Effects of preheat treatment and syringic acid modification on the structure, functional properties, and stability of black soybean protein isolate.

This study investigated preheated (25-100°C) black soybean protein isolate (BSPI) conjugated with syringic acid (SA) (25 and 50 µmol/g protein) under alkaline conditions, focusing on the structure, functional properties, and storage stability. The results revealed that the SA binding equivalent and binding rate on BSPI increased continuously as the preheat temperature increased. Additionally, preheating positively impacted the surface hydrophobicity (H0) of BSPI, with further enhancement observed upon SA binding. Preheating and SA binding altered the secondary and tertiary structure of BSPI, resulting in protein unfolding and increased molecular flexibility. The improvement in BSPI functional properties was closely associated with both preheating temperature and SA binding. Specifically, preheating decreased the solubility of BSPI but enhanced the emulsifying activity index (EAI) and foaming capacity (FC) of BSPI. Conversely, SA binding increased the solubility of BSPI with an accompanying increase in EAI, FC, foaming stability, and antioxidant activity. Notably, the BSPI100-SA50 exhibited the most significant improvement in functional properties, particularly in solubility, emulsifying, and foaming attributes. Moreover, the BSPI-SA conjugates demonstrated good stability of SA during storage, which positively correlated with the preheating temperature. This study proposes a novel BSPI-SA conjugate with enhanced essential functional properties, underscoring the potential of preheated BSPI-SA conjugates to improve SA storage stability. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Preheated BSPI-SA conjugates can be used as functional ingredients in food or health products. In addition, preheated BSPI shows potential as a candidate for encapsulating and delivering hydrophobic bioactive compounds.

Dual-Mechanism-Driven Ratiometric Electrochemiluminescent Biosensor for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Design of a ratiometric method is a promising pathway to improve the sensitivity and reliability of electrochemiluminescent (ECL) assay, for which the signals produced at two distinct potentials change reversely as it is applied to the target analyte. Herein, a biosensor for ECL assay of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was constructed by immobilizing porcine IgG for capturing MRSA onto an electrode that was precoated with ß-cyclodextrin-conjugated luminol nanoparticles (ß-CD-Lu NPs) as an anodic luminophore. MOF PCN 224 loaded with an atomically distributed Zn element (PCN 224/Zn) was conjugated with phage recombinant cellular-binding domain (CBD) to act as a cathodic luminophore for tracing MRSA. After the formation of the sandwich complex of ß-CD-Lu NPs-porcine IgG/MRSA/PCN 224/Zn-CBD on the biosensor, two ECL reactions were triggered with cyclic voltammetry. The anodic process of the ß-CD-Lu NPs-H2O2 system and the cathodic process of the PCN 224/Zn-S2O82- system competed to react with reactive oxygen species (ROS) for producing ECL emission, which led to a reverse change of the two signals. Meanwhile, the overlap of the ß-CD-Lu NPs emission spectrum and PCN 224/Zn absorption spectrum effectively triggered ECL resonance energy transfer between the donor (ß-CD-Lu NPs) and the acceptor (PCN 224/Zn). Thus, a ratiometric ECL method was proposed for assaying MRSA with a dual-mechanism-driven mode. The detection limit for assaying MRSA is as low as 12 CFU/mL. The biosensor was applied to assay MRSA in various biological samples with recoveries ranging from 84.9 to 111.3%.

Wavelength-division multiplexing optical Ising simulator enabling fully programmable spin couplings and external magnetic fields.

Recently various physical systems have been proposed for modeling Ising spin Hamiltonians appealing to solve combinatorial optimization problems with remarkable performance. However, how to implement arbitrary spin-spin interactions is a critical and challenging problem in unconventional Ising machines. Here, we propose a general gauge transformation scheme to enable arbitrary spin-spin interactions and external magnetic fields as well, by decomposing an Ising Hamiltonian into multiple Mattis-type interactions. With this scheme, a wavelength-division multiplexing spatial photonic Ising machine (SPIM) is developed to show the programmable capability of general spin coupling interactions. We exploit the wavelength-division multiplexing SPIM to simulate three spin systems: ±J models, Sherrington-Kirkpatrick models, and only locally connected J1-J2 models and observe the phase transitions. We also demonstrate the ground-state search for solving Max-Cut problem with the wavelength-division multiplexing SPIM. These results promise the realization of ultrafast-speed and high-power efficiency Boltzmann sampling to a generalized large-scale Ising model.

