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In this paper, we describe palaeoproteomic evidence obtained from a stained medieval birth girdle using a previously developed dry non-invasive sampling technique. The parchment birth girdle studied (Wellcome Collection Western MS. 632) was made in England in the late fifteenth century and was thought to be used by pregnant women while giving birth. We were able to extract both human and non-human peptides from the manuscript, including evidence for the use of honey, cereals, ovicaprine milk and legumes. In addition, a large number of human peptides were detected on the birth roll, many of which are found in cervico-vaginal fluid. This suggests that the birth roll was actively used during childbirth. This study is, to our knowledge, the first to extract and analyse non-collagenous peptides from a birth girdle using this sampling method and demonstrates the potential of this type of analysis for stained manuscripts, providing direct biomolecular evidence for active use.Automatic video tracking has become a standard tool for investigating the social behaviour of insects. The recent integration of computer vision in tracking technologies will probably lead to fully automated behavioural pattern classification within the next few years. However, many current systems rely on offline data analysis and use computationally expensive techniques to track pre-recorded videos. To address this gap, we developed BACH (Behaviour Analysis maCHine), a software that performs video tracking of insect groups in real time. BACH uses object recognition via convolutional neural networks and identifies individually tagged insects via an existing matrix code recognition algorithm. We compared the tracking performances of BACH and a human observer (HO) across a series of short videos of ants moving in a two-dimensional arena. We found that BACH detected ant shapes only slightly worse than the HO. However, its matrix code-mediated identification of individual ants only attained human-comparable levels when ants moved relatively slowly, and fell when ants walked relatively fast. This happened because BACH had a relatively low efficiency in detecting matrix codes in blurry images of ants walking at high speeds. BACH needs to undergo hardware and software adjustments to overcome its present limits. Nevertheless, our study emphasizes the possibility of, and the need for, further integrating real-time data analysis into the study of animal behaviour. This will accelerate data generation, visualization and sharing, opening possibilities for conducting fully remote collaborative experiments.Biodegradable nanoparticles have been well studied as biocompatible delivery systems. Nanoparticles of less than 200 nm in size can facilitate the passive targeting of drugs to tumour tissues and their accumulation therein via the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. Recent studies have focused on stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems (DDS) for improving the effectiveness of chemotherapy; for example, pH-sensitive DDS depend on the weakly acidic and neutral extracellular pH of tumour and normal tissues, respectively. In our previous work, core-shell nanoparticles composed of the biodegradable polymer poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and the widely used inorganic biomaterial hydroxyapatite (HAp, which exhibits pH sensitivity) were prepared using a surfactant-free method. These PLA/HAp core-shell nanoparticles could load 750 wt% of a hydrophobic model drug. In this work, the properties of the PLA/HAp core-shell nanoparticles loaded with the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel (PTX) were thoroughly investigated in vitro. Because the PTX-containing nanoparticles were approximately 80 nm in size, they can be expected to facilitate efficient drug delivery via the EPR effect. The core-shell nanoparticles were cytotoxic towards cancer cells (4T1). This was due to the pH sensitivity of the HAp shell, which is stable in neutral conditions and dissolves in acidic conditions. The cytotoxic activity of the PTX-loaded nanoparticles was sustained for up to 48 h, which was suitable for tumour growth inhibition. These results suggest that the core-shell nanoparticles can be suitable drug carriers for various water-insoluble drugs.Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as Group A Streptococcus (GAS), is a Gram-positive human-exclusive pathogen, responsible for more than 500 000 deaths annually worldwide. Upon infection, GAS commonly triggers mild symptoms such as pharyngitis, pyoderma and fever. However, recurrent infections or prolonged exposure to GAS might lead to life-threatening conditions. find more Necrotizing fasciitis, streptococcal toxic shock syndrome and post-immune mediated diseases, such as poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis, acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, contribute to very high mortality rates in non-industrialized countries. Though an initial reduction in GAS infections was observed in high-income countries, global outbreaks of GAS, causing rheumatic fever and acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis, have been reported over the last decade. At the same time, our understanding of GAS pathogenesis and transmission has vastly increased, with detailed insight into the various stages of infection, beginning with adhesion, colonization and evasion of the host immune system. Despite deeper knowledge of the impact of GAS on the human body, the development of a successful vaccine for prophylaxis of GAS remains outstanding. In this review, we discuss the challenges involved in identifying a universal GAS vaccine and describe several potential vaccine candidates that we believe warrant pursuit.In this work, a novel sodium-fluorescent crystal (Na-FS) was synthesized from 4-dimethylaminobenzoic acid and sodium hydroxide by one-pot hydrothermal method. The structure and conformation of Na-FS were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope, and the optical properties were studied by fluorescence spectrometer. The results showed that Na-FS was a triclinic crystal, space group was P-1, cell parameters a, b and c were 10.5113(3), 15.9198(5) and 15.9560(5) Å, respectively, and the number of independent atoms Z in a structure cell was two. Additionally, Na-FS has a blue fluorescence emission (around 360 nm under excited at the range of 230-300 nm) with great photostability and photobleaching resistance, and the quantum yield of Na-FS is 30.58%.