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The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a useful tool for detecting low quantities of sulfur dioxide at passively degassing volcanoes such as Lascar volcano, Chile. Two mini-UV spectrometers (MUSes) were used to make transects of Lascar volcano's sulfur dioxide plume on December 7, 2004, during a coordinated overpass of ASTER. SO burdens were retrieved using the thermal infrared channels of the acquired ASTER image. This allowed for a direct comparison between the two methods in order to validate the ASTER SO retrieval. The results were extremely encouraging with ASTER deriving SO fluxes within the range of fluxes obtained by the MUSe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence has suggested a genetic link between the HLA-DR4 phenotype and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), particularly in its seropositive form. Such an association varies among different ethnic groups and remains controversial for seronegative patients. Data obtained for a group of 64 Chilean patients with RA (46 seropositive, 18 seronegative), as defined by the 1987 criteria of the American Rheumatism Association, and for 76 controls are reported here. The prevalence of HLA-DR4 and DR9 was significantly increased in the group of patients considered as a whole. The prevalence of HLA-DR4 was not significantly higher, however, when seronegative and seropositive patients were separately compared with controls. Also, it did not correlate with the severity of the disease within each subgroup of patients. On the other hand, HLA-DR9 showed a highly significant difference, not previously described, only for the seropositive patients in comparison with controls. The prevalence of DQ specificities showed no relevant differences among the groups. The HLA-DR4 serotype, therefore, is a weak marker for RA and does not differentiate any subgroup of patients in the Chilean group studied. This new finding, indicating an association between RA and the DR9 antigen, may be explained by the suggestion that susceptibility epitopes are shared among different DR molecules. This hypothesis might also account for the variation in the association of DR4 with RA. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: A longstanding competition for fishery resources has existed in Chile between the South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) and artisanal (small-scale) fisheries. This competition is viewed as a conflict by the fishermen because sea lions prey on fish caught in their fishing gear, often causing its damage. The objective of the study was to describe the interaction between sea lions and fishermen, and to evaluate the effects of operational interference caused by sea lions on their artisanal fishery. Descriptions of the interactions cited were made during 69 observational trips on fishing vessels plus interviews of 384 fishermen. Evaluation of the interactions was based on minimum and maximum scenarios. Almost all the artisanal fishermen complained of frequent problems with sea lions, however, such interactions were observed in 14.5% of the observer trips on fishing vessels. The results showed that loss of catch due to sea lions, varied between 1.83 and 21.1% of the CPUE (under minimal) and from 1.98 to 33.8% (under maximal) interactive scenarios. Although proportions of interactive fishing events and number of sea lions were different between the locations studied, CPUE per fishing gear did not differ significantly between interactive and non-interactive fishing trips among the areas. Also, no significant relation was found between the numbers of sea lions interacting during the fishing trip and the CPUE. Our results suggest that sea lions do not produce a significant effect on variations in the CPUE obtained by artisanal fishermen. Nevertheless, these findings must be confirmed with more intensive monitoring. A cooperative design of a co-management plan, which considers biological, social, and economical features will contribute to make consensus within the stakeholders looking for management options with the aim of reducing the conflicts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Groundwater (GW) use has intensified in recent decades, threatening the ecological integrity of groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs). The study of GDEs is limited; therefore, integrated, interdisciplinary environmental approaches that guarantee their monitoring and management amid current climate and anthropogenic changes are needed. A new geospatial method with an integrated and temporal approach was developed through a multicriteria approximation, taking into account expert opinion, remote sensing-GIS, and fieldwork to map groundwater-dependent ecosystem zones (GDEZ). A survey of experts (N = 26) was conducted to assign degrees of importance to the various geospatial parameters, and the mapping was carried out using 14 parameters. The reclassified parameters were normalized on a scale of 1 to 5 according to the degree of probability of the presence of GDE. The validation was carried out through fieldwork and statistical analysis. Then, the spatio-temporal changes amid changing GW levels were assessed using the summer season normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Two GDEZ maps were obtained, for 2002 and 2017, between which the high- and very-high-probability zones of GDEs decreased by 31,887 ha (~ 38%). The most sensitive temporal parameters that most influenced the spatio-temporal changes on GDEs were precipitation and land use, with rain exerting a slightly the greatest influence. It was also demonstrated that identified ecosystems decreased in area or were affected by aquifer depletion (NDVI-GW, r Pearson ≥0.74). This validated method allows spatio-temporal changes in GDEs to be mapped and analyzed at an annual scale and is transferable to other arid and semi-arid environments., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aristotelia chilensis (Mol.) Stuntz, also known as maqui, is a plant native to Chile without chemical characterization and quantification of the bioactive compounds present in it. HPLC-UV and HPLC-MS/MS studies have shown the presence, at different concentrations, of phenolic and anthocyanin compounds in fruit and leave extracts of the domesticated maqui clones Luna Nueva, Morena, and Perla Negra. The extracts from leaves and unripe fruits of Luna Nueva and Morena clones significantly inhibit platelet aggregation induced by several agonists; the extracts inhibit platelet granule secretion by decreasing the exposure of P-selectin and CD63 at the platelet membrane. Reactive oxygen species formation in platelets is lower in the presence of maqui extracts. Statistical Pearson analysis supports the levels of phenolic and anthocyanin compounds being responsible for the antiaggregant maqui effects. This work is the first evidence of antiplatelet activity from Aristotelia chilensis giving added value to the use of leaves and unripe fruits from this species., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Background: Pharmaceutical follow-up consists on the detection, prevention, and resolution of drug-related problems (DRP) in a continuous, systematized, and documented way. DRP is a health problem connected to pharmacotherapy, which can interfere with the expected health outcomes in the patient., Aim: To make a pharmacotherapeutic surveillance in HIV/AIDS inpatients attended at "Hospital San Juan de Dios" throughout a year prospective study (January to December 2012)., Results: 88.6% (93/105) of patients were in stage AIDS with a median of CD4+ lymphocytes of 29 cells/mm³ and a viral load of 107,000 RNA copies/mL. The 16.2% were admitted to a intensive care unit ICU. 296 DRP (DRP 2.8 per patient) were detected, 72% of DRP (n; 213) were associated with treatment safety, 94 were adverse reactions, 19 required dose adjustments, and 6 interactions had a negative clinical impact; 23.3% (n: 69) experimented the necessity to add or remove a drug and 4.7% (n: 14) presented problems associated with effectiveness. A statistically significant relation was observed when associating the number of DRP with admittance to the ICU and the use of more than six drugs., Conclusion: The results allow the conclusion that inpatients present drug-related problems mainly related to toxicity, becoming risk factors for the development of them admittance to ICU, and concomitant use of more than 6 drugs.

