Carnívoros invasores en Patagonia: Definiendo prioridades para su manejo usando el visón americano (Neovison vison) como caso de estudio

El visón Americano es una especie introducida con una amplia distribución en Patagonia y por su comportamiento de forrajeo es el carnívoro invasor con el mayor potencial para afectar a la biodiversidad en la región. La información disponible acerca de la presencia/ ausencia del visón en la región y de estimaciones poblacionales es muy escasa aun cuando esto es vital para la planificación de acciones de manejo. En este trabajo integramos la información disponible acerca de la presencia del visón hasta la fecha y evaluamos su presencia en sitios donde hay vacíos de información, basándonos en la ubicación de los puntos de liberación de individuos, distribución confirmada y estimaciones de la capacidad de dispersión. Proponemos una Herramienta de Priorización de Áreas (HPA) para definir sitios prioritarios para el manejo, superponiendo mapas de distribución de la especie, de hábitat adecuado y de áreas de importancia para la conservación de la biodiversidad. Entre las áreas prioritarias, seleccionamos tres y sugerimos un Protocolo de Tareas de Erradicación (PTE) como estrategia de manejo del visón americano, basado en experiencias de erradicación Europeas exitosas. Finalmente, estimamos costos relativos asociados a la implementación de tal PTE en cada una de las áreas seleccionadas. Presentamos este trabajo como una herramienta aplicada, enfocada en mostrar una forma simplificada para afrontar el problema de las especies invasoras en Patagonia y su manejo.The American mink is a widespread invasive carnivore in Patagonia, and due to its foraging behavior that allows it to exploit a wide variety of prey, it is the exotic carnivore with the highest potential impact on the region's biodiversity. Available regional information on mink presence/absence, as well as abundance estimations, is scarce even though it is vital to plan management actions. Here, we integrate the confirmed distribution of mink in Patagonia with its potential presence for areas where information is lacking, based on the location of animal releases and estimated dispersal rates. We propose an Area Prioritization Tool (APT) for invasive species management by overlapping habitat suitability, current known range, colonization fronts and areas deemed important for biodiversity conservation. Among the prioritized areas, we selected three and suggested a Protocol for Eradication Tasks (PET), based on successful mink eradication experiences in Europe. Finally, we estimated the relative costs associated with the PET's implementation in each area. We present this work as a systematic, applied tool to show a feasible way to face the invasive species problems in Patagonia and their management.Fil: Fasola, Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Valenzuela, Alejandro Eduardo Jorge. Administración de Parques Nacionales. Delegación Regional Patagonia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Psychometric Features of a Scale for Characterizing the Meaning of School Learning

In School Motivation context, we know that it is not enough with taking in consideration the student’s task motivation. It is necessary also consider the perspective of the reasons of students that give sense to the school learning, and this way improve or re-thinking the didactic designs.In this frame, we have developed a tool (SAS-student) that allows characterizing the School Learning Sense. The validation of this instrument was done on a sample of 405 Chilean students (male and female) of 6th primary (11 years) and 5th secondary (16 years), representatives of different Socio Economics Status. The psychometrics characteristics of this tool show the same factorial structure in both levels, appropriates reliabilities coefficients and a high level of discrimination. These results come to support the construct validity and reliability of a test that not only is useful for the research but also it gives to teachers potentially relevant information for theirs pedagogic planning

Attitudes Towards Teaching Computational Thinking and Computer Science: Insights from Educator Interviews and Focus Groups

In the last three years, integration of both computational thinking (CT) and computer science (CS) into K-12 instruction has become a focus of many schools throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States. With this new widespread demand, educational leaders and educators are focusing efforts on understanding the core concepts and practices of CT and CS, looking for logical connections for integrating across curriculum, and seeking strategies for implementing a wide variety of educational technology tools (apps and devices). This phenomenological research study was designed to gather depth information from 14 K-16 educators through both semi-structured interviews and two focus groups. Participants were asked open-ended questions about their self-efficacy, confidence, and prior experiences with teaching and learning CS. Moreover, each educator described his or her most significant concern for seeking appropriate professional development for building their CT/CS teaching and learning competencies in meaningful and relevant ways. Overall, nine themes emerged from the data: attitudes about CT/CS, access to industry experts, understanding CT/CS concepts, understanding CT/CS practices, use of relevant technology tools, alignment of CT/CS to current standards, teacher confidence, time to develop their own mastery for CT/CS, and access to appropriate professional development (PD) as the main connector

