Dysbiosis of skin microbiota with increased fungal diversity is associated with severity of disease in atopic dermatitis

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a multifactorial inflammatory skin disease and an altered skin microbiota with an increase of Staphylococcus aureus has been reported. However, the role of fungi remains poorly investigated. Objectives: We aimed to improve the understanding of the fungal skin microbiota, the mycobiota, in AD in relation to the bacterial colonization. Methods: Skin swabs of 16 AD patients and 16 healthy controls (HC) from four different skin sites, that is antecubital crease, dorsal neck, glabella and vertex from multiple time points were analysed by DNA sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer region 1 (ITS1) and 16S rRNA gene for fungi and bacteria, respectively. Results: Malassezia spp. were the predominant fungi in all subjects but with a decreased dominance in severe AD patients in favour of non-Malassezia fungi, for example Candida spp. For bacteria, a decrease of Cutibacterium spp. in AD patients in favour of Staphylococcus spp., particularly S. aureus, was observed. Further, both bacterial and fungal community compositions of severe AD patients significantly differed from mild-to-moderate AD patients and HC with the latter two having overall similar microbiota showing some distinctions in bacterial communities. Conclusions: We conclude that severe AD is associated with a pronounced dysbiosis of the microbiota with increased fungal diversity. Potentially infectious agents, for example Staphylococcus and Candida, were increased in severe AD. Keywords: atopic dermatitis; bacteria; disease severity; fungi; skin microbiot

A procedure for automatic transformation of standard dialogs into forms of the internet

This contribution reports on the future development of interactive systems and their transformation into ubiquitously usable formats. It is based on a report written by one of the authors at the University of Leipzig's Institute for Computer Science that deals with the identification of standard dialog objects and their automatic transformation in (X)HTML. employed. It concludes with a possible solution for the stated problem

Buitengewoon binnenterrein : met buurtbewoners ontwerpen aan een plein in de Arnhemse wijk Sint Marten

In woonwijk Sint Marten (Arnhem) ligt een plein temidden van een sociaal woningbouwcomplex uit de jaren tachtig van de vorige eeuw. Het plein voldoet niet meer als aantrekkelijke speel- en ontmoetingsplek. Een groep betrokken bewoners heeft Wageningen UR gevraagd om voor dit plein een ontwerp te maken. Om een plein te kunnen ontwerpen waar de bewoners zich verantwoordelijk voor voelen en graag komen, zijn de buurtbewoners –groot en klein– actief bij het stedebouwkundig ontwerp betrokke