• In order to have feedback from her European peers, Claudia Córdoba, professor at the Department of Education of Universidad de Santiago, presented the progress of her study “Analysis of the school socioeconomic segregation in primary education” (Fondecyt Initiation Project 11130149) at Universitá degli Studi di Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) and at the Complutense University of Madrid (Madrid, Spain). The study analyses the socioeconomic segregation in geographically close schools, considering residential segregation, family preferences, and the barriers imposed by schools with regard to payments and student selection.

In September, Claudia Córdoba, professor at the Department of Education of Universidad de Santiago de Chile presented the progress of her research study “Analysis of the school socioeconomic segregation in primary education (Fondecyt Initiation Project 11130149)” at two European universities.

Her first presentation was at Universitá degli Studi di Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy), on September 21^st, and then she showed her work at the Faculty of Education of the Complutense University of Madrid (Madrid, Spain), on September 24^th.

On both occasions, she presented the progress of her work in the context of the project that she leads, receiving feedback and suggestions for its continuation.

The study is focused on the phenomenon of socioeconomic segregation in geographically close schools, considering three concurrent factors: residential segregation, family preferences, and the barriers imposed by schools with regard to payments and student selection.

“Doubtlessly, in our country, the phenomenon of school segregation is stronger than in countries like Italy and Spain; however, it is always interesting to appreciate that some dynamics can also be noticed in school systems which are very different from the Chilean one,” Professor Córdoba said.

In this regard, some Spanish professors said that, in their country, it is possible to notice big differences in the social composition of the student body of public schools, even when they are geographically close.

In the case of Italy, the families there also seek to ensure that their children learn some skills that can give them an advantage over their peers (learning English, for example), and that it is possible to see big differences in the socioeconomic composition of the student body in different types of high school.

Some of the preliminary results were particularly interesting, For example, the fact that children in Santiago seem to travel much longer distances than the ones travelled by children in Madrid or Cagliari.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The new therapy involves the development of a vaccine that provides the immune system with the tools needed to “attack” cancer cells, improving the antitumour response of the body. The therapy was announced to foreign media correspondents accredited in Chile.

• The study is funded through a Fondecyt Project and it is at preclinical stage. It considers a significant decrease of more than 70% in the overall cost of therapies for this disease.
• The leader of the project, Claudio Acuña, Dr in Biomedical Sciences, researcher, and Head of the Department of Biology of our University, gave us some details on this new technology, which is applying for a patent in USA with the support of Corfo.
• Dr Acuña said: “We are generating a quite effective therapy for cancer through which we could make immunotherapy more available to people. We are doing this in a university which is known for its social responsibility signature. In this context, I would like to highlight the talent of my students involved in this project.”

In order to optimize cancer therapy and contribute to public health in our country, an innovative and significant treatment developed at Universidad de Santiago has recently been presented.

This project involves the development of a vaccine that will allow destroying cancer cells in the body by enhancing its immune response.

This scientific development- funded by the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development, Fondecyt- considers a significant decrease of more than 70% in the overall costs of cancer therapies and it has shown an efficacy of 50%.

Dr Claudio Acuña, Head of the Department of Biology of Universidad de Santiago, is leading the project. “We want to have a vaccine available to protect us from the disease, just like in the vaccination process for measles and other diseases when we are children. In the case of cancer, our idea is to get people vaccinated so that they are able to eliminate cancer cell in their bodies, he said.”

Quality of life

According to the researcher, the project “Seeks to improve the quality of life of patients in the long term and generate a supplementary therapy to conventional treatments to resist cancer in a non-conventional way, which is currently treated with chemotherapy.”

“We have completed the preclinical stage (trials in living animals) which showed that the vaccine does protect from the disease. The next step is the clinical phase, in which it will be tested in human subjects. There was not any negative effect on animals, so we could extrapolate that there will be not any effect on patients,” he added.

“The ultimate goal is to generate a vaccine for people with cancer that will allow enhancing their immune response to tumours,” he said.

