In vivo assessment of human skin aging by multiphoton laser scanning tomography

Changes of dermal collagen and elastin content are characteristic for skin aging as well as for pathological skin conditions. To evaluate these changes, we used in vivo multiphoton laser tomography to measure two-photon excited autofluorescence (AF) and second harmonic generation (SHG). We tested 18 patients of all ages and calculated the SHG-to-AF aging index of dermis (SAAID). We observed a negative relationship between the SAAID and age, which was accelerated for the female (n=7) subgroup. The current findings are the first in vivo demonstration of this relationship, and they show that specific characteristics of aged skin such as the ratio of extracellular matrix components collagen and elastin can be evaluated by in vivo AF and SHG measurements using near-IR femtosecond laser pulses.     

Raman comparison of skin dermis of different ages: focus on spectral markers of collagen hydration

Skin aging is the most visible sign of aging of the body. This complex process involves molecular and structural alterations of the main skin constituents. The major cutaneous constituent is type I collagen that gives strength and resilience to the skin. This macromolecule possesses a particular triple helix structure and is arranged in the form of a fibrous network. Water plays a crucial role for maintaining this molecular assembly which is altered during intrinsic chronological aging. To investigate some of these structural alterations, Raman microspectroscopy was employed since this biophotonic approach permits to probe the biomolecular composition of the skin in a non‐destructive manner. In addition, type I collagen gives specific Raman vibrations; some of which being sensitive to the molecule conformation and to the water environment. In this purpose, Raman spectra of four skin samples of different ages (two samples of 40 year old and two samples of 70 year old) were collected by varying the relative environmental humidity. Our experiments highlighted spectral differences between the four samples. The analysis of the Raman data permitted to suggest a model for the interactions between collagen and water molecules and a decrease in collagen fibers compactness with chronological aging. Our study demonstrates that Raman spectroscopy can be a useful tool to investigate skin aging, with innovative applications in dermatology as well as in cosmetics. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of diffuse and specular reflections on the perceived age of facial skin

Age perception is a better biomarker of skin aging than chronological age. However, the optical cues that determine the perception of human skin age are difficult to assess given the complex interactions between light and the multi layered structure of the skin. The aim of the present study is to clarify the independent contribution of both diffuse and specular reflection components to the skin age perception. First, according to our results, subjects were able to estimate the age of skin only by using the diffuse reflection component. Moreover, we showed that inclusion of the specular reflection component added on average 5 years to their age estimation. Second, by artificially manipulating the specular component, we concluded that the luminance distribution affects the perceived age of the skin.     

Comparison of Telomere Length of Vocal Folds With Different Tissues: A Physiological Measurement of Vocal Senescence

The objective of this article is to determine telomere length, a measure of biological age, in true vocal fold (TVF), false vocal fold (FVF), and five other tissue types, to ascertain whether there is tissue-specific telomere shortening. The study design is that of a prospective, basic science study. Tissue samples were obtained from the TVF, FVF, skin from the back of hand, skin from thigh, aorta, blood, and bone marrow from 12 patients ages 54 to 76 years. Genomic DNA was isolated from each sample, and telomere lengths were calculated with real-time polymerase chain reaction. In our small age group, age was not significantly associated with telomere length across tissue types, nor were there any linear correlations within tissue types and age. Controlling for age, significant differences were found between the following tissues: aorta and blood (P < 0.000), aorta and bone marrow (P = 0.033), aorta and FVF (P = 0.015), aorta and hand skin (P = 0.004), blood and thigh skin (P = 0.012), and blood and TVF (P = 0.048). A significant linear correlation between telomere length and tissue type without considering donor age was established between bone marrow and hand skin (P < 0.05, R2 = 0.766), thigh skin and hand skin (P < 0.01, R2 = 0.926), TVF and blood (P < 0.01, R2 = 0.836), and thigh skin and TVF (P < 0.05, R2 = 0.624). Our findings indicate that surrogate tissue for measurement of telomere length of TVF includes FVF, bone marrow, skin, and aorta. These findings have implications for understanding vocal fold aging at the cellular level.     

Evaluating cutaneous photoaging by use of multiphoton fluorescence and second-harmonic generation microscopy

The photoaging process of facial skin is investigated by use of multiphoton fluorescence and second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy. We obtain the autofluorescence (AF) and SHG images of the superficial dermis from the facial skin of three patients aged 20, 40, and 70 years. The results show that areas of AF increase with age, whereas areas of SHG decrease with age. The results are consistent with the histological findings in which collagen is progressively replaced by elastic fibers. The AF and SHG changes in photoaging are quantified by a SHG to autofluorescence aging index of dermis (SAAID). Our results suggest that SAAID can be a good indicator of the severity of photoaging.     

