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Objective The capacity of hair to absorb water causes changes in its physical and cosmetic properties under different environmental conditions. Hence, the control of hair volume in variable relative humidity settings is an important topic in cosmetics. The behaviour of two types of hair, Caucasian and Asian, was studied regarding their volume change in different relative humidity conditions. The ability of a peptide as a hair volume treatment was evaluated in two climate control formulations. Methods Tresses of the two types of hair were tested in two relative humidity (RH) conditions: (A) variable relative humidity (2 hours 40% RH, followed by 2 hours 90% RH and 2 hours of 40% RH), and (B) continuous high relative humidity (90% RH for 6 hours). Changes in the hair tress volume were assessed throughout time. Hair treated with two climate control formulations, with and without a peptide (KP peptide), were tested under the two relative humidity conditions. Results Caucasian hair had a higher change in volume compared to the Asian hair in variable and high relative humidity conditions. The hair volume increase when subject to high air humidity, and it was lower with the incorporation of a peptide into climate control formulations. Conclusion Caucasian hair showed higher volume than Asian hair when submitted to both relative humidity conditions. The incorporation of the peptide into the climate control formulations, a base (mostly composed of water 94%) and an ethanolic, was found to reduce the volume of Caucasian hair tresses. The presence of the peptide improved the hair volume change more than 60% in high relative humidity conditions., We thank the Industry and Processes Laboratory (LIP) from Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB) for allowing the use of the climate chamber Binder KBF 115. This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI01-0145-FEDER-006684) and under the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/ 0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462). This study was also supported by BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 – Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. C elia F. Cruz and Artur Ribeiro thank FCT for SFRH/BD/ 100927/2014 and SFRH/BPD/98388/2013 grants, respectively., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Dispersions in transcutol/isopropyl myristate make C60 fullerene molecules suitable for transdermal delivery. We found that C60 can successfully permeate the skin using pig skin in Franz diffusion cells. Molecular dynamics simulations and transmission electron microscopy confirmed these observations. Basic cosmetic formulations with transcutol/ isopropyl myristate without harsh organic solvents show a high potential for delivery of C60 for biopharmaceutical and cosmetics applications., This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI01-0145-FEDER-006684).). Artur Ribeiro thanks FCT for the SFRH\BPD\98388\2013 grant., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers detect a significantly high degree of polymorphism in rice (Oryza sativa L.) and are particularly suitable for evaluating genetic diversity among closely related cultivars. A total of 176 rice accessions originating from 19 countries in the Portuguese working germplasm collection and two standard rice varieties (IR36-indica and Nipponbare-japonica) were analyzed for DNA profile using 24 SSR loci covering two loci per chromosome. A total of 184 alleles were detected. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 16, with an average of 7.7, and the PIC value ranged from 0.179 to 0.894 with an average of 0.667. All the loci were polymorphic among the accessions and clearly distinguished the indica and japonica subspecies. At 20% similarity, cluster analysis of the 178 accessions revealed three major groups, japonica, basmati, and indica (Groups I, II, and III, respectively). The japonica group contained 87% of the accessions and showed a wide range of similarity values (0.21-0.92), revealing a high degree of diversity among the accessions. Many of the accessions included in this study are morphologically similar and lack pedigree information. Hence, identification of genetic distances among the accessions should improve their use in breeding programs. As a result of this study, genetically diverse parents can be identified, increasing the usefulness of germplasm collections by broadening the genetic base of rice varieties.