BackgroundUruguay exhibits one of the highest rates of breast cancer in Latin America, similar to those of developed nations, the reasons for which are not completely understood. In this study we investigated the effect that ancestral background has on breast cancer susceptibility among Uruguayan women.MethodsWe carried out a case–control study of 328 (164 cases, 164 controls) women enrolled in public hospitals and private clinics across the country. We estimated ancestral proportions using a panel of nuclear and mitochondrial ancestry informative markers (AIMs) and tested their association with breast cancer risk.ResultsNuclear individual ancestry in cases was (mean ± SD) 9.8 ± 7.6% African, 13.2 ± 10.2% Native American and 77.1 ± 13.1% European, and in controls 9.1 ± 7.5% African, 14.7 ± 11.2% Native American and 76.2 ± 14.2% European. There was no evidence of a difference in nuclear or mitochondrial ancestry between cases and controls. However, European mitochondrial haplogroup H was associated with breast cancer (OR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.1, 3.5).ConclusionsWe have not found evidence that overall genetic ancestry differs between breast cancer patients and controls in Uruguay but we detected an association of the disease with a European mitochondrial lineage, which warrants further investigation.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12905-015-0171-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Like other countries in the Americas, during its colonization Uruguay was the recipient of immigrants from several ethnic groups from Europe, as well as of enslaved Africans. After its independence in 1830, Basques were the first group of Europeans to arrive in the country. In this paper, we aim to contribute to the understanding of the process of integration of these migratory waves into the Uruguayan society. For that purpose, individuals of Basque origin from the city of Trinidad, Uruguay, were chosen to participate in this study. Particularly, we wanted to determine if Basque descendants in Uruguay remained relatively isolated or if they mixed with other ethnic groups. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 60 self-identified Basque descendants, taken from a larger sample of subjects with Basque ancestors, was analyzed. The origin of mtDNA haplogroups was 77.8% European, 20.4% Amerindian, and 1.8% African, showing similar frequencies to other Uruguayan regions. Very few sequences showed a clear Basque origin, although other sources such as the Canary Islands are likely. Moreover, genetic distances clearly show that Basque descendants are genetically closer to other Uruguayan groups than to European populations, including Basques. It is possible to conclude that Basques and their descendants in the region of Trinidad did not remain isolated and that their marriage behavior was similar to that of other Uruguayan populations. However, to have a more accurate picture of the way Basques intermarried with other populations in Uruguay, new analyses are needed that take into account paternal lineages as well as biparental genetic markers.

The data support the existence of a relationship between the historic and present inhabitants of the extreme northwest Uruguay, with a strong contribution of Native Americans to the mitochondrial DNA diversity observed there.

En la etapa de educación infantil los niños hallan en su cuerpo y en el movimiento las principales vías para entrar en contacto con la realidad que los envuelve y, de esta manera, adquirir los primeros conocimientos acerca del mundo en el que están creciendo y desarrollándose. Sin duda, el progresivo descubrimiento del propio cuerpo como fuente de sensaciones, la exploración de las posibilidades de acción y funciones corporales, constituirán experiencias necesarias sobre las que se irá construyendo el pensamiento infantil. Asimismo, las relaciones afectivas establecidas en situaciones de actividad motriz, y en particular mediante el juego, serán fundamentales para el crecimiento emocional. En este sentido, en el presente artículo nos ocuparemos de justificar la necesaria presencia de la educación física y de presentar un diseño de intervención en la praxis en esta etapa educativa.Por otra parte, es precisamente a esta asignatura, y para la etapa que nos ocupa, que le corresponde la tarea de dar respuestas a las cuestiones planteadas, y a otras tales como el excesivo sedentarismo o la obesidad infantil. Para ello es necesario que los maestros y educadores de este nivel educativo se cuestionen, de forma responsable, las intenciones y las formas de intervención didáctica en el ámbito motor. Es por ello  que en este artículo recogemos conceptos y supuestos en torno al desarrollo motor, los contenidos motrices, la expresión corporal, el juego motor y el planteamiento metodológico y programador de la motricidad en la etapa de educación infantil.

Uruguay is the only Latin American country that at present lacks Native populations and little is known about its prehistoric populations. In the construction of National identity, the unique reference to Natives is about Charra Indians, one of the most important ethnic groups that lived in the territory and exterminated in the 1830s. In 1833, four survivors were taken to be exhibited and studied in France, becoming martyrs and a symbol of their nation. The skeletal remains of Chief Per&x00FA; were preserved and studied mainly by Rivet1; these are the only remains certainly identified as belonging to a Charr&x00FA;a. In 2002, the French government returned the remains to Uruguay, where they were buried with honours at the National Pantheon. Before the burial, we performed morphological studies as well as extracted samples for DNA analysis. Peru's morphology is coherent with the one of a nomadic warrior: robust body with strong muscular insertions, wounds, and healthy diet based mainly on meat. Here we show that metric and morphological data as well as maternal inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable region I (HVRI) and restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs), indicate a close relationship with Pampa-Patagonian Indians, and specially, with prehistoric Natives buried in mounds from eastern Uruguay. This last finding is particularly important to understand Uruguayan prehistory and history, raising the debate about who the mound builders were, and showing continuity between them, historic Charr&x00FA;a Indians, and present populations.