Teachers'salaries in Latin America : a comparative analysis

Data from household surveys of 12 Latin American countries were used to assess how teachers'salaries compare with those of workers in other occupations. The results show that salaries vary among countries, ranging from an apparent 35 percent underpayment in Bolivia (compared with the contol group) to a 65 percent overypayment in Colombia. But when statistical controls are introduced for differences in education, hours worked, and gender composition between the teachers group and the comparator group, much of the earnings differential disappears. The authors conclude that the data do not support the position that teachers are either overpaid or underpaid.Teaching and Learning,Skills Development and Labor Force Training,Gender and Education,ICT Policy and Strategies,Primary Education

Measuring the interaction force between a high temperature superconductor and a permanent magnet

Repulsive and attractive forces are both possible between a superconducting sample and a permanent magnet, and they can give place to magnetic levitation or free-suspension phenomena, respectively. We show experiments to quantify this magnetic interaction which represents a promising field regarding to short-term technological applications of high temperature superconductors. The measuring technique employs an electronic balance and a rare-earth magnet that induces a magnetic moment in a melt-textured YBa2Cu3O7 superconductor immersed in liquid nitrogen. The simple design of the experiments allows a fast and easy implementation in the advanced physics laboratory with a minimum cost. Actual levitation and suspension demonstrations can be done simultaneously as a help to interpret magnetic force measurements.Comment: 12 pages and 3 figures in postscrip

Generation and analysis of expressed sequence tags from Botrytis cinerea

http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-97602006000200018&lng=es&nrm=isoBotrytis cinerea is a filamentous plant pathogen of a wide range of plant species, and its infection may cause enormous damage both during plant growth and in the post-harvest phase. We have constructed a cDNA library from an isolate of B. cinerea and have sequenced 11,482 expressed sequence tags that were assembled into 1,003 contigs sequences and 3,032 singletons. Approximately 81% of the unigenes showed significant similarity to genes coding for proteins with known functions: more than 50% of the sequences code for genes involved in cellular metabolism, 12% for transport of metabolites, and approximately 10% for cellular organization. Other functional categories include responses to biotic and abiotic stimuli, cell communication, cell homeostasis, and cell development. We carried out pair-wise comparisons with fungal databases to determine the B. cinerea unisequence set with relevant similarity to genes in other fungal pathogenic counterparts. Among the 4,035 non-redundant B. cinerea unigenes, 1,338 (23%) have significant homology with Fusarium verticillioides unigenes. Similar values were obtained for Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus nidulans (22% and 24%, respectively). The lower percentages of homology were with Magnaporthe grisae and Neurospora crassa (13% and 19%, respectively). Several genes involved in putative and known fungal virulence and general pathogenicity were identified. The results provide important information for future research on this fungal pathogen

Tomato : handling and yield : edaphic evaluation in Agrelo (Mendoza, Argentina)

