BACKGROUND Pulsed dye laser (PDL) is the gold standard for treatment of port-wine stain (PWS) birthmarks but multiple treatments are required and complete resolution is often not achieved. Posttreatment vessel recurrence is thought to be a factor that limits efficacy of PDL treatment of PWS. Imiquimod 5% cream is an immunomodulator with antiangiogenic effects. OBJECTIVE We sought to determine...

We examined individuals' tendencies to exaggerate their positive responses toward stigmatized others (i.e., overcorrect) and explored how overcorrection, because of its fragile nature, could be disrupted. The first 2 studies demonstrate overcorrection: White participants paired with Black partners (Experiment 1A) smiled, laughed, and showed more positive behavior than those paired with same-rac...

Port wine stain (PWS) is a congenital, progressive vascular malformation of human skin. Presently, all PWS patients are treated using single cryogen spurt and single laser pulse exposure (SCS-SLP), which does not produce complete lesion blanching in the vast majority of patients. In this study, the feasibility of applying multiple cryogen spurts intermittently with multiple laser pulse exposure...

Selective photothermolysis is the basic principle for laser treatment of vascular malformations such as port wine stain birthmarks (PWS). During cutaneous laser surgery, blood inside blood vessels is heated due to selective absorption of laser energy, while the surrounding normal tissue is spared. As a result, the blood and the surrounding tissue experience a local thermodynamic non-equilibrium...

Laser therapy for cutaneous hypervascular malformations such as port-wine stain birthmarks is currently not feasible for dark-skinned individuals. We study the effects of pulse duration, radiant exposure, and cryogen spray cooling (CSC) on the thermal response of skin, using a Monte Carlo based optical-thermal model. Thermal injury to the epidermis decreases with increasing pulse duration durin...

Cryogenic sprays are of interest in dermatology for cooling human skin during pulsed laser treatment of port wine stain (PWS) birthmarks. In the present study, a Phase Doppler Interferometer (PDI) was used to obtain preliminary measurements of mean diameters and mean velocities of tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a) spray droplets, generated by an atomizing nozzle of a commercial dermatological instru...

Fast heat extraction is critically important to obtain the maximal benefit of cryogen spray cooling (CSC) during laser therapy of shallow skin lesions, such as port wine stain birthmarks. However, a film of liquid cryogen can build up on the skin surface, impairing heat transfer due to the relatively low thermal conductivity and higher temperature of the film as compared to the impinging spray ...

Ian Stevenson began researching cases of young children who claimed to remember previous lives in 1961. His approach involved a rational, scientific attempt to discern exactly what the children said about a previous life and how much of it could be verified to be accurate for one particular deceased individual. He discovered that cases could be found all over the world. He also learned that mem...

Learning that a child has—or may have—neurofibromatosis can be a very difficult experience. Very often it comes as totally unexpected news about a child who appears to be perfectly healthy save for the presence of some innocent-looking brown spots on the skin. Often these spots have gone overlooked for years, passed off as simple "birthmarks". Now, suddenly, a child is labeled as having "neurof...