Skin Aging: Implications of UV Radiation, Reactive Oxygen Species and Natural Antioxidants

Skin aging is an inescapable phenomenon that leads to a functional decline of the skin along with emergence of characteristics features such as coarse skin, wrinkles, loss of elasticity and an overall aged appearance. While chronological aging is inevitable occurring with time, photoaging is contributed by Ultraviolet radiation and reactive oxygen species principally which can boost the skin aging process. These processes can however be ameliorated with the help of treatment strategies, one of them being supplementation with antioxidants. This chapter summarizes diverse mechanisms underlying skin aging with regards to Ultraviolet radiation and reactive oxygen species along with role of antioxidants in impeding these processes. Further, it provides a glimpse towards possible future explorations and challenges dominating the field of skin aging

Fc gamma receptor polymorphisms in systemic lupus erythematosus and their correlation with the clinical severity of the disease

Receptors for the Fc domains of IgG (Fc \u3b3 R) play a critical role in linking humoral and cellular immune responses. The various Fc \u3b3 R genes may contribute to differences in infectious and immune related diseases in various ethnic populations. Polymorphisms of Fc \u3b3 R mainly Fc \u3b3 R IIA, IIB, IIIA, IIIB have been identified as genetic factors influencing susceptibility to disease or disease course of a prototype autoimmune disease like Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Activated and inhibitory Fc \u3b3 Rs seem to play an important role in the pathogenesis of SLE, in initiation of autoimmunity, the subsequent development of inflammatory lesions and finally immune clearance mechanisms. This review focuses on the role of Fc \u3b3 R polymorphism and their association with clinical manifestations and initiation of autoantibody production, inflammatory handling of immune complexes and disease development in SLE patients

APO-1/Fas gene: Structural and functional characteristics in systemic lupus erythematosus and other autoimmune diseases

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disorder affecting multiple organ systems. It is characterized by the presence of autoantibodies reactive against various self-antigens. Susceptibility to SLE is found to be associated with many major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and non-MHC genes, one of which is APO-1/Fas gene, which is present on chromosome 10 in humans. The APO-1/Fas promoter contains consensus sequences for binding of several transcription factors that affect the intensity of Fas expression in cells. The mutations in the APO-1/Fas promoter are associated with risk and severity in various autoimmune diseases and other malignancies. The APO-1/Fas receptor is expressed by many cell types. Two forms of APO-1/Fas protein that are involved in regulation of apoptosis have been identified. Fas receptor-mediated apoptosis plays a physiological and pathological role in killing of infected cell targets. In this review, we have focused on APO-1/Fas gene structure, promoter variants and its association with SLE and other autoimmune diseases. Functional aspects of Fas receptor in apoptosis are also discussed

Effect of Proinflammatory Cytokines (IL-6, TNF- α

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an inflammatory rheumatic disease characterized by production of autoantibodies and organ damage. Elevated levels of cytokines have been reported in SLE patients. In this study we have investigated the effect of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β) on clinical manifestations in 145 Indian SLE patients. One hundred and forty-five healthy controls of the same ethnicity served as a control group. Clinical disease activity was scored according to SLEDAI score. Accordingly, 110 patients had active disease and 35 patients had inactive disease. Mean levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β were found to be significantly higher in SLE patients than healthy controls (P<0.001). Mean level of IL-6 for patients with active disease (70.45±68.32 pg/mL) was significantly higher (P=0.0430) than those of inactive disease patients (43.85±63.36 pg/mL). Mean level of TNF-α was 44.76±68.32 pg/mL for patients with active disease while it was 25.97±22.03 pg/mL for those with inactive disease and this difference was statistically significant (P=0.0161). Similar results were obtained for IL-1β (P=0.0002). Correlation between IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β serum levels and SLEDAI score was observed (r=0.20, r=0.27, and r=0.38, resp.). This study supports the role of these proinflammatory cytokines as inflammatory mediators in active stage of disease

Quality of life of post-menopausal women residing in rural and urban areas of Sikkim, India

Background: Menopause is an inevitable reproductive phase during midlife when various physical and mental changes may impair the quality of life of women. The presence and severity of symptoms vary tremendously from woman to woman and can last from months to years during this transitional period. This study was conducted to assess the quality of life and menopause related problems among post-menopausal women residing rural and urban areas of Sikkim.Methods: Descriptive explorative study was done in East Sikkim among 120 rural and urban post-menopausal women who were in the age group of 45 years and above, had attained natural menopause and didn’t have menstruation from last one year, were selected through purposive sampling technique. Women with induced menopause, hysterectomy, receiving hormonal treatment were excluded. Along with collection of socio-demographic data, the Menopause Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire was used to assess the Quality of life based on experience of the symptoms through interview technique.Results: The mean menopausal age was 48±3.649 years in rural area and 47±3.831 years for urban area. The mean scores in quality of life between post-menopausal women in rural areas (M=136.6, SD=28.78) were found significantly impaired and the difference was found statistically significant (t=5.75 p<0.001) which shows that rural women were having impaired quality of life as compared to urban women during post-menopausal period. The findings also revealed that factors affecting the quality of life of postmenopausal women were the history of menopause, occupation of women, in urban women and time of attending menopause, in rural women.Conclusions: The present study shows that menopause related symptoms had a negative effect on the quality of life of the post-menopausal women. Such studies can help in creating awareness and in educating women on the early identification of the common menopausal symptoms