El objetivo fue obtener muy altos rendimientos en un cultivo comercial de tomate, utilizando una tecnología de cultivo apropiada y conocer, comprender y cuantificar las causas de los distintos rendimientos obtenidos. Para ello las etapas realizadas fueron: 1. diagnóstico 2. planificación 3. ejecución de las tareas 4. evaluaciones Diagnóstico El terreno, las distintas pendientes y pedregosidades superficiales; la calidad y disponibilidad del agua de riego; las condiciones edafológicas hasta una profundidad de 1,50 m; la población nativa de nemátodes. Sobre la base del diagnóstico se programó la segunda etapa. Planificación Se planificaron correcciones inmediatas y normas de manejo adecuadas. Se programó la fertilización nitrogenada y fosfórica. Posteriormente la tercera etapa. Ejecución de las tareas Se subsoló, se pasó cincel, se niveló de 0,2 a 0,3 %, se sembró Río Grande, Peto Rock y Peto 9543. Se realizó siembra directa con distancia de plantación de 1,4 m. Densidad de siembra variable desde 60.000 a 100.000 plantas ha-1. Evaluaciones Rendimientos medios de parcelas testigo, sin ninguna fertilización, fue de 60.900 kg ha-1. Hubo sectores fertilizados con 150 kg nitrógeno/ha y 70 de fósforo, con rendimientos medios de 110.000 kg/ha. En la primera pasada se cosecharon, aproximadamente, 30.000 kg/ha, en la segunda 70.000 kg/ha y 8.000 kg/ha de verde. La pendiente del terreno, en ese sitio, fluctuó de 0,25 a 0,50 %, estas pendientes son las que han estado asociadas con los mayores rendimientos obtenidos y una sanidad muy buena en cuanto al fruto cosechado.The target was to obtain high yields in the comercial cultivation of tomato, using one appropiated cultivation tecnology and getting to know, understand, measure the causes of the different yields obtained. In order to do this, the following stages were done: 1. diagnosis 2. planification 3. task fulfillment 4. evaluations Diagnosis The following items were diagnosed: the soil, the different slopes and superficial stony places; the quality and availability of irrigation water, edafologic conditions up to 1.5 m depth, the native population of nematodes. Planification The second stage was programmed on the basis of diagnosis. Inmediate corrections and accurate handling rules were carried out. The nitrogenous and phosphoric fertilization were programmed. Task fulfillment The following activities were done: the soil was subsoiled, levelled between 0.2- 0.3 % and Rio Grande, Peto Rock and Peto 9543 were sown. The direct sowing with 1.4 m between furrows was done. The density of tomate plants varied betwen 60.000 to 100.000 per ha. Evaluations The average yield of control plots without fertilization at all, was of 60.900 per ha, there were places with 150 kg of nitrogen per ha and 70 kg per ha of phosphorus with average yield of 110.000 kg/ha. On the first pick about 30.000 per ha were harvested, in the second pick 70.000 kg per ha and 8.000 kg per ha of green fruit. The slope of the soil in this place fluctuated between 0.25 to 0.50 %, this slopes are the ones with have been asociated with the highest yield obtained and with the very good quality with respect to the picked fruit.Fil: Perez Valenzuela, Benjamín. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias AgrariasFil: Erquiaga, Jorge

Intellectual determinants in the improvement of the critical thinking

El pensamiento crítico ha sido definido como «el pensamiento razonado y reflexivo que se centra en decidir qué creer o qué hacer» (Ennis, 1996). Este pensamiento tiene una gran importancia puesto que está implicado en la resolución de problemas, en la toma de decisiones, en la elaboración de creencias, en comprobación de hipótesis, etc., esto es, en una buena parte de nuestro funcionamiento cognitivo diario. Sin embargo, no existen muchos estudios sobre qué factores personales pueden estar implicados en su posesión o en su aprendizaje. Nosotros hemos llevado a cabo una investigación con una muestra de estudiantes universitarios con el objetivo de explorar la relación entre el pensamiento crítico y la inteligencia. Los resultados demostraron que antes de la instrucción la relación entre esas variables era muy débil, sin embargo tras la enseñanza del pensamiento crítico dicha relación fue significativamente más fuerte. Con el fin de explorar más esta relación y determina si pudiera haber diferencias en pensamiento crítico en función del nivel intelectual, realizamos un ANOVA. Este reveló la existencia de diferencias significativas en el grado de aprendizaje tras la instrucción en función de la capacidad intelectual de los estudiantes. Siendo los más inteligentes quienes más se beneficiaron de esta instrucción, mostrando un mayor aprendizaje en el pensamiento crítico.The critical thinking has been defined as the reasoned and reflective thinking that focused on deciding what to believe or do (Ennis, 1996). This thinking has a big importance because it is involved in problem solving, in decision making, in production of beliefs, in checking hypothesis, etc., that is, in a good part of our cognitive daily functioning. However, there are not a lot of studies about what personal factors can be involved in its possession or in its learning. We have carried out a study with a sample of university students with the aim to explore the relation between the critical thinking and the intelligence. The results showed that before instruction the relation between these variables was very weak however after the instruction the relation was significantly stronger. With the aim to explore this relation and determine if there could be differences in critical thinking in function of intellectual level, we realized an ANOVA. That revealed significant differences in the degree of learning of critical thinking in function of the intellectual level of the students. Being the most intelligent those who more benefited from this instruction, showing a major learning in critical thinking

Reconociendo la exclusión

1 archivo PDF (Tipo: Presentación) : principalmente ilustraciones en color ; 23 diapositivas. SUIQUINDECIMLos acelerados procesos de urbanización y crecimiento urbano desigual, unidos a los problemas de la marginalidad e inseguridad en las ciudades, han despertado una renovada atención a la pobreza urbana en sus múltiples dimensiones, siendo una de las más importantes la exclusión