A new Monte Carlo programme is presented for simulating light transport through clinically normal skin and skin that has Port Wine Stains (PWS) vessels. The program consists of an eight layer mathematical skin model constructed from optical coefficients described previously. A simulation including diffuse illumination at the surface and subsequent light transport through the model is carried ou...

The production of vinegar depends on an oxidation process that is mainly performed by acetic acid bacteria. Despite the different methods of vinegar production (more or less designated as either "fast" or "traditional"), the use of pure starter cultures remains far from being a reality. Uncontrolled mixed cultures are normally used, but this review proposes the use of controlled mixed cultures....

Spectral imaging requires rapid analysis of spectra associated with each pixel. A rapid algorithm has been developed that uses iterative matrix inversions to solve for the absorption spectra of a tissue using a lookup table for photon pathlength based on numerical simulations. The algorithm uses tissue water content as an internal standard to specify the strength of optical scattering. An exper...

Three food-industry wastes: fermented apple juice (FAJ), wine lees and yogurt waste (YW) were evaluated in combination with two sources of inoculum, anaerobic sludge and garden compost, to produce electricity in microbial fuel cells. Preliminary potentiostatic studies suggested that YW was the best candidate, able to provide up to 250 mA/m(2) at poised potential +0.3V/SCE. Experiments conducted...

Obesity is a common finding in our general population, the proportion of obese individuals having increased at an alarming rate all over the world in the past 20 years. Compared to growth failure, obesity is rare in a population of individuals with a genetic syndrome. One database for genetic syndromes, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, contains 169 matches for obesity and 421 matches for gr...

Laser dermatological surgery (LDS) is the preferred therapeutic modality for various dermatoses, including port wine stain (PWS) birthmarks. LDS is commonly used in conjunction with cryogen spray cooling, which is an auxiliary procedure that pre-cools the superficial skin layer (epidermis) prior to laser irradiation to avoid non-specific and excessive epidermal heating. Clinical observations sh...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has shown potentially beneficial results in treating port-wine stain, but its benefit-risk profile remains undefined. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of PDT conducted with hemoporfin and a 532 nm continuous wave laser to treat port-wine stain clinically. PATIENTS AND METHODS This randomized clinical trial was conducted ...