide features and it is based on an environment-friendly and sustainable approach. The resulting nanoparticles, with dimensions ranging between 10 and 15 nm, are regular in size, architecturally stable, fully functional, and serve as intermediates in a more complex assembling process resulting in the formation of microscale protein materials. Since most of the recombinant proteins produced by biochemical and biotechnological industries and intended for biomedical research are His-tagged, the green biofabrication procedure proposed here can be straightforward applied to a huge spectrum of protein species for their conversion into their respective nanostructured formats.

Changes in vegetation and human-environment interactions during the Holocene in the Lake Pueyrredón area (southern Patagonia) Marcos, Maria Alejandra; Bamonte, Florencia Paula; Echeverria, Marcos Emanuel; Sottile, Gonzalo David; Mancini, Maria Virginia This paper reconstructs the vegetation history of the Lake Pueyrredón area during the Holocene and contextualizes the use of space and resources by hunter-gatherer groups according to palaeoenvironmental evolution. The pollen analysis of the Los Flamencos lake sequence is presented and integrated with local archaeological pollen data. Early Holocene vegetation consisted of a dwarf-shrub-grass steppe associated with cold conditions. From 7,600 cal bp a shrub vegetation with forest patches is inferred, suggesting a high moisture availability and possibly involving an eastwards displacement of the forest-steppe ecotone boundary. Human occupation, previously interrupted by the Hudson volcano eruption, and use of space is evident in this period. Between 6,600 and 5,400 cal bp an environmental change to drier conditions suggests a heterogeneous shrub steppe and the higher availability of floristic resources possibly used by hunter-gatherer groups. The predominance of shrub steppe with dwarf shrubs from 5,400 cal bp indicates more arid than current conditions, which correlates with a higher human-environment interaction related to changes in the lake configuration allowing new north–south circulation roads and vice versa, and major floristic resources availability. A decrease in dwarf-shrubs indicates a slight increase in moisture availability since 3,550 cal bp, suggesting a weakening of the westerly winds. The results indicate local and regional changes in vegetation linked mainly to moisture availability and Southern Westerly Winds fluctuations. The integration of pollen, archaeological and palaeogeographic information available and its comparison with other fossil records studied in Patagonia complement palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and explain the changes in a regional palaeoenvironmental framework.

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations applied to Li-ion and post Li-ion batteries: A key link in the multi-scale chain Gavilán Arriazu, Edgardo Maximiliano; Mercer, Michael; Barraco Diaz, Daniel Eugenio; Hoster, Harry Ernst; Leiva, Ezequiel Pedro M. Since 1994, Kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) has been applied to the study of Li-ion batteries and has demonstrated to be a remarkable simulation tool to properly describe the physicochemical processes involved, on the atomistic scale and over long time scales. With the growth of computing power and the widespread use of lithium-based storage systems, more contributions from theoretical studies have been requested. This has led to a remarkable growth of theoretical publications on Li-ion batteries; kMC has been one of the preferred techniques to study these systems. Despite the advantages it presents, kMC has not yet been fully exploited in the field of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and its impact in this field is increasing exponentially. In this review, we summarize the most important applications of kMC to the study of LIBs and then comment on the state-of-the-art and prospects for the future of this technique, in the context of multi-scale modeling. We also briefly discuss the prospects for applying kMC to post lithium-ion chemistries such as lithium-sulfur and lithium-air.

Synthesis and interaction of terminal unsaturated chemical probes with Mycobacterium tuberculosis CYP124A1 Díaz Storani, Luz; Clary, Anaelle A.; Moreno, Diego Martin; Ballari, María Sol; Porta, Exequiel Oscar Jesús; Bracca, Andrea Beatriz Juana; Johnston, Jonathan B.; Labadie, Guillermo Roberto A series of C15–C20 isoprenyl derivatives bearing terminal alkenyl and alkynyl groups were synthesized as possible substrates of the methyl-branched lipid ω-hydroxylase CYP124A1 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The interactions of each compound with the enzyme active site were characterized using UV–vis spectroscopy. We found that C10 and C15 analogs bind with similar affinity to the corresponding parent C10 and C15 substrates geraniol and farnesol, respectively. Three analogs (C10-ω-ene, C10-ω-yne, C15-ω-yne) interact with the proximal side of the heme iron by coordinating to the oxygen atom of the ferric heme, as judged by the appearance of typical Type-IA binding spectra. On the other hand, the C15-ω-ene analog interacts with the ferric heme by displacing the bound water that generates a typical Type I binding spectrum. We were unable to detect P450-mediated oxidation of these probes following extended incubations with CYP124A1 in our reconstituted assay system, whereas a control reaction containing farnesol was converted to ω-hydroxy farnesol under the same conditions. To understand the lack of detectable oxidation, we explored the possibility that the analogs were acting as mechanism-based inhibitors, but we were unable to detect time-dependent loss of enzymatic activity. In order to gain insight into the lack of detectable turnover or time-dependent inhibition, we examined the interaction of each compound with the CYP124A1 active site using molecular docking simulations. The docking studies revealed a binding mode where the terminal unsaturated functional groups were sequestered within the methyl-binding pocket, rather than positioned close to the heme iron for oxidation. These results aid in the design of specific inhibitors of Mtb-CYP124A1, an interesting enzyme that is implicated in the oxidation of methyl-branched lipids, including cholesterol, within a deadly human pathogen.