The application of 595-nm pulsed dye laser for vascular anomalies in a Chinese population: a 10-year experience.

BACKGROUND: The 595-nm pulsed dye laser (PDL) has been used to treat vascular anomalies for about 30 years; however, there are insufficient data in Chinese patients concerning therapeutic efficacy, optimized parameters, and procedure techniques. OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy and relevant factors in PDL therapy for vascular anomalies in Chinese patients. METHOD: We enrolled 431 patients with 8 different vascular anomalies and no previous treatment in this retrospective study. A detailed classification of vascular anomalies and various parameters and techniques of PDL were studied. The clinical outcomes were analysed using the Investigator Global Assessment. RESULTS: Improvements were significantly correlated with infantile haemangioma (IH) subtypes (p < 0.05). A significant correlation between efficacy and lesion colour, anatomical sites, and hypertrophic-type port-wine stain (PWS) was found (p < 0.05). There was no significant correlation between efficacy and age or sex (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: PDL is an effective and safe therapeutic modality for managing vascular anomalies in Chinese patients. We determined that differentiating and identifying IH subtypes prior to treatment could be a useful parameter for predicting therapeutic results.  Lesion colour, sites, and hypertrophic changes in PWS are relevant therapeutic factors. PDL parameters and techniques differ according to the various vascular anomalies to achieve optimal results.

Alcohol consumption analysis among patients with liver disease in China / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Alcohol consumption has been observed to be a contributing factor in liver damage. However, very few studies have tried to decipher the correlation between patients with liver disease and alcohol consumption. Therefore, this study was planned to determine the prevalence of alcohol consumption among patients with liver disease, and to evaluate the risk factors, liver diseases, and chronic medical conditions associated with alcohol drinking.@*METHODS@#A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with liver disease in 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across China. All participants answered the questionnaire, which led to the calculation of Alcohol Use Disorders Inventory Test (AUDIT) score for each patient. Based on this score, low-risk drinkers, hazardous drinkers, and harmful drinkers were defined as having AUDIT score of <8, between 8 and 15, and ≥16, respectively.@*RESULTS@#A total of 1489 participants completed the questionnaire. Based on this information, 900 (60.44%) participants were classified as alcohol drinkers. Among these, 8.66% were ex-drinkers, 22.10% were low-risk drinkers, 17.13% were hazardous drinkers, and 12.56% were harmful drinkers. Further investigation of the association between alcohol consumption and other baseline characteristics of patients with liver disease revealed that usually men <40 years old, participants having higher family annual income, having college degree or higher education, living alone, having higher body mass index (BMI), current smokers, and ex-smokers had significant association with higher risk of alcohol consumption. In addition, among the 18.07% of the participants with cirrhosis, it was observed that risk of cirrhosis increased with higher alcohol consumption. Furthermore, harmful drinkers showed greater odds of hypertension and heart diseases, while hazardous drinkers and harmful drinkers, both had greater odds of hyperlipidemia.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Overall our analyses indicated that among the patients with liver disease in China, there was high rate of alcohol consumption and dependence. Alcohol consumption usually associated with men <40 years old, higher family income, education level, living alone, high BMI, and smoking. Increased alcohol consumption not only increased the risk of cirrhosis, but also enhanced the risk of hypertension, heart diseases, and hyperlipidemia.

Using Oxygen Plasma Pretreatment to Enhance the Properties of F-Doped ZnO Films Prepared on Polyimide Substrates.

In this study, a radio frequency magnetron sputtering process was used to deposit F-doped ZnO (FZO) films on polyimide (PI) substrates. The thermal expansion effect of PI substrates induces distortion and bending, causing FZO films to peel and their electrical properties and crystallinity to deteriorate. To address these shortcomings, oxygen (O2) plasma was used to pretreat the surface of PI substrates using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition system before the FZO films were deposited. The effects of O2 plasma pretreatment time on the surface water contact angle, surface morphologies, and optical properties of the PI substrates were investigated. As the pretreatment time increased, so did the roughness of the PI substrates. After the FZO films had been deposited on the PI substrates, variations in the surface morphologies, crystalline structure, composition, electrical properties, and optical properties were investigated as a function of the O2 plasma pretreatment time. When this was 30 s, the FZO films had optimal optical and electrical properties. The resistivity was 3.153 × 10-3 Ω-cm, and the transmittance ratios of all films were greater than 90%. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra of the FZO films, particularly the peaks for O1s, Zn 2p1/2, and Zn 2p3/2, were determined for films with O2 plasma pretreatment times of 0 and 30 s. Finally, a HCl solution was used to etch the surfaces of the deposited FZO films, and silicon-based thin-film solar cells were fabricated on the FZO/PI substrates. The effect of O2-plasma pretreatment time on the properties of the fabricated solar cells is thoroughly discussed.