Universidades privadas independientes en Chile: ciclo de vida, comportamiento organizacional e inserción en el sistema de educación superior

In 1980, during the military government (1973-1990), a profound transformation of the higher education (HE) system began. This change involved establishing a market to stimulate competition between different institutions and encourage private entities to provide higher education. This reform took shape through new legislation that established the freedom to create and maintain higher education institutions (HEIs), with only a few prerequisites to be fulfilled to enter the market - filing an act of constitution, offering at least one degree course and being granted political permission from the Ministry of Interior. In addition, it created a new financing scheme for HEIs, which established that private institutions created from 1980 onwards could not receive direct fiscal support from the state and had to finance their activities by charging tuition fees. Likewise, state universities - and private ones created prior to 1980 - that until then had received direct support from the state had to start charging tuition fees from then on, forcing their students to ask for loans from the state itself.By the end of the 1980s, 22 new independent private universities (IPUs) had been created. These came to form part of the national HE system, together with state universities and private ones that had existed prior to 1980. There are currently 29 IPUs, which account for more than 50 percent of Chilean university enrolment. If enrolment in private universities that existed before 1980 and in non-university HE institutions is added to this, Chile today has an 84 percent rate of enrolment in private institutions, one of the highest in the world. Therefore, Chile after 1980 has become an early case study for the private transformation of HE, driven by the military dictatorship and the result of the neoliberal policies enforced by the Pinochet government.Talking about new universities might seem like a contradiction. In fact, such is the importance of tradition and centuries-long history at universities that no HE entrepreneur can escape this reality. Given that they cannot ignore this institutional ideal or standard, new Chilean universities founded after 1980 have ended up imitating the traditional university model. A deep current of mimetic isomorphism runs through the history of universities, something that is clearly seen in Chile.It is therefore relevant to question the decisions that the IPUs that have become high- functioning institutions in Chile have taken in what has been a complex environment. For example, they have set up efficient governing bodies to achieve their individual aims and have organised themselves efficiently to fulfil both their academic and their sustainable307business models. As a result, this has led to new universities obtaining recognition (accreditation) from the public body that regulates them, as well as prestige or a good reputation (seen though high positions in Chilean or international rankings).To answer this question, this study analyses the trajectory of a number of successful Chilean IPUs. It uses the theory of the life cycle of organisations in a model that has three stages: (a) creation and formation, (b) formalisation and coordination and (c) consolidation and organisational effectiveness. The general aim of this study is to analyse the decisions taken and practices implemented by these IPUs, which have turned them into high-performing institutions.Political Culture and National Identit

Modular multilevel matrix converter as solid state transformer for medium and high voltage substations

The use of power converters as solid state transformer is an attractive solution to modernize the power network, but this solution has not been fully addressed for MV and HV substations. This paper presents a customized and simple control for the Modular Multilevel Matrix Converter (M3C), specially conceived for its operation on synchronous ports, which is the case of AC substations. The control allows to transfer bidirectional active power, generate/absorb reactive power and provide ancillary services. The converter is compared to the back-to-back Modular Multilevel Converter (B2B-MMC) where the key performance indicators to carry out the comparison are power efficiency, number of semiconductor devices, passive components required, footprint, voltage cell balance, fault blocking capability and stress of components. The simulation results show the features, performance and attractiveness of the M3C topology in a 33/11 kV, 16 MW substation under different operating conditions, including grid faults and dynamic operation. The M3C presents similar efficiency and performance than the B2B-MMC, but it uses less semiconductor devices, passive components and total cell capacitor energy than the B2B-MMC, reducing cost and footprint. The experimental results show the performance of the M3C under less ideal conditions including a substation transformer saturation and power step response

Chronic Stress Triggers Expression of Immediate Early Genes and Differentially Affects the Expression of AMPA and NMDA Subunits in Dorsal and Ventral Hippocampus of Rats

Indexación: Web of Science; Scopus.Previous studies in rats have demonstrated that chronic restraint stress triggers anhedonia, depressive-like behaviors, anxiety and a reduction in dendritic spine density in hippocampal neurons. In this study, we compared the effect of repeated stress on the expression of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunits in dorsal and ventral hippocampus (VH). Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control and stressed groups, and were daily restrained in their motion (2.5 h/day) during 14 days. We found that chronic stress promotes an increase in c-Fos mRNA levels in both hippocampal areas, although it was observed a reduction in the immunoreactivity at pyramidal cell layer. Furthermore, Arc mRNAs levels were increased in both dorsal and VH, accompanied by an increase in Arc immunoreactivity in dendritic hippocampal layers. Furthermore, stress triggered a reduction in PSD-95 and NR1 protein levels in whole extract of dorsal and VH. Moreover, a reduction in NR2A/NR2B ratio was observed only in dorsal pole. In synaptosomal fractions, we detected a rise in NR1 in dorsal hippocampus (DH). By indirect immunofluorescence we found that NR1 subunits rise, especially in neuropil areas of dorsal, but not VH. In relation to AMPA receptor (AMPAR) subunits, chronic stress did not trigger any change, either in dorsal or ventral hippocampal areas. These data suggest that DH is more sensitive than VH to chronic stress exposure, mainly altering the expression of NMDA receptor (NMDAR) subunits, and probably favors changes in the configuration of this receptor that may influence the function of this area.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2017.00244/ful

MicroRNA Profiling and Bioinformatics Target Analysis in Dorsal Hippocampus of Chronically Stressed Rats: Relevance to Depression Pathophysiology

Indexación: Scopus.1Laboratory of Neuroplasticity and Neurogenetics, Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile, 2National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Durham, NC, United States, 3Centro de Genómica y Bioinformática, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile, 4Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), FONDAP Center for Genome Regulation, Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile, 5Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile, 6Escuela de Química y Farmacia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile.This study was supported by the following grants: FONDECYT 1120528 (JLF), Fondo Central de Investigación, Universidad de Chile ENL025/16 (JLF), ES090079 (JAC). Research in RG and EV laboratories is funded by Instituto Milenio iBio – Iniciativa Científica Milenio MINECON.Studies conducted in rodents subjected to chronic stress and some observations in humans after psychosocial stress, have allowed to establish a link between stress and the susceptibility to many complex diseases, including mood disorders. The studies in rodents have revealed that chronic exposure to stress negatively affects synaptic plasticity by triggering changes in the production of trophic factors, subunit levels of glutamate ionotropic receptors, neuron morphology, and neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus. These modifications may account for the impairment in learning and memory processes observed in chronically stressed animals. It is plausible then, that stress modifies the interplay between signal transduction cascades and gene expression regulation in the hippocampus, therefore leading to altered neuroplasticity and functioning of neural circuits. Considering that miRNAs play an important role in post-transcriptional-regulation of gene expression and participate in several hippocampus-dependent functions; we evaluated the consequences of chronic stress on the expression of miRNAs in dorsal (anterior) portion of the hippocampus, which participates in memory formation in rodents. Here, we show that male rats exposed to daily restraint stress (2.5 h/day) during 7 and 14 days display a differential profile of miRNA levels in dorsal hippocampus and remarkably, we found that some of these miRNAs belong to the miR-379-410 cluster. We confirmed a rise in miR-92a and miR-485 levels after 14 days of stress by qPCR, an effect that was not mimicked by chronic administration of corticosterone (14 days). Our in silico study identified the top-10 biological functions influenced by miR-92a, nine of which were shared with miR-485: Nervous system development and function, Tissue development, Behavior, Embryonic development, Organ development, Organismal development, Organismal survival, Tissue morphology, and Organ morphology. Furthermore, our in silico study provided a landscape of potential miRNA-92a and miR-485 targets, along with relevant canonical pathways related to axonal guidance signaling and cAMP signaling, which may influence the functioning of several neuroplastic substrates in dorsal hippocampus. Additionally, the combined effect of miR-92a and miR-485 on transcription factors, along with histone-modifying enzymes, may have a functional relevance by producing changes in gene regulatory networks that modify the neuroplastic capacity of the adult dorsal hippocampus under stress. © 2018 Muñoz-Llanos, García-Pérez, Xu, Tejos-Bravo, Vidal, Moyano, Gutiérrez, Aguayo, Pacheco, García-Rojo, Aliaga, Rojas, Cidlowski and Fiedler.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2018.00251/ful

Hippocampal Memory Recovery After Acute Stress: A Behavioral, Morphological and Molecular Study

Indexación: Scopus.Laboratory of Neuroplasticity and Neurogenetics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile, 2Laboratorio Farmacología del Comportamiento, ICBM, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile, 3Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile, 4Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile, 5Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Santiago, Chile, 6Escuela de Química y Farmacia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile.This study was supported by the following grants: Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (FONDECYT) 1120528 (JLF), Fondo Central de Investigación, Universidad de Chile ENL025/16 (JLF).Several studies have shown that a single exposure to stress may improve or impair learning and memory processes, depending on the timing in which the stress event occurs with relation to the acquisition phase. However, to date there is no information about the molecular changes that occur at the synapse during the stress-induced memory modification and after a recovery period. In particular, there are no studies that have evaluated—at the same time—the temporality of stress and stress recovery period in hippocampal short-term memory and the effects on dendritic spine morphology, along with variations in N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor subunits. The aim of our study was to take a multidimensional approach to investigate concomitant behavioral, morphological and molecular changes induced by a single restraint stress exposure (2.5 h) and a recovery period of 6 and 24 h in rats. We found that acute stress elicited a reduced preference to explore an object placed in a novel position (a hippocampal-dependent task). These changes were accompanied by increased activity of LIM kinase I (LIMK; an actin-remodeling protein) and increased levels of NR2A subunits of NMDA receptors. After 6 h of recovery from stress, rats showed similar preference to explore an object placed in a novel or familiar position, but density of immature spines increased in secondary CA1 apical dendrites, along with a transient rise in GluA2 AMPA receptor subunits. After 24 h of recovery from stress, the animals showed a preference to explore an object placed in a novel position, which was accompanied by a normalization of NMDA and AMPA receptor subunits to control values. Our data suggest that acute stress produces reversible molecular and behavioral changes 24 h after stress, allowing a full reestablishment of hippocampal-related memory. Further studies need to be conducted to deepen our understanding of these changes and their reciprocal interactions.Adaptive stress responses are a promising avenue to develop interventions aiming at restoring hippocampal function impaired by repetitive stress exposure. © 2018 Aguayo, Tejos-Bravo, Díaz-Véliz, Pacheco, García-Rojo, Corrales, Olave, Aliaga, Ulloa, Avalos, Román-Albasini, Rojas and Fiedler.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2018.00283/ful

Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a), the Optical Counterpart to a Gravitational Wave Source

On 2017 August 17, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo interferometer detected gravitational waves emanating from a binary neutron star merger, GW170817. Nearly simultaneously, the Fermi and INTEGRAL telescopes detected a gamma-ray transient, GRB 170817A. 10.9 hours after the gravitational wave trigger, we discovered a transient and fading optical source, Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a), coincident with GW170817. SSS17a is located in NGC 4993, an S0 galaxy at a distance of 40 megaparsecs. The precise location of GW170817 provides an opportunity to probe the nature of these cataclysmic events by combining electromagnetic and gravitational-wave observations.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, published today in Scienc

The Old Host-Galaxy Environment of SSS17a, the First Electromagnetic Counterpart to a Gravitational Wave Source

We present an analysis of the host-galaxy environment of Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a), the discovery of an electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave source, GW170817. SSS17a occurred 1.9 kpc (in projection; 10.2") from the nucleus of NGC 4993, an S0 galaxy at a distance of 40 Mpc. We present a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) pre-trigger image of NGC 4993, Magellan optical spectroscopy of the nucleus of NGC 4993 and the location of SSS17a, and broad-band UV through IR photometry of NGC 4993. The spectrum and broad-band spectral-energy distribution indicate that NGC 4993 has a stellar mass of log (M/M_solar) = 10.49^{+0.08}_{-0.20} and star formation rate of 0.003 M_solar/yr, and the progenitor system of SSS17a likely had an age of >2.8 Gyr. There is no counterpart at the position of SSS17a in the HST pre-trigger image, indicating that the progenitor system had an absolute magnitude M_V > -5.8 mag. We detect dust lanes extending out to almost the position of SSS17a and >100 likely globular clusters associated with NGC 4993. The offset of SSS17a is similar to many short gamma-ray burst offsets, and its progenitor system was likely bound to NGC 4993. The environment of SSS17a is consistent with an old progenitor system such as a binary neutron star system.Comment: ApJL in pres

Headache, Delirium or Encephalitis?:A Case of Residual Mutism Secondary to Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis

Encephalitis is a heterogeneous syndrome that is diagnosed through clinical assessment and the assistance of laboratory, neuroimaging and electroencephalographic workup. Over the past 10 years, autoimmune encephalitis has been more frequently recognized; however, most reports come from highly specialized hospital settings. Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NDMAR) encephalitis has been associated with paraneoplastic encephalitis syndromes and was first recognized in 2005. We present the case of a 34-year-old male patient who debuted clinically with a headache associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms (i.e., visual and auditory hallucinations, anxiety, aggressiveness) and memory deficits, progressing to autonomic dysfunction (i.e., tachycardia and hypertension), seizures, and stupor with catatonic features. Initially, infectious, metabolic, and toxicological etiologies were excluded; followed by the assessment of immunological and paraneoplastic etiologies, yielding positive IgG levels for anti-NMDAR antibodies. The patient was treated successfully with systemic steroid therapy and therapeutic plasmapheresis, while mutism was the only sequela. Although large case series reporting on paraneoplastic and autoimmune anti-NMDAR encephalitis have been reported in the literature in recent years, this case is of particular importance due to the stepwise differential diagnosis and treatment management procedure that was used in a regional but not highly specialized hospital setting