Brazilian Consensus on Photoprotection

Brazil is a country of continental dimensions with a large heterogeneity of climates and massive mixing of the population. Almost the entire national territory is located between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, and the Earth axial tilt to the south certainly makes Brazil one of the countries of the world with greater extent of land in proximity to the sun. The Brazilian coastline, where most of its population lives, is more than 8,500 km long. Due to geographic characteristics and cultural trends, Brazilians are among the peoples with the highest annual exposure to the sun. Epidemiological data show a continuing increase in the incidence of nonmelanoma and melanoma skin cancers. Photoprotection can be understood as a set of measures aimed at reducing sun exposure and at preventing the development of acute and chronic actinic damage. Due to the peculiarities of Brazilian territory and culture, it would not be advisable to replicate the concepts of photoprotection from other developed countries, places with completely different climates and populations. Thus the Brazilian Society of Dermatology has developed the Brazilian Consensus on Photoprotection, the first official document on photoprotection developed in Brazil for Brazilians, with recommendations on matters involving photoprotection

Ultrastructural alteration of tape-stripped normal human skin after photodynamic therapy

The effect of photodynamic therapy on tape-stripped normal human skin was explored ultrastructurally. Back skin areas of 3 healthy Caucasian volunteers, 2 men and 1 woman, were tape-stripped 10 consecutive times followed by topical treatment with 5-aminolevulinic acid (20%, w/w) for 4 hours under occlusion (Tegaderm(R)). Then the areas were irradiated for 30 minutes with Waldman PDT 1200 lamp (570-650 nm) with a total dose of 70 J/cm(2). Full-thickness punch biopsies were taken immediately after irradiation, and at 3 and 24 hours for electron microscopy examination. Photodynamic therapy caused morphological alterations mainly in the epidermis. Keratinocytes became oedematous and tonofilament bundles were split, but desmosomes remained normal. Many keratinocytes contained large intracellular vacuoles and extremely electronlucent cytoplasm implying cell damage. Although the majority of Langerhans cells were unaffected isolated Langerhans cells became apoptotic at 3 hours. The melanocytes preserved their normal morphology. The epidermal alterations recovered 24 hours after the irradiation. Inflammatory cell infiltrates were evident at 3 and 24 hours but no other dermal changes were observed. In conclusion, photodynamic therapy with 5-aminolevulinic acid affects mainly keratinocytes and can trigger apoptosis in Langerhans cells while melanocytes appear refractory, at least morphologically, to photodynamic therapy

Geringe Weiterbildungsteilnahme im Ruhrgebiet Weniger Beschaeftigte mit selbstaendigen und kreativen Taetigkeiten, seltenere Einfuehrung neuer Verfahren

'Die Teilnahme der Erwerbstaetigen an beruflicher Weiterbildung ist im Ruhrgebiet geringer als in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Informelle und eigeninitiative Lernformen haben beim Erwerb beruflichen Wissens im Ruhrgebiet geringeres Gewicht als im uebrigen NRW. Im Ruhrgebiet sind die betrieblichen Arbeitsanforderungen weniger kreativ und lernfoerderlich. Ein geringerer Anteil der Beschaeftigten berichtet von betrieblichen Innovationen. Der Rueckstand des Ruhrgebiets bei der Weiterbildung ist nicht allein durch eine im Vergleich zum uebrigen NRW andere Struktur der Betriebe oder Erwerbstaetigen zu erklaeren. Es bleibt ein mit den verwendeten Daten nicht erklaerter regionaler Faktor.' (Autorenreferat)SIGLEAvailable from Institut Arbeit und Technik im Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen, Gelsenkirchen (DE) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman