Sex morphs and invasiveness of a fleshy-fruited tree in natural grasslands from Argentina

Invasiveness has usually been studied as a species-level attribute; nevertheless, phenotypic differences between individuals in a population can lead to significant variations in colonization ability. In this paper, we analyse the potential effects of sex morphs of Prunus mahaleb, a gynodioecius fleshy-fruited tree, on its invasiveness in natural grasslands in the southern Argentine Pampas. We assessed the abundance of both hermaphrodite and female plants and compared their fecundity, propagule size and germination response. We found that the females were less abundant in the invasive populations studied, apparently since the beginning of the colonization. However, our results demonstrated that at the present time females do not show any fecundity reduction, which clearly shows that P. mahaleb has established an effective interaction with generalist pollinators which compensates for the apparent disadvantage of females. Fruit set showed a wider range of variability over time in the females than in the hermaphrodites, which could be the consequence of greater susceptibility to changes in the activity of pollinators. We found no evidence of a female benefit due to reallocation of resources or better outcrossed progeny considering propagule size and germination. We discuss the relative importance of sex morphs and interactions at different stages of the invasion process.Fil: Amodeo, Martín Raúl. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Grupo de Estudios en Conservación y Manejo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Zalba, Sergio Martín. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Grupo de Estudios en Conservación y Manejo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Perras, marginalidad y violencia en el teatro argentino del siglo XXI

In this essay I examine the play Perras (2002), a joint work by Néstor Caniglia, Enrique Federman, Mauricio Kartun, and Claudio Martínez Bel, which demonstrates in a crude and bestial way the degeneration and transformation of the marginalized in post-crisis Argentina (2001). It is in the private sphere, where domestic abuse and bestiality occur, that we observe the play’s aggressors unravel in a process of reflexive nostalgia. This nostalgia, as described by Svetlana Boym in The Future of Nostalgia, is a process of personal reflection that meanders through multiple narratives and temporalities, both real and fictitious. The subversive nature of the marginalized being, together with the egocentric and ludic qualities of this introspective nostalgia, leads these aggressors to fail to recognize the violence and perversion of their actions, thereby making them transform into beasts themselves

Presentación

Fil: Zalba, Estela. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociale

About readers and reading practices : the multiplicity of reading pacts at the beginning of the third millennium

En este trabajo nos proponemos analizar el fenómeno de la lectura en el actual escenario sociocultural. Para poder dar cuenta de la complejidad de la problemática encarada, trabajaremos desde un enfoque que combina básicamente dos focalizaciones: la explicación sociohistórica y la reflexión conceptual sobre la temática, proveniente de distintas tareas semióticas. La lectura es la interacción de un sujeto con un texto entendido éste en un sentido que excede lo meramente gráfico-verbal-, con el objeto de interpretarlo, elaborando una representación mental de su significación. Toda lectura presupone un pacto tácito: el contrato de lectura. Este pacto es dinámico y cambiante, por ello analizaremos las modificaciones producidas en las modalidades de lectura de los textos escritos y la vinculación de éstas con los pactos de lectura generados por los textos audiovisuales y multimediales.In this paper we intend to analyse the reading phenomena in today's social and cultural scenario. In order to explain the complexity of this issue, we will approach it combining basically two focalisations: the social-historical explanation and the conceptual reflection about the topic, from different semiotic theories. Reading is the interaction of a subject with a text, understood in a sense that goes beyond the merely graphical-verbal thing, with the goal of making its interpretation, elaborating a mental representation of its signification. Any act of reading presupposes a tacit pact: the reading agreement. This pact is dynamic and changing, that is why we will analyse the modifications produced in the modalities of reading of written texts and their links with the reading pacts generated by the multimedia and the audio-visual texts.Fil: Zalba, Estela. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociale

Strengthening a Culture of Collaboration Through Intentional and Strategic Collaborative Practices

Collaboration can inspire professional learning, improve teaching practices, and impact student learning and well-being. Yet, not all types of collaboration yield these desired results, as is in the case of Elementary School (ES) at Paradise International School (PIS; a pseudonym). This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) presents a problem of practice (PoP) that addresses the lack of intentional and strategic collaborative practices at PIS. Within a pragmatic worldview, this OIP is grounded in a socioconstructivist theory, one that frames three chosen interrelated leadership models: transformational, constructivist, and distributed. A synthesis of these theoretical foundations results in three leadership principles and 10 leadership behaviours that underpin this OIP, which is steered by this change vision: teachers work and learn interdependently in high-performing teams and are collectively responsible for the learning and well-being of all students. This vision, along with the key priorities and the diagnosed needed changes, were utilized to develop the outcomes and goals of the change. Furthermore, after examining the possible solutions to address the PoP, a research- and practice-based decision was made to implement coteaching and collaborative inquiry in an integrated manner. The change path model was chosen to lead the change process and used to develop the 2-year action plan. The multifaceted action plan of this OIP has three integrated components: an autonomous and programmed change implementation plan, a context-specific monitoring and evaluation framework, and a participatory and persuasive communication plan. This OIP concludes by considering ways to ensure the sustainability and evolution of effective collaborative practices at PIS

