Proyectos

Este proyecto buscaba generar una propuesta de política que promoviera la Innovación Social para la Superación de Pobreza: Origen, nudos críticos, propuestas de líneas de acción y modelo de gestión. Esto particularmente en los territorios funcionales en trampas de pobreza concentrados en los territorios del Maule sur, BíoBío, Araucanía y Los Ríos.

Proyecto de colaboración internacional entre Chile, Perú, Brasil y Chile. Código proyecto: 17-MATH-06

FONIDE 2017 (proyecto nº FON170009)

FONIDE 2017 (proyecto nº FON170009)

Resumen Programa El Centro para la Investigación e Innovación en Fruticultura para la Zona Sur busca hacer un uso coordinado de las capacidades tecnológicas instaladas en distintas instituciones de investigación del país para enfrentar los desafíos tecnológicos de la fruticultura chilena, aprovechando las oportunidades que el mercado mundial ofrece al sector productor y exportador. Esta iniciativa busca reforzar las capacidades existentes para realizar investigación, desarrollo e innovación de manera de mejorar la competitividad del sector frutícola chileno, particularmente en los rubros de avellano, cerezo y nogal para enfrentar los desafíos del sector con una mirada trans-institucional e interdisciplinaria, con miras al año 2030. El programa aborda los aspectos de sostenibilidad y uso eficiente de recursos en las 3 especies señaladas, los aspectos genéticos de la producción frutal y los aspectos de postcosecha y calidad de la fruta fresca. Objetivo general Incrementar la I+D+i frutícola en Chile, mediante la ejecución articulada de portafolios de proyectos con visión de largo plazo, que permitan acortar las brechas en tres ámbitos específicos del desarrollo frutícola para mejorar la productividad del sector y contribuir a diversificar y sofisticar el tejido productivo.

El objetivó del proyecto de investigación era el desarrollo de una caja de trazadores de la materia orgánica para entender la dinámica de la materia orgánica (MO), los procesos biogeoquímicos y el papel de esta materia en el ciclo del carbono a la escala local y regional. Para lograr este objetivó, la identificación precisa de la fuente de MO es un elemento esencial. La utilización de varios biomarcadores moleculares y especialmente el uso de biomarcadores de lípidos, debido a su presencia ubicua y estabilidad diagenéticos y química, representan uno de los enfoques con un gran potencial.

Proyecto Internacional EUROPEAN COMMISSION–REA: MILEAGE Nº734931. Proyecto titulado: Microelements in Life Expectancy and Aging. Instituciones patrocinantes: University of Aberdeen (Inglaterra), Universidad de Chile y Universidad de O’Higgins. Director Dr. John Beattie. Mayo 2017 – Abril 2021.

Objetivo General del proyecto fue desarrollar y evaluar un modelo de intervención basado en tecnologías de la información y comunicación para reducir riesgo suicida y fortalecer factores protectores de la salud mental en adolescentes de establecimientos educacionales de la RM y VI Región. El producto central es una plataforma web, con aplicaciones móviles asociadas, que incluye un componente psicoeducativo y uno interactivo que estará constituido por recursos que fomentan el apoyo entre pares (adolescentes) y la generación de estrategias para afrontar problemas afectivos y sociales.

Appropriate arterial function and structure are vital for a proper cardiovascular performance and therefore fundamental for a healthy life. Arterial function depends on cellular and molecular mechanisms but as well on the structural features. In fact, it has been shown that structural and biomechanical properties of vessels are very much related to several cardiovascular pathologies, such as systemic and pulmonary hypertension. Chronic lack of oxygen (hypoxia), may determine an impairment of the cardiovascular function, potentially deriving in pulmonary/systemic hypertension and cardiac failure. This is particularly relevant in human populations exposed to high altitude (above 2500m), either in chronic continuous (permanent inhabitants) or chronic intermittent (shifts of high altitude workers, such as miners, custom agents astronomers; and mountaineers) fashions. Most of the studies about vascular effects of chronic hypoxia have focused on function and molecular mechanisms involved in the pathophysiological responses. However, few is known about the biomechanical responses of systemic, pulmonary and cerebral arteries in these conditions, particularly in the chronic exposure to hypoxia as it happens in high-altitude population and in several diseases in lowlanders. The main goal of this project is to determine the vascular biomechanical characteristics of a representative rat paradigm of living under hypoxia and, in addition, establish the modelling, numerical simulation and experimental validation of the biomechanical responses of arterial vessels. Specifically, three different types of vessels (aorta, carotid and femoral), at different age (neonates, juveniles and adults) will be analyzed, either under normoxic, chronic permanent hypoxic or chronic intermittent hypoxic conditions. Small rodents have been extensively used as a paradigm of cardiovascular and vascular function, allowing massive steps in the knowledge of mechanisms involved in cardiovascular pathologies. Using a rat model, we will deeply analyze the biomechanical properties of the vasculature of animals exposed to chronic hypoxia (permanent or intermittent) in a hypobaric chamber, adding substantial data for the comprehension of the vascular biomechanical behaviour under these conditions. The need for a better understanding of the biomechanical response of arteries leads to the development of constitutive models that may define realistic and reliable stress-strain relationships. In this project, several constitutive models aimed at describing the biomechanical behaviour of soft tissues will be assessed. The specific aspects to be taken into account of the vessels biomechanical characterisation are: incompressibility of the tissue, presence of large deformations, isotropic and anisotropic material behaviours, residual stresses, rate dependent (i.e., viscous) effects, damage and active response. The material characterisation of the biomechanical behaviour of rat arteries will be performed via in-vitro biaxial and myograph tensile tests and ring opening test, considering standard, cyclic and relaxation loading conditions. From these experiments, the material characterisation will also involve the derivation of the material parameters. Specifically, we will address the development of algorithms for the treatment of non-linearities in the fitting procedure and sensitivity analysis to determine the consistency of the parameters found with this methodology. The analysis will also include comparison between the numerical predictions of the different constitutive models in their application to experimental data to be measured in this project. The analysis of the response of pressurised straight arterial vessels will be additionally carried out. Importantly, this test mimics the in-vivo physiological conditions of the arterial vessel. Aside from the internal pressure, axial stretching is usually considered. As a non-uniform biaxial stress state is commonly developed in this test, this fact extends the validity of the material characterisation. The material response will be described via the constitutive models previously characterised. Due to the complex stress and strain patterns developed in this problem, numerical simulations defined in the context of the finite element method will be performed. The obtained numerical results will be validated with the corresponding experimental measurements. Moreover, we expect to characterise the biomechanical properties of different vascular beds, representatives of systemic, pulmonary and cerebral circulations. We shall also describe the effects of chronic hypoxia on these properties. Furthermore, we will perform histological analyses to assess the ultrastructure and the wall components of the intima, media and adventitia layers and relate them with the biomechanical findings. The outcomes of this project will enhance the knowledge necessary to integrate the functional, structural and biomechanical properties of vascular tissues. Clearly, our data will provide useful information not only for vascular pathophysiology understanding, but also for optimization of medical diagnosis, prognosis and potential therapeutic approaches to the related pathologies