Erroneously old radiocarbon ages from terrestrial pollen concentrates in Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, USA

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in [Schiller, C. M., Whitlock, C., Elder, K. L., Iverson, N. A., & Abbott, M. B. Erroneously old radiocarbon ages from terrestrial pollen concentrates in Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, USA. Radiocarbon, 63(1), (2021): 321-342, https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2020.118.Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating of pollen concentrates is often used in lake sediment records where large, terrestrial plant remains are unavailable. Ages produced from chemically concentrated pollen as well as manually picked Pinaceae grains in Yellowstone Lake (Wyoming) sediments were consistently 1700–4300 cal years older than ages established by terrestrial plant remains, tephrochronology, and the age of the sediment-water interface. Previous studies have successfully utilized the same laboratory space and methods, suggesting the source of old-carbon contamination is specific to these samples. Manually picking pollen grains precludes admixture of non-pollen materials. Furthermore, no clear source of old pollen grains occurs on the deglaciated landscape, making reworking of old pollen grains unlikely. High volumes of CO2 are degassed in the Yellowstone Caldera, potentially introducing old carbon to pollen. While uptake of old CO2 through photosynthesis is minor (F14C approximately 0.99), old-carbon contamination may still take place in the water column or in surficial lake sediments. It remains unclear, however, what mechanism allows for the erroneous ages of highly refractory pollen grains while terrestrial plant remains were unaffected. In the absence of a satisfactory explanation for erroneously old radiocarbon ages from pollen concentrates, we propose steps for further study.This research was supported by NSF Grant No. 1515353 to C. Whitlock and sampling in Yellowstone National Park was conducted under permits YELL-SCI-0009 and YELL-SCI-5054

Rim-to-Rim Wearables at the Canyon for Health (R2R WATCH): Physiological, Cognitive, and Biological Markers of Performance Decline in an Extreme Environment

Success in extreme environments comes with a cost of subtle performance decrements that if not mitigated properly can lead to lifethreatening consequences. Identification and prediction of performance decline could alleviate deleterious consequences and enhance success in challenging and high-risk operations. The Rim-to-Rim Wearables at the Canyon for Health (R2R WATCH) project was designed to examine the cognitive, physiological, and biological markers of performance decline in the extreme environment of the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim (R2R) hike. The study utilized commercial off-the-shelf cognitive and physiological monitoring techniques, along with subjective self-assessments and hematologic measurements to determine subject performance and changes across the hike. The multiyear effort collected these multiple data streams in parallel on a large sample of participants hiking the R2R, leading to a rich and complex data set. This article describes the methodology and its evolution as devices and measurements were assessed after each data collection event. It also highlights a subset of the patterns of results found across the data streams. Subsequent work will draw on this data set to focus on building more sophisticated, predictive statistical models and dive deeper into specific analyses (such as the physiological and biological profiles of hikers who were left behind by their hiking partners)

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Catecholamine release, growth hormone secretion, and energy expenditure during exercise vs. recovery in men.

Objective. To develop and evaluate process indicators relevant to biopsychosocial history taking in patients with chronic back and neck pain. Methods. The SCEBS method, covering the Somatic, Psychological (Cognition, Emotion, and Behavior), and Social dimensions of chronic pain, was used to evaluate biopsychosocial history taking by manual physical therapists (MPTs). In Phase I, process indicators were developed while in Phase II indicators were tested in practice. Results. Literature-based recommendations were transformed into 51 process indicators. Twenty MTPs contributed 108 patient audio recordings. History taking was excellent (98.3%) for the Somatic dimension, very inadequate for Cognition (43.1%) and Behavior (38.3%), weak (27.8%) for Emotion, and low (18.2%) for the Social dimension. MTPs estimated their coverage of the Somatic dimension as excellent (100%), as adequate for Cognition, Emotion, and Behavior (60.1%), and as very inadequate for the Social dimension (39.8%). Conclusion. MTPs perform screening for musculoskeletal pain mainly through the use of somatic dimension of (chronic) pain. Psychological and social dimensions of chronic pain were inadequately covered by MPTs. Furthermore, a substantial discrepancy between actual and self-estimated use of biopsychosocial history taking was noted. We strongly recommend full implementation of the SCEBS method in educational programs in manual physical therapy

The Usher Syndrome Type IIIB Histidyl-tRNA Synthetase Mutation Confers Temperature Sensitivity

Histidyl-tRNA synthetase (HARS) is a highly conserved translation factor that plays an essential role in protein synthesis. HARS has been implicated in the human syndromes Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) Type 2W and Type IIIB Usher (USH3B). The USH3B mutation, which encodes a Y454S substitution in HARS, is inherited in an autosomal recessive fashion and associated with childhood deafness, blindness, and episodic hallucinations during acute illness. The biochemical basis of the pathophysiologies linked to USH3B is currently unknown. Here, we present a detailed functional comparison of wild-type (WT) and Y454S HARS enzymes. Kinetic parameters for enzymes and canonical substrates were determined using both steady state and rapid kinetics. Enzyme stability was examined using differential scanning fluorimetry. Finally, enzyme functionality in a primary cell culture was assessed. Our results demonstrate that the Y454S substitution leaves HARS amino acid activation, aminoacylation, and tRN