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Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) has become a central tool for label-free characterization of biomolecular interactions. Based on monitoring of amplitude characteristics, conventional SPR sensors have been extensively explored, commercialized and applied for studies of many important interactions (antigen-antibody, protein-ligand etc), but this technology still lacks of sensitivity for the detection of relatively small and low copy number compounds. Phase-sensitive SPR has recently emerged as an upgrade of this technology to resolve the sensitivity issue. Profiting from a sharp phase jump under SPR and ultra-sensitive tools of its control, this technology offers up to 100-time improvement of the detection limit, giving access to the detection of trace amounts of small molecular weight analytes (drugs etc). This paper intends to provide a tutorial on basic concepts of phase detection in SPR sensing, compare the performance of phase- and amplitude-sensitive sensors, review recent progress in the development and applications of phase-sensitive SPR sensors, and outline future prospects and trends of this technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To update our previous computerized epidemiological data according to the new taxonomy, we re-evaluated and re-analyzed the data using the current definitions of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) which were approved and published by the ICS in 2002 and 2010 according to patient perception. Further, we divided overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms into OAB dry and OAB wet to assess their prevalence percentages by using the current definitions. Methods OAB syndrome in our computerized database was re-defined as having the following storage symptoms present, that is, frequency, urgency, nocturia, urgency incontinence, or stress urinary incontinence (SUI). The prevalence of OAB syndrome was determined with a different taxonomy for those five storage symptoms either singly or in combination. OAB symptoms which were probably associated with mixed incontinence were either ignored or excluded. Results The prevalence of OAB syndrome varied from 34.76% to 28.33% to 20.95% using different classifications of the above five storage symptoms. The prevalence of OAB wet symptoms increased with advancing age and this finding was consistent with three different definitions. Conclusions The prevalence of OAB using the current definition is slightly higher than the result found in our previous published data using a defective classification system of OAB symptoms. The effects of mixed symptoms and probable misclassification cannot be overlooked because many women with OAB (with or without urgency incontinence) might also have SUI. Neurourol. Urodynam. 31:56-59, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Fetal heart navigator (FHN): a novel method to get key diagnostic fetal echocardiographic views and initial application in diagnosis of fetal conotruncal heart defects" by B.W. Zhao and others, is presented.

An abstract of the article "Atrial volume tracking (AVT): a novel echocardiographic technique to evaluate fetal atrial volume and function" by B. W. Zhao and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the article "Z-scores analysis of mitral-tricuspid valve distance in normal fetuses with fetal echocardiography" by B.W. Zaho and colleagues is presented.

An abstract of the article "Concordance of fetal aortic arch diameter measured by intelligent spatiotemporal image correlation (iSTIC) and 2-dimensional fetal echocardiography (2DFE)" by B. W. Zhao and colleagues is presented.