“We are generating a quite effective therapy for cancer in which we could make immunotherapy more available to people. We are doing this in a university which is known for its social responsibility signature. In this context, I would like to highlight the talent of my students involved in this project,” the scientist said.

“We were able to make it because the University enables, favours and promotes these innovation processes, besides providing the confidence to conduct high-level research,” he added.

Dicyt project

Dr Acuña’s meeting with foreign media correspondents was in the context of the activities of a Dicyt Public Opinion Project of Universidad de Santiago, led by Gabriela Martínez Cuevas, professor at the Department of Journalism.

Professor Martínez highlighted the interest of Fundación Imagen de Chile in contributing to promote the significance of this study among a group of accredited correspondents in Chile.

“Due to the strategic partnership that we developed with Fundación Imagen de Chile last year in a similar project, we have been able to arrange the first of a series of conferences with foreign accredited correspondents, during 2015,” professor Martínez said.

“This body has the purpose of managing the “nation branding”, so we have joined efforts to strengthen our “U de Santiago brand” around the world through our scientists,” she added.

Gabriela Martínez, who is also Director of the Communications Department and the institutional radio station said: “Today, the interest of the international press for learning about this study led by Dr Claudio Acuña was evident, and he insisted on the importance of the contribution made by the young researchers that he is training.”

She said: “There were correspondents of all the agencies in Europe, China and Latin America. We expect to see how they inform the world about this new contribution made by our state and public University, which is committed to the country progress and gives solutions to urgent demands beyond our borders. This was specifically demonstrated with this cancer vaccine.”

The project- which is at its preclinical stage- is based on effects of Polymixin B. It has already shown its first results in lymphoma, melanoma and breast, with an effectiveness of almost 50%. Besides, it is worth to mention that this technology could decrease the cost of current traditional cancer therapies by up to 70%.

With the support of the Chilean Economic Development Agency (Corfo, in Spanish), this technology is in the patenting process both in Chile and USA, to then continue to the clinical stage and to exporting the treatment.

Fundación Imagen de Chile

According to its web page, Fundación Imagen de Chile is an autonomous institution funded by public resources, created in 2009, with the purpose of coordinating and organizing the efforts to promote the image of Chile abroad.

Its responsibility is to mange the “nation branding”, by coordinating the work of the main sectors that contribute to build this image, such as culture, sports, exportations, investments, tourism and international relations, among others. For this purpose, the foundation develops strategic partnerships with public and private agents to coordinate the image of the country and actively position the distinctive features of our identity.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The benefit of using geophysical techniques to recover historical remains was one of the main conclusions of the “Taller de Geofísica aplicada al Patrimonio Críptico Heredado.” “By using mining technologies, we want to bring our country’s historical riches out of the depths of the Earth, without impacting the environment,” Dr Lucio Cañete, one of the organizers, said.

On July 02^nd, the closing ceremony of the third “Taller de Geofísica aplicada al Patrimonio Críptico Heredado” was held at the Conference Room of the Technological Faculty. The workshop was led by the Dean of that Faculty, Gumercindo Vilca Cáceres and was attended by several university authorities.

The workshop gathered together almost one hundred men and women of different ages and from different professional areas.

The workshop was given in the context of the outreach activities developed by the Technological Faculty. This is the reason why “We emphasized that the participants should not be part of the university community: to have an impact at a society level,” Dr Lucio Cañete explained.

The workshop

According to Dr Cañete, the purpose of the workshop was to give basic knowledge of geophysics and its potential applications to a general audience interested in the inherited cryptical material, “that is to say, a paleontological or archaeological resource that it is not visible, that remains under ground, covered by vegetation or ice.”

“We referred to gravimetry, seismology, magnetometry and electrical resistivity, which are used to prospect for mining resources. Chile is very rich in these resources,” the researcher said, regarding the techniques addressed during the workshop.

However, the team of experts led by Dr Lucio Cañete learned that these techniques could mean a significant contribution to a different type of excavation: the digs for the past.

“Chile has hidden riches that we want to reveal through these techniques: the riches of our past,” Dr Cañete said.

According to him, our territory is rich in archaeological elements; for this reason, we need the tools to unearth the past without altering the ecosystem.

“Historical research has shown that the first settlements in our territory started 13 thousand years ago. The first remains of human settlements in the American continent were confirmed in Chile,” he said.

“We have a whole rich past that must be revealed, but this must be done with techniques that will not impact the heritage while we are trying to bring it out,” Dr Cañete stressed.

Digging is a very intrusive method; therefore, if it is used, “The destruction of the evidence of the past is highly probable. However, geophysical techniques use disturbances that allow “seeing without touching,” he added.

Geophysical techniques

Gravimetry measures the variation of the strength of a gravitational field; magnetometry measures how a magnetic field changes; seismology, by means of man-caused little microseisms, allows to see what is under the surface, and, finally, the electrical resistivity measures the changes in ground resistance when introducing an electric current into the subsurface.

Regardless of the surface, the use of these techniques “Produce a sort of disturbance that does not affect the part of the patrimony that we want to know,” Dr Cañete said.

In this regard, the main goal of the workshop was to understand these techniques and see how their use in the mining industry can be a real contribution to surveying archaeological, historical and paleontological remains.

“We saw this and, and in our role as a public and state university, we called for the development of all these techniques that, although they are traditional in mining industry, could be used in a new scientific field: the field of the sciences that study the past,” he added

“By using these mining technologies, we want to bring our country’s historical riches out of the depths of the Earth, without impacting the environment,” Dr Cañete concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Diego Barría and Francisco Castañeda, professors at the Faculty of Administration and Economics of Universidad de Santiago, participated in a project of Jean Monnet Networks, an action co-funded by the European Union and led by the University of Milan.

   

  On June 25^th and 26^th, representatives of Europe, Asia and the Americas participated in the XIV European Workshop "Major Public Enterprises in a Global Perspective”, in Milan, Italy.

  Renowned international experts participated as speakers, like Massimo Florio of University of Milan; Lars-Erik Fredrickson (Chair OECD Working Party on State Ownership and Privatization Practices); and Richard Kozul-Wright, UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) representative.

  Dr Francisco Castañeda, representative of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, said that the goal after this experience is to produce a working paper by September 2015 for CIRIEC-Belgium and University of Milan. “We agreed in publishing a paper in the Italian Journal of Public Economics by December 2015,” he added.

  Professors Barría and Castañeda gave a presentation during the conference and they said that corporate governance of state-owned enterprises has become a subject of great interest. “The OECD has been promoting best practices with regards to transparency, dissemination of information, election of public companies directors and the relation with stakeholders,” they said.

  According to these economists, indicators like financial performance, financial leverage levels, covenants, corporate bond issuance, and alternatives for getting resources to undertake new investment projects that allow sustainability in this type of company, should be evaluated.

  However, the "State-Owned Enterprises in the Market Place" OECD guidelines are more complex to implement in big state-owned companies.

  The Jean Monnet European Networks are made up of six universities:

  • Università degli Studi di Milano (leading University) – Italy

  • Ǻbo Akademi University School of Business and Economics – Finland

  • University of Greenwich – United Kingdom

  • Universität Leipzig – Germany

  • Université de Rouen – France

  • WU Wirtschaftuniversität – Austria

  Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr Laura Almendares Calderón, professor at the Technological Faculty of Universidad de Santiago, presented her study “Development of a technology to replace prickly pear skin with a peel to keep the physiological, microbiological and organoleptic properties of the fresh fruit” at the Expo Milano 2015 (Italy). Dr Almendares presented the innovation in an activity devoted to the best sustainable development practices for food security.

Dr Laura Almendares Calderón, professor at the Technological Faculty of our University, carried out a technical visit to the Expo Milano 2015 (Italy) in order to get an insight of the food situation around the world. She was able to see a wide variety of raw materials, manufactured goods, equipment and supplies exhibited by more than one hundred countries. The activity had the presence of leaders from all over the world, like President Michelle Bachelet, who opened the Chilean Pavillion.

In this context, Dr Almendares, director of the FIA-USACH Project, PYT-2012-0033, “Development of a technology to replace prickly pear skin with a peel to keep the physiological, microbiological and organoleptic properties of the fresh fruit”, presented her work at the BSDP Week.

The activity started with an exhibition of photos, porters, brochures and other information material related to this matter. The academic was able to show the results of this Chilean innovative project to people from different countries, at the Urban Center, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, in downtown Milano, between June 10^th and 13^th.

Chile participated in the competition “Feeding Knowledge”, a program created to contribute to the permanent legacy of the Expo Milano 2015.

With that purpose in mind, a document will be generated containing policies and key recommendations to create an effective knowledge system in the food security field in the Mediterranean Region. The final version of this document will be available in September this year.

Selection of proposals

The proposals submitted by eligible candidates underwent a strict admission control by the International Selection Committee, which is responsible for the final evaluation, using nine pre-established criteria.

The proposals that did not meet one or more of the admission criteria were not considered as “Good Practices in Food Safety.”

The ones that were well evaluated officially became “participating initiatives”, like the work presented by Dr Almendares. 

Her work was included in the priority theme “Food consumption habits: diet, environment, society, economy and health.”

This theme groups all projects which objectives are focused on research activities that evaluate the impact of current diets on the environment, economy, society, culture, health and nutritional sustainability.

This was the only Chilean study presented at the activity and it was registered as ‘9712. Development of methodology to replace prickly pear skin for enriched eatable peel. Chile. 25’.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr Manuel Azócar, professor at the Department of Chemistry of Materials of Universidad de Santiago was recognized as the best scientific publication reviewer in the Material Science Engineering C international journal. The expert is also a reviewer in other six different journals in this field in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Dr Manuel Azócar, professor at the Department of Chemistry of Materials of Universidad de Santiago was recognized as the best scientific publication reviewer in the Material Science Engineering C international journal, for reviewing around 30 papers in one year.

He is also a reviewer for other six journals in the field for which he usually evaluates the standard: an average of 5 article submissions. However, for the journal that recognized him, he evaluated an outstanding number of papers, so it demanded a very intense work. He expressed his gratitude for this recognition and said that he has reviewed works from the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Dr Azócar has also published in the Material Science Engineering C journal since 2014 before becoming a reviewer.

He became a reviewer on his own merit, studying materials with potential medical applications, specifically metals like copper and silver, which have antibacterial properties to combat bacteria, viruses and fungi, among other microorganisms.

All the articles undergo an expert “blind review”. This means that the author does not know who is evaluating his/her article. The committee is made up of two reviewers and they decide if the article is accepted or not. If there is a tie, they may call for a third opinion.

Dr Azócar says that the process for the approval of scientific publications is very rigorous. “I rejected 60% of the articles. This usually happens, because in science, the standards to accept articles are very strict. Most of the article submissions are usually rejected for writing problems, poor contributions, and poor quality and lack of novelty,” he explains.

Scientific connectivity

The Materials Science and Engineering C: Materials for Biological Applications journal can be digitally accessed and Universidad de Santiago has subscribed to it, so academics can log in through the university account.

He says that information at a scientific level is increasingly democratising. “Many things have changed in science, like open access articles (PDF) which publication costs are paid by the authors and networking sites, like ResearchGate, a sort of “Facebook” for scientists,” he adds.

Goals and expectations

Dr Azócar expects to continue both publishing and reviewing at an international level. “Being considered at a global level is very interesting. They should know that there are people in Chile with a voice to give opinions on specific issues,” he explains.

He says that the journal has helped him in his professional positioning and career. “All these references help scientists to be good professionals, to be formally recognized and valued by the university. Besides, this benefits my future research work, because it gives me more credibility in my field of work. In the scientific career, the scientist is constantly growing up in time,” he concludes.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr Juan Escrig participated in the Fifth International Conference for Young Scientists and the Annual General Meeting of the Global Young Academy, held between May 25^thand 29^th, in Montebello, Canada. On the occasion, professor Escrig encouraged his peers to use all available means to disseminate their work among general public and other scientists. This conference gathers scientists from around the world, who are selected for the excellence of their science and their commitment to service. Currently, it has 200 members from 58 countries.

