Skin Color Research Articles

The Treatment of Vitiligo with Liver and Kidney Deficiencies

Vitiligo is a common depigmentation disease, which is mainly characterized by the skin color fading or whitening at the lesion, which seriously affects the appearance of patient and brings a greater psychological burden to the patient. Vitiligo is easy to diagnose but difficult to treat, the etiology of the disease is complicated and the pathogenesis is unknown. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the onset of vitiligo is caused by a variety of internal and external pathological factors, and is closely related to the liver, spleen, and kidney. In recent years, traditional Chinese medicine has triggered extensive research on the prevention and treatment of vitiligo, and has made certain research progress. This article is based on the basic theory of Chinese medicine and the pathogenesis of vitiligo, summarizing the etiology and pathogenesis of vitiligo and using the basic principles and ideas of vitiligo treatment from the perspective of liver and kidney deficiency, which means nourishing the kidney and liver in order to achieve a balance of yin and yang and the mutual production of essence and blood.

Peculiarities of the examination of citrus fruits (mandarins) during the forensic examination

In today’s environment, the issue of ensuring the identification and safety of imported products is of particular relevance, which is aimed at the successful functioning of the state in the global economy and the reduction of technical barriers to trade. The article discusses the peculiarities of conducting an examination of citrus fruits, in particular, tangerines, with a view to their further classification in the Ukrainian Classifier of Goods for Foreign Economic Activity. Approaches to the classification of citrus fruits in the process of commodity examination are summarized. The diagnostic tasks to be solved by the forensic expert during the study of citrus fruits are defined, which will allow to have more analytical information from this category of goods. The main identification tasks of the commodity examination of citrus fruits, in particular mandarins, are: determination of the variety or species of mandarins, detection of certain quality markers, determination of origin, assessment of the degree of freshness and maturity, detection of deviations from standards. Modern methods of analysis are indicated, which allow to carry out research on tangerines at the molecular, chemical and morphological levels in order to obtain objective information about their quality, safety and other characteristics that may be important in court proceedings. The main aspects of microbiological methods during the examination include: detection of pathogenic microorganisms (analysis for the presence of pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes), determination of the level of the total microbial flora, assessment of the degree of rot and mold, determination of the effectiveness of preservatives and other preservation methods, assessment of compliance with food safety standards. Systematization of information data on characteristic defects of citrus fruits (tangerines), namely: rot, mold, mechanical damage, weak skin color, increased acidity, defects in shape or size (identified defects are of natural origin) is presented. Defects that are characteristic of low-quality products with signs of deterioration: rot, mold, mechanical damage, signs of drying or desiccation, heterogeneity in color and texture. The mechanism of forensic commodity examination of citrus fruits (tangerines) is described.

CD11 Techniques for patch testing interpretation in patients with skin of colour: a systematic review of the literature and textbooks

CD11 Techniques for patch testing interpretation in patients with skin of colour: a systematic review of the literature and textbooks

Tracing the color: quantitative trait loci analysis reveals new insights into red-flesh pigmentation in apple (Malus domestica).

Red-flesh color development in apple fruit is known to depend upon a particular allele of the MdMYB10 gene. While the anthocyanin metabolic pathway is well characterized, current genetic models do not explain the observed variations in red-flesh pigmentation intensity. Previous studies focused on total anthocyanin content as a phenotypic trait to characterize overall flesh color. While this approach led to a global understanding of the genetic mechanisms involved in color expression, it is essential to adopt a more quantitative approach, by analyzing the variations of other phenolic compound classes, in order to better understand the molecular mechanisms involved in the subtle flesh color variation and distribution. In this study, we performed pedigree-based quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, using the FlexQTL™ software, to decipher the genetic determinism of red-flesh color in five F1 inter-connected families segregating for the red-flesh trait. A total of 452 genotypes were evaluated for flesh color and phenolic profiles during 3years (2021-2023). We identified a total of 24 QTLs for flesh color intensity and phenolic compound profiles. Six QTLs were detected for red-flesh color on LG1, LG2, LG8, LG9, LG11, and LG16. Several genes identified in QTL confidence intervals were related to anthocyanin metabolism. Further analyses allowed us to propose a model in which the competition between anthocyanins and flavan-3-ols (monomer and oligomer) end-products is decisive for red-flesh color development. In this model, alleles favorable to high red-flesh color intensity can be inherited from both white-flesh and red-flesh parents.

Clinical, epidemiological characteristics and mortality of pregnant and postpartum women associated with COVID-19 in Brazil: cohort study.

To analyze the death of Brazilian pregnant and postpartum women due to COVID-19 or unspecific cause. This is retrospective, descriptive-exploratory, population-based study carried out with the Sistema de Informação de Vigilância Epidemiológica da Gripe (SIVEP-Gripe) database, with pregnant and postpartum women of reproductive age who died from confirmed COVID-19 between 2020 and 2021. The chosen variables were: age, gestational period, type and number of comorbidities, skin color, using the statistical software R Foundation for Statistical Computing Platform, version 4.0.3 and Statistical Package for Social Science, version 29.0 for analysis. A total of 19,333 cases of pregnant and postpartum women aged between 10 and 55 years diagnosed with SARS were identified, whether due to confirmed COVID-19 or unspecific causes. Of these, 1,279 died, these cases were classified into two groups according to the cause of death: deaths from COVID-19 (n= 1,026) and deaths from SARS of unspecific cause (n= 253). The risk of death increased among black and brown women, in the postpartum period and with the presence of comorbidities, mainly diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and obesity. The data presented here draw attention to the number of deaths from SARS, especially among sociodemographic profiles, precarious access to health, such as the black population. In addition, limitations in adequate access to health care are reinforced by even lower rates of ICU admissions among women who died from SARS of an unspecified cause.

Analysis of the Main Character's Resistance to Racism in Theodore Melfi's Hidden Figures Film

This study aims to describe the main character's resistance to racism in Theodore Melfi's film Hidden Figures. This research is a qualitative descriptive study, as a research procedure that can produce descriptive data that can be in the form of written or spoken words from people with observable behavior. Qualitative descriptive research aims to make a systematic, factual, and accurate description, description, or painting of facts and characteristics, as well as the relationship between things being investigated. The techniques in data analysis used in this study are 1) data reduction, 2) data presentation, and 3) verification. The results obtained describe the existence of racial discrimination and the attitudes of the main character of the film Hidden Figures' resistance to discrimination which is divided into 6 parts, namely: 1) Racial Justification, 2) Classification Based on Skin Color in Place Settings, 3) Racism in Facilities General Black/Skin, 4) Unpleasant Treatment and, 5) Promote Equality.

Clinico-epidemiological characteristics and long-term surgical outcome of basal cell carcinoma treated with standard excision in patients of skin of colour: A retrospective study from Northern India

Clinico-epidemiological characteristics and long-term surgical outcome of basal cell carcinoma treated with standard excision in patients of skin of colour: A retrospective study from Northern India

Intradermal Treatment with a Hyaluronic Acid Complex Supplemented with Amino Acids and Antioxidant Vitamins Improves Cutaneous Hydration and Viscoelasticity in Healthy Subjects.

Intradermal injection of bioactive compounds is used to reduce the effects of aging skin. The aim of this work is to study the response of facial injection of a hyaluronic acid complex supplemented with amino acids and antioxidant vitamins on skin rejuvenation. A total of 40 healthy adult subjects were recruited to whom this complex was injected into the facial skin, three consecutive times every two weeks. Together with assessing the degree of skin hydration, the level of skin microcirculation, wrinkles, skin color, and skin biomechanical parameters were evaluated. Using the GAIS scale, the degree of satisfaction of the participants was assessed. At 42 days (D42), there was an 11-12% increase in skin hydration and viscoelasticity, a 23% increase in skin density, a 27% increase in skin microcirculation, and a significant lightening and whitening of skin color, but without causing changes in skin wrinkles. A value between 1 and 3 on the GAIS scale was observed between 70 and 92% of the participants, and 87% of subjects found their skin more beautiful, 85% would recommend this treatment, and more than 50% found their face rejuvenated. In summary, the intradermal treatment tested suggests skin rejuvenation, with a good degree of safety.

The clinical characteristics and pathogenic variants of primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease in 210 patients: a systematic review.

Primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease (PPNAD), as a rare kind of Cushing's syndrome, is frequently misdiagnosed. To get a better understanding of the disease, we analyzed the clinical characteristics and pathogenic variants of PPNAD. Databases were searched, and the pathogenic variants and clinical manifestations of patients were summarized from the relevant articles. A total of 210 patients in 86 articles were enrolled with a median age of 22 and a female-to-male ratio of 2:1. Sixty-six (31.43%) patients were combined with Carney complex (CNC) and 94.29% were combined with osteoporosis/osteopenia. Among 151 patients who underwent genetic testing, 87.42% (132/151) had pathogenic variants. Six gene mutations (PRKAR1A, PDE11A, PRKACA, CTNNB1, PDE8B, and ARMC5) were detected in the patients. The most common mutation was PKAR1A, accounting for 79.47% (120/151). There was a significant correlation between PRKAR1A pathogenic variant and spotty skin pigmentation in CNC concurrent with PPNAD (p < 0.05). Among pregnant patients with PPNAD, those without surgical treatment and with bilateral adrenalectomy suffered from a high-risk perinatal period. However, patients with unilateral adrenalectomy presented a safe perinatal period. For young patients with Cushing's syndrome, especially female patients with spotty skin pigmentation and osteoporosis/osteopenia, PPNAD should be considered. Unilateral adrenal resection may be considered as an option for women with fertility needs. In view of the difficulty of PPNAD diagnosis, genetic testing before surgery might be a reasonable option. Patients with PPNAD with spotty skin pigmentation should consider the PRKAR1A pathogenic variant and pay attention to CNC. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero, identifier CRD42023416988.

Skin diversity and skin of colour

01 July 2024: This article was published in Early View in error. It is under embargo and will be republished shortly.

Molecular Basis of MC1R Activation: Mutation-Induced Alterations in Structural Dynamics.

The MC1R protein is a receptor found in melanocytes that plays a role in melanin synthesis. Mutations in this protein can impact hair color, skin tone, tanning ability, and increase the risk of skin cancer. The MC1R protein is activated by the alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH). Previous studies have shown that mutations affect the interaction between MC1R and α-MSH; however, the mechanism behind this process is poorly understood. Our study aims to shed light on this mechanism using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to analyze the Asp84Glu and Asp294His variants. We simulated both the wild-type (WT) protein and the mutants with and without ligand. Our results reveal that mutations induce unique conformations during state transitions, hindering the switch between active and inactive states and decreasing cellular levels of cAMP. Interestingly, Asp294His showed increased ligand affinity but decreased protein activity, highlighting that tighter binding does not always lead to increased activation. Our study provides insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the impact of MC1R mutations on protein activity.

A comparative study of an advanced skin imaging system in diagnosing facial pigmentary and inflammatory conditions

Visual assessment, while the primary method for pigmentation and erythema evaluation in clinical practice, is subjective, time-consuming, and may lead to variability in observations among clinicians. Objective and quantitative techniques are required for a precise evaluation of the disease's severity and the treatment's efficacy. This research examines the precision and utility of a newly developed skin imaging system in assessing pigmentation and erythema. Sixty participants were recruited, and their facial images were analyzed with the new OBSERV 520 x skin imaging system, compared to DERMACATCH for regional analysis and VISIA for full-face examination. The degree of skin pigmentation was clinically graded using the MASI scores evaluated by dermatologists. The data revealed positive correlations between the novel skin imaging system and the two conventional instruments in quantifying pigmentation and erythema, whether in regional or full-face analysis. Furthermore, the new skin imaging system positively correlated with the clinical MASI scores (r = 0.4314, P < 0.01). In contrast, our study found no significant correlation between the traditional system and clinical assessment, indicating a more substantial capacity for hyperpigmentation assessment in the new system. Our study validates the innovative skin imaging system's accuracy in evaluating pigmentation and erythema, demonstrating its feasibility for quantitative evaluation in both clinical and research purposes.

Kojic Acid Containing Novel Drug Delivery System on Facial Dyschromia: Characterization and Their Evaluation

Stubborn skin pigmentation issues like post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) and melasma are the primary reasons people seek cosmetic consultations. Treating these conditions topically is challenging, as it involves inhibiting various stages of production of the pigment process. A powerful tyrosinase inhibitor like, kojic acid (KA) is employed as a formulation to regulate pigmentation production by suppressing the melanogenesis process. It’s important to note that the application of KA has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), US, for dermatological treatments. The goal of this investigation was to formulate a nanoemulsion containing kojic acid for skin delivery using an emulsification method. The characteristics of the KA nanoemulsion were thoroughly examined through techniques like fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, (FTIR) particle size analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TME). In addition, the formulation’s performance was evaluated through both ex-vivo permeation study and in-vitro release study. Analysis of the FTIR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results revealed that kojic acid with other ingredients in the formulation did not exhibit any chemical interactions. The kojic acid nanoparticles that were produced exhibited a spherical shape and were uniformly distributed, with an average size diameter of 184 nm. In in-vitro tests, it was observed that 87.67% of the drug was released within 12 hours. Moreover, ex-vivo permeation evaluation demonstrated that 81.24% of the drug permeated the skin within 8 hours of application. The thermal stability studies confirmed the stability of the kojic acid nanoemulsion, with no signs of creaming, cracking, or phase separation in the formulation. In conclusion, the findings of this study suggest that the kojic acid nanoemulsion holds great promise as an effective means for delivering kojic acid within the upper layers of the skin for treating of facial dyschromia.

Morphological Characterization of Opuntia Accessions from Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) Using UPOV Descriptors

Twenty Opuntia accessions from Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) were classified according to 52 quantitative and qualitative descriptors, including the traits of the cladodes, flowers, fruits, and spines, as described by the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) guidelines. A database composed of 20 accessions and 52 traits was used to perform a cluster analysis based on the Euclidian distance and Ward’s method and a canonical discriminant analysis. In terms of the analyzed characteristics, cactus pears with orange flesh showed less variability than cactus pears with white or purple flesh. Good classifications according to fruit flesh color were obtained using discriminant analysis. As a result of the cluster analysis, Opuntia plant accessions with white, orange, or purple-fleshed fruits were classified into four homogeneous groups according to the cubic clustering criteria. This study proves that it was possible to make a preliminary classification of Opuntia varieties from the Canary Islands based on a few main morphological characteristics. To improve the classification, a molecular analysis of the different Opuntia plants is necessary.

Hand Gestures Recognition Model Using Adaptive Feature Extraction with Attention-Based Hybrid Deep Learning via Optimization Strategy

Research on continuous hand gesture recognition is motivated by applications of deaf people to provide effective communication between one another. Numerous techniques are adapted for effectively identifying the hand gesture. Moreover, the collection of data becomes a challenging task in the existing models. In some instances, hand gesture in low-resolution images becomes a complicated task. In this research work, a deep learning-based hand gesture detection model is designed using hand data points to uncover patterns that are used to convey information. Initially, hand gesture images are obtained from public sources. The collected inputs are preprocessed through Contrast-Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization and filtering to eliminate the unnecessary blurs in the images. The preprocessed images undergo hand segmentation using four methods color space transformation, skin color detection, active contour, and morphological operation. The segmented image is subjected to data point feature extraction, where the Adaptive Weighted Scale-Invariant Feature Transform is utilized for further enhancement. The hand data point-extracted features are given to the recognition of hand gestures with the support of an attention-based hybrid network, where the Attention-based Hybrid 1D Convolutional Neural Network with Recurrent Neural Network recognizes the hand gestures from the hand data points. In the hybridization network, the values are optimized with the help of the investigated Adaptive Dandelion White Shark Optimizer to enhance recognition effectiveness. The test results are validated with the existing hand gesture recognition models using diverse evaluation metrics. The findings of the recommended method show 97% and 99% in terms of accuracy and NPV. Thus, the developed model is validated to outperform significant performance rather than the existing models.

What does racial ascription have to do with perception of Swedishness?

AbstractHow do Swedes, who are not exposed to administrative routines of reporting race and ethnicity, perceive, and categorize faces with different phenotypical features? This study examines identity contestation that can occur and address how race affects the way you are perceived as Swedish. A sample of Swedish participants were asked to assign racial categories to images of faces with different phenotypes, identify the skin color of the faces and rate how ‘Swedish’ the faces are perceived. We also use eye‐tracking to explore whether participants look differently at the faces of different racial groups. The results show greater identity contestation among Latino and Black faces. Moreover, while Swedish respondents identify the skin color of faces self‐identified as Black as darker compared to other racial backgrounds, the differences in skin color reported between Asian, White and Latinos were very small. Despite these small differences in the perception of skin color among Asian, White, and Latino faces, faces self‐reported as White were rated as significantly more Swedish by the respondents compared Asian and Latino faces. All these results contribute to the understanding of not only how race matters in Sweden but also to the understanding of constructivist nature of race.

Challenges of tinted sunscreen in skin of color

Challenges of tinted sunscreen in skin of color

Oral lichen planus‐like lesions in skin of color: a review

Oral lichen planus‐like lesions in skin of color: a review

Hand Gesture Recognition System Based on Indian Sign Language Using SVM and CNN

Hand gestures (HGs) have been extensively acknowledged as a communication standard for the deaf and dumb school system in the Indian sign language (ISL). We suggested an automated Indian sign language recognition (ISLR) method for English in this study. Initially, the hand region is segmented using the Grasshopper optimization algorithm (GOA) based on the skin color model method. The segmentation’s efficacy is further assessed using three techniques: GOA-based skin color detection algorithm (SCDA), particle swarm optimization-based SCDA (PSO-SCDA), and artificial bee colony-based SCDA (ABC-SCDA). Finally, a database for the retrieved motions representing distinct English alphabets is created. For gesture recognition, the system is trained, and a template-based matching approach is used. The classification technique employs the support vector machine (SVM) and the convolution neural network (CNN). Our suggested recognition method achieved the highest accuracy of 97.85% with GOA-SCDA, compared to 89.29% and 93.96% with PSO-SCDA and ABC-SCDA, respectively. Furthermore, CNN outperformed SVM in classification, with a high accuracy of 99.2% and precision of 81.8%.

Impact of Tomato Grafts on the Potato Tuber Metabolome and Skin Colour

Impact of Tomato Grafts on the Potato Tuber Metabolome and Skin Colour