Mechanical Properties of Hairs from Patients with Different Types of Hair Diseases

The following mechanical properties of hair have been studied: tensile strength, strain at break, and elastic modulus. The determinations were made at constant temperature and humidity on fifty separate hairs from each patient. The mechanical properties of the fibrous material were similar for thick and thin hair. The elastic modulus and tensile strength showed a good correlation. Five patients with ectodermal dysplasia and one with congenital ichthyosiform erythrodermia had a lower elastic modulus than the other groups. Hair from those with ectodermal dysplasia also showed a low tensile strength. No significant difference in mechanical properties were found between normal-appearing hair and hair from patients with male pattern baldness, alopecia areata and various types of female defluvium capillorum

HLA-Antigens and Contact Hypersensitivity

The HLA-A, -B, -C typing of 100 bricklayers was performed. 50 bricklayers had developed contact allergy to chromium while 50 were healthy bricklayers. The distribution of HLA antigens were equal in the 2 groups

Ultraviolet-Induced Dna Repair Synthesis In Lymphocytes From Patients With Actinic Keratosis

Actinic keratosis is an epidermal cancer in situ. Extensive exposure to sunlight is considered as a contributing factor to the etiology of this tumor. Ultraviolet (UV) light of solar radiation induces structural damage in DNA, which may give rise to mutations and transformed cells if the damage is not repaired. Repair of UV-induced DNA lesions is an essential property of human cells. The conditions so far reported to have defective DNA repair are all associated with an increased incidence of malignancy. Do patients with actinic keratosis also exhibit a reduced capacity to repair UV-induced DNA lesions?DNA repair synthesis in peripheral leukocytes was studied in 10 patients with actinic keratosis and 10 healthy subjects of corresponding age. After irradiation with various doses of UV light the leukocytes were incubated for 2 hr with [3H]thymidine in the presence of hydroxyurea. A dose-response relationship for the UV-induced DNA repair synthesis was established for each individual. The average repair capacity in the patients with actinic keratosis was about 30% below that of the controls. The difference is statistically significant (p < 0.02). Reduced DNA repair synthesis may therefore be an important factor in the etiology of actinic keratosis

Anthropomorphic Twisted String-Actuated Soft Robotic Gripper with Tendon-Based Stiffening

Realizing high-performance soft robotic grippers is challenging because of the inherent limitations of the soft actuators and artificial muscles that drive them, including low force output, small actuation range, and poor compactness. Despite advances in this area, realizing compact soft grippers with high dexterity and force output is still challenging. This paper explores twisted string actuators (TSAs) to drive a soft robotic gripper. TSAs have been used in numerous robotic applications, but their inclusion in soft robots has been limited. The proposed design of the gripper was inspired by the human hand. Tunable stiffness was implemented in the fingers with antagonistic TSAs. The fingers' bending angles, actuation speed, blocked force output, and stiffness tuning were experimentally characterized. The gripper achieved a score of 6 on the Kapandji test and recreated 31 of the 33 grasps of the Feix GRASP taxonomy. It exhibited a maximum grasping force of 72 N, which was almost 13 times its own weight. A comparison study revealed that the proposed gripper exhibited equivalent or superior performance compared to other similar soft grippers.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figure

Using Augmented Reality to Assess and Modify Mobile Manipulator Surface Repair Plans

Industrial robotics are redefining inspection and maintenance routines across multiple sectors, enhancing safety, efficiency, and environmental sustainability. In outdoor industrial facilities, it is crucial to inspect and repair complex surfaces affected by corrosion. To address this challenge, mobile manipulators have been developed to navigate these facilities, identify corroded areas, and apply protective coatings. However, given that this technology is still in its infancy and the consequences of improperly coating essential equipment can be significant, human oversight is necessary to review the robot's corrosion identification and repair plan. We present a practical and scalable Augmented Reality (AR)-based system designed to empower non-experts to visualize, modify, and approve robot-generated surface corrosion repair plans in real-time. Built upon an AR-based human-robot interaction framework, Augmented Robot Environment (AugRE), we developed a comprehensive AR application module called Situational Task Accept and Repair (STAR). STAR allows users to examine identified corrosion images, point cloud data, and robot navigation objectives overlaid on the physical environment within these industrial environments. Users are able to additionally make adjustments to the robot repair plan in real-time using interactive holographic volumes, excluding critical nearby equipment that might be at risk of coating overspray. We demonstrate the entire system using a Microsoft HoloLens 2 and a dual-arm mobile manipulator. Our future research will focus on evaluating user experience, system robustness, and real-world validation.Comment: Winning Paper (2nd Prize) at The Second International Horizons of an Extended Robotics Reality (XR-ROB) Workshop - IEEE IROS 2023 | Workshop Website: https://sites.google.com/view/xr-robotics-iros2023/home?authuser=

S Gene (Corneodesmosin) Diversity and its Relationship to Psoriasis; High Content of cSNP in the HLA-Linked S Gene

Psoriasis is a heterogeneous disease in which several reports suggest the presence of a susceptibility gene in or in the proximity of the human leukocyte antigen complex in chromosome 6p. There is an association between HLA-Cw6 and young onset of the disease. The S gene (corneodesmosin), located 160 kb telomeric of HLA-C, is a strong candidate for psoriasis due to its reportedly exclusive expression in differentiating keratinocytes. We have studied this gene in a large Swedish psoriasis population and we report a strikingly high degree of polymorphism in the coding parts of the gene, 1 every 100 base pairs. We used a stratified approach to compare the polymorphic variants in patients and controls. A single nucleotide polymorphism in the coding region leading to an amino acid exchange (Ser→Phe) that differed significantly between patients and controls was identified (position 619). Owing to a high allele frequency in a larger control group, however, and an insignificant influence of the variant on the age at onset distribution curve based on a large psoriasis population, we could not confirm that this coding single nucleotide polymorphism was involved in disease etiology. We also examined the single nucleotide polymorphism in position 1243, recently proposed to have an influence on the pathogenesis of the disease. This polymorphism showed less association to the disease as compared with the single nucleotide polymorphism at positions 619 and 722. Such a high degree of variation present also in an HLA gene which is not involved in immune response indicates the difficulty involved in assessing the role of a specific allele in the pathogenesis of a complex disease in this region. A strong association effect due to linkage disequilibrium in an extended region in the HLA complex is also a complicating factor

Sensitivity to numerosity is not a unique visuospatial psychophysical predictor of mathematical ability

Sensitivity to visual numerosity has previously been shown to predict human mathematical performance. However, it is not clear whether it is discrimination of numerosity per se that is predictive of mathematics, or whether the association is driven by more general task demands. To test this notion we had over 300 participants (ranging in age from 6 to 73years) perform a symbolic mathematics test and 4 different visuospatial matching tasks. The visual tasks involved matching 2 clusters of Gabor elements for their numerosity, density, size or orientation by a method of adjustment. Partial correlation and regression analyses showed that sensitivity to visual numerosity, sensitivity to visual orientation and mathematical education level predict a significant proportion of shared as well as unique variance in mathematics scores. These findings suggest that sensitivity to visual numerosity is not a unique visual psychophysical predictor of mathematical ability. Instead, the data are consistent with mathematics representing a multi-factorial process that shares resources with a number of visuospatial tasks

Collecting a set of psoriasis family material through a patient organisation; clinical characterisation and presence of additional disorders

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to describe the clinical characteristics of a population of psoriatics sampled from a patient organisation and not from hospitals or out-patient clinics. Furthermore, we wanted to compare siblings with and without psoriasis regarding the occurrence of other diseases. METHODS: At the end of 1991, we initiated a project which aimed to study genetic factors leading to psoriasis. Firstly, we sent questionnaires to all the members of the Swedish Psoriasis Association. We then examined 1,217 individuals (570 with psoriasis) from 310 families, in their homes in the southern part of Sweden. All the available family members were examined clinically and asked about the course of the skin disease and the occurrence of other diseases. The eight hundred members of the proband generation were divided into two groups, with or without psoriasis, and their clinical features were compared. RESULTS: Most individuals in this study population had a mild form of psoriasis. The siblings with psoriasis had joint complaints significantly more frequently than their siblings without the skin disease and those with joint complaints had more widespread skin disease. Among the other studied concomitant diseases (iritis, heart or hypertension disease, endocrine disease, inflammatory bowel disease and neurological disease), we were not able to find any difference. Seventy-seven of 570 persons were found to be in remission (13.5%). Females had a mean onset 2.5 years earlier than males. We were not able to find any correlation between the extent of the skin disease and age at onset. Twice as many persons with joint complaints were found among those with psoriasis than among those without, 28% versus 13%. Almost half (48%) the psoriatics who also had joint complaints had psoriasis lesions on their nails. Endocrine disorders were found in 9% of those without any allele for Cw6, but only in 1% of those who had Cw6. In fact, none of 183 Cw6 carriers had diabetes, as compared to the population prevalence of 3–5% in Sweden. CONCLUSION: With the exception of joint complaints, persons with psoriasis, collected from a patient organisation, did not have an increased frequency of (studied) co-existing diseases

The importance of disease associations and concomitant therapy for the long-term management of psoriasis patients

It is well established that several inflammatory-type conditions, such as arthritis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and irritable bowel disease exist comorbidly and at an increased incidence in patients with psoriasis. Psoriasis and other associated diseases are thought to share common inflammatory pathways. Conditions such as these, with similar pathogenic mechanisms involving cytokine dysregulation, are referred to as immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). Considerable evidence for the genetic basis of cormobidities in psoriasis exists. The WHO has reported that the occurrence of chronic diseases, including IMIDs, are a rising global burden. In addition, conditions linked with psoriasis have been associated with increasing rates of considerable morbidity and mortality. The presence of comorbid conditions in psoriasis patients has important implications for clinical management. QoL, direct health care expenditures and pharmacokinetics of concomitant therapies are impacted by the presence of comorbid conditions. For example, methotrexate is contraindicated in hepatic impairment, while patients on ciclosporin should be monitored for kidney function. In addition, some agents, such as beta blockers, lithium, synthetic antimalarial drugs, NSAIDs and tetracycline antibiotics, have been implicated in the initiation or exacerbation of psoriasis. Consequently, collaboration between physicians in different specialties is essential to ensuring that psoriasis treatment benefits the patient without exacerbating associated conditions

S1 guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of ichthyoses – update

Ichthyoses are a group of rare genetic skin disorders that pose numerous clinical challenges, in particular with respect to the correct diagnosis and appropriate management. The present update of the German ichthyosis guidelines addresses recent diagnostic advances that have resulted in the Sorèze consensus classification. In this context, we provide an updated diagnostic algorithm, taking into account clinical features as well as the molecular genetic basis of these disorders. Moreover, we highlight current therapeutic approaches such as psychosocial support, balneotherapy, mechanical scale removal, topical therapy, and systemic retinoid therapy. General aspects such as the indication for physical therapy, ergotherapy, or genetic counseling are also discussed. The present update was consented by an interdisciplinary consensus conference that included dermatologists, pediatricians, human geneticists, and natural scientists as well as representatives of the German patient support organization Selbsthilfe Ichthyose e. V