Indigenous Heavy Metal Multiresistant Microbiota of Las Catonas Stream

Las Catonas stream (Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area) receives a complex mixture of pollutants from point and diffuse sources because of the agricultural, industrial and urban land uses of its basin. Widespread detection of heavy metals exceeding aquatic life protection levels has occurred in monitoring reconnaissance studies in surface and pore water. As a result of the screening of Cu, Cd, Zn and Pb resistant/tolerant and culturable microbiota, B101N and 200H strains (Pseudomonas fluorescens or putida) were isolated and selected for further studies. They showed 65% Cd and 35% Zn extraction efficiency from aqueous phase. The potential use of these strains in wastewater treatment is currently investigated in order to contribute to decrease heavy metal pollution, a problem affecting every stream of Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area.     

Fetal fraction and noninvasive prenatal testing: What clinicians need to know

The fetal fraction (FF) is a function of both biological factors and bioinformatics algorithms used to interpret DNA sequencing results. It is an essential quality control component of noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) results. Clinicians need to understand the biological influences on FF to be able to provide optimal post-test counseling and clinical management. There are many different technologies available for the measurement of FF. Clinicians do not need to know the details behind the bioinformatics algorithms of FF measurements, but they do need to appreciate the significant variations between the different sequencing technologies used by different laboratories. There is no universal FF threshold that is applicable across all platforms and there have not been any differences demonstrated in NIPT performance by sequencing platform or method of FF calculation. Importantly, while FF should be routinely measured, there is not yet a consensus as to whether it should be routinely reported to the clinician. The clinician should know what to expect from a standard test report and whether reasons for failed NIPT results are revealed. Emerging solutions to the challenges of samples with low FF should reduce rates of failed NIPT in the future. In the meantime, having a “plan B" prepared for those patients for whom NIPT is unsuccessful is essential in today's clinical practice.     

Should we ‘open the kimono’ to release the results of rare autosomal aneuploidies following noninvasive prenatal whole genome sequencing?

The metaphor ‘open kimono’ has been applied in the business world to connote transparency via the release of all available data to an external party. Here, the author uses this term to discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of reporting on the presence of rare autosomal aneuploidies detected by massively parallel sequencing of placental cell-free DNA in the plasma of pregnant women. Newly presented data sets from multiple laboratories suggest that autosomal aneuploidies such as trisomies 7, 15, 16, 22, and 8 are easily detectable and are potentially associated with fetal growth restriction, pregnancy loss, and maternal preeclampsia. Furthermore, they may explain false positive results for the common autosomal trisomies (13, 18, and 21) as well as test failures. Thus, release of this information may result in improved clinical utility. At the present time, however, professional societies in various parts of the world differ in their recommendations as to whether or not to release expanded autosomal aneuploidy results beyond the common trisomies. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A systematic review of biodiversity and demographic change: A misinterpreted relationship?

Demographic change is supposed to be the most important indirect driver for changing biodiversity. In this article, a systematic review of 148 studies was conducted to examine the scientific evidence for this relationship and to identify potential gaps in research. We explored the spatial distribution of studies, the categories addressed with respect to biodiversity and demographic change, and the ways in which their relationships were conceptualised (spatially and temporally) and valued. The majority of studies were carried out in Africa, Europe and North America. Our analysis confirms the trend that demographic phenomena were mostly found to negatively influence biodiversity. However, a considerable number of studies also point towards impacts that were context dependent, either positive or negative under certain circumstances. In addition to that we identified significant gaps in research. In particular, there is a lack of addressing (1) other demographic aspects such as population decline, age structure or gender differences, (2) spatial variability of, e.g. human population growth, (3) long-term effects of demographic processes, and (4) the context dependency (e.g. regulations/law enforcement, type of human activities, and choice of scale or proxy). We conclude there is evidence that the relationship between biodiversity and demographic change is much more complex than expected and so far represented in research. Thus, we call for a social–ecological biodiversity research that particularly focusses on the functional relation between biodiversity and human activities, namely the different types, context, and interdependent dynamics (spatial and temporal) of this complex relation.

     

Distribution and correlation of radon and uranium and associated hydrogeochemical processes in alluvial aquifers of northwest India

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The spatial and vertical distributions of radon and uranium are evaluated in relation to the hydrogeology, geomorphology, and hydrochemistry of...