“This is in Brief My Remenence of My Army Life” The Civil War Memoir of Louis Bir

Louis Bir was a typical Civil War soldier in most respects. He was young, only nineteen years old at the time of his enlistment in the Ninety-Third Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment in 1862, and he was anxious for a grand adventure. For the remainder of the war, Bir traveled across the Western Theater, experiencing the horrors of combat, the agony of wounds, and the monotony of camp life. Fortunately for future generations of historians, Bir was atypical of most Civil War soldiers in that he left a record of his experiences. This record offers a fascinating glimpse into the life of one Billy Yank

Biosynthetic studies on the non mevalonate pathway to terpenes

Isoprenoids are a class of secondary metabolites that are widely distributed in Nature. This thesis describes the synthesis and feeding of isotopically labelled enriched substrates to elucidate features of a new mevalonate independent pathway to isoprenoids. Chapter 2 describes studies with a whole plant system, Mentha citrata, which produces the monoterpene linalyl acetate, and a bacterium Escherichia coli which produces ubiquinone-8. Feeding experiments with stable isotopically enriched compounds demonstrate that the terpene unit of linalyl acetate is biosynthesised via the mevalonate independent pathway, hicorporation of deuterium from [6,6-(^2)H(_2)]-glucose, [(^2)H(_3)]-alanine and [(^13)C(^2)H(_3)]-alanine into luialyl acetate show that the conversion to isopentenyl pyrophosphate does not proceed via a series of dehydrations. Feeding experiments with putative intermediates bearing deuterium into E. coli show that none of the intermediates are incorporated. This suggests that E. coli lacks a kinase to activate exogenously administered substrates fed as the free alcohols. Chapter 3 outlines biosynthesis studies on a meroterpene rosnecatone produced by the fungus R. necatrix. Intact incorporation of (^13)C from the feeding of [l,2-(^13)C(_2)]-acetate shows that the terpenoid moiety is produced via the mevalonic acid pathway and the non-terpenoid unit is polyketide derived. Incorporation of deuterium from [6,6-(^2)H(_2)]-glucose fully describes the pentaketide that delivers the non-terpenoid fragment. The effect on the metabolite production of changing the growth conditions of R. necatrix is investigated. Changing from a static culture to a submerged cultures causes an increased rate of growth, an upregulation of the production of cytochalasan E and a cessation of rosnecatone production. Screening of rosnecatone against two Human cancer cell lines shows IC(_50) values of 4.48µM and 5.78µM

Quantum computing with nearest neighbor interactions and error rates over 1%