Efficacy of Intense Pulse Light with Triple Combination Cream Versus Triple Combination Cream alone in the Treatment of Melasma

Introduction: Various studies explored the use of intense pulse light (IPL) therapy in treating melasma, but only a few randomized clinical trials have evaluated the combination of triple combination cream (TCC) with IPL so far. Objective: This study compared the efficacy and safety of the combination of IPL and triple combination cream with triple combination cream alone in treating melasma. Material and Methods: Sixty patients with melasma were enrolled in this assessor-blinded, parallel-group randomized controlled study. Thirty patients were treated with IPL (15J/cm2, two sessions at 2-week intervals) and TCC (Hydroquinone 2%, tretinoin 0.025%, fluocinolone acetonide 0.01%) at night and broad-spectrum sunscreen during day time whereas other groups received only TCC and broad-spectrum sunscreen. The median percentage reduction in melasma area and severity index (MASI) and physician’s global assessment scale was assessed at 12-week to determine the efficacy of the treatment. The incidence of adverse effects at each follow-up and relapse at 16-week were also noted during the study period as the secondary outcome measure. Results: The median reduction in MASI achieved at 12 weeks was 48% in the IPL+TCC group and 13.1% in the TCC group from the baseline. The incidence of relapse was seen in 7.14% and 13.04% patients in the IPL+TCC group and TCC alone group respectively at 16 weeks however, this difference was not statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our study supports that IPL and TCC are more effective than TCC therapy alone in treating melasma.

The Effect Mechanism and Model Optimization of Pulsed Light Dark Duration on Lettuce

Background: Despite its rapid development, the costs of crop artificial light source technology are still high. In addition, both the luminous efficiency and photosynthetic light supplement efficiency of the light source require further improvement. This study aims to improve the photosynthetic light supplement efficiency by altering the luminescence mode of the light source, transforming the conventional continuous supplementary light source into a pulse light source, and exploring how to further reduce energy consumption and improve the light supplement efficiency without influencing the light supplement effect of Lettuce.Results: For this purpose, Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) was selected as the experimental material to investigate the effects of varying the duty ratio, frequency and dark duration on the Pn (net photosynthetic rate) of leaves. The results revealed that Pn values under each duty ratio treatment increased with frequency and gradually stabilized to a level similar to that of continuous light. At higher duty ratios, the lettuce leaf Pn under pulse light reached a stable state at a lower frequency, with Pn leveling showing an overall upward trend with the decreasing dark period duration and a large increase in the early stage. For dark period durations lower than a certain value (0.000683594 s), variations in Pn among treatments were minimal, with a gradual increasing trend until no significant differences are observed with continuous light (CK); Under the D3 (weak light) condition, plants were easy to spindling(excessive growth)and exhibited narrow and slender leaves. Plants under the D2 condition (The duration period duration was 0.000465468s) presented the strongest roots and stems, with wide leaves and a compact growth. The following trend in Pn was observed across all duty ratios D2>D1 (0.000046547s)>CK>D3 (0.004654685s). Conclusions: The dominant influencing factor of the plant net photosynthetic rate was determined as the ratio of the frequency and duty ratio (i.e., dark period duration). Compared with continuous light, pulsed light is more beneficial to plant growth and utilization.

Treatment of thread veins with intense pulsed light

This article will explore the treatment of thread veins using the well-established and common modality of intense pulsed light. The diagnosis of these veins and a variety of treatment options will also be detailed, and the mechanism of action of intense pulsed light will be analysed, explaining how it delivers satisfactory clinical and cosmetic outcomes. Transdermal laser and intense pulse light will also be compared.

Correlation Between Ion Contents in Acupuncture Points and Propagated Sensation a long with Channel

Background: Propagated sensation along with channels are phenomena that occur because of stimulations during acupuncture therapies and tend to transmit the stimulating signals along the meridians. From the Western medicine aspect, researchers consider the phenomena as neurotransmissions initiated by nerves, and various ions regulate the physiological functions of the nervous systems.Objective: The object of this research is to investigate the key characteristics of ions at acupoints and the mechanism of propagated sensation along with channels, which are crossing meridians in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).Methods: This research first conduct experiments by applying intense pulse light beams, which replace the traditional acupuncture treatments, on designated acupoints of studied human subjects, and employ a thermal infrared imager to monitor the temperature responses, which are induced by post sensation, in adjacent regions of the acupoints. Meanwhile, the research applies a synchrotron radiation technique on adult SD (Sprague Dawley) rats, and the study analyses the output responses with an X-ray Absorption Fine Spectroscopy (XAFS) to investigate the ion distributions in the relevant acupoints, which might trigger the propagated sensation crossing meridians.Results: Experimental results demonstrate that significant temperature increases simultaneously at the stimulated acupoints and certain other acupoints, whether in the same meridians. Moreover, XAFS experimental results indicate significantly high levels of calcium, potassium, and sulfide ions at the stimulated acupoint regions. On the contrary, the measured chloride ions level at the regions is correspondingly lower.Conclusions: The thermal infrared imager monitoring show significant temperature variations of crossing-meridian acupoints after implementing the intense pulse light beams on designated acupoints, and it implies the occurring of prolonged sensation along with channels using acupuncture therapies. The x-ray absorption spectrum demonstrates significant differences in ion amounts and distributions between the acupoints and non-acupoints, and acupuncture therapies result in ion concentrations in the correlated regions inducing propagated sensation crossing meridians in TCM. Hence, the stimulated acupoints operate as ion reservoirs to provide high-concentration of specific ions to trigger the crossing-meridian post sensation.