Conformational changes induced by cellulose nanocrystals in collaboration with calcium ion improve solubility of pea protein isolate.

The low solubility of pea protein isolate (PPI) greatly limits its functional properties and its wide application in food field. Thus, this study investigated the effects and mechanisms of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) (0.1-0.4 %) and CaCl2 (0.4-1.6 mM) on the solubility of PPI. The results showed that the synergistic effect of CNC (0.3 %) and Ca2+ (1.2 mM) increased the solubility of PPI by 242.31 %. CNC and Ca2+ changed the molecular conformation of PPI, enhanced intermolecular forces, and thus induced changes in the molecular morphology of PPI. Meanwhile, the turbidity of PPI decreased, while surface hydrophobicity, the absolute zeta potential value, viscoelasticity, ß-sheet ratio, and thermal properties increased. CNC bound to PPI molecules through van der Waals force and hydrogen bond. Ca2+ could strengthen the crosslinking between CNC and PPI. In summary, it is proposed a valuable combination method to improve the solubility of PPI, and it is believed that this research is of great significance for expanding the application fields of PPI and modifying plant proteins.

Case report: Clinical, imaging, and genetic characteristics of type B niemann pick disease combined with segawa syndrome diagnosed via dual gene sequencing.

Niemann Pick disease B (NPB) often presents with hepatosplenomegaly and lung pathological changes, but it usually does not present with central nervous system symptoms. This report presents the unique case of a 21-year-old woman with a 10-year history of hard skin and hepatosplenomegaly. Genetic sequencing revealed NPB and also suggested Segawa syndrome. Although symptomatic supportive treatments were administered in an attempt to improve muscle tone and treat the skin sclerosis, their efficacy was not satisfactory, and the patient refused further treatment. This case provides several noteworthy findings. First, although NPB and Segawa syndrome are rare, both are autosomal recessive inherited diseases that share common clinical symptoms and imaging manifestations. Second, when NPB and Segawa syndrome are highly suspected, screening for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase-1 (SMPD1) gene mutations is critical to determine an accurate diagnosis. Finally, early diagnosis and comprehensive therapies are crucial for improving the prognosis of patients with NPB and Segawa syndrome.

To identify important MRI features to differentiate hepatic mucinous cystic neoplasms from septated hepatic cysts based on random forest.

OBJECTIVE: To identify important MRI features to differentiate hepatic mucinous cystic neoplasms (MCN) from septated hepatic cysts (HC) using random forest and compared with logistic regression algorithm. METHODS: Pathologically diagnosed hepatic cysts and hepatic MCNs with pre-operative contrast-enhanced MRI in our hospital from 2010 to 2023 were collected and only septated lesions on enhanced MRI were enrolled. A total of 21 septated HC and 18 MCNs were included in this study. Eighteen MRI features were analyzed and top important features were identified based on random forest (RF) algorithm. The results were evaluated by the prediction performance of a RF model combining the important features and compared with the performance of the logistic regression (LR) algorithm. Finally, for each identified feature, diagnostic probability, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated and compared. RESULTS: Four variables, i.e., the septation arising from wall without indentation, multiseptate, intracapsular cyst sign, and solitary lesion were extracted as top important features with significance for MCNs by the random forest algorithm. The RF model using these variables had an AUC of 0.982 (0.95CI, 0.950-1.000), compared with the LR model based on two identified features with AUC of 0.931 (0.95CI, 0.846-1.000), p = 0.202. Among the four important features, multiseptate had the highest specificity (95.2%) and good sensitivity (72.2%, lower than the septation from wall without indentation, 94.4%) to diagnose MCNs. CONCLUSION: Four out of 18 MRI features were extracted as reliably important factors to differ hepatic MCNs from septated HC. The combination of these four features in a RF model could achieve satisfactory diagnostic efficacy.

MRI quantitative assessment of the effects of low-carbohydrate therapy on Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Objective: Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an inflammatory disease, and research suggests that a low-carbohydrate diet may have potential anti-inflammatory effects. This study aims to utilize Dixon-T2-weighted imaging (WI) sequence for a semi-quantitative assessment of the impact of a low-carbohydrate diet on the degree of thyroid inflammation in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Methods: Forty patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis were recruited for this study and randomly divided into two groups: one with a normal diet and the other with a low-carbohydrate diet. Antibodies against thyroid peroxidase (TPOAb) and thyroglobulin (TgAb) were measured for all participants. Additionally, thyroid water content was semi-quantitatively measured using Dixon-T2WI. The same tests and measurements were repeated for all participants after 6 months. Results: After 6 months of a low-carbohydrate diet, patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis showed a significant reduction in thyroid water content (94.84 ± 1.57% vs 93.07 ± 2.05%, P < 0.05). Concurrently, a decrease was observed in levels of TPOAb and TgAb (TPOAb: 211.30 (92.63-614.62) vs 89.45 (15.9-215.67); TgAb: 17.05 (1.47-81.64) vs 4.1 (0.51-19.42), P < 0.05). In contrast, there were no significant differences in thyroid water content or TPOAb and TgAb levels for patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis following a normal diet after 6 months (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Dixon-T2WI can quantitatively assess the degree of thyroid inflammation in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Following a low-carbohydrate diet intervention, there is a significant reduction in thyroid water content and a decrease in levels of TPOAb and TgAb. These results suggest that a low-carbohydrate diet may help alleviate inflammation in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

A CT-based radiomics nomogram involving the cystic fluid area for differentiating appendiceal mucinous neoplasms from appendicitis with intraluminal fluid.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a radiomics nomogram based on computed tomography (CT) to distinguish appendiceal mucinous neoplasms (AMNs) from appendicitis with intraluminal fluid (AWIF). METHOD: A total of 211 patients from two medical institutions were retrospectively analysed, of which 109 were pathologically confirmed as having appendicitis with concomitant CT signs of intraluminal fluid and 102 as having AMN. All patients were randomly assigned to a training (147 patients) or validation cohort (64 patients) at a 7:3 ratio. Radiomics features of the cystic fluid area of the appendiceal lesions were extracted from nonenhanced CT images using 3D Slicer software. Minimum redundancy maximum relevance and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression methods were employed to screen the radiomics features and develop a radiomics model. Combined radiomics nomogram and clinical-CT models were further developed based on the corresponding features selected after multivariate analysis. Lastly, receiver operating characteristic curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to assess the models' performances in the training and validation cohorts. RESULTS: A total of 851 radiomics features were acquired from the nonenhanced CT images. Subsequently, a radiomics model consisting of eight selected features was developed. The combined radiomics nomogram model comprised rad-score, age, and mural calcification, while the clinical-CT model contained age and mural calcification. The combined model achieved area under the curves (AUCs) of 0.945 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.895, 0.976) and 0.933 (95% CI: 0.841, 0.980) in the training and validation cohorts, respectively, which were larger than those obtained by the radiomics (training cohort: AUC, 0.915 [95% CI: 0.865, 0.964]; validation cohort: AUC, 0.912 [95% CI: 0.843, 0.981]) and clinical-CT models (training cohort: AUC, 0.884 [95% CI: 0.820, 0.931]; validation cohort: AUC, 0.767 [95% CI: 0.644, 0.863]). Finally, DCA showed that the clinical utility of the combined model was superior to that of the clinical CT and radiomics models. CONCLUSION: Our combined radiomics nomogram model constituting radiomics, clinical, and CT features exhibited good performance for differentiating AMN from AWIF, indicating its potential application in clinical decision-making.

Insight into the solubilization mechanism of wheat gluten by protease modification from conformational change and molecular interaction perspective.

The low solubility limits the utilization of other functional characteristics of wheat gluten (WG). This study effectively improved the solubility of WG through protease modification and explored the potential mechanism of protease modification to enhance the solubility of WG, further stimulating the potential application of WG in the food industry. Solubility of WG modified with alkaline protease, complex protease, and neutral protease was enhanced by 98.99%, 54.59%, and 51.68%, respectively. Notably, the content of ß-sheet was reduced while the combined effect of hydrogen bond and ionic bond were increased after protease modification. Meanwhile, the reduced molecular size and viscoelasticity as well as the elevated surface hydrophobicity, thermostability, water absorption capacity, and crystallinity were observed in modified WG. Moreover, molecular docking indicated that protease was specifically bound to the amino acid residues of WG through hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interaction, and salt bridge.

Remodeling mechanism of gel network structure of soy protein isolate amyloid fibrils mediated by cellulose nanocrystals.

The differences in the gelling properties of soy protein isolate (SPI) and soy protein isolate amyloid fibrils (SAFs) as well as the role of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) in regulating their gel behaviors were investigated in this study. The binding of CNC to ß-conglycinin (7S), glycinin (11S), and SAFs was predominantly driven by non-covalent interactions. CNC addition reduced the particle size, turbidity, subunit segments, and crystallinity of SPI and SAFs, promoted the conversion of α-helix to ß-sheet, improved the thermal stability, exposed more tyrosine and tryptophan residues, and enhanced the intermolecular interactions. A more regular and ordered lamellar network structure was formed in the SAFs-CNC composite gel, which could be conducive to the improvement of gel quality. This study would provide theoretical reference for the understanding of the regulatory mechanism of protein amyloid fibrils gelation as well as the high-value utilization of SAFs-CNC complex as a functional protein-based material or food ingredient in food field.

Persistent Nocardia beijingensis infection in a patient with postoperative abscess and misuse of antibiotics in China.

Here we describe the first case of abscess infection caused by Nocardia beijingensis in China. The patient was immunocompetent but suffered from postoperative abscess for 6 years. This study highlights the necessity of long-term infected foci to be thoroughly examined to identify the pathogen, as well as the importance of accurate Nocardia identification and antimicrobial susceptibility tests for understanding the pathogen's epidemiology, clinical significance, and treatment strategy.