Ticks infesting cattle and humans in the Yungas Biogeographic Province of Argentina, with notes on the presence of tick-borne bacteria Saracho Bottero, María Noelia; Tarragona, Evelina Luisa; Sebastian, Patrick Stephan; Venzal, José M.; Mangold, Atilio Jose; Guglielmone, Alberto Alejandro; Nava, Santiago This study was performed to determine the tick species that infest cattle and humans throughout an altitudinal gradient in the Yungas Biogeographic Province of Argentina. The presence of tick-borne bacteria of the genera Rickettsia, Ehrlichia and Borrelia in the collected ticks was also evaluated. Samples of ticks parasitizing cattle and humans were carried out in different seasons. Questing ticks (adults and nymphs) were collected from vegetation and analyzed to detect the presence of Rickettsia, Ehrlichia and Borrelia by a battery of different PCRs. Five species of hard ticks were found parasitizing cattle: Amblyomma sculptum, Amblyomma tonelliae, Amblyomma hadanii, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi and Ixodes pararicinus. Amblyomma sculptum (immature and adults), A. tonelliae (immature and adults), A. hadanii (larvae) and one nymph of I. pararicinus were found attached to humans. Rickettsia amblyommatis was detected in one nymph of A. hadanii. DNA of a Borrelia genospecies belonging to the B. burgdorferi s.l. complex (phylogenetically related to haplotypes previously reported in Ixodes aragaoi from Uruguay and I. pararicinus from Argentina) was detected in adults of I. pararicinus. Amblyomma sculptum and I. pararicinus appear to be the tick species more frequent on cattle in the YBP from Argentina, and A. sculptum and A. tonelliae, were the main ticks found attached to humans. The medical importance of the bacteria of the genus Rickettsia and Borrelia detected in this work remains unknown.

Alteraciones de los bosques nativos en el norte argentino: normativas y mecanismos de compensación por servicios ambientales; Alterations of Native Forests in Northern Argentine: Regulations and Compensation Mechanisms for Environmental Services Luna, Claudia Verónica Los recursos naturales conforman los insumos de cualquier actividad económica desarrollada por el hombre; pero es una realidad que la mayoría de los ecosistemas forestales nativos de Argentina presentan desde serias alteraciones con su consecuente pérdida de biodiversidad; no hay mejor estrategia de política ambiental que aquélla que concurra simultáneamente a resolver los problemas ambientales y los socio-económicos con la insustituible acción del Estado. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la situación de los bosques del norte argentino luego de la ley de presupuestos mínimos para la protección ambiental de los mismos; para conocer en profundidad los procesos asociados a su alteración, las normativas vigentes para su protección y uso sustentable, como así también los mecanismos de compensación por servicios ambientales que surgen a partir de ellos.; Natural resources form the inputs of any economic activity carried out by human beings; but it is a reality that most native forest ecosystems in Argentina present from serious alterations with consequent loss of biodiversity. Therefore, there is no better strategy for environmental policy than that which contributes simultaneously to solve environmental and socioeconomic problems with the irreplaceable State action. The objective of this work is to analyze the situation of the forests of northern Argentina after the law the implementation of minimum budgets for their environmental protection, to know in depth the processes associated with its alteration; current regulations for protection and sustainable use; as well as the compensation mechanisms for environmental services arising from them.

Variedades y variaciones de capitalismo en la periferia. América Latina y el Este Asiático reconsiderados Fernández, Víctor Ramiro; Bazza, Alcides; Seiler, Cristhian Rubén El artículo propone un marco analítico alternativo al enfoque institucional de Variedades de Capitalismo para comprender la divergente emergencia y dinamismo industrial entre el Este Asiático y América Latina al interior del denominado Sur Global. El carácter alternativo se fundamenta en el distanciamiento del tratamiento nacionalista metodológico y focalizado en las complementariedades institucionales identificadas en países desarrollados -propio de este enfoque-, para considerar las características que identifican a países en contextos periféricos, y los cambios temporales y espaciales al interior de estos. Se introduce las nociones de ?núcleo de acumulación? y ?núcleo de implicación estatal? como herramentales teóricos alternativos que consideran tal condición periférica -y sus cambios-, entendiendo a los procesos de acumulación y a los Estados que conforman las macro-regiones analizadas en una relación dialéctica e inter-penetrante con permisividades externas y viabilidades internas.

