A sequential tape stripping approach for the assessment of the impact of personal cleansing products on the stratum corneum surface layers' acid mantle properties and antimicrobial defense.

Background: Stratum corneum (SC) plays a critical role in skin barrier function for protection and defense in nature. The acidic skin pH, which is also known as the acid mantle, is very important in fighting against outer environmental threats, especially, bacteria. Furthermore, recent research has shown that the transient bacteria could potentially penetrate into deeper layer of the SC down to a few micrometers while posing an additional threat to the deeper layers of the skin.

A controlled forearm washing ex vivo method for assessing the impact of personal cleansing products on skin's acid mantle properties and antimicrobial defence against transient bacteria.

Background: An important trend in the personal care industry involves the development of advanced personal cleaning products that not only provide skin mildness but support skin's acid mantle properties and skin's natural antimicrobial defence function.

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a controlled forearm washing ex vivo method for assessing the impact of personal cleansing products on skin's acid mantle properties and antimicrobial defence against transient bacteria.

Methods: We developed a controlled forearm washing ex vivo method (ex vivo NET method) to compare the impact of two representative personal cleansing products on skin's acid mantle properties and antimicrobial defence against transient bacteria: one was a low-pH skin cleanser, and the other was high-pH soap cleanser.

Resolving Water, Proteins, and Lipids from In Vivo Confocal Raman Spectra of Stratum Corneum through a Chemometric Approach.

Development of this in vivo confocal Raman spectroscopic method enables the direct measurement of water, proteins, and lipids with depth resolution in human subjects. This information is very important for skin-related diseases and characterizing skin care product performance. This protocol illustrates a method for confocal Raman spectra collection and the subsequent analysis of the spectral dataset leveraging chemometrics.

DNA detection of Paragonimus westermani: Diagnostic validity of a new assay based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) combined with a lateral flow dipstick.

Paragonimus westermani (P. westermani) is widely spread in Asian countries and is one of the most important causative agents for lung fluke diseases. The prevention and control of Paragonimiaisis mainly depends on the accurate diagnosis and effective treatment.

Skin benefits of moisturising body wash formulas for children with atopic dermatitis: A randomised controlled clinical study in China.

Background: It acknowledged that skin care is an important part of atopic dermatitis therapy. However, clinical evidences are limited for the best bathing practices, especially the skin health performance of cleansing products on children's atopic dermatitis skin.

Methods: A randomised controlled clinical study was conducted in China among 4- to 18-year-old children with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis to evaluate the skin health effect of three cleansing systems (a mild synthetic bar, an ultra-mild body wash with lipids, and an ultra-mild body wash with lipids and zinc pyrithione) by measuring SCORing of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD), consumption of topical corticosteroid and the characteristics of microbiome.

MCR Approach Revealing Protein, Water, and Lipid Depth Profile in Atopic Dermatitis Patients' Stratum Corneum via in Vivo Confocal Raman Spectroscopy.

Confocal Raman has been widely used for measuring the water concentration profile inside skin to calculate clinical end points, such as stratum corneum thickness. In this article, multivariate curve resolution was applied to resolve the pure components contained in high frequency (2500-4000 cm) in vivo confocal Raman data. Three components were identified by comparing with reference spectra of materials in skin.

[Investigation on endemic situation of schistosomiasis in infection-controlled regions in Anhui Province].

Objective: To understand the epidemic situation of schistosomiasis in 27 counties (cities, districts) that reached the criteria of schistosomiasis infection controlled in Anhui Province.

Methods: According to the requirement of The National Assessment Scheme of Schistosomiasis, 81 administrative villages where the schistosomiasis epidemic situation was relatively heaver in above-mentioned 27 counties (1 village per town, 3 towns per county) were sampled and investigated.

Results: From 2012 to 2014, 81 villages were investigated, and 34,293 residents received the serum examinations, and 1,086 were positive with a positive rate of 3.

[Susceptibilities of Oncomelania hupensis snails to Schistosoma japonicum miracidia from different hosts].

Objective: To understand the susceptibilities of Oncomelania hupensis snails to Schistosoma japonicum miracidia from different hosts.

Methods: The Schistosoma japonicum eggs from different hosts, such as rabbits, cattle and mice were collected. These eggs were incubated for miracidia, respectively.

Characterization of partially reduced graphene oxide as room temperature sensor for H2.

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was synthesized under H(2)/Ar treatment from 100 °C to 900 °C. RGO-300 shows excellent sensitivity to H(2) and a dual sensing mode was observed. The balance between the chemical adsorption capacity and electronic conductivity, and the dominance of either electrons or holes are the key factors.

Microfluidic etching for fabrication of flexible and all-solid-state micro supercapacitor based on MnO2 nanoparticles.

Micro-supercapacitors are a promising candidate whose reliability and performances are struggling to meet the energy demands dictated by the incoming generation of miniaturized electronic devices. In this paper, we describe a facile and low-cost method for fabricating flexible and all-solid-state micro supercapacitors by microfluidic etching. The micro-supercapacitor configuration is composed of sub-10-nm-scale MnO(2) nanoparticle interdigital microelectrode fingers prepared by microfluidic etching with H(3)PO(4)-PVA thin films as both the solid-state electrolyte and the flexible substrate.

Hydrophilic TiO2 porous spheres anchored on hydrophobic polypropylene membrane for wettability induced high photodegrading activities.

TiO(2) porous nanospheres on polypropylene (PP) films (TiO(2)/PP composite) are produced at ambient temperature. Particle/pore size match up is the key anchoring point to overcome the low affinity between hydrophilic materials and hydrophobic materials. With the hydrophilic TiO(2) catalyst evenly dispersed on a hydrophobic surface, the aqueous solution will selectively skip the substrate and wet the catalysts.

Identification of the nitrogen species on N-doped graphene layers and Pt/NG composite catalyst for direct methanol fuel cell.

Heat treatment of graphene oxide (GO) with ammonia flow at various temperatures resulted in different distribution of nitrogen species. Synchrotron based X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy provides unambiguous evidence for the presence of three nitrogen species. The Pt/NG-800 composite exhibits outstanding electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation.

Silica nanotubes with mesoporous walls and various internal morphologies using hard/soft dual templates.

Silica nanotubes with mesoporous walls of 30 nm thickness and various internal morphologies are produced using hard/soft dual templates; this hierarchical pore structure shows faster mass transportation in catalysis.

Two-layered metallic film-induced surface plasmon polariton for fluorescence emission enhancement in on-chip waveguide.

We demonstrate an enhancement of fluorescence emission due to bimetallic silver-gold film-induced surface plasmon wave extension. Rhodamine B (RhB) dyes were excited by the evanescent wave field produced from surface plasmon polaritons excited on metal-deposited sections along an embedded strip waveguide. Various silver-gold combinations were used to quantify for the evanescent field enhancement.