Chemotherapy and skin reactions.

BACKGROUND:New chemotherapic agents and new protocols in oncology have led to an increasing survival rate in patients affected by tumors. However, this increased use has been accompanied by a growth in the incidence of cutaneous side effects and a worsening of patients' quality of life. Appropriate management of skin toxicity associated with chemotherapic agents is therefore necessary for suitable drug administration and to improve quality of life and clinical outcomes. METHODS: We have clinically examined 100 patients affected by cancer, determining type, frequency, treatment, and evolution of side effects related to chemotherapy. RESULTS: The prevalent cutaneous side effects in patients undergoing chemotherapy are skin rash, xerosis, pruritus, paronychia, hair abnormality, and mucositis. The clinical cases are reported in detail. CONCLUSION: Oncological therapies have become more selective and have low systemic toxicity because of their high specificity, but cutaneous side effects are common and may worsen the quality of life of these patients

Investigation of near-infrared fluorescence and photobleaching of human volar side fingertips in vivo: antioxidants and melanin

Noninvasive in vivo blood glucose determination in the skin of volar side of human fingertips by near-infrared (NIR) Raman spectroscopy relies on fluorescence to quantify blood volume. Fluorescence does not only come from blood, which is composed of plasma and red blood cells; in fact, most fluorescence produced by human fingertips originates in the static tissues, e.g. skin, interstitial fluid, etc.. It will soon be possible to quantify the precise contributions of red blood cells, plasma, and static tissue to the overall fluorescence emission. Observations reveal a systematic decay in fluorescence, which, if not caused by blood movement, challenges our ability to accurately determine blood glucose. In this work, it was found that the fluorescence decay was, in fact, not a result of a blood movement, but instead a chemical change of the static tissues decreasing their fluorescent properties. To identify possible photobleachable material, a series of in vitro experiments were performed on various antioxidants and the skin pigment melanin. While none of the antioxidants were found to fluoresce, it was observed that melanin fluoresces, photobleaches, and does not significantly recover its photobleaching. This allows for a deeper understanding as to the chemistry underlying the effect of photobleaching and how it may be accounted for in regards to this technique for glucose measurement

Faculty Excellence

Each year, the University of New Hampshire selects a small number of its outstanding faculty for special recognition of their achievements in teaching, scholarship and service. Awards for Excellence in Teaching are given in each college and school, and university-wide awards recognize public service, research, teaching and engagement. This booklet details the year\u27s award winners\u27 accomplishments in short profiles with photographs and text

Faculty Excellence

Each year, the University of New Hampshire selects a small number of its outstanding faculty for special recognition of their achievements in teaching, scholarship and service. Awards for Excellence in Teaching are given in each college and school, and university-wide awards recognize public service, research, teaching and engagement. This booklet details the year\u27s award winners\u27 accomplishments in short profiles with photographs and text

The Physics of Dream Consciousness: Is the Lucid Dream a Parallel Universe?

I realize that we have only about twenty minutes to be together so I'm not going to overwhelm you with the number of years of research that I've been doing on the nature of consciousness itself and in particular the connection between physics and consciousness. I want to give you the bottom line first so you know where I'm coming from. I would like to suggest that all cognitive experience can be related to a model which has currently been circulating in psychological research called the Holographic Model, and I would like to strongly suggest that the mental hologram referred to is constructed in the brain and nervous system via a mechanism of quantum wave interference