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Karishma Desai, Mariya Miteva Dr. Phillip Frost Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USACorrespondence: Karishma DesaiDr. Phillip Frost Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1600 N.W. 10th Ave., RMSB Building Room 2023C, Miami, FL, 33136, USATel +1 305 243-5523Fax +1 305 243-5810Email kdesai66@med.miami.eduAbstract: Lupus erythematosus (LE) is a chronic autoimmune condition with a wide spectrum of clinical presentations. Alopecias, both non-scarring and scarring, frequently occur in the context of LE and can assume several different patterns. Furthermore, alopecia occurring with LE may be considered LE-specific if LE-specific features are present on histology; otherwise, alopecia is considered non-LE-specific. Non-scarring alopecia is highly specific to systemic LE (SLE), and therefore has been regarded as a criterion for the diagnosis of SLE. Variants of cutaneous LE (CLE), including acute, subacute, and chronic forms, are also capable of causing hair loss, and chronic CLE is an important cause of primary cicatricial alopecia. Other types of hair loss not specific to LE, including telogen effluvium, alopecia areata, and anagen effluvium, may also occur in a patient with lupus. Lupus alopecia may be difficult to treat, particularly in cases that have progressed to scarring. The article summarizes the types of lupus alopecia and recent insight regarding their management. Data regarding the management of lupus alopecia are sparse and limited to case reports, and therefore, many studies including in this review report the efficacy of treatments on CLE as a broader entity. In general, for patients with non-scarring alopecia in SLE, management is aimed at controlling SLE activity with subsequent hair regrowth. Topical medications can be used to expedite recovery. Prompt treatment is crucial in the case of chronic CLE due to potential for scarring and irreversible damage. First-line therapies for CLE include topical corticosteroids and oral antimalarials, with or without oral corticosteroids as bridging therapy. Second and third-line systemic treatments for CLE include methotrexate, retinoids, dapsone, mycophenolate mofetil, and mycophenolate acid. Additional topical and systemic medications as well as physical modalities used for the treatment of lupus alopecia and CLE are discussed herein.Keywords: discoid, hair loss, cicatricial, scarring, non-scarring

Victoria Billero, Mariya MitevaDepartment of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USAAbstract: Traction alopecia (TA) affects one-third of women of African descent who wear various forms of traumatic hairstyling for a prolonged period of time. The risk of TA is increased by the extent of pulling and duration of traction, as well as the use of chemical relaxation. The frequent use of tight buns or ponytails, the attachment of weaves or hair extensions, and tight braids (such as cornrows and dreadlocks) are believed to be the highest risk hairstyles. TA can also occur in the setting of religious and occupational traumatic hairstyling. In its later stages, the disease may progress into an irreversible scarring alopecia if traumatic hairstyling continues without appropriate intervention. The most common clinical presentation includes marginal alopecia and non-marginal patchy alopecia. A clue to the clinical diagnosis is the preservation of the fringe sign as opposed to its loss in frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA). Dermoscopy can be helpful in the diagnosis and can detect the ongoing traction by the presence of hair casts. Histopathology can distinguish TA from alopecia areata, FFA, and patchy central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia. Currently, there is no cure. Therefore, it is imperative that clinicians educate high-risk populations about TA and those practices that may convey the risk of hair loss. Keywords: hair loss, alopecia, dermoscopy, trichoscopy, traction alopecia, African-American

Ingrid Herskovitz, Mariya Miteva Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, University of Miami L Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA Abstract: Central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA) is the most common scarring alopecia among African American women. Data about epidemiology, etiology, genetic inheritance, and management are scarce and come from individual reports or small series. CCCA has been associated with hot combing and traumatic hair styling for years; however, studies fail to confirm it as the sole etiologic factor. It has been shown in a small series that CCCA can be inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion, with a partial penetrance and a strong modifying effect of hairstyling and sex. CCCA presents clinically as a central area of progressive irreversible hair loss that expands to the periphery. A patchy form has also been described. Dermoscopy is helpful to identify the optimal site for the biopsy, which establishes the diagnosis. Well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to discover the optimal management. At this point, patients are advised to avoid traction and chemical treatments; topical and intralesional steroids, calcineurin inhibitors, and minoxidil can be helpful in halting the progression. Keywords: hair loss, alopecia, dermatoscopy, dermoscopy, trichoscopy, black scalp, African American, scarring alopecia

Alexandra C Villasante Fricke, Mariya MitevaDepartment of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USABackground: Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by patches of non-scarring alopecia affecting scalp and body hair that can be psychologically devastating. AA is clinically heterogenous, and its natural history is unpredictable. There is no preventative therapy or cure.Objective: The objective of this study is to provide an evidence-based systematic review on the epidemiology and the burden of AA.Methods and selection criteria: A search was conducted of the published, peer-reviewed literature via PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. Studies published in English within the last 51 years that measured AA’s incidence, prevalence, distribution, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), quality of life, and associated psychiatric and medical comorbidities were included. Two authors assessed studies and extracted the data.Results: The lifetime incidence of AA is approximately 2% worldwide. Both formal population studies found no sex predominance. First onset is most common in the third and fourth decades of life but may occur at any age. An earlier age of first onset corresponds with an increased lifetime risk of extensive disease. Global DALYs for AA were calculated at 1,332,800 in 2010. AA patients are at risk for depression and anxiety, atopy, vitiligo, thyroid disease, and other autoimmune conditions.Conclusion: AA is the most prevalent autoimmune disorder and the second most prevalent hair loss disorder after androgenetic alopecia, and the lifetime risk in the global population is approximately 2%. AA is associated with psychiatric and medical comorbidities including depression, anxiety, and several autoimmune disorders, and an increased global burden of disease.Keywords: hair loss, hair, prevalence, incidence, burden of disease

Three software packages based on the common platform of AMMOS (Automated Molecular Mechanics Optimization tool for in silico Screening) for assisting virtual ligand screening purposes have been recently developed. DG-AMMOS allows generation of 3D conformations of small molecules using distance geometry and molecular mechanics optimization. AMMOS_SmallMol is a package for structural refinement of compound collections that can be used prior to docking experiments. AMMOS_ProtLig is a package for energy minimization of protein-ligand complexes. It performs an automatic procedure for molecular mechanics minimization at different levels of flexibility - from rigid to fully flexible structures of both the ligand and the receptor. The packages have been tested on small molecules with a high structural diversity and proteins binding sites of completely different geometries and physicochemical properties. The platform is developed as an open source software and can be used in a broad range of in silico drug design studies.

Flavanols are extremely relevant for application and study due to the beneficial effect they have for humans when used internally or externally. They are identified in almost all plant cultures, as their metabolic products. Their pronounced benefit for protecting and restoring the skin in case of mechanical damage, radiation, allergens, chemicals and infections has been proven. Due to their natural origin, their dermatological application is also preferred. In such a case, the action of the chemical compounds and the generated skin metabolites have different mechanisms of action with respect to DNA and binding to proteins. The preliminary assessment of skin sensitization is a complex and lengthy task. Depending on the results, it is necessary to have an efficient technological approach for the isolation of flavanols with skin sensitization. Evaluation of the probable skin metabolic activity of cosmetic products containing flavanol (Luteolin) from processed rose wastewater is the aim of the conducted research, as well as prediction of protein and DNA binding of its metabolites by in silico methods (OECD QSAR Toolbox). The parent structure of the compound, as well as some of its generated metabolites, exhibit reactivity, i.e. they have different mechanisms of action in terms of DNA and protein binding.

The positive effect of catechins has been proven with their antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant actions for organisms, i.e. have important biological significance. More pharmacological functions have been discovered with catechins in-depth research. Catechins have various uses, such as controlling obesity, scavenging free radicals, delaying aging, inhibiting human pathogenic bacteria without harming the reproduction of beneficial bacteria, etc. The task of the work is to determine the properties (toxic) and environmental fate of catechin by means of in silico metods.

Presents a study which derived a theoretical model of the formation and behavior of holographic gratings in photorefractive crystals, based on the assumption of two types of active centers being involved and simultaneous electron-hole transport. Details on holographic recording; Discussion on photorefractive grating erasure; Dependence of the grating period.

Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) entails a progressive recession of the frontotemporal hairline resulting in smooth, uniformly pale skin without follicular openings, in contrast to the sun-damaged skin of the forehead.1 Skin atrophy2 and depression of the frontal veins3 have been described in the alopecic band (AB) in patients with FFA without prior corticosteroid treatment. GLO:3NZ/01jan21:jdv16792-fig-0001.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): 1 (a) Biopsy from the AB in a patient with FFA demonstrates decreased epidermal and dermal thickness compared with the unaffected scalp of same patient (0.52 mm vs. 1.65 mm). (b) Another biopsy from the AB in a patient with FFA demonstrates also epidermal and dermal atrophy compared to the unaffected scalp (0.99 mm vs. 1.49 mm). [Extracted from the article]

Results on the products of the distribution x+−r−1/2 with the distributions x−−k−1/2 and x−k−1/2 are obtained in the differential algebra G(ℝ) of Colombeau generalized functions, which contains the space D′(ℝ) of Schwartz distributions as a subspace; in this algebra the notion of association is defined, which is a faithful generalization of weak equality in G(ℝ). This enables treating the results in terms of distributions again. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nonscarring alopecia differs from scarring alopecia on pathologic examination by the preservation of follicular units and lack of follicular dropout. However, long-standing cases of active nonscarring hair loss can show follicular dropout on pathologic examination and can be difficult to interpret. Observations: We describe a patient with nonscarring alopecia that was misdiagnosed as scarring alopecia due to difficulty in distinguishing between scarred tracts (follicular dropout) and long-persisting fibrovascular streamers. Polarized light microscopy permits us to distinguish follicular scars from fibrous streamers because the fibrous streamers are birefringent negative for collagen. The main advantages of polarized microscopy are that it is fast and cost free and can screen all sections within minutes; it is also easy to interpret for beginners because there is a built-in control of birefringentpositive dermal collagen. Conclusion: Polarized light can be used in the pathological evaluation of hair loss to distinguish between the follicular scars in scarring alopecia and the fibrovascular streamers in long-standing nonscarring alopecia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]