IADVL SIG Pediatric Dermatology (Academy) Recommendations on Hemangioma of Infancy (HOI).

Hemangioma of infancy (HOI) is a benign vascular proliferation. Though resolution is the norm, potential complications make an accurate diagnosis and early management of importance. The Indian association of dermatologists, venereologists and leprologists (IADVL) special interest group (SIG) paediatric dermatology in association with IADVL academy did an extensive analysis of the literature on the clinical features, diagnosis, and management of HOI published between 2010 and 2021. Online meetings were conducted from February 2021 to March 2022 to reach a consensus on these recommendations which are made from an Indian perspective.

IADVL SIG Pediatric Dermatology (Academy) Recommendations on Childhood Alopecia Areata.

Alopecia areata (AA) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by nonscarring alopecia. In contrast to adult onset AA, the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and therapy of childhood AA are less explored. This study aims at providing recommendations for the management of childhood AA. The special interest group (SIG) in pediatric dermatology under the Indian Association of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy (IADVL) conducted online meetings from February 2021 to September 2021, intending to identify the critical aspects in the diagnosis and treatment of AA. The classification, diagnosis, and tools for assessment of disease activity of childhood AA have been described in this study, along with recommendations for topical and systemic therapy, including newer therapeutic options.

Genome wide association study and genomic prediction for stover quality traits in tropical maize (Zea mays L.).

Maize is rapidly replacing traditionally cultivated dual purpose crops of South Asia, primarily due to the better economic remuneration. This has created an impetus for improving maize for both grain productivity and stover traits. Molecular techniques can largely assist breeders in determining approaches for effectively integrating stover trait improvement in their existing breeding pipeline. In the current study we identified a suite of potential genomic regions associated to the two major stover quality traits-in-vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and metabolizable energy (ME) through genome wide association study. However, considering the fact that the loci identified for these complex traits all had smaller effects and accounted only a small portion of phenotypic variation, the effectiveness of following a genomic selection approach for these traits was evaluated. The testing set consists of breeding lines recently developed within the program and the training set consists of a panel of lines from the working germplasm comprising the founder lines of the newly developed breeding lines and also an unrelated diversity set. The prediction accuracy as determined by the Pearson's correlation coefficient between observed and predicted values of these breeding lines were high even at lower marker density (200 random SNPs), when the training and testing set were related. However, the accuracies were dismal, when there was no relationship between the training and the testing set.

Recommendations for Management of Childhood Psoriasis.

Childhood psoriasis is recognized as a potential multisystem disorder and hence it is imperative to optimize disease management to arrest progression, minimize psychological burden and evolution of metabolic syndrome. Clinical practice recommendations are necessary to assist practitioners in appropriate decision making based on available evidence. Owing to the lack of Indian recommendations on childhood psoriasis, the SIG Pediatric Dermatology under IADVL Academy undertook an evidence-based approach based on published literature on the topic, between January 2000 and July 2020 to frame the recommendations.

Genetic gains with rapid-cycle genomic selection for combined drought and waterlogging tolerance in tropical maize (Zea mays L.).

Rapid cycle genomic selection (RC-GS) helps to shorten the breeding cycle and reduce the costs of phenotyping, thereby increasing genetic gains in terms of both cost and time. We implemented RC-GS on two multi-parent yellow synthetic (MYS) populations constituted by intermating ten elite lines involved in each population, including four each of drought and waterlogging tolerant donors and two commercial lines, with proven commercial value. Cycle 1 (C1 ) was constituted based on phenotypic selection and intermating of the top 5% of 500 S2 families derived from each MYS population, test-crossed and evaluated across moisture regimes. C1 was advanced to the next two cycles (C2 and C3 ) by intermating the top 5% selected individuals with high genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) for grain yield under drought and waterlogging stress. To estimate genetic gains, population bulks from each cycle were test-crossed and evaluated across locations under different moisture regimes. Results indicated that the realised genetic gain under drought stress was 0.110 t ha-1 yr-1 and 0.135 t ha-1 yr-1 , respectively, for MYS-1 and MYS-2. The gain was less under waterlogging stress, where MYS-1 showed 0.038 t ha-1 yr-1 and MYS-2 reached 0.113 t ha-1 yr-1 . Genomic selection for drought and waterlogging tolerance resulted in no yield penalty under optimal moisture conditions. The genetic diversity of the two populations did not change significantly after two cycles of GS, suggesting that RC-GS can be an effective breeding strategy to achieve high genetic gains without losing genetic diversity.

Genomic Regions Associated with Root Traits under Drought Stress in Tropical Maize (Zea mays L.).

An association mapping panel, named as CIMMYT Asia association mapping (CAAM) panel, involving 396 diverse tropical maize lines were phenotyped for various structural and functional traits of roots under drought and well-watered conditions. The experiment was conducted during Kharif (summer-rainy) season of 2012 and 2013 in root phenotyping facility at CIMMYT-Hyderabad, India. The CAAM panel was genotyped to generate 955, 690 SNPs through GBS v2.7 using Illumina Hi-seq 2000/2500 at Institute for Genomic Diversity, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. GWAS analysis was carried out using 331,390 SNPs filtered from the entire set of SNPs revealed a total of 50 and 67 SNPs significantly associated for root functional (transpiration efficiency, flowering period water use) and structural traits (rooting depth, root dry weight, root length, root volume, root surface area and root length density), respectively. In addition to this, 37 SNPs were identified for grain yield and shoot biomass under well-watered and drought stress. Though many SNPs were found to have significant association with the traits under study, SNPs that were common for more than one trait were discussed in detail. A total 18 SNPs were found to have common association with more than one trait, out of which 12 SNPs were found within or near the various gene functional regions. In this study we attempted to identify the trait specific maize lines based on the presence of favorable alleles for the SNPs associated with multiple traits. Two SNPs S3_128533512 and S7_151238865 were associated with transpiration efficiency, shoot biomass and grain yield under well-watered condition. Based on favorable allele for these SNPs seven inbred lines were identified. Similarly, four lines were identified for transpiration efficiency and shoot biomass under drought stress based on the presence of favorable allele for the common SNPs S1_211520521, S2_20017716, S3_57210184 and S7_130878458 and three lines were identified for flowering period water-use, transpiration efficiency, root dry weight and root volume based on the presence of favorable allele for the common SNPs S3_162065732 and S3_225760139.

Cutaneous manifestations of chikungunya fever.

Chikungunya fever, a re-emerging RNA viral infection produces different cutaneous manifestations in children compared to adults. 52 children with chikungunya fever, confirmed by positive IgM antibody test were seen during 2009-2010. Pigmentary lesions were common (27/52) followed by vesiculobullous lesions (16/52) and maculopapular lesions (14/52). Vesiculobullous lesions were most common in infants, although rarely reported in adults. Psoriasis was exacerbated in 4 children resulting in more severe forms. In 2 children, guttate psoriasis was observed for the first time.

Cutaneous Manifestations of Chikungunya Fever.

Chikungunya fever, a re-emerging RNA viral infection produces different cutaneous manifestations in children compared to adults. 52 children with chikungunya fever, confirmed by positive IgM antibody test were seen during 2009- 2010. Pigmentary lesions were common (27/52) followed by vesiculobullous lesions (16/52) and maculopapular lesions (14/52). Vesiculobullous lesions were most common in infants, although rarely reported in adults. Psoriasis was exacerbated in 4 children resulting in more severe forms. In 2 children, guttate psoriasis was observed for the first time.

Condiments and Contact Dermatitis of the Finger - Tips.

Patch tests were undertaken with 16 condiments in 4 groups of patients which included exposed patients, exposed controls, unexposed patients and unexposed controls. As the interpretation of the positive patch test reaction was similar in both the unexposed patients and unexposed controls, these two were combined into one (unexposed groups). Positive reactions were obtained in a variable number of individuals in each of these groups but the tests were generally more frequently positive and more severe in the exposed patients and exposed controls, compared to the unexposed groups. The number of patients showing positive patch tests out of the total number tested in the 3 groups respectively, with each of the agents were, cinnamon 1 (9), 0 (11), 1 (7): coriander 3 (8), 4 (12), 1 (5); clove 2 (8), 3 (16), 0 (1); cumin seeds 3 (8), 4 (11), 1 (6); fennel 3 (9), 4 (16), 0 (1); small cardamom 1 (8),6 (17), 0 (0); large cardamom 3 (8) 3 (11), 0 (7); asafoetida 1 (5), 3 (7), 5 (13); Indian cassia 0 (2), 3 (16), 1 (8); mustard seeds 5 (8), 4 (15) 0 (2); red chillies 2 (7), 6 (21), 0 (0); turmeric 3 (6), 8 (15) 1 (5); tamarind 0 (3), 0 (6), 3 (16); dried mango powder 0 (2), 3 (6), 1 (17); Jaggery 0 (1), 2 (4), 2 (20) and ginger 7 (22), 0 (4), 0 (0). These were considered unikely to be irritant reactions, because in the case of irritant reactions, the frequency of positive reaction is expected to be much more. However, this could not be excluded completely without further studies with standardized antigens and their dilutions.

Low Dose Cyclophosphamide Therapy in Lichen Amyloidosis.

Nine patients (5 males and 4 females) with lichen amyloidosis were treated with 50 mg cyclophosphamide orally daily for 6 months to 1 year. Itching was decreased by 80 - 90% in all the 9 patients within 4 months, and 4 patients showed 50-75% improvement at the end of,6 months but subsequently there was no further improvement. In the other 3 patients, ,there 'was no change, in the papules during a follow - up of 6 months. The side effects possibly attributable to cyclophosphamide included a reversible leucopenia. (less than 4000-mm3) in one patient and transient diffuse alopecia in 3. 3.

Nuts As a Cause of Contact Dermatitis of the Hands.

To evaluate contact hypersensitivity to some of the commonly used Indian nuts, patch tests were undertaken with cashew nuts, ground nuts, almonds and pistachio in 3 groups of individuals: (1) patients exposed to the corresponding nut and having dermatitis on their fingertips, (2) controls having no dermatitis, but exposed to the nut, and (3) unexposed group. A paste prepared by Cushing the nut and used as such gave positive patch test 'reactions in, all the 6 patients tested with cashew - nut, ground - nut and almonds, and these looked to be irritant reactions. Further patch tests with these three nuts were therefore done with 1:1 dilution of the paste with distilled water. The number of patients showing positive patch tests out of the total number.