Simulation of Food Folate Digestion and Bioavailability of an Oxidation Product of 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate

Generating bioavailability data from in vivo studies is time-consuming and expensive. In vitro simulation can help to investigate factors influencing bioavailability or facilitate quantifying the impact of such factors. For folates, an efficient deconjugation of polyglutamates to the corresponding monoglutamates is crucial for bioavailability and highly dependent on the food matrix. Therefore, the bioaccessibility of folates of different foodstuffs was examined using a simulated digestion model with respect to folate stability and the efficiency of deconjugation. For realistic simulated deconjugation, porcine brush border membrane was used during the phase of the simulated digestion in the small intestine. For a better understanding of folate behaviour during digestion, single folate monoglutamates were also investigated with this in vitro digestion model. The results for bioaccessibility were compared with data from a human bioavailability study. They support the idea that both stability and deconjugation have an influence on bioaccessibility and thus on bioavailability. Tetrahydrofolate is probably lost completely or at least to a high extent and the stability of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate depends on the food matrix. Additionally, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate can be oxidised to a pyrazino-s-triazine (MeFox), whose absorption in the human intestinal tract was shown tentatively

A utilização dos materiais no Design e a competitividade da indústria moveleira da região metropolitana de Curitiba: um estudo de caso

O trabalho faz uma análise da utilização dos domínios e estratégias do Design e a sua relação com a competitividade do segmento moveleiro da Região Metropolitana de Curitiba em função da utilização dos materiais na criação, desenvolvimento e implementação do Design. A operacionalização da pesquisa se realizou mediante um estudo de caso, tendo como suporte teórico as variáveis: Design, materiais e competitividade. Para estabelecer um padrão de relacionamento entre as variáveis foram levantados os fatores de sucesso da competitividade da referida empresa e analisados à luz dos padrões de concorrência praticados na indústria de móveis. Para conjectura de explicação do relacionamento entre competitividade e as outras duas variáveis, os dados obtidos na entrevista foram, na seqüência, expostos aos modelos; estratégias genéricas de Porter (1986) e estratégias do Design (1993). O resultado desta exposição nos possibilitou inferir que a empresa busca vantagem competitiva por meio da diferenciação, no primeiro modelo citado. E, no segundo caso, há uma predominância na utilização do conceito aperfeiçoado.The work makes an analysis of the utilization of Design's domains and strategies and its relationship with the competitiveness level of the furniture segment from the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba concerning the utilization of materials in the Design's creation, development and implementation. The research realization was supported by a case study. The work was mostly based on the theoretical support of the following variables: Design, materials and competitiveness. To set relationship standard among the variables, were raised the factors of the competitiveness success of enterprise. These factors were analyzed based on the competitiveness standards used in the furniture industry. To the conjecture of the relationship explication between competitiveness and the two other variables, the interview's data were, in the sequence, exposed to the models: Porter's generic strategies (1986) and the Design's strategies (1993). It was possible to infer from the result of this exposition that the enterprise searches competitive advantage by the differentiation in the former model. And in the second case, there is a predominance of the improved concept utilization