A lightweight magnetically shielded room with active shielding

Magnetically shielded rooms (MSRs) use multiple layers of materials such as MuMetal to screen external magnetic fields that would otherwise interfere with high precision magnetic field measurements such as magnetoencephalography (MEG). Optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) have enabled the development of wearable MEG systems which have the potential to provide a motion tolerant functional brain imaging system with high spatiotemporal resolution. Despite significant promise, OPMs impose stringent magnetic shielding requirements, operating around a zero magnetic field resonance within a dynamic range of ± 5 nT. MSRs developed for OPM-MEG must therefore effectively shield external sources and provide a low remnant magnetic field inside the enclosure. Existing MSRs optimised for OPM-MEG are expensive, heavy, and difficult to site. Electromagnetic coils are used to further cancel the remnant field inside the MSR enabling participant movements during OPM-MEG, but present coil systems are challenging to engineer and occupy space in the MSR limiting participant movements and negatively impacting patient experience. Here we present a lightweight MSR design (30% reduction in weight and 40–60% reduction in external dimensions compared to a standard OPM-optimised MSR) which takes significant steps towards addressing these barriers. We also designed a ‘window coil’ active shielding system, featuring a series of simple rectangular coils placed directly onto the walls of the MSR. By mapping the remnant magnetic field inside the MSR, and the magnetic field produced by the coils, we can identify optimal coil currents and cancel the remnant magnetic field over the central cubic metre to just |B|= 670 ± 160 pT. These advances reduce the cost, installation time and siting restrictions of MSRs which will be essential for the widespread deployment of OPM-MEG

Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Loci Associated with Sensitive Skin

Individuals suffering from sensitive skin often have other skin conditions and/or diseases, such as fair skin, freckles, rosacea, or atopic dermatitis. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been performed for some of these conditions, but not for sensitive skin. In this study, a total of 23,426 unrelated participants of European ancestry from the 23andMe database were evaluated for self-declared sensitive skin, other skin conditions, and diseases using an online questionnaire format. Responders were separated into two groups: those who declared they had sensitive skin (n = 8971) and those who declared their skin was not sensitive (controls, n = 14,455). A GWAS of sensitive skin individuals identified three genome-wide significance loci (p-value < 5 × 10−8) and seven suggestive loci (p-value < 1 × 10−6). Of the three most significant loci, all have been associated with pigmentation and two have been associated with acne

A Prevalidation Study on In Vitro Skin Corrosivity Testing

The results and conclusions of a prevalidation study on alternative methods for skin corrosivity testing are described in this workshop report. The three methods assessed were: the transcutaneous electrical resistance assay with excised rat skin; CORROSITEX; and Skin2. QSAR data skin corrosivity are presented in an appendix.JRC.(EI)-Environment Institut

A Proposed Eye Irritation Testing Strategy to Reduce and Replace In Vivo Studies Using Bottom-Up and Top-Down Approaches

In spite of over 20 years of effort, no single in vitro assay has been developed and validated as a full regulatory replacement for the Draize Eye Irritation test. However, companies have been using in vitro methods to screen new formulations and in some cases as their primary assessment of eye irritation potential for many years. The present report shows the outcome of an Expert Meeting convened by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods in February 2005 to identify test strategies for eye irritation. In this workshop test developers/users were requested to nominate methods to be considered as a basis for the identification of such testing strategies. Assays were evaluated and categorized based on their proposed applicability domains (e.g., categories of irritation severity, modes of action, chemical class, physicochemical compatibility). The analyses were based on the data developed from current practice and published studies, the ability to predict depth of injury (within the applicable range of severity), modes of action that could be addressed and compatibility with different physiochemical forms. The difficulty in predicting the middle category of irritancy (e.g. R36, GHS Categories 2A and 2B) was recognized. The testing scheme proposes using a Bottom-Up (begin with using test methods that can accurately identify non-irritants) or Top-Down (begin with using test methods that can accurately identify severe irritants) progression of in vitro tests (based on expected irritancy). Irrespective of the starting point, the approach would identify non-irritants and severe irritants, leaving all others to the (mild/moderate) irritant GHS 2 / R36 categories.JRC.I.2-Validation of Alternative Method

Common variation near CDKN1A, POLD3 and SHROOM2 influences colorectal cancer risk

We performed a meta-analysis of five genome-wide association studies to identify common variants influencing colorectal cancer (CRC) risk comprising 8,682 cases and 9,649 controls. Replication analysis was performed in case-control sets totaling 21,096 cases and 19,555 controls. We identified three new CRC risk loci at 6p21 (rs1321311, near CDKN1A; P = 1.14 × 10 -10), 11q13.4 (rs3824999, intronic to POLD3; P = 3.65 × 10 -10) and Xp22.2 (rs5934683, near SHROOM2; P = 7.30 × 10 -10) This brings the number of independent loci associated with CRC risk to 20 and provides further insight into the genetic architecture of inherited susceptibility to CRC.</p