Operationalizing ecological connectivity in spatial conservation planning with Marxan Connect

1. Globally, protected areas are being established to protect biodiversity and to promote ecosystem resilience. The typical spatial conservation planning process leading to the creation of these protected areas focuses on representation and replication of ecological features, often using decision support tools such as Marxan. Yet, despite the important role ecological connectivity has in metapopulation persistence and resilience, Marxan currently requires manual input or specialized scripts to explicitly consider connectivity. 2. ‘Marxan Connect’ is a new open source, open access Graphical User Interface (GUI) tool designed to assist conservation planners with the appropriate use of data on ecological connectivity in protected area network planning. 3. Marxan Connect can facilitate the use of estimates of demographic connectivity (e.g. derived from animal tracking data, dispersal models, or genetic tools) or structural landscape connectivity (e.g. isolation by resistance). This is accomplished by calculating metapopulation‐relevant connectivity metrics (e.g. eigenvector centrality) and treating those as conservation features or by including the connectivity data as a spatial dependency amongst sites in the prioritization process. 4. Marxan Connect allows a wide group of users to incorporate directional ecological connectivity into conservation planning with Marxan. The solutions provided by Marxan Connect, combined with ecologically relevant post‐hoc testing, are more likely to support persistent and resilient metapopulations (e.g. fish stocks) and provide better protection for biodiversity

Use cases, best practice and reporting standards for metabolomics in regulatory toxicology

Metabolomics is a widely used technology in academic research, yet its application to regulatory science has been limited. The most commonly cited barrier to its translation is lack of performance and reporting standards. The MEtabolomics standaRds Initiative in Toxicology (MERIT) project brings together international experts from multiple sectors to address this need. Here, we identify the most relevant applications for metabolomics in regulatory toxicology and develop best practice guidelines, performance and reporting standards for acquiring and analysing untargeted metabolomics and targeted metabolite data. We recommend that these guidelines are evaluated and implemented for several regulatory use cases

Diversification of refugia types needed to secure the future of coral reefs subject to climate change

Identifying locations of refugia from the thermal stresses of climate change for coral reefs and better managing them is one of the key recommendations for climate change adaptation. We review and summarize approximately 30 years of applied research focused on identifying climate refugia to prioritize the conservation actions for coral reefs under rapid climate change. We found that currently proposed climate refugia and the locations predicted to avoid future coral losses are highly reliant on excess heat metrics, such as degree heating weeks. However, many existing alternative environmental, ecological, and life-history variables could be used to identify other types of refugia that lead to the desired diversified portfolio for coral reef conservation. To improve conservation priorities for coral reefs, there is a need to evaluate and validate the predictions of climate refugia with long-term field data on coral abundance, diversity, and functioning. There is also the need to identify and safeguard locations displaying resistance toprolonged exposure to heat waves and the ability to recover quickly after thermal exposure. We recommend using more metrics to identify a portfolio of potential refugia sites for coral reefs that can avoid, resist, and recover from exposure to high ocean temperatures and the consequences of climate change, thereby shifting past efforts focused on avoidance to a diversified risk-spreading portfolio that can be used to improve strategic coral reef conservation in a rapidly warming climate

Rheological and biological properties of a hydrogel support for cells intended for intervertebral disc repair

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cell-based approaches towards restoration of prolapsed or degenerated intervertebral discs are hampered by a lack of measures for safe administration and placement of cell suspensions within a treated disc. In order to overcome these risks, a serum albumin-based hydrogel has been developed that polymerizes after injection and anchors the administered cell suspension within the tissue.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A hydrogel composed of chemically activated albumin crosslinked by polyethylene glycol spacers was produced. The visco-elastic gel properties were determined by rheological measurement. Human intervertebral disc cells were cultured <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo </it>in the hydrogel and their phenotype was tested by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Matrix production and deposition was monitored by immuno-histology and by biochemical analysis of collagen and glycosaminoglycan deposition. Species specific <it>in situ </it>hybridization was performed to discriminate between cells of human and murine origin in xenotransplants.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The reproducibility of the gel formation process could be demonstrated. The visco-elastic properties were not influenced by storage of gel components. <it>In vitro </it>and <it>in vivo </it>(subcutaneous implants in mice) evidence is presented for cellular differentiation and matrix deposition within the hydrogel for human intervertebral disc cells even for donor cells that have been expanded in primary monolayer culture, stored in liquid nitrogen and re-activated in secondary monolayer culture. Upon injection into the animals, gels formed spheres that lasted for the duration of the experiments (14 days). The expression of cartilage- and disc-specific mRNAs was maintained in hydrogels <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo</it>, demonstrating the maintenance of a stable specific cellular phenotype, compared to monolayer cells. Significantly higher levels of hyaluronan synthase isozymes-2 and -3 mRNA suggest cell functionalities towards those needed for the support of the regeneration of the intervertebral disc. Moreover, mouse implanted hydrogels accumulated 5 times more glycosaminoglycans and 50 times more collagen than the <it>in vitro </it>cultured gels, the latter instead releasing equivalent quantities of glycosaminoglycans and collagen into the culture medium. Matrix deposition could be specified by immunohistology for collagen types I and II, and aggrecan and was found only in areas where predominantly cells of human origin were detected by species specific <it>in situ </it>hybridization.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The data demonstrate that the hydrogels form stable implants capable to contain a specifically functional cell population within a physiological environment.</p

Threatened reef corals of the world

10.1371/journal.pone.0034459PLoS ONE73

DNA damage by lipid peroxidation products: implications in cancer, inflammation and autoimmunity

Oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation (LPO) induced by inflammation, excess metal storage and excess caloric intake cause generalized DNA damage, producing genotoxic and mutagenic effects. The consequent deregulation of cell homeostasis is implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of malignancies and degenerative diseases. Reactive aldehydes produced by LPO, such as malondialdehyde, acrolein, crotonaldehyde and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, react with DNA bases, generating promutagenic exocyclic DNA adducts, which likely contribute to the mutagenic and carcinogenic effects associated with oxidative stress-induced LPO. However, reactive aldehydes, when added to tumor cells, can exert an anticancerous effect. They act, analogously to other chemotherapeutic drugs, by forming DNA adducts and, in this way, they drive the tumor cells toward apoptosis. The aldehyde-DNA adducts, which can be observed during inflammation, play an important role by inducing epigenetic changes which, in turn, can modulate the inflammatory process. The pathogenic role of the adducts formed by the products of LPO with biological macromolecules in the breaking of immunological tolerance to self antigens and in the development of autoimmunity has been supported by a wealth of evidence. The instrumental role of the adducts of reactive LPO products with self protein antigens in the sensitization of autoreactive cells to the respective unmodified proteins and in the intermolecular spreading of the autoimmune responses to aldehyde-modified and native DNA is well documented. In contrast, further investigation is required in order to establish whether the formation of adducts of LPO products with DNA might incite substantial immune responsivity and might be instrumental for the spreading of the immunological responses from aldehyde-modified DNA to native DNA and similarly modified, unmodified and/or structurally analogous self protein antigens, thus leading to autoimmunity

Subsistence harvesting by a small community does not substantially compromise coral reef fish assemblages

Fisheries usually first remove large predators before switching to smaller species, causing lasting changes to fish community structure. Reef fish provide essential protein and income for many people, and the impacts of commercial and high-intensity subsistence fishing on reef fish are well documented. However, how fish communities respond to low levels of subsistence fishing using traditional techniques (fishing for food, few fishers) is less well understood. We use three atolls in the Marshall Islands as a model system to quantify effects of commercial and subsistence fishing on reef fish communities, compared to a near-pristine baseline. Unexpectedly, fish biomass was highest on the commercially-fished atoll where the assemblage was dominated by herbivores (50% higher than other atolls) and contained few top predators (70% lower than other atolls). By contrast, fish biomass and trophic composition did not differ between pristine and subsistence-fished atolls – top predators were abundant on both. We show that in some cases, reefs can support fishing by small communities to provide food but still retain intact fish assemblages. Low-intensity subsistence fishing may not always harm marine food webs, and we suggest that its effects depend on the style and intensity of fishing practised and the type of organisms targeted