Tube-based MPC with Nonlinear Control for Load Transportation using a UAV Santos, Marcelo A.; Ferramosca, Antonio; Raffo, Guilherme V. This paper presents a two-stage cascade control framework to solve hierarchically the trajectory tracking problem of a Tilt-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) carrying a suspended load. Initially, a nonlinear dynamic model is presented, which is after decoupled into two subsystems. The outer control system is designed by means of a robust tube-based Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy, which is used to control the UAV´s planar motion and stabilize the suspended load. For the inner control system, the input-output feedback linearization (IOFL) technique combined with the dynamic extension approach and a discrete mixed H2/H∞ controller is considered to control the UAV´s altitude and attitude. Simulations results are carried out to corroborate the proposed control strategy.

Aquel lejano Oeste: paradojas de la (in)movilidad en la ciudad de Santa Fe Szupiany, Estefanía Belén El crecimiento desigual y fragmentado del borde Oeste de la ciudad de Santa Fe puede ser analizado en función de la movilidad e inmovilidad allí experimentada. Una paradoja materializada en el trazado de la Avenida Circunvalación en tanto espacio destinado a las altas velocidades y, al mismo tiempo, en tanto formalización de un límite y barrera al intercambio socio-espacial. Con el objetivo de revisar los fundamentos epistemológicos de las políticas urbanas (que derivaron en omisiones y resoluciones tecnocráticas), este artículo propone recuperar la historicidad del proceso de ideación y planificación, a través de los diferentes documentos y planes urbanísticos confeccionados para la ciudad, enfocando el análisis en los modos en que fue concebido el margen Oeste en relación al Río Salado.

Las concepciones políticas de la reforma constitucional de 1949: las visiones del peronismo y la Unión Cívica Radical; The political conceptions of the constitutional reform of 1949: the visions of Peronism and the Unión Cívica Radical; As concepções políticas da reforma constitucional de 1949: Visões do peronismo e da Unión Cívica Radical Ajmechet, Sabrina Artículo enviado con pedido de publicación diciembre 2016. La constitución de 1949, sancionada durante el primer gobierno de Juan Domingo Perón, mantuvo los principios de gobierno representativo: no introdujo un régimen corporativistas de representación ni modificó la división tripartita de poderes. Sin embargo, sentó las bases dogmáticas y se ocupó del articulado institucional de un tipo de gobierno diferente al imaginado en 1853. Bajo la premisa de que era necesario superar las deficiencias del régimen representativo-liberal, el peronismo propuso un diseño constitucional fundado en una visión integrista y organicista de la política. Esta redefinición produjo modificaciones sustanciales tanto en la idea de representación como en la definición misma de democracia. A partir del análisis de las posiciones de los peronistas y de los radicales en la reforma constituyente se analizarán cuestiones fundamentales de lo político: ¿Cómo imaginaron peronistas y radicales la representación política? ¿De qué forma definieron a la democracia? ¿Cómo creían que se debía gobernar?; The 1949 constitution, approved under Juan Domingo Perón’s first presidency, maintained the principles of representative government: it did not introduce corporatist principles of representation or modify the tripartite division of powers. Nevertheless, it laid the dogmatic bases and dealt with the institutional articulation of a type of government different from that imagined in 1853. Under the premise that it was necessary to overcome the deficiencies of the representative-liberal regime, the Peronist goverment proposed a constitutional design based on an organicist visión of politics. This redefinition produced substantial modifications both in the idea of representation and in the very definition of democracy. From the analysis of the positions expresed during the debate of the Constitutional Reform by the Peronists’ and Radicals’ legislators we will analize some basic political conceptions: How did they imagine political representation? How did they define democracy? How did they define the characteristics of a good goverment?; A constituição de 1949, aprovada durante o primeiro governo de Juan Domingo Perón, mantidos os princípios do governo representativo: não introduzido uma representação corporativista ou alterada a divisão tripartida dos poderes. No entanto, ele estabeleceu a base dogmática e um articulado institucional diferente de imaginado em 1853. Sob a premissa de que a reforma era necessária para superar as deficiências do regime liberal representativa, o peronismo proposto um projeto constitucional fundada na visão do governo e política fundamentalistas organísmicos. Esta redefinição produzido mudanças substanciais tanto a ideia de representação como na definição de democracia. A partir da análise das posições dos peronistas e radicais na reforma fundamental constituinte serão discutidas alguns conceitos políticos básicos: Como peronistas e radicais imaginado representação política? Como eles definiram a democracia? Como é que eles acham que era a melhor forma de governo?

El aporte de las cooperativas a las políticas públicas y el territorio: un análisis de las mediciones estadísticas en Argentina; Cooperatives’ contribution to public policies and territory: Analysis of Argentinian statistical measurements’; A contribuição das cooperativas para as políticas públicas e o território: uma análise das medidas estatísticas na Argentina Castelao Caruana, Maria Eugenia Introducción: en las últimas décadas, los poderes públicos nacionales y los organismos internacionales han incrementado su interés por la forma de organización cooperativa, y reconocen su capacidad de contribuir al abordaje de problemas sociales, económicos y ambientales. Metodología: la metodología de esta investigación se basa en el modelo analítico de políticas púbicas que propone comprender la lógica que encierra la acción de las instituciones políticas y de los actores involucrados en las intervenciones públicas desde el ángulo de su contribución a la solución de los problemas colectivos.Resultados: el trabajo estudia el papel de las cooperativas en las políticas públicas a partir del análisis de las intervenciones públicas de alcance nacional, vigentes en Argentina en el periodo 2003-2015. Por otra parte, se identifican y analizan las distintas fuentes de información disponibles en el país que podrían dar cuenta de las acciones que realizan estas entidades.Conclusiones: se plantea la necesidad de registrar y medir el peso económico y social de las coopera-tivas y el impacto de su participación en las políticas públicas a fin de producir un mejor conocimiento sobre la realidad del sector, fortalecer su imagen positiva y difundir esta forma de organización.; Introduction: In recent decades, national public authorities and international organizations have beco-me growingly interested in cooperative organization and recognize its possibility to contribute social, economic and environmental problems approach.Methodology: The methodology of this research is based on a public policies analytical model that aims to understand the logic that underlies political institutions and actors involved in public interventions’ actions with respect to their contribution to solve collective problems.Results: The paper studies the role of cooperatives in public policies based on the analysis of public interventions of national scope given in Argentina from 2003 to 2015. Also, the different sources of information available in the country that could disclose the actions carried out by these entities are identified and analyzed.Conclusions: There is a need to register and measure cooperatives’ economic and social importance and the impact of their participation in public policies in order to attain better understanding of the sector’s reality, strengthen its positive image and publicize this form of organization.; Introdução: nas últimas décadas, as autoridades públicas nacionais e as organizações internacionais aumentaram o seu interesse pela forma de organização cooperativa, e reconheceram a sua capacidade de contribuir para o tratamento de problemas sociais, económicos e ambientais.Metodologia: a metodologia da presente investigação baseia-se no modelo analítico de políticas públicas que propõe compreender a lógica em torno à ação das instituições políticas e os atores envolvidos em intervenções públicas, a partir do ângulo de sua contribuição para a solução de problemas coletivos.Resultados: o artigo estuda o papel das cooperativas nas políticas públicas a partir da análise de in-tervenções públicas de abrangência nacional, vigentes na Argentina no período 2003-2015. Por outro lado, identificam-se e analisam-se as diferentes fontes de informação disponíveis no país, que poderiam explicar as ações realizadas por essas entidades.Conclusões: expõe-se a necessidade de registrar e medir o peso econômico e social das cooperativas e o impacto de sua participação nas políticas públicas, a fim de melhor compreender a realidade do setor, fortalecer sua imagem positiva e disseminar essa forma de organização.

Positioning Latin America within the Southern Turn in Planning: Perspectives on an “Emerging Field”. Conclusion to the Special Issue on Latin America Galland, Daniel; Elinbaum, Pablo The conclusion to this special issue on the state of planning in Latin America provides a series of critical reflections based on the cross-comparative analysis of its seven contributions. Rather than summarising the results embedded in the survey, we allude to the thematic questions posed in the introduction by responding with thought-provoking, argument-based counter-questions as revealed by each of the section headings comprising this conclusion. To make a contribution towards positioning planning in Latin America as an emerging “field” within the Southern turn in planning, the following sections suggest a series of research trajectories whose underlying rationales build on the exposed perceptions around significant planning problems across the region.

A “Field” Under Construction: The State of Planning in Latin America and the Southern Turn in Planning. Introduction to the Special Issue on Latin America Galland, Daniel; Elinbaum, Pablo This special issue takes a point of departure on the “southern turn in planning” with an emphasis on Latin America and seeks to contribute to the current wave of debates around international comparative planning. Its objective is to target the “state of the art” of planning interventions as well as contemporary forms of planning knowledge and academic scholarship across the region. In doing so, a number of key themes are identified through rationales ranging from the emergence of planning policies, practices and discourses to gaps between theory and practice, and then moving on to the state of planning education and the exchange of planning knowledge across different countries within the region. Based on these themes, the substance of the issue embraces inputs by academics with planning knowledge and expertise from Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil and Peru. The conclusion to the issue presents a cross-comparative analysis and synthesises a series of research axes aimed at designing a research agenda concerning planning in Latin America.

Natural resources and primary sector-dependent territories in Latin America Gorenstein, Silvia Mirta; Ortiz, Ricardo Recursos naturales y territorios primarizados en Latinoamérica. Area Development and Policy. La renovada discusión acerca de los problemas asociados con la especialización productiva y comercial de los países latinoamericanos en la exportación de productos básicos (agricultura, minería y energía) y materias primas a los países desarrollados se vuelve relevante debido a ciertas características de la era contemporánea: la deslocalización de las grandes corporaciones industriales y la lógica asociada al ‘capital mariposa’; el ascenso del capitalismo financiero y sus crisis; la revolución científico-tecnológica basada en tecnologías de información y comunicación; el liderazgo de nuevos jugadores en el comercio mundial con la expansión de la demanda de los países asiáticos y particularmente de China; y el aumento en los precios de los productos básicos.; A renewed discussion about the problems associated with the productive and commercial specialization of Latin American countries in the export of commodities (agricultural, mining and energy) and raw materials to developed countries is important due to certain characteristics of the contemporary era, namely: the productive offshoring of large industrial corporations and the associated logic of ‘butterfly capital’; the rise and crisis in particular of financialized capitalism; the scientific–technological revolution based on information and communications technologies; the leadership of new players in world trade with the expansion of demand from Asian countries and particularly from China; and the rise in commodity prices.; 南美洲自然资源和主要行业依赖地区]. Area Development and Policy. 由于当今世界呈现出新的发展特征，对拉丁美洲国家向发达国家出口（农业、矿产、能源）商品和原材料的过程中存在的生产和商业专业分工问题进行重新探讨具有重要意义。这些新的发展特征包括：大型工业企业的生产外包以及相关的“蝴蝶资本”逻辑；金融化资本主义的兴衰；基于信息与通信技术的科技革命；随着亚洲国家尤其是中国需求的扩大而出现的世界贸易新的领导者；以及商品价格的上涨。; Природные ресурсы и территории, зависимые от первичного сектора, в Южной Америке. Area Development and Policy. Возобновленное обсуждение проблем, связанных с производственной и коммерческой специализацией латиноамериканских стран в экспорте сырьевых товаров (сельскохозяйственных, минеральных и энергетических) в развитые страны, имеет важное значение в связи с определенными особенностями современной эпохи, а именно: производственным офшорингом крупных промышленных корпораций и связанной с этим логикой ‘капитала-бабочки’; подъемом и падением, в частности, финансового капитализма; научно-технической революцией, основанной на информационно-коммуникационных технологиях; лидерством новых игроков в мировой торговле с расширением спроса со стороны азиатских стран и особенно со стороны Китая; ростом цен на сырьевые товары.

Low Density Wood Impregnation with Water-Repellent Organosilicic Compounds Canosa, Guadalupe; Alfieri, Paula Vanesa; Giudice, Carlos Alberto Many protective treatments for low density wood are applied by impregnationto give water-repellency and to control pathologies that usually have this substrate.The properties of Araucaria angustifolia , chemically modified by impregnationwith methyltriethoxysilane, n-octyltriethoxysilane and mixtures ofboth in several ratios, were investigated to achieve mainly high dimensionalstability, low capillary water absorption as well as satisfactory water vaporpermeability. The aforementioned impregnants produce the wood chemicalmodification, involving the reaction of hydroxyl groups of the wood with thehydrolysis products of alcoxysilanes. It is concluded that the organosiliconpolymers allow improving important characteristics of wood: 1) the non-occlusivecoating keeps the water vapor permeability unaltered; 2) the alkoxysilane type definesthe hydrophobicity and the continuity of coating formed on the porewall and finally; 3) the polymeric structure formed after finishing sol-gelprocess incises both on the capillary water absorption and the dimensionalstability. In addition, the studied treatments have the advantage of allowingthat the water vapor, which permeates through the organosilicon coatingplaced on cell wall, can exit by hydrophobic repulsion and thus, prevent faultsappearance generated by the condensed water inside of wood.

Fabrication of folic acid magnetic nanotheranostics: An insight on the formation mechanism, physicochemical properties and stability in simulated physiological media Azcona, Pamela Liliana; López Corral, Ignacio; Lassalle, Verónica Leticia Nanodevices based on magnetite functionalized with folic acid (FA) with improved properties to be employed as theranostics in various types of cancer are here proposed. Two methodologies for FA incorporation were explored aiming to reach suitable loading efficiency as well as adequate stability of nanosystems in physiological media. To this end, simple adsorption and covalent binding of FA and some experimental conditions derived from both procedures were studied. A thorough physicochemical characterization was performed using all the formulations. The mechanism of the interaction between FA and magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) was elucidated from characterization results supported by theoretical studies using spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT). Both data coincide in that the selective functional group of FA (pteridine group) remained available after FA binding MNPs. Such studies also demonstrated that any of FA carboxylate groups could be available to potentially link other molecule (i.e therapeutic agents). Besides, other issues that are not normally accomplished in reported articles were included; i.e the stability according to two different criteria: size evolution (expressed as hydrodynamic diameter) as a function of time in aqueous media; and the capacity FA retention in PBS, pH = 7.4. Recovered data indicated that the samples are stable at least 15 days in water and 4 h in buffer without significant modifications of their properties. The feasibility of these formulations to interact with simulated physiological fluid was also assayed. The results revealed that protein corona was formed around all the tested formulations leading to more stable nanodevices in terms of their hydrodynamic sizes and size evolution along the time. To complete the theranostic characteristic, Doxorubicin was added to the MNPs@FA by physical adsorption, to provide the therapeutic function. The satisfactory incorporation was verified by FTIR spectroscopy.

Plasma total cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is a surrogate biomarker for tumour burden and a prognostic biomarker for survival in metastatic melanoma patients Valpione, S.; Gremel, G.; Mundra, P.; Middlehurst, P.; Galvani, E.; Girotti, Maria Romina; Lee, R.J.; Garner, G.; Dhomen, N.; Lorigan, P.C.; Marais, R. Introduction Tumour burden is a prognostic biomarker in metastatic melanoma. However, tumour burden is difficult to measure and there are currently no reliable surrogate biomarkers to easily and reliably determine it. The aim of this study was to assess the potential of plasma total cell free DNA as biomarker of tumour burden and prognosis in metastatic melanoma patients. Materials and methods A prospective biomarker cohort study for total plasma circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) concentration was performed in 43 metastatic melanoma patients. For 38 patients, paired blood collections and scan assessments were available before treatment and at first response evaluation. Tumour burden was calculated as the sum of volumes from three-dimensional radiological measurements of all metastatic lesions in individual patients. Results Baseline cfDNA concentration correlated with pre-treatment tumour burden (ρ = 0.52, P < 0.001). Baseline cfDNA levels correlated significantly with hazard of death and overall survival, and a cut off value of 89 pg/μl identified two distinct prognostic groups (HR = 2.22 for high cfDNA, P = 0.004). Patients with cfDNA ≥89 pg/μl had shorter OS (10.0 versus 22.7 months, P = 0.009; HR = 2.22 for high cfDNA, P = 0.004) and the significance was maintained when compared with lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) in a multivariate analysis. We also found a correlation between the changes of cfDNA and treatment-related changes in tumour burden (ρ = 0.49, P = 0.002). In addition, the ratio between baseline cfDNA and tumour burden was prognostic (HR = 2.7 for cfDNA/tumour volume ≥8 pg/(μl*cm3), P = 0.024). Conclusions We have demonstrated that cfDNA is a surrogate marker of tumour burden in metastatic melanoma patients, and that it is prognostic for overall survival.

