Evaluation of SARs for the prediction of skin irritation/corrosion potential–structural inclusion rules in the BfR decision support system†

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has developed a Decision Support System (DSS) to assess certain hazardous properties of pure chemicals, including skin and eye irritation/corrosion. The BfR–DSS is a rule-based system that could be used for the regulatory classification of chemicals in the European Union. The system is based on the combined use of two predictive approaches: exclusion rules based on physicochemical cut-off values to identify chemicals that do not exhibit a certain hazard (e.g., skin irritation/corrosion), and inclusion rules based on structural alerts to identify chemicals that do show a particular toxic potential. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the structural inclusion rules implemented in the BfR–DSS for the prediction of skin irritation and corrosion. The following assessments were performed: (a) a confirmation of the structural rules by rederiving them from the original training set (1358 substances), and (b) an external validation by using a test set of 200 chemicals not used in the derivation of the rules. It was found as a result that the test data set did not match the training set relative to the inclusion of structural alerts associated with skin irritation/corrosion, albeit some skin irritants were in the test set.     

Radiation dose measurements for staff members involved in holmium-166 preclinical trial

AimNeutron-activated holmium-166 (¹⁶⁶Ho) is an excellent radionuclide for internal radiation therapy (Eβmax = 1.84 MeV) with an appropriate half-life (26.8 h), which emits photons (81 keV, 6.2%) suitable to be detected by gamma cameras. Preparing and injecting radiopharmaceuticals containing beta/gamma emitting holmium-166 implies a risk of exceeding the upper limit for skin and hand radiation equivalent doses (500 mSv/an). This study was aimed to estimate the whole body and finger exposure for staff responsible for dose preparation, dose dispensing, and dose injection of holmium-166 therapy.MethodsTo measure the finger dose from external exposure, all staff members wore TLD dosimeters. Personal dose equivalents Hp(10) were measured using electronic personal dosimeters (EPD MK2, Thermo Fischer Scientific) placed on the left side of the chest. During our study, staff members administered more than 40 ¹⁶⁶Ho-based therapies for preclinical trial. Appropriate radiation safety procedures and shielding were applied at each stage.ResultsIn this study, the whole body doses were 2.80 ± 1.56 nSv MBq⁻¹ for one ¹⁶⁶Ho-therapy preparation/formulation, and 2.68 ± 1.70 nSv MBq⁻¹ for one intravenous injection. Maximum finger doses were 2.9 ± 0.2 μSv MBq⁻¹ and 2.5 ± 0.3 μSv MBq⁻¹ for preparation and injection, respectively (activities injected: 72 ± 3 MBq).ConclusionExtrapolated annual doses from 300 ¹⁶⁶Ho radionuclide therapies were lower than the annual limit doses for skin and the whole body, 500 mSv and 20 mSv, respectively, reported in the European Directive EURATOM 96/29 when applying appropriate radiation protection standards. However, these doses have to be added to other diagnostic or therapeutic protocols, performed in preclinical facilities.     

Alteration of skin light-scattering and absorption properties by application of sunscreen nanoparticles: A Monte Carlo study

We report about the results of our investigations on the alteration of optical properties of the superficial layer of human skin at four UV range wavelengths, 310, 318, 360 and 400 nm, by application of 35-200 nm-sized particles of titanium dioxide (TiO₂), silicon (Si) and zinc oxide (ZnO). The theoretical study based on combination of the Mie theory and Monte Carlo simulations reveals the optimal sizes of the nanoparticles minimizing the light transmittance for the considered wavelengths.     

含有光敏剂的人体皮肤的激光诱导荧光光谱分析

利用血红蛋白在578nm处有吸收峰以及在光动力疗法治疗鲜红斑痣过程中病变区血液含量减少的特性,根据测得的含有光敏剂的皮肤层激光诱导荧光光谱,计算了皮肤层光敏剂的荧光强度随时间的变化关系。通过光谱处理计算了624nm处光敏剂血卟啉(HpD)的荧光峰值强度。分析和计算结果表明,皮肤层中的血液含量的减少导致新的荧光光谱峰(578nm处)的产生,新荧光峰的产生造成624nm处荧光强度的增大,因此必须排除这种影响才能得到皮肤层由光敏剂产生的荧光强度。由光谱处理结果得到治疗过程中病变区光敏剂荧光强度的变化曲线。     

Colloidal microstructure of binary systems and model creams stabilized with an alkylpolyglucoside non-ionic emulsifier

