We compared the effect of topical zinc

with that of hydroquinone as the standard treatment on severity of melasma.

Patients and MethodsNinety-three women with melasma were randomized to receive zinc sulfate 10% or hydroquinone 4% solutions once daily for 2months. They were followed for an additional 3months while using sunscreen. The severity of melasma was assessed at baseline and at 2 and 5months using the Melasma Area and Severity Index (MASI).

ResultsEighty-two patients completed the study. The MASI score fell significantly in both groups, but a greater decrease was seen in those who received hydroquinone (43.515.5% vs 18.6 +/- 20.8%, p<.001). Postinflammatory PD98059 cell line pigmentation occurred in 5.2% of the zinc group and irritation in 30.9% of the hydroquinone group.

ConclusionTopical zinc therapy is not highly effective in reducing the severity of melasma, but further trials are needed to determine whether adding zinc to current topical treatments

find more could improve treatment response.”
“We have studied the effects of high concentrations of native point defects on the electrical and optical properties of CdO. The defects were introduced by irradiation with high energy He(+), Ne(+), Ar(+), and C(+) ions. Increasing the irradiation damage with particles heavier than He(+) increases the electron concentration until a saturation level of 5×10(20) cm(-3) is reached. In contrast, due to the ionic character and hence strong dynamic annealing of CdO, irradiation with much lighter He(+) stabilizes the electron concentration at a much lower level of 1.7×10(20) cm(-3). A large shift of the optical absorption edge with increasing electron concentration in irradiated samples is explained by the Burstein-Moss shift corrected for electron-electron and electron-ion interactions. The saturation

of the electron concentration and the optical absorption edge energy are consistent with a defect induced stabilization of the Fermi energy at 1 eV above the conduction band edge. The result is in a good agreement with previously determined Fermi level pinning energies on CdO surfaces. The results indicate that CdO shares many similarities with InN, as both materials exhibit extremely large electron affinities and an unprecedented propensity for n-type conductivity. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: https://www.sellecn.cn/products/MS-275.html 10.1063/1.3428444]“
“Changes in tensile properties, sample size, interfacial strength, and thermal conductivity of melt-laminating layers of wood/ebonite natural rubber (NR) and expanded ethyelene-propylene diene rubber (EPDM) for polymeric roofing applications were monitored under a period of UV aging times for 60 days, the results being compared with single rubber layers of wood/NR and expanded-EPDM. The experimental results suggested that the tensile modulus of the wood/NR-EPDM melt-laminating layer increased with increasing aging time.