Ocupación del Oso Andino Tremarctos ornatus en el Área de Conservación Regional Choquequirao, Cusco

El conocimiento de espacios de hábitat del oso andino dentro del Área de Conservación Regional (ACR) Choquequirao, son indispensables para un manejo sostenible. El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo estudiar la ocupación de oso andino en el ACR Choquequirao, mediante modelos de ocupación para determinar el hábitat potencial de oso andino y las presiones 2 que afectan al hábitat de la especie. Para este fin se realizaron 18 cuadrantes de 16km , se procesó la información SIG e imágenes satelitales, para determinar el hábitat potencial de oso andino, de acuerdo a la cobertura vegetal del ACR. Los resultados indican que el 66% del área es su hábitat potencial. Sin embargo, esta área está siendo fragmentada por acciones antrópicas (poblaciones aledañas y carreteras). La presión que afecta en mayor medida al hábitat del oso andino dentro del ACR, es la presencia de ganado en un 40% del ACR Choquequirao, y se superpone en un 59% al área ocupada por el oso andino, conllevando esto a un posible conflicto oso-hombre. El Área de Conservación Regional Choquequirao, cuenta con un gran porcentaje de hábitats potenciales para el oso andino Sin embargo, está siendo amenazada por factores antrópicos

Inventario, ecología y conservación de la Flora y fauna asociadas a la laguna Qoyllururmana, Urcos, Quispicanchi, Cusco, Perú

En 2017 iniciamos una serie de evaluaciones mensuales para entender el estado del agua y los componentes de la vida silvestre en el humedal Qoyllururmana, una investigación orientada a la conservación de este ecosistema acuático andino. La vegetación se determinó in situ y las colecciones sólo se obtuvieron cuando fue necesario, reportando por primera vez la especie: Lophoppapus tarapacanus, para la Región Cusco. La fauna fue registrada con el método de observación directa y se obtuvieron datos sobre los parámetros físico-químicos del agua. Todas las especies fueron registradas a través de fotografías. Se reportan un total de 50 especies de vertebrados y 206 especies vegetales. Las intervenciones realizadas por el municipio local son perjudiciales para la conservación de este humedal urbano. Se sugieren una serie de actividades para conservar la flora, fauna y características ambientales de este ecosistema para el presente y futuras generaciones

Important Teacher Qualities for Integrating Blended Learning in Higher Education

Blended learning is widely accepted in Peruvian higher education for a number of reasons, including the fact that it allows students more leeway to accommodate their own unique schedule and learning needs. The present qualitative research investigates the qualities of effective teachers that are crucial to the successful implementation of blended learning from the vantage point of experts, who can gain valuable insight into the causes of organizational problems and the best strategies for resolving them. There are seven positive characteristics of blended learning teachers, such as the ability to recognize the need for pedagogical change or the confidence to incorporate technology into learning processes, and four negative characteristics, such as a lack of familiarity with blended learning or anxiety about students use of technology. Blended learning in higher education is investigated here to identify the factors that influence it

Genome Sequences of Chikungunya Virus Isolates from Bolivia

We generated nine coding-complete chikungunya virus genome sequences from blood samples collected during the early 2015 outbreak in Bolivia. Relative to other publicly available chikungunya sequences, the Bolivian samples represent a monophyletic group, suggesting that a single lineage was widely circulating in the country between February and May 2015.We generated nine coding-complete chikungunya virus genome sequences from blood samples collected during the early 2015 outbreak in Bolivia. Relative to other publicly available chikungunya sequences, the Bolivian samples represent a monophyletic group, suggesting that a single lineage was widely circulating in the country between February and May 2015

Aerial images and machine learning methods to emulate the late blight severity in potato crops

Assessment of Phytophthora infestans’ incidence and severity are frequently performed based on visual crop inspection, which is a labor-intensive task prone to errors associated with its subjectivity. Therefore, alternative methods to relate disease incidence and severity with changes in crop traits are of great interest. Optical imagery in the visible and near-infrared (VisNIR) can detect changes in crop traits caused by pathogen development. In addition, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) with cameras on board have flexible data collection capabilities allowing adjustments considering the trade-off between data throughput and its resolution. This work presents a quantitative prediction of the severity of the disease caused by Phytophthora infestans in potato crops using image processing and machine learning (ML) algorithms such as Random Forests (RF) and Extreme Gradient Boost (XGBoost). The ML algorithms were trained using datasets from multispectral data captured at the canopy level with a UAV carrying a multispectral camera. The results indicate that RF and XGBoost using 11 classes with 18 bands, including vegetation indexes and band features, can predict late blight severity on potato crops with an acceptable accuracy of 81.02% for RF and 74.19% for RF XGBoost

PRIVATE SAVINGS IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES: ARE THERE TERMS OF TRADE SHOCKS?

The paper examines the impact of terms of trade shocks on private savings in the transition economies after accounting for the effect of other determinants. Economic agents in the transition economies are subject to tight credit constraints which are more pronounced during bad state of nature. Thus, adverse shocks to commodity prices in the world market can force them to reduce savings by a larger amount than they would otherwise have. Empirical analysis using a dynamic panel model and data from twenty one transition economies confirm that most of the determinants of savings identified in the literature also apply to the transition economies. Favorable movements in both the permanent and transitory components of the terms of trade have a significant positive impact on private savings with transitory movements having a larger impact than the permanent component. This reflects the lack of access to foreign borrowing that many of the transition economies have faced during the last decade. Although the impact of terms of trade shocks are found to be asymmetric, the magnitude of the impact appears to be small. The results are robust for alternative estimators, determinants, and country groupings.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39958/3/wp572.pd

Indigenous lands are better for amphibian biodiversity conservation than immigrant-managed agricultural lands: a case study from Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru

The efficacy of protected areas is tied to the management of surrounding areas. Still, the importance of buffer zones for biodiversity conservation is overlooked. Manu Biosphere Reserve is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, yet destructive land-use practices are degrading the ecological integrity of its buffer zone. To better understand the importance of different land-uses within Manu’s buffer zone for biodiversity conservation, we assessed amphibian communities across a land-use gradient in the buffer zone (immigrant agricultural land, forests used by three Indigenous communities, and a regenerating forest), in addition to a reference site in its core protected area. We surveyed six sites and sampled amphibian communities using visual encounter surveys and leaf litter searches over dry and wet seasons. Overall, in 2249 ha surveyed of the buffer zone, we recorded 70 amphibian species (57% of the 124 species recorded in the Manu Biosphere Reserve from the same elevational range within our study). Species richness, evenness, and diversity of amphibians decreased with habitat degradation and were lowest in the agricultural land. Conversely, the richness and diversity of amphibians in the regenerating forest and the Indigenous communities’ forests were similar to that of the core protected area, and each had a relatively unique community composition, whereas the agricultural land was dominated by generalist species. Our results suggest that increasing degradation through expanding agriculture traditionally adopted by immigrant communities could significantly threaten biodiversity within the buffer zone. However, our findings also underscore the high potential of buffer zones managed by Indigenous communities for biodiversity conservation. A combination of sustainable livelihood activities, cultural practices, and forest protection, as observed in many Indigenous communities, is critical to fulfilling the role of a Biosphere Reserve—to reconcile the conservation of biological and cultural diversity while improving social and economic development

3′UTR-Mediated Gene Silencing of the Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) Gene

Translocations involving the Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) gene generate in-frame fusions of MLL with more than 50 different partner genes (PGs). Common to all MLL translocations is the exchange not only of coding regions, but also of MLL and PG 3′-untranslated regions (3′UTRs). As a result, the MLL-PG fusion is normally highly expressed and considered the main driver of leukemia development, whereas the function of the PG-MLL fusions in leukemic disease is unclear. As 3′UTRs have been recognized as determinant regions for regulation of gene expression, we hypothesized that loss of the MLL 3′UTR could have a role in generating high MLL-PG levels and leukemia development. Here, we first tested the MLL-PG and PG-MLL mRNA levels in different leukemic cells and tumours and uncovered differential expression that indicates strong repression by the MLL-3′UTR. Reporter assays confirmed that the 3′UTR of MLL, but not of its main PGs, harbours a region that imposes a strong gene silencing effect. Gene suppression by the MLL 3′UTR was largely microRNA independent and did not affect mRNA stability, but inhibited transcription. This effect can at least partially be attributed to a tighter interaction of the MLL 3′UTR with RNA polymerase II than PG 3′UTRs, affecting its phosphorylation state. Altogether, our findings indicate that MLL translocations relieve oncogenic MLL-PG fusions from the repressive MLL 3′UTR, contributing to higher activity of these genes and leukaemia development