Landslide change detection based on Multi-Temporal airborne LIDAR-derived DEMs Mora, Omar E.; Lenzano, María Gabriela; Toth, Charles Karoly; Grejner-Brzezinska, Dorota A.; Fayne, Jessica V. Remote sensing technologies have seen extraordinary improvements in both spatial resolution and accuracy recently. In particular, airborne laser scanning systems can now provide data for surface modeling with unprecedented resolution and accuracy, which can effectively support the detection of sub-meter surface features, vital for landslide mapping. Also, the easy repeatability of data acquisition offers the opportunity to monitor temporal surface changes, which are essential to identifying developing or active slides. Specific methods are needed to detect and map surface changes due to landslide activities. In this paper, we present a methodology that is based on fusing probabilistic change detection and landslide surface feature extraction utilizing multi-temporal Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) derived Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) to map surface changes demonstrating landslide activity. The proposed method was tested in an area with numerous slides ranging from 200 m2 to 27,000 m2 in area under low vegetation and tree cover, Zanesville, Ohio, USA. The surface changes observed are probabilistically evaluated to determine the likelihood of the changes being landslide activity related. Next, based on surface features, a Support Vector Machine (SVM) quantifies and maps the topographic signatures of landslides in the entire area. Finally, these two processes are fused to detect landslide prone changes. The results demonstrate that 53 out of 80 inventory mapped landslides were identified using this method. Additionally, some areas that were not mapped in the inventory map displayed changes that are likely to be developing landslides.

Sequential Bayesian Experimental Design for Process Optimization with Stochastic Binary Outcomes Luna, Martín Francisco; Martínez, Ernesto Carlos For innovative products, the issue of reproducibly obtaining their desired end-use properties at industrial scale is the main problem to be addressed and solved in process development. Lacking a reliable first-principles process model, a Bayesian optimization algorithm is proposed. On this basis, a short of sequence of experimental runs for pinpointing operating conditions that maximize the probability of successfully complying with end-use product properties is defined. Bayesian optimization is able to take advantage of the full information provided by the sequence of experiments made using a probabilistic model (Gaussian process) of the probability of success based on a one-class classification method. The metric which is maximized to decide the conditions for the next experiment is designed around the expected improvement for a binary response. The proposed algorithm's performance is demonstrated using simulation data from a fed-batch reactor for emulsion polymerization of styrene.

Goal-directed Design of Dynamic Experiments for Cybernetic Models of Bioreactors Luna, Martín Francisco; Martínez, Ernesto Carlos The distinctive feature of cybernetic models of bioreactors is their capacity to account for regulatory mechanisms in a cell metabolism by modeling the synthesis of enzymes and their activities. From a process engineering viewpoint, to guarantee its predictive capabilities regarding one or more process objective or goals (e.g. optimization, controllability, etc.), experimental data used to fit a cybernetic model parameters should be the most informative bearing in mind the adequacy of the resulting model to describe the specific objective of interest. To excite the most relevant metabolic modes in the cybernetic model, a dynamic experiment is optimally designed by accounting for the sensitivity of the chosen objective to operating conditions. The bioreactor feeding profile and sampling times are selected to maximize a global sensitivity index. As a case study, biomass production or fermentation to ethanol conversion in the fed-batch cultivation of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae are considered as alternative objectives.

