The health consequences of sun exposure have concerned mankind for more than 100 years. Recent molecular studies in photodermatology have greatly advanced our understanding of this important topic. We will illustrate this progress by focusing on the following selected topics: (i) the nature of the DNA damage-independent part of the UVB response of human skin and the role of the arylhydrocarbon receptor in cutaneous biology, (ii) the contribution of wavelengths beyond the UV spectrum to solar radiation-induced skin damage, (iii) the emerging evidence that subcutaneous fat is a target tissue for sunlight, and (iv) the most recent insight into the mode of action of phototherapy.

Serum IL-6 level may be a useful biomarker for assessing disease activity in patients with psoriasis and for predicting responsiveness of joint symptoms to biologic treatment.

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Using the Wide Field Grism Spectrograph 2 (WFGS2), we have carried out slit-less spectroscopy, g ′ r ′ i ′ photometry, and slit spectroscopy on the L1014 dense core. We detected three Hα emission line stars. We interpret one as weak-line T Tauri star (WTTS) and the others as classical T Tauri stars (CTTS). Since their g ′ − i ′ colors and/or classified spectral types are consistent with those of T Tauri stars and two of them show less extinction than the cloud, these three stars are likely to be T Tauri stars associated with L1014. Adopting an age range for T Tauri stars, 1-10 Myr, the color-magnitude diagram suggests a distance of ∼ 400-900 pc, rather than the previously assumed distance, 200 pc. This could strongly affect on the mass estimate of L1014-IRS, which is thought to be either a very young protostar or proto-brown dwarf.