Highlighting nuances of blue light phototherapy: Mechanisms and safety considerations.

The efficacy of blue light therapy in dermatology relies on numerous clinical studies. The safety remains a topic of controversy, where potentially deleterious effects were derived from in vitro rather than in vivo experiments. The objectives of this work were (1) to highlight the nuances behind "colors" of blue light, light propagation in tissue and the plurality of modes of action; and (2) to rigorously analyze studies on humans reporting both clinical and histological data from skin biopsies with focus on DNA damage, proliferation, apoptosis, oxidative stress, impact on collagen, elastin, immune cells, and pigmentation.

Electrooptic control of the modal distribution in a silicate fiber.

We demonstrate the use of the electrooptic effect to control the propagation constant of the guided modes in silicate few mode fibers with internal electrodes. The electrooptic effect induces a perturbation of the fiber's refractive index profile that controls intermodal interference. To increase the electrooptic effect the silicate fibers are poled.

Light-based home-use devices for hair removal: Why do they work and how effective they are?

Objectives: This review has the following objectives: Firstly, it provides an explanation of the evolution of laser/intense pulsed light (IPL) hair reduction modalities from high fluence professional devices to low fluence home-use appliances. Secondly, it summarises published literature reviews on home-use devices (HUDs) as evidence of their growing credibility. Thirdly, it proposes mechanistic differences in light delivery regimes and the resulting divergences in mode of action.

Hair nicotine at 15 months old, tobacco exposure and wheeze or asthma from 15 months to 6 years old.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between hair nicotine levels at 15 months of age and prior parent-reported smoking exposure, and the risk of wheezing and current asthma from 15 months to 6 years of age.

Study Design: We measured hair nicotine levels at 15 months of age in 376 of 535 infants enrolled in a prospective birth cohort in Christchurch, New Zealand. We obtained detailed information from parents about smoking exposure during pregnancy and in the home at 3 and 15 months of age.

Comparison of frequency-based techniques for assessment of baroreceptor sensitivity and heart rate variability.

Heart rate variability (HRV) and baroreceptor sensitivity (BRS) quantify autonomic variability in heart pacing and the autonomic response to blood pressure changes respectively. By necessity, the signals used to calculate HRV and BRS (systolic blood pressure (SBP) and RR interval) have one data point every cardiac cycle. Due to inherent variability in heart rate, these are non-uniformly sampled data.