Four keys to Chilean culture : authoritarianism, legalism, fatalism and compadrazgo

Chilean culture is said to be part of a wider Hispanic American culture that shares many traits (see Godoy et al. 1986; Subercaseaux 1999; Valdivieso and which could be identified as an identity with a Latin American sense (see Rodríguez et al. 2001). In this sense, though it may seem as if any attempt to describe or analyse particular operating elements, processes, systems and structures were a useless task, the nature of identity makes it a multiple and symbolically contradictory phenomenon, with relevant contextual 'consequences' and particularities that help identify a collective imaginary that can be associated with what means to be Chilean. As such, the importance of meaning lies not on its production but rather on its reception; therefore, we aim to address some elements of the reception that we have identified as 'critical' or 'diagnostic'. By 'critical', we mean those elements, which absence would substantively modify what is collectively associated with Chilean culture and by 'diagnostic', we suggest the possibility they offer of exploring meaningful contextual traits. In order to contextualise our analysis, we will focus on three discursive levels, namely organisational/structural, cultural/ideological and identity. At the organisational/structural level, we will make reference to structure and aesthetics in the broader sense of social context as well as in public and private organisations; at cultural/ideological level, we will make reference to practices, rituals, values and behaviours; and at the identity level we will make reference to strategies individuals use to manage their social identities

Star Formation Under the Outflow: The Discovery of a Non-Thermal Jet from OMC-2 FIR 3 and its Relationship to the Deeply Embedded FIR 4 Protostar

We carried out multiwavelength (0.7-5 cm), multiepoch (1994-2015) Very Large Array (VLA) observations toward the region enclosing the bright far-IR sources FIR 3 (HOPS 370) and FIR 4 (HOPS 108) in OMC-2. We report the detection of 10 radio sources, seven of them identified as young stellar objects. We image a well-collimated radio jet with a thermal free-free core (VLA 11) associated with the Class I intermediate-mass protostar HOPS 370. The jet presents several knots (VLA 12N, 12C, 12S) of non-thermal radio emission (likely synchrotron from shock-accelerated relativistic electrons) at distances of ~7,500-12,500 au from the protostar, in a region where other shock tracers have been previously identified. These knots are moving away from the HOPS 370 protostar at ~ 100 km/s. The Class 0 protostar HOPS 108, which itself is detected as an independent, kinematically decoupled radio source, falls in the path of these non-thermal radio knots. These results favor the previously proposed scenario where the formation of HOPS 108 has been triggered by the impact of the HOPS 370 outflow with a dense clump. However, HOPS 108 presents a large proper motion velocity of ~ 30 km/s, similar to that of other runaway stars in Orion, whose origin would be puzzling within this scenario. Alternatively, an apparent proper motion could result because of changes in the position of the centroid of the source due to blending with nearby extended emission, variations in the source shape, and /or opacity effects.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Charged lepton Flavor Violation in Supersymmetry with Bilinear R-Parity Violation

The simplest unified extension of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with bi-linear R-parity violation naturally predicts a hierarchical neutrino mass spectrum, suitable to explain atmospheric and solar neutrino fluxes. We study whether the individual violation of the lepton numbers L_{e,mu,tau} in the charged sector can lead to measurable rates for BR(mu->e gamma)and $BR(tau-> mu gamma). We find that some of the R-parity violating terms that are compatible with the observed atmospheric neutrino oscillations could lead to rates for mu->e gamma measurable in projected experiments. However, the Delta m^2_{12} obtained for those parameters is too high to be compatible with the solar neutrino data, excluding therefore the possibility of having measurable rates for mu->e gamma in the model.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures. Constraint from solar neutrino data included, conclusions changed respect v

Microtubule stabilization reduces amyloid pathology and improves synaptic/memory deficits in APP/PS1 mice

