Ecosystem services and connectivity in spatial conservation prioritization

Peer reviewe

Elinympäristöjen tilan edistämisen priorisoinnin periaatteet ja menetelmä

Tieteen tori: Metsien kestävä käyttö biotalouden aikan

Pyrazine-Fused Triterpenoids Block the TRPA1 Ion Channel in Vitro and Inhibit TRPA1-Mediated Acute Inflammation in Vivo

TRPA1 is a nonselective cation channel, most famously expressed in nonmyelinated nociceptors. In addition to being an important chemical and mechanical pain sensor, TRPA1 has more recently appeared to have a role also in inflammation. Triterpenoids are natural products with anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects in experimental models. In this paper, 13 novel triterpenoids were created by synthetically modifying betulin, an abundant triterpenoid of the genus Betula L., and their TRPA1-modulating properties were examined. The Fluo 3-AM protocol was used in the initial screening, in which six of the 14 tested triterpenoids inhibited TRPA1 in a statistically significant manner. In subsequent whole-cell patch clamp recordings, the two most effective compounds (pyrazine-fused triterpenoids 8 and 9) displayed a reversible and dose- and voltage-dependent effect to block the TRPA1 ion channel at submicromolar concentrations. Interestingly, the TRPA1 blocking action was also evident in vivo, as compounds 8 and 9 both alleviated TRPA1 agonist-induced acute paw inflammation in mice. The results introduce betulin-derived pyrazine-fused triterpenoids as promising novel antagonists of TRPA1 that are potentially useful in treating diseases with a TRPA1-mediated adverse component

Spatial and Temporal Coherence in Strongly Coupled Plasmonic Bose-Einstein Condensates

We report first-order spatial and temporal correlations in strongly coupled plasmonic Bose-Einstein condensates. The condensate is large, more than twenty times the intrinsic spatial coherence length of the polaritons and hundred times the healing length, making plasmonic lattices an attractive platform for studying long-range spatial correlations in two dimensions. We find that both spatial and temporal coherence display non-exponential decay; the results suggest power-law or stretched exponential behaviour with different exponents for spatial and temporal correlation decays.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure

Transparent planning for biodiversity and development in the urban fringe

In Australia, over 50% of threatened species occur within the urban fringe and accelerating urbanization is now a key threat. Biodiversity near and within urban areas brings much social benefit but its maintenance involves complex trade-offs between competing land uses. Urban design typically views biodiversity as a development constraint, not a value to be enhanced into the future. We argue that decisions could be more transparent and systematic and we demonstrate that efficient development solutions can be found that avoid areas important for biodiversity. We present a case study in the context of land use change across the city of Wyndham, a local Government west of Melbourne, Australia. We use reserve design tools in a novel way to identify priority development sites, based on a synthesis of ecological, social and economic data. Trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and other key development objectives and constraints (transport planning, flood risk and food production) are quantified. The analysis can be conducted dynamically with visually compelling output, facilitating more transparent, efficient and democratically derived urban planning solutions. We suggest that government agencies could adopt similar approaches to identify efficient planning solutions for both biodiversity and development in urban environments