Exploring the human hair follicle microbiome.

Human hair follicles (HFs) carry complex microbial communities that differ from the skin surface microbiota. This likely reflects that the HF epithelium differs from the epidermal barrier in that it provides a moist, less acidic, and relatively ultraviolet light-protected environment, part of which is immune-privileged, thus facilitating microbial survival. Here we review the current understanding of the human HF microbiome and its potential physiological and pathological functions, including in folliculitis, acne vulgaris, hidradenitis suppurativa, alopecia areata and cicatricial alopecias. While reviewing the main human HF bacteria (such as Propionibacteria, Corynebacteria, Staphylococci and Streptococci), viruses, fungi and parasites as human HF microbiome constituents, we advocate a broad view of the HF as an integral part of the human holobiont. Specifically, we explore how the human HF may manage its microbiome via the regulated production of antimicrobial peptides (such as cathelicidin, psoriasin, RNAse7 and dermcidin) by HF keratinocytes, how the microbiome may impact on cytokine and chemokine release from the HF, and examine hair growth-modulatory effects of antibiotics, and ask whether the microbiome affects hair growth in turn. We highlight major open questions and potential novel approaches to the management of hair diseases by targeting the HF microbiome.

Intelligibility as a clinical outcome measure following intervention with children with phonologically based speech-sound disorders.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of two treatment approaches (phonological therapy and articulation therapy) for treatment of 14 children, aged 4;0-6;7 years, with phonologically based speech-sound disorder (SSD) has been previously analysed with severity outcome measures (percentage of consonants correct score, percentage occurrence of phonological processes and phonetic inventory). Considering that the ultimate goal of intervention for children with phonologically based SSD is to improve intelligibility, it is curious that intervention studies focusing on children's phonology do not routinely use intelligibility as an outcome measure. It is therefore important that the impact of interventions on speech intelligibility is explored. AIMS: This paper investigates the effectiveness of the two treatment approaches (phonological therapy and articulation therapy) using intelligibility measures, both in single words and in continuous speech, as the primary outcome. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Fourteen children with phonologically based SSD participated in the intervention. The children were randomly assigned to phonological therapy or articulation therapy (seven children in each group). Two assessment methods were used for measuring intelligibility: a word identification task (for single words) and a rating scale (for continuous speech). Twenty-one unfamiliar adults listened and judged the children's intelligibility. Reliability analyses showed overall high agreement between listeners across both methods. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Significant improvements were noted in intelligibility in both single words (paired t(6)=4.409, p=0.005) and continuous speech (asymptotic Z=2.371, p=0.018) for the group receiving phonology therapy pre- to post-treatment, but no differences in intelligibility were found for those receiving the articulation therapy pre- to post-treatment, either for single words (paired t(6)=1.763, p=0.128) or continuous speech (asymptotic Z=1.442, p=0.149). CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Intelligibility measures were sensitive enough to show changes in the phonological therapy group but not in the articulation therapy group. These findings emphasize the importance of using intelligibility as an outcome measure to complement the results obtained with other severity measures when exploring the effectiveness of speech interventions. This study presents new evidence for the effectiveness of phonological therapy in improving intelligibility with children with SSD.

Phonological and articulation treatment approaches in Portuguese children with speech and language impairments: a randomized controlled intervention study.

BACKGROUND: In Portugal, the routine clinical practice of speech and language therapists (SLTs) in treating children with all types of speech sound disorder (SSD) continues to be articulation therapy (AT). There is limited use of phonological therapy (PT) or phonological awareness training in Portugal. Additionally, at an international level there is a focus on collecting information on and differentiating between the effectiveness of PT and AT for children with different types of phonologically based SSD, as well as on the role of phonological awareness in remediating SSD. It is important to collect more evidence for the most effective and efficient type of intervention approach for different SSDs and for these data to be collected from diverse linguistic and cultural perspectives. AIMS: To evaluate the effectiveness of a PT and AT approach for treatment of 14 Portuguese children, aged 4.0-6.7 years, with a phonologically based SSD. METHODS & PROCEDURES: The children were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment approaches (seven children in each group). All children were treated by the same SLT, blind to the aims of the study, over three blocks of a total of 25 weekly sessions of intervention. Outcome measures of phonological ability (percentage of consonants correct (PCC), percentage occurrence of different phonological processes and phonetic inventory) were taken before and after intervention. A qualitative assessment of intervention effectiveness from the perspective of the parents of participants was included. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Both treatments were effective in improving the participants' speech, with the children receiving PT showing a more significant improvement in PCC score than those receiving the AT. Children in the PT group also showed greater generalization to untreated words than those receiving AT. Parents reported both intervention approaches to be as effective in improving their children's speech. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: The PT (combination of expressive phonological tasks, phonological awareness, listening and discrimination activities) proved to be an effective integrated method of improving phonological SSD in children. These findings provide some evidence for Portuguese SLTs to employ PT with children with phonologically based SSD.

Standardization of a phonetic-phonological test for European-Portuguese children.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and standardize a phonetic-phonological test (Teste Fonético-Fonológico-Avaliação da Linguagem Pré-Escolar, TFF-ALPE) for the assessment of European-Portuguese (EP) children's articulation and phonological abilities. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In order to standardize TFF-ALPE, 768 children aged 3;0-6;11 participated in this study. The standardization, validity and reliability of TFF-ALPE were analyzed. RESULTS: TFF-ALPE presents strong cohesion and has strong inter- and intrajudge reliability. There was also a strong correlation between the TFF-ALPE data and those obtained in other studies. The content validity was demonstrated by the description of the test domain and the items that comprise TFF-ALPE. CONCLUSION: TFF-ALPE is a valid and reliable phonetic-phonological assessment instrument that speech-language pathologists can use with EP-speaking children.

[Neo-Malthusianism in liberal propaganda]. / O neomalthusianismo na propaganda libertaria

PIP: The authors describe the development of neo-Malthusianism in Portugal from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day. Consideration is given to the relationship between the growing use of birth control and the development of liberal attitudes toward education, sexuality, social behavior, militancy, and religion.^ieng