Within days after birth, rapid surface colonization of infant skin coincides with significant functional changes. Gradual maturation of skin function, structure, and composition continues throughout ...the first years of life. Recent reports have revealed topographical and temporal variations in the adult skin microbiome. Here we address the question of how the human skin microbiome develops early in life. We show that the composition of cutaneous microbial communities evolves over the first year of life, showing increasing diversity with age. Although early colonization is dominated by Staphylococci, their significant decline contributes to increased population evenness by the end of the first year. Similar to what has been shown in adults, the composition of infant skin microflora appears to be site specific. In contrast to adults, we find that Firmicutes predominate on infant skin. Timely and proper establishment of healthy skin microbiome during this early period might have a pivotal role in denying access to potentially infectious microbes and could affect microbiome composition and stability extending into adulthood. Bacterial communities contribute to the establishment of cutaneous homeostasis and modulate inflammatory responses. Early microbial colonization is therefore expected to critically affect the development of the skin immune function.
Background The success of vaccination efforts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic will require broad public uptake of immunization and highlights the importance of understanding factors associated with ...willingness to receive a vaccine. Methods U.S. adults aged 65 and older enrolled in the Heartline.sup.TM clinical study were invited to complete a COVID-19 vaccine assessment through the Heartline.sup.TM mobile application between November 6-20, 2020. Factors associated with willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine were evaluated using an ordered logistic regression as well as a Random Forest classification algorithm. Results Among 9,106 study participants, 81.3% (n = 7402) responded and had available demographic data. The majority (91.3%) reported a willingness to be vaccinated. Factors most strongly associated with vaccine willingness were beliefs about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccines in general. Women and Black or African American respondents reported lower willingness to vaccinate. Among those less willing to get vaccinated, 66.2% said that they would talk with their health provider before making a decision. During the study, positive results from the first COVID-19 vaccine outcome study were released; vaccine willingness increased after this report. Conclusions Even among older adults at high-risk for COVID-19 complications who are participating in a longitudinal clinical study, 1 in 11 reported lack of willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccine in November 2020. Variability in vaccine willingness by gender, race, education, and income suggests the potential for uneven vaccine uptake. Education by health providers directed toward assuaging concerns about vaccine safety and efficacy can help improve vaccine acceptance among those less willing. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04276441.
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Skin water barrier development begins in utero and is believed to be complete by week 34 of gestational age. The goal of this investigation was to assess the dynamic transport and distribution of ...water of the stratum corneum of infants and compare it to those of adults. The interaction of water with the stratum corneum was assessed by measuring capacitance, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), rates of absorption–desorption as well as Raman spectra as a function of depth (a total of 124 infants (3–12 months) and 104 adults (14–73 years)). The results show that capacitance, TEWL, and absorption–desorption rates had larger values consistently for infant stratum corneum throughout the first year of life and showed greater variation than those of adults. The Raman spectra analyzed for water and for the components of natural moisturizing factor (NMF) showed the distribution of water to be higher and have a steeper gradient in infants than in adults; the concentration of NMF was significantly lower in infants. The results suggest that although the stratum corneum of infants may appear intact shortly after birth (<1 month), the way it stores and transports water becomes adult-like only after the first year of life.
Objective To determine if women who were randomized to a mind/body program before starting their first IVF cycle would have higher pregnancy rates than control subjects. Design Randomized, ...controlled, prospective study. Setting Private academically affiliated infertility center. Patient(s) A total of 143 women aged ≤40 years who were about to begin their first IVF cycle. Intervention(s) Subjects were randomized to a ten-session mind/body program (MB) or a control group and followed for two IVF cycles. Main Outcome Measure(s) Clinical pregnancy rate. Result(s) Only 9% of the MB participants had attended at least one-half of their sessions at cycle 1 start. Pregnancy rates for cycle 1 were 43% for all subjects; 76% of the MB subjects had attended at least one-half of their sessions at cycle 2 start. Pregnancy rates for cycle 2 were 52% for MB and 20% for control. Conclusion(s) MB participation was associated with increased pregnancy rates for cycle 2, prior to which most subjects had attended at least half of their sessions.