Background: Iron deficiency is the most prevalent nutritional deficiency in the world, primarily affecting infants, young children, and women of childbearing age., Objective: To evaluate the impact of the National Complementary Feeding Program (NCFP) on anemia and iron status in Chilean children aged 11 to 18 months., Methods: Two studies were performed. The first study was performed at one public outpatient health center in Santiago, using data collected in 1999 (n = 128) and 2000 (n = 125), before and after the national introduction of iron-fortified milk. Subsequently, a study of a representative sample (n = 320) from the two most populated areas of the country was performed in 2009., Results: One year after fortification, the prevalence of anemia was 9%; significantly lower (p < .001) than the 27% prevalence observed 1 year before. Ten years after fortification, 14% of children were anemic and 77% of children with anemia (12% of all children) suffered from iron-deficiency anemia. In 2009, 11% of children consuming iron-fortified milk delivered by the NCFP (73%) were anemic, significantly lower (p = .028) than the 21% prevalence of anemia observed in children without consumption. Consumption of iron-fortified milk was positively associated with hemoglobin concentration (r = 0.28, p = .022) and was associated with a lower prevalence of anemia after adjusting for confounding factors (odds ratio, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.26 to 0.96)., Conclusions: In Chile, the NCFP has had an impact on the reduction of anemia and improved the iron status of children aged 11 to 18 months. Increasing the consumption of this iron-fortified milk could enhance the impact of the NCFP.

Background: In the Chilean AIDS Cohort, the 15.9% of the patients change the first scheme of HAART because of toxicity, which is also the cause of 47% suspensions of treatment occurred in the first months of therapy., Aim: To analyze the incidence and causality of adverse drug reactions in patients initiating or changing antiretroviral therapy., Materials and Methods: 92 patients who started or changed antiretroviral treatment in a period from May to July 2011 were followed to detect adverse drug reactions., Results: 75% (n: 69) of patients had at least one adverse event. From a total of 76 adverse drug reactions detected the most frequent ones were diarrhea (21.1%, n: 16) and hyperbilirubinemia (19.7% n: 15). 85.9% of the adverse events where grade depending on its seriousness, 34.1% had grade 1 toxicity, 32.9% grade 2, 9.4% grade 3 and only 3.5% grade 4. Only 22 patients (31.8%) required a treatment change. The most frequent causes for changing treatment were because of anaemia by AZT (45.4%, n: 10) and diarrhea associated with the use of LPV/r (27.3%, n: 6)., Conclusion: Knowing the real incidence rate of adverse drug reactions may help the health team giving proper management and monitoring of these reactions in the patient, in order to avoid an early change of HAART. Defining a multidisciplinary team which includes a pharmacist is essential for proper pharmacosurveillance.

We evaluated the possibility of deriving primary cell cultures from tissue biopsies taken in field conditions from six threaten endemic Chilean species of free-ranging mammals. Biopsies were taken either by ear punching or darts fired to animals and hold in hypothermic conditions (4 degrees C) in defined salt solution for time periods ranging from 0 to 7 d before biopsy samples reached the cell culture laboratory. Previously, holding times were evaluated in experimental cows in controlled conditions. Two enzymatic treatments, collagenase alone or collagenase followed by tripsin, were used to disaggregate tissues for cell culture. We found that ear notches and dart-derived biopsies can be storaged at 4 degrees C for 1 wk and still yield primary cultures. For dart-derived biopsies, there was an invert correlation between length of cold storage and cellular viability in culture. Healthy fibroblast cell lines were obtained in 92% of the biopsies taken despite the origin (punch or biopsy). We are not aware of similar study for free-ranging animals, especially for the use of darting system to biopsy wild terrestrial mammals, we believe that our results could help for a more widespread implementation of these procedures in the practice of ex situ conservation.

Background: The Ministry of Health of Chile and selected obesity specialized centers implemented an interdisciplinary pilot program for overweight adults at risk of diabetes to decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF)., Aim: To assess the results of this program., Patients and Methods: Beneficiaries of the public primary health system aged 18-45 years, with a body mass index (BMI) 25-38 kg/m(2) and fasting blood glucose 100-125 mg/dL or with any direct family member with T2D, were recruited. During the four months of the study, they were scheduled for three physician visits, four dietitian consultations, 14 physical activity sessions and four group workshops (two with a psychologist or therapist). In fasting blood samples, at the beginning and at the fourth month, glucose, insulin and lipids were determined. The Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index was calculated., Results: Two hundred-seventy-six patients were recruited and 160 (141 women), completed the four months of follow up. In this subgroup, at the start and end of the intervention, a BMI equal to or greater than 30 kg/m(2) was observed in 69% and 52% of subjects respectively, a systolic blood pressure equal to or greater than 140 mm Hg was observed in 24% and 6% respectively, a diastolic blood pressure equal to or greater than 90 mm Hg was observed in 28% and 9% respectively, a blood glucose equal to or greater than 100 mg/dL was observed in 61% and 19% respectively, a plasma insulin equal to or greater than 12,5 microUl/ml was observed in 49% and 34% respectively and a HOMA equal to or greater than 2.5 was observed in 63% and 42% respectively (all these comparisons are significant with a p <0.05)., Conclusions: In those patients that completed the follow up period, this intervention induced a significant decrease of some CVRF, such as BMI, fasting glucose levels and HOMA index.

Background: Gender must be considered in the design and implementation of health policies to safeguard equity and accomplish sanitary objectives., Aim: To identify gender perspective in the curricula of five health care careers in the Universidad Austral de Chile. To identify the situation of women in the teaching profile of such curricula., Material and Methods: An exploratory and descriptive study with a critical reading of the structure of the programs of 217 courses. Revision of official academic registries., Results: Gender is usually not included in the curricula of health care careers. The generic language conceals female academics and students. There was a scarce inclusion of cross sectional issues such as collaborative work, interpersonal and democratic relationship, equity and critical analysis. There were no differences in academic achievements between female and male students. The contractual profile of female academics reproduces the gender inequity of the work market., Conclusions: The inclusion of gender is a pending task in the training of health care professionals.

The precise and accurate measurement of total cholesterol is necessary to correctly identify hypercholesterolemia. The aim of this study was to assess the measurement of serum cholesterol in clinical laboratories using as acceptability criteria the recommendations of the "National Cholesterol Education Program" (that consider acceptable a deviation < 5% from the real value and ideal a deviation < or = 3%). In each of three assessments, three pools of lyophilized sera with different levels of cholesterol were used method. Twenty nine to 42.3% of laboratories had results within the ideal interval and 49.5 to 60% within the acceptable range of deviation. In the last assessment, only 17% of laboratories had their three values within the ideal range. Only 39.4% of laboratories use 200 mg/dl as the cut off point to diagnose hypercholesterolemia. It is concluded that the standardization of cholesterol measurement and the use of a common cut off point to diagnose hypercholesterolemia must be emphasized.

HLA antigens vary in different ethnical groups and in Chile there are no reports on the frequency of these antigens in a normal representative population. The few existing studies are of indigenous populations and control groups, without including HLA-DR antigens. Therefore, the aim of this study was to study the frequency of HLA A, B and C antigens in 349 individuals and HLA-DR in 257, using the microlymphocytotoxicity method, and compared the results with those on normal caucasian populations (Europe and USA). Significant differences were found for 7 antigens of group A, 10 of group B, 4 of group C and 6 of group DR. The observed difference allow us to conclude that the population from Santiago has a distinct HLA antigen distribution. This fact must be bore in mind future studies in genetics, paternity or autoimmune diseases.

Objective: The analysis of genetic markers of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a population in which the DR4 serotype is not strongly associated with the disease., Methods: Chilean RA patients (56 seropositive and 22 seronegative) and 141 controls were studied by serotyping. Southern blot analysis of Bam HI restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was done in genomic DNA from 46 patients with seropositive RA, 17 patients with seronegative RA, and 45 controls, using a complementary DNA probe specific for DRB1 genes., Results: The prevalence of the HLA-DR9 haplotype was strikingly higher in seropositive RA patients (21%) than in controls (3%) (Pcorr less than 0.0008, by Fisher's exact test; relative risk [RR] = 9.34). The prevalence of DR4 and DR1 haplotypes, although slightly increased, did not achieve a significant preponderance. The simultaneous presence of two Bam HI fragments (3.6 kb and 4.5 kb) was found with higher prevalence in seropositive patients (83%; RR = 9; Pcorr less than 0.00002) than in controls (36%), and seemed higher in seronegative RA patients as well (71%; RR = 4). Furthermore, its prevalence remained increased in comparisons of DR4 positive controls (36%) with DR4 positive seropositive patients (100%; RR = 67; Pcorr less than 0.0002) and DR4 positive seronegative patients (100%; RR = 36; Pcorr less than 0.006), even after excluding the DR9 positive individuals. A tendency toward higher association with DR1 seropositive RA patients (67%; RR = 12), a group with no DR4 or DR9 positive individuals, than in DR1 positive controls (14%), was also observed., Conclusion: The HLA-DR9 haplotype was definitively consolidated as a very strong genetic marker exclusively for seropositive RA in Chilean patients, as suggested by our previous observations. RFLP analysis showed that the simultaneous presence of 3.6-kb and 4.5-kb Bam HI fragments constituted a better RA marker than did any of the heretofore studied haplotypes. These fragments together would be linked to RA independently of the DR1, DR4, and DR9 haplotypes. The overall evidence indicates that Chilean seropositive RA patients display a genetic background that is different from that underlying RA susceptibility in other populations and suggests the existence of common, as well as distinct, genetic elements predisposing to seronegative and seropositive RA.