·         Dr Rodrigo Contreras is conducting a study that seeks to control the action of the Botrytis cinerea fungus and provide a solution to the problem it poses for the national wine industry.

Currently, vineyards in Chile cover a 125,000 ha surface and they produce over 1,200 liters per year, making wine production an essential part of national economy.

According to the Chilean Bureau for Agricultural Studies and Policies (ODEPA; in Spanish), Chile is the fifth larger wine exporter in the world; however, these production is at risk of being affected by the grey rot caused by the Botrytis cinerea fungus that causes the partial or complete loss of the grapes.

In order to contribute to the wine industry in the country, Dr Rodrigo Contreras Arredondo (Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago de Chile) is conducting a study that will allow controlling the problems produced by this fungus after the harvest process and during transportation.

The study is in the context of a Post Doc Fondecyt Project supported by Dr Leonora Mendoza, an expert in the study of natural botrycides.

The species studied by Dr Contreras is able to survive in spite of extreme environmental conditions. After eight years of working with this species under the supervision of Dr Gustavo Zúñiga, he developed a proposal that would allow using natural products to control grey rot without affecting human health.

Application

The Vegetal Biotechnology and Physiology Laboratory at Universidad de Santiago- according to the researcher- is the one that has most information on this endemic extremophile species and the use of its molecules. For this reason, the study is at an advanced stage and it will continue now with the application stage.

“The project is focused on fruit and wine industry, as exported grapes get damaged by the fungus after the harvest process and during transportation,” he says.

He says that the botrycide is applied after the harvest process to prevent the fungus from affecting the grapes in order to keep the seal quality and designation of origin that distinguishes these products. “We want to use the natural products synthesized by the plant; i.e., we are going to use the plants as factories of active molecules and we will apply those molecules to the post harvest fruits, avoiding the use of synthetic pesticides,” he says.

First, the applied study will be conducted in laboratory conditions, seeking for a method to strengthen production and protect the fruits. Then, Dr Contreras expects to elucidate the complete mechanism that would prevent rot grey from developing. He concludes by saying that this extremophilic plant is biodegradable and that it does not have harmful effects on humans.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Chilean and foreign experts met in a seminar organized by the Center of Studies in Sciences and Food Technology of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, where they discussed the different options that they currently have in wine industry and the use of yeasts to determine, control and counteract variables that can affect the quality of this product.

Wine industry is constantly seeking to increase its competitiveness through sustainable solutions. One of the main current challenges of genetics and biology in relation to fungi and yeasts is how to face the significant environmental changes that we are undergoing. In this context, different experts in this field met on November, 21^st, at the Plaza San Francisco Hotel, in Santiago, in the seminar Hongos y Levaduras del vino: del laboratorio a la mesa (Fungi and Yeasts for Wine: form the Lab to the Table). 

The activity was organized by the Center of Studies in Sciences and Food Technology (Cecta, in Spanish), of Universidad de Santiago de Chile and sponsored by the CONICYT REDES 150077 project and the Núcleo Milenio MNFISB (Fungal Integrativa and Synthetic Biology). Many speakers from France, USA and Chile participated in the event, including professors at Universidad de Santiago de Chile and at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

The seminar covered the different strategies currently used in wine industry and highlighted the importance of yeasts in the process of improving the quality of this product through different scientific methods.

Dr Jean-Luc Legras and Dr Bruno Blondin, both from the INRA Sciences pour l’Oenologie, Montpellier, France, were two of the foreign guests to the activity. Dr Blondin explained the difference between the selected yeast and native yeasts in wine elaboration.

For her part, Dr Angélica Ganga, professor at Universidad de Santiago de Chile, gave the presentation “La relación entre ciencia y las necesidades del sector productivo nacional” (The relation between science and the needs of the domestic productive sector), in which she highlighted the production of Chilean wine industry and its innovations.

Science and nature

In the context of the discussion about the consumption of natural non-genetically modified products, the experts said that modified yeasts- although they are created in laboratory- are not really different from the natural ones, as the modifications only seek to produce better quality wine. 

Dr Francisco Cubillos, researcher at the Cecta of Universidad de Santiago de Chile explained that there are two strategies: one is to generate non-modified organisms and the other, to use what is already in nature and through crossbreeding, obtain new organisms, new yeasts. 

Chilean wine industry is not behind regarding these strategies. According to Dr Cubillos, “The fact that we are able to do science in Chile with national yeasts or that we make efforts to generate technology to improve yeasts, places our country at an international level, comparable to what the best groups in the world are doing. If we are able to improve our yeasts, we can give wine an added value.”

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr. María José Galotto, director of Universidad de Santiago’s Packaging Laboratory, was appointed as the National Contact Point for Horizon 2020 Framework Program in the area of nanotechnology. Horizon 2020 is a European program that provides funding for research and innovation in different fields. “This is in recognition of the University’s positioning in the area of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, reached through CEDENNA,” the researcher said.

The National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (Conicyt, in Spanish) informed that Dr. María José Galotto, director of Universidad de Santiago’s Packaging Laboratory (Laben, in Spanish) was appointed National Contact Point for the Horizon 2020 Framework Program in the area of “Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials and Advanced Manufacturing and Processing.”

Dr. Galotto said that her appointment “is in recognition of the University’s positioning in the area of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, reached through the Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CEDENNA, in Spanish), where nanotechnology is being applied to different areas of knowledge. This appointment will consolidate this new line of research and this positioning.”

According to Dr. Galotto, it is also in recognition of the constant work that Laben has developed over time, which results have been reflected in several research projects, publications in ISI journals and patents. This, in turn, results in a very close relation with the food and agricultural industry and food packaging industry at a national and international level.

The Laben was invited to be part of the International Association of Packaging Research Institutes (IAPRI). This membership, awarded by invitation only, is proof of the international recognition that our University has received.

Dr. Galotto’s appointment is also important because this area has a great future in the Food Science and Technology field; therefore, being able to get in contact with other research groups in Chile and abroad, will strengthen the links between the University’s academics and other researchers.

Among her new responsibilities, she will have to promote and foster the participation of nanotechnology research groups in the Horizon 2020 Framework Program, in which Chile will be entitled the same benefits that the European Union member states enjoy.

Regarding this, Dr. Galotto said that “up to date, we have had the first work meeting at Conicyt and we have scheduled others for the second semester, both here in Chile and in Europe.”

Nanotechnology

According to the researcher, “nanotechnology will integrate with food and agricultural industry as an option for developing food with better sensory and nutritional properties, better quality, and useful life, and greater safety.”

Dr. Galotto specified that our University is well ahead in this area, since the Laben has been working several years in applying nanotechnology to food packaging.

She added that researchers at Laben have led studies, in which nanotechnology has been applied, for example, to the development of packaging with anti-microbial activity to extend the life of food like salmon, or to reducing the level of compounds that accelerate the ripening of climacteric fruits like kiwi or avocado, among others.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• In the Southern Hemisphere, Chile is the largest exporter of berries. Therefore, national researchers focus their efforts on increasing their life, to allow these products to reach more distant markets. An eco active container which aims to contribute to this purpose has been generated at U. Santiago.

In 2008, Dr. Maria Paula Junqueira, academic at the Technological Faculty, committed herself  to making a contribution to the food area, and she was part of  the task of converting Chile into a food power. Thus, through a Fondef project, she tried to combat the limitations generated, particularly by the fungus Botrytis cinerea, in the so -called  berries, and this allowed their  extension of life.

The closing of the investigation "Life extension of fresh berries by using eco-active packaging” was held on Friday 19^th at the Plaza San Francisco Hotel, where the results were presented to the participating institutions.

The eco active container has an antifungal agent in his film, which fights the fungus specifically mentioned. Also, it  is also friendly with the environment, because it is recyclable. To verify the efficiency of the invention, tests with raspberries and blueberries were tested in Chile, while in England raspberries and blackberries were used, because we are in different seasons.

Of all the berries used in the study, raspberries showed a better response to interact with the packaging, and this helped to extend its life in two days.

"We had a very promising result," the academic at the Department of Science and Food Technology remarked; she  added that "due to the final results of this research, an  initiative was taken in order to try with other fruits like grapes and strawberries and we already have companies which are interested in participating. "

Dr. Junqueira thanked the cooperation of the school, saying that she had "an unconditional support from the University from the start and then at all stages involved in  the project."

This work, which also involved Dr. Maria Angelica Bargains and Dr. Francisco Rodriguez, members of the same academic unit, gave birth to a patent application in Chile, which will also be replicated abroad soon.

Companies’ experience

In the presentation of results, representatives of the participating companies  were present. Enrique Harvgreaves attended in representation of  Typack company, a packaging  company. He said: "I do hope that this product is on the market soon.” He also thanked the opportunity to develop a collaborative work with the University.

Meanwhile, Alvaro Acevedo, from Vitalberry, referred to the contribution generated in the production process of these fruits during the investigation. "The market demands have pushed us to the improvement of production processes, and this has increased the quality requirements demanded for these products," he said. He also emphasized that this result "has a lot of potential; undoubtedly, it is a product to be applied massively".

Dr. Luis Magne, Head of Technology Transfer, attended on behalf of the Vice-President for Research, Development and Innovation. He said "we take on the challenge of leading the University on the path of innovation. The road has not been easy but  maturity has been achieved in the sense of understanding what technological research is. "

Luisa Martínez, financial analyst of the Fund for the Promotion of Science and Technology was also present in this event.

 By Valeria Osorio

• A research team of the Technological Faculty of Universidad de Santiago, led by Dr. Arturo Rodríguez, conducted a study on the perception of Chilean people with regards to the use of electromagnetic technologies and their effect on human health. According to the survey conducted, among 1,100 people in the Metropolitan Region, although 87.4 per cent think that these tools are harmful to health, 92 per cent would not stop using them.

Electromagnetic technologies (mobile phones, Wi-Fi devices, mobile phones antennas, among others) have reached almost all spheres of life. In spite of this, users do not know much about the electromagnetic radiation these devices emit and the risk that they pose, two factors that have been considered the cause of some health problems.

A multidisciplinary team of the New Technologies Research Group (GINT-USACH, in Spanish) led Dr. Arturo Rodríguez, professor at the Technological Faculty of Universidad de Santiago, conducted a study that collected the Chileans’ opinion about technologies and their effect on human health. The study was based on face-to-face surveys and included 1,100 people from different communes of the Metropolitan Region.

The poll conducted in the context of a Public Opinion Dicyt Project showed that Chilean people are highly dependent on electromagnetic technologies, although they are aware of the health risk that they may pose. 

According to the researchers, the conclusions reflect a society that prefers meeting its need for communication and interconnection over health care. For example, 87.4 per cent of the respondents perceive the use of electromagnetic technologies to be harmful to health; however, 62.9 per cent think that it is important to have access to them and they also use these technologies for work.

The researchers say that these results are similar to other practices that can be observed in many situations of daily life. For example, drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes, which are associated to different diseases; however, people would not stop using them. 

The survey showed illustrative data regarding technological dependence. Almost 90 per cent of the respondents said that they use electromagnetic technologies for company, while 92 per cent said that they were not willing to stop using them, in spite of the negative effects they may have.

Regarding the usefulness of these technologies, 39.4 per cent say that they are not totally convinced of using them for commercial transactions; besides, they do not consider these technologies useful tools in case of emergency. 

According to Dr. Rodríguez, “this phenomenon is due to the high presence of technology in daily life and the lack of education regarding the usefulness of technological devices and the need for their use. Technologies which are only oriented to meet needs will lead us to a society that cannot tolerate frustration; doubtlessly, to an increasingly troubled society.”

Translated by Marcela Contreras 

• Between August 30^th and September 04^th, 2015, internationally renowned researchers, and professors and students in the field of microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, biocatalysis and biotechnology, will meet at Universidad de Santiago to discuss the importance, developments and potential applications of extremophile microorganisms, which are able to thrive in extreme conditions. The Thermophiles 2015 Meeting is a world conference held every two years. For the first time, it will take place in South America and Universidad de Santiago will host its 13^th version. 

Between August 30^th and September 04^th, 2015, world-class scientists and students of the field of microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, biocatalysis and biotechnology will meet at Universidad de Santiago for the 13^th International Thermophiles Meeting 2015, a multidisciplinary forum held every two years to discuss the latest scientific developments, applications and importance of these microorganisms that live in different extreme environments of the world.

The purpose of this conference is to increase the knowledge of scientists and students in this research field and, at the same time, to invite them to explore its importance for biological sciences and industrial biotechnology.

“This is an excellent opportunity not only to expose our scientists and students to world-class science and scientists in this field, but also to propose new approaches and views to contribute to science in our country and Latin America,” Dr Jenny Blamey said. Dr Blamey is a professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago and is in charge of the forum organization.

“It is important to mention that Chile is considered one of the six geographic areas with the most diverse extreme environments in the planet; therefore, the scientific matters that will be discussed during this conference are very relevant to the future scientific and technological development in this field in our country,” she added.

Scientists invited

Dr Karl Stetter is one of the scientists who will give a presentation during the activity. He is from Germany, a pioneer in the field of biological sciences and the discoverer of the microorganism Pyroccocus furiosus. The DNA polymerase from Pyroccocus furiosus is currently used for gene amplification and genome elucidation.

Another participant in the forum will be Dr Juergen Wiegel. He is from Germany too and is one of the most renowned microbiologists in the world and recipient of the Bergey’s Award.  

Dr Michael W. Adams, a British professor with many publications on this research field who leads the most important laboratory of structural genomics of extremophile microorganisms, will open the conference.

For further information, go to the meeting official web page: http://www.thermophiles2015.cl

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The project will enable academic exchange and collaborative research on matters of renewable energies with specialists of important foreign research centers, like Lancaster University, UK, and the Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria.

• The Network Project 140007 Isolated Energy Communities, led by the director of the Institute for Advanced Studies (IDEA, in Spanish), Dr Cristián Parker, was awarded funds by the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (Conicyt, in Spanish), in the 2014 Contest “Support to the formation of international networks among research centers”.

On November 13^th, at the IDEA facilities of Universidad de Santiago, a letter of intent was signed by two important research centers that formalized their participation in an international research network: Lancaster University, UK, and the Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria.

The participants in this meeting were the substitute director of IDEA, Dr Fernando Estenssoro; the researcher in charge of the project in Chile, Dr Cristián Parker; the national co-researcher, Dr Gloria Baigorrotegui; the researcher responsible for Austria, Dr Michael Ornetzeder, and the researcher for the UK, Gordon Walker.

Energy Communities

“The purpose is to make possible an academic exchange, at a researcher level, to understand what energy communities are,” Dr Parker said with regard to the objective of the project.

“We are in a period in which energy systems are being transformed and we are moving forward to renewable energies. But technologies are not something you implement on the first try: they are developed when they are accepted and adapted to the different needs and requirements of each community,” he said.

He specified that the idea is to study the research works on energy communities conducted in Europe and then promote their implementation in our country.

“We have selected two very interesting [research] groups for their progress, one in Austria (Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences) and one in the UK (Lancaster University), in such a way that we can have a benchmark and see how to promote the development of energy communities with renewable energies in Chile,” he said.

According to Dr Gloria Baigorrotegui, the European experience is interesting because, “there, in the seventies, they started without any funding, maybe in similar conditions to the ones we have today, but with a more economically promising and more advanced technological development.”

“These are the ways in which communities somehow organize their own energy systems and keep the benefits for themselves,” Dr Baigorrotegui added.

The project

The project involves seminars, publications in international indexed journals, as well as cooperation agreements that are being established with foreign institutions to continue with new research works and academic collaborations.

As the project has a multidisciplinary approach, it gathers academics of different areas, like Dr Fernando Estenssoro; Dr Ingeborg Mahla, professor at the Department of Electric Engineering, and Dr María Teresa Santander, professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering, among others

This project will help to extend the use of renewable energies in different communities, in different places of the country. It seeks to learn from the European experiences in these matters.

Universidad de Santiago’s hallmark

This project is in accordance with the social focus of our university, which impact should aim to solve the fundamental challenges of national development, in a creative way.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The death of fish caused by pathogenic agents is a major problem for the national aquaculture industry. For this reason, researchers at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology are developing a project to generate a new immunization strategy.

 

The death of fish caused by pathogenic agents is a major problem for the national aquaculture industry. For this reason, researchers at the Aquaculture Biotechnology Center of the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology are developing a Fondecyt Initiation Project to generate a new immunization strategy.

According to the Undersecretary of Fishing and Aquaculture, in 2013 the fishing production was 2.9 million tonnes, 1.2 million of which were allocated for exports. Thus, our country stands out for its aquaculture industry, being one of the largest salmon producers worldwide, right after Noruega.

However, one of the major problems faced by this industry is the number of diseases caused by pathogens like Piscirickettsia salmonis, a bacterium that causes tissue damage and loss of appetite in fish, leading to fish death, decreased production, reduced quality of the product and the subsequent social impact.

According to Dr Sebastián Reyes, professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, “We only need to remember the health emergency caused by ISA virus in salmon farming. It caused social damage, because all communities related to aquaculture ended like ghost towns.”

A project to contribute with salmon farming industry

Through the Fondecyt Project 11150807 “Passive immunization as a new control strategy against Piscirickettsia salmonis,” researchers seek to propose an innovative and effective alternative to combat this bacterium that only affects fishes in Chile. For this purpose, they are working on a passive immunization strategy that involves stimulating the immune system’s cells to prevent the Piscirickettsia salmonis from spreading.

“We suggest stimulating the fish by using a hyperimmune serum. The idea is to give this serum to primary cultures of infected cells from the immune system and see if the serum is able to activate them and degrade the bacteria inside. We also need to describe the infectious cycle of the bacterium studied to measure its impacts as they are unknown for now.”

The project is also supported by the ICTIO Biotechnologies Consortium, created through a CORFO (the Chilean Economic Development Agency) project, which is formed by the following entities: Activaq S.A., Australis Mar S.A., Productos del Mar Ventisqueros, Salmones Blumar and Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

The project seeks to find a concrete and viable solution for the salmon farming industry by directly involving researchers and related companies to contribute to this strategic productive sector of the country.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

Providing basic knowledge about human cerebral cortex development at embryonic and early fetal stage is the goal of the research project led by Dr. Lorena Sulz, which will be conducted during the next three years.

According to reports, some psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, begin during embryonic development. Most of the studies on this topic have been conducted on animal samples, due to ethical restraints and limited access to human embryos. This is the reason why the field of human embryology related to neurology is an area which has not been thoroughly explored.

In this context, Dr. Lorena Sulz, academic of Universidad de Santiago’s School of Medicine, will carry out the study “Role of nitric oxide in human cerebral cortex morphogenesis”, which intends to gather critical information about the mechanisms involved in the development of nerve cells during the first weeks of pregnancy.

The study will be conducted during the next three years and is funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Department (Dicyt) of Universidad de Santiago. It is a unique study as it is the first time that this branch of embryology involves human samples, which were obtained from de Institution’s Embryo-Fetology collection.

The idea is to gather basic knowledge about this topic in order to explain if the presence of nitric oxide is also essential for producing new nerve cells in human cortex, as it has already been proved in animal samples and in neuronal regeneration processes, both in human beings and mice. “We want to know if this molecule is expressed in the cerebral cortex being developed and identify in what areas and at what stages it is present. In this way, we can infer approximately the process in which it is involved,” the academic explains.

The study will be carried out in two stages. The first one will completely focus on the morphological analysis of cells and embryos being used. This stage, which is under execution at this moment, will allow describing the human cerebral cortex development process. After identifying each phase, the second stage will allow identifying cells that produce nitric oxide and the process in which it would be involved.

The study will be conducted at the Embryology Unit of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Universidad de Santiago, led by Dr. Jaime Pereda, the project`s co-investigator, M.S. Carlos Godoy and Dr. Sulz. The three professionals, experts in their areas of research interest, complement each other’s work in a way that has helped to a good execution of their projects. “In general, the three of us work together because we use very similar techniques: only the molecule and the body organ of interest are different. We have adjusted to each other very well,” Dr. Sulz adds.

However, the expectations are long-term. The research seeks to establish some theoretical basis for human cerebral cortex development, in order to develop new studies on this topic. The results will be presented in different papers in specialized publications and in different congresses and conferences.

Finally, Dr. Lorena Sulz expects that during the research, they will be able to prove that nitric oxide takes part in human cerebral cortex development, just like it does in laboratory animals. “As it is basic science, it only provides a knowledge base. But if nitric oxide is known to be significant in cerebral cortex development, further care should be taken so as not to interrupt this process during the critical period, preventing potential malformations. This additional knowledge could be a contribution to prenatal care,” the researcher concludes.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr. Sergio Velastín, professor at the Department of Informatics Engineering of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, gave a talk on the use of data fusion in computer vision at the 17th Conference of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), held at Salamanca, Spain. Around 400 officials from the Ministries of Defense of different countries and members of the NATO attended the conference.

International experts on data management gathered last week in Salamanca, Spain, at the 17th version of the International Conference on Information Fusion (Fusion 2014) supported by the IEEE. Universidad the Santiago de Chile was represented by Dr. Sergio Velastín, full professor at the Department of Informatics Engineering, who gave a presentation during the activity.

He gave his presentation “The potential of fusion in computer vision application” to more than 400 people, many of them members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and representatives of Ministries of Defense of different countries, who attended the conference to learn about the progress in this field.

Dr. Velastín talked about computer vision, the branch of artificial intelligence that is concerned with finding artificial means to interpret the visual information of the surrounding world. Human beings have specialized in this interpretation and use a significant part of their brains to do it. “Most of what we do every day (getting around, driving, interacting with others, enjoying sports, teaching our children, learning, reading information, among others) requires interpreting what we see. If machines were able to emulate these abilities, we could potentially enrich our lives and empower mentally or motor- handicapped people. We could also make our public spaces safer,” the academic said.

Data processing in the digital era

According to the researcher, more than 40 years ago, a revolution started in human development that would potentially transform what up to then were physical quantities (images, printed letters, vital signs like blood pressure, sounds, among others) into digital data (numbers) that could be processed by a computer. “This digital era in which we live has surrounded us to such a degree that we almost do not realize how extended the generation, transmission and processing of data are. A routine telephone call occurs thanks to the processing of these numbers. Everything can be more easily filed and humankind is generating more data than ever in its existence,” professor Velastín said.

The academic explained that although many technologies- like data fusion- initially arose due to military needs, especially during the Cold War, “the use of this data involves large potential benefits, but they undoubtedly depend on how societies and governments use it. Europe, with a more egalitarian and socially inclusive model, is achieving great progress benefiting people, for example, through the so-called intelligent cities and environmentally assisted life.”

Professor Velastín thinks that in societies with more individualistic models, like Chile or even the United States, benefits could turn into danger, mainly because these contributions are not well distributed and are not used for social inclusion. “How many municipal schools do usually use tablets or smart boards?” The risk posed by disparity in the access to technology increases inequality, particularly, in future generations,” he said.

Security cameras

At present, Dr. Velastín is conducting a study in London on people’s behavior on public transportation, by recording and interpreting digital images captured by security cameras. In his opinion, the use of cameras in public spaces is a complex issue that depends on the balance between the right to security and the right to privacy. “In an ideal society, nobody is arrested at random unless he/she is a suspect or has put other people’s security at risk. What is important is to have clear regulations that are transparently respected by everyone who is responsible for a security camera, both in the government and in the private sector.

Professor Velastín has worked for several years in the United Kingdom, the country with more cameras per capita in the world, but also with very strong regulations for protecting data. He went to Spain in the context of a visiting professorship at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, through its Chairs of Excellence program, funded by Banco Santander.

Translated by Marcela Contreras