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CONTINUOUS REAL-TIME MONITORING OF SEROTONIN USING APTAMER-BASED ELECTROCHEMICAL BIOSENSORS
No full textSerotonin, a neurotransmitter and signaling molecule known chemically as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), holds a pivotal role in orchestrating various physiological and neurological processes within the human body. Its influence extends to regulating mood, cognition, gastrointestinal motility, and other critical functions. Consequently, the precise monitoring of serotonin levels and dynamics is of paramount significance in unraveling its intricate interactions and potential implications for health and disease. Electrochemical serotonin sensing has emerged as a potent and promising tool to enable real-time and continuous monitoring of serotonin, thereby offering unprecedented insights into its complex role in neurophysiology. The neurological significance of serotonin cannot be overstated. As a neurotransmitter, serotonin participates in modulating neuronal communication, influencing mood regulation, emotional responses, and cognitive functions. Furthermore, the gastrointestinal tract, housing a significant portion of the body\u27s serotonin, relies on this molecule to regulate gut motility and peristalsis. Dysregulation of serotonin signaling has been implicated in various neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and irritable bowel syndrome, underscoring the need for advanced monitoring techniques.
Electrochemical sensing presents a versatile and effective approach for serotonin detection due to its inherent sensitivity, selectivity, and real-time capability. However, the electrochemical detection of serotonin is not devoid of challenges. One major hurdle stems from potential signal interference caused by other electroactive molecules possessing comparable redox potentials. This interference can obscure accurate serotonin measurements, necessitating innovative strategies to enhance the specificity of detection. Aptamer-based electrochemical sensing offers a promising solution to this challenge.
Aptamers, single-stranded DNA or RNA molecules, possess remarkable binding affinity and selectivity for specific target molecules. In the context of serotonin sensing, aptamers can be designed to selectively bind with serotonin molecules, enabling a more precise and reliable detection mechanism. This approach not only circumvents the issue of interference from other electroactive species but also facilitates the creation of biosensors with enhanced sensitivity and specificity. Moreover, aptamer-based electrochemical sensing can be engineered for label-free detection, simplifying the sensing process, and potentially enabling miniaturization for point-of-care applications.
Clinical implications of electrochemical serotonin sensing are profound. The early diagnosis and management of neuropsychiatric disorders heavily rely on accurate biomarker detection. Electrochemical serotonin sensing could offer a non-invasive and rapid means of assessing serotonin imbalances, enabling timely interventions and personalized treatment strategies. Furthermore, this technology holds promise for monitoring the efficacy of pharmacological interventions, aiding clinicians in tailoring dosages and treatment regimens for optimal patient outcomes. The abstract describes the importance of serotonin in health, the benefits of aptamer-based electrochemical sensing and its clinical implications. The electrochemical aptamer-based (E-AB) sensing platform emerges as a versatile and pragmatic method for the direct measurement of specific molecule concentrations, regardless of their chemical reactivity. Notably, this approach is characterized by its swiftness, one-step simplicity, and lack of need for calibration. Using changes in the electrochemical impedance to monitor target binding in proposed electrochemical aptamer based (EAB) sensing platform, initial results show high temporal resolution and stability in measurements performed directly in redox environment. Additional advancements include a methylene blue (MB)-tagged aptamer sensor for improved signal enhancement and a frequency-swept detection approach that improves kinetic resolution and interference rejection. Finally, the sensor was tested in heparinized mouse blood to determine its feasibility in physiologically relevant samples, and it successfully captured serotonin changes in real time
“Lead”ing Industrial Science: Studying Occupational Lead Poisoning in the Early 20th Century
No full textLead was essential to the creation and coalescence of industrial hygiene as a discipline in the United States from its early days in the 1910s through the 1930s when the first professional associations of industrial hygiene were formed. In the early years, Alice Hamilton was central to the burgeoning field, and her seminal study on lead poisoning in Illinois industries thrust both her and her methods into the spotlight. Industrial hygienists of her generation followed her methods and came away with similar conclusions: that occupational diseases were rampant in the US, even if few people were studying them. In the 1920s, a widely publicized lead poisoning event in New Jersey gave momentum to the industrial hygiene community, acting as a “focusing event” to bring attention to the dangers of working with organic lead compounds in gasoline. Finally, in the 1930s, industrial hygiene moved to the private halls of universities, where scientists relied on lead studies to formalize their study methods. While lead was far from the only chemical of interest in these formative years, it did play a central role in all three decades. Even today, lead remains an important environmental toxicant both within and outside of the workplace
Adélie Penguin Vocalizations Reflect Breeding Phenology
No full textAdélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) are bellwethers for Antarctic climate change because their breeding phenology is closely linked to sea-ice extent. Researchers need long-term, large-scale phenology data to make informed Antarctic climate and conservation insights. However, traditional breeding phenology data collection is resource intensive, limiting research to small colonies located near research stations. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is a low-disturbance, easily scalable method which facilitates large-scale data collection and has been successfully applied at multiple seabird colonies to collect breeding phenology data. In this thesis, I provide a framework to implement a custom BirdNET wind detector to identify wind distorted recordings, a common problem with PAM data collection at seabird colonies. The wind model identified high wind with a 0.94 recall and 0.76 precision; a 0.91 minimum confidence score results in a 90% probability of a true high wind detection. I also demonstrate the viability of PAM to track discrete stages of Adélie breeding phenology. General linearized mixed models reveal significant relationships between acoustic indices—mathematical summations of energy distribution in a recording—and breeding stage. The Bioacoustic Index experienced slight, but significant, value increases across stages. The Acoustic Complexity Index and Root-mean-square Pressure (RMS) experienced increasingly higher values from incubation to guard, and guard to post-guard, and then rapidly declined during fledge (91% and 67% respectively). RMS best correlated to chick numbers during the breeding season (Pearson’s R = 0.81). This study represents the first step in building an acoustic workflow to passively monitor Adélie breeding phenology
Temporal Variability in the Bulk Nutritional Quality of Estuarine Plankton
No full textThe temporal variability of plankton is well documented, particularly in constantly changing tidal systems such as estuaries, but the extent to which this variability applies to plankton nutritional quality is less well known. As the base of the aquatic food web, variation in phytoplankton nutritional quality stands to constrain fishery production, particularly of filter-feeders. Here, community and nutritional data was collected from Great Bay, NH, a model estuary, over seasonal, tidal, and daily time scales to identify the range and variability of nutritional quality in plankton. Bulk spectrophotometric neutral lipid and protein measurements were compared to plankton community composition data (using flow cytometry and FlowCam) as well as environmental parameters to provide insights into the nutritional quality of estuarine seston. We found that lipid and protein concentrations were relatively stable over short time scales but varied seasonally. Lipid concentrations (ranging from 0.8 – 14.3 mg L -1) were primarily driven by time, river discharge, and total particulate carbon. Protein concentrations (ranging from 0.5 – 4.4 mg L -1) were primarily driven by total particulate carbon and nitrogen. Contrary to our original hypothesis, lipid and protein concentrations were not primarily driven by metrics of phytoplankton biomass (such as chlorophyll a), suggesting that most macromolecules were associated with detrital material. Since detritus is a potentially important food source of filter feeders, these findings indicate that a holistic understanding of particle composition is essential for proper management of fisheries
From Wiggles to Words: Acoustic and Linguistic Patterns in Caregiver-Child Museum Interactions
No full textChild-directed speech (CDS) engages infants and young children using simplified language and exaggerated prosody. Recent work shows that caregivers adjust speech/language features with older children. Children’s museums offer a valuable resource in communities to encourage families to engage and learn together and are natural, ecologically valid settings for data collection. Prosody and linguistic complexity have been studied individually; however, there is less evidence exploring their relationship. This study examines (1) the relationship between caregiver prosody and caregiver linguistic complexity, hypothesizing that more prosodic variation will correlate with less complex language, and (2) whether adult prosodic patterns and linguistic complexity are reflected in child speech and language during museum exploration, hypothesizing that children whose caregivers use high linguistic complexity and low prosodic variation will have stronger language skills. Twenty-minute audio recordings of exhibit exploration at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (CMNH) were analyzed for 20 caregiver-child dyads (3-6 years old). Files are transcribed following SALT conventions and acoustically analyzed using Praat. Linguistic complexity measures including mean length utterance, subordination index, and type-token ratio are reported. Prosodic measures of wiggliness and spaciousness are extracted to provide data on prosodic variation over time. Spearman rank correlations examined relationships between linguistic complexity and prosodic variation in caregivers and children. Results demonstrated that with children aged 3- to 6-years-old, adult language is richer when there is more pitch variation, rather than the simpler language typical of CDS. This study highlights the relationship between prosody and language in child-caregiver interactions, showing that caregiver prosody and lexical diversity support child language. With data collected during a museum exploration, this study contributes naturalistic data to the literature of speech and language in 3-6-year-olds. Clinically, these findings help identify key strategies, including rich linguistic input and increased prosodic variation, to scaffold the development of children with language delays/disorders
An Investigation into Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property from an Economic Perspective
Get PDFThis paper investigates the debate around recent developments in Artificial Intelligence and its impact on intellectual property laws from an economic perspective
