The endocranial morphology and inner ear of the abelisaurid theropod Aucasaurus garridoi

A partial cranial endocast and right inner ear of the Cretaceous abelisaurid dinosaur Aucasaurus garridoi were digitally reconstructed from CT scans. The forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain resemble the morphology described for the abelisaurids Majungasaurus and Indosaurus. However, Aucasaurus exhibits a floccular process that is relatively larger than that of Majungasaurus. In Aucasaurus the flocculus is enclosed in an 8-shaped floccular recess, similar in shape and size to that observed in Abelisaurus, suggesting that the two Patagonian taxa were capable of a slightly wider range of movements of the head. Here we describe the second inner ear known for the Abelisauridae. The labyrinth of the inner ear is similar in shape and size to the semicircular canals of Majungasaurus, although the lateral semicircular canal is shorter in Aucasaurus.Fil: Paulina Carabajal, Ariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Provincia del Neuquén. Municipalidad de Plaza Huincul. Museo ; ArgentinaFil: Succar, Cecilia Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Provincia del Neuquén. Municipalidad de Plaza Huincul. Museo ; Argentin

No gender differences in egocentric and allocentric environmental transformation after compensating for male advantage by manipulating familiarity

The present study has two-fold aims: to investigate whether gender differences persist even when more time is given to acquire spatial information; to assess the gender effect when the retrieval phase requires recalling the pathway from the same or a different reference perspective (egocentric or allocentric). Specifically, we analyse the performance of men and women while learning a path from a map or by observing an experimenter in a real environment. We then asked them to reproduce the learned path using the same reference system (map learning vs. map retrieval or real environment learning vs. real environment retrieval) or using a different reference system (map learning vs. real environment retrieval or vice versa). The results showed that gender differences were not present in the retrieval phase when women have the necessary time to acquire spatial information. Moreover, using the egocentric coordinates (both in the learning and retrieval phase) proved easier than the other conditions, whereas learning through allocentric coordinates and then retrieving the environmental information using egocentric coordinates proved to be the most difficult. Results showed that by manipulating familiarity, gender differences disappear, or are attenuated in all conditions

Shape matching by curve modelling and alignment

Automatic information retrieval in the eld of shape recognition has been widely covered by many research elds. Various techniques have been developed using different approaches such as intensity-based, modelbased and shape-based methods. Whichever is the way to represent the objects in images, a recognition method should be robust in the presence of scale change, translation and rotation. In this paper we present a new recognition method based on a curve alignment technique, for planar image contours. The method consists of various phases including extracting outlines of images, detecting signicant points and aligning curves. The dominant points can be manually or automatically detected. The matching phase uses the idea of calculating the overlapping indices between shapes as similarity measures. To evaluate the effectiveness of the algorithm, two databases of 216 and 99 images have been used. A performance analysis and comparison is provided by precision-recall curves

Effects of ultraviolet radiation on the microbiological, physicochemical, and sensory properties of Rangpur lime juice

Rangpur lime juice was subjected to ultraviolet (UV) radiation as a non-thermal technology and changes in/on quality characteristics (microbiological, physicochemical and sensorial) were determined in order to extend its shelf life. UV-C treated juice resulted in 2.33 log and 2 log reductions in aciduric microorganisms and yeast and mould count, respectively. After UV-C treatment, there were no significant changes (p > 0.05) in pH, acidity and soluble solids;however antioxidant activity and the ascorbic acid content were affected by this process. The losses in ascorbic acid were 27.5 and 42% after UV-C treatment necessary to decrease 95 and 99% of the microbial load, respectively. Based on sensory analysis results, no significant differences were detected between fresh and UV-C treated juices. UV-C treatment extended the shelf life of fresh juice to 5 days during storage at 4°C.Fil: Acevedo, Belén Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Sgroppo, Sonia Cecilia. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura; ArgentinaFil: Dellacassa, Eduardo. Universidad de la República; Urugua

Preliminary study on effect of agricultural activities in pollen spectrum of argentinean honey

Honey floral origin is determined by the harversting region, but anthropogenic factors as agriculture expansion might modify the environmental flora and consequently honey floral origin. Argentina is one of the most important honey producers worldwide which, since the 1990s, has undergone an important agriculture transformation by the adoption of transgenic crops like soybean (Glycine max). However, little is known about the effects of this anthropogenic activity on the floral origin of honey or the statistical tools that could be used to analyse it. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact that these environmental modifications have on the pollen spectrum of honey. In order to achieve this, thirty-two samples of blossom honey were collected from three different ecoregions of the Buenos Aires province: Parana Delta and Islands, Espinal and Pampa, in two different years: 1999 and 2014. The pollen spectrum of honey samples was determined and the data obtained was analysed with multivariate statistical techniques. It could be concluded that the pollen composition of honeys from different ecoregions has significantly changed in the past years because of agriculture expansion and adaptation of transgenic crops (p=0.007). Honey samples harvested in 1999 were characterized by high values of Helianthus annuus, while in 2014 an important presence of Eryngium sp., Gleditsia triacanthos, Baccharis type, Trifolium sp. and Glycine max was observed. The present results show that honey palynological results and multivariate statistical analysis could be used as a preliminary attempt to evaluate environmental modifications.Fil: Patrignani, Mariela. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Fagundez, Guillermina Andrea. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; ArgentinaFil: Lupano, Cecilia Elena. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos; Argentin

Spectral properties of single gold nanoparticles in close proximity to biological fluorophores excited by 2-photon excitation

Metallic nanoparticles (NPs) are able to modify the excitation and emission rates (plasmonic enhancement) of fluorescent molecules in their close proximity. In this work, we measured the emission spectra of 20 nm Gold Nanoparticles (AuNPs) fixed on a glass surface submerged in a solution of different fluorophores using a spectral camera and 2-photon excitation. While on the glass surface, we observed the presence in the emission at least 3 components: i) second harmonic signal (SHG), ii) a broad emission from AuNPS and iii) fluorescence arising from fluorophores nearby. When on the glass surface, we found that the 3 spectral components have different relative intensities when the incident direction of linear polarization was changed indicating different physical origins for these components. Then we measured by fluctuation correlation spectroscopy (FCS) the scattering and fluorescence signal of the particles alone and in a solution of 100 nM EGFP using the spectral camera or measuring the scattering and fluorescence from the particles. We observed occasional fluorescence bursts when in the suspension we added fluorescent proteins. The spectrum of these burst was devoid of the SHG and of the broad emission in contrast to the signal collected from the gold nanoparticles on the glass surface. Instead we found that the spectrum during the burst corresponded closely to the spectrum of the fluorescent protein. An additional control was obtained by measuring the cross-correlation between the reflection from the particles and the fluorescence arising from EGFP both excited at 488 nm. We found a very weak cross-correlation between the AuNPs and the fluorescence confirming that the burst originate from a few particles with a fluorescence signal.Fil: Anzalone, Andrea. University of California at Irvine; Estados UnidosFil: Gabriel, Manuela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Electrónica Cuántica; Argentina. University of California at Irvine; Estados UnidosFil: Estrada, Laura Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Electrónica Cuántica; Argentina. University of California at Irvine; Estados UnidosFil: Gratton, Enrico. University of California at Irvine; Estados Unidos. University of New England; Australi

