Proyectos

Piscirickettsia salmonis una de las enfermedades más graves y perjudiciales que afecta a la industria salmonera en Chile, provocando altas mortalidades con pérdidas económicas de USD 700 al año. Esta bacteria intracelular produce la Piscirickettsiosis enfermedad tratada principalmente con vacunas y antibióticos. Sin embargo, y a pesar de existir 34 vacunas comerciales disponibles, estas no han demostrado controlar totalmente los brotes epidémicos. Por otro lado, los antibióticos logran controlar la enfermedad, pero disminuyen el valor del producto debido a la connotación negativa por el riesgo a la salud tanto de animales como humanos. En base a esta problemática es que surge la necesidad de desarrollar nuevos métodos profilácticos que contribuyan al control de este patógeno que pone en riesgo la sustentabilidad de la industria salmonera en Chile. Un nuevo método profiláctico son las nanoproteínas quiméricas, agregados de proteínas que son liberadas gradualmente en el tiempo aumentando su efecto protector, no necesitan de encapsulación, su producción es escalable en biorreactores, son liofilizables, y son altamente estables a condiciones adveras de temperatura y pH. En mi tesis de doctorado en conjunto con la empresa Nanoprot proponemos el desarrollo y producción de un prototipo de baja resolución de una vacuna en base a nanoproteínas quiméricas para combatir brotes de P. salmonis. Nuestro primer objetivo es desarrollar nanoproteínas en base a proteínas formadas por regiones altamente inmunogénicas y antigénicas de distintas secuencias aminoacídicas de P. salmonis. Su conformación proteica en conjunto con una lenta liberación en el tiempo permitirá aumentar la protección en salmónidos frente a esta bacteria, sin necesidad de vacunación de refuerzo. Luego del diseño, se seleccionará la nanoproteína quimérica que cumpla con las características de eficiencia de producción, funcionalidad y capacidad de modular la respuesta inmune en base a ensayos in vitro en macrófagos de salmón del Atlántico. Finalmente, se evaluará en bioensayo si generan una respuesta inmune adaptativo-prolongada en el tiempo en salmón del Atlántico. Los resultados obtenidos serán: (1) prototipo de baja resolución de una vacuna; (2) Know-how relativo a la formulación del producto; (3) estudio de patentabilidad y/o licenciamiento del prototipo; (4) publicación de artículo científico y difusión; (5) levantamiento de recursos para continuidad de proyecto; y (6) entrega de tesis y prototipo a empresa. El proyecto de tesis es parte de las líneas de desarrollo de Nanoprot; se enmarcan en las necesidades de la empresa del desarrollo de investigación de I+D+i que permita brindar una solución innovadora para el control de la Piscirickettiosis. Nanoprot es una start-up que nace en la PUCV, por lo que existe una estrecha vinculación entre el tesista, tutor y el mentor en el desarrollo de la propuesta. La creación de este prototipo nos brindará la oportunidad de postular a nuevos fondos que den continuidad a este trabajo y que permitan mi contratación por parte de la empresa. Asimismo, aportará una solución innovadora a la industria salmonera disminuyendo las mortalidades, pérdidas económicas y uso de antibióticos asociadas a P. salmonis.

Producción Escalable de Inmunoestimulantes Nanoestructurados para el Control de Piscirickettsiosis en Salmón del Atlántico