Al-0.5%Cu合金中表现反常振幅效应的低频位错内耗

用低频扭摆的方法,系统地研究了能够较有把握地观测到在Al-0.5％Cu合金中所出现的反常位错内耗的实验程序。结果指出,把试样在拉力试验机上预先拉伸到某一适当的形变量后,立即测量它在某一适当温度下时效的过程中的内耗,可以在内耗-时效时间曲线上观察到一个表现反常振幅效应(即内耗-振幅曲线上出现一个峯值)的时效内耗峯。用经过充分时效而内耗已经达到稳定值的试样,逐渐增加振幅,测量内耗,也可以观察到一个应变振幅内耗峯(当内耗表示为应变振幅的函数时)。此外,用一定的应变振幅在较高温度下,测量经过充分时效的试样的内耗时,也可以观察到一个表现反常振幅效应的温度内耗峯(当内耗表示为温度的函数时)。这些实验结果肯定地指出,在一定测量温度下的振幅内耗峯和表现反常振幅效应的温度内耗峯是存在的。为了找出以前在Al-0.5％Cu中所观察到的反常内耗现象重复性不好的原因,系统地研究了测量内耗所用的应变振幅对于出现振幅内耗峯的影响以及预形变量对于出现时效内耗峯和温度内耗峯的影响。对于出现反常内耗现象的实验条件进行了分析。所观察到的关于反常内耗现象的实验结果,都可用位错拖着溶质原子气团运动的模型来作定性的解释。具体的模型和理论分析将另行报导。     

一个奇异中子分布结构存在的判据

通过小液滴模型的中子皮厚度计算出的中子、质子均方根半径之差与实验的比较发现,实验提取的正常核的均方根半径之差与小液滴模型计算基本一致;有奇异中子分布结构(皮或晕)核的均方根半径之差的实验结果比小液滴模型的计算结果有异常增大.提出了一个与分离能相关的有效中子皮厚度,它能很好地反映有奇异中子分布结构核的中子皮厚度的反常增加,建议把它作为奇异中子分布结构存在的判据.     

Influence of solute mobility on dislocation motion II. Application of the basic model

In many metals containing solute atoms the dynamic strain aging phenomena have been observed at suitable temperatures and strain rates. In this paper a new model of these phenomena based on the assumption that it is the friction stress which is influenced by the dynamic strain aging is developed. The model is used to analyze the flow stress dependence on the dislocation velocity, temperature and solute concentration. The occurence of the plateau stress, the appearance of jerky flow and anomalies in the stress dependence of the strain rate sensitivity are discussed.     

Unified description of aging and rate effects in yield of glassy solids

The competing effects of slow structural relaxations (aging) and deformation at constant strain rate on the shear yield stress tau(y) of simple model glasses are examined using molecular simulations. At long times, aging leads to a logarithmic increase in density and tau(y). The yield stress also rises logarithmically with rate but shows a sharp transition in slope at a rate that decreases with increasing age. We present a simple phenomenological model that includes both intrinsic rate dependence and the change in properties with the total age of the system at yield. As predicted by the model, all data for each temperature collapse onto a universal curve.     

由荧光和反射光谱研究胶原蛋白与抗坏血酸对老化肌肤的吸收速率和治疗效果

胶原蛋白是皮肤组织中的结构性蛋白,其数量和健康关系到外表皱纹的生成与皮肤的老化现象;而抗坏血酸有良好的美白与抗氧化能力,可使肌肤外表更白皙亮丽和保持健康。由于胶原蛋白具有自体荧光,因此我们提出一个藉由皮肤光谱来检验胶原蛋白含量的方法,此检测法更具实时性与非侵入性。本研究使用胶原蛋白和抗坏血酸,涂抹于健康的、与有斑点、皱纹等问题的肌肤,以其荧光与反射光谱随时间的变化,归纳出胶原蛋白与抗坏血酸对不同部位肌肤的吸收难易与修复疗效。结果显示,皮肤会对适当浓度的胶原蛋白或抗坏血酸之吸收效果较佳;加上适当浓度的抗坏血酸,胶原蛋白可被有效吸收同时产生良好的除皱效果;而抗坏血酸之去斑效果也在此研究中明确证实。藉由此一系列科学性的实验,可确实验证美容保养品的作用,帮助爱美人士对化妆保养品的正确选择与正确使用,发挥最好的疗效。     

Estimation of Bluish Appearance of Veins in Skin Tissue Using Spectrocolorimetry

The bluish appearance of veins in the skin tissue was experimentally investigated by in vivo and in vitro spectrophotometric measurements. Color of the skin surface including the veins was quantitatively evaluated by employing color perception on the basis of CIEXYZ and CIELAB colorimetric systems. For in vivo measurements, the bluish appearance of veins was successfully estimated using a dominant wavelength, excitation purity, and color difference. Results of in vitro experiments using a simple skin tissue model demonstrated that the degree of bluish appearance depends on the vessel depth, diameter, and the blood content in the surrounding medium.     