One of the goals of the Fifth International Conference for Young Scientists and the Annual General Meeting of the Global Young Academy (GYA), held between May 25^th and 29^th, in Montebello (Canada), was to provide an opportunity for reducing the science gap between developed and developing countries.

The activity gathers scientists from around the world, who are selected for their excellence demonstrated by their scientific achievements in their fields and their commitment to service. Currently, it has 200 members from 58 countries, representing the main regions of the planet.

GYA aims to empower and mobilize young scientists to address the principal issues they may face at their early careers. The idea is to reduce the science gap between developed and developing countries by connecting young scientists from different countries.

Besides, the organization maintains active links with international science organizations including the UN Science Advisory Board, the Global Network of Science Academies, the Global Research Council and the International Council for Science.

It publishes statements on international science policy and the research environment, what is important information for early-career researchers.

Universidad de Santiago

Universidad de Santiago was represented by Dr Juan Escrig, researcher at the Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CEDENNA, in Spanish), at the Department of Physics.

According to Dr Escrig, the participants in the activity discussed that “a key challenge for researchers is the limited access to research software or scientific equipment due to the lack of funding for acquiring licences and/or new equipment.”

“This jeopardizes the quality of the research work, causes the use of pirated software and, in extreme cases, brain drain, and it is closely related to another problem: the need to improve the research environment in the institutions, something that would allow young scientists to fully develop their potential,” he adds.

He thinks that many women have not received yet the support that they require to succeed in their scientific careers.

And he also thinks that in general, institutions do not compensate the time that young scientists devote to promoting science.

Some guidance

Professor Escrig gives some guidance for young scientists at Universidad de Santiago, so that they contribute to the country development.

“The idea is that they participate in scientific education and in outreach activities at schools and universities of the country, because the benefits of science cannot be disseminated without the participation of and the communication among scientists, citizens, politicians and the media,” he says.

“Young scientists at the University should organize themselves, for example, through the INDI, the Group of Researchers for Development and Interdisciplinarity of Universidad de Santiago, because in this way, they will be in a unique position to take on roles in providing scientific advice for the country,” he adds.

“INDI scientists stand out not only for their excellent research work, but also for their commitment to bring together scientists and politicians to face the problems of the country. Also, I think that we require a mentoring network for young women scientists,” he concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

•  Monitoring contaminating emissions at a height of 1,500 meters and understanding how contaminant concentrations vary at height depending on factors like the day, the time, humidity and temperature: this was the objective of the project led by Dr Ernesto Gramsch, professor at the Department of Physics at Universidad de Santiago. For this purpose, he is using a drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle that carries all the necessary instruments to collect specific data regarding this problem that affects the health of people living in the Metropolitan Region.

Dr Ernesto Gramsch, professor at the Department of Physics at Universidad de Santiago is leading a research work that has the purpose of comparing the presence of particulate pollutants in the air, particularly between its presence at ground level and at height. The study is funded through a Regular Fondecyt Project (1151117) and is called “Estudio vertical del carbono negro y perfil de temperatura en Santiago y su relación con la contaminación en la superficie” (“Vertical study on black carbon and temperature profile in Santiago and their relation with ground-level pollution.”)

This research project seeks to measure contaminating emissions at a height of 1,500 meters by means of a drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle adapted to carry the necessary equipment, in order to study how concentrations vary depending on factors like the day, the time, humidity and temperature.

Professor Gremsch explains that “just the fact of knowing how pollution works at height is new, because we do not have that information about Santiago. There is some information about other places, but this work has not been fully developed.”

The drone that will make the measurements will fly over Universidad de Santiago and, probably over Pudahuel and La Parva, the researcher says. “We intend to conduct a campaign that allows us to perform observations for two months in a row, twice or three times a day, plus morning and night observations. Then we will compare both measurements,” he adds.

Air pollutants

Depending on their concentration, regulated pollutants can be the most hazardous to people’s health. They are divided into two categories: PM₁₀ and PM₂₅. PM stands for particulate matter. The two categories are different in that the former includes particles of 10 micrometers or less and the latter, particles of 2.5 micrometers or less.

The PM₁₀ is the material that can be breathed through the nose and reach the lungs. PM₂₅ can reach the alveoli, where the gas exchange with blood is produced. This enables particulate matter to pass into blood circulation.

The researcher explains: “We are going to monitor carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and sulfur dioxide and fine particles- known as PM₂₅ – that includes black carbon.”

Black carbon is a major component of the soot delivered by combustion. It is black, very fine and volatile, so it remains longer in the air. Under this assumption, Dr Gramsch states that “most of the black carbon in Santiago goes to the mountains and glaciers. Therefore, if it is measured at height, we will be able to see how pollution moves to those areas and how it impacts them.”

This study is part of the constant work done by Dr Gramsch, who has already made measurements of concentrations at height. He obtained data related to concentrations at ground level and temperature measures at height. “This is why we want now to compare the concentration measurements both at ground level and at height,” he explains.

Dr Gramsch says that this study can contribute to prevent diseases. If people are aware of the concentration levels of pollutants, they will avoid, for example, intense physical exercise that might affect their airways. Besides, it will help to establish the industrial areas with poor ventilation conditions.

After finishing the project, Dr Gramsch expects to publish and disseminate consolidated information, including all data generated by the measurements made, showing the contrast between contaminating emissions at ground level and at height.

• Alonso Arellano, an expert in geophysics and geology, explains that, due to the type of lava, the potential following events should not be catastrophic. “We may expect stronger eruptions to last for weeks or months.” 
• He says that most of the gas column will pass to the Argentinean territory, just like on other occasions.
• “The alert actions taken for warning people have been adequate,” he says. He suggests people to be alert, because “there is always the possibility of fissures in the volcanic cone and lava could flow in other directions.”

 

After the Villarrica volcano’s eruption early in the morning on March 03rd, an area of 10 kilometre radius around the mountain was restricted. The area includes the Pucón, Villarrica and Panguipulli communities, where the red alert prevailed until yesterday evening. In the areas outside this radius, the Onemi national emergency office issued yellow alert.

Alonso Arellano, professor at the Department of Metallurgical Engineering and an expert in geophysics and geology, considers the actions taken as adequate. Dr Arellano has worked on the study and analysis of predictive models for volcanoes.

“The actions taken are in the scope of what is expected in alert situations and they should not lead to complications,” he says.

He says that the places over which lava flows have been studied and identified, “however, there is always the possibility of fissures in the volcanic cone and lava could flow in other directions,” so he asks people to be alert.

“We have to live with volcanoes and some of their properties are unpredictable. We cannot say that everything is under control, but the alert actions have been suitable, because the country has enough experience,” he explains.

Known behaviour

The expert explains that the basaltic magma typical of the Villarrica volcano is made up of dark- to- intermediate-coloured minerals like pyroxene, olivine, some iron and amphiboles, which are rocks with higher melting points. This means that gases can flow more easily in comparison with other thicker or less liquid types of magma, avoiding gas accumulation and pressure build-up inside the volcanic cone.

“Due to the type of lava, the volcano’s behaviour should be similar to the one in previous eruptions, with a constantly increasing and decreasing activity. If the magma flows over the volcano slopes, it will depend on its pressure and on how it goes up the vent,” he said.

Professor Arellano says that these events could continue. “We may expect stronger eruptions for weeks or months.” 

With regards to the risks to people, professor Arellano explains that besides the risk posed by lava itself, ashes could be harmful. However, he says that most of the gas column will pass to the Argentinean territory, just like on other occasions. 

Professor Arellano holds a PhD in Engineering Sciences with a major in geophysics, geology and geothermal science.

 

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Academics at the Department of Physics, led by Dr. Raúl Cordero, were part of the scientific expedition made in November by the Chilean Antarctic Institute to Unión Glacier and they contributed with valuable measurements of the optical properties of snow.