An ex vivo comparative study of the tensile strengthening efficacy of protein-derived actives on heavily bleached hair

The damaging effects of oxidative bleaching are most evident in hair which has been lightened from dark shades to platinum blonde. Whilst conventional conditioning agents effectively manage cuticular damage, the reversal of cortical weakening of hair poses a greater challenge. A number of protein-derived commercial actives claim the ability to strengthen the hair fibre when used in conditioning products. The aim of this study was to compare the relative efficacy of hydrolysed wheat protein, L-arginine and hydrolysed collagen in improving wet and dry tensile properties of heavily bleached hair tresses

Immune Function Assessment with ABEL®-Sport Test in Trained Rowers

Background and aims: Rowing induced muscle stress may have impact on athletes’ immune-system and lead to an increased incidence of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the capability of ABEL®-Sport test used in the field of to assess the susceptibility of rowers to URTI pending their exercise-loads. Methods: 6 male (aged 50 ± 16.9 y) and 5 female (aged 47 ± 9.6 y) club rowers recorded their habitual training and URTI symptoms daily for two weeks and performed a 6.8 km race-simulation on a rowing ergometer at the beginning of third week. The immune function of the rowers was assessed via the quantification and kinetics of oxidative burst response of leukocytes in 10 μl capillary blood using ABEL®-Sport test throughout the study in the field. Results: The severity of URTI symptoms increased from pre-race median value of 0 (0 – 9) to 3 (0 – 13) within two weeks post-race but was not statistically significant (p>.0125). There was very high correlation between the frequency of the occurrence of abnormal ABEL® Sport kinetics up to the 48h post-race for 7 rowers with URTI symptoms two weeks post-race (r = .930, p = .002). All 4 participants with a final URTI score >10 had irregular oxidative burst kinetics before the race and 48h after and 2 of them have not reported any URTI symptoms before the race. Conclusion: The study results indicate that ABEL®-Sport test used in the field is capable of detecting susceptibility to URTI in club rowers and could guide individual athletes in training-loads suitable for their well-being

The European Union and shaping of its neighbourhood: in pursuit of stability, security and prosperity

The process of the largest European Union (EU) enlargement of 2004 brought a massive change to the EU internal dynamics and its international position. It also indicated that the organisation cannot keep on enlarging ad infinitum. This thesis assesses the role of the new generation of association agreements (concluded by the EU and its Member States with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) as the most recent attempt of the EU to engage with its partners covered by the policy. The results of the research indicate that the development of the new model of association should be considered in broader terms of EU’s engagement with all its neighbours. It is particularly fitting at the time of the first potential withdrawal from the EU as a new, post-withdrawal, chapter of the relations between the EU and its Member States and a former Member must be considered. The new generation of association model follows a well-established tradition of association offered by the EU in the past, for example to Greece before its accession to the then Communities (now EU). This new model brings a new quality regarding institutional relations between the EU and its partners, and more importantly the association model is driven by complex and demanding law approximation. The importance of law approximation cannot be underestimated. These agreements provide partner countries with a clear set of conditions and requirements. The three countries are currently conducting significant and often ground breaking legal reforms that also require administrative and cultural changes. The association conditions are clear, however, their strict character can also work to the EU’s disadvantage. Since the neighbouring countries are frail economically, weakened by geopolitical struggle to maintain their independence and protect their borders, there is a risk that after the initial willingness, if not enthusiasm, these three countries with lose interest in the complex legal reforms. This may potentially bring the collapse of the association process and lead to negative developments that could effectively threaten the stability of the EU’s ENP neighbours and directly affect stability of the continent. Therefore it is in the EU’s interest to support these partner countries and encourage them to continue the reform process. The thesis also offers a comprehensive review of Article 8 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). The provision entered into force in 2009 and lays foundations of the EU relations with its neighbourhood. The potential of this new provision has not been fully explored. The thesis presents arguments in favour of its application as lex specialis of Article 21 TEU at the time of dynamic changes in the EU’s vicinity. Building and reinventing the future relations with the neighbours based on this general TEU provision would strengthen the consistency and clarity of the EU’s role not only as a normative power but also a stability and prosperity generator

The transcriptome of Candida albicans mitochondria and the evolution of organellar transcription units in yeasts.

BACKGROUND Yeasts show remarkable variation in the organization of their mitochondrial genomes, yet there is little experimental data on organellar gene expression outside few model species. Candida albicans is interesting as a human pathogen, and as a representative of a clade that is distant from the model yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Unlike them, it encodes seven Complex I subunits in its mtDNA. No experimental data regarding organellar expression were available prior to this study. METHODS We used high-throughput RNA sequencing and traditional RNA biology techniques to study the mitochondrial transcriptome of C. albicans strains BWP17 and SN148. RESULTS The 14 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and 24 tRNA genes are expressed as eight primary polycistronic transcription units. We also found transcriptional activity in the noncoding regions, and antisense transcripts that could be a part of a regulatory mechanism. The promoter sequence is a variant of the nonanucleotide identified in other yeast mtDNAs, but some of the active promoters show significant departures from the consensus. The primary transcripts are processed by a tRNA punctuation mechanism into the monocistronic and bicistronic mature RNAs. The steady state levels of various mature transcripts exhibit large differences that are a result of posttranscriptional regulation. Transcriptome analysis allowed to precisely annotate the positions of introns in the RNL (2), COB (2) and COX1 (4) genes, as well as to refine the annotation of tRNAs and rRNAs. Comparative study of the mitochondrial genome organization in various Candida species indicates that they undergo shuffling in blocks usually containing 2-3 genes, and that their arrangement in primary transcripts is not conserved. tRNA genes with their associated promoters, as well as GC-rich sequence elements play an important role in these evolutionary events. CONCLUSIONS The main evolutionary force shaping the mitochondrial genomes of yeasts is the frequent recombination, constantly breaking apart and joining genes into novel primary transcription units. The mitochondrial transcription units are constantly rearranged in evolution shaping the features of gene expression, such as the presence of secondary promoter sites that are inactive, or act as "booster" promoters, simplified transcriptional regulation and reliance on posttranscriptional mechanisms

Exploring the effects of non-medical versus medical approaches to the management of skin aging in women over sixty

This study was a pilot project, set up to assess ageing skin using a multi-disciplinary approach. The main aim of this study was to evaluate whether the use of more radical (‘medical’) treatments in the management of skin ageing would bring superior results and ultimately make people look younger, than the use of cosmetics (‘non-medical’ treatments). A simple post-hoc study design was used, whereby medical treatments varied within the group, all of them completed at least 2 weeks before the start of the study. In addition, it was of interest to assess the suitability of the proposed combination of methods. A total of 21 female participants were recruited for this study: 11 for the non-medical and 10 for the medical group. The multi-disciplinary approach consisted of instrumental measurements, self-assessment, expert assessment by Merz scales and a public perception survey. The majority of nearly 70 sets of instrumental skin data obtained in this study did not differ significantly between the non-medical and the medical group. However, the medical group gave higher self-assessment scores for their faces. The scores for hands were lower than scores for faces by both groups. This was partly supported by instrumental data (lower skin hydration on hands than on the face). The findings of the public perception survey of nine matched pairs of subjects scored the non-medical group as younger looking. Data analysis has shown that the judgement of youthfulness did not depend on either the gender or the age of observers