Material properties and toxicity of nanomaterials – investigation of the relevance of extrinsic properties for adverse biological effects

With continually growing fields of applications for ENM and immense technological and economic potential, it needs to be kept in mind that nanotechnology also entails potential risks due to their high surface to volume ratio, some nanomaterials are chemically more reactive. What happens to the nanomaterials after being taken up by humans? How can one explain, and properly predict for example the unexpectedly fast clearance of BaSO4 from the lung, despite its insolubility in water? To determine the fate and the hazard potential of a nanomaterial within the human organism or the environment, it is mandatory to understand how an ENM interacts with physiological media. Essential for the understanding of the behavior is the determination of dissolution, transformation and dosimetry of ENM in relevant media. This work addressed the extrinsic properties of ENM for grouping and read across by assessing the dissolution and transformation in an abiotic flow-through dissolution setup, as well as investigation the limitations of current in vitro dosimetry setups

When women can't do math: the interplay of self-construal, group identification, and stereotypic performance standards

The present research examined the interplay of self-construal (independent vs. interdependent), gender group identification, and performance standards (positive vs. negative) on women’s math performance. Female participants were given a subtle self-prime prior to completing a math test under conditions where either a positive or negative group-based performance standard was rendered accessible. We report an interactive effect of self-construal, gender identification, and performance standard such that a negative (compared to a positive) standard decreased performance under interdependent self-prime (“we”) conditions, whereas the reverse pattern emerged under independent self-prime (“I”) conditions. Importantly, we observed this interplay of performance standards and self-construal only in individuals who self-identify with their gender group whereas performance outcomes of low identifiers were not affected by the experimental manipulations