Molecules, dust, and protostars in NGC 3503 Duronea, Nicolas Urbano; Vasquez, Javier; Barba, Rodolfo Hector; Romero, G.; Cappa, Cristina Elisabeth; Bronfman, L. Aims: We present here a follow-up study of the molecular gas and dust in the environs of the star forming region NGC 3503. This study aims at dealing with the interaction of the Hii region NGC 3503 with its parental molecular cloud, and also with the star formation in the region, that was possibly triggered by the expansion of the ionization front against the parental cloud. Methods: To analyze the molecular gas we use CO(J = 2 → 1), 13CO(J = 2 → 1), C18O(J = 2 → 1), and HCN(J = 3 → 2) line data obtained with the on-the-fly technique from the APEX telescope. To study the distribution of the dust, we make use of unpublished images at 870 μm from the ATLASGAL survey and IRAC-GLIMPSE archival images. We use public 2MASS and WISE data to search for infrared candidate young stellar objects (YSOs) in the region. Results: The new APEX observations allowed the substructure of the molecular gas in the velocity range from ~-28 km s-1 to -23 km s-1 to be imaged in detail. The morphology of the molecular gas close to the nebula, the location of the PDR, and the shape of radio continuum emission suggest that the ionized gas is expanding against its parental cloud, and confirm the champagne flow scenario. We have identified several molecular clumps and determined some of their physical and dynamical properties such as density, excitation temperature, mass, and line width. Clumps adjacent to the ionization front are expected to be affected by the Hii region, unlike those that are distant from it. We have compared the physical properties of the two kinds of clumps to investigate how the molecular gas has been affected by the Hii region. Clumps adjacent to the ionization fronts of NGC 3503 and/or the bright rimmed cloud SFO 62 have been heated and compressed by the ionized gas, but their line width is not different from those that are too distant from the ionization fronts. We identified several candidate YSOs in the region. Their spatial distribution suggests that stellar formation might have been boosted by the expansion of the nebula. We discard the collect-and-collapse scenario and propose alternative mechanisms such as radiatively driven implosion on pre-existing molecular clumps or small-scale Jeans gravitational instabilities.

Molecular chaperone activity and biological regulatory actions of the TPR-domain immunophilins FKBP51 and FKBP52 Erlejman, Alejandra Giselle; Lagadari, Mariana; Harris, Diondra C.; Cox, Marc B.; Galigniana, Mario Daniel Immunophilins comprise a family of intracellular proteins with peptidyl-prolyl-(cis/trans)-isomerase activity. These foldases are abundant, ubiquitous, and able to bind immunosuppressant drugs, from which the term immunophilin derives. Family members are found in abundance in virtually all organisms and subcellular compartments, and their amino acid sequences are conserved phylogenetically. Immunophilins possess the ability to function as molecular chaperones favoring the proper folding and biological regulation of their biological actions. Their ability to interact via their TPR domains with the 90-kDa heat-shock protein, and through this chaperone, with several signalling cascade factors is of particular importance. Among the family members, the highly homologous proteins FKBP51 and FKBP52 were first characterized due to their ability to interact with steroid hormone receptors. Since then, much progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms by which they regulate receptor signaling and the resulting roles they play not only in endocrine processes, but also in cell architecture, neurodifferentiation, and tumor progression. In this article we review the most relevant features of these two immunophilins and their potential as pharmacologic targets.

Metabolic level recognition of progesterone in dairy Holstein cows using probabilistic models Turino, Ludmila Noelia; Cristaldi, Mariano Daniel; Mariano, Rodolfo Nicolás; Boimvaser, Sonia; Scandolo, D. E. Administration of exogenous progesterone is widely used in hormonal protocols for estrous (re)synchronization of dairy cattle without regarding pharmacological issues for dose calculation. This happens because it is difficult to estimate the metabolic level of progesterone for each individual cow before administration. In the present contribution, progesterone pharmacokinetics has been determined in lactating Holstein cows with different milk production yields. A Bayesian approach has been implemented to build two probabilistic progesterone pharmacokinetic models for high and low yield dairy cows. Such models are based on a one-compartment Hill structure. Posterior probabilistic models have been structurally set up and parametric probability density functions have been empirically estimated. Moreover, a global sensitivity analysis has been done to know sensitivity profile of each model. Finally, posterior probabilistic models have adequately recognized cow´s progesterone metabolic level in a validation set when Kullback-Leibler based indices were used. These results suggest that milk yield may be a good index for estimating pharmacokinetic level of progesterone.

Solar dryer efficiency considering the total drying potential. Application of this potential as a resource indicator in north-western Argentina Altobelli, Fabiana Noelia; Condori, Miguel Angel; Durán, Gonzalo José; Martinez, C. Indicators of drying potential for a region based on a model of free water evaporation in a solar dryer are presented. In these indicators, the total solar radiation and the saturation deficit of ambient air are considered as driving forces for solar drying process. The indicators were used to define the solar dryer performance considering the drying potential of the site. The performance definition was applied to a forced solar dryer placed in the town of San Carlos, (Salta, north-western Argentina) and was loaded with 30 kg of trays filled with water. The results were compared with other performance definitions. A standard dryer of 0.1 kg s−1 airflow was defined to estimate the potential indicators for 18 locations of the north-western Argentina using daily historical data. A mapping of dryer potential was obtained for the entire region through interpolating of results, showing similarity in relation to the distribution of phytogeographic areas. September was the month with the highest potential for solar drying on account of the end of the dried season and the influence of the local warm wind. The indicators also were obtained for San Carlos using recently measured data. Deviations from these potentials with respect to those obtained from the historical database were analyzed and similar results were obtained. The usefulness of these indicators was showed as a tool to be considered when variables other than solar radiation – such as temperature and relative humidity – are taken as energy sources.

Environmental modulation of the plankton community composition and size-structure along the eutrophic intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina Garcia, Maximiliano Darío; Bonel, Nicolás In this study we investigated the spatial distribution of the plankton community, bacterio-, phyto-, and zooplankton, in relation with environmental conditions along the intertidal coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina. Plankton was analyzed in terms of species composition, abundance, biomass (carbon content), and size-structure. We aim to evaluate the potential effects of anthropogenic impacts (e.g., nutrient enrichment) and physicochemical gradients alongshore (e.g., salinity, turbidity) on the composition and functioning of the plankton. We asked whether the natural structuring of the plankton by salinity and turbidity, known to be true of estuaries, is modified by eutrophication along the studied shoreline. We found that the density and biomass of bacteria and phytoplankton were strikingly enhanced by high eutrophication levels along the intertidal southwest coast of the Río de la Plata estuary. We also found that the highest zooplankton density in the most polluted area but the biomass showed a different distribution pattern. Nevertheless, when zooplankton was analyzed by means of its size fraction, we accordingly found that the microzooplankton biomass was positively associated with smaller-size phytoplankton groups and the most polluted study sites. Copepods were the major taxonomic groups that best represented the mesozooplankton biomass. We therefore expected that its distribution was modulated by the presence of its food items (i.e., large cells) which, in turn, were more abundant in the middle-outer zone. In contrast, we found that the highest biomass of copepods occurred at the innermost site of the estuary and we found no significant association with other planktonic groups. Overall, this study highlights the noteworthy impacts of human activities modifying the functioning of this coastal ecosystem. The differences found in the taxonomic composition and size structure of the planktonic community assemblage between the most polluted and less polluted sites constitutes excellent baseline for considering plankton as ecological an indicator of water quality.

Role of basin width variation in tectonic inversion: insight from analogue modelling and implications for the tectonic inversion of the Abanico Basin, 328–348S, Central Andes Jara, P.; Likerman, Jeremias; Winocur, Diego Alejandro; Ghiglione, Matias; Cristallini, Ernesto Osvaldo; Pinto, L.; Charrier, R. We use analogue modelling to investigate the response of compressional deformation superimposed on an extensional basin with along-strike changes in width. Parameters described include extension and shortening distribution and directions, orientation of structures and degree of basin inversion. Two types of model are presented: in the first (Type I), an extensional basin is constructed with variable width (applying differential extension) and subsequently inverted by homogeneous shortening; in the second (Type II), an extensional basin with constant width is subsequently inverted by inhomogeneous shortening (differential compression). From our observations, we compare both types of model to structural patterns observed in some natural cases from the Central Andes. Both models generate oblique structures, but in the Type II model a significant rotation is characteristic. Our results suggest that in the Central Andes region between 32° and 33°S, the Abanico Basin may correspond to a basin of smaller area compared to the larger basin south of 33°S. Our Type I model further explains some patterns observed there, from which we conclude that the control exercised by the width of a pre-existing basin should be considered when interpreting the geological evolution of that area of the Andes.