Aims: Cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is highly related to synaptic/neuronal loss. Tau hyperphosphorylation destabilizes microtubules leading to axonal transport failure and generation of dystrophic neurites, thus contributing to synaptic dysfunction. The effect of microtubule stabilization on amyloid-beta pathology has not been assessed in vivo yet. This study evaluated the effect of the microtubule-stabilizing agent, Epothilone D (EpoD) in the pathology of an amyloidogenic mouse model. Methods: APP751SL/PS1M146L mice (3-month-old) were treated weekly with intraperitoneal injections of EpoD (2 mg/kg) or vehicle for 3 months. For memory performance, animals were tested on the objectrecognition, Y-maze and Morris water maze. Hippocampal proteinopathies were quantified by image analysis after immunostaining. Somatostatin (SOM)-numerical density was calculated by stereology. APPswe-N2a cells were treated with EpoD 100nM for 12/24 hours. Protein levels were analysed by Western/dot-blot. Results: EpoD-treated mice improved their performance of cognitive tests, while hippocampal phospho-tau and Ab (especially oligomers) accumulation decreased, together with synaptic/neuritic pathology. Remarkably, EpoD exerted a neuroprotective effect on SOM-interneurons, a highly AD-vulnerable GABAergic subpopulation. Conclusions: EpoD improved microtubule dynamics and axonal transport in an AD-like context, reducing tau and Ab accumulation and promoting neuronal and cognitive protection, underlining the cross-talk between cytoskeleton pathology and proteinopathy. Therefore, microtubule-stabilizing drugs could be candidates for slowing AD at both tau and Ab pathologies.Supported by PI18/01557 (to AG) and PI18/01556 (to JV) grants from ISCiii of Spain, co-financed by FEDER funds (European Union), CIBERNED collaborative grant (to AG and JV), and by PPIT.UMA.B1.2017/26 grant (to RSV). Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Neutrino Masses and Mixings from Supersymmetry with Bilinear R--Parity Violation: A Theory for Solar and Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillations

The simplest unified extension of the MSSM with bi-linear R--Parity violation naturally predicts a hierarchical neutrino mass spectrum, in which one neutrino acquires mass by mixing with neutralinos, while the other two get mass radiatively. We have performed a full one-loop calculation of the neutralino-neutrino mass matrix in the bi-linear \rp MSSM, taking special care to achieve a manifestly gauge invariant calculation. Moreover we have performed the renormalization of the heaviest neutrino, needed in order to get meaningful results. The atmospheric mass scale and maximal mixing angle arise from tree-level physics, while solar neutrino scale and oscillations follow from calculable one-loop corrections. If universal supergravity assumptions are made on the soft-supersymmetry breaking terms then the atmospheric scale is calculable as a function of a single \rp violating parameter by the renormalization group evolution due to the non-zero bottom quark Yukawa coupling. The solar neutrino problem must be accounted for by the small mixing angle (SMA) MSW solution. If these assumptions are relaxed then one can implement large mixing angle solutions, either MSW or just-so. The theory predicts the lightest supersymmetic particle (LSP) decay to be observable at high-energy colliders, despite the smallness of neutrino masses indicated by experiment. This provides an independent way to test this solution of the atmospheric and solar neutrino anomalies.Comment: 46 pages, references added + several misprints correcte

Flavour Violation in SUSY SU(5) GUT at Large tan beta

We study flavour violation in the minimal SUSY SU(5) GUT assuming all the third generation Yukawa couplings to be due to the renormalizable physics above GUT scale. At large $\tan\beta,$ as suggested by Yukawa unification in SU(5), sizable flavour violation in the left (right) slepton (down squark) sector is induced due to renormalization effects of down type Yukawa couplings between GUT and Planck scales in addition to the flavour violation in the right slepton sector. The new flavour physics contribution to $K-\bar K,$ $B-\bar B$ mixing is small but might be of phenomenological interest in the case of $b\to s\gamma.$ The sign of the latter contribution is the same as the sign of the dominant chargino contribution, thus making the constraints on SUSY scale coming from $b\to s\gamma$ somewhat more restrictive. The most important feature of the considered scenario is the large rate of lepton flavour violation. Given the present experimental constraints, the $\mu\to e\gamma$ and $\mu-e$ conversion branching ratios are above the sensitivity of the planned experiments unless the SUSY scale is pushed above one TeV.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

Safety and immunomodulatory effects of three probiotic strains isolated from the feces of breast-fed infants in healthy adults: SETOPROB study

We previously described the isolation and characterization of three probiotic strains from the feces of exclusively breast-fed newborn infants: Lactobacillus paracasei CNCM I-4034, Bifidobacterium breve CNCM I-4035 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus CNCM I-4036. These strains were shown to adhere to intestinal mucus in vitro, to be sensitive to antibiotics and to resist biliary salts and low pH. In the present study, a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 100 healthy volunteers in three Spanish cities was carried out to evaluate the tolerance, safety, gut colonization and immunomodulatory effects of these three probiotics. Volunteers underwent a 15-day washout period, after which they were randomly divided into 5 groups that received daily a placebo, a capsule containing one of the 3 strains or a capsule containing a mixture of two strains for 30 days. The intervention was followed by another 15-day washout period. Patients did not consume fermented milk for the entire duration of the study. Gastrointestinal symptoms, defecation frequency and stool consistency were not altered by probiotic intake. No relevant changes in blood and serum, as well as no adverse events occurred during or after treatment. Probiotic administration slightly modified bacterial populations in the volunteers’ feces. Intestinal persistence occurred in volunteers who received L. rhamnosus CNCM I-4036. Administration of B. breve CNCM I-4035 resulted in a significant increase in fecal secretory IgA content. IL-4 and IL-10 increased, whereas IL-12 decreased in the serum of volunteers treated with any of the three strains. These results demonstrate that the consumption of these three bacterial strains was safe and exerted varying degrees of immunomodulatory effects.Part of the research currently in progress in the authors' laboratory is funded by the company Hero Spain, S. A. through the grant #3582 managed by the Fundacion General Empresa-Universidad de Granada

