Arsenic Bioaccumulation in Freshwater Fishes

The arsenic ambient water quality criterion (AWQC) for protection of human health via ingestion of aquatic organisms is currently 0.14 μ g/L. This AWQC is derived using a bioconcentration factor (BCF) of 44, which is a consumption-weighted average based on two data points for oysters and fish that was proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1980 for broad application to freshwater and marine environments. This BCF is based on the assumption that bioaccumulation is a simple linear function of the exposure concentration. In the nearly quarter of a century since this BCF was promulgated, there have been additions to the arsenic bioaccumulation database and a broader scientific understanding of bioaccumulation mechanisms and how they can be applied to estimating tissue concentrations in aquatic organisms. From this database, we identified 12 studies of arsenic bioaccumulation in freshwater fishes in order to explore differences in laboratory-generated BCFs and field-generated bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) and to assess their relationship to arsenic concentrations in water. Our analysis indicates that arsenic concentrations in tissue and arsenic BAFs may be power functions of arsenic concentration in water. A power function indicates that the highest BCF values may occur at low background levels and may decrease as environmental concentrations increase above the ambient range.     

Adenosine mediates transforming growth factor-beta 1 release in kidney glomeruli of diabetic rats

Up regulation of the transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) axis has been recognized as a pathogenic event for progression of glomerulosclerosis in diabetic nephropathy. We demonstrate that glomeruli isolated from diabetic rats accumulate up to sixfold more extracellular adenosine than normal rats. Both decreased nucleoside uptake activity by the equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 and increased AMP hydrolysis contribute to raise extracellular adenosine. Ex vivo assays indicate that activation of the low affinity adenosine A_2B receptor subtype (A_2BAR) mediates TGF-β1 release from glomeruli of diabetic rats, a pathogenic event that could support progression of glomerulopathy when the bioavailability of adenosine is increased.     

Animal housing influences the response of bone to spaceflight in juvenile rats.

The rat has been used extensively as an animal model to study the effects of spaceflight on bone metabolism. The results of these studies have been inconsistent. On some missions, bone formation at the periosteal bone surface of weight-bearing bones is impaired and on others it is not, suggesting that experimental conditions may be an important determinant of bone responsiveness to spaceflight. To determine whether animal housing can affect the response of bone to spaceflight, we studied young growing (juvenile) rats group housed in the animal enclosure module and singly housed in the research animal holding facility under otherwise identical flight conditions (Spacelab Life Science 1). Spaceflight reduced periosteal bone formation by 30% (P < 0.001) and bone mass by 7% in single-housed animals but had little or no effect on formation (-6%) or mass (-3%) in group-housed animals. Group housing reduced the response of bone to spaceflight by as much as 80%. The data suggest that housing can dramatically affect the skeletal response of juvenile rats to spaceflight. These observations explain many of the discrepancies in previous flight studies and emphasize the need to study more closely the effects of housing (physical-social interaction) on the response of bone to the weightlessness of spaceflight.     

Application of a bioinformatics training delivery method for reaching dispersed and distant trainees

Many initiatives have addressed the global need to upskill biologists in bioinformatics tools and techniques. Australia is not unique in its requirement for such training, but due to its large size and relatively small and geographically dispersed population, Australia faces specific challenges. A combined training approach was implemented by the authors to overcome these challenges. The “hybrid” method combines guidance from experienced trainers with the benefits of both webinar-style delivery and concurrent face-to-face hands-on practical exercises in classrooms. Since 2017, the hybrid method has been used to conduct 9 hands-on bioinformatics training sessions at international scale in which over 800 researchers have been trained in diverse topics on a range of software platforms. The method has become a key tool to ensure scalable and more equitable delivery of short-course bioinformatics training across Australia and can be easily adapted to other locations, topics, or settings.     

Analytik Atypischer Fettsäuren in biologischen Matrizes

By combined application of chemical pretreatments, capillary gas-chromatography and mass spectrometry it was possible to enlighten the structure of atypical fatty acids with hydroxy groups and cyclopropane rings under the use of only a few of reference substances. The direct alkaline saponification of the sample with liberation of fatty acids and following methylation with boron trifluoride/methanol or diazomethane was proved to be the best method regarding to precision and speed of the sample cleanup.