Plant-Derived Antioxidants: Significance in Skin Health and the Ageing Process

Natural substances have traditionally been used in skin care for centuries. There is now an ongoing search for new natural bioactives that not only promote skin health but also protect the skin against various harmful factors, including ultraviolet radiation and free radicals. Free radicals, by disrupting defence and restoration mechanisms, significantly contribute to skin damage and accelerate ageing. Natural compounds present in plants exhibit antioxidant properties and the ability to scavenge free radicals. The increased interest in plant chemistry is linked to the growing interest in plant materials as natural antioxidants. This review focuses on aromatic and medicinal plants as a source of antioxidant substances, such as polyphenols, tocopherols, carotenoids, ascorbic acid, and macromolecules (including polysaccharides and peptides) as well as components of essential oils, and their role in skin health and the ageing process.

Age-related physiologic declines

‘How and why living organisms age?’ This question has puzzled and challenged philosophers and scientists for centuries. Ageing can be defined as a progressive loss of anatomic and physiological integrity across multiple systems and organs, leading to impaired function and higher vulnerability to adverse health outcomes and death. Although the biological mechanisms that trigger and accelerate ageing are still not understood, enormous steps forward in delineating the effects of ageing has been made in recent years. Ageing induces morphological and physiological changes across multiple organs and systems, which result in progressive loss of resilience, increased vulnerability to stressors, disease susceptibility, and development of physical and cognitive frailty, disability, and adverse outcomes.

Effect of Ageing Process on Properties of Tube Steel under Conditions of Tyumen Region

The paper presents the results of study on artificial strain ageing of tube steel. Temperature fluctuations accelerate ageing processes in steel resulting in changes of its microstructure. Effect of strain ageing on mechanical properties of steel has been assessed during impact strength tests.

Telomere dynamics may link stress exposure and ageing across generations

Although exposure to stressors is known to increase disease susceptibility and accelerate ageing, evidence is accumulating that these effects can span more than one generation. Stressors experienced by parents have been reported to negatively influence the longevity of their offspring and even grand offspring. The mechanisms underlying these long-term, cross-generational effects are still poorly understood, but we argue here that telomere dynamics are likely to play an important role. In this review, we begin by surveying the current connections between stress and telomere dynamics. We then lay out the evidence that exposure to stressors in the parental generation influences telomere dynamics in offspring and potentially subsequent generations. We focus on evidence in mammalian and avian studies and highlight several promising areas where our understanding is incomplete and future investigations are critically needed. Understanding the mechanisms that link stress exposure across generations requires interdisciplinary studies and is essential to both the biomedical community seeking to understand how early adversity impacts health span and evolutionary ecologists interested in how changing environmental conditions are likely to influence age-structured population dynamics.

Applying the Recovery Voltage Method (RVM) to Study the Degradation of High Power Transformer Insulation

Good operation of power transformers is very important because they are among the most expensive equipment in the network generation, transmission and electricity distribution. It became necessary regular monitoring of such systems and determinate the life of a transformer, it preventing breakdown and corresponding loss occurrence.Ageing in the insulation system of power transformers is determinate by influence of air, moisture, temperature, mechanical and electrical stresses and insulation contamination. One of the most important ageing indicators in transformers is the water content in the solid part of the insulation. The water reduces drastically the dielectric strength of solid insulation, accelerate ageing in paper and can cause water vapor bubbles.In RVM method a voltmeter determines the recovery voltage (RV) after charging the insulation with a DC voltage. By subsequent relaxation and repeated charging for varied times the so called polarization spectrum can be created. RV range provides an indication on the condition in which there is the insulation of transformer. The paper analyzes measurements on two high power transformers in operation, determining the moisture content of solid insulation.