Tsetse flies of the palpalis group are major vectors of Human African Trypanosomiasis in Africa. Accurate knowledge of species identity is essential for vector control. Here, we combine ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1), mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase 1 (COI) and microsatellites to determine the population structure and phylogenetic relations of Glossina p. palpalis in Equatorial Guinea. CO1 sequence data suggest that G. p. palpalis in Equatorial Guinea is a distinct subspecies from previously described G. p. palpalis in West Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo. Glossina p. palpalis in Equatorial Guinea and DRC share a common ancestor which diverged from West African G. p. palpalis around 1.9 Ma. Previous ITS1 length polymorphism data suggested the possible presence of hybrids in Equatorial Guinea. However, ITS1 showed incomplete lineage sorting compared with clearly defined COI groups, and data from 12 unlinked microsatellites provided no evidence of hybridization. Microsatellite data indicated moderate but significant differentiation between the populations analysed (Rio Campo, Mbini and Kogo). Moreover, unlike previous studies of G. p. palpalis, there was no evidence for heterozygote deficiency, presence of migrants or cryptic population structure. Variance effective population size at Rio Campo was estimated at 501-731 assuming eight generations per year. This study of the population genetics of G. p. palpalis in central Africa provides the first estimate of genetic differentiation between geographically separated G. p. palpalis populations.

For critical drug delivery, it is important to have a constant and well-known infusion rate delivered by the complete infusion set-up (pump, tubing, and accessories). Therefore, various drug delivery devices and accessories were tested in this article in terms of their infusion accuracy, start-up delay, response time, and dependency on the viscosity. These measurements were performed as part of the European funded research project MeDD. The obtained results show that the infusion accuracy of the devices is flow rate and accessory depended, especially for low flow rates. Viscosity does not have a significant impact on the flow rate accuracy.

Hesperidin (hesperitin-7-O-rutinoside) and hesperitin (hesperitin-7-O-glucoside) show anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticarcinogenic effects and prevent bone loss. However, hesperidin has a low bioavailability compared to hesperitin due to the rutinoside moiety attached to the flavonoid. The removal of the rhamnose group to yield the corresponding flavonoid glucoside (hesperetin-7-glucoside) improved the bioavailability of the aglycone, hesperetin, in humans. In line with these assumptions, the aim of this work was the enzymatic production of hesperitin from hesperidin with hesperidinase. Despite the low hesperidin solubility in the reaction medium, the enzymatic bioconversion was carried with hesperidin soluble at lower concentrations (≤0.05 mg ml(-1)) and insoluble for high concentrations (>0.1-50 mg ml(-1)). A twofold increase in maximum reaction rates overtook the expected values, pointing to the enzyme ability to degrade insoluble hesperidin. To improve the bioprocess, hesperidinase was tested soluble and immobilized in calcium alginate (2%), k-carrageenan (2%), and chitosan (2%) beads. The immobilization was carried out by adsorption and encapsulation. Chitosan was cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (1% and 2%) and sodium sulfate (13.5% and 15%) in acetate buffer (0.02 M, pH 4.0). The relation between bioprocessing conditions and hesperidinase stability was studied. A residual activity of 193% was obtained with immobilized hesperidinase compared to the soluble form. A half-life of 770 min was attained with hesperidinase encapsulated in calcium alginate beads. The results presented in this work highlight the potential of hesperidinase encapsulation towards hesperitin production with insoluble substrate. To our knowledge, this work presents for the first time the potential of hesperidinase encapsulation on hydrogels for hesperitin production. This is an important achievement for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications of hesperitin because this compound presents a higher bioavailability compared to hesperidin.

No abstract

Nowadays, several types of infusion pump are commonly used for drug delivery, such as syringe pumps and peristaltic pumps. These instruments present different measuring features and capacities according to their use and therapeutic application. In order to ensure the metrological traceability of these flow and volume measuring equipment, it is necessary to use suitable calibration methods and standards. Two different calibration methods can be used to determine the flow error of infusion pumps. One is the gravimetric method, considered as a primary method, commonly used by National Metrology Institutes. The other calibration method, a secondary method, relies on an infusion device analyser (IDA) and is typically used by hospital maintenance offices. The suitability of the IDA calibration method was assessed by testing several infusion instruments at different flow rates using the gravimetric method. In addition, a measurement comparison between Portuguese Accredited Laboratories and hospital maintenance offices was performed under the coordination of the Portuguese Institute for Quality, the National Metrology Institute. The obtained results were directly related to the used calibration method and are presented in this paper. This work has been developed in the framework of the EURAMET projects EMRP MeDD and EMPIR 15SIP03.