The necessity of managing stress levels is becoming increasingly apparent as the world suffers from different kinds of stresses including the extent of pandemic, the corona virus disease 2019 . Cortisol, a clinically confirmed stress hormone related to depression and anxiety, affects individuals mentally and physically. However, current cortisol monitoring methods require expert personnel, large and complex machines, and long time for data analysis. Here, we present a flexible and wearable cortisol aptasensor for simple and rapid cortisol real-time monitoring. The sensing channel was produced by electrospinning conducting polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers (NFs) and subsequent vapor deposition of carboxylated poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT). The conjugation of the cortisol aptamer on the PEDOT-PAN NFs provided the critical sensing mechanism for the target molecule. The sensing test was performed with a liquid-ion gated field-effect transistor (FET) on a polyester (polyethylene terepthalate). The sensor performance showed a detection limit of 10 pM (<5 s) and high selectivity in the presence of interference materials at 100 times higher concentrations. The practical usage and real-time monitoring of the cortisol aptasensor with a liquid-ion gated FET system was demonstrated by successful transfer to the swab and the skin. In addition, the real-time monitoring of actual sweat by applying the cortisol aptasensor was also successful since the aptasensor was able to detect cortisol approximately 1 nM from actual sweat in a few minutes. This wearable biosensor platform supports the possibility of further application and on-site monitoring for changes of other numerous biomarkers.

Embryonic mortality, egg production and the spawning stock biomass of Pacific anchovy, Engraulis japonicus, off Southern Korea during 1983–1994, and their biological response to oceanographic features in spring and summer, were analysed. The instantaneous mortality rate (IMR) of embryonic stages decreased in spring and increased in summer, with a range of 0.33–1.23 day–1 in spring and 0.78–1.69 day–1 in summer. Egg production in summer was three times that during spring and production was low in the late 1980s. Mean lengths of yolk‐sac larvae and adult females were greater in spring than in summer, whereas spawning fraction and spawning stock ratio (spawning biomass:adult biomass) were lower in spring than summer. Estimated mean spawning stock biomass ranged from 141 × 103 to 380 × 103 MT in spring and from 221 × 103 to 557 × 103 MT in summer. Statistically, the seasonal and long‐term trends of embryonic mortality, egg production and spawning stock biomass of Pacific anchovy can be explained largely by spring warming, summer cooling and by less abundant zooplankton in the late 1980s.

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In this study, ultrasensitive and precise detection of a representative brain hormone, dopamine (DA), was demonstrated using functional conducting polymer nanotubes modified with aptamers. A high-performance aptasensor was composed of interdigitated microelectrodes (IMEs), carboxylated polypyrrole nanotubes (CPNTs) and DA-specific aptamers. The biosensors were constructed by sequential conjugation of CPNTs and aptamer molecules on the IMEs, and the substrate was integrated into a liquid-ion gating system surrounded by pH 7.4 buffer as an electrolyte. To confirm DA exocytosis based on aptasensors, DA sensitivity and selectivity were monitored using liquid-ion gated field-effect transistors (FETs). The minimum detection level (MDL; 100 pM) of the aptasensors was determined, and their MDL was optimized by controlling the diameter of the CPNTs owing to their different capacities for aptamer introduction. The MDL of CPNT aptasensors is sufficient for discriminating between healthy and unhealthy individuals because the total DA concentration in the blood of normal person is generally determined to be ca. 0.5 to 6.2 ng/mL (3.9 to 40.5 nM) by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) (this information was obtained from a guidebook "Evidence-Based Medicine 2018 SCL " which was published by Seoul Clinical Laboratory). The CPNTs with the smaller diameters (CPNT2: ca. 120 nm) showed 100 times higher sensitivity and selectivity than the wider CPNTs (CPNT1: ca. 200 nm). Moreover, the aptasensors based on CPNTs had excellent DA discrimination in the presence of various neurotransmitters. Based on the excellent sensing properties of these aptasensors, the DA levels of exogeneous DA samples that were prepared from PC12 cells by a DA release assay were successfully measured by DA kits, and the aptasensor sensing properties were compared to those of standard DA reagents. Finally, the real-time response values to the various exogeneous DA release levels were similar to those of a standard DA aptasensor. Therefore, CPNT-based aptasensors provide efficient and rapid DA screening for neuron-mediated genetic diseases such as Parkinson's disease.Materials. Pyrrole (Py, 98%) and pyrrole-3-carboxylic acid (Py-COOH, 95%) were purchased from the Aldrich and Acros Organics. A surfactant, sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)-sulfosuccinate (AOT, 98%) and hexane (98%) were also purchased from the Aldrich. The conjugation reagent, 4-(4,6-Dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)−4methyl-morpholinium chloride (DMT-MM, 96%) was purchased from Aldrich. The aptamer was purchased from Bioneer. Inc. Fabrication of carboxylated polypyrrole nanotubes (CPNTs).CPNTs with different diameters (ca. 120 and 200 nm) were prepared by benchmarks in our previous works 51 . A surfactant, AOT (15 mmol), was dissolved in hexane (40 mL), and the solution was stirred for 30 minutes to reach equilibrium. Subsequently, aqueous FeCl 3 solution (7 M, 1 mL) was introduced into the AOT/hexane solution to generate reverse-cylindrical micelles containing iron cations 55 . Finally, a pyrrole (Py)...

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