The cDNA-deduced primary structure of human sex hormone-binding globulin and location of its steroid-binding domain

AbstractWe have sequenced a cDNA for sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) isolated from a phage λgt 11 human liver cDNA library. The library was screened with a radiolabeled rat androgen-binding protein (ABP) cDNA, and the abundance of SHBG cDNAs was 1 in 750 000 plaques examined. The largest human SHBG cDNA (1194 base-pairs) contained a reading frame for 381 amino acids. This comprised 8 amino acids of a signal peptide followed by 373 residues starting with the known NH2-terminal sequence of human SHBG, and ending with a termination codon. The predicted polypeptide Mr of SHBG is 40 509, and sites of attachment of one O-linked (residue 7) and two N-linked oligosaccharide (residues 351 and 367) chains were identified. Purified SHBG was photoaffinity-labeled with Δ6-[3H]testosterone and cleaved with trypsin. The labeled tryptic fragment was isolated by reverse-phase HPLC, and its NH2-terminal sequence was determined. The results suggest that a portion of the steroid-binding domain of SHBG is located between residue 296 and the 35 predominantly hydrophilic residues at the C-terminus of the protein

Constraints on Three-Neutrino Mixing from Atmospheric and Reactor Data

Observations of atmospheric neutrinos are usually analyzed using the simplifying approximation that either $\nu_\mu \leftrightarrow \nu_\tau$ or $\nu_e \leftrightarrow \nu_\mu$ two-flavor mixing is relevant. Here we instead consider the data using the simplifying approximation that only one neutrino mass scale is relevant. This approximation is the minimal three-flavor notation that includes the two relevant two-flavor approximations. The constraints in the parameter space orthogonal to the usual, two-flavor analyses are studied.Comment: 15 pages, preprint IUHET-26

Isoetes panamensis

Pteridophyte

A Method for Measuring Sub-Annual Ring Widths of Pinus Edulis for Seasonal Climate Reconstructions

Pinus edulis is one of the most ubiquitous tree species in the US Southwest. It accounts for over a fifth of the total number of trees in New Mexico alone. Its prevalence and relatively long-lived nature makes it an ideal candidate for dendroclimatological studies of the North American Monsoon. The problem occurs with delineating the boundary of the earlywood and latewood for sub-annual reconstructions. In this study, we present a novel method ("the resin duct method") for delineating the latewood boundary using resin ducts of P. edulis from three sites in New Mexico. The climate sensitivity of partial ring widths of P. edulis is then explored and compared to co-occurring Pinus ponderosa, which has a clear latewood boundary. The method of using resin ducts for delineating latewood in P. edulis resulted in a statistically significant relationship when compared to the latewood widths of co-occurring P. ponderosa. Although we found a similar climate response of P. edulis when compared to P. ponderosa, P. edulis latewood was a poor predictor of North American Monsoon precipitation unlike P. ponderosa. However, P. edulis earlywood has a statistically significant correlation with cool-season precipitation, making it useful for cool-season climate reconstructions in the Southwest. © 2017 by The Tree-Ring Society.This item is part of the Tree-Ring Research (formerly Tree-Ring Bulletin) archive. For more information about this peer-reviewed scholarly journal, please email the Editor of Tree-Ring Research at [email protected]

Dendrochronological dating of wood from the Fountain of Youth Park Archaeological site (8SJ31), St. Augustine, Florida, U.S.A.

Settled in 1565 by the Pedro Mene´ndez de Aviles expedition, St. Augustine, Florida, holds great educational, historical, and anthropological interest for current researchers as the oldest continuously occupied European community in the continental United States. Archaeological excavations produced two large (ca. 20 cm diameter) posts from the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park site. Our objective in this project was to use tree-ring dating to determine the outermost dates of the two posts and to use these dates to assist archaeological interpretations. Sample 8SJ31-2741 was pine and contained tree rings that were successfully crossdated using the Lake Louise reference chronology from southern Georgia to AD 1620–1668. Sample 8SJ31-2766 was a cypress sample that we could not crossdate using a nearby reference chronology from the Altamaha River in southern Georgia. The date for sample 8SJ31-2741 places its cutting and deposition within the Mission Period occupation and verifies that the Nombre de Dios mission village was still active and building after 1668 into the late 17th Century. Furthermore, the dendrochronological date confirmed the stratigraphic interpretation, suggesting that disturbance of the upper layers of the surface in this part of the site was perhaps not as disruptive to the soils as originally assumed. This project demonstrates the feasibility of dating wood extracted from sites from the historic Spanish-era period in the Southeastern US.This item is part of the Tree-Ring Research (formerly Tree-Ring Bulletin) archive. For more information about this peer-reviewed scholarly journal, please email the Editor of Tree-Ring Research at [email protected]

Increasing prevalence of hot drought across western North America since the 16th century

Across western North America (WNA), 20th-21st century anthropogenic warming has increased the prevalence and severity of concurrent drought and heat events, also termed hot droughts. However, the lack of independent spatial reconstructions of both soil moisture and temperature limits the potential to identify these events in the past and to place them in a long-term context. We develop the Western North American Temperature Atlas (WNATA), a data-independent 0.5° gridded reconstruction of summer maximum temperatures back to the 16th century. Our evaluation of the WNATA with existing hydroclimate reconstructions reveals an increasing association between maximum temperature and drought severity in recent decades, relative to the past five centuries. The synthesis of these paleo-reconstructions indicates that the amplification of the modern WNA megadrought by increased temperatures and the frequency and spatial extent of compound hot and dry conditions in the 21st century are likely unprecedented since at least the 16th century.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Unprecedented 21st century heat across the Pacific Northwest of North America

Extreme summer temperatures are increasingly common across the Northern Hemisphere and inflict severe socioeconomic and biological consequences. In summer 2021, the Pacific Northwest region of North America (PNW) experienced a 2-week-long extreme heatwave, which contributed to record-breaking summer temperatures. Here, we use tree-ring records to show that summer temperatures in 2021, as well as the rate of summertime warming during the last several decades, are unprecedented within the context of the last millennium for the PNW. In the absence of committed efforts to curtail anthropogenic emissions below intermediate levels (SSP2–4.5), climate model projections indicate a rapidly increasing risk of the PNW regularly experiencing 2021-like extreme summer temperatures, with a 50% chance of yearly occurrence by 2050. The 2021 summer temperatures experienced across the PNW provide a benchmark and impetus for communities in historically temperate climates to account for extreme heat-related impacts in climate change adaptation strategies. © 2023, The Author(s).Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]