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Streptococcus suis serotype 2 is an economically important zoonotic pathogen that causes septicemia, arthritis, and meningitis in pigs and humans. S. suis serotype 2 is responsible for substantial economic losses to the swine industry and poses a serious threat to public health, and accurate and rapid detection is important for the prevention and control of epidemic disease. In this study, we developed a high-fidelity detection and serotyping platform for S. suis serotype 2 based on recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) and a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-Cas12a system called Cards-SSJ/K. Cards-SSJ had a detection limit of 10 CFU, takes <60 min, and no cross-reaction was found with other S. suis serotypes, closely related Streptococcus spp., or common pig pathogens, and Cards-SSK could differentiate serotype 2 from serotype 1/2. Results from Cards-SSJ and qPCR were equivalent in detecting S. suis serotype 2 in tissue samples. Analysis indicated that despite a relatively high reagent cost compared to PCR and qPCR, Cards-SSJ was less time-consuming and had low requirements for equipment and personnel. Thus, it is an excellent method for point-of-care detection for S. suis serotype 2., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that have influenced the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Optical security labels play a significant role in protecting both our wealth and health. However, simultaneously meeting the requirements including low-cost fabrication, easy detection, and high-level security is still challenging for security labels. Here, we design an unclonable anti-counterfeiting system with triple-level security by using the inkjet printing technique, which can be authenticated by naked eyes, a portable microscope, and a fluorescence microscope. These labels are achieved by printing microscale quantum dot (QD) ink droplets on premodified substrates with random-distributed glass microspheres. Due to the unique capillary action induced by the glass microspheres, QDs in the ink droplets are deposited around the microspheres, forming microscale multicircular patterns. Multiple pinning of QDs at the three-phase contact lines appears during the evaporation of the droplet, resulting in the formation of a nanoscale labyrinthine pattern around the microspheres. The nanoscale labyrinth pattern and the microscale multicircular microsphere array, together with the printed macroscopic image, constitute a triple-level progressive anti-counterfeiting system. Moreover, the system is compatible with an artificial intelligence-based identification strategy that allows rapid identification and verification of the unclonable security labels.

Glaucocalyxin (Gln), an ent‑kaurane diterpenoid isolated from the Chinese traditional medicine, Rabdosia japonica, represents a novel class of anticancer drugs. GlnA is one of the three major forms of Gln and has demonstrated potent anticancer effects in a variety of cancer types. GlnB has only one structural difference from GlnA, an acetylated hydroxyl group at C14. This acetyl group results in high liposolubility and may enhance the antitumor activity of ent‑kaurane diterpenoid GlnB. However, few studies have reported the role of GlnB in cancer. The present study investigated the effect of GlnB in cervical cancer proliferation and cell death. Treatment with GlnB inhibits the proliferation of HeLa and SiHa cervical cancer cell lines in a dose‑dependent manner, as assessed by 3‑(4,5‑dimethylthiazol-2‑yl)-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assays. In addition, GlnB increases the apoptotic cell population of HeLa and SiHa cells, as determined by fluorescence‑activated cell sorting analysis and enhanced poly (ADP‑ribose) polymerase 1 cleavage by western blotting. GlnB also induces increased light chain 3 II/I protein cleavage in both cells, indicating the induction of autophagy. Furthermore, GlnB treatment increased the expression of phosphatase and tensin homolog and decreased the expression of phosphorylated‑protein kinase B (Akt) in HeLa and SiHa cells, as assessed by western blotting. Taken together, the present results demonstrated that GlnB inhibited the proliferation of human cervical cancer cells in vitro through the induction of apoptosis and autophagy, which may be mediated by the phosphatidylinositol‑4,5‑bisphosphate 3‑kinase/Akt signaling pathway.