Universidad de la República de Uruguay

Resumen La co-evolución de plantas, ambientes y culturas hace posible la existencia de variedades vegetales denominadas criollas. Conservadas de forma dinámica por agricultores, constituyen elementos identitarios de las comunidades productivas en las que son mantenidas para satisfacer necesidades alimenticias, medicinales, culturales, entre otras. Esta investigación aporta evidencias empíricas para la comprensión de los procesos culturales y conocimientos tradicionales asociados al cultivo de variedades criollas, desarrollados y compartidos por agricultores familiares en tres localidades uruguayas, en un contexto de homogeneización de la agrodiversidad. A partir del análisis de entrevistas e instancias de observación, los resultados indican que existen motivos productivos, a la vez que afectivos y emocionales para la conservación in situ de decenas de variedades criollas integradas a los sistemas productivos y mundos de vida de dos tipos de agricultores: tradicionales y neorrurales. Ambos tipos de productores desarrollan conocimientos, prácticas y significados vinculados a las variedades criollas que atesoran como recursos propios en procesos de interdependencia entre naturaleza y comunidad.

Climate is one of the main components that define the development and behaviour of the plant, conditioning the health status and the final quality of the grapes. The objective was to describe the precipitation (PP) variability during the last 32 years and how Tannat and Albariño responded in three growing seasons (GS). We analyzed PP data from two agro-meteorological stations and calculated descriptive indexes. In addition, we measured vine water potential, plant physiological parameters, grapes’ final composition and health status at harvest in 2019, 2020 and 2021. In the last 32 years, PP during GS ranged from 133-1154 mm and 10-599 mm during the grape ripening period. An average of 51 days had PP, which means one event every four days. However, when analyzing the dry periods (moving average of 15 days with PP<6 mm), 24 events per GS were recorded with a variability from 0-101, which shows the alternation between excess and deficit of water in the terroir. Regarding plant response, both cultivars showed differences in soluble solids, pH and berry weight between GS. In particular, Albariño showed differences in bunch weight. In contrast, Tannat showed differences in total acidity, anthocyanins, leaf area, yield with the incidence of Botrytis cinerea sp., pruning weight and bunch weight between GS. Therefore, the inter-annual variability had an impact on Tannat performance. Still, Albariño was more stable than Tannat between rainy and dry GS, an interesting option for winegrowers searching for durable and sustainable products.

Reproductive seasonality limits the periods of breeding on the year and, therefore, productive output. However, some breeds appear as probably non-seasonal. The aim of the study was to characterize the seasonal pattern of Santa Inês rams, including an ultrasound characterization of the reproductive tract, testosterone concentrations, and semen characteristics. Fifteen Santa Inês rams remained in a grazing system with concentrate supplementation, and measurements of the reproductive tract and ultrasound evaluation (biometrics and pixel intensity) of the testicles and accessory sex glands were monthly recorded. Computerized seminal evaluations were also performed monthly, and serum testosterone concentration was measured every 15 days. Body weight and condition remained stable throughout the year. In general, reproductive traits varied along the year and reached maximum values during autumn and minimum in spring. Despite that, as fresh semen remained with enough quality to breed all along the year, seasonality does not appear as a limiting factor to breed along the year. Therefore, Santa Inês rams can be used for all-year-round breeding or for crossbreeding when rams from other breeds decrease their fertilizing ability.

