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Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is a major foodborne pathogen that causes salmonellosis mainly through contaminated chicken eggs or egg products and has been a worldwide public health threat since 1980. Frequent outbreaks of this serotype through eggs correlate significantly with its exceptional survival ability in the antibacterial egg white. Research on the survival mechanism of S. Enteritidis in egg white will help to further understand the complex and highly effective antibacterial mechanisms of egg white and lay the foundation for the development of safe and effective vaccines to prevent egg contamination by this Salmonella serotype. Key pathways and genes that were previously overlooked under bactericidal conditions were characterized as being induced in egg white, and synergistic effects between different antimicrobial factors appear to exist according to the gene expression changes. Our work provides new insights into the survival mechanism of S. Enteritidis in egg white.

Background Previous studies have focused on pregnancy outcomes after frozen embryo transfer (FET) performed using different endometrial preparation protocols. Few studies have evaluated the effect of endometrial preparation on pregnancy-related complications. This study was designed to explore the association between different endometrial preparation protocols and adverse obstetric and perinatal complications after FET. Methods We retrospectively included all FET cycles (n = 12,950) in our hospital between 2010 and 2017, and categorized them into three groups, natural cycles (NC), hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and ovarian stimulation (OS) protocols. Pregnancy-related complications and subsequent neonatal outcomes were compared among groups. Results Among all 12,950 FET cycles, the live birth rate was slightly lower for HRT cycles than for NC (HRT vs. NC: 28.15% vs. 31.16%, p < 0.001). The pregnancy loss rate was significantly higher in OS or HRT cycles than in NC (HRT vs. NC: 17.14% vs. 10.89%, p < 0.001; OS vs. NC: 16.44% vs. 10.89%, p = 0.001). Among 3864 women with live birth, preparing the endometrium using OS or HRT protocols increased the risk of preeclampsia, and intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) in both singleton and multiple deliveries. Additionally, OS and HRT protocols increased the risk of low birth weight (LBW) and small for gestational age (SGA) in both singletons and multiples after FET. Conclusion Compared with HRT or OS protocols, preparing the endometrium with NC was associated with the decreased risk of pregnancy-related complications, as well as the decreased risk of LBW and SGA after FET.

It has long been suggested that tropical species are generally more colourful than temperate species, but whether latitudinal gradients in organismal colourfulness exist remains controversial. Here, we quantify global latitudinal trends in colourfulness (within-individual colour diversity) by collating and analysing a photographic dataset of whole-body plumage reflectance information for >4,500 species of passerine birds. We show that male and female birds of tropical passerine species are generally more colourful than their temperate counterparts, both on average and in the extreme. We also show that these geographic gradients can be explained in part by the effect of several latitude-related factors related to classic hypotheses for climatic and ecological determinants of organismal colourfulness. Taken together, our results reveal that species' colourfulness peaks in the tropics for passerine birds, confirming the existence of a long-suspected yet hitherto elusive trend in the distribution of global biodiversity. Main text

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Recognizing the limitations of solid-supported lipid bilayers to reproduce the behavior of cell membranes, including bendability, transmembrane protein inclusion, and virus entry, this study describes a novel biomimetic system for cell membranes with the potential to overcome these and other limitations. The developed strategy utilizes a hydrogel with tunable mechanical behavior that resembles those of living cells as the soft support for the phospholipid bilayer, while a polyelectrolyte multilayer film serves as an intermediate layer to facilitate the self-assembly of the lipid bilayer on the soft cushion. Quartz crystal microbalance studies show that, upon coming into contact with the polyelectrolyte film, vesicles fuse and rupture to yield a robust lipid bilayer. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching confirms the formation of a membrane, while atomic force microscopy shows a low adhesion between the indenting probe and the bilayer. More importantly, in comparison to the solid-supported lipid bilayer, the response of this biomimetic system to nanoindentation demonstrates its increased mechanical stability and bendability when assembled on a soft cushion. Hence, the developed hydrogel-supported lipid bilayers can mimic biomechanical properties of cell membranes, which will enable scientists to study and to understand biophysicochemical interactions between cell membranes and extracellular entities.

In this study, we demonstrate a quantitative and sensitive strategy for monitoring lipase concentration using a liquid crystal (LC) microfiber biosensor based on whispering-gallery mode (WGM). LC 4-cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) microfiber...

Triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) presents special biological behavior and clinicopathological characteristics and leads to a worse prognosis than other types of breast cancer. The development of an effective therapeutic method is significant to improve the survival rate of TNBC cancer patients. In this work, an engineered red blood cell membrane (RBCm)‐coating salidroside/indocyanine green nanovesicle (ARISP) is successfully prepared for hypoxic targeting phototherapy of TNBC. Salidroside in ARISP effectively ameliorates hypoxia‐induced tumorigenesis by downregulating the expression of hypoxia‐inducible factor 1α (HIF‐1α), which increases the killing effect of reactive oxygen species on tumor cells during photodynamic therapy (PDT) using the photosensitizer indocyanine green. Besides, ARISP has an anti‐LDLR modified RBCm‐coating that extends its circulation time in the blood and escapes from immune surveillance and enhances hypoxia‐targeted cellular uptake via the overexpressed LDLR receptor in hypoxic tumor sites. Moreover, guided by near‐infrared fluorescence imaging and photoacoustic imaging, ARISP can eliminate tumors via high‐efficiency phototherapy and inhibit lung and liver metastasis in TNBC models. Cytotoxicity assay of ARISP indicates the excellent biocompatibility with normal cells and tissues. This study provides fulfilling insights into the anticancer mechanism of reducing HIF‐1α for enhanced PDT and has a promising therapeutic potential for TNBC treatment.