The role of telomeres in skin aging/photoaging

Recent work has substantially elucidated the mechanisms of skin aging and photoaging. In particular, a central role for telomere-based signaling can be inferred. Intrinsic aging is largely controlled by progressive telomere shortening, compounded by low grade oxidative damage to telomeres and other cellular constituents, the consequence of aerobic cellular metabolism. In sun exposed skin, UV irradiation also damages DNA and accelerates telomere shortening. Aging and photodamage appear to share a common final pathway that involves signaling through p53 following disruption of the telomere. These telomere-initiated responses, in combination with UV-induced damage to critical regulatory genes, lead to the familiar picture of "photoaging." These and other insights into the molecular basis for skin aging/photoaging may lead to enhanced management options.     

年龄与视觉光谱响应的相关性及其对颜色辨别的影响

采用心理物理实验方法中的同时双眼观察技术,组织3名不同年龄段(21,32,58岁)的观察者在EIZO液晶显示器上,每人重复7次匹配九种打印色样,建立不同年龄观察者匹配跨媒体颜色的数据组,研究不同年龄观察者的跨媒体颜色匹配视细胞响应。发现随着年龄的增长,观察者匹配九种颜色的鲜艳度明显下降,并且在匹配蓝色和紫色时,老年观察者蓝色通道的光谱响应明显降低。研究结果在某种程度上验证了CIEPO06观察者生理模型的结果,同时也为颜色再现行业生产、评价与年龄相关产品提供一定的理论依据和实验支持。     

Dynamic Scaling of Lipofuscin Deposition in Aging Cells

Lipofuscin is a membrane-bound cellular waste that can be neither degraded nor ejected from the cell but can only be diluted through cell division and subsequent growth. The fate of postmitotic (non-dividing) cells such as neurons, cardiac myocytes, skeletal muscle fibers, and retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE) is to accumulate lipofuscin, which as an “aging pigment” has been considered a reliable biomarker for the age of cells. Environmental stress can accelerate the accumulation of lipofuscin. For example, accumulation in brain cells appears to be an important issue connected with heavy consumption of alcohol. Lipofuscin is made of free-radical-damaged protein and fat, whose abnormal accumulation is related to a range of disorders including Type IV mucolipidosis (ML4), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson disease, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) which is the leading cause of blindness beyond the age of 50 years. The study of lipofuscin formation and growth is important, because of their association with cellular aging. We introduce a model of non-equilibrium cluster growth and aggregation that we have developed for studying the formation and growth of lipofuscin. As an example of lipofuscin deposit in a given kind of postmitotic cell, we study the kinetics of lipofuscin growth in a RPE cell. Our results agree with a linear growth of the number of lipofuscin granules with age. We apply the dynamic scaling approach to our model and find excellent data collapse for the cluster size distribution. An unusual feature of our model is that while small particles are removed from the cell the larger ones become fixed and grow by aggregation.     

Skin aging and natural photoprotection

Aging of skin is a continuous process that may be enhanced by sun exposure. Photoaging may provoke changes different from aging. Epidermal changes involve thinning of stratum spinosum and flattening of the dermo-epidermal junction. The senescent keratinocytes becomes resistant to apoptosis and may survive for a long time giving time for DNA and protein damage to accumulate with possible implication for carcinogenesis. The numbers of melanocytes decrease with age with dysregulation of melanocyte density resulting in freckles, guttate hypo-melanosis, lentigines and nevi. The number of dendritic Langerhans cells also decreases with age and the cells get less dendrites and have reduced antigen-trapping capacity. Aging involves dermal changes such as damage to elastic and collagen fibers giving thickened, tangled, and degraded non-functional fibers. Collagen intermolecular cross-links are stable and essential for stability and tensile strength. Cross-links increase with age converting divalent cross-links into mature trivalent cross-links of, e.g. histidinohydroxylysinonorleucine. Two mechanisms are involved; an enzyme-controlled process of maturation and a non-enzymatic glycosylation, the Maillard reaction leading to cross-links in proteins such as in collagen between arginine and lysine. Such may be seen with age and in diabetes mellitus. However, autofluorescence studies have shown that UVR reduces collagen cross-links. Natural photoprotection involves thickening of stratum corneum by sunlight and increased pigmentation. This leads to a factor 2 increase in photoprotection from spring until after-summer. The constitutive pigmentation is independent of age and thickness of stratum corneum is likewise independent of age. The minimal erythema dose is thus the same through life, when corrected for pigmentation or measured in areas with constitutive pigmentation.     

