BACKGROUND The number of melanocytic nevi is the best single marker of increased melanoma risk. In a previous study, adults with severe eczema were reported to have significantly fewer nevi than adults without eczema. OBSERVATIONS In a nested case-control design within a randomized, controlled interventional trial of additional sun protection vs standard care in 269 children, a history of ecz...

It has long been known that certain physical characteristics are biologically determined by genetic inheritance. Color of eyes, straight or curly hair, pigmentation of the skin and certain diseases (such as Huntingdon’s chorea) are all a function of the genes we inherit. Other physical characteristics, if not determined, appear to be at least strongly influenced by the genetic make-up of our bi...

Chronic stress is a risk factor for variety of physiological disorders because its increased activation the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis; however, it difficult to reveal environmental and genetic effects contributing long-term HPA activity complexity chronic stress. The hair cortisol concentration (HCC) can be used reflect accumulation axis over time. Some studies suggest that HCC ...

The color of the skin, hair and eye is controlled by multiple genes and is among the most visible examples of human phenotypic variation. Genetics correlate phenotypic with genotypic variation. Recent scientific work reveals DNA polymorphisms at least partially responsible for some of the differences observed in human pigmentation. These are the focus of this review.

To determine whether hair is excessively glycosylated in diabetes mellitus 4 cm hair samples were taken proximally from behind the ear in 50 white non-diabetics and 46 diabetics. Hair glycosylation was assayed by a modification of the thiobarbituric acid reaction. Blood was taken from the diabetics at the same time for measurement of glycosylated haemoglobin concentration. The mean (1 SD) conce...

To inform the future use of hair cortisol measurement, we have investigated influences of potential confounding variables (natural hair colour, frequency of hair washes, age, sex, oral contraceptive (OC) use and smoking status) on hair cortisol levels. The main study sample comprised 360 participants (172 women) covering a wide range of ages (1-91 years; mean = 25.95). In addition, to more clos...

Almost every theory of vagueness shares at least one feature: it uses, and in most cases heavily relies on, some kind of normative predicate (or predicates) in its metalanguage. Metalinguistic normative predicates are discussed chiefly by supervaluationists and other defenders of higher-order vagueness. According to this group of theorists, the existence of higher-order vagueness depends on and...