The present invention relates to a method of analyzing a urinalysis wherein an image processing system is used to recognize a urine test strip (1) and the area of said urine test strip (1) and the segments therein, and also colors of every segment and their color changes with the cameras of intelligent devices, and which is configured such as to convert the data received from the image processing system to significant data.

Provided herein are methods of diagnosing or monitoring the treatment of abnormal glycan accumulation or a disorder associated with abnormal glycan accumulation.

Provided herein are methods of diagnosing or monitoring the treatment of abnormal glycan accumulation or a disorder associated with abnormal glycan accumulation.

An object of the present invention is to provide a highly versatile, simple and safe method for measuring Lp-PLA.sub.2 activity. Another object of the present invention is to provide an accurate and highly sensitive method for measuring Lp-PLA.sub.2 activity. Provided is a method for measuring lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A.sub.2 (Lp-PLA.sub.2) activity in a sample containing Lp-PLA.sub.2, the method comprising the following steps (A) to (C): (A) converting PAFs into lyso-PAFs by reacting the PAFs with the Lp-PLA.sub.2 in the sample; (B) hydrolyzing the lyso-PAFs produced in the step (A) with an enzyme (lyso-PAF-PLD) to obtain hydrolysate; and (C) measuring Lp-PLA.sub.2 activity in the sample by utilizing a quantitative change attributable to the hydrolysate obtained in step (B) as an indicator.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a detection means whereby Staphylococcus aureus can be identified at a high accuracy. An aspect of the present invention relates to a medium for detecting S. aureus which comprises one or more kinds of nutrient components, a color developing agent capable of developing a color in the presence of -glucosidase, a color developing agent capable of developing a color in the presence of phosphatase and 0.5 mg/cm.sup.3 or more of sodium colistin methanesulfonate. Another aspect of the present invention relates to a sheet for detecting S. aureus, said sheet comprising the aforesaid medium, and a method for detecting S. aureus with the use of the medium and sheet as described above.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a detection means whereby Staphylococcus aureus can be identified at a high accuracy. An aspect of the present invention relates to a medium for detecting S. aureus which comprises one or more kinds of nutrient components, a color developing agent capable of developing a color in the presence of -glucosidase, a color developing agent capable of developing a color in the presence of phosphatase and 0.5 mg/cm.sup.3 or more of sodium colistin methanesulfonate. Another aspect of the present invention relates to a sheet for detecting S. aureus, said sheet comprising the aforesaid medium, and a method for detecting S. aureus with the use of the medium and sheet as described above.

The present invention relates to bioluminescence resonance energy transfer sensor molecules having the structure R.sup.1-L-R.sup.2B or BR.sup.2-L-R.sup.1, wherein R.sup.1 is a bioluminescent protein, L is a linking element, R.sup.2 is a non-protein acceptor domain and B is a blocking group, and wherein R.sup.2 bound to B comprises a hydrolysable bond which produces a change in BRET when hydrolysed. The invention also discloses a method of detecting a hydrolase by contacting a sample with a molecule BR.sup.2, then contacting with a compound R.sup.1-L or L-R.sup.1 under conditions to cause attaching of R.sup.2 to L, and detecting a change in the BRET ratio. Specifically exemplified sensors comprise luciferase and fluorescein diacetate, which is hydrolysed by an esterase. The invention also discloses luciferase enzymes derived from RLuc8 by removing cysteine residues.

The present invention relates to bioluminescence resonance energy transfer sensor molecules having the structure R.sup.1-L-R.sup.2B or BR.sup.2-L-R.sup.1, wherein R.sup.1 is a bioluminescent protein, L is a linking element, R.sup.2 is a non-protein acceptor domain and B is a blocking group, and wherein R.sup.2 bound to B comprises a hydrolysable bond which produces a change in BRET when hydrolysed. The invention also discloses a method of detecting a hydrolase by contacting a sample with a molecule BR.sup.2, then contacting with a compound R.sup.1-L or L-R.sup.1 under conditions to cause attaching of R.sup.2 to L, and detecting a change in the BRET ratio. Specifically exemplified sensors comprise luciferase and fluorescein diacetate, which is hydrolysed by an esterase. The invention also discloses luciferase enzymes derived from RLuc8 by removing cysteine residues.

The invention relates to carbon nanotube-containing composites as biosensors to detect the presence of target clinical markers, methods of their preparation and uses in the medical field. The invention is particularly suitable for the detection in patient biological specimens of bone markers and tissue markers. The biosensors of the invention include carbon nanotubes deposited on a substrate, gold nanoparticles deposited on the carbon nanotubes and, binder material and biomolecule deposited on the gold-coated carbon nanotubes. The biomolecule is selected to interact with the target clinical markers. The biosensor can be used as an in-situ or an ex-situ device to detect and measure the presence of the target clinical markers.

The invention relates to carbon nanotube-containing composites as biosensors to detect the presence of target clinical markers, methods of their preparation and uses in the medical field. The invention is particularly suitable for the detection in patient biological specimens of bone markers and tissue markers. The biosensors of the invention include carbon nanotubes deposited on a substrate, gold nanoparticles deposited on the carbon nanotubes and, binder material and biomolecule deposited on the gold-coated carbon nanotubes. The biomolecule is selected to interact with the target clinical markers. The biosensor can be used as an in-situ or an ex-situ device to detect and measure the presence of the target clinical markers.