The aim of this study was to examine the lyotropic potential of an alkylpolyglucoside mixed emulsifier (Cetearyl glucoside&Cetearyl alcohol), which belongs to the new generation of natural (sugar) surfactants, and to elaborate the potential stabilization mechanism and relation between the colloid microstructure and water distribution within the systems. Polarization and ordinary light as well as transmission electron microscopy, wide and small-angle X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis and rheological measurement were employed for the systems characterization.It was suggested that Cetearyl glucoside&Cetearyl alcohol stabilizes the o/w creams by synergistic effects of viscoelastic hydrophilic gel of lamellar type and lipophilic gel network built up from cetostearyl alcohol semi-hydrates as well as by lamellar liquid crystalline bilayers surrounding the oil droplets. The hydrophilic gel consists of mixed cetearyl glucoside/cetearyl alcohol crystalline bilayers entrapping the water interlamellarly by hydrogen bonding. It is also showed that oil addition into the chosen binary system influences the creams microstructure significantly, which particularly reflects onto the mode of water distribution within the creams and consequently their potential of skin hydration.     

Metabolism of human insulin after subcutaneous administration: A possible means to uncover insulin misuse

The misuse of insulin for performance enhancement in sport or as toxic agent has frequently been reported in the past. In contrast to synthetic insulin analogues, the administration of recombinant human insulin is hardly recognized by mass spectrometry. The present study was designed to uncover the misuse of recombinant human insulin for doping control purposes as well as for forensic applications. It is hypothesized that an altered metabolite profile of circulating insulin prevails after subcutaneous administration due to exposure of insulin to epidermal proteases.     

Microstructure-controlled enhancement of magnetoimpedance in nanocrystalline FeSiNbBCu alloys

Rapidly solidified amorphous Fe_68.5Si_18.5Nb₃B₉Cu₁ ribbon has been subjected to heat treatment at a temperature of 550 °C for different time periods. All the annealed ribbons show the precipitation of nanocrystalline Fe₃Si phase from the amorphous phase. The estimated crystallite size from X-ray diffraction peak analysis was in the range of 15-25 nm. While the surface studies confirm the presence of a distribution of spherical nanostructures in amorphous matrix. Both magnetoimpedance and longitudinal permeability ratios are found to increase with annealing time, and attain a maximum value for 60 min annealed ribbon and decrease on further increase in the annealing time. The enhanced magnetic properties and magnetoimpedance on suitable heat treatment is attributed to the change of magnetic parameters such as anisotropy and magnetostriction, due to change in microstructure. Analysis of permeability and impedance data taken under similar conditions suggests a strong correlation between them.     

The effect of variable viscosity on MHD viscoelastic fluid flow and heat transfer over a stretching sheet

An analysis has been carried out to study the momentum and heat transfer characteristics in an incompressible electrically conducting non-Newtonian boundary layer flow of a viscoelastic fluid over a stretching sheet. The partial differential equations governing the flow and heat transfer characteristics are converted into highly non-linear coupled ordinary differential equations by similarity transformations. The effect of variable fluid viscosity, Magnetic parameter, Prandtl number, variable thermal conductivity, heat source/sink parameter and thermal radiation parameter are analyzed for velocity, temperature fields, and wall temperature gradient. The resultant coupled highly non-linear ordinary differential equations are solved numerically by employing a shooting technique with fourth order Runge–Kutta integration scheme. The fluid viscosity and thermal conductivity, respectively, assumed to vary as an inverse and linear function of temperature. The analysis reveals that the wall temperature profile decreases significantly due to increase in magnetic field parameter. Further, it is noticed that the skin friction of the sheet decreases due to increase in the Magnetic parameter of the flow characteristics.     

Microwave Loss Reduction in Cryogenically Cooled Conductors

Measurements of microwave attenuation at room temperature and 4.2 K have been performed on some conductors commonly used in receiver input circuits. The reduction in loss on cooling is substantial, particularly for copper and plated gold, both of which showed a factor of 3 loss reduction. Copper passivated with benzotriazole shows the same loss as without passivation. The residual resistivity ratio between room temperature and 4.2 K, deduced from the measurements using the classical skin effect formula, was smaller than the measured DC value to a degree consistent with conduction in the extreme anomalous skin effect regime at cryogenic temperatures. The measurements were made in the 5–10 GHz range. The materials tested were: aluminum alloys 1100-T6 and 6061-O, C101 copper, benzotriazole treated C101 copper, and brass plated with electroformed copper, Pur-A-Gold 125-Au soft gold, and BDT200 bright gold.