Phylogeny of New World Paspalum (Poaceae, Panicoideae, Paspaleae) based on plastid and nuclear markers Scataglini, María Amalia; Zuloaga, Fernando Omar; Giussani, Liliana Mónica; Denham, Silvia Suyai; Morrone, Osvaldo Phylogenetic analyses of 131 terminals of Paspalum and related genera, based on both plastid and nuclear markers, were performed under maximum parsimony and Bayesian methods. The total evidence analyses generated a hypothesis showing that Paspalum would be monophyletic if Spheneria, Thrasyopsis and Reimarochloa are included within the genus. Paspalum inaequivalve and P. microstachyum, two species of the Inaequivalvia group were related to genus Anthaenantiopsis, excluded from Paspalum, or nested within it by plastid and nuclear markers, respectively. Subgenera Anachyris and Harpostachys were partially recovered as monophyletic assemblages, while subg. Ceresia and Paspalum resolved as polyphyletic. Within subgenus Paspalum, some informal groups were recovered as monophyletic, while others were resolved as paraphyletic or polyphyletic. Phylogenetic relationships among species of Paspalum were partially recovered possibly due to reticulation events among species, autopolyploidization and apomixis; all these processes being common in Paspalum, thus obscuring the infrageneric classification.

Traveling planetary wave ionospheric disturbances and their role in the generation of equatorial spread-F and GPS phase fluctuations during the last extreme low solar activity and comparison with high solar activity de Abreu, A. J.; Fagundes, P. R.; Bolzan, M. J. A.; Gende, Mauricio Alfredo; Brunini, Claudio Antonio; de Jesus, R.; Pillat, V. G.; Abalde, J. R.; Lima, W. L. C. This investigation studies traveling planetary wave ionospheric disturbance (TPWID) type oscillations on the modulation of the F region virtual height rise during the EB electric field pre-reversal enhancement (PRE), near sunset hours. We also studied their role in the generation of equatorial spread F (ESF) and GPS phase fluctuations during periods of the last extreme low solar activity (LSA) of January 2009 to April 2010 ðF10:7 ¼73Þ. A comparison ismadewith periods of high solar activity (HSA) in 2003 and 2004 near equatorial region. The ionospheric irregularities investigated are medium (bottom-side) and large (plasma bubble) scales. Ionospheric F region oscillations with period of days are due to the TPWIDs, which play an important role in producing favorable or unfavorable conditions for equatorial ionospheric irregularities, changing the electron vertical profile and F region height. In this paper, we present simultaneous ionospheric sounding (ionosonde) and GPS vertical total electron content (vTEC) observations carried out near equatorial region (Palmas 10.21S, 48.21W) and lowlatitude region (São José dos Campos 23.21S, 45.91W; located under the southern crest of the equatorial ionospheric anomaly), Brazil. Observations show that the occurrence of fresh ESF during LSA and HSA and fresh GPS phase fluctuations at equatorial region follow the trend of day-to-day variations in the F region virtual height, which are due to electric field PREmodulated by TPWID wave like oscillations. During LSA, the altitude of 250 km acts as a threshold height for the generation of fresh ionospheric irregularities, whereas during HSA, the threshold height is 300 km. The observations also found a strong increase in the generation of fresh ionospheric irregularities from October 2009 to March 2010 during LSA and from September 2003 to March 2004 during the HSA. Furthermore, in LSA, the period of fresh ionospheric irregularities was less than during HSA, though both periods followed a similar seasonal pattern. In the low- latitude, we observed more ESFs than phase fluctuations because ionosonde is more sensitive than GPS. We also observed periodswith and without day-to-day oscillations in the F region virtual height. The observations made by GPS stations and ionosondes in the equatorial region, for much of the period analyzed, presented similar results with regard to the generation of equatorial ionospheric irregularities. In the low latitude, some nights of January, February, October, and December 2009 also showed a similarity.

Bromopyrrole alkaloids isolated from the Patagonian bryozoan Aspidostoma giganteum Patiño Cano, Laura P.; Muniain, Claudia Cristina; Knott, María Elena; Puricelli, Lydia Ines; Palermo, Jorge Alejandro Nine new bromopyrrole alkaloids, aspidostomides A–H and aspidazide A (1–9), were isolated from the Patagonian bryozoan Aspidostoma giganteum. Aspidostomides A–H have dibromotyrosine- or bromotryptophan-derived moieties forming either linear amides or pyrroloketopiperazine-type lactams with a bromopyrrole carboxylic acid as a common structural motif. On the other hand, aspidazide A is a rare asymmetric acyl azide formed by an N–N link of two different pyrroloketopiperazine lactams and is the first isolated compound of this class from marine invertebrates. This work is the first report of secondary metabolites isolated from a bryozoan from the Patagonian region. The structures of compounds 1–9 were elucidated by spectroscopic methods and chemical transformations. One of these compounds, aspidostomide E (5), was moderately active against the 786-O renal carcinoma cell line.

Phylodynamics of vampire bat-transmitted rabies in Argentina Torres, Carolina; Lema, C.; Gury Dohmen, F.; Beltran, F.; Novaro, L.; Russo, S.; Freire, M. C.; Velasco Villa, A.; Mbayed, Viviana Andrea; Cisterna , D. M. Common vampire bat populations distributed from Mexico to Argentina are important rabies reservoir hosts in Latin America. The aim of this work was to analyse the population structure of the rabies virus (RABV) variants associated with vampire bats in the Americas and to study their phylodynamic pattern within Argentina. The phylogenetic analysis based on all available vampire bat-related N gene sequences showed both a geographical and a temporal structure. The two largest groups of RABV variants from Argentina were isolated from northwestern Argentina and from the central western zone of northeastern Argentina, corresponding to livestock areas with different climatic, topographic and biogeographical conditions, which determined their dissemination and evolutionary patterns. In addition, multiple introductions of the infection into Argentina, possibly from Brazil, were detected. The phylodynamic analysis suggests that RABV transmission dynamics is characterized by initial epizootic waves followed by local enzootic cycles with variable persistence. Anthropogenic interventions in the ecosystem should be assessed taking into account not only the environmental impact but also the potential risk of disease spreading through dissemination of current RABV lineages or the emergence of novel ones associated with vampire bats.

Mean shape of interplanetary shocks deduced from in situ observations and its relation with interplanetary CMEs Janvier, M.; Demoulin, P.; Dasso, Sergio Ricardo CONTEXT: Shocks are frequently detected by spacecraft in the interplanetary space. However, the in situ data of a shock do not provide direct information on its overall properties even when a following interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) is detected. AIMS: The main aim of this study is to constrain the general shape of ICME shocks with a statistical study of shock orientations. METHODS: We first associated a set of shocks detected near Earth over 10 years with a sample of ICMEs over the same period. We then analyzed the correlations between shock and ICME parameters and studied the statistical distributions of the local shock normal orientation. Supposing that shocks are uniformly detected all over their surface projected on the 1 AU sphere, we compared the shock normal distribution with synthetic distributions derived from an analytical shock shape model. Inversely, we derived a direct method to compute the typical general shape of ICME shocks by integrating observed distributions of the shock normal. RESULTS: We found very similar properties between shocks with and without an in situ detected ICME, so that most of the shocks detected at 1 AU are ICME-driven even when no ICME is detected. The statistical orientation of shock normals is compatible with a mean shape having a rotation symmetry around the Sun-apex line. The analytically modeled shape captures the main characteristics of the observed shock normal distribution. Next, by directly integrating the observed distribution, we derived the mean shock shape, which is found to be comparable for shocks with and without a detected ICME and weakly affected by the limited statistics of the observed distribution. We finally found a close correspondence between this statistical result and the leading edge of the ICME sheath that is observed with STEREO imagers. CONCLUSIONS: We have derived a mean shock shape that only depends on one free parameter. This mean shape can be used in various contexts, such as studies for high-energy particles or space weather forecasts.

Biogenesis of the oxidative phosphorylation machinery in plants. From gene expression to complex assembly Gonzalez, Daniel Hector; Giegé, Philippe This Research Topic is aimed at establishing a collection of articles that focus on the different processes involved in the biogenesis of respiratory complexes in plants as a means to highlight recent advances. In this way, it intends to help to construct a picture of the whole process and, not less important, to expose the existing gaps that need to be addressed to fully understand how plant cells build and modulate the complex structures involved in respiration.

Nitric-oxide-mediated cell death is triggered by chitosan in Fusarium eumartii spores Terrile, Maria Cecilia; Mansilla, Andrea Yamila; Albertengo, Liliana; Rodríguez, María Susana; Casalongue, Claudia BACKGROUND: The genus Fusarium comprises a heterogeneous group of fungi important for agriculture. Fusarium solani f. sp. eumartii (F. eumartii), historically considered to be a fungal pathogen of potato, has also been associated with tomato disease. Currently, chitosan and its derivatives have been receiving more attention as environmentally friendly antimicrobial compounds in sustainable practices. The aim of the present work was to characterize downstream events associated with the mode of action of chitosan, including nitrosative reactive species, in order to identify new biomarkers of its cytotoxic action. RESULTS: Data indicated that chitosan-mediated nitric oxide (NO) production might lead to conidial death, concomitant with the strong reduction in fungal pathogenicity in tomato plants. Following chitosan applications, a notably dose-dependent reduction in conidial viability was demonstrated in F. eumartii. Thereafter, the infectivity of chitosan-treated spores was tested by a bioassay using tomato seedlings. CONCLUSION: All these data highlight NO valuable properties as a quantitative and qualitative biomarker of cytotoxic action of chitosan in conidial cells. In addition, these findings place the chitosan assayed here as a fungicide with a high potential of application in sustainable horticultural practices.

Reduced order generalised integrator-based current controller applied to shunt active power filters Gómez Jorge, Sebastián; Busada, Claudio A.; Solsona, Jorge Alberto This study proposes the application of a current controller based on the reduced order generalised integrator (ROGI) to control a three-phase three-wire shunt active power filter (SAPF). The ROGI-based controller has low computational burden and it is suitable for its implementation in low-cost digital signal processors (DSPs). This controller is also frequency adaptive. This allows it to maintain its high steady-state performance despite grid frequency variations. Unlike conventional high performance SAPFs this current controller does not require the computation of high quality current references (with low distortion and total harmonic distortion below that recommended by the IEEE Std 519-1992). Therefore most of the available computational power can be used for compensating the harmonics produced by the load.

The evolution of signal-reward correlations in bee and hummingbird-pollinated species of Salvia Benitez-Vieyra, Santiago Miguel; Fornoni, Juan; Pérez Alquicira, Jessica; Boege, Karina; Domínguez, César Within-individual variation in floral advertising and reward traits is a feature experienced by pollinators that visit different flowers of the same plant. Pollinators can use advertising traits to gather information about the quality and amount of rewards, leading to the evolution of signal?reward correlations. As long as plants differ in the reliability of their signals and pollinators base their foraging decisions on this information, natural selection should act on within-individual correlations between signals and rewards. Because birds and bees differ in their cognitive capabilities, and use different floral traits as signals, we tested the occurrence of adaptive divergence of the within-individual signal?reward correlations among Salvia species that are pollinated either by bees or by hummingbirds. They are expected to use different floral advertising traits: frontal traits in the case of bees and side traits in the case of hummingbirds. We confirmed this expectation as bee- and hummingbird-pollinated species differed in which specific traits are predominantly associated with nectar reward at the within-individual level. Our findings highlight the adaptive value of within-individual variation and covariation patterns, commonly disregarded as ?environmental noise?, and are consistent with the hypothesis that pollinator-mediated selection affects the correlation pattern among floral traits.

La Flora Poínica durante el Holoceno en el Oeste del Iberá, Corrientes. Argentina Fernandez Pacella, Lionel Edgar El presente trabajo está destinado a estudiar la palinología duran-te el Holoceno en el margen oeste del Iberá. Con la denominación Esteros del Iberá, identificamos a uno de los humedales tropicales más importantes de la biósfera en términos de su extensión y de las especies que lo habitan. El objetivo es conocer las especies predomi-nantes del Holoceno del Iberá, aportando información (muy escasa hasta el momento) sobre la paleodiversidad vegetacional fósil. Se muestrearon 11 lagunas ubicadas en el margen occidental del macro-sistema y se realizaron las descripciones de los diferentes palinomor-fos, para ello se midieron los parámetros comúnmente utilizados en las descripciones palinológicas, la identificación y determinación de los granos de polen se realizó mediante comparación con la colección de referencia y la bibliografía especializada. Dada la amplia diversi-dad de las comunidades tropicales en el Iberá, es importante docu-mentar, a través de floras polínicas, la morfología de las distintas especies. El desarrollo del trabajo acompañado con otros estudios de este tipo aportará datos para la reconstrucción climatológica del Holoceno en la región y será de gran utilización para los organismos de planificación y manejo de recursos naturales para la conservación del Iberá a corto, mediano y largo plazo.

Stability of cosmological deflagration fronts Membiela, Federico Agustin; Megevand, Ariel Hugo In a cosmological first-order phase transition, bubbles of the stable phase nucleate and expand in the supercooled metastable phase. In many cases, the growth of bubbles reaches a stationary state, with bubble walls propagating as detonations or deflagrations. However, these hydrodynamical solutions may be unstable under corrugation of the interface. Such instability may drastically alter some of the cosmological consequences of the phase transition. Here, we study the hydrodynamical stability of deflagration fronts. We improve upon previous studies by making a more careful and detailed analysis. In particular, we take into account the fact that the equation of motion for the phase interface depends separately on the temperature and fluid velocity on each side of the wall. Fluid variables on each side of the wall are similar for weakly first-order phase transitions, but differ significantly for stronger phase transitions. As a consequence, we find that, for large enough supercooling, any subsonic wall velocity becomes unstable. Moreover, as the velocity approaches the speed of sound, perturbations become unstable on all wavelengths. For smaller supercooling and small wall velocities, our results agree with those of previous works. Essentially, perturbations on large wavelengths are unstable, unless the wall velocity is higher than a critical value. We also find a previously unobserved range of marginally unstable wavelengths. We analyse the dynamical relevance of the instabilities, and we estimate the characteristic time and length scales associated to their growth. We discuss the implications for the electroweak phase transition and its cosmological consequences.

Stress in wild Greater Rhea populations: effects of agricultural activities on seasonal excreted glucocorticoid metabolite levels Leche, Alvina; Bazzano, Gisela del Valle; Hansen, C.; Navarro, Joaquin Luis; Marin, Raul Hector; Martella, Monica Beatriz In recent years, wild populations of Greater Rhea (Rhea americana) have declined drastically, due mainly to the conversion of grassland into cropland as a result of intensive, specialized agricultural practices. In this study we evaluate potential stressfuleffects of agricultural activities on this ratite by assessing their adrenocortical response. Specifically, we compared fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) levels of rheas living in two areas under very different land use: grasslands mainly devoted to cattle grazing and agro-ecosystems intensively used for crop production. Radioimmunoanalysis of fecal samples from 269 individuals indicated no significant differences in mean concentrations of FGM according to habitat type. In the agro-ecosystem we found no direct effect between agricultural practice and the bird´s FGM levels. However, FGM concentrations were significantly higher during the dry season, which may represent a stress response to the low availability of forage due to harvesting. In contrast, no increase in the FGM levels was registered during the dry season in the grassland, where ample forage was available throughout the year. In this environment the highest increases in FGM levels coincided with the reproductive period, likely due to the frequent agonist encounters between males at this time of the year. Our findings therefore suggest that the consequences of agricultural practices may constitute a chronic environmental stressor for Greater Rhea populations living under such conditions. The present study support earlier research showing detrimental impacts of agricultural activities on this species, whose area of distribution coincides with the most productive regions of South America.

