Prey composition of Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus cassini) preying upon a mixed-species seabird colony in Argentine Patagonia; Composición de la dieta de Halcones Peregrinos (Falco peregrinus cassini) depredando en una colonia mixta de aves marinas en la Patagonia Argentina García, Germán Oscar; Bó, Maria Susana; Yorio, Pablo Martin Predation is one of the main factors determining breeding strategies in many seabird species (Lack 1968, Burger & Gochfeld 1994, Gaston 2004). Among avian predators, raptors such as eagles, owls and falcons regularly prey on seabird adults and offspring (Paine et al. 1990, Holt 1994, Hayward et al. 2010). The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) has a cosmopolitan distribution (White et al. 2002), and is regularly found along coastal areas of Argentine Patagonia which are characterized by large seabird breeding assemblages (Yorio et al. 1999). Peregrine Falcons from coastal populations in the Northern Hemisphere have been shown to be important predators of seabirds (Ratcliffe 1980, Paine et al. 1990, Velarde 1993), but very little is known on the contribution of seabird prey to Peregrine Falcon diet in coastal Argentina. Few studies have quantified their diet in Patagonia, and they indicate that prey composition may vary depending on location (Ellis et al. 2002, Santillán et al. 2010). Our goal was to determine the prey composition and contribution of seabirds to the diet of a pair of Peregrine Falcons breeding near a mixed-species seabird colony on the coast of Argentine Patagonia.

Preparation and characterization of polymorphs of the glucocorticoid deflazacort Kassuha, Diego Enrique; Aiassa, Virginia; Bruno, Flavia Paola; Cuadra, Gabriel R.; Sperandeo, Norma Rebeca The polymorphism of new and old active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is of great importance due to performance, stability and processability aspects. The objective of this study was to investigate the polymorphism of deflazacort (DEF), a glucocorticoid discovered >40 years ago, since this phenomenon has not been previously investigated for this API. Using different methods for solid form screening, it was determined for the first time that DEF is able to exist as three forms: a crystalline (DEF-1); a hydrated X-ray amorphous (DEF-t-bw) and an anhydrous amorphous phase (DEF-g) obtained from manually grinding DEF-1. The in vitro and in vivo dissolution rates (DRs) of DEF-1 and DEF-t-bw, which were measured using the rotating disk method in water at 37 °C and the pellet implantation technique in rats, respectively, indicated that DEF-t-bw exhibited slightly faster in vitro and in vivo DRs than those of the crystalline form, but the values were not significantly different. In addition, it was determined that DEF-t-bw devitrifies to DEF-1 by the effect of pressure, humidity and heat. It was concluded that DEF is glucorticoid with low tendency to exhibit different crystalline forms and that DEF-t-bw has no advantages over DEF-1 in terms of solubility, DRs and solid-state stability.

Rheological and barrier properties of nanocomposites of HDPE and exfoliated Montmorillonite Horst, María Fernanda; Quinzani, Lidia Maria; Failla, Marcelo Daniel Polyethylene (PE) / clay nanocomposites were prepared by melt mixing using polyethylene grafted with maleic anhydride (PEg) as compatibilizer. Concentrations between 2 and 15 wt% of an organophilic montmorillonite (MMT) and concentration ratios of 1:1, 2:1 and 3:1 of PEg/MMT were employed. The materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetry. The SEM images show that the presence of PEg gives place to a large degree of exfoliation at all clay concentrations. For 5 wt% MMT, the best degree of exfoliation is obtained for a 2:1 ratio of PEg/MMT. This ratio also gives place to the largest increase of the elastic modulus, mainly at low frequencies, with respect to that of the corresponding matrix. As the clay concentration increases, for a 2:1 ratio of PEg/MMT, the dynamic moduli increases showing pseudo solid-like behavior at clay concentrations higher than 8 wt%. Moreover, the nanocomposites show rheological properties that are affected by annealing at 200°C signaling further exfoliation or improved platelet and tactoid distributions. The oxygen permeability of PE gradually decreases with clay concentration, reaching a maximum reduction of ~30% for 15 wt% MMT.