El género Cunila (Lamiaceae, Mentheae) en Argentina

Cunila is an American genus with about 23 species and a disjunctive distribution between the United States of America (from New York State to Texas and Florida) and Central America, and Southern Brazil, south of Uruguay and NE Argentina. Four species of Cunila (C. angustifolia, C. incana, C. microcephala and C. spicata) were recorded for Argentina, with an area of distribution ranging from Misiones to Santa Fe provinces. This contribution is a systematic review of this genus in Argentina, including descriptions, synonymies, new lectotypification, and a key to species. Morphological information and iconography of C. incana and C. spicata are provided. The area of distribution for Cunila microcephala is extended 4 degrees West (ca. 62° Long. W), up to Santa Fe province, Castellanos department.Cunila es un género americano con cerca de 23 especies de distribución disyunta: un área comprende Estados Unidos de América (desde el Estado de Nueva York hasta Texas y Florida) y Centroamérica, y la otra desde el sur de Brasil y Uruguay hasta el noreste de Argentina. Cunila está representado en Argentina por 4 especies que se distribuyen desde Misiones hasta Santa Fe: Cunila angustifolia, C. incana, C. microcephala y C. spicata. Se presenta una revisión sistemática del género en Argentina, se describen las especies con sus sinónimos, se lectotipifican nuevamente los nombres, se presentan mapas de distribución con la ampliación de área para C. microcephala 4 grados hacia el oeste (ca. 62° Long. O) hasta el departamento de Castellanos, provincia de Santa Fe. Se aporta iconografía sobre C. spicata y C. incana, datos micromorfológicos y claves de especies

Ictiólogos de la Argentina: José Gustavo Haro

This series will include all those people who, by means of their contributions, great and small, played a part in the consolidation of ichthyology in Argentina. The general plan of this work consists of individual factsheets containing a list of works by each author, along with reference bibliography and, whenever possible, personal pictures and additional material. The datasheets will be published primarily in chronological order, although this is subject to change by the availability of materials for successive editions. This work represents another approach for the recovery and revalorization of those who set the foundations of Argentine ichthyology while in diverse historical circumstances. I expect this to be the beginning of a major work that achieves the description of such a significant part of the history of natural sciences in Argentina

¿Está bien o está mal?

Las sociedades cambian, y junto con ellas, cambian las lenguas y las normas lingüísticas. Lo que antes estaba mal o no existía, ahora está bien. Lo que antes estaba bien, ahora está mal. La corrección lingüística no es un valor absoluto. Es un valor relativo a la norma lingüística en un grupo social y en un momento determinados. La norma explícita es una especie de "reglamento oficial" repetido por todos los textos es- colares. Por ejemplo, las palabras agudas llevan tilde. Hoy, los profesores de español corregiríamos al mismísimo Nebrija y le haríamos reescribir toda su gramática, porque claramente comete muchos errores de acuerdo con nuestras normas lingüísticas (ver gráfico). Las sociedades cambian, y junto con ellas, cambian las lenguas y las normas lingüísticas. Lo que antes estaba mal o no existía, ahora está bien. Lo que antes estaba bien, ahora está mal. La corrección lingüística no es un valor absoluto. Es un valor relativo a la norma lingüística en un grupo social y en un momento determinados.Fil: Menegotto, Andrea Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentin

Improving the Protectiveness of 3-Mercaptopropyl-Trimethoxysilane Coatings on Bronze by Addition of Oxidic Nano- and Microparticles

The protectiveness of coatings based on 3-mercaptopropyl-trimethoxysilane (PropS-SH) applied on bronze artworks was enhanced by investigating and tuning a variety of factors. In particular, the coating performances were optimized by proper additive choice among oxide nanoparticles (CeO2, La2O3, TiO2) and microparticles (fly ash (FA)), and by varying the aging time of the nanoparticle suspensions before coating application and the RT curing time of the coatings. Moreover, the possibility of conservation of the silane solution under refrigerated conditions was assessed. The aggressive environment was a tenfold concentrated synthetic acid rain (AR × 10). The techniques adopted comprised electrochemical tests (polarization curve recording and EIS tests) and SEM-Energy Dispersion Spectroscopy (EDS) observations. In the case of FA microparticles, never used before as additives in silane coatings, further tests were performed in FA suspensions in AR × 10 to clarify the contribution of these particles to PropS-SH coating protectiveness. The tests included pH measurements, elemental chemical analyses, and electrochemical tests on bare bronze. Improved performances of PropS-SH coatings were achieved by La2O3, CeO2, and FA addition, with La2O3 affording the best results during 20 days of immersion. The positive influence of FA was connected to its alkaline character and to the release of soluble silicates