Introduction Tuberculosis (TB) is among the deadliest diseases worldwide, and its impact is mainly due to the continuous emergence of resistant isolates during treatment due to the laborious process of resistance diagnosis, nonadherence to treatment and circulation of previously resistant isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis . In this study, we evaluated the performance and functionalities of web-based tools, including Mykrobe, TB-profiler, PhyResSE, KvarQ, and SAM-TB, for detecting resistance in 88 Ecuadorian isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug susceptibility tested previously. Statistical analysis was used to determine the correlation between genomic and phenotypic analysis. Our results showed that with the exception of KvarQ, all tools had the highest correlation with the conventional drug susceptibility test (DST) for global resistance detection (98% agreement and 0.941 Cohen’s kappa), while SAM-TB, PhyResSE, TB-profiler and Mykrobe had better correlations with DST for first-line drug analysis individually. We also identified that in our study, only 50% of mutations characterized by the web-based tools in the rpoB , katG , embB , pncA , gyrA and rrs regions were canonical and included in the World Health Organization (WHO) catalogue. Our findings suggest that SAM-TB, PhyResSE, TB-profiler and Mykrobe were efficient in determining canonical resistance-related mutations, but more analysis is needed to improve second-line detection. Improving surveillance programs using whole-genome sequencing tools for first-line drugs, MDR-TB and XDR-TB is essential to understand the molecular epidemiology of TB in Ecuador. Importance Tuberculosis, an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis , most commonly affects the lungs and is often spread through the air when infected people cough, sneeze, or spit. However, despite the existence of effective drug treatment, patient adherence, long duration of treatment, and late diagnosis have reduced the effectiveness of therapy and increased drug resistance. The increase in resistant cases, added to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, has highlighted the importance of implementing efficient and timely diagnostic methodologies worldwide. The significance of our research is in evaluating and identifying a more efficient and user-friendly web-based tool to characterize resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by whole-genome sequencing, which will allow more routine application to improve TB strain surveillance programs locally.

Scientometrics enables us to comprehend the interests and trends in scientific knowledge production and dissemination. In this study, we evaluate the effects of gender, academic experience, location of residence, and graduate program score on the quantity of published articles, the number of citations and the H-index of researchers belonging to Brazilian graduate programs in Biodiversity. Variables related to the researchers were measured, and the relevance in explaining scientific production was examined using hierarchical models. In graduate programs, there were more men than females. The number of articles as first author and the H-index increase progressively through the researchers' career, while the number of citations increases at the beginning of their careers, stabilizing between 10 and 20 years, and increasing again after 30 years of career. We concluded that gender, academic experience, and graduate program score were the most important variables in explaining the scientific production of graduate programs in Biodiversity in Brazil.

Latin American economic history has been characterized by strong economic fluctuations and a process of divergence with the world leaders. Unfortunately, this historical pattern seems to persist. At the productive level, the bulk of the Latin American countries have not been able to leave their natural-resource-based production patterns completely behind and continue to depend on a pattern of trade specialization with limited access to more technologically intensive and dynamic segments of the global market. Most recently, the end of the last commodity boom generated one of the worst quinquennium in the region’s history, on top of which came the dramatic economic and, particularly, social effects of the COVID-19 crisis. As a result, Latin American countries are now facing deep economic, social and, in several cases, political crises, that create skepticism about their future. This paper presents a compact view of this process with focus on: Latin America’s position in the world economy through its major phases of historical development; the external factors that have led to a sequence of crises, a phenomenon that has been severe over the past four decades; and regional trends in human development, inequality and poverty. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the major regional challenges in the light of history and recent trends.

This work highlights the relationship between accountability and systems assessment, based on research on assessment policies for basic education in Brazil and Uruguay. Systems assessment has been gathering prominence within the historical-political scenario and it also shows a different unfolding in each country. This qualitative research was conducted upon the analysis of two cases (Brazil and Uruguay), document/bibliographic surveys and content analysis as well. It is inferred, consequently, that these assessments may point out to limitations towards social quality education. Keywords Accontability ; Systems assessment Brazil; Systems assessment Uruguay; Educational assessment policies; Social quality

The South American Tern Sterna hirundinacea is a poorly known migratory seabird distributed along South American marine coasts, including the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). The species presents allochronic isolation (i.e., separation of populations by breeding time), with different populations occupying different environmental spaces during the reproductive periods. Additionally, southern populations appear to undertake long-distance directional migration, but there is limited knowledge of the migratory behaviour of northern populations. In spite of these temporal and spatial segregative behaviour, limited population structure has been inferred from genetic assessments, although only a few localities have been investigated. Morphological variation is also poorly known. Whether intrinsic, environmental, or anthropogenic factors are causing isolation and differentiation between populations is unknown. Here, we first characterize sexual morphological dimorphism in the South American Tern, and then evaluate morphological variation along the species range, using only measurements that did not respond to sexual dimorphism and with a representative number of specimens. We also evaluate genetic variation along the South American Tern distribution to test for population differentiation and estimate the demographic history and diversification time for the species. Overall, we found limited population structure in both morphological and genetic data, but with some differentiation in measurements assessed for specimens from the Southeastern Pacific. A trend for demographic stability after a population expansion was estimated for the species. The connectivity among species' colonies, followed by its likely non-philopatric behaviour, seems to maintain gene flow between South American Tern populations. However, genetic differentiation might still be undetected, given the estimated recent origin and demographic expansion for the species. Although the South American Tern is not considered globally threatened, it is regionally threatened, and conservation implications of our findings are considered.

Resumen En las últimas décadas, el papel del plástico en la economía global ha aumentado considerablemente, y ello se debe en gran medida a sus propias cualidades. El principal inconveniente de este material es la dificultad que presenta para su eliminación o reciclado. Desde la disciplina antropológica como ciencia comprometida en develar todas las manifestaciones culturales y sociales de la sociedad, el reciclaje de residuos plásticos es tema de tratamiento de esta era antropocénica. Por ese motivo, este trabajo sobre el reciclaje de plásticos en Uruguay no escapa a la realidad vivida en sus descartes, procesos y futuros utópicos posibles.

Understand the origin, transport, and character of organic matter entering Antarctic fjords is essential as they are major components of the global carbon cycle and budget. Macromolecular pools of particulate organic matter, bulk organic geochemistry, major and trace elements in surface sediments from Collins Bay were analysed as source indicators. Oceanographic conditions, bathymetry (multibeam) and grain size were considered as environmental controlling factors. Sediment samples were taken with a van Veen grab, during the ANTAR XXV Peruvian expedition (February 2018), onboard the R/V "BAP Carrasco" from the Peruvian Navy. Biopolymeric composition revealed the predominance of fresh marine protein-rich organic matter in the seafloor of Collins Bay, denoting high quality food resource for marine benthic heterotrophs. Based on Igeo values (between 0 and 1) Collins Bay can be considered unpolluted with natural levels of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn. Distribution of most of these elements with a gradient of decrease from the shallow inner fjord towards the outer deepest fjord, suggest their association with the deposition of detrital material and lithogenic particles supplied by Collins Glacier frontal ablation and runoff. This first comprehensive baseline information would assist in interpreting downcore sedimentary reconstructions and future climate-induce changes.

Severe infections with potentially fatal outcomes are caused by parasites from the genera Trypanosoma and Leishmania (class Kinetoplastea). The diseases affect people of remote areas in the tropics and subtropics with limited access to adequate health care. Besides insufficient diagnostics, treatment options are limited, with tenuous developments in recent years. Therefore, new antitrypanosomal antiinfectives are required to fight these maladies. In the presented approach, new compounds were developed and tested on the target trypanothione synthetase (TryS). This enzyme is crucial to the kinetoplastids’ unique trypanothione-based thiol redox metabolism and thus for pathogen survival. Preceding studies have shown that N5-substituted paullones display antitrypanosomal activity as well as TryS inhibition. Herein, this compound class was further examined regarding the structure-activity relationships (SAR). Diverse benzazepinone derivatives were designed and tested in cell-based assays on bloodstream Trypanosoma brucei brucei (T. b. brucei) and intracellular amastigotes of Leishmania infantum (L. infantum) as well as in enzyme-based assays on L. infantum TryS (LiTryS) and T. b. brucei TryS (TbTryS). While an exchange of just the substituent in the 9-position of paullones led to potent inhibitors on LiTryS and T. b. brucei parasites, new compounds lacking the indole moiety showed a total loss of activity in both assays. Conclusively, the indole as part of the paullone structure is pivotal for keeping the TryS inhibitory and antitrypanosomal activity of this substance class.

In role-playing games a Game Master (GM) is the player in charge of the game, who must design the challenges the players face and narrate the outcomes of their actions. In this work we discuss some challenges to model GMs from an Interactive Storytelling and Natural Language Processing perspective. Following those challenges we propose three test categories to evaluate such dialogue systems, and we use them to test ChatGPT, Bard and OpenAssistant as out-of-the-box GMs.

We report here a draft genome assembly of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus CRL 2244, recovered from wastewater in Argentina. The genome has a size of 2,898,100 bp, with G + C content of 46.73%. Comparative analysis reveals that its closest relative is L. rhamnosus 1.0320 (GCF_006151905.1), with an average nucleotide identity of 97.46%.

Galactomannans are polysaccharides commonly extracted from the endosperm of various leguminous seeds, exhibiting variations in their man/gal ratio based on their botanical origin. These gums are highly valued for their biodegradability and excellent stability. However, their applications have been limited due to their high viscosity and molecular weight. In this study, enzymatic and ultrasound depolymerisation of galactomannans (guar gum, locust bean gum, and unconventional Neltuma ruscifolia seed gum) was carried out, resulting in hydrolysates, which were subsequently freeze-dried and characterised. The hydrolysis process leads to a decrease in viscosity and molecular weight, accompanied by a noticeable increase in polydispersity through enzymatic treatment. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analysis indicates the generation of at least eight-membered subunits. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy analysis demonstrates no significant changes in functional groups following ultrasound hydrolysis. Furthermore, in agreement with TLC results, enzymatic hydrolysates display partial reactivity towards non-enzymatic browning (NEB), yielding mostly intermediate products with limited browning development. This study diversifies potential applications of these gums in different industries. Graphical Abstract

Introduction Brachial cuff‐based methods are increasingly used to estimate aortic systolic blood pressure (aoSBP). However, there are several unresolved issues. Aims to determine to what extent the scheme used to calibrate brachial records (i) can affect non‐invasive obtained aoSBP levels, and consequently, the level of agreement with the aoSBP recorded invasively, and (ii) how different ways of calibrating ultimately impact the relationship between aoSBP and cardiac properties. Methods brachial and aortic blood pressure (BP) was simultaneously obtained by invasive (catheterization) and non‐invasive (brachial oscillometric‐device) methods (89 subjects). aoSBP was non‐invasive obtained using three calibration schemes: ´SD´: diastolic and systolic brachial BP, ´C´: diastolic and calculated brachial mean BP (bMBP), ´Osc´: diastolic and oscillometry‐derived bMBP. Agreement between invasive and non‐invasive aoSBP, and associations between BP and echocardiographic‐derived parameters were analyzed. Conclusions ´C´ and ´SD´ schemes generated aoSBP levels lower than those recorded invasively (mean errors: 6.9 and 10.1 mmHg); the opposite was found when considering ´Osc´(mean error: ‐11.4 mmHg). As individuals had higher invasive aoSBP, the three calibration schemes increasingly underestimated aoSBP levels; and viceversa. The ´range´ of invasive aoSBP in which the calibration schemes reach the lowest error level (‐5 to 5 mmHg) is different: ´C´: 103‐131 mmHg; ´Osc´: 159‐201 mmHg; ´SD´:101‐124 mmHg. The calibration methods allowed reaching levels of association between aoSBP and cardiac characteristics, somewhat lower, but very similar to those obtained when considering invasive aoSBP. There is no evidence of a clear superiority of one calibration method over another when considering the association between aoSBP and cardiac characteristics. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.