Comisión Universitaria sobre Discapacidad: una experiencia de gestión en la Universidad Nacional de La Plata; University commission on Disability: management experience at the National University of La Plata Castignani, María Laura; Hanlon, Paula; Lujan, María; Katz, Sandra Lea; Peiró, Mabel La Comisión Universitaria sobre Discapacidad de la UNLP, fue gestada hace más de trece años con el fin de lograr la plena inclusión en el sistema universitario, que todos puedan ingresar y transitar la universidad para estudiar, trabajar y participar de las diversas propuestas que la misma genera. Este trabajo pretende transmitir el camino transitado por la Comisión: sus acciones pasadas más relevantes, su experiencia de gestión, sus objetivos y ejes de trabajo, así como también aquellas acciones que se encuentran en proceso de implementación. El trabajo interdisciplinario es el que da sustento a nuestras prácticas y las jerarquiza. La Comisión está convencida que la temática necesita del aporte permanentemente de todos los claustros universitarios: docentes, no docentes y alumnos; atravesar todas las áreas de acción: docencia, extensión e investigación, promoviendo la reflexión y una actitud proactiva que favorezca el acceso a la Universidad y la erradicación de todo tipo de discriminación.

Variación morfológica craneana en Caiman (Alligatoridae, Caimaninae): estudio morfogeométrico de la ontogenia de las especies Caiman latirostris y Caiman yacare; Cranial morphological variation in caiman (Alligatoridae, Caimaninae): a geometric morphometrics study of the ontogeny in the species Caiman latirostris and Caiman yacare Fernandez Blanco, María Victoria; Cassini, Guillermo Hernán; Bona, Paula Presentamos el primer estudio sobre la disparidad craneana en C. yacare y C. latirostris utilizando un análisis de morfometría geométrica en dos dimensiones. Se fotografiaron cráneos de distintos estadios ontogenéticos en vista dorsal y palatal. Se establecieron 28 landmarks en vista dorsal y 27 en vista palatal y se digitalizaron usando TPSUtil y TPSDig. Para el análisis se utilizó Morpho J. Para evaluar el cambio de forma en cada especie se realizó una regresión de las coordenadas de landmarks contra el logaritmo del centroide. Se compararon las trayectorias ontogenéticas y se hizo un análisis de componentes principales para identificar los componentes de variación. En vista dorsal no hubo diferencias entre las trayectorias ontogenéticas; sí en vista ventral. Los especímenes se separaron en relación al primer componente principal. En vista dorsal, respecto de C. latirostris, C. yacare presenta un cráneo y hocico alargado y angosto, órbitas angostas, gran concavidad del borde lateral a la altura de la sutura maxilo-yugal y menor concavidad del borde posterior de la tabla craneana. En vista ventral, C. yacare presenta un cráneo, hocico, alas pterigoideas y fenestras suborbitarias alargados y angostos y un desplazamiento medial del contacto cuadrado/cuadrado-yugal y del contacto anterolateral entre maxilares y palatinos.; We present the first study about the cranial disparity in C. yacare and C. latirostris using a two-dimensional geometric morphometric analysis. Skulls of different ontogenetic stages were photographed in dorsal and palatal views. For this study, 28 landmarks in dorsal view and 27 in palatal view were established and digitized using TPSUtil and TPSDig. MorphoJ was used for the analysis. To evaluate the change of shape in each species a regression with the landmarks coordinates against the logarithm of centroid size was performed. Ontogenetic trajectories were compared and a principal component analysis was done to identify the components of variation. Differences in ontogenetic trajectories were only observed in ventral view. The specimens were separated in relation to the first principal component. In dorsal view, in contrast with C. latirostris, C. yacare presents an elongated and narrow snout and skull, narrow orbits, a great concavity in the lateral margin of the skull at the level of the maxillar-jugal contact and a lower concavity of the rear edge of the cranial table. In ventral view, C. yacare presents an elongated and narrow skull, snout, pterygoid wings and suborbital fenestra and a medial displacement of the quadrate/quadrate-jugal contact and the anterolateral contact between maxillar and palatine.

El público opina: estudio acerca de la exhibición de restos humanos en el Museo de La Plata; The visitors opine: study about human remains exhibition in the Museo de La Plata Reca, María Marta; Sardi, Marina Laura; Canzani, Ana Inés; Domínguez, María Cecilia Luz La exhibición de restos humanos es un tema controvertido. Cuestiones de índole política, ética y científica unidas a la sensibilidad que acompaña el tratamiento de estos temas genera posiciones encontradas. En este trabajo se evaluaron las opiniones de los visitantes en torno a la exhibición de restos humanos, tomando como referente la exhibición permanente “Ser y Pertenecer: un recorrido por la evolución humana” del Museo de La Plata, inaugurada en el año 2009. Se realizó una encuesta semi-estructurada a 200 individuos en la que se indaga acerca de su perfil sociodemográfico, sus motivaciones y expectativas de la visita, así como sus opiniones acerca de las políticas institucionales de exhibición de restos humanos. Sobre los datos se aplicaron análisis estadísticos (t de Student, Tablas de Contingencia y Prueba de Bondad de Ajuste). Los resultados indicaron que los visitantes mayoritariamente tienen preferencia por la observación de restos humanos, pero paradójicamente acuerdan con la decisión institucional de no exhibir restos de origen americano. Se espera que el estudio contribuya al diseño de una política institucional en materia de exhibiciones que otorgue un lugar significativo a los estudios de público.; The exhibition of human remains is a controversial subject. Political, ethical and scientific aspects, with the sensitivity are together involved in the debate of this subject, producing contentious positions. In this study, we evaluated visitors’ opinions about the exhibition of human remains, considering as reference the permanent exhibition “Being and Belonging: a tour to human evolution”, opened in 2009 at the Museo de La Plata. Two hundred people were surveyed through a semi-structured questionnaire, which focuses on socio-demographic aspects, motivations and expectations for visiting the exhibition and their opinions about the institutional policies of human remains exhibition. The information was analyzed by statistical methods (Student’s t test, Tables of Contingency and Goodness of Fit). Results indicate that most of the visitors like to observe human remains; however, most of the visitors as well agree with the institutional decision of not to exhibit human remains of American origin. It is expected that this study contributes to develop institutional policies about exhibitions that consider the visitor and its studies as a relevant participant.

An experimental and DFT study of a disulfide-linked Schiff base: Synthesis, characterization and crystal structure of bis (3-methoxy-salicylidene-2-aminophenyl) disulfide in its anhydrous and monohydrate forms Ferraresi Curotto, Verónica; Echeverría, Gustavo Alberto; Piro, Oscar Enrique; Pis Diez, Reinaldo; Gonzalez Baro, Ana Cecilia A detailed structural and spectroscopic study of the disulfide Schiff base obtained from condensation of 2-aminothiophenol and o-vanillin is reported. It includes the analyses of the anhydrous and monohydrate forms of the title compound. Structures of both solids were resolved by X-ray diffraction methods. A comparison between experimental and theoretical results is presented. The conformational space was searched and geometries were optimized both in gas phase and including solvent effects. Vibrational (IR and Raman) and electronic spectra were measured and assigned with the help of computational methods based on the Density Functional Theory. Calculated MEP-derived atomic charges were calculated to predict coordination sites for metal complexes formation.