When shape matters: Strategies of different Antarctic ascidians morphotypes to deal with sedimentation Torre, Luciana; Abele, Doris; Lagger, Cristian Fabian; Momo, Fernando; Sahade, Ricardo Jose Climate change leads to increased melting of tidewater glaciers in the Western Antarctic Peninsula region and sediment bearing glacial melt waters negatively affects filter feeding species as solitary ascidians. In previous work the erect-forms Molgula pedunculata and Cnemidocarpa verrucosa (Order Stolidobranchiata) appeared more sensitive than the flat form Ascidia challengeri (Order Phlebobranchiata). Sedimentation exposure is expected to induce up-regulation of anaerobic metabolism by obstructing the organs of gas exchange (environmental hypoxia) or causes enhanced squirting activity (functional hypoxia). In this study we evaluated the possible relationship between ascidian morphotype and their physiological response to sedimentation. Together with some behavioural observations, we analysed the response of anaerobic metabolic parameters (lactate formation and glycogen consumption) in different tissues of three Antarctic ascidians, exposed to high sediment concentrations. The results were compared to experimental hypoxia (10% pO2) and exercise (induced muscular contraction) effects, in order to discriminate the effect of sediment on each species and morpho-type (erect vs. flat forms). Our results suggest that the styled (erect) C. verrucosa increases muscular squirting activity in order to expulse excessive material, while the flat-form A. challengeri reacts more passively by down-regulating its aerobic metabolism under sediment exposure. Contrary, the erect ascidian M. pedunculata did not show any measurable response to the treatments, indicating that filtration and ingestion activities were not reduced or altered even under high sedimentation (low energetic material) which could be disadvantageous on the long-term and could explain why M. pedunculata densities decline in the study area.

Dryinidae of the Neotropical region (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea) Olmi, Massimo; Virla, Eduardo Gabriel An updated revision of Neotropical Dryinidae is presented. Seven subfamilies, 23 genera and 502 species are treated. Descriptions, geographic distribution, known hosts, natural enemies and type material of each species are presented, together with illustrations of the main morphological characters and keys to the subfamilies, genera and species. Complete lists of references concerning the Neotropical Dryinidae and their hosts are given. The following new genus is described: Peckius Olmi & Virla, gen. nov. (Apodryininae). The following new species are described: Anteon xochipalense Olmi & Virla, sp. nov. (Mexico, Guerrero), Deinodryinus levigatus Olmi & Virla, sp. nov. (Peru, Lamabayeque), Deinodryinus xanthonotatus Olmi & Virla, sp. nov. (French Guiana), Dryinus semiruber Olmi & Virla, sp. nov. (Argentina, Corrientes), Dryinus valens Olmi & Virla, sp. nov. (Dominican Republic, Pedernales), Dryinus xanthopus Olmi & Virla, sp. nov. (French Guiana), Megadryinus cacaonis Olmi & Virla, sp. nov. (Brazil, São Paulo), Gonatopus isabelensis Olmi & Virla, sp. nov. (Ecuador, Galapagos Islands), Gonatopus villamilensis Olmi & Virla, sp. nov. (Ecuador, Galapagos Islands), Neodryinus mayanus Olmi & Virla, sp. nov. (Honduras), and Peckius insularis Olmi & Virla, sp. nov. (Ecuador, Galapagos Islands). The following new synonymies are presented: Deinodryinus kawensis Olmi 2011b (April) (=D. caxiuana Coelho, Aguiar & Engel, 2011 (June), syn. nov.); Dryinus gibbosus Olmi, 1984 (=D. multicarinatus Coelho, Aguiar & Engel, 2011, syn. nov.); Dryinus striatus (Fenton, 1927), (=D. sinopensis Olmi, 1984, syn. nov.; = D. cerrensis Olmi, 2004a, syn. nov.); Gonatopus Ljungh, 1810 (=Trichogonatopus Kieffer, 1909, syn. nov.); Eucamptonyx dromedarius (Cameron 1888) (=E. hansoni Olmi, 1991, syn. nov.); Haplogonatopus hernandezae Olmi, 1984 (=H. crucianus Olmi, 1986, syn. nov.). The following new combinations are established: Eucamptonyx dromedarius (Cameron, 1888), comb. nov. (from Gonatopus); Gonatopus goiasensis (Olmi 1991), comb. nov. (from Trichogonatopus); G. hispidus (Olmi 1984), comb. nov. (from Trichogonatopus); G. longinoi (Olmi, 1998d), comb. nov. (from Trichogonatopus); G. marinoae (Virla, 1997), comb. nov. (from Trichogonatopus); G. neotropicus (Olmi, 1984), comb. nov. (from Trichogonatopus); G. raptor (Fenton, 1927), comb. nov. (from Chalcogonatopus); G. rubriceps (Kieffer, 1909), comb. nov. (from Trichogonatopus); G. stellaris (Virla, 1997), comb. nov. (from Trichogonatopus). The male of Crovettia brasiliana Olmi 1984, is described for the first time.