Collagen-based supplements have become a keystone in the management of the ageing process, with proven ability to repair skin damage, bestowing a youthful and healthy appearance sought in the pursuit of beauty. Collagen is an essential scaffold protein that gives smoothness and elasticity to skin, but its production declines with age. Finding ways to tackle this problem is now strongly promoted as an effective way to transform skin and hair, repairing age-related deterioration. A growing number of scientific studies show exciting evidence that it is possible to rejuvenate ageing or damaged skin, improve function of worn joints, and support personal wellbeing and vitality. In recent times, research on the mechanisms which impact the production of collagen in skin and the ideal organization into functional fibres which give skin its characteristic elasticity and firmness has provided new insights into how this bio-scaffold can support cells, tissues and organs. The factors which influence collagen production over a lifetime (e.g., puberty, pregnancy, menopause, andropause), intrinsic factors (e.g., genetics, age, ethnicity) and extrinsic factors (e.g., UV-radiation, pollution, smoking) and the potential for new technologies, ingredients and devices to restore collagen and matrix components to their optimal condition are improving the ability to deliver anti-aging strategies with unprecedented results. This paper will review skin collagen production, structure and function throughout the lifestages, emphasizing its relationship with health, appearance and beauty.

The results obtained with a derivate of the podophyllotoxin in a group of patients suffering of disseminated forms of psoriasis show that this therapy is undoubtedly advantageous over other medicaments of similar manner of action. This concerns the absence of changes of bone marrow and of hepatic or renal involvement.

This chapter examines the history, production, and content of the Latina/o identified literary culture blog, La Bloga, which, the author argues, deviates from predominant understandings of digital media use, participatory culture, and its democratic political value. Through close textual analysis of blog content and history, as well as blogger interviews, the study finds not only that La Bloga’s use of digital media differs from participatory culture paradigms, but that these differences are facilitated through the vehicle of literary culture and register a legacy of Chicano/a cultural politics. Specifically, the essay unpacks how scholars have delineated a relationship between participatory media and participatory politics that privileges liberal philosophy and the concept of the ideal public sphere to the exclusion of other contextual histories such as the social movements of the 1960s. The analysis of La Bloga offers a broader understanding of digital participatory media, cultural politics, and Latina/o online practice.

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