The water content of human nail plates was determined using a portable near-infrared (NIR) spectrometer with an InGaAs photodiode array detector. NIR diffuse reflectance (DR) spectra were collected from 108 cut nail plates with different relative humidity and in vivo from fingernails. Partial least-squares (PLS) regression was applied to the NIR spectra in the 1115-1645 nm region to develop calibration models that determine the water content in the cut nail plates and fingernails. A good correlation was obtained between the NIR spectra and the water content measured by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for the NIR measurement of both cut nail plates and fingernails. The results indicate that the water content in the nails can be determined very rapidly (1 s) by means of the portable NIR spectrometer and PLS regression.
Previous studies have reported that O/W emulsion prepared using a surfactant with phytosterol as the hydrophobic moiety exhibited unique morphology; a lamellar structure was present on the surface of the emulsified particles. It is suggested that such a unique self-organized structure was due to the large and bulky planar structure of the sterol. On the other hand, sparingly soluble compounds including ultraviolet ray absorbers and medicines (e.g., indomethacine and finasteride) have been used after they are dissolved mainly in polar oils. However, it is very difficult to dissolve them in bases that contain small amounts of oil components such as lotions. Moreover, many of these sparingly soluble compounds have planar structures such as aromatic rings and are easy to crystallize in polar oil. In this study, sterol surfactants were considered suitable for solubilizing sparingly soluble compounds, since they have a bulky planar structure in their molecules. On this basis, the solubilization of ultraviolet ray absorbers using sterol surfactants was investigated. Methods to solubilize ultraviolet ray absorbers stably and effectively by using a surfactant that had a phytosterol structure have been clarified. Further, the following features were also suggested: (1) the microemulsion of phytosterol surfactant is different from that of other surfactants and (2) a rigid core that has solubilized compounds between the hydrophobic moieties was considered; further, the core was surrounded by a polyoxyethylene chain that prevented the self-aggregation. Analysis using NMR measurements suggested that (1) the polyoxyethylene/polyoxypropylene random copolymer dimethyl ether squeezed in a narrow gap between the hydrophobic moieties of the surfactant, and (2) this eventually increased the solubilized amount of an ultraviolet ray absorber.
The α-form hydrated crystalline phase (often called as an α-gel) is one of the hydrated crystalline phases which can be exhibited by surfactants and lipids. In this study, a novel system of an α-form hydrated crystal was developed, composed of 3-(10-carboxydecyl)-1,1,1,3,5,5,5-heptamethyl trisiloxane (CDTS), polyoxyethylene (5 mol) glyceryl monostearate (GMS-5), higher alcohol. This is the first report to indicate that a silicone surfactant can form an α-form hydrated crystal. The physicochemical properties of this system were characterized by small and wide angle X-ray scattering (SWAXS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY) experiments. SWAXS and DSC measurements revealed that a plurality of crystalline phases coexist in the CDTS/higher alcohol/water ternary system. By adding GMS-5 to the ternary system, however, a wide region of a single α-form hydrated crystalline phase was obtained. The self-diffusion coefficients (D) from the NMR measurements suggested that all of the CDTS, GMS-5, and higher alcohol molecules were incorporated into the same α-form hydrated crystals.
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