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To study the clinical and epidemiologic profile of childhood alopecia areata, we performed a survey in which a total of 226 childhood patients less than 16 years old were enrolled. Statistical analysis and heritability were performed using EPI INFO 6.0, SPSS10.0, and the Falconer method. The median age of onset was 10 years. The majority of patients (84.96%) presented with limited alopecia. The male : female ratio was 1.4:1. Boys appeared to have more severe involvement. The earlier the age of onset, the greater the severity of the disease. Sixty-seven patients (29.65%) had previous episodes of alopecia areata. Greater severity and longer duration were seen in the relapsing patients than in the primary patients. Six patients (2.65%) had an associated disease. A positive family history was reported in 25 patients (11.06%). The prevalence figures for alopecia areata in first-, second-, and third-degree relatives of the probands were 2.87%, 0.40%, and 0.13%, respectively. The heritabilities of AA in first-, second-, and third-degree relatives were 51.20%, 46.25%, and 25.65%, respectively. It can be speculated that the effect of genetic factors is important in the occurrence of this disease.

Traditional topical ointment applied on the skin surface has poor drug penetration due to the thickening of the stratum corneum for psoriasis. Microneedles (MNs) provide a desirable opportunity to promote drug penetration. However, the common MNs are difficult to meet the requirement of on‐demand drug delivery. In this study, a smart electrical responsive MNs is fabricated by introducing conductive material of polypyrrole (PPy). Further, a self‐powered controllable transdermal drug delivery system (sc‐TDDS) based on piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) is developed. The sc‐TDDS can control drug release by collecting and converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. The sc‐TDDS can release 8.5 ng dexamethasone (Dex) subcutaneously per electrical stimulation. When treating psoriasis‐like skin disease with sc‐TDDS, the inflammatory skin returned to normal after 5 days, which is obviously better than treating with traditional Dex solution coating. This work provides a promising approach of on‐demand transdermal drug release for various disease treatment scenarios.

We demonstrated a simple and more precise method to quantify and compare facial skin erythema by analyzing the RGB channel values of the VISIA Red images. Our method brings convenience for erythema evaluation in dermatological studies.

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