Supercritical CO2 extraction of V. vinifera leaves: influence of cosolvents and particle size on removal kinetics and selectivity to target compounds

Leaves from Vitis vinifera L. contain potential bioactive compounds, namely: long chain aliphatic alcohols (e.g., 1-hexacosanol, 1-octacosanol and 1-triacontanol), α-tocopherol, β-sitosterol, and the triterpenes β-amyrin and lupeol. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) runs were measured at lab scale using: crushed and ground biomass; pure CO2 at 300 bar and 40−80 °C; and CO2 modified with 5 and 10 wt.% of ethanol or ethyl acetate. Total SFE yields ranged from 1.86 to 7.52 wt.%. The broken plus intact cells model (BICM), provided a good fitting of the SFE curves with 4.06 % error for total yield and 1.98–5.49 % for the individual yields of the said compounds. The BICM results revealed that the SFE is limited by intraparticle diffusion. Remarkable experimental and calculated selectivities were obtained for triterpenes (lupeol and β-amyrin), starting with a score of 1.7 and increasing along time to 10−100.publishe

Evaluation of drive mechanisms (including transgenes and drivers) in different environmental conditions and genetic backgrounds

Three major objectives, develop viable gene drive mechanisms, identify the epidemiologically significant vectors of pathogens in specific transmission zones, and introgress effector genes into specific populations, must be met in order to move to the field laboratory advances in genetic control strategie

Biology and behaviour of male mosquitoes in relation to new approaches to control disease transmitting mosquitoes

The enormous burden placed on populations worldwide by mosquito-borne diseases, most notably malaria and dengue, is currently being tackled by the use of insecticides sprayed in residences or applied to bednets, and in the case of dengue vectors through reduction of larval breeding sites or larviciding with insecticides thereof. However, these methods are under threat from, amongst other issues, the development of insecticide resistance and the practical difficulty of maintaining long-term community-wide efforts. The sterile insect technique (SIT), whose success hinges on having a good understanding of the biology and behaviour of the male mosquito, is an additional weapon in the limited arsenal against mosquito vectors. The successful production and release of sterile males, which is the mechanism of population suppression by SIT, relies on the release of mass-reared sterile males able to confer sterility in the target population by mating with wild females. A five year Joint FAO/IAEA Coordinated Research Project brought together researchers from around the world to investigate the pre-mating conditions of male mosquitoes (physiology and behaviour, resource acquisition and allocation, and dispersal), the mosquito mating systems and the contribution of molecular or chemical approaches to the understanding of male mosquito mating behaviour. A summary of the existing knowledge and the main novel findings of this group is reviewed here, and further presented in the reviews and research articles that form this Acta Tropica special issue