Layer Growth Inhibiting Strategy for Superior-Loading Atomic Metal Sites on Ultrathin Layered Double Hydroxides as the Efficient Chemiluminescence Probes.

Owing to the remarkable catalytic attributes, single-atom catalysts (SACs) have exhibited promising application prospects as the substitutes of natural enzymes. However, the low loading amount of atomic sites on typical SACs (no more than 5 wt %) significantly restricts their increased capability. Hereby, a layer growth inhibitor protocol was attempted to optimize anchoring isolated Co atoms efficiently on ultrathin monolayer layered double hydroxides (LDHs). Superior to the conventional multiple-layer LDHs, the synthesized monolayer LDHs (7.29 nm-thick) served as the emerging support for dispersing substantial active sites and featured a dramatic loading content of 32.5 wt %. Through X-ray absorption spectroscopy, the atomically dispersed active centers on Co SACs were verified as Co-N4 moieties. The results of radical scavenger experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy showed that Co SACs were favorable to the high yield of reactive oxygen species originating from the decomposition of H2O2. Therefore, Co SACs functioned as a sensitive enhancer to drastically boost the luminol-H2O2 chemiluminescence intensity by ∼4713-fold, which excelled drastically over these previously reported SACs. Furthermore, Co SACs were adopted as chemiluminescent probes for the quantitation of chlorothalonil, wherein a low detection limit of 49 pg mL-1 (3σ) was achieved. Additionally, the successful application in recovery trials demonstrated the favorable feasibility of Co SACs. The facile layer growth inhibitor protocol affords SACs with improved loading properties and even superior catalytic performances for sensitive luminescent bioassays.

Topologically crafted spatiotemporal vortices in acoustics.

Vortices in fluids and gases have piqued the human interest for centuries. Development of classical-wave physics and quantum mechanics highlighted wave vortices characterized by phase singularities and topological charges. In particular, vortex beams have found numerous applications in modern optics and other areas. Recently, optical spatiotemporal vortex states exhibiting the phase singularity both in space and time have been described. Here, we report the topologically robust generation of acoustic spatiotemporal vortex pulses. We utilize an acoustic meta-grating with broken mirror symmetry which exhibits a topological phase transition with a pair of phase singularities with opposite topological charges emerging in the momentum-frequency domain. We show that these vortices are topologically robust against structural perturbations of the meta-grating and can be employed for the generation of spatiotemporal vortex pulses. Our work paves the way for studies and applications of spatiotemporal structured waves in acoustics and other wave systems.

Humidity Sensor Composed of Laser-Induced Graphene Electrode and Graphene Oxide for Monitoring Respiration and Skin Moisture.

Respiratory rate and skin humidity are important physiological signals and have become an important basis for disease diagnosis, and they can be monitored by humidity sensors. However, it is difficult to employ high-quality humidity sensors on a broad scale due to their high cost and complex fabrication. Here, we propose a reliable, convenient, and efficient method to mass-produce humidity sensors. A capacitive humidity sensor is obtained by ablating a polyimide (PI) film with a picosecond laser to produce an interdigital electrode (IDE), followed by drop-casting graphene oxide (GO) as a moisture-sensitive material on the electrode. The sensor has long-time stability, a wide relative humidity (RH) detection range from 10% to 90%, and high sensitivity (3862 pF/%RH). In comparison to previous methods, the technology avoids the complex procedures and expensive costs of conventional interdigital electrode preparation. Furthermore, we discuss the effects of the electrode gap size and the amount of graphene oxide on humidity sensor performance, analyze the humidity sensing mechanism by impedance spectrum, and finally perform the monitoring of human respiratory rate and skin humidity change in a non-contact manner.

Progress and Challenges Toward Effective Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells.

The demand for building-integrated photovoltaics and portable energy systems based on flexible photovoltaic technology such as perovskite embedded with exceptional flexibility and a superior power-to-mass ratio is enormous. The photoactive layer, i.e., the perovskite thin film, as a critical component of flexible perovskite solar cells (F-PSCs), still faces long-term stability issues when deformation occurs due to encountering temperature changes that also affect intrinsic rigidity. This literature investigation summarizes the main factors responsible for the rapid destruction of F-PSCs. We focus on long-term mechanical stability of F-PSCs together with the recent research protocols for improving this performance. Furthermore, we specify the progress in F-PSCs concerning precise design strategies of the functional layer to enhance the flexural endurance of perovskite films, such as internal stress engineering, grain boundary modification, self-healing strategy, and crystallization regulation. The existing challenges of oxygen-moisture stability and advanced encapsulation technologies of F-PSCs are also discussed. As concluding remarks, we propose our viewpoints on the large-scale commercial application of F-PSCs.

Highly efficient and stable near-infrared photodetectors enabled from passivated tin-lead hybrid perovskites.

Tin-lead perovskite-based photodetectors have a wide light-absorption wavelength range, which spans 1000 nm. However, the preparation of the mixed tin-lead perovskite films faces two great obstacles, namely easy oxidation of Sn2+to Sn4+and fast crystallization from tin-lead perovskite precursor solutions, thus further resulting in poor morphology and high density of defects in tin-lead perovskite films. In this study, we demonstrated a high-performance of near-infrared photodetectors prepared from a stable low-bandgap (MAPbI3)0.5(FASnI3)0.5film modified with 2-fluorophenethylammonium iodide (2-F-PEAI). The addition engineering can efficiently improve the crystallization of (MAPbI3)0.5(FASnI3)0.5films through the coordination binding between Pb2+and N atom in 2-F-PEAI, and resulting in a uniform and dense (MAPbI3)0.5(FASnI3)0.5film. Moreover, 2-F-PEAI suppressed Sn2+oxidation and effectively passivated defects in the (MAPbI3)0.5(FASnI3)0.5film, thereby significantly reducing the dark current in the PDs. Consequently, the near-infrared photodetectors showed a high responsivity with a specific detectivity of over 1012Jones at 800 to near-1000 nm. Additionally, the stability of PDs incorporated with 2-F-PEAI has been significantly improved under air conditions, and the device with the 2-F-PEAI ratio of 400:1 retained 80% of its initial efficiency after 450 h storage in air without encapsulation. Finally, 5 × 5 cm2photodetector arrays were fabricated to demonstrate the potential utility of the Sn-Pb perovskite photodetector in optical imaging and optoelectronic applications.

Characteristics of composite gels composed of citrus insoluble nanofiber and amylose and their potential to be used as fat replacers.

Here, we prepared novel composite gels composed of citrus insoluble nanofiber and amylose, and examined their potential to be used as fat replacers and inhibit lipid digestion. We further evaluated the effect of different nanofiber/amylose ratios on the texture, thermal stability, water distribution, microstructure and lipid digestion of the composite gels. The addition of nanofiber improved the hardness, gumminess, viscoelasticity, thermal stability, and water-holding capacity of the composite gels, as well as strengthen their interpenetrating three-dimensional network. The gel prepared at a nanofiber/amylose ratio of 1:4 could provide an oral sensory perception similar to that of cream and therefore can be used as a potential fat replacer. Moreover, the emulsion stabilized by nanofiber/amylose could well inhibit lipid digestion, and the nanofiber/amylose ratio of 1:4 could achieve the minimum release amount of free fatty acids (55.81%). These findings provide a reference for the development of potential fat replacers.

Effects of different particle-sized insoluble dietary fibre from citrus peel on adsorption and activity inhibition of pancreatic lipase.

Insoluble dietary fibre from citrus peels (CIDF) was found to have adsorption and inhibitory effect on the activity of pancreatic lipase (PL). CIDF-400 exhibited the greatest adsorption and activity inhibition effect on PL. The fluorescence quenching spectra indicated that CIDF could quench PL through a dynamic quenching process induced by the electrostatic interactions with only one binding site between them. The synchronous fluorescence and three-dimensional fluorescence spectra showed that CIDF might combine with PL to induce the increase in hydrophobicity and the reduction in polarity of tyrosine (Tyr) and tryptophan (Try) residues, which further led to the conformational alternations of PL. Moreover, circular dichroism (CD) showed that CIDF altered the secondary structure of PL, decreased α-helical structure content, and increased ß-sheet structure content, potentially resulting in PL structure opening and its active site exposure. This study provides new perspectives for the application of CIDFs produced from agricultural waste in regulating lipid metabolism.

Changes in phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities of "nine steaming nine sun-drying" black soybeans before and after in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion.

Black soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is rich in phenolic compounds, and processing technology has a significant effect on the content and activity of phenolic compounds. However, the mechanism of nine steaming and nine sun-drying processing technique is not fully understood. This paper presents the changes of phenolics content, phenolic acids composition and their influence on antioxidant activity before and after in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion of black soybeans (BS) under the process of nine steaming nine sun-drying. Results showed that the total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoids content (TFC) in BS were reduced by the heat treatment method, and exhibited a decreasing trend with more steaming and sun-drying cycle. During in vitro digestion, the contents and bioaccessibility of 12 phenolic acids (PA-12) in BS were highest in the stomach, followed by mouth and the intestine. The bioaccessibility of PA-12 in steamed and sun-dried BS was higher than that of raw black soybeans (S0D0) after digestion. It reached maximum after digestion at the third steaming and sun-drying cycle (i.e. S3D3), wherein the phenolic acids with the highest bioaccessibility were syringic acid, gallic acid, ferulic acid and chlorogenic acid. Syringic acid, in particular, increased significantly during digestion compared with that before digestion, which also increased during processing. The antioxidant activity of in vitro digested BS products with appropriate steaming and sun-drying degree increased compared with S0D0. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the in vitro digestion-induced properties of steamed and sun-dried BS could be well distinguished. The results confirm that the phenolic compounds and bioaccessibility of nine steamed nine sun-dried BS must be taken into account when assessing the improvement of human health.

Impact of Germinated Brown Rice and Brown Rice on Metabolism, Inflammation, and Gut Microbiome in High Fat Diet-Induced Insulin Resistant Mice.

The constituents of germinated brown rice (GBR), brown rice (BRR), and white rice (WHR) and their impact on metabolism, inflammation, and gut microbiota in high fat (HF) diet-fed mice were examined. The contents of total fiber and γ-aminobutyric acid in BRR and GBR were higher than that in WHR (p < 0.05). Male C57 BL/6J mice received HF diet+26 g% of WHR, BRR, or GBR for 12 weeks. BRR and GBR comparably reduced HF diet-induced increases in fasting plasma glucose, lipids, insulin resistance, and inflammatory markers compared to WHR (p < 0.01). The abundance of fecal Bacteroidetes in mice fed HF+GBR or HF+BRR was higher than in HF+WHR-fed mice (p < 0.05). The abundance of fecal Lactobacillus gasseri in GBR-fed mice was greater than that in WHR- or BRR-fed mice (p < 0.05). The results indicated that GBR or BRR attenuated hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and inflammation in mice. HF+GBR, but not HF+BRR, increased a probiotic bacteria in the gut.

CoN4-supported Co2N metal clusters for developing sensitive chemiluminescent immunochromatographic assays.

In view of the optimal catalytic efficiency (∼100%), single-atom site catalysts are being widely exploited in a range of areas including organic synthesis, energy conversion, environmental remediation, biotherapy, etc. However, low loading ratio of the unitary active sites on single-atom site catalysts dramatically hinders the remarkable improvement of their catalytic activity. Hereby, a facile low-temperature reduction protocol was adopted for synthesizing CoN4-supported Co2N metal clusters on graphitic carbon nitride, which show the remarkably superior chemiluminescent (CL) catalytic capacity than some reported pure single-atom site catalysts. Nitrogen-encapsulated Co2N clusters coupled with isolated Co-N4 moieties (Co2N@Co-N4) endowed the synergetic catalysts with high Co content of 53.2 wt%. Through X-ray absorption spectroscopy, the synergetic active sites (Co2N@Co-N4) afforded the CoN4-supported Co2N clusters with the remarkable catalytic activity for accelerating the decomposition of H2O2 to produce extensive superoxide radical anion rather than singlet oxygen or hydroxyl radical. Therefore, the CoN4-supported Co2N clusters possessed the superb enhancement effect on luminol-H2O2 CL reaction by ∼22829 times. The CoN4-supported Co2N clusters were utilized as signal probes to establish a CL immunochromatographic assay (ICA) platform for quantitating mycotoxins. Herein, aflatoxin B1 was employed as a mode analyte and the limit of detection was as low as 0.33 pg mL-1 (3σ). As a proof-of-principle work, the developed ICA protocol was successfully employed on the detection of aflatoxin B1 spiked in Angelica dahurica and Ganoderma lucidum with acceptable recoveries of 84.0-107.0%. The ideal practicability of the work elucidates that CoN4-supported Co2N clusters showed a new perspective for developing the sensitive CL biosensing.

Photo-assisted reductive cleavage and catalytic hydrolysis-mediated persulfate activation by mixed redox-couple-involved CuFeS2 for efficient trichloroethylene oxidation in groundwater.

Persulfate (PS, S2O82-) activation through transition metal sulfides (TMS) has gained increasing attention since it can decompose a wide variety of refractory halogenated organic compounds in groundwater and wastewater. However, the processes of PS activation by TMS and particularly the formation of •OH radical under anoxic and acidic conditions (pH ∼2.8) remain elusive. Herein, by employing mixed redox-couple-involved chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) (150 mg/L) nanoparticles for PS (3.0 mM) activation, 96% of trichloroethylene was degraded within 120 min at pH 6.8 under visible light irradiation. The combination of experimental studies and theoretical calculations suggested that the Cu(I)/Fe(III) mixed redox-couple in CuFeS2 plays a crucial role to activate PS. Cu(I) acted as an electron donor to transfer electron to Fe(III), then Fe(III) served as an electron transfer bridge as well as a catalytic center to further donate this received electron to the O-O bond of PS, thus yielding SO4•- for trichloroethylene oxidation. Moreover, for the first time, •OH radicals were found to form from the catalytic hydrolysis of PS onto CuFeS2 surface, where S2O82- anion was hydrolyzed to yield H2O2 and these ensuing H2O2 were further transformed into •OH radicals via photoelectron-assisted O-O bond cleavage step. Our findings offer valuable insights for understanding the mechanisms of PS activation by redox-couple- involved TMS, which could promote the design of effective activators toward PS decomposition for environmental remediation.

Graphitic-N-doped graphene quantum dots for photothermal eradication of multidrug-resistant bacteria in the second near-infrared window.

Developing efficient therapeutic strategies for combating bacterial infection remains a challenge owing to the indiscriminate utilization of antibiotics and the prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. Herein, highly graphitic-N-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) with efficient NIR-II photothermal conversion properties were synthesized for the first time for photothermal antibacterial therapy. The obtained N-GQDs exhibited strong NIR absorption ranging from 700 to 1200 nm, achieving high photothermal conversion efficiency of 77.8% and 50.4% at 808 and 1064 nm, respectively. Outstanding antibacterial and antibiofilm activities against MDR bacteria (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA) were achieved by the N-GQDs in the presence of an 808 or 1064 nm laser. In vivo investigations verified that the generation of hyperthermia by N-GQDs plus a NIR-II laser can combat MDR bacterial infections and thus significantly accelerate wound healing. Our work provides a novel carbon-based nanomaterial as a photothermal antibacterial agent for efficiently avoiding bacterial resistance and fighting MDR bacterial infections.

Overexpression of IncRNA TPT1-AS1 Suppresses Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Proliferation by Downregulating CDK2.

TPT1 Antisense RNA 1 (TPT1-AS1) is a recently identified tumor oncogenic long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in ovarian cancer and cervical cancer. This study was carried out to study the role of lncRNA TPT1-AS1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Samples of HCC and non-tumor tissues derived from 62 HCC patients were subjected to RNA isolation and reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction to detect the differential expression of TPT1-AS1 and cyclin dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) in HCC. Correlations between the expression of TPT1-AS1 and CDK2 were analyzed by linear regression. TPT1-AS1 and CDK2 were overexpressed in SNU-398 and SU.86.86 cells to explore their relationship. The role of TPT1-AS1 and CDK2 in regulating the cell cycle progression and proliferation of SNU-398 and SU.86.86 cells was explored by cell cycle assay and cell proliferation assay, respectively. In addition, xenograft tumor formation was also carried out to further verify the TPT1-AS1 role in HCC in vivo. It was found that TPT1-AS1 was downregulated in HCC and inversely correlated with CDK2. The expression of TPT1-AS1 in HCC tissues was not affected by age, sex, AFP, HBV, HCV, and cirrhosis infection but was downregulated by clinical stages. In HCC cells, overexpression of TPT1-AS1 mediated the downregulation of CDK2, while silencing of TPT1-AS1 mediated the upregulation of CDK2. In cell proliferation assay, overexpression of TPT1-AS1 mediated the decreased proliferation rates, while silencing of TPT1-AS1 mediated the increased proliferation rates of HCC cells, while overexpression of CDK2 played an opposite role. In addition, overexpression of TPT1-AS1 reduced tumor growth in vivo. Therefore, overexpression of TPT1-AS1 may suppress HCC cell proliferation by downregulating CDK2.

The effect of particle size and mass ratio on the mechanical response of Al/PTFE/SiC composite with a 23 factorial design.

In order to study the effects of different SiC mass ratios, SiC particle sizes and Al particle sizes on the mechanical response of Al/PTFE/SiC, an experiment was conducted through the full 23 factorial design. The specimens were prepared by means of molding-vacuum sintering, while the mechanical response of the materials was measured through quasi-static compression. The regression models between failure stress, failure strain and various factors were established respectively and then verified through the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and residual analysis. Besides, the relationship between factors and response as well as that between factors were analyzed using response surface plots. According to the analytical results, the ultimate compressive strength of the material can be improved either by reducing the particle size of SiC and Al or increasing the mass ratio of SiC, while the ductility of the material can be enhanced by maintaining the interaction between SiC mass ratio and SiC particle size at high levels. The interaction effects are significant and can not be ignored, especially the interaction between SiC mass ratio and SiC particle size has an important impact on the mechanical responses, which shows that SiC has a greater influence than Al particles in the material system.

Effects of "nine steaming nine sun-drying" on proximate composition, protein structure and volatile compounds of black soybeans.

Nine steaming nine sun-drying is a traditional processing technology for food or medicinal materials. The dynamic changes of the proximate composition, protein structure and volatile compounds during nine-time steaming and sun-drying of black soybeans (BS) were studied. The proximate composition results showed that the content of protein, carbohydrate and fat of BS decreased after processing, whereas the relative content of amino acids remained basically unchanged. Protein structure was evaluated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (UV) and Fluorescence spectroscopy. FT-IR result revealed that the relative contents of ß-sheet and ß-turn of the secondary structure of black soybean protein isolate (BSPI) decreased but the relative contents of α-helix and random coil increased after steaming and sun-drying. The results of UV and fluorescence spectroscopy confirmed changes in the protein conformation. In addition, SPME-GCMS analysis demonstrated that hydrocarbons, alcohols and aldehydes were the main volatile compounds. The relative contents of 1-octen-3-ol and hexanal, which are the main sources of beany flavor decreased significantly compared with raw BS. Principal component analysis (PCA) results showed that the volatile compounds of nine steamed and nine sun-dried BS could be well distinguished during the process. These findings may therefore provide a scientific basis for the application of nine-time steamed and sun-dried BS in food industry and contribute to the understanding of process-induced chemical transformations in this ancient processing technique.

Effect of selenium biofortification on bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity in germinated black soybean.

Biofortification using inorganic selenium has become an effective strategy to enhance selenium content in crops. In the present study, the effects of selenium biofortification on the chemical composition and antioxidant capacity of black soybean (BS) during germination were studied. The contents of selenium, total sugar, vitamin C, γ-aminobutyric acid, total polyphenols, and total flavonoids in selenium biofortified germinated black soybeans (GBS-Se) significantly increased compared to germinated black soybeans (GBS). However, the contents of soluble protein, fat, and reducing sugar were decreased, while fatty acid composition was not significantly different between GBS and BS. HPLC analysis showed that 12 phenolic acids of all samples, which mainly existed in free forms. Their contents increased at low concentration of selenium and decreased along with the rise of selenium concentrations. The antioxidant activity of GBS-Se as analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis positively correlated with the accumulation of phenolic substances. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that GBS and GBS-Se were significantly different from BS. Moreover, the physicochemical indexes of GBS showed regularly changes with increasing selenium content, and those of GBS-Se50 and GBS-Se75 were significantly different from GBS. The results provide a systematic evaluation on the effect of selenium fortification on the germination of seeds and useful information for the development of Se-enriched functional foods. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The organic selenium black soybean (BS) produced by the germination method can be directly processed and eaten to improve human health. In addition, complexes of organic selenium, vitamin C, and γ-aminobutyric acid of germinated BS can be developed into functional substances and applied to food or health products as functional ingredient and/or natural antioxidant supplements.

Experimental Observation of Phase Transitions in Spatial Photonic Ising Machine.

Statistical spin dynamics plays a key role in understanding the working principle for novel optical Ising machines. Here, we propose the gauge transformation for a spatial photonic Ising machine, where a single spatial phase modulator simultaneously encodes spin configurations and programs interaction strengths. Using gauge transformation, we experimentally evaluate the phase diagram of a high-dimensional spin-glass equilibrium system with 100 fully connected spins. We observe the presence of paramagnetic, ferromagnetic, and spin-glass phases and determine the critical temperature T_{c} and the critical probability p_{c} of the phase transitions, which agree well with the mean-field theory predictions. Thus, the approximation of the mean-field model is experimentally verified in the spatial photonic Ising machine. Furthermore, we discuss the phase transition in parallel with solving combinatorial optimization problems during the cooling process and identify that the spatial photonic Ising machine is robust with sufficient many-spin interactions even when the system is associated with optical aberrations and measurement uncertainty.