Plant cell walls: impact on nutrient bioaccessibility and digestibility

Cell walls are important structural components of plants, affecting both the bioaccessibility and subsequent digestibility of the nutrients that plant-based foods contain. These supramolecular structures are composed of complex heterogeneous networks primarily consisting of cellulose, and hemicellulosic and pectic polysaccharides. The composition and organization of these different polysaccharides vary depending on the type of plant tissue, imparting them with specific physicochemical properties. These properties dictate how the cell walls behave in the human gastrointestinal tract, and how amenable they are to digestion, thereby modulating nutrient release from the plant tissue. This short narrative review presents an overview of our current knowledge on cell walls and how they impact nutrient bioaccessibility and digestibility. Some of the most relevant methods currently used to characterize the food matrix and the cell walls are also described

An Inner Disk in the Large Gap of the Transition Disk SR 24S

We report new Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) Band 3 observations at 2.75 mm of the TD around SR 24S with an angular resolution of $\sim$0.11''$\times$ 0.09'' and a peak signal-to-noise ratio of $\sim24$. We detect an inner disk and a mostly symmetric ring-like structure that peaks at $\sim$0.32'', that is $\sim$37 au at a distance of $\sim$114.4 pc. The full width at half maximum of this ring is $\sim$28 au. We analyze the observed structures by fitting the dust continuum visibilities using different models for the intensity profile, and compare with previous ALMA observations of the same disk at 0.45 mm and 1.30 mm. We qualitatively compare the results of these fits with theoretical predictions of different scenarios for the formation of a cavity or large gap. The comparison of the dust continuum structure between different ALMA bands indicates that photoevaporation and dead zone can be excluded as leading mechanisms for the cavity formation in SR 24S disk, leaving the planet scenario (single or multiple planets) as the most plausible mechanism. We compared the 2.75 mm emission with published (sub-)centimeter data and find that the inner disk is likely tracing dust thermal emission. This implies that any companion in the system should allow dust to move inwards throughout the gap and replenish the inner disk. In the case of one single planet, this puts strong constraints on the mass of the potential planet inside the cavity and the disk viscosity of about $\lesssim$5 $M_{\rm{Jup}}$ and $\alpha\sim10^{-4}-10^{-3}$, respectively.Comment: Accepted to Ap

Cross-cultural differences in the practices of hotel managers: A study of Dutch and Belgian hotel managers

In the service sector there has been debate and research on whether it is the culture of the organization or that of the location that shapes hotel management practice - particularly given the internationalization of certain, mostly US-style practices. Here Myriam Jansen-Verbeke and Liesbet Steel of Rotterdam's Erasmus University report on a survey of hotel managers in Belgium and The Netherlands. Differences are slight, but whether this is because of a shared cultural background or a homogenizing organizational culture is not clear. Comparisons with a larger study of managers in 13 countries worldwide are made. Copyrigh

Annotation scheme for citation classification in scientific literature

El análisis de citas bibliográficas que usa variaciones de métodos de conteo provoca deformaciones en la evaluación del impacto. Para enriquecer el cálculo de los factores de impacto se necesita entender el tipo de influencia de los aportes de un investigador sobre el autor que los menciona. Para ello, se requiere realizar análisis de contenido del contexto de las citas que permita obtener su función, polaridad e influencia. El presente artículo trata sobre la definición de un esquema de anotación tendiente a la creación de un corpus de acceso público que sea la base de trabajo colaborativo en este campo, con miras al desarrollo de sistemas que permitan llevar adelante tareas de análisis de contenido con el objetivo planteado.Citation analysis that uses counting methods causes deformations in impact factor assessment. To enrich impact factor calculation is necessary to understand the kind of influence that the contributions of an author have over another´s work. For this purpose, it is required to perform citation content analysis to obtain its function, polarity and influence in a context within an article that mentioned it. In this paper, we focus in the definition of an annotation scheme aimed at creating a public access corpus that be the basis of collaborative work in this field, in order to develop citation content analysis to obtain criteria for impact evaluation

Le territoire syrien entre intégration nationale et métropolisation renforcée

L'article présente la structuration du territoire syrien depuis la révolution ba`thiste de 1963 et les politiques d'aménagement du territoire conduites par les régimes successifs, selon les trois impératifs de contrôle politique, d'intégration nationale et d'autosuffisance, énergétique et alimentaire. Il décrit les formes de métropolisation et de fragmentation territoriale qui accompagnent la libéralisation économique depuis 2000, avant de tracer une typologie régionale détaillée

In vivo metabolic imaging of Traumatic Brain Injury.

Complex alterations in cerebral energetic metabolism arise after traumatic brain injury (TBI). To date, methods allowing for metabolic evaluation are highly invasive, limiting our understanding of metabolic impairments associated with TBI pathogenesis. We investigated whether 13C MRSI of hyperpolarized (HP) [1-13C] pyruvate, a non-invasive metabolic imaging method, could detect metabolic changes in controlled cortical injury (CCI) mice (n = 57). Our results show that HP [1-13C] lactate-to-pyruvate ratios were increased in the injured cortex at acute (12/24 hours) and sub-acute (7 days) time points after injury, in line with decreased pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity, suggesting impairment of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway. We then used the colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor inhibitor PLX5622 to deplete brain resident microglia prior to and after CCI, in order to confirm that modulations of HP [1-13C] lactate-to-pyruvate ratios were linked to microglial activation. Despite CCI, the HP [1-13C] lactate-to-pyruvate ratio at the injury cortex of microglia-depleted animals at 7 days post-injury remained unchanged compared to contralateral hemisphere, and PDH activity was not affected. Altogether, our results demonstrate that HP [1-13C] pyruvate has great potential for in vivo non-invasive detection of cerebral metabolism post-TBI, providing a new tool to monitor the effect of therapies targeting microglia/macrophages activation after TBI