Initial Conditions Matter: Social Capital and Participatory Development

Billions of dollars have been spent on participatory development programs in the developing world. These programs give community members an active decision-making role. Given the emphasis on community involvement, one might expect that the effectiveness of this approach would depend on communities' pre-existing social capital stocks. Using data from a large randomised field experiment of Community-Led Total Sanitation in Indonesia, we find that villages with high initial social capital built toilets and reduced open defecation, resulting in substantial health benefits. In villages with low initial stocks of social capital, the approach was counterproductive – fewer toilets were built than in control communities and social capital suffered

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe

Measurement of prompt open-charm production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The production cross sections for prompt open-charm mesons in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV are reported. The measurement is performed using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 29 nb(-1). The differential production cross sections of the D*(+/-), D-+/-, and D-0 ((D) over bar (0)) mesons are presented in ranges of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity 4 < p(T) < 100 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.1, respectively. The results are compared to several theoretical calculations and to previous measurements.Peer reviewe

Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 (GBD 2017) includes a comprehensive assessment of incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) for 354 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2017. Previous GBD studies have shown how the decline of mortality rates from 1990 to 2016 has led to an increase in life expectancy, an ageing global population, and an expansion of the non-fatal burden of disease and injury. These studies have also shown how a substantial portion of the world's population experiences non-fatal health loss with considerable heterogeneity among different causes, locations, ages, and sexes. Ongoing objectives of the GBD study include increasing the level of estimation detail, improving analytical strategies, and increasing the amount of high-quality data. Methods: We estimated incidence and prevalence for 354 diseases and injuries and 3484 sequelae. We used an updated and extensive body of literature studies, survey data, surveillance data, inpatient admission records, outpatient visit records, and health insurance claims, and additionally used results from cause of death models to inform estimates using a total of 68 781 data sources. Newly available clinical data from India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Nepal, China, Brazil, Norway, and Italy were incorporated, as well as updated claims data from the USA and new claims data from Taiwan (province of China) and Singapore. We used DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool, as the main method of estimation, ensuring consistency between rates of incidence, prevalence, remission, and cause of death for each condition. YLDs were estimated as the product of a prevalence estimate and a disability weight for health states of each mutually exclusive sequela, adjusted for comorbidity. We updated the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary development indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and total fertility rate. Additionally, we calculated differences between male and female YLDs to identify divergent trends across sexes. GBD 2017 complies with the Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting. Findings: Globally, for females, the causes with the greatest age-standardised prevalence were oral disorders, headache disorders, and haemoglobinopathies and haemolytic anaemias in both 1990 and 2017. For males, the causes with the greatest age-standardised prevalence were oral disorders, headache disorders, and tuberculosis including latent tuberculosis infection in both 1990 and 2017. In terms of YLDs, low back pain, headache disorders, and dietary iron deficiency were the leading Level 3 causes of YLD counts in 1990, whereas low back pain, headache disorders, and depressive disorders were the leading causes in 2017 for both sexes combined. All-cause age-standardised YLD rates decreased by 3·9% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 3·1-4·6) from 1990 to 2017; however, the all-age YLD rate increased by 7·2% (6·0-8·4) while the total sum of global YLDs increased from 562 million (421-723) to 853 million (642-1100). The increases for males and females were similar, with increases in all-age YLD rates of 7·9% (6·6-9·2) for males and 6·5% (5·4-7·7) for females. We found significant differences between males and females in terms of age-standardised prevalence estimates for multiple causes. The causes with the greatest relative differences between sexes in 2017 included substance use disorders (3018 cases [95% UI 2782-3252] per 100 000 in males vs 1400 [1279-1524] per 100 000 in females), transport injuries (3322 [3082-3583] vs 2336 [2154-2535]), and self-harm and interpersonal violence (3265 [2943-3630] vs 5643 [5057-6302]). Interpretation: Global all-cause age-standardised YLD rates have improved only slightly over a period spanning nearly three decades. However, the magnitude of the non-fatal disease burden has expanded globally, with increasing numbers of people who have a wide spectrum of conditions. A subset of conditions has remained globally pervasive since 1990, whereas other conditions have displayed more dynamic trends, with different ages, sexes, and geographies across the globe experiencing varying burdens and trends of health loss. This study emphasises how global improvements in premature mortality for select conditions have led to older populations with complex and potentially expensive diseases, yet also highlights global achievements in certain domains of disease and injury

Measurement of B-c(2S)(+) and B-c*(2S)(+) cross section ratios in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe