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Biomedical subjects

A Rawlings

Publications and source records attributed to A Rawlings.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Mom empowerment, too! (ME2): a program for young mothers involved in substance abuse.

Substance abuse among young people is of critical concern to public health nurses. When substance abusers are young mothers without the skills, experience, guidance, or resources to become adequate parents, this problem is compounded This study examined a community-based intervention program for young mothers from the perspective of 42 participants. A qualitative, descriptive design was used within a process of participatory action research. Two major domains emerged from the data: risk perceptions and behaviors, and health promoting perceptions and behaviors. The study demonstrated the value of obtaining data from the participants and offers implications for practice and research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Stratum corneum lipids: the effect of ageing and the seasons.

Stratum corneum lipids play a predominant role in maintaining the water barrier of the skin. In order to understand the biological variation in the levels and composition of ceramides, ceramide 1 subtypes, cholesterol and fatty acids, stratum corneum lipids collected from tape strippings from three body sites (face, hand, leg) of female Caucasians of different age groups were analysed. In addition, we studied the influence of seasonal variation on the lipid composition of stratum corneum from the same body sites. The main lipid species were quantified using high-performance thin-layer chromatography and individual fatty acids using gas chromatography. Our findings demonstrated significantly decreased levels of all major lipid species, in particular ceramides, with increasing age. Similarly, the stratum corneum lipid levels of all the body sites examined were dramatically depleted in winter compared with spring and summer. The relative levels of ceramide 1 linoleate were also depleted in winter and in aged skin whereas ceramide 1 oleate levels increased. The other fatty acid levels remained fairly constant with both season and age, apart from lignoceric and heptadecanoic acid which showed a decrease in winter compared with summer. The decrease in the mass levels of intercellular lipids and the altered ratios of fatty acids esterified to ceramide 1, are likely to contribute to the increased susceptibility of aged skin to perturbation of barrier function and xerosis, particularly during the winter months.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

The effect of glycerol and humidity on desmosome degradation in stratum corneum.

Moisturizers are known to have occlusive, emollient and humectant properties, all of which help to alleviate the symptoms of skin xerosis. Although the biological mode of action of moisturizers is poorly understood, the recent observation that skin xerosis is associated with incomplete desmosome digestion suggests that moisturizers improve the desquamation process in such conditions. To examine the possibility that certain moisturizers act by facilitating desmosomal digestion, we investigated the ability of glycerol, a common humectant, to influence this process in stratum corneum in vitro. Examining desmosome morphology in isolated stratum corneum by electron microscopy, it was observed that the desmosomes were in more advanced stages of degradation in glycerol-treated tissue compared with control tissue. This enhanced desmosomal degradation in glycerol-treated tissue was confirmed by significant decreases in the levels of immunoreactive desmoglein 1, a marker of desmosome integrity. Desmosomal degradation was also shown to be a humidity-dependent event, being significantly reduced at low relative humidity. The effect of glycerol on desmosome digestion was emphasized further in two in vitro model systems. Firstly, glycerol increased the rate of corneocyte loss from the superficial surface of human skin biopsies in a simple desquamation assay. Secondly, measurement of the mechanical strength of sheets of stratum corneum, using an extensiometer, indicated a dramatic reduction in the intercorneocyte forces following glycerol treatment. These studies demonstrated the ability of glycerol to facilitate desmosome digestion in vitro. Extrapolating from these results, we believe that one of the major actions of moisturizers in vivo is to aid the digestion of desmosomes which are abnormally retained in the superficial layers of xerotic stratum corneum.

Cytoskeletal Proteins↗