: Functional differences between infant and adult skin may be attributed to putative differences in skin microstructure. The purpose of this study was to examine infant skin microstructure in vivo ...and to compare it with that of adult skin. The lower thigh area of 20 healthy mothers (ages 25–43) and their biological children (ages 3–24 months) was examined using in vivo noninvasive methods including fluorescence spectroscopy, video microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Stratum corneum and supra‐papillary epidermal thickness as well as cell size in the granular layer were assessed from the confocal images. Adhesive tapes were used to remove corneocytes from the outer‐most layer of stratum corneum and their size was computed using image analysis. Surface features showed differences in glyph density and surface area. Infant stratum corneum was found to be 30% and infant epidermis 20% thinner than in adults. Infant corneocytes were found to be 20% and granular cells 10% smaller than adult corneocytes indicating a more rapid cell turnover in infants. This observation was confirmed by fluorescence spectroscopy. Dermal papillae density and size distribution also differed. Surprisingly, a distinct direct structural relationship between the stratum corneum morphology and the dermal papillae was observed exclusively in infant skin. A change in reflected signal intensity at ∼100 μm indicating the transition between papillary and reticular dermis was evident only in adult skin. We demonstrate in vivo qualitative and quantitative differences in morphology between infant and adult skin. These differences in skin microstructure may help explain some of the reported functional differences.
The transition to motherhood involves the experience of each individual mother and child, as well as the burden of cultural expectations. Social desirability demands may impede self reports of ...difficulties during the transition to motherhood when using traditional explicit measures. One core component of maternal role attainment is a mother's confidence in her own intuitive knowledge of her child. This brief report presents two studies that examine a "low technology" implicit measure of maternal intuition confidence that is based within a more general decision confidence paradigm. Study 1 examined the association of both implicit and explicit maternal intuition confidence with depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and maternal identity satisfaction in a United States sample of mothers. The implicit measure contributed to variance in each of the outcome measures, above and beyond an explicit measure. Study 2 explored the association of implicit maternal intuition confidence with life satisfaction and maternal identity satisfaction in Brazil, China, India, the United States and the United Kingdom. Across all samples, implicit maternal intuition confidence was significantly associated with satisfaction with life. However, it was significantly associated with maternal identity satisfaction only in the two individualistic countries (the United States and the United Kingdom), but not in the three collectivist countries.
Highlights • Women experience significant sleep disruption and inadequate sleep throughout pregnancy. • There are no differences across the month of pregnancy for insomnia, daytime sleepiness, or ...fatigue. • Frequent urination and difficulty finding a comfortable position frequently disturb sleep. • All women should be screened and treated for sleep disturbances throughout pregnancy.
Ectopic calcification is commonly associated with cardiovascular disease, injury, aging, and biomaterial implantation. We hypothesized that the normal mechanical environment of smooth muscle cells ...(SMCs) inhibits a phenotypic switch to a pattern of gene expression more typical for bone and inducive for calcification. This hypothesis was tested using a 3‐D engineered smooth muscle tissue model subjected to cyclic mechanical strain. This simplified model maintained a 3‐D tissue architecture while eliminating systemic effects as can be seen with in vivo models. All engineered tissues were found to express bone‐associated genes (osteopontin, matrix gla protein, alkaline phosphatase, and the transcription factor CBFA‐1). Strikingly, however, expression of these genes was down‐regulated in tissues exposed to cyclic strain at all time points ranging from 5 to 150 days. Furthermore, long‐term strain played a protective role in regard to calcification, as unstrained tissues exhibited increased calcium deposition with respect to strained tissues. The results of this study suggest that without an appropriate mechanical environment, SMCs in 3‐D culture undergo a phenotypic conversion to an osteoblast‐like pattern of gene expression. This finding has significant implications for the mechanisms underlying a variety of cardiovascular diseases and indicates the broad utility of engineered tissue models in basic biology studies.
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