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In order to inhibit the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) in roasted peanuts, six phenolic acids (caffeic acid, ferulic acid, 4-coumaric acid, vanillic acid, gallic acid and chlorogenic acid) were employed to impregnate raw peanuts before roasting, and the effects of the type and concentration of impregnation solutions on AGEs and HAAs formation during peanut roasting were studied in this work. The results showed that gallic acid and chlorogenic acid could significantly inhibit the formation of Nε-(carboxymethyl) lysine (CML) and Nε-(carboxyethyl) lysine (CEL) with an inhibition rate in the range of 14.7%–24.4% and 13.0%–22.7%, respectively. However, the other four phenolic acids had no inhibitory effect (P > 0.05). What’s more, the inhibitory effects of gallic acid and chlorogenic acid were concentration dependent. Three HAAs including 2-amino-1,6-dimethylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (DMIP), 1-methyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole (Harman) and 9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole (Norharman) were detected in roasted peanuts. All six phenolic acids could inhibit the formation of DMIP significantly (P 0.05). Ferulic acid and chlorogenic acid had a strong inhibition effect on the formation of 3 HAAs, but there was no obvious concentration dependence.

This study examines the impact of financial and industrial agglomeration on regional economic development through a descriptive analysis. By establishing an evaluation index system for financial agglomeration effects and constructing a spatial measurement model, we empirically investigate the dynamics between financial accumulation and economic growth. Our Analysis of 37 Chinese cities reveals that Moran’s I, indicating the spatial correlation of economic growth, varies between 0.300 and 0.410, suggesting a strengthening spatial correlation over time. These findings highlight the significance of financial agglomeration in regional economic development and suggest avenues for economic structure optimization.

With the help of cooperative game theory, this study constructs an integrated demand response economic game scheduling model for carbon trading, aiming to maximize collective and individual benefits. The model effectively reduces the system operating cost by adjusting the electricity price to incentivize PDR-VGU output. The impacts of price demand and integrated flexible operation demand on the coordination degree of carbon trading and the optimized dispatch results under different scenarios are analyzed in depth. It is found that when considering the carbon trading mechanism, the system operating cost and carbon emissions are reduced by RMB 2,129 and 9.63 tons, and RMB 2,350 and 11.96 tons, respectively, showing a win-win situation in terms of economy and environmental protection. In addition, the energy time-shift strategy implemented in the carbon capture power plant system effectively balances the peak-to-valley difference of thermal power output, further reducing the cost.

The creation of van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnets with tunable Curie temperature (TC) and magnetic anisotropy is essential in developing vdW magnet-based devices. Here, we report an effective and reliable method for modulating the magnetic properties of vdW Fe5GeTe2 by site-specific Ga+ implantation. In this study, we report an easy axis in the ab-plane for bulk Fe5GeTe2 (TC = 310 K) and an axis out of the plane for thin Fe5GeTe2 flakes (TC = 290 K). Combining element-resolved photoemission electron microscopy and spatially resolved magneto-optic Kerr microscopy, we find that the implantation of a tiny amount of 10−3 Ga+·Å−3 in Fe5GeTe2 greatly enhances the TC from 290 to 360 K and switches the magnetic easy axis from the out-of-plane c axis to the ab-plane. The room-temperature x-ray magnetic circular dichroism signal is enhanced from 0% to 9% at an implantation level of 10−2 Ga+·Å−3. These results provide new opportunities for tailoring the magnetic properties of vdW materials beyond room temperature.

BackgroundLiquid biopsies have become an integral part of cancer management as minimally invasive options to detect molecular and genetic changes. However, current options show poor sensitivity in peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). Novel exosome-based liquid biopsies may provide critical information on these challenging tumors. In this initial feasibility analysis, we identified an exosome gene signature of 445 genes (ExoSig445) from colon cancer patients, including those with PC, that is distinct from healthy controls.MethodsPlasma exosomes from 42 patients with metastatic and non-metastatic colon cancer and 10 healthy controls were isolated and verified. RNAseq analysis of exosomal RNA was performed and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by the DESeq2 algorithm. The ability of RNA transcripts to discriminate control and cancer cases was assessed by principal component analysis (PCA) and Bayesian compound covariate predictor classification. An exosomal gene signature was compared with tumor expression profiles of The Cancer Genome Atlas.ResultsUnsupervised PCA using exosomal genes with greatest expression variance showed stark separation between controls and patient samples. Using separate training and test sets, gene classifiers were constructed capable of discriminating control and patient samples with 100% accuracy. Using a stringent statistical threshold, 445 DEGs fully delineated control from cancer samples. Furthermore, 58 of these exosomal DEGs were found to be overexpressed in colon tumors.ConclusionsPlasma exosomal RNAs can robustly discriminate colon cancer patients, including patients with PC, from healthy controls. ExoSig445 can potentially be developed as a highly sensitive liquid biopsy test in colon cancer.

Exosomes are small, lipid-bilayer bound extracellular vesicles of 40-160 nanometers in size that carry important information for intercellular communication. Exosomes are produced more by tumor cells than normal cells and carry tumor-specific content, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins, which have been implicated in tumorigenesis, tumor progression, and treatment response. Due to the critical role of exosomes in cancer development and progression, they can be exploited to develop specific biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Since exosomes are present in various biofluids, such as blood, saliva, urine, and peritoneal fluid, they are ideally suited to be developed as liquid biopsy tools for early diagnosis, molecular profiling, disease surveillance, and treatment response monitoring. In the past decade, numerous studies have been published about the functional significance of exosomes in a wide variety of cancers, with a particular focus on exosome-derived RNAs and proteins as biomarkers. In this review, utilizing human studies on exosomes, we highlight their potential as diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers in gastrointestinal cancers.

The advent of van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials offers unprecedented opportunities for spintronics and magneto-optic devices. Combining magnetic Kerr microscopy and density functional theory calculations, the AFM-FM transition is investigated and a surprising abnormal magneto-optic anisotropy in vdW CrSBr associated with different magnetic phases (FM, AFM, or paramagnetic state) is discovered. This unique magneto-optic property leads to different anisotropic optical reflectivity from different magnetic states, permitting direct imaging of the AFM Néel vector orientation and the dynamic process of the AFM-FM transition within a magnetic field. Using Kerr microscopy, not only the domain nucleation and propagation process is imaged but also the intermediate spin-flop state in the AFM-FM transition is identified. The unique magneto-optic property and clear identification of the dynamics process of the AFM-FM phase transition in CrSBr demonstrate the promise of vdW magnetic materials for future spintronic technology.

IntroductionTumor agnostic circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is routinely used to guide treatment decisions in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, especially metastatic cancers. The amount of ctDNA detected in plasma is affected by stage, tumor burden, and tumor vascularization. We hypothesized that peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) is associated with lower ctDNA levels than other metastatic sites in GI cancers due to the plasma-peritoneal barrier.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective analysis of patients with stage II-IV GI cancers treated at our institution between 2015 and 2020 with available panel-based ctDNA results (Guardant 360TM). ctDNA analysis was performed on early and pretreatment samples. We compared the reported maximum variant allele frequency (mVAF) of somatic mutations across metastatic sites.ResultsOf the 279 patients with GI cancers (colorectal, upper GI, pancreaticobiliary), 212 had stage IV disease (PC: n = 61; visceral metastases: n = 138; other metastases: n = 13). Mean mVAF increased with increasing stages of disease (stage II: 3.6 ± 7; stage III: 6.4 ± 10; stage IV: 28.0 ± 51; p