On the effect of cosolutes and crowders in the stability and kinetic properties of proteins

186 p.[EN]It is known since long time that life is present in every environment on Earth, however, this fact results surprising, since some of such environments are characterized by conditions that seem to be incompatible with the survival. To avoid death due to extreme conditions, life has been obligated to adapt, although the mechanism to achieve this depends on the specific condition and, in general, it is still not completely understood. Despite this, something results evident when studying how the organisms that thrive in extreme environments have adapted; that the extreme conditions force the adaptation of the organism at a molecular level, forcing to optimize the stability of biomolecules, and in particular that of the proteins. Proteins perform a great number of functions inside the cells, from structural to production of energy. Because the proteins, for the most part, require a three-dimensional structure to be active, and because the property that guarantees that they preserve such structure is its stability, the loss of the later poses a severe problem for the cells. Aiming to adapt the stability of the proteins to their biological role, Nature has developed multiple strategies that involve a complex machinery capable of modulating the effective concentration of the proteins in the cell. Such machinery emerges from the interconnexion between a wide system of reactions and processes tightly regulated and is sustained by a structural organization level based on weak intermolecular interactions. Having said all this, great part of the homeostasis of a protein is ultimately a function of its amino acid composition. In this context, the surface is the responsible of interacting with the external medium, including the rest of biomolecules. Attending to this fundamental fact, it seems rationale to consider the protein surface as responsible of the sensitivity to the environment and, in consequence, to attribute it a role of relevance in the adaptation mechanisms. Out of all the adaptation mechanisms to extreme environments, that of the adaptation to hypersaline environments (haloadaptation) constitutes a clear example of how protein surfaces have been remodeled exclusively to preserve the stability in presence of high amounts of salt (KCl and other inorganic salts) and/or other cosolutes. This adaptive example can serve as guide for building of a general model of the contribution of the environment to the stability of the proteins (quinary structure). Apart from this, as part of this work, it has also been considered relevant to study what influence poses the own environment on some processes of protein stability loss, particularly the oligomerization reactions through domain swapping. These processes are of special interest due to their implication in some principal cell functions and because of their role in the appearance of several diseases. In summary, this work is oriented to try to extend the haloadaptation mechanism and to extract the keys required to build a model to evaluate the contribution of the environment to the stability of the proteins (quinary structure), as well as to study the influence of the own environment on the oligomerization processes that occur via domain swapping

Assessment of the conservation status of natural and semi-natural patches associated with urban areas through habitat suitability indices

Urban environments rely on the surrounding natural ecosystems remnants as providers of ecosystem functions, therefore these areas not only support a unique biodiversity but also have a social value for maintaining public health and wellbeing. For this reason, urbanization is considered to be one the biggest threats to ecosystems, leading to native biodiversity simplification and, thus, to a detriment of the provided ecosystem services. Moreover, this change in land use results in high levels of landscape fragmentation and modification in areas surrounding the habitat remnants which, in consequence, become inadequate for many native species. In this context, it is important that urban planners have the information to assess the possible consequences of future changes in land use in order to increase the landscape chances of supporting both, native biodiversity and the needs of a growing human population. The objective of the present work is to evaluate the ecological integrity of natural and semi-natural vegetation patches immersed in an urban area in order to generate a conceptual framework for landscape assessment that allows urban planners to envision the best choice for city development at a given place. To do so, we developed a quantitative integral environmental evaluation index that includes ecological characterization, geological characterization, and environmental characterization (presence of anthropic disturbance) of the assessed area. We conclude that the index we have generated in this work is suitable to be used as a management tool to allow an unbiased valuation and to identify managing situations that require a short term response.Fil: Natale, Evangelina Sandra. Fundación Conservación y Desarrollo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Villalba, G.. Fundación Conservación y Desarrollo; ArgentinaFil: Junquera, J. E.. Fundación Conservación y Desarrollo; ArgentinaFil: Zalba, Sergio Martín. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Grupo de Estudios en Conservación y Manejo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin