Frequently asked questions:

  1. How do I subscribe to the VaLID mailing list?
  2. How do I unsubscribe from the VaLID mailing list?
  3. Why does the first search take so long, and subsequent searches take no time at all?
  4. Where can I find information on the lipid nomenclature used?
  5. When searching through "All" lipid subclasses, why did the progress bar reach 100%, then start over from zero?
  6. How can I contribute to the VaLID database?

How do I subscribe to the VaLID mailing list?

Send an email to lipawrd@uottawa.ca with SUBSCRIBE in the subject and body of the email. 


How do I unsubscribe to the VaLID mailing list?

Send an email to lipawrd@uottawa.ca with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject and body of the email. 


Why does the first search take so long? And why do subsequent searches take no time at all?

Note: Initial searches may take longer than a minute, depending upon the connection speed, and search options selected.

When a new search is started the program loads all the lipids with the mass you are searching for, as well as lipids with mass ratios 25 m/z above and below the target mass, into memory. This 50 m/z cached buffer range allows for searches close to the original search to occur much faster than if the program reloaded the database each time.


Where can I find information on the lipid nomenclature used?

VaLID follows the Lipid Maps classification and nomenclature system in lipid naming, as described by Fahy et al., 2011.
Reference: Fahy E, Cotter D, Sud M, Subramaniam S (2011) Lipid classification, structures and tools. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1811(11): 637-647.


When searching through “All” lipid subclasses, why did the progress bar reach 100%, then start over from zero?

The progress bar reports the progress of searching through the database for one lipid subclass. When the “All” lipid subclass search is selected, the program will report progress through each database in turn. The progress bar is reset each time a new database begins to load. As of version 2.0.0, should more than one database need to be loaded, text beside the progress bar will show how many sheets have been loaded, and how many have yet to be loaded.


How can I contribute to the VaLID database?

We welcome all suggestions and input.