Visualization of the Diffusion Pathway of Protons in (NH4)2Si0.5Ti0.5P4O13 as an Electrolyte for Intermediate-Temperature Fuel Cells Sun, Chunwen; Chen, Lanli; Shi, Siqi; Reeb, Berthold; Lopez, Carlos Alberto; Alonso, José Antonio; Stimming, Ulrich We demonstrate that (NH4)2Si0.5Ti0.5P4O13 is an excellent proton conductor. The crystallographic information concerning the hydrogen positions is unraveled from neutron-powder-diffraction (NPD) data for the first time. This study shows that all the hydrogen atoms are connected though H bonds, establishing a two-dimensional path between the [(Si0.5Ti0.5)P4O132-]n layers for proton diffusion across the crystal structure by breaking and reconstructing intermediate H-O=P bonds. This transient species probably reduces the potential energy of the H jump from an ammonium unit to the next neighboring NH4+ unit. Both theoretical and experimental results support an interstitial-proton-conduction mechanism. The proton conductivities of (NH4)2Si0.5Ti0.5P4O13 reach 0.0061 and 0.024 S cm-1 in humid air at 125 and 250 °C, respectively. This finding demonstrates that (NH4)2Si0.5Ti0.5P4O13 is a promising electrolyte material operating at 150-250 °C. This work opens up a new avenue for designing and fabricating high-performance inorganic electrolytes.

Políticas Estéticas: El caso Saer y la persistencia de la autonomía Abbate, Florencia El objetivo de es artículo será la revisión del concepto de autonomía del arte y su puesta en relación con la obra narrativa y ensayística de Juan José Saer. Se examinan de modo crítico aquellas lecturas que implícitamente han tendido a interpretarlo retomando de modo epigonal dicotomías como arte por el arte vs. arte comprometido o formalismo vs. realismo. Sostenemos que en este autor la defensa del pilar moderno de la autonomía estética no se opone a aquellas visiones que le atribuyen al arte una función social sino que, por el contrario, asume en su obra un valor político. Para ello, nos basamos en algunas nociones de J. Ranciére, cuya filosofía redefine la estética como algo no sólo perteneciente al campo de las formas sensibles sino también de lo social y lo político, y pensamos lo político como una "redistribución de lo sensible".

Galectins: key players at the frontiers of innate and adaptive immunity Martínez Allo, Verónica Candela; Toscano, Marta Alicia; Pinto, Nicolás Alejandro; Rabinovich, Gabriel Adrián The proper function of the immune system entails multiple regulatory pathways aimed at modulating immunogenic and tolero-genic functions of immune cells. Galectins, a family of carbohydrate-binding proteins, control a variety of biological processes involved in activation, differentiation, trafficking and survival of immune cells. In this review we summarize pioneer work and emerging findings highlighting selected functions of galectins as regulatory checkpoints that control innate and adaptive immune cell programs.

CSDC2, a cold shock domain RNA-binding protein in decidualization Vallejo, Griselda; Mestre Citrinovitz, Ana Cecilia; Winterhager, Elke; Saragueta, Patricia Esther RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) have been described for cancer cell progression and differentiation, although there is still much to learn about their mechanisms. Here, using in vivo decidualization as a model, we describe the role of RBP cold shock domain containing C2 (CSDC2) in the endometrium. Csdc2 messenger RNA expression was differentially regulated depending on time and areas of decidua development, with the most variation in antimesometrium (AM) and, to a lesser degree, in the junctional zone (JZ). Immunohistochemistry of CSDC2 showed a preferentially cytoplasmic localization at AM and JZ, and nuclear localization in underneath myometrium and mesometrium (M). Cytoplasmic localization coincided with differentiated, DESMIN-marked areas, while nuclear localization coincides with proliferative zones. Uterine suppression of CSDC2 through intrauterine-injected-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) led to abnormal decidualization in early pregnancy, with more extended antimesometrial area and with poor M development if compared with control siRNA-injected animals. These results suggest that CSDC2 could be a regulator during decidua development.