A golden life:Ecology of breeding waders in low Lapland

Climate change is affecting ecosystems and species all over the world and scientists are on a race to try to discover those effects before is too late. Arctic ecosystems are believed to be extraordinary vulnerable to climate warming, especially as a small increase in temperature is expected to have relatively large impact (coined ‘arctic amplification’). Understanding the ecology of inhabitants of arctic ecosystems and effects of climate change is therefore urgent. I studied the breeding ecology of the Golden Plover in subarctic Lapland, in Sweden. More specifically I looked at the habitats the chicks used, their diet and food availability, as well as their growth and survival. In addition, I looked at the flight feather moult of the adults, and, in order to study the species’ whole annual cycle, also their migration pattern. I conclude that effects of climate change differ between annual cycle stages; it generally seems to negatively impact plovers during the breeding season but might benefit plovers during the winter. My study increased our knowledge of Golden Plovers and other shorebirds breeding in the Subarctic, which helps to predict effects of climate change, and developing conservation measures

Aspectos fonéticos y fonológicos de la poesía gauchesca: el caso del Diálogo Patriótico Interesante de Bartolomé Hidalgo y el de Los tres gauchos orientales de Antonio Lussich

Tesina realizada en el marco de la Especialización / Maestría de gramática del español de ANEP - UdelaREste proyecto de tesis se enmarca en los estudios de lingüística histórica que abordan aspectos fonético-fonológicos. En este caso particular, se toma como fuente de estudio la literatura gauchesca en dos diálogos, uno de Bartolomé Hidalgo y otro de Antonio Lussich, que representan dos etapas de este género literario en el siglo XIX en territorio hoy uruguayo. Elegí a Hidalgo y a Lussich porque a través de estos autores se puede acceder a una variedad lingüística del Río de la Plata, cuya transformación en género literario dio comienzo a la gauchesca. Podemos establecer, junto con Raviolo (2015), que puede atribuirse a Hidalgo el comienzo de la gauchesca y, en él, vislumbrarse los dos elementos centrales que manejará Lussich: el lenguaje de los personajes gauchescos que aparece en los cielitos, y la estructura de este lenguaje de manera dialógic

Individual migration patterns of Eurasian golden ploversPluvialis apricariabreeding in Swedish Lapland; examples of cold spell-induced winter movements

Tracking studies normally focus on long-distance migrants, meaning that our understanding about short-distance migration remains limited. In this study, we present the first individual tracks of the Eurasian golden plover Pluvialis apricaria, a short-distance migrant, which were tracked from a Scandinavian breeding population using geolocators. In addition, golden plovers are known for their cold spell-induced winter movements, and this study provides some first individual tracking data on this type of movements. In three cases the plovers spent the winter in NW Europe and in four cases they departed during winter from NW Europe to spend the rest of the winter in Iberia or Morocco (one bird that was tracked during two subsequent migration cycles moved to Iberia in the first winter but remained in NW Europe during the second winter). The four winter departures were associated with a cold spell in NW Europe during which maximum temperatures dropped to freezing. Cold spell-induced winter movements were notably long and fast. The birds that remained at their NW European wintering site did not experience such cold spell. Interestingly, the individual that was tracked for a second season did experience four cold spells at its wintering site in NW France, but it never left this area, indicating that plovers not always move on in response to cold. Little information was obtained about spring migration, but one bird had a prominent counter-clockwise loop migration pattern through E Europe. Due to their cold spell winter movements, golden plovers exhibit great flexibility in migration patterns, resulting in a notably large spread in final wintering areas

Investigación Formativa: Indagación sobre el inicio de la diseminación del SARS-CoV-2 en Uruguay

La presente comunicación se realizó en el marco de un trabajo de aproximación a la investigación en primer año de profesorado de Química e involucró a las asignaturas Biología, Matemática y Lengua. El propósito principal fue realizar un trabajo en el marco de la investigación formativa en el que se buscó indagar cómo se diseminó el virus SARS-CoV-2 en Uruguay en los primeros cuatro meses de pandemia, enfocándose en los nuevos casos positivos diarios. Se utilizó un abordaje metodológico mixto (cuanti y cualitativo) que incluyó la utilización del análisis de documentos (informes oficiales y noticias de prensa) como técnica de relevamiento de datos. En lo que respecta a los resultados referidos a la variación en el número de casos nuevos de Covid entre el 16 de marzo y el 16 de julio, el análisis realizado pretendió identificar las características del crecimiento en la cantidad total de personas diagnosticadas. A partir de dicho análisis se identificaron dos períodos de tiempo en los que se produce un crecimiento exponencial casi constante. Se constató, además, que los brotes registrados no se remitieron al departamento de Montevideo, sino que también se dieron en otros departamentos con menor densidad poblacio nal. Finalmente, se describieron las medidas tomadas para disminuir la diseminación del virus, vinculadas a cada uno de los brotes identificados. A modo de conclusión, el trabajo muestra por un lado lo que emerge del proceso de indagación realizado, a partir del cual se constata que existen dificultades para establecer proyecciones respecto a cómo ocurriría el crecimiento de casos nuevos a futuro, debido a la multiplicidad de factores que inciden en el proceso de diseminación. Por otra parte, la comunicación pretende evidenciar la relevancia del abordaje desde la aproximación a la investigación en futuros docentes como estrategia metodológica

The upper-airway microbiome as a biomarker of asthma exacerbations despite inhaled corticosteroid treatment.

BACKGROUND: The response to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in asthma is affected by the interplay of several factors. Among these, the role of the upper-airway microbiome has been scarcely investigated. We aimed to evaluate the association between the salivary, pharyngeal, and nasal microbiome with asthma exacerbations despite receipt of ICS. METHODS: Samples from 250 asthma patients from the Genomics and Metagenomics of Asthma Severity (GEMAS) study treated with ICS were analyzed. Control/case subjects were defined by the absence/presence of asthma exacerbations in the past 6 months despite being treated with ICS. The bacterial microbiota was profiled by sequencing the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Differences between groups were assessed by PERMANOVA and regression models adjusted for potential confounders. Afalse discovery rate (FDR) of 5% was used to correct for multiple comparisons. Classification models of asthma exacerbations despite ICS treatment were built with machine learning approaches based on clinical, genetic, and microbiome data. RESULTS: In nasal and saliva samples, case subjects had lower bacterial diversity (Richness, Shannon, and Faith indices) than control subjects (.007≤ P≤ .037). Asthma exacerbations accounted for 8% to 9% of the interindividual variation of the salivary and nasal microbiomes (.003≤ P≤ .046). Three, 4, and 11 bacterial genera from the salivary, pharyngeal, and nasal microbiomes were differentially abundant between groups (4.09*10-12≤ FDR≤ 0.047). Integrating clinical, genetic, and microbiome data showed good discrimination for the development of asthma exacerbations despite receipt of ICS (AUCtraining: 0.82 and AUCvalidation: 0.77). CONCLUSION: The diversity and composition of the upper-airway microbiome are associated with asthma exacerbations despite ICS treatment. The salivary microbiome has a potential application as a biomarker of asthma exacerbations despite receipt of ICS

Relevance of gastrointestinal manifestations in a large Spanish cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: what do we know?

SLE can affect any part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. GI symptoms are reported to occur in >50% of SLE patients. To describe the GI manifestations of SLE in the RELESSER (Registry of SLE Patients of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology) cohort and to determine whether these are associated with a more severe disease, damage accrual and a worse prognosis. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide, retrospective, multicentre, cross-sectional cohort study of 3658 SLE patients who fulfil =4 ACR-97 criteria. Data on demographics, disease characteristics, activity (SLEDAI-2K or BILAG), damage (SLICC/ACR/DI) and therapies were collected. Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared between lupus patients with and without GI damage to establish whether GI damage is associated with a more severe disease. RESULTS: From 3654 lupus patients, 3.7% developed GI damage. Patients in this group (group 1) were older, they had longer disease duration, and were more likely to have vasculitis, renal disease and serositis than patients without GI damage (group 2). Hospitalizations and mortality were significantly higher in group 1. Patients in group 1 had higher modified SDI (SLICC Damage Index). The presence of oral ulcers reduced the risk of developing damage in 33% of patients. CONCLUSION: Having GI damage is associated with a worse prognosis. Patients on a high dose of glucocorticoids are at higher risk of developing GI damage which reinforces the strategy of minimizing glucocorticoids. Oral ulcers appear to decrease the risk of GI damage. © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology