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This work investigated the feasibility of partially replacing minced pork with frozen-thawed konjac glucomannan (KGM)-zein composite gels. The effects of adding different levels (20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%) of frozen-thawed composite gels with different ratios between KGM and zein (8:1, 2:1, 1:2, and 1:8) to minced pork on its color, texture properties, and water-holding capacity (WHC) were studied. The results showed that the color, hardness, and springiness of minced pork with 20% frozen-thawed composite gels were not significantly different from those of pure minced pork, and the addition of frozen-thawed composite gels significantly enhanced the WHC. Changing the ratio of KGM to zein had no significant effect on the hardness, springiness or WHC of minced pork with 20% frozen-thawed composite gels. Therefore, the frozen-thawed composite gels have potential to partially replace minced pork in the preparation of low-fat meat products.

Objective: To investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice levels and perceived barriers towards healthy living to prevent hypertension among young adults in Malaysia. Methods: Adults aged 18-25 years reside in Malaysia were recruited via convenience sampling. Sociodemographic characteristics, medical knowledge on hypertension (K1), knowledge (K), attitude (A), practice (P) and perceived barriers in practising healthy living to prevent hypertension were assessed. Average scores were categorised into good (80%-100%), upper-moderate (70%-79%), lower-moderate (60%-69%) and poor (

ObjectiveIn this study, an animal model of granulomatous lobular mastitis was constructed using human granulomatous lobular mastitis specimen homogenates and a suspension of complete Freund's adjuvant.MethodsTwenty-five rats with a history of maternity were randomly divided into five groups with five rats each: a blank control group, Freund's adjuvant group, normal mammary homogenate group, low-dose lesion homogenate group, and high-dose lesion homogenate group. In the lesion homogenization groups, rats were injected with complete Freund's adjuvant homogenate prepared from granulomatous mastitis patient tissues, and the third and fourth pair of mammary gland injections were administered to the rats at 0.2 mL in the high-dose group and 0.1 mL in the low-dose group. The normal mammary gland homogenate group was injected with normal mammary gland tissue homogenate from patients with granulomatous mastitis. The blank control group was injected with saline. The Freund's adjuvant group was injected with complete Freund's adjuvant. The histomorphological and pathophysiological characteristics of the mammary tissues were observed for 14 days after the completion of modeling, and the effects of the granulomatous lobular mastitis model were compared.ResultsThe morphological changes and physiopathological characteristics of granulomatous lobular mastitis in the high- and low-dose groups were significantly different when compared with the blank control, Freund's adjuvant, and normal breast homogenate groups (P < 0.001).ConclusionHuman granulomatous lobular mastitis specimen homogenates and suspensions of complete Freund's adjuvant for granulomatous lobular mastitis can successfully establish an animal model of the disease and lead to insights and new ideas for the etiology of the disease.

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is an important hydrolase in cholinergic synapses and a candidate target in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The lithium treatment widely used in neurological disorders can alter the AChE activity, yet the underlying mechanism of how the ion species regulate the enzymatic activity remains unclear. In this work, we performed combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and well-tempered metadynamics to understand the modulation of human AChE (hAChE) activity using three alkali metal ions (Li+, Na+, and K+) in different concentrations. Our simulations show that the binding affinity and catalytic activity are affected by different ion species through allosteric ion coordination geometries on the hAChE complex and distant electrostatic screening effect. A Li+ cluster involving D330, E393, and D397 residues and three Li+ ions was found to be highly conserved and can be critical to the enzyme activity. Binding energy calculations indicate that the electrostatic screening from allosterically bound cations can affect the key residues at the catalytic site and active-site gorge, including E199. Furthermore, an increase in ion concentration can lead to lower reactivity, especially for Li+ ions, which exhibit more cation-hAChE contacts than Na+ and K+. The selective ion binding and their preferred modulation on hAChE are highly related to ion species. This work provides a molecular perspective on selective modulation by different ion species of the enzyme catalytic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warm-sector heavy rainfall (WR), shear-line heavy rainfall (SR), and frontal heavy rainfall (FR) are three types of rainfall that frequently occur during the pre-summer rainy season in south China. In this research, we investigated the differences in microphysical characteristics of heavy rainfall events during the period of 10-15 May 2022 based on the combined observations from 11 S-band polarimetric radars in south China. The conclusions are as follows: (1) WR has the highest radar echo top height, the strongest radar echo at all altitudes, the highest lightning density, and the most active ice-phase process, which suggests that the convection is the most vigorous in the WR, moderate in the FR, and the weakest in the SR. (2) Three types of rainfall are all marine-type precipitation, the massweighted mean diameter (Dm, mm) and the intercept parameter (Nw, mm-1m-3) of the raindrops in the WR are the largest. (3) The WR possesses the highest proportion of graupel compared with the FR and SR, and stronger updrafts and more abundant water vapor supply may lead to larger raindrops during the melting and collision-coalescence processes. (4) Over all the heights, liquid and ice water content in the WR are higher than those in the SR and FR, the ratio of ice to liquid water content in the WR is as high as 27% when ZH exceeds 50 dBZ, definitely higher than that in the SR and FR, indicating that the active ice-phase process existing in the WR is conducive to the formation of heavy rainfall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]