Grupo español de cirugía torácica asistida por videoimagen: método, auditoría y resultados iniciales de una cohorte nacional prospectiva de pacientes tratados con resecciones anatómicas del pulmón

Introduction: our study sought to know the current implementation of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for anatomical lung resections in Spain. We present our initial results and describe the auditing systems developed by the Spanish VATS Group (GEVATS). Methods: we conducted a prospective multicentre cohort study that included patients receiving anatomical lung resections between 12/20/2016 and 03/20/2018. The main quality controls consisted of determining the recruitment rate of each centre and the accuracy of the perioperative data collected based on six key variables. The implications of a low recruitment rate were analysed for '90-day mortality' and 'Grade IIIb-V complications'. Results: the series was composed of 3533 cases (1917 VATS; 54.3%) across 33 departments. The centres' median recruitment rate was 99% (25-75th:76-100%), with an overall recruitment rate of 83% and a data accuracy of 98%. We were unable to demonstrate a significant association between the recruitment rate and the risk of morbidity/mortality, but a trend was found in the unadjusted analysis for those centres with recruitment rates lower than 80% (centres with 95-100% rates as reference): grade IIIb-V OR=0.61 (p=0.081), 90-day mortality OR=0.46 (p=0.051). Conclusions: more than half of the anatomical lung resections in Spain are performed via VATS. According to our results, the centre's recruitment rate and its potential implications due to selection bias, should deserve further attention by the main voluntary multicentre studies of our speciality. The high representativeness as well as the reliability of the GEVATS data constitute a fundamental point of departure for this nationwide cohort

Antitumor and antiangiogenic effect of the dual EGFR and HER-2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor lapatinib in a lung cancer model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is strong evidence demonstrating that activation of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) leads to tumor growth, progression, invasion and metastasis. Erlotinib and gefitinib, two EGFR-targeted agents, have been shown to be relevant drugs for lung cancer treatment. Recent studies demonstrate that lapatinib, a dual tyrosine kinase inhibitor of EGFR and HER-2 receptors, is clinically effective against HER-2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer. In this report, we investigated the activity of lapatinib against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We selected the lung cancer cell line A549, which harbors genomic amplification of EGFR and HER-2. Proliferation, cell cycle analysis, clonogenic assays, and signaling cascade analyses (by western blot) were performed <it>in vitro</it>. <it>In vivo </it>experiments with A549 cells xenotransplanted into nude mice treated with lapatinib (with or without radiotherapy) were also carried out.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Lapatinib dramatically reduced cell proliferation (<it>P </it>< 0.0001), DNA synthesis (<it>P </it>< 0.006), and colony formation capacity (<it>P </it>< 0.0001) in A549 cells <it>in vitro</it>. Furthermore, lapatinib induced G1 cell cycle arrest (<it>P </it>< 0.0001) and apoptotic cell death (<it>P </it>< 0.0006) and reduced cyclin A and B1 levels, which are regulators of S and G2/M cell cycle stages, respectively. Stimulation of apoptosis in lapatinib-treated A549 cells was correlated with increased cleaved PARP, active caspase-3, and proapoptotic Bak-1 levels, and reduction in the antiapoptic IAP-2 and Bcl-xL protein levels. We also demonstrate that lapatinib altered EGFR/HER-2 signaling pathways reducing p-EGFR, p-HER-2, p-ERK1/2, p-AKT, c-Myc and PCNA levels. <it>In vivo </it>experiments revealed that A549 tumor-bearing mice treated with lapatinib had significantly less active tumors (as assessed by PET analysis) (<it>P </it>< 0.04) and smaller in size than controls. In addition, tumors from lapatinib-treated mice showed a dramatic reduction in angiogenesis (<it>P </it>< 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Overall, these data suggest that lapatinib may be a clinically useful agent for the treatment of lung cancer.</p

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected