Environmental and Lifestyle Factors Associated with Perceived Facial Age in Chinese Women

Perceived facial age has been proposed as a biomarker of ageing with ‘looking young for one’s age' linked to physical and cognitive functioning and to increased survival for Caucasians. We have investigated the environmental and lifestyle factors associated with perceived facial ageing in Chinese women. Facial photographs were collected from 250 Chinese women, aged 25–70 years in Shanghai, China. Perceived facial age was determined and related to chronological age for each participant. Lifestyle and health information was collected by questionnaire. Bivariate analyses (controlling for chronological age) identified and quantified lifestyle variables associated with perceived facial age. Independent predictors of perceived age were identified by multivariate modelling. Factors which significantly associated with looking younger for one's chronological age included greater years of education (p<0.001), fewer household members (p = 0.027), menopausal status (p = 0.020), frequency of visiting one's doctor (p = 0.013), working indoors (p<0.001), spending less time in the sun (p = 0.015), moderate levels of physical activity (p = 0.004), higher frequency of teeth cleaning (p<0.001) and more frequent use of facial care products: cleanser (p<0.001); moisturiser (p = 0.016) or night cream (p = 0.016). Overall, 36.5% of the variation in the difference between perceived and chronological age could be explained by a combination of chronological age and 6 independent lifestyle variables. We have thus identified and quantified a number of factors associated with younger appearance in Chinese women. Presentation of these factors in the context of facial appearance could provide significant motivation for the adoption of a range of healthy behaviours at the level of both individuals and populations

Linearized esculentin-2EM shows pH dependent antibacterial activity with an alkaline optimum

Here the hypothesis that linearized esculentin 2EM (E2EM-lin) from Glandirana emeljanovi possesses pH dependent activity is investigated. The peptide showed weak activity against Gram-negative bacteria (MLCs ≥ 75.0 μM) but potent efficacy towards Gram-positive bacteria (MLCs ≤ 6.25 μM). E2EM-lin adopted an α-helical structure in the presence of bacterial membranes that increased as pH was increased from 6 to 8 (↑ 15.5 to 26.9 %), while similar increases in pH enhanced the ability of the peptide to penetrate (↑ 2.3 to 5.1 mN m-1) and lyse (↑ 15.1 to 32.5%) these membranes. Theoretical analysis predicted that this membranolytic mechanism involved a tilted segment, that increased along the α-helical long axis of E2EM-lin (1-23) in the N → C direction, with - increasing overall from circa - 0.8 to - 0.3. In combination, these data showed that E2EM-lin killed bacteria via novel mechanisms that were enhanced by alkaline conditions and involved the formation of tilted and membranolytic, α-helical structure. The preference of E2EM-lin for Gram-positive bacteria over Gram-negative organisms was primarily driven by the superior ability of phosphatidylglycerol to induce α-helical structure in the peptide as compared to phosphatidylethanolamine. These data were used to generate a novel pore-forming model for the membranolytic activity of E2EM-lin, which would appear to be the first, major reported instance of pH dependent AMPs with alkaline optima using tilted structure to drive a pore-forming process. It is proposed that E2EM-lin has the potential for development to serve purposes ranging from therapeutic usage, such as chronic wound disinfection, to food preservation by killing food spoilage organisms

Effects of exposure to ozone and water stress on the following season's growth of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.).

Bud break and growth of beech trees were measured during the growing season of 1992. The trees had previously been exposed, through the growing season of 1991, to one of four treatments: (1) episodic ozone for 128 d, total dose = 46-3 ppm h; (2) air purified by filtration through Purified and charcoal; (3) ozone together with a period of water shortage: (4) filtered air with a period of water shortage. Despite uniform growth conditions during 1992. the previous water stress treatment caused bud break to begin slightly earlier, but the rates of shoot growth and the length of the first flush branches were reduced (40%). In well-watered plants ozone caused a reduced Tate of shoot growth during the first week after bud break. The total amount of growth during 1992 was shown to be reduced (36%) by the previous water stress treatment, In the case of the well-watered trees, exposure to ozone in the previous year reduced the amount of new growth by 17%, which was the result of reduced internal expansion. When ozone was combined with water stress, there was no further reduction in the amount of new growth, but there was a fall in the number of internodes relative to water-stressed plants grown in filtered air. Ozone and water stress applied singly reduced growth. A combination of the two stresses, however, caused no additional reduction in growth, but reduced the number of internodes. The possible implications of the aftereffects of these stresses are discussed in relation to reduced productivity and canopy structure