Search

Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT) CONICYT FONDECYT Fondecyt 1150460 1191321 Beca Doctoral Conicyt (CONICYT PhD Fellowships) 21120436 21151101 United States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA S10 OD016234

La proteccion gonadal ha sido durante largo tiempo un importante factor para abordar el requisito “tan bajo como sea razonablemente posible” ALARA. El presente articulo realiza una revision sistematica sobre la utilidad de la proteccion gonadal en la radiografia de pelvis en la cual se han destacado los factores que tienen que ver con su realizacion diaria es decir la dosis de radiacion involucrada, la radiosensibilidad de las gonadas, la posicion del protector gonadal y el factor psicologico de la poblacion en relacion a su uso. La incorporacion de equipamientos modernos, con dosis y protocolo optimizados, transforma el beneficio de la proteccion es mas que debatible. Mientras algunos siguen respaldando la medida, otros organismos y autores ya no la respaldan. Es necesario reconsiderar practicas actuales fundadas en consensos cientificos obsoletos y considerar el factor de cambio cultural basados en estos nuevos consensos para su implementacion sin generar mayor preocupacion en la poblacion.

Agmatine is the product of the decarboxylation of L-arginine by the enzyme arginine decarboxylase. This amine has been attributed to neurotransmitter functions, anticonvulsant, anti-neurotoxic, and antidepressant in mammals and is a potential therapeutic agent for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and cancer. Agmatinase enzyme hydrolyze agmatine into urea and putrescine, which belong to one of the pathways producing polyamines, essential for cell proliferation. Agmatinase from Escherichia coli (EcAGM) has been widely studied and kinetically characterized, described as highly specific for agmatine. In this study, we analyze the amino acids involved in the high specificity of EcAGM, performing a series of mutations in two loops critical to the active-site entrance. Two structures in different space groups were solved by X-ray crystallography, one at low resolution (3.2 Å), including a guanidine group, and other at high resolution (1.8 Å) which presents urea and agmatine in the active site. These structures made it possible to understand the interface interactions between subunits that allow the hexameric state and postulate a catalytic mechanism according to the Mn2+ and urea/guanidine binding site. Molecular dynamics simulations evaluated the conformational dynamics of EcAGM and residues participating in non-binding interactions. Simulations showed the high dynamics of loops of the active site entrance and evidenced the relevance of Trp68, located in the adjacent subunit, to stabilize the amino group of agmatine by cation-pi interaction. These results allow to have a structural view of the best-kinetic characterized agmatinase in literature up to now.

Agmatine is the product of the decarboxylation of L-arginine by the enzyme arginine decarboxylase. This amine has been attributed to neurotransmitter functions, anticonvulsant, anti-neurotoxic, and antidepressant in mammals and is a potential therapeutic agent for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and cancer. Agmatinase enzyme hydrolyze agmatine into urea and putrescine, which belong to one of the pathways producing polyamines, essential for cell proliferation. Agmatinase from Escherichia coli (EcAGM) has been widely studied and kinetically characterized, described as highly specific for agmatine. In this study, we analyze the amino acids involved in the high specificity of EcAGM, performing a series of mutations in two loops critical to the active-site entrance. Two structures in different space groups were solved by X-ray crystallography, one at low resolution (3.2 Å), including a guanidine group; and other at high resolution (1.8 Å) which presents urea and agmatine in the active site. These structures made it possible to understand the interface interactions between subunits that allow the hexameric state and postulate a catalytic mechanism according to the Mn2+ and urea/guanidine binding site. Molecular dynamics simulations evaluated the conformational dynamics of EcAGM and residues participating in non-binding interactions. Simulations showed the high dynamics of loops of the active site entrance and evidenced the relevance of Trp68, located in the adjacent subunit, to stabilize the amino group of agmatine by cation-pi interaction. These results allow to have a structural view of the best-kinetic characterized agmatinase in literature up to now.

Commercial polypropylene fibers are incorporated as reinforcement of cement-based materials to improve their mechanical and damage performances related to properties such as tensile and flexural strength, toughness, spalling and impact resistance, delay formation of cracks and reducing crack widths. Yet, the production of these polypropylene fibers generates economic costs and environmental impacts and, therefore, the use of alternative and more sustainable fibers has become more popular in the research materials community. This paper addresses the characterization of recycled polypropylene fibers (RPFs) obtained from discarded domestic plastic sweeps, whose morphological, physical and mechanical properties are provided in order to assess their implementation as fiber-reinforcement in cement-based mortars. An experimental program addressing the incorporation of RPFs on the mechanical-damage performance of mortars, including a sensitivity analysis on the volumes and lengths of fiber, is developed. Using analysis of variance, this paper shows that RPFs statistically enhance flexural toughness and impact strength for high dosages and long fiber lengths. On the contrary, the latter properties are not statistically modified by the incorporation of low dosages and short lengths of RPFs, but still in these cases the incorporation of RPFs in mortars have the positive environmental impact of waste encapsulation. In the case of average compressive and flexural strength of mortars, these properties are not statistically modified when adding RPFs.

Background: The enzyme 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGDH) is the central enzyme of the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. Members of the 6PGDH family belong to different classes: either homodimeric enzymes assembled from long-chain subunits or homotetrameric ones assembled from short-chain subunits. Dimeric 6PGDHs bear an internal duplication absent in tetrameric 6PGDHs and distant homologues of the β-hydroxyacid dehydrogenase (βHADH) superfamily. Methods: We use X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of the apo form of the 6PGDH from Gluconobacter oxydans (Go6PGDH). We carried out a structural and phylogenetic analysis of short and long-chain 6PGDHs. We put forward an evolutionary hypothesis explaining the differences seen in oligomeric state vs. dinucleotide preference of the 6PGDH family. We determined the cofactor preference of Go6PGDH at different 6-phosphogluconate concentrations, characterizing the wild-type enzyme and three-point mutants of residues in the cofactor binding site of Go6PGDH. Results: The structural comparison suggests that the 6PG binding site initially evolved by exchanging C-terminal α-helices between subunits. An internal duplication event changed the quaternary structure of the enzyme from a tetrameric to a dimeric arrangement. The phylogenetic analysis suggests that 6PGDHs have spread from Bacteria to Archaea and Eukarya on multiple occasions by lateral gene transfer. Sequence motifs consistent with NAD+- and NADP+-specificity are found in the β2-α2 loop of dimeric and tetrameric 6PGDHs. Site-directed mutagenesis of Go6PGDH inspired by this analysis fully reverses dinucleotide preference. One of the mutants we engineered has the highest efficiency and specificity for NAD+ so far described for a 6PGDH. Conclusions: The family 6PGDH comprises dimeric and tetrameric members whose active sites are conformed by a C-terminal α-helix contributed from adjacent subunits. Dimeric 6PGDHs have evolved from the duplication-fusion of the tetrameric C-terminal domain before independent transitions of cofactor specificity. Changes in the conserved β2-α2 loop are crucial to modulate the cofactor specificity in Go6PGDH.

Networks can represent a large number of systems. Recent advances in the domain of networks have been transferred to the field of neuroscience. For example, the graph model has been used in neuroscience research as a methodological tool to examine brain networks organization, topology and complex dynamics, as well as a framework to test the structure-function hypothesis using neuroimaging data. In the current work we propose a graph-theoretical framework to represent anatomical, functional and neuropsychological assessment instruments information. On the one hand, interrelationships between anatomic elements constitute an anatomical graph. On the other hand, a functional graph contains several cognitive functions and their more elementary cognitive processes. Finally, the neuropsychological assessment instruments graph includes several neuropsychological tests and scales linked with their different sub-tests and variables. The two last graphs are connected by relations of type "explore" linking a particular instrument with the cognitive function it explores. We applied this framework to a sample of patients with focal brain damage. Each patient was related to: (i) the cerebral entities injured (assessed with structural neuroimaging data) and (ii) the neusopsychological assessment tests carried out (weight by performance). Our model offers a suitable platform to visualize patients' relevant information, facilitating the representation, standardization and sharing of clinical data. At the same time, the integration of a large number of patients in this framework will make possible to explore relations between anatomy (injured entities) and function (performance in different tests assessing different cognitive functions) and the use of neurocomputational tools for graph analysis may help diagnostic and contribute to the comprehension of neural bases of cognitive functions.

The influence of carbonation on corrosion of reinforcement depends on the degree of ease of diffusion of CO2 through the concrete from its surface, also on environmental conditions, on the pore structure of concrete (cement, aggregates, and water (without additives)) and on the W / C, where a high ratio generates porous and permeable mortar and concrete (Duran C., 2003; Troconis O. et al., 2006). Permeability is not necessarily related to porosity, but depends on the geometry of the pores and the distribution of pore sizes: two porous bodies can have similar porosities but different permeability, so it is important to consider the penetration of CO2 into the concrete. If the concrete is not permeable, the attack will be relatively superficial and limited to the surface. The attack in concrete is governed by molecular diffusion, which is much slower than convection processes. The use of concrete with low permeability is the primary means to prevent or minimize the effects of external attack (Morin et al., 2001; Papadakis et al., 1992). A well-proportioned mix of aggregate, which follows a continuous grading curve will produce concrete of good workability, high cohesion and a reduced tendency to segregation. At the same time it will be slightly porous and therefore possess a prolonged durability. Superplasticizer additives added to the mix, filling the interstitial space between large particles, which can cause a high density, high strength and resilient material, with a smaller amount of mixing water (Erdogdu S., 2000; Morin et al., 2001). The main mechanism for CO2 transport in concrete is difusion, and with moisture, carbonation leads, a phenomenon to be considered from the viewpoint of durability of reinforced concrete (Carvajal et al., 2006). There are expressions that relate the diffusion coefficient of concrete with compressive strength, where increase of resistance, decrease of diffusion coefficient. Because the phenomenon of diffusion of gases is of long-term, resistance in ancient age must to be taken into account and not the resistance usually specified at 28 days.

La contaminacion de obras de hormigon armado por agentes quimicos agresivos ha sido y sigue siendo un problema grave y de gran relevancia en lo que respecta a la durabilidad y funcionalidad de estas, lo que genera gran preocupacion debido a la poca informacion existente sobre su efecto real y la forma en que se puede afrontar con el fin de otorgar seguridad a obras afectadas por los grandes enemigos del hormigon armado, como lo son los iones cloruro. Se consultaron normas extranjeras para obtener una metodologia de obtencion de muestra de hormigon para el posterior analisis del contenido de iones cloruro, ya que las normas chilenas no lo indican. Las normas ASTM C 42/C 42M – 04 “Standard Test Method for Obtaining and Testing Drilled Cores and Sawed Beams of Concrete” ASTM C 1218/C 1218M – 99 “Standard Test Method for Water-Soluble Chloride in Mortar and Concrete” y ASTM C 1152/C 1152M – 04 “Standard Test Method for Acid-Soluble Chloride in Mortar fueron de utilidad para la obtencion de una muestra representativa de hormigon para ser empleada en los analisis cuantitativos de iones cloruro Debido a la importancia de encontrar una metodologia para el analisis cuantitativo de este tipo de iones, se analizaron distintas normas que tienen relacion con el analisis de iones cloruro, tanto nacionales como extranjeras, y se ha podido comprobar que las formulas de calculo no son consecuentes pues no dan los mismos resultados (ASTM C-114 con NCh 1444 Of 80 y NCh1498 Of 82). Se ha analizado el contenido de cloruros de probetas de hormigon armado que fueron expuestas durante cinco anos al agua de mar, en condicion de semiinmersion, en San Antonio, Puertecito, V Region de Valparaiso, como tambien de probetas gemelas sometidas a ciclos de semiinmersion secado en laboratorio en camara acelerada, con el fin de comparar ambas situaciones, encontrandose una relacion entre estos. Palabras clave: Determinacion de cloruros, ambiente acelerado, ambiente real.