Pairing beer and food in social media: Is it an image worth more than a thousand words?

Food pairing has been widely studied to understand the patterns that explain how people pair different foods and ingredients and, therefore, to obtain successful pairings and good recommendations for consumers. Social media has become a common way of exchanging information; therefore, we proposed to use it as a tool for exploring beer-food pairing and eating behavior. Twitter and Instagram were selected as they are among the most popular platforms. Although texts from Twitter could provide an accurate verbal description of consumer's food experiences, Instagram could offer the possibility of exploring the consumption context through images, leading to a better understanding of consumers' eating behavior, with a focus on food and beverage combinations. We hypothesize that images from Instagram will provide further information than texts from Twitter, regarding beer-food pairing and consumption context. A social media study was performed in Mexico comparing texts vs. images, selected from a one-year period, and manually classified through content analysis. Foods extracted from images and texts were categorized into frequencies and analyzed using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and hierarchical clustering (AHC). MCA showed the most frequently mentioned foods paired with beer for each platform. Data extracted from images and texts about consumption context was also analyzed and categorized into frequencies according to several themes: consumption behavior, type of consumption, way of beer consumption, place of consumption, and consumption occasion. Data extracted from the two platforms was compared by using a chi-square test per theme. Several differences were found, depending on the social media platform, texts being the one with less extracted and meaningful information. In general, while texts provided less extracted and meaningful information, images offered more details regarding beer-food pairing and context of consumption, the same as beer information such as type, color, brand, and style. Overall, images gave more information on beer-food pairing compared to texts. The methods and results from this paper could be applied by culinary professionals, sommeliers, and researchers in the gastronomy and food and hospitality areas.acceptedVersio

Análisis de la soledad en los usuarios de la Residencia Santa Teresa de Cáritas en relación con su apoyo social y otros factores

El presente estudio trata sobre la soledad de las personas mayores en la Residencia Santa Teresa de Zaragoza. Además, pretendemos indagar sobre algunos de los factores que pueden influir en ella, así como el apoyo social, la aceptación del ingreso, red familiar, etc

Fallopian Canal Meningocele Causing Cerebrospinal Fluid Rhinorrhoea

Fallopian canal meningocele is an extremely rare cause of cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhoea. Also, due to complex anatomical relations and a lack of experience, its management remains a challenge. Here we report a case focusing on its clinical course, radiological features, and management

Proof-of-Concept Studies Directed toward the Formation of Metallic Ag Nanostructures from Ag3PO4 Induced by Electron Beam and Femtosecond Laser

In this work, for the first time, the instantaneous nucleation and growth processes of Ag nanoparticles on Ag3PO4 mediated by femtosecond laser pulses are reported and analyzed. The investigated samples are pure Ag3PO4sample, electron-irradiated Ag3PO4 sample, and laser-irradiated sample. Complete characterization of the samples is performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Rietveld refinements, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). XRD confirms that the irradiated surface layer remains crystalline, and according to EDS analysis, the surface particles are composed primarily of Ag nanoparticles. This method not only offers a one-step route to synthesize Ag nanoparticles using laser-assisted irradiation with particle size control, but also reports a complex process involving the formation and subsequent growth of Ag nanoparticles through an unexpected additive-free in situ fabrication process

Markers of endothelial damage in patients with chronic kidney disease on hemodialysis

Patients with Stage 5 chronic kidney disease who are on hemodialysis (HD) remain in a chronic inflammatory state, characterized by the accumulation of uremic toxins that induce endothelial damage and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Our aim was to examine microvesicles (MVs), monocyte subpopulations, and angiopoietins (Ang) to identify prognostic markers in HD patients with or without diabetes mellitus (DM). A total of 160 prevalent HD patients from 10 centers across Spain were obtained from the Biobank of the Nephrology Renal Network (Madrid, Spain): 80 patients with DM and 80 patients without DM who were matched for clinical and demographic criteria. MVs from plasma and several monocyte subpopulations (CD142+/CD16+, CD14+/CD162+) were analyzed by flow cytometry, and the plasma concentrations of Ang1 and Ang2 were quantified by ELISA. Data on CVD were gathered over the 5.5 yr after these samples were obtained. MV level, monocyte subpopulations (CD14+/CD162+ and CD142+/CD16+), and Ang2-to-Ang1 ratios increased in HD patients with DM compared with non-DM patients. Moreover, MV level above the median (264 MVs/µl) was associated independently with greater mortality. MVs, monocyte subpopulations, and Ang2-to-Ang1 ratio can be used as predictors for CVD. In addition, MV level has a potential predictive value in the prevention of CVD in HD patients. These parameters undergo more extensive changes in patients with DM.Support for this work was provided by Plan Nacional de IDi Proyectos de Investigación en Salud of Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)–Subdirección General de Evaluación, Fondos de desarrollo regional (FEDER; PI11/01536, PI12/01489, PI14/00806, PI15/01785); Junta de Andalucía grants (P010-CTS-6337, P11-CTS-7352); and Fundación Nefrológica. P. Buendía, A. Carmona, and C. Luna-Ruiz are fellows from Consejería de Innovacion, Ciencia y Empresa, Junta de Andalucía

Antigenic extracts of Leishmania braziliensis and Leishmania amazonensis associated with saponin partially protects BALB/c mice against Leishmania chagasi infection by suppressing IL-10 and IL-4 production

This study evaluated two vaccine candidates for their effectiveness in protecting BALB/c mice against Leishmania chagasiinfection. These immunogenic preparations were composed of Leishmania amazonensisor Leishmania braziliensisantigenic extracts in association with saponin adjuvant. Mice were given three subcutaneous doses of one of these vaccine candidates weekly for three weeks and four weeks later challenged with promastigotes of L. chagasiby intravenous injection. We observed that both vaccine candidates induced a significant reduction in the parasite load of the liver, while the L. amazonensisantigenic extract also stimulated a reduction in spleen parasite load. This protection was associated with a suppression of both interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-4 cytokines by spleen cells in response to L. chagasiantigen. No change was detected in the production of IFN-γ. Our data show that these immunogenic preparations reduce the type 2 immune response leading to the control of parasite replication

Pollination of Greenhouse Tomatoes by the Mexican bumblebee <i>Bombus ephippiatus</i> (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

The Mexican native bumblebee <i>Bombus ephippiatus</i> Say was evaluated as a potential pollinator of greenhouse tomatoes (<i>Solanum lycopersicon</i> L.). The experiments were performed at San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, Mexico, from June to December 2004 in two 1 000 m2 greenhouses planted with tomatoes of the cultivar Mallory (Hazera ®). For the experiments, we used two colonies of <i>Bombus ephippiatus</i>, reared in the laboratory from queens captured in the field. Four treatments were applied to 20 study plants: pollination by bumble bees, manual pollination, pollination by mechanical vibration and no pollination (bagged flowers, no vibration). We measured percentage of flowers visited by bumble bees, number of seeds per fruit, maturing time, sugar content, fruit weight and fruit shape. All available flowers were visited by bumblebees, as measured by the degree of anther cone bruising. The number of seeds per fruit was higher for bumble bee-pollinated plants as compared with plants pollinated mechanically or not pollinated and was not significantly different between hand-pollinated and bumble bee-pollinated plants. Maturation time was significantly longer and sugar content, fresh weight and seed count were significantly higher for bumblebee pollinated flowers than for flowers pollinated manually or with no supplemental pollination, but did not differ with flowers pollinated mechanically