EASIS Brief Introduction Page 1

EASIS - Brief Introduction

EASIS Background ...................................................................................................................................................... 1

EASIS First Steps ......................................................................................................................................................... 2

EASIS Search Functions .............................................................................................................................................. 2

Simple Search ......................................................................................................................................................... 2

Advanced Search .................................................................................................................................................... 5

EASIS Study Questionnaires ....................................................................................................................................... 8

Questionnaire actions .......................................................................................................................................... 10

Questionnaire meta-data ..................................................................................................................................... 10

Questionnaire data .............................................................................................................................................. 11

EASIS Background EASIS, the Endocrine Active Substances Information System, is a web-based application open to the public for

query and review of (eco)toxicological information about chemicals, with an emphasis on endocrine-related

endpoints.

The starting point of EASIS was the EAS Database1 created by the European Commission's Environment

Directorate-General (DG ENV) in the 2000s. A new application, EASIS, was developed and the data from the DG

ENV DB were migrated into EASIS. More data will be added over time.

1 see https://eurl-ecvam.jrc.ec.europa.eu/laboratories-research/endocrine_disrupters/files_eds/database.zip

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EASIS First Steps The URL https://easis.jrc.ec.europa.eu leads to the EASIS main page:

No login is necessary for browsing the data of EASIS.

The Glossary and the Links buttons lead to pages with background information.

The Search button leads to the main functionality, i.e. querying and reviewing studies in EASIS.

EASIS Search Functions Clicking on the search tab in the main screen leads to two search options:

Simple Search

Advanced Search

Simple Search The Simple Search is the default option selected:

Any search term can be entered into the search field, and once the button is clicked, all DB fields will be

examined whether the word appears there, and as a consequence, the Result Set is shown.

Once the button is clicked, a turning wheel in the upper right hand corner of the screen (near the Login

button) indicates that the search is currently being performed:

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Once the turning wheel disappears, the results are shown. Example: "ovaries" are entered as search term:

This sample Result Set shows that 120 studies are in the database in which the term "ovaries" appears (in any

field).

The Result Set features the following fields:

Result Set fields: Test Type and Target

All studies in EASIS are of one of the following four types:

In-vivo mammals

In-vivo humans (epidemiology)

In-vivo ecotox

In-vitro

Later we will see that EASIS study data are displayed in one of four possible "Questionnaires" which are forms

that correspond to these four types.

Result Set fields: Substance and CAS Number

Indicates the substance that the study is about.

Result Set field: General Effect Type

Indicates what kind of effect was observed in the study. In most cases this field also contains the search term.

Result Set field: Test Guideline

Indicates what Test Guideline (OECD or other) was followed in the study, if any.

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Result Set field: Metric Endpoint

Displays relevant numerical results of the study.

Result Set field: View

By clicking the arrow-down symbol in the "View" column…

… columns to be displayed/not displayed in the Result Set can be selected:

The "View" column features two clickable icons:

- the "View matched fields" icon, which displays the field(s) in which the search term appeared (i.e. the

reason why the study is displayed in the Result Set), and

- the "View Study" icon, which leads to the display of the full study report, see chapter "EASIS Study

Questionnaires".

Filter Result Set

The row of column headings features Filter fields. When selecting a filter term from one or more of the filter

fields…

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… (e.g. "Ecotox" in the Target field), only the studies from within the Result Set that deal with "Ecotox" are

shown:

Filtering can be used to drill into the search result and get a less overwhelming Result Set.

Advanced Search

Clicking the tab activates the Advanced Search.

Search criteria can be entered in one or more of the search fields, and once the button is clicked, the DB

is searched for the occurrence of each of the search criteria, and the Result Set is shown:

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Search Example: CAS number = 63-25-2

(Please note that depending on your screen resolution you might have to scroll down to see the results!)

The Result Set shows 114 studies for this substance (Carbaryl).

The columns of the Result Set correspond to the ones of the Simple Search (see above). Filtering and exporting

are also the same as in the Simple Search.

As is the case with the Simple Search, clicking the "View Study" icon in the View column leads to a detailed

view of the selected study. For more details, see the chapter "EASIS Study Questionnaires".

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Search Example: Test Guideline = OECD Guideline 421:

The Result Set shows 3 studies for this Guideline.

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Search Example: CAS number = 72-43-5 & Study Type = In vitro

The Result Set shows 32 in-vitro studies for this substance (Methoxychlor).

EASIS Study Questionnaires The Result Sets of both the Simple Search and the Advanced Search display one row per retrieved study. Next to

each of these rows, the "View Study" icon leads to the display of the full study report.

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Clicking the View icon next to any study…

… displays the main Study screen:

Study Data in EASIS are displayed in an interconnected series of screens that are called Questionnaires.

The questionnaires themselves are a long series of data display forms (top part of the screen, see chapter

"Questionnaire data"); the bottom part of the screen shows assorted questionnaire meta-data (see next

section).

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Questionnaire actions The section "actions" in the questionnaire shows icons for all manipulations that are possible with the current

study (questionnaire). The two selectable actions are "Expand" (the section view) and "Close" (the study).

Questionnaire meta-data The questionnaire meta-data give information about general overview data concerning the selected study:

Questionnaire meta-data element Study information

Several fields give information about relevant data concerning the questionnaire, like test type, target, creation

date, etc.

The study status is "published" for all publicly visible questionnaires, i.e. studies uploaded by the EASIS data

management team.

Questionnaire meta-data element Endpoints

The EASIS data model supports the association between an EASIS questionnaire and the OECD Harmonised

Template2 (OHT) format. Each questionnaire is linked to one distinct OHT, which makes subsequent re-use of

the data in other environments and applications easier: OHTs are used in a number of regulatory programmes

2 The OECD Harmonised Templates (OHTs) are standard data formats for reporting studies done on chemicals to determine their properties or effects on

human health and the environment. For more details go to http://www.oecd.org/ehs/templates/

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as the data reporting and exchange format, most prominently REACH3. Inserting data into EASIS makes them

automatically compatible with these reporting standards for possible re-use in a regulatory context.

Possible associations between Questionnaire types and OHTs are as follows:

Questionnaire data Each questionnaire consists of several sections:

3 REACH is a regulation of the European Union, adopted to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed

by chemicals. It also promotes alternative methods for the hazard assessment of substances in order to reduce the number of tests on animals. For more see http://echa.europa.eu/regulations/reach

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The main sections (green frame in the diagram above) are the same across all questionnaire types:

Materials and Methods

Results

Reference

Discussion and Conclusion

Attachments

Overall remarks, attachments

Administrative data

Depending on the questionnaire type (in-vivo mammal, in-vivo human, in-vivo ecotox, in-vitro), different

subsections exist for each of the seven main sections, e.g. for the Materials and Methods section in the "in-vivo

mammal" as shown above the following subsections exist:

General method information

Test materials

Test animals

Details on test animals and environmental conditions

Administration

Protocol details

Observations and examinations performed and frequency

Browsing through the study by clicking the relevant tabs gives a quick overview. Please note that the walk-

through below only shows a small fraction of the data fields EASIS actually manages.

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General method information, Test Guideline

The Test Guideline is described in the General method information tab, OECD Guideline 421 in this case.

Test Material

The Test Material is Bisphenol A.

Test animals

The Test Animals were rats.

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Administration

The dose was 1000 mg/kg body weight per day, the route of administration was oral.

Result, Endpoint, Effect

The General Effect Type is "Increased number of corpora lutea".

Reference, Bibliographic Information

The Bibliographic information shows the original source of the data. The secondary source, in this case, indicates

that this study has been imported/migrated from the original DG ENV DB (see chapter "EASIS Background").

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Discussion and Conclusions

The conclusion is that there is a suspected endocrine effect.