Clausenburks7928

Background and Objective Little is known about the anti-pigmentation effects of whitening agents on solar lentigines. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has been used as a booster for wound healing in the skin, and it has been suggested to have anti-pigmentation effects. This study aimed to evaluate the effect and safety of EGF-containing ointment for treating solar lentigines with a Q-switched (QS) 532 nm neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (NdYAG) laser (Bluecore company, Seoul, Republic of Korea). Materials and Methods Subjects who underwent QS 532 nm NdYAG laser treatment of solar lentigines were randomly assigned to treatment with an EGF ointment or petrolatum. After the laser procedure, the subjects were administered the test ointment twice a day for 4 weeks. The physician's assessment of the degree of pigment clearance and patient's satisfaction were assessed after 4 and 8 weeks. Additionally, the melanin index (MI), erythema index (EI), transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) were evaluated. This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04704245). PF-4708671 order Results The blinded physician's assessment using 5-grade percentage improvement scale and patient's satisfaction were significantly higher in the study group than in the control group at the 4th and 8th weeks. The MI was significantly higher in the control group than in the study group at the 4th and 8th weeks. The EI and TEWL did not differ significantly between the two groups at either time point. The incidence of PIH was higher in the control group (37.5%) than in the EGF group (7.14%) at the 8th week. Conclusions The application of EGF-containing ointment on facial solar lentigines with a QS 532 nm NdYAG laser showed efficient and safe therapeutic effects, with less PIH. Thus, EGF-containing ointment could be suggested as the promising adjuvant treatment strategy with a QS laser for solar lentigines.Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) deficiency caused by the variability in the MBL2 gene is responsible for the susceptibility to and severity of various infectious and autoimmune diseases. A combination of six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has a major impact on MBL levels in circulation. The aim of this study is to design and validate a sensitive and economical method for determining MBL2 haplogenotypes. The SNaPshot assay is designed and optimized to genotype six SNPs (rs1800451, rs1800450, rs5030737, rs7095891, rs7096206, rs11003125) and is validated by comparing results with Sanger sequencing. Additionally, an algorithm for online calculation of haplogenotype combinations from the determined genotypes is developed. Three hundred and twenty-eight DNA samples from healthy individuals from the Czech population are genotyped. Minor allele frequencies (MAFs) in the Czech population are in accordance with those present in the European population. The SNaPshot assay for MBL2 genotyping is a high-throughput, cost-effective technique that can be used in further genetic-association studies or in clinical practice. Moreover, a freely available online application for the calculation of haplogenotypes from SNPs is developed within the scope of this project.Fathers play a unique and important role in shaping their children's physical activity (PA), independent from the mother. Lifestyle interventions focusing simultaneously on PA of fathers and their children ("co-PA") are therefore a novel and promising way to improve PA of both. A theory-based lifestyle intervention was co-created with fathers (i.e., the Run Daddy Run intervention), using the behavior change wheel as a theoretical framework. The aim of the present study is to describe the protocol of the Run Daddy Run intervention study, focusing on improving (co-)PA of fathers and children, and the prospected outcomes. The developed intervention consists of six (inter)active father-child sessions and an eHealth component, delivered over a 14-week intervention period. Baseline measurements will be conducted between November 2019-January 2020, post-test measurements in June 2020, and follow-up measurements in November 2020, with (co-)PA as the primary outcome variable. Outcomes will be measured using accelerometry and an online questionnaire. To evaluate the intervention, multilevel analyses will be conducted. This study will increase our understanding on whether a theory-based, co-created lifestyle intervention focusing exclusively on fathers and their children can improve their (co-)PA behavior and has important implications for future research and health policy, where targeting fathers might be a novel and effective approach to improve (co-)PA and associated health behaviors of both fathers and their children.Tactile sensation is a promising information display channel for human beings that involves supplementing or replacing degraded visual or auditory channels. In this paper, a wrist-wearable tactile rendering system based on electro-tactile stimulation is designed for information expression, where a square array with 8 × 8 spherical electrodes is used as the touch panel. To verify and improve this touch-based information display method, the optimal mode for stimulus signals was firstly investigated through comparison experiments, which show that sequential stimuli with consecutive-electrode-in-active mode have a better performance than those with single-electrode-in-active mode. Then, simple Chinese and English characters and 26 English characters' recognition experiments were carried out and the proposed method was verified with an average recognition rate of 95% and 82%, respectively. This wrist-wearable tactile display system would be a new and promising medium for communication and could be of great value for visually impaired people.Escherichia coli has been known to cause a variety of infectious diseases. The conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a well-known method widely used to diagnose a variety of infectious diseases. This method is expensive and requires considerable time and effort to conduct and complete multiple integral steps. We previously proposed the use of paper-based ELISA to rapidly detect the presence of E. coli. This approach has demonstrated utility for point-of-care (POC) urinary tract infection diagnoses. Paper-based ELISA, while advantageous, still requires the execution of several procedural steps. Here, we discuss the design and experimental implementation of a turntable paper-based device to simplify the paper-based ELISA protocols for the detection of E. coli. In this process, antibodies or reagents are preloaded onto zones of a paper-based device and allowed to dry before use. We successfully used this device to detect E. coli with a detection limit of 105 colony-forming units (colony-forming unit [CFU])/mL.