DIMAS Development of an integrated database for the management of accidental spills. Part 2. Global change, ecosystems and biodiversity - SPSDII: final report

DIMAS is a 2-year project executed by three Belgian partners (EURAS, VLIZ and Ghent University) and funded by the SPSD II research program of the Belgian Science Policy (BELSPO). Several shipping accidents in Belgian territorial waters, made the various government agencies involved aware of the need to develop tools to assess the risks and impact on marine resources in the case of an accidental release of hazardous substances. DIMAS aims at the protection of the North Sea and Western Scheldt in case of accidental spills from ships. In the present project, a relational database is developed, providing reliable, easy to interpret and up-to-date information on marine specific issues. The database contains the latest information on effects (acute and chronic), absorption, distribution, bioaccumulation/biomagnification, GESAMP hazard profiles and physico-chemical properties for a selection of priority substances and is publicly available (www.vliz.be/projects/dimas). The selection of the substances is based on criteria such as occurrence on priority lists, volumes transported over sea, frequency of involvement in accidental spills and frequency of transports over sea. The first beneficiaries of this database are the people directly involved in the first phase of a containment plan for an accidental spill. The final indirect beneficiaries are the general public (scientists, journalists, general public, etc.) who will be better informed about the potential impact to man and the environment

Prilling of API/fatty acid suspensions : processability and characterisation

Current study evaluated the processability and characteristics of prills made of an active pharmaceutical ingredient/fatty acid (API/FA) suspension instead of previously studied API/FA solutions to enlarge the application field of prilling. Metformin hydrochloride (MET) and paracetamol (PAR) were used as model APIs while both the effect of drug load (10–40%) and FA chain length (C14–C22) were evaluated. API/FA suspensions were processable on lab-scale prilling equipment without thermal degradation, nozzle obstruction or sedimentation in function of processing time. The collected prills were spherical (AR ≥ 0.898) with a smooth surface (sphericity ≥ 0.914) and a particle size of ±2.3 mm and 2.4 mm for MET and PAR prills, respectively, independent of drug load and/or FA chain length. In vitro drug release evaluation revealed a faster drug release at higher drug load, higher API water solubility and shorter FA chain length. Solid state characterisation via XRD and Raman spectroscopy showed that API and FA crystallinity was maintained after thermal processing via prilling and during storage. Evaluation of the similarity factor indicated a stable drug release (f2 > 50) from MET and PAR prills after 6 months storage at 25 °C or 40 °C

Comparative analysis of co-processed starches prepared by three different methods

Co-processing is currently of interest in the generation of high-functionality excipients for tablet formulation. In the present study, comparative analysis of the powder and tableting properties of three co-processed starches prepared by three different methods was carried out. The co-processed excipients consisting of maize starch (90%), acacia gum (7.5%) and colloidal silicon dioxide (2.5%) were prepared by co-dispersion (SAS-CD), co-fusion (SAS-CF) and co-granulation (SAS-CG). Powder properties of each co-processed excipient were characterized by measuring particle size, flow indices, particle density, dilution potential and lubricant sensitivity ratio. Heckel and Walker models were used to evaluate the compaction behaviour of the three co-processed starches. Tablets were produced with paracetamol as the model drug by direct compression on an eccentric Tablet Press fitted with 12 mm flat-faced punches and compressed at 216 MPa. The tablets were stored at room temperature for 24 h prior to evaluation. The results revealed that co-granulated co-processed excipient (SAS-CG) gave relatively better properties in terms of flow, compressibility, dilution potential, deformation, disintegration, crushing strength and friability. This study has shown that the method of co-processing influences the powder and tableting properties of the co-processed excipient

Comparative analysis of co-processed starches prepared by three different methods

Co-processing is currently of interest in the generation of high-functionality excipients for tablet formulation. In the present study, comparative analysis of the powder and tableting properties of three co-processed starches prepared by three different methods was carried out. The co-processed excipients consisting of maize starch (90%), acacia gum (7.5%) and colloidal silicon dioxide (2.5%) were prepared by co-dispersion (SAS-CD), co-fusion (SAS-CF) and co-granulation (SAS-CG). Powder properties of each co-processed excipient were characterized by measuring particle size, flow indices, particle density, dilution potential and lubricant sensitivity ratio. Heckel and Walker models were used to evaluate the compaction behaviour of the three co-processed starches. Tablets were produced with paracetamol as the model drug by direct compression on an eccentric Tablet Press fitted with 12 mm flat-faced punches and compressed at 216 MPa. The tablets were stored at room temperature for 24 h prior to evaluation. The results revealed that co-granulated co-processed excipient (SAS-CG) gave relatively better properties in terms of flow, compressibility, dilution potential, deformation, disintegration, crushing strength and friability. This study has shown that the method of co-processing influences the powder and tableting properties of the co-processed excipient

Global Diversity of Sponges (Porifera)

With the completion of a single unified classification, the Systema Porifera (SP) and subsequent development of an online species database, the World Porifera Database (WPD), we are now equipped to provide a first comprehensive picture of the global biodiversity of the Porifera. An introductory overview of the four classes of the Porifera is followed by a description of the structure of our main source of data for this paper, the WPD. From this we extracted numbers of all ‘known’ sponges to date: the number of valid Recent sponges is established at 8,553, with the vast majority, 83%, belonging to the class Demospongiae. We also mapped for the first time the species richness of a comprehensive set of marine ecoregions of the world, data also extracted from the WPD. Perhaps not surprisingly, these distributions appear to show a strong bias towards collection and taxonomy efforts. Only when species richness is accumulated into large marine realms does a pattern emerge that is also recognized in many other marine animal groups: high numbers in tropical regions, lesser numbers in the colder parts of the world oceans. Preliminary similarity analysis of a matrix of species and marine ecoregions extracted from the WPD failed to yield a consistent hierarchical pattern of ecoregions into marine provinces. Global sponge diversity information is mostly generated in regional projects and resources: results obtained demonstrate that regional approaches to analytical biogeography are at present more likely to achieve insights into the biogeographic history of sponges than a global perspective, which appears currently too ambitious. We also review information on invasive sponges that might well have some influence on distribution patterns of the future

The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity

Background: The question of how many marine species exist is important because it provides a metric for how much we do and do not know about life in the oceans. We have compiled the first register of the marine species of the world and used this baseline to estimate how many more species, partitioned among all major eukaryotic groups, may be discovered. Results: There are ∼226,000 eukaryotic marine species described. More species were described in the past decade (∼20,000) than in any previous one. The number of authors describing new species has been increasing at a faster rate than the number of new species described in the past six decades. We report that there are ∼170,000 synonyms, that 58,000–72,000 species are collected but not yet described, and that 482,000–741,000 more species have yet to be sampled. Molecular methods may add tens of thousands of cryptic species. Thus, there may be 0.7–1.0 million marine species. Past rates of description of new species indicate there may be 0.5 ± 0.2 million marine species. On average 37% (median 31%) of species in over 100 recent field studies around the world might be new to science. Conclusions: Currently, between one-third and two-thirds of marine species may be undescribed, and previous estimates of there being well over one million marine species appear highly unlikely. More species than ever before are being described annually by an increasing number of authors. If the current trend continues, most species will be discovered this century