Demographic and breeding performance of a new kelp gull Larus dominicanus colony in Patagonia, Argentina; Demografía y desempeño de la reproducción en una nueva colonia de gaviota cocinera Larus Dominicanus en la Patagonia, Argentina Lisnizer, Nora; Garcia Borboroglu, Jorge Pablo; Yorio, Pablo Martin Understanding the processes involved in the establishment and persistence of new seabird colonies is important for improving conservation and management strategies. Over the past few decades, kelp gull Larus dominicanus numbers have increased in Patagonia, Argentina, and new colonies have been reported. We studied a recently established colony to analyze aspects of its population dynamics and breeding biology. The number of breeding pairs at Punta Loma increased from 13 to 233 in the seven years after the colony was established (2004-2011) and number of chicks fledged per nest was low (<1 chick per nest) compared to that of other old-established kelp gull colonies in the region. Modelled estimates of abundance assuming closed population dynamics for the Punta Loma colony were lower than observed (70% lower or more), suggesting that the observed growth cannot be explained by local productivity alone. Immigration from other colonies was likely the main factor responsible for the observed growth, being considerably higher than local recruitment. This study constitutes the first characterization of demographic processes occurring during the initial years since colony establishment in kelp gulls. Main findings include rapid population growth driven by immigration and poor breeding performance potentially linked to a high proportion of young breeders. Our results highlight the key role of source-sink dynamics on the growth and persistence of new seabird colonies.; La comprensión de los procesos involucrados en el establecimiento y la persistencia de nuevas colonias de aves marinas es importante para mejorar las estrategias de manejo y conservación. Durante las últimas décadas, los números de gaviota cocinera Larus dominicanus en Patagonia, Argentina, se han incrementado y se han formado nuevas colonias. Estudiamos una colonia establecida recientemente para analizar aspectos de su dinámica poblacional y biología de reproducción. El número de parejas reproductoras en Punta Loma se incrementó de 13 a 233 en los siete años posteriores al establecimiento de la colonia (2004–2011) y el número de pollos independizados por nido fue bajo (< 1 pollo por nido) en comparación a otras colonias más antiguas de la región. Las estimaciones de abundancia obtenidas de un modelo que asume una dinámica poblacional cerrada para la colonia de Punta Loma fueron menores que las observadas (70% menores o más), sugiriendo que el crecimiento observado no puede ser explicado únicamente por productividad local. La inmigración desde otras colonias fue posiblemente el principal factor responsable del crecimiento observado, siendo considerablemente mayor al reclutamiento local. Este estudio constituye la primera caracterización de los procesos demográficos que ocurren durante los primeros años desde el establecimiento de una colonia en gaviotas cocineras. Los principales resultados incluyen un rápido crecimiento poblacional favorecido por la inmigración y un pobre rendimiento reproductivo potencialmente asociado a una elevada proporción de reproductores jóvenes. Nuestros resultados resaltan el papel clave de la dinámica de tipo fuente-sumidero en el crecimiento y persistencia de colonias nuevas de aves marinas.

A conceptual model and technological support for organizational knowledge management Ale, Mariel Alejandra; Toledo, Carlos Manuel; Chiotti, Omar Juan Alfredo; Galli, Maria Rosa Knowledge Management (KM) models proposed in the literature do not take into account all necessary aspects for effective knowledge management. First, to address this issue, this paper presents a set of requirements that any KM model or initiative should take into account to cover all aspects implied in knowing processes. These requirements were identified through a critical and evolutionary analysis of KM. Second; the paper presents a new distributed KM Conceptual Model whose building blocks are the knowledge activities involved in knowing processes. These activities are: knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge representation and retrieval. This model provides a holistic view of KM whose purpose is helping managers understand the scope of this initiative, and supplying a guide for research and implementation in organizations. In this sense, the model presents KM as a highly social rather than technological process. Third; the paper briefly describes an architecture to provide a technological support for knowledge representation and retrieval activities of the proposed KM Conceptual Model. This architecture allows implementing a distributed organizational memory that helps to represent the knowledge context through an ontological model, providing a local perspective of each knowledge domain within the organization. Strategies for knowledge annotation, knowledge retrieval, and ontology evolution are briefly described and results of preliminary performance analysis are shown. Finally; based on the available literature, a comparative analysis of different KM models shows their adequacy for previously presented requirements.

Two new species of Nyctelia Latreille (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) from Argentinean Patagonia with zoogeographical and ecological remarks Flores, Gustavo Ernesto; Cheli, German Horacio Two new species of the genus Nyctelia Latreille (Pimeliinae: Nycteliini) from Argentinean Patagonia, N. sulcogranata sp. nov. and N. recteplicata sp. nov. , are described. Distributional maps, habitus, photographs and illustrations of genitalic features for these two new species are included, with comparisons to other known species of the genus. A discussion is presented on distributional habitat records and biogeography.

Comparación urbano-rural de parámetros meteorológicos en la ciudad de Tandil, Argentina Picone, Natasha; Campo, Alicia María En la ciudad de Tandil se encuentran en desarrollo estudios para conocer el clima urbano de la misma y este trabajo cubre algunos de los aspectos del mismo. El objetivo principal es realizar una comparación urbano-rural de ocho parámetros meteorológicos en un año (julio de 2010-junio de 2011). Para ello se utilizaron datos meteorológicos obtenidos de la estación meteorológica Tandil del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (datos rurales) y de una estación meteorológica automática que pertenece al CIG (datos urbanos). A partir de la comparación se observó una clara influencia urbana sobre todos los parámetros analizados en un año marcado por el efecto Niña.; In Tandil city are taking place several studies to learn about its urban climate, this work is part of them. The main objective is to compare urban - rural differences in eight meteorological parameters during a year (July 2010 - June 2011). There where use weather data from Tandil meteorological station of the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (rural data) and from an automatic meteorological station (urban data). As a result of the comparison the urban influence was detected in all the parameters analyzed during a year with Niña effect.

El migrante en Argentina y el acceso a sus derechos: un breve recorrido por las normas, las políticas y sus historias; The migrant in Argentina and the access to their rights: a brief overview of the rules, the policies and their stories Gómez, Abigail Gabriela; Piana, Ricardo Sebastián Diariamente llegan a Argentina inmigrantes provenientes de países vecinos, con deficiencias para acceder a sus derechos en su país de origen. El Estado argentino debió realizar diversas medidas para protegerlos, sancionando normativa acorde a la incorporación de los Tratados y Pactos internacionales y realizando políticas y acciones públicas en clave de derechos humanos. Simultáneamente se pueden observar obstáculos a la hora de acceder efectivamente a esos derechos en pie de igualdad con los ciudadanos. Resulta pertinente analizar cómo estas personas ven satisfechos sus derechos al llegar al país utilizando, como estrategia metodológica, un estudio etnográfico. El análisis se dividirá en dos partes; se describirá cuáles son las herramientas con las que cuentan los migrantes a la hora de intentar acceder a esos derechos humanos básicos y se conocerá, mediante el análisis de fallos judiciales, entrevistas y documentos de ONGs abocadas a la temática, si efectivamente se cumple con la satisfacción de esos derechos. Como resultado se evidencia que si bien los inmigrantes encuentran en Argentina el acceso gratuito a las prestaciones que en sus países les es difícil alcanzar, existen insuficiencias cuantitativas y cualitativas de los servicios del Estado argentino, especialmente en el sistema sanitario y educativo.; Argentina receives immigrants from neighboring countries with serious deficiencies as regards their rights. The Argentinean government had to implement different policies to protect them, incorporating international treaties on human rights in their internal legal system and making public policies. Simultaneously, obstacles can be observed, when having access to these rights on an equal condition with Argentinean citizens. It is pertinent to analyze this situation using a methodological tool like an ethnographic study. The analysis will be divided into two parts, on the one hand, the migrant’s tools to have access to these basic human rights will be described, and on the other hand, it will be analyzed through court decisions, interviews and NGOs documents, if those rights are indeed satisfied. As a result, it is evident that while immigrants in Argentina have free access to benefits which in their countries are difficult to achieve, there are, still quantitative and qualitative inefficiencies, especially in health and education.

Alkaloids from Habranthus tubispathus and H. jamesonii, two amaryllidaceae with aAcetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase inhibition activity Cavallaro, Valeria; Alza, Natalia Paola; Murray, María Gabriela; Murray, Ana Paula Alzheimer´s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with memory impairment and cognitive deficit. Most of the drugs currently available for the treatment of AD are acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors. Plants of the Amaryllidaceae family are known to synthesize alkaloids, which have shown AChE inhibitory activity. Habranthus tubispathus and H. jamesonii are two Amaryllidaceae that can be found growing wild to the southwest of Buenos Aires in Argentina. Acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase inhibition was observed for the extracts obtained from bulbs of H. tubispathus and bulbs and aerial parts of H. jamesonii. The strongest cholinesterase inhibition was observed for the alkaloid extract obtained from the aerial parts for H. jamesonii (AChE IC50= 0.7 µg/mL; BChE IC50= 6.7 µg/mL). The AChE inhibition observed for H. jamesonii could be explained by the presence of galanthamine and sanguinine, two potent AChE inhibitors. The levels of lycorine and hippeastidine, moderate AChE inhibitors, observed in the bulbs of H. tubispathus could be responsible for the significant AChE inhibition observed. The alkaloids present in these Amaryllidaceae were identified by means of GC-MS analysis. In the case of H. tubispathus, hippeastidine and 3-O-demethylhippeastidine, were isolated and completely characterized by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy.

The family Caecidae (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda) in Argentine waters Pastorino, Guido; Chiesa, Ignacio Luis This is the first formal report of members of the family Caecidae in Argentine waters. Caecum striatum de Folin, 1868, C. strigosum de Folin, 1868, and C. achirona (de Folin, 1867) are re-described from shallow waters off Piedras Coloradas ( 4053.0810 S, 6507.5920 W), Rı´o Negro Province, Argentina. This is the farthest south record of these species which were previously recorded from USA, Bahamas, Panama, Brazil, and Uruguay. The authors also make observations about the different ontogenetic stages of the studied species. Scanning electron microscope illustrations of radula and operculum are provided for the first time.

Categorías: los 30 primeros años Dubuc, Eduardo Julio El lector debe tener en cuenta que esta recopilación de los 30 primeros años de vida de la teoría de categorías responde a lo que puedo recordar, y no es el resultado de una investigación histórica sobre el desarrollo de la misma. El relato tiene como hilo conductor las veintiuna referencias primarias que aparecen por orden cronológico al final del artículo, las secundarias irán en notas a pie de página. Asimismo, he querido que estas notas sean un fiel reflejo de la conferencia impartida en octubre de 2013 en la ENHEM 41 , de contenido acotado por el tiempo, y no incluyen ni más ni menos que lo allí dicho. Quiero agradecer a los organizadores de la ENHEM 4, y en particular a Luis Recalde, el haberme invitado a la Escuela, sin lo que este trabajo nunca hubiese visto la luz.

NetMHCstab – predicting stability of peptide–MHC-I complexes; impacts for cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitope discovery Jørgensen, Kasper W.; Rasmussen, Michael; Buus, Søren; Nielsen, Morten Major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) molecules play an essential role in the cellular immune response, presenting peptides to cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) allowing the immune system to scrutinize ongoing intracellular production of proteins. In the early 1990s, immunogenicity and stability of the peptide–MHC-I (pMHC-I) complex were shown to be correlated. At that time, measuring stability was cumbersome and time consuming and only small data sets were analysed. Here, we investigate this fairly unexplored area on a large scale compared with earlier studies. A recent small-scale study demonstrated that pMHC-I complex stability was a better correlate of CTL immunogenicity than peptide–MHC-I affinity. We here extended this study and analysed a total of 5509 distinct peptide stability measurements covering 10 different HLA class I molecules. Artificial neural networks were used to construct stability predictors capable of predicting the half-life of the pMHC-I complex. These predictors were shown to predict T-cell epitopes and MHC ligands from SYFPEITHI and IEDB to form significantly more stable MHC-I complexes compared with affinity-matched non-epitopes. Combining the stability predictions with a state-of-the-art affinity predictions NetMHCcons significantly improved the performance for identification of T-cell epitopes and ligands. For the HLA alleles included in the study, we could identify distinct sub-motifs that differentiate between stable and unstable peptide binders and demonstrate that anchor positions in the N-terminal of the binding motif (primarily P2 and P3) play a critical role for the formation of stable pMHC-I complexes. A webserver implementing the method is available at www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/NetMHCstab.

An Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) for the Aquarius/SAC-D soil moisture product Bruscantini, Cintia Alicia; Crow, Wade T.; Grings, Francisco Matias; Perna, Pablo Alejandro; Maas, Martín Daniel; Karszenbaum, Haydee An Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) for the Aquarius/SAC-D mission has been developed for assessing the accuracy of soil moisture retrievals from passive L-band remote sensing. The implementation of the OSSE is based on the following: a 1-km land surface model over the Red-Arkansas River Basin, a forward microwave emission model to simulate the radiometer observations, a realistic orbital and sensor model to resample the measurements mimicking Aquarius operation, and an inverse soil moisture retrieval model. The simulation implements a zero-order radiative transfer model. Retrieval is performed by direct inversion of the forward model. The Aquarius OSSE attempts to capture the influence of various error sources, such as land surface heterogeneity, instrument noise, and retrieval ancillary parameter uncertainty, all on the accuracy of Aquarius surface soil moisture retrievals. In order to assess the impact of these error sources on the estimated volumetric soil moisture, a quantitative error analysis is performed by comparison of footprint-scale synthetic soil moisture with “true” soil moisture fields obtained from the direct aggregation of the original 1-km soil moisture field input to the forward model. Results show that, in heavily vegetated areas, soil moisture retrievals have a positive bias that can be suppressed with an alternative aggregation strategy for ancillary parameter vegetation water content (VWC). Retrieval accuracy was also evaluated when adding errors to 1-km VWC (which are intended to account for errors in VWC derived from remote sensing data). For soil moisture retrieval root-mean-square error on the order of 0.05 m3/m3, the error in VWC should be less than 12%.

The role and status of English in Spanish-speaking Argentina and its education system: nationalism or imperialism? Porto, Melina There is a lot of controversy nowadays in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) in the context of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) regarding the status and role of English in non-English speaking countries, in particular in developing countries, as well as in English-speaking countries with a history of colonialism. In these settings, the discourse of English as a form of imperialism requires a reconsideration of the role and status of English in the national school curriculum in primary and secondary school contexts. It also requires the exploration of the connections with nationalism and national identity, for within this discourse of imperialism, English tends to be seen as detrimental to the national identity, which education explicitly aims to form and develop through formal schooling.

Prenatal stress changes the glycoprotein GPM6A gene expression and induces epigenetic changes in rat offspring brain Monteleone, Melisa Carolina; Adrover, Ezequiela; Pallares, Maria Eugenia; Antonelli, Marta Cristina; Frasch, Alberto Carlos C.; Brocco, Marcela Adriana Prenatal stress (PS) exerts strong impact on fetal brain development and on adult offspring brain functions. Previous work demonstrated that chronic stress alters the mRNA expression of GPM6A, a neuronal glycoprotein involved in filopodium extension. In this work, we analyzed the effect of PS on gpm6a expression and the epigenetic mechanisms involved. Pregnant Wistar rats received restraint stress during the last week of gestation. Male offspring were sacrificed on postnatal days 28 and 60. Hippocampus and prefrontal cortex samples were analyzed for gene expression (qPCR for mRNAs and microRNAs), methylation status (bisulfite conversion) and protein levels. Hippocampal neurons in culture were used to analyze microRNA overexpression effects. Prenatal stress induced changes in gpm6a levels in both tissues and at both ages analyzed, indicating a persistent effect. Two CpG islands in the gpm6a gene were identified. Variations in the methylation pattern at three specific CpGs were found in hippocampus, but not in PFC samples from PS offspring. microRNAs predicted to target gpm6a were identified in silico. qPCR measurements showed that PS modified the expression of several microRNAs in both tissues, being microRNA-133b the most significantly altered. Further studies overexpressing this microRNA in neuronal cultures showed a reduction in gmp6a mRNA and protein level. Moreover filopodium density was also reduced, suggesting that GPM6A function was affected. Gestational stress affected gpm6a gene expression in offspring likely through changes in methylation status and in posttranscriptional regulation by microRNAs. Thus, our findings propose gpm6a as a novel target for epigenetic regulation during prenatal stress.

Geomagnetic effects on cosmic ray propagation under different conditions for Buenos Aires and Marambio, Argentina Masías Meza, Jimmy Joel; Dasso, Sergio Ricardo The geomagnetic field (Bgeo) sets a lower cutoff rigidity (Rc) to the entry of cosmic particles to Earth which depends on the geomagnetic activity. From numerical simulations of the trajectory of a proton using different models for Bgeo (performed with the MAGCOS code), we use backtracking to analyze particles arriving at the location of two nodes of the net LAGO (Large Aperture Gamma ray burst Observatory) that will be built in the near future: Buenos Aires and Marambio (Antarctica), Argentina. We determine the asymptotic trajectories and the values of Rc for different incidence directions, for each node. Simulations were done using several models for Bgeo that emulate different geomagnetic conditions. The presented results will help to make analysis of future observations of the flux of cosmic rays done at these two LAGO nodes.