El borde costero de la región de O’Higgins enfrenta un desafío importante en cuanto a alcanzar un desarrollo sostenible a nivel ambiental. Esto se debe a la exposición a contaminantes como pesticidas y metales provenientes de actividades clave de la región, como lo son la agricultura y la minería. Esta contaminación amenaza los ecosistemas del borde costero, la biodiversidad, la salud pública y las actividades económicas fundamentales como la pesca artesanal y el turismo. A pesar de la magnitud del problema, existe escasa información sobre los contaminantes presentes en este ambiente. La ausencia de sistemas de monitoreo limita la caracterización de la presencia de contaminantes y la evaluación de sus efectos sobre los ecosistemas costeros. Esta brecha dificulta la implementación de estrategias efectivas de gestión ambiental y pone en riesgo la sostenibilidad de las comunidades costeras que dependen de estos recursos naturales. El proyecto propone desarrollar una herramienta de biosurveillance adaptada a las características específicas del borde costero regional, inspirada en el exitoso modelo francés BIOSURVEILLANCE que utiliza organismos centinelas para evaluar la calidad del agua. La iniciativa busca establecer un sistema piloto de monitoreo que combine análisis químicos de contaminantes con evaluación de biomarcadores inmunológicos en mejillones, organismos filtradores que bioacumulan contaminantes y que sirven como reflejo del estado de salud del ecosistema. El objetivo general del proyecto es evaluar el estado de salud inmunológico de organismos centinela del borde costero de la Región de O'Higgins y su relación con la presencia de contaminantes, desarrollando un piloto de biosurveillance transferible a la gestión ambiental y acuicultura. Este proyecto cuenta con cuatro objetivos específicos: (1) caracterizar la presencia y concentración de contaminantes persistentes (metales y pesticidas) en agua, sedimentos y biota; (2) evaluar las respuestas inmunológicas en organismos centinela mediante biomarcadores moleculares; (3) analizar la relación entre contaminantes específicos y respuestas inmunológicas para identificar biomarcadores sensibles y robustos; y (4) desarrollar un piloto de biosurveillance con potencial de transferencia a programas de gestión regional y nacional. Para llevar a cabo este proyecto se implementará un sistema de encajonamiento de mejillones (Mytilus edulis o M. chilensis) en tres sitios estratégicos del borde costero: Navidad, Pichilemu y Bucalemu. Estos sitios representan puntos críticos de confluencia entre aportes continentales y ecosistema marino, permitiendo evaluar efectos acumulativos de contaminación. Se realizarán dos campañas de muestreo (invierno y verano) para capturar variación temporal. En cada sitio se colocarán individuos adultos en jaulas durante 15 días, período tras el cual se recuperarán para análisis químicos y biológicos. El componente químico incluirá análisis de metales mediante espectrometría (ICP-OES) y pesticidas mediante cromatografía (LC-MS/MS) en matrices de agua, sedimentos y tejidos. Paralelamente, se caracterizarán parámetros fisicoquímicos (pH, conductividad, temperatura, oxígeno disuelto, salinidad) para contextualizar biogeoquímicamente los sitios. El componente biológico evaluará biomarcadores de respuesta inmune mediante análisis de expresión génica por qPCR de genes relacionados con estrés oxidativo (catalasa, superóxido dismutasa, glutatión S-transferasa, metalotioneínas) en tejidos de mejillones. Estos biomarcadores son sensibles a la exposición a metales y pesticidas, proporcionando indicadores tempranos de estrés ambiental. La integración de datos químicos y biológicos se realizará mediante análisis estadísticos multivariados y matrices de correlación utilizando lenguaje de programación (Phyton y R), identificando relaciones causales entre contaminantes específicos y activación del sistema inmune. Esta aproximación permitirá seleccionar los biomarcadores más apropiados según ubicación geográfica y estacionalidad, estableciendo las bases para un sistema de alerta temprana aplicable a la gestión costera regional. El proyecto tiene una duración de 18 meses y representa una iniciativa interdisciplinaria que integra Ciencias del Medio Ambiente, Biología Marina y Matemática Aplicada, contribuyendo directamente a la sostenibilidad ambiental del borde costero regional y generando conocimiento transferible para futuros programas de monitoreo a escala nacional.

This project will address the implementation of distributed controllers in intelligent agents within AC/DC electrical microgrids. Specifically, this project will address open issues in the distributed control literature for microgrids; these include optimal parameter tuning and resilience to communications disturbances such as transport delays, packet loss, and communication failures due to cyberattacks. All of these are important components that prevent the proliferation of microgrid projects throughout the country and the world. Microgrids have the potential to improve the energy management of renewable resources and the resilience of current and future electrical systems. Furthermore, they aid in decarbonization and benefit the energization of isolated communities and national industries. Based on the above, the main objective of this research is to formulate, implement, and validate distributed intelligent controllers, using reinforcement learning, in agents that comprise interconnected AC/DC microgrids, in order to achieve optimal operation concerning available energy resources despite disturbances and failures in communication channels. To achieve this objective, the following specific objectives are specified: (i) investigate the state of the art in the use of reinforcement learning algorithms in cooperative multi-agent system control and their application to microgrids; (ii) design a deep reinforcement learning algorithm to auxiliary control an ILC of a hybrid AC/DC microgrid with communication loss and variable time delays; (iii) design a distributed controller with parameter and structure adjustment capability through deep reinforcement learning algorithms for the agents of an AC/DC multi-microgrid with communication losses and variable time delay; (iv) design a robust distributed controller through deep reinforcement learning algorithms that allows agents in an AC/DC multi-microgrid to be resilient to heterogeneous and variable transport delays, loss of data packets, and DoS cyber-attacks; (v) build a prototyping platform for multi-agent-based intelligent agent control schemes with digital twin co-simulation; (vi) implement and validate the proposed reinforcement learning controllers in an AC/DC multi-microgrid experimental setup.

Evaluación del potencial de captura de carbono en relaves mineros de la Mina El Teniente, Chile

The goal of this project was to test the Ge/Si proxy in silicification processes

This project aims to investigate how structural modifications of a dicationic derivative of azobenzene can affect the drug release and load capacity of its photoactive molecular aggregate. To evaluate this, three types of structural modifications are proposed. First, the introduction of functional groups on the photoactive nucleus of dicationic azobenzene is expected to shift the absorption band of the molecular photoswitch. Second, the replacement of the fluorescent organic cations over the structure of the molecular photoswitch, which confer luminescent and amphipathic properties to the system. And third, the modification of the length of the chains over the molecular photoswitch could change the aggregate size. To determine whether these potential modifications can modulate the light-induced release activity of the photoswitchable aggregate, an enzyme inhibitor will be loaded and released by illumination in the presence of the enzyme. Under this scenario, any modification of the enzymatic activity will be correlated with the drug's photorelease.

It is proposed to assess the feasibility of using ultrasound as a nonintrusive, in-situ, probe of plastic behavior in high-entropy alloys (HEAs). More specifically, whether it is possible to use ultrasound to reliably characterize the plasticity deformation mechanism---slip, TWIP, TRIP---of Fe80-xCo10Cr10Mnx. To this end, the speed of sound will be measured, continuously, as a function of applied stress in uniaxial tensile tests. In previous work, proposers have shown that the speed of sound as a function of stress provides a reliable tool to measure dislocation density in aluminum, copper, and stainless steel. In the latter case, it has also been shown to reliably discriminate between slip and twinning as a deformation mechanism. It is now proposed to study the possibility of extending this capability not only to new materials, HEAs, but also to a new mechanism, phase transformation. We will start with the materials whose plastic deformation is slip-dominated, since we have robust experience in this case. We shall then move to the TWIP material, where our more recent experience will be brought to bear, to end up with the unexplored, from the point of view of ultrasound, TRIP material. Samples for tensile loading will be prepared. They will be tested using a universal testing machine and ultrasound measurements of longitudinal wave velocity will be carried out in-situ. A decrease in the wave velocity as a function of applied stress will indicate a proliferation of dislocations; the dislocation density will be determined as a function of stress as will the parameters of Taylor's rule. An increase in wave velocity as a function of stress will indicate a decrease in average grain size. Modeling will be applied to determine whether this is due to twinning or phase transformation. These results will also be validated with post-mortem XRD, TEM, and metallography measurements, as well as ex-situ acoustic measurements. The success of the proposed research would have short-term and long-term benefits: In the short term it would provide a non-intrusive tool---ultrasound---to assist in the search for HEAs with pre-determined properties, as needed for specific applications. In the long-term, it would pave the way for the development of a practical, non-intrusive, tool for the evaluation of HEA pieces in service.

Society is facing an unprecedented challenge in terms of combining sustainability, economic growth and technological development. The industry has tackled these demands by developing novel products and innovative service strategies, taking the maximum advantage of the installed capabilities and cutting edge technologies. Steel industry has taken the lead by supporting internal research and scientific collaborations worldwide, enabling an ever increasing number of scientific developments. Steel plays a major role as the backbone material of civilization for a number of reasons, namely (i) abundance, (ii) relatively cheap, (iii) wide range of properties and applications, (iv) 100% recyclable, (v) potential to improve in-service performance. In the framework of (v), the current proposal aims to provide new grades of steel by means of chemical patterning of austenite. The concept of austenite patterning consists in producing layers in the microstructure with a chemical composition different from the bulk composition, via specific alloying elements and thermal cycles. These layers, after fully austenitization, deliver transformation products on cooling different than expected from the average austenite, allowing a new degree of freedom for tailoring of microstructures. So far there is only one scientific paper on the subject, which has reported outstanding mechanical strength (ultimate) of ca. 2 GPa, with uniform elongations of 7% in a lamellar martensite-austenite microstructure in a single 0.51C-4.35Mn steel. The present proposal sets a detailed working plan to investigate the impact of the initial microstructure and thermal path upon the chemical patterning of austenite in a number of different steel chemistries. The aim is two-folded: to analize the evolution of the phase transformations at different stages of the process as a function of the initial microstructure and heat-treatment parameters, and to gain fundamental insights on the mechanical behavior of the new steel grades. It is hypothesized that the correct interplay of the parameters mentioned above can yield optimized final microstructures with enhanced in-service performance.The methodology incorporates up-to-date assessment tools of thermodynamic equilibria and kinetics (ThermoCalc & Dictra) in selected steel chemistries, accurate tracking of phase transformations via Dilatometry experiments, in-depth characterization of the microstructure and mechanical properties and insitu/ex-situ ultrasound probing of tensile test specimens to better understand the hardening mechanisms. The experimental results will be compared with modeling strategies for both phase transformations and mechanical behavior. The expected results of the proposal will be of interest to the scientific community due to the novelty of the experimental concept and the potential contribution to the understanding of structure-property relations. Else, the findings will be of significance for the design of structural parts, such as high strength and impact toughness for car body crash worthiness. In the case of Chilean mining industry, wear and impact wear resistance are potential applications of the new steel grades to be tested. The proposal is lay out within a novel cooperation framework between a group of specialists on specific aspects of materials science (phase transformations in steel, constitutive modeling, ultrasound probing), oriented to contribute to the fundamental understanding of the microstructure-property relations resulting from chemical patterning of austenite. Additionally, three universities and one industrial partner (University of Twente, The Nederland, Gent University, Belgium; University of Alberta, Canada; and ME Elecmetal, Chile-US, respectively) are supporting the proposal with resources such as workshops, sample preparation, specific characterization techniques, software for post-processing, among others.

The importance of water for life is indisputable. Nevertheless, water quality and availability are affected by increases in consumption and climate change. Indeed, several areas of Chile are suffering acute water scarcity. Consequently, there is a critical need to develop efficient technologies for wastewater recovery. However, considerations must be given to the fact that some wastewaters have toxic recalcitrant pollutants requiring complex treatments, such as landfill leachate (LL). The general goal of the project is to evaluate the viability of experimentally improving LL quality by conjointly using the solar photo-Fenton process and ultrasound (US), thereby enhancing photocatalysis, ultimately reducing wastewater toxicity. The specific goals are to (i) measure the H2O2 and UV irradiation produced by US in LL (laboratory scale); (ii) evaluate the hydroxyl radicals generated during treatment processes (laboratory scale); (iii) maximize organic-pollutant removal in LL by defining the optimal operating conditions for the photo-Fenton/US process (laboratory scale); (iv) maximize organic-pollutant removal in LL by defining optimal US power/frequency in the sonolytic process (pilot-plant scale); and (v) evaluate toxicity elimination and energy consumption in LL treatments with solar-photocatalytic and US processes (laboratory and pilot-plant scales). The proposed investigation will use a scientific methodology, developing reproducible methods to observe the effects of diverse parameters, all with a focus on maximizing contaminants removal. To characterize LL, several parameters will be evaluated, including chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, total organic carbon, total dissolved nitrogen, pH, metals, ammonia, colour, biodegradability, toxicity, total suspended solids, conductivity and humic acid. To determine the amount of H2O2 generated by US in a simulated LL, a set of experiments will be run to produce the sonochemical process, applying different US frequencies (100 kHz, 200 kHz and 300 kHz) and powers (100 W, 170 W and 250 W), thus obtaining the kinetic reaction to H2O2 production. The amount of UV irradiation formed due to sonoluminescence will be quantified in the same beaker in the simulated LL. Sonoluminescence intensity during the runs will be measured using a spectro-radiometer. To evaluate the hydroxyl radicals (·OH) generated in the simulated LL during treatment processes, a method based on the oxidation of 2-proponol will be used. To determine the optimal operating conditions for the photo-Fenton/US process to maximize the removal of organic pollutants present in the simulated LL, a set of experiments will be carried out in the same photoreactor (1 L), applying different reagent concentrations, treatment times, and pH levels. To establish optimal US power and frequency in the sonolytic process to maximize the removal of organic pollutants present in a real LL (after its pretreatment), a set of runs will be carried out at pilot-plant scale in a solar photoreactor compound parabolic concentrator (CPC; 12 L useful volume). To evaluate toxicity elimination from the real LL an Aliivibrio fischeri test, respirometer assay, and phytotoxicity assay will be used, followed by determining median effective concentrations (EC50) according to the Probit model. Since a main disadvantage of the proposed treatments is high-energy consumption, specific energy consumption (SEC) and electrical energy per order (EEO) will be determined for all processes. All experiments will be done in triplicate, and filtration and coagulation/flocculation processes as a pretreatment will be used prior to all runs. The expected results of the proposed project are to (i) obtain new knowledge related to joint photo- Fenton and ultrasound wastewater treatments, (ii) demonstrate treatment synergies, and (iii) validate the use of advanced oxidation processes for improving LL. Project results will be reported in papers, through thesis work, and at scientific congresses, strengthening national and international research networks.