Age estimates from brain magnetic resonance images of children younger than two years of age using deep learning

The accuracy of brain age estimates from magnetic resonance (MR) images has improved with the advent of deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) models. However, most previous studies on predicting age emphasized aging from childhood to adulthood and old age, and few studies have focused on early brain development in children younger than 2 years of age. Here, we performed brain age estimates based on MR images in children younger than 2 years of age using deep learning. Our AI model, developed with one slice each of raw T1- and T2-weighted images from each subject, estimated brain age with a mean absolute error of 8.2 weeks (1.9 months). The estimates of our AI model were close to those of human specialists. The AI model also estimated the brain age of subjects with a myelination delay as significantly younger than the chronological age. These results indicate that the prediction accuracy of our AI model approached that of human specialists and that our simple method requiring less data and preprocessing facilitates a radiological assessment of brain development, such as monitoring maturational changes in myelination.     

Aging of a nanostructured Zn50Se50 alloy produced by mechanical alloying

The aging at room temperature of a nanocrystalline equiatomic ZnSe alloy produced by mechanical alloying was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. The measured XRD patterns showed the presence of the peaks corresponding to the crystalline trigonal selenium (c-Se) phase. It is observed that the ZnSe phase is stable with aging. The appearance of the c-Se phase is attributed to the migration of Se atoms located at the interfacial component of the as-milled ZnSe nanostructure with aging.     

Failure of delayed nonsynaptic neuronal plasticity underlies age-associated long-term associative memory impairment

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment associated with subtle changes in neuron and neuronal network function rather than widespread neuron death is a feature of the normal aging process in humans and animals. Despite its broad evolutionary conservation, the etiology of this aging process is not well understood. However, recent evidence suggests the existence of a link between oxidative stress in the form of progressive membrane lipid peroxidation, declining neuronal electrical excitability and functional decline of the normal aging brain. The current study applies a combination of behavioural and electrophysiological techniques and pharmacological interventions to explore this hypothesis in a gastropod model (Lymnaea stagnalis feeding system) that allows pinpointing the molecular and neurobiological foundations of age-associated long-term memory (LTM) failure at the level of individual identified neurons and synapses. RESULTS: Classical appetitive reward-conditioning induced robust LTM in mature animals in the first quartile of their lifespan but failed to do so in animals in the last quartile of their lifespan. LTM failure correlated with reduced electrical excitability of two identified serotonergic modulatory interneurons (CGCs) critical in chemosensory integration by the neural network controlling feeding behaviour. Moreover, while behavioural conditioning induced delayed-onset persistent depolarization of the CGCs known to underlie appetitive LTM formation in this model in the younger animals, it failed to do so in LTM-deficient senescent animals. Dietary supplementation of the lipophilic anti-oxidant alpha-tocopherol reversed the effect of age on CGCs electrophysiological characteristics but failed to restore appetitive LTM function. Treatment with the SSRI fluoxetine reversed both the neurophysiological and behavioural effects of age in senior animals. CONCLUSIONS: The results identify the CGCs as cellular loci of age-associated appetitive learning and memory impairment in Lymnaea and buttress the hypothesis that lipid peroxidation-dependent depression of intrinsic excitability is a hallmark of normal neuronal aging. The data implicate both lipid peroxidation-dependent non-synaptic as well as apparently lipid peroxidation-independent synaptic mechanisms in the age-dependent decline in behavioural plasticity in this model system.     

Modified DM Models for Aging Networks Based on Neighborhood Connectivity

Two modified Dorogovtsev-Mendes （DM） models of aging networks based on the dynamics of connecting nearest-neighbors are introduced. One edge of the new site is connected to the old site with probability - kt^-α as in the DM＇s model, where the degree and age of the old site are k and t, respectively. We consider two cases, i.e. the other edges of the new site attaching to the nearest-neighbors of the old site with uniform and degree connectivity probability, respectively. The network structure changes with an increase of aging exponent α It is found that the networks can produce scale-free degree distributions with small-world properties. And the different connectivity probabilities lead to the different properties of the networks.     

Direct indication of lateral nonuniformities of MOS capacitors from the negative equivalent interface trap density based on charge-temperature technique

The charge-temperature technique was used to investigate the oxide properties of silicon MOS capacitors fabricated on a wafer with an oxide thickness of 660 Å. The stretchout of high frequencyC — V curve of the capacitor after a positive charge-temperature aging was proved to be due to the lateral nonuniformities of mobile charges and the increase of interface traps. The effect of lateral nonuniformitites was found to be successfully described by a model consisting of two parallelly connected nonuniform capacitors. The only parameter of importance is their area ratio, which can be easily determined by theoretical fitting. The appearance of a negative equivalent interface trap density was proposed as a new method to directly identify the existence of lateral nonuniformities.