Improved Method for the Determination of Phospholipase A2 Catalytic Activity Concentration in Human Serum and Ascites

Peer Reviewe

Demystifying ecological connectivity for actionable spatial conservation planning

There is a disconnect between global high-level conservation goals and on-the-ground actions such as maintaining ecosystem services or persistence and local planning of protected areas. Dynamic processes such as ecological connectivity underpin species persistence and ecosystem resilience but are difficult to represent in mathematical spatial planning problems for protected areas. Quantitative and SMART (specific – measurable – action-oriented – realistic – time-bound) conservation objectives can provide a link between high-level conservation goals and local or regional design and implementation of functionally connected protected area networks. With current implementation gaps of protected area commitments and increasing climate change threats, there is tremendous opportunity to use quantifiable objectives for ecological connectivity as a vehicle to future-proof protected area networks to help achieve global conservation goals. Connectivity underpins the persistence of life; it needs to inform biodiversity conservation decisions. Yet, when prioritising conservation areas and developing actions, connectivity is not being operationalised in spatial planning. The challenge is the translation of flows associated with connectivity into conservation objectives that lead to actions. Connectivity is nebulous, it can be abstract and mean different things to different people, making it difficult to include in conservation problems. Here, we show how connectivity can be included in mathematically defining conservation planning objectives. We provide a path forward for linking connectivity to high-level conservation goals, such as increasing species’ persistence. We propose ways to design spatial management areas that gain biodiversity benefit from connectivity

Molecular ecology meets systematic conservation planning

Integrative and proactive conservation approaches are critical to the long-term persistence of biodiversity. Molecular data can provide important information on evolutionary processes necessary for conserving multiple levels of biodiversity (genes, populations, species, and ecosystems). However, molecular data are rarely used to guide spatial conservation decision-making. Here, we bridge the fields of molecular ecology (ME) and systematic conservation planning (SCP) (the ‘why’) to build a foundation for the inclusion of molecular data into spatial conservation planning tools (the ‘how’), and provide a practical guide for implementing this integrative approach for both conservation planners and molecular ecologists. The proposed framework enhances interdisciplinary capacity, which is crucial to achieving the ambitious global conservation goals envisioned for the next decade

Adjoint bulk scalars and supersymmetric unification in the presence of extra dimensions

There are several advantages of introducing adjoint superfields at intermediate energies around $M=10^{13}$ GeV. Such as (i) gauge couplings still unify (ii) neutrino masses and mixings are produced (iii) primordial lepton asymmetry can be produced. We point out that if adjoint scalars have bulk excitations along with gauge bosons whereas fermions and the doublet scalar live on boundary then N=2 supersymmetric beta functions $\tilde{b_i}$ vanish. Thus even if extra dimensions open up at an intermediate scale $\mu_0$ and all N=2 Yang-Mills fields as well as N=2 matter fields in the adjoint representation propagate in the bulk, still gauge couplings renormalize beyond $\mu_0$ just like they do in 4-dimensions with adjoint scalars. Consequently unification is achieved in the presence to extra dimensions, mass scales are determined uniquely via Renormalization Group Equations(RGE) and unification scale remains high enough to suppress proton decay. This scenario can be falsified if we get signatures of extra dimensions at low energy.Comment: New references added. This version will appear in Phys. Rev.

Quality assurance and quality control processes:summary of a metabolomics community questionnaire

Introduction The Metabolomics Society Data Quality Task Group (DQTG) developed a questionnaire regarding quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) to provide baseline information about current QA and QC practices applied in the international metabolomics community. Objectives The DQTG has a long-term goal of promoting robust QA and QC in the metabolomics community through increased awareness via communication, outreach and education, and through the promotion of best working practices. An assessment of current QA and QC practices will serve as a foundation for future activities and development of appropriate guidelines. Method QA was defined as the set of procedures that are performed in advance of analysis of samples and that are used to improve data quality. QC was defined as the set of activities that a laboratory does during or immediately after analysis that are applied to demonstrate the quality of project data. A questionnaire was developed that included 70 questions covering demographic information, QA approaches and QC approaches and allowed all respondents to answer a subset or all of the questions. Result The DQTG questionnaire received 97 individual responses from 84 institutions in all fields of metabolomics covering NMR, LC-MS, GC-MS, and other analytical technologies. Conclusion There was a vast range of responses concerning the use of QA and QC approaches that indicated the limited availability of suitable training, lack of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to review and make decisions on quality, and limited use of standard reference materials (SRMs) as QC materials. The DQTG QA/QC questionnaire has for the first time demonstrated that QA and QC usage is not uniform across metabolomics laboratories. Here we present recommendations on how to address the issues concerning QA and QC measurements and reporting in metabolomics