However, the fauna transported in these rafts is a scarce studied topic. This work presents a survey of this fauna, for which different localities of its coast were visited after the floods in the summer season from December 2015 to March 2016. Twenty species of tetrapods, eight arachnids and three hirudiniformes closely associated with floating vegetation were accounted. Also, fishes, insects, mollusks and tricladids were recorded. This provided better information about animals capable of supporting transport on floating rafts. It is proposed that in future studies emphasis should be placed on improving knowledge about invertebrates that are associated with camalotales transport. It is underlined that the events of camalotales are very important in the regulation of the biodiversity, and that therefore they must be taken into account when planning palliative measures against the economic problems that can cause the floating vegetation.

Las balsas de vegetación flotantes llamadas camalotales, son un medio de dispersión biogeográfica muy importante en la cuenca del Río de la Plata. Sin embargo, la fauna transportada en estas balsas constituye un tópico muy poco estudiado. En este trabajo se presenta un relevamiento de dicha fauna, para lo cual se visitaron diferentes localidades de su costa luego de las inundaciones en la temporada estival de diciembre de 2015 a marzo de 2016. Se contabilizaron 20 especies de tetrápodos, ocho arácnidos y tres hirudiniformes íntimamente asociados a la vegetación flotante. También se registraron, peces, insectos, moluscos y tricládidos. Esto aportó una mejor información de la fauna capaz de soportar el transporte sobre balsas flotantes. Se propone que en futuros estudios se deberá hacer énfasis en mejorar el conocimiento sobre los invertebrados que están asociados al transporte por camalotales. Se remarca que los eventos de camalotales son muy importantes en la regulación de la biodiversidad, y que por ello deben ser tenidos en cuenta al planificar medidas paliativas contra los problemas económicos que pueda causar la vegetación flotante.

This study aimed to describe the association of Borrelia burgdorferi s.s. with ixodid tick cell lines by flow cytometry and fluorescence and confocal microscopy. Spirochetes were stained with a fluorescent membrane marker (PKH67 or PKH26), inoculated into 8 different tick cell lines and incubated at 30°C for 24 h. PKH efficiently stained B. burgdorferi without affecting bacterial viability or motility. Among the tick cell lines tested, the Rhipicephalus appendiculatus cell line RA243 achieved the highest percentage of association/internalization, with both high (90%) and low (10%) concentrations of BSK-H medium in tick cell culture medium. Treatment with cytochalasin D dramatically reduced the average percentage of cells with internalized spirochetes, which passed through a dramatic morphological change during their internalization by the host cell as observed in time-lapse photography. Almost all of the fluorescent bacteria were seen to be inside the tick cells. PKH labeling of borreliae proved to be a reliable and valuable tool to analyze the association of spirochetes with host cells by flow cytometry, confocal and fluorescence microscopy.

Poly(imide-amides) (PIAs) were obtained from aspartic and glutamic acids containing both a 1,8-naphthlimidyl side group and the diamine bis(4-aminophenyl) diphenylsilane, according to the Yamazaki method and characterized by elemental analysis, optical activity, IR and ¹H, 13C and 29Si NMR spectroscopy. PIAs were soluble at room temperature in common aprotic polar solvents (DMSO, DMAc, DMF, NMP) and in other of lower polarity but low boiling point (CHCl3, THF) after heating. The inherent viscosity values were low, which was indicative of low molecular weight species of oligomeric nature. The Tg values were relatively high considering the aliphatic nature of the diacids and the bulky side groups, which cause an impediment to the rotation. It is possible to suppose a weak hydrogen bond interaction between the NH groups of the amide and the carbonyl groups of the imide. When the Tg of both PIAs was compared, it was possible to see a decrease when the main chain was increased in one -CH2- group. PIAs were not thermostable but the TDT values were relatively high considering the aliphatic nature of the diacid moiety, being PIA-As more thermostable than PIA-Gl with a longer aliphatic chain. Both PIAs showed a similar optical behavior and high transparence at 450 nm, which can be explained by the aliphatic character of the diacid moiety.