Paper-based colorimetric sensor using Photoshop and a smartphone app for the quantitative detection of carbofuran.

We developed a smartphone-assisted microchemistry analyzer for the quantitative detection of carbofuran using a paper-based colorimetric sensor, Photoshop software, and a smartphone app. The changes in color of the carbofuran enzymatic reaction in the paper-based sensor were captured and analyzed using a smartphone-controlled analyzer with an LED light source and a smartphone camera. The high accuracy of this method was demonstrated for the determination of carbofuran with a linear response in the range 0.05-1.0 ppm and limits of detection (LOD) of 0.02 and 0.018 ppm using Photoshop and smartphone app colorimetric analysis, respectively. These two methods not only show the high sensitivity and highly quantitative relationships between the concentrations of commercial carbofuran and characteristic color values of the blue channel in smartphone images but were also applied to infusions of tea. Moreover, the smartphone app is able to GPS tag the location of the test and transmit the results to a website that displays quantitative results from carbofuran samples on a map.

The application of single-port laparoscopic percutaneous internal ring suture for the management of indirect inguinal hernia in female adults.

As most of the female inguinal hernias are of indirect type, we conducted this retrospective study to evaluate whether the single port laparoscopic percutaneous internal ring suture is feasible for the management of indirect inguinal hernia in female adults. From April 2016 to August 2019, there were 31 female adults who were diagnosed with inguinal hernias and received laparoscopic inspection at our surgical department. One patient who was finally diagnosed as an encysted hydrocele was excluded from the statistic study. All the 30 cases were of indirect type with a total of 35 single port laparoscopic percutaneous internal ring sutures performed. The median age was 38 years (range 20-88 years). The number and percentage of patients with right, left and bilateral hernias were 17 (56%), 11 (37%) and 2 (7%) respectively. Three contralateral patent processi vaginalium and 1 occult femoral hernia were found during operation. The percentages of the respective classifications according to the European Hernia Society system for the 35 PIRSs were L1: 40%, L2: 49%, and L3: 11%. The average operation time was 18 min for unilateral and 30 min for bilateral hernias. There were 1 recurrence and 1 chronic postoperative inguinal pain. Both had their symptoms and signs resolved after reoperation. The mean follow-up period was 13.6 months. We concluded that the single-port laparoscopic percutaneous internal ring suture is feasible for the management of indirect inguinal hernia in female adults.

Computing motif correlations in proteins.

Protein motifs, which are specific regions and conserved regions, are found by comparing multiple protein sequences. These conserved regions in general play an important role in protein functions and protein folds, for example, for their binding properties or enzymatic activities. The aim here is to find the existence correlations of protein motifs. The knowledge of protein motif/domain sharing should be important in shedding new light on the biologic functions of proteins and offering a basis in analyzing the evolution in the human genome or other genomes. The protein sequences used here are obtained from the PIR-NREF database and the protein motifs are retrieved from the PROSITE database. We apply data mining approach to discover the occurrence correlations of motif in protein sequences. The correlation of motifs mined can be used in evolution analyses and protein structure prediction. We discuss the latter, i.e., protein structure prediction in this study. The correlations mined are stored and maintained in a database system. The database is now available at http://bioinfo.csie.ncu.edu.tw/ProMotif/.