Cutaneous and sensory effects of two types of sanitary pads with different surfaces in the Shanghai, Chinese population.

BACKGROUND: Regional differences in practices, ethnicity, and climate may influence the skin compatibility of sanitary pads. Although several clinical trials have been performed in North America, Mexico, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Africa, there is no clinical study reported for Asia. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the skin compatibility of two types of modern sanitary pads in Chinese women along with a dermatological assessment and their satisfaction and preference. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The self-feeling and safety of a new sanitary pad with a non-woven top specially-shaped surface sheet was tested and compared with a conventional sanitary pad with a perforated film top sheet. The subjects studied were 22 Chinese women (age: 20-50 years) with a history of mild and occasional sanitary pad dermatitis residing in Shanghai. One subject wished to discontinue the trial for personal reasons, thus 21 subjects completed the trial. These subjects were randomly assigned to two types of sanitary pads, and used one type during their next menstrual period, and another type during their following menstrual period. After each menstrual period, a dermatologist examined the objective and subjective skin symptoms and determined a score. The subjects were asked to rate their level of satisfaction with respect to overall usability, softness, stickiness, dryness, and absorbency, and to choose which pad they had preferred. RESULTS: No adverse effect was observed for either type of pad. Edema, erythema, burning, and stinging were not obvious symptoms for either type of pad. For itching, 30-65% of the subjects scored slight or mild for both types of pads. A comprehensive evaluation showed that several symptoms were observed on both type of pads at slight and mild levels, but minimal and insignificant differences were found between them. The majority of subjects were highly satisfied with both types, but preferred the new sanitary pad with a non-woven specially-shaped surface top sheet for its softness and absorbency. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that both types of sanitary pads were tolerated well by Chinese women, thereby providing an important extension of earlier studies.

Research on EEG features of attended & unattended vigilance.

Vigilance refers to the brain alertness to objective things, including the concentration of attention and the capability to response emergencies. It is of great importance to study vigilance monitoring to avoid accidents caused by decrease of vigilance. In this study, traditional Mackworth Clock Test (MCT) was modified to induce decline of attended and unattended vigilance. We analyzed EEG features in different levels of attended vigilance and assessed unattended vigilance by amplitude of mismatch negative (MMN) which can be evoked by audio odd ball stimulations. The results show that with attended vigilance going down, power of theta and alpha bands of electroencephalogram (EEG) increases and Lempel-Ziv Complexities (LZC) show an undulated decline tendency. And with unattended vigilance going down, amplitude of MMN reduces significantly. This research has great reference value for the further vigilance study.

Skin color measurement in Chinese female population: analysis of 407 cases from 4 major cities of China.

BACKGROUND: Color assessment of human skin is an important index both in dermatology and in cosmetology. METHODS: Skin color measured in 407 Chinese women selected from four different cities in China is reported in the 1976 Commission International de L'eclairage (CIE)-color space, according to the skin color typing method proposed by Chardon et al. in 1991. The skin color of buttocks and hands, which represent sun unexposed and exposed sites, respectively, were measured with a Minolta 2500d chromameter. Individual typology angle (ITA degrees) of each volunteer was calculated based on the measured L* and b* values and her skin complexion was graded accordingly. RESULTS: The results show that most of the volunteers had a "light" skin color at their unexposed sites, namely grade II (65.5%), and then grade III (intermediate, 23.1%), and I (very light, 9.6%). The skin colors at exposed sites of the studied group were mainly grade III (intermediate, 45.7%), followed by grade IV (tan, 42.0%) and II (light, 7.9%). The difference among the investigated cities, the relationship between skin color and ages, and the complexion changes from unexposed site to exposed site were analyzed based on the data from the research. CONCLUSION: The authors believed that the present results might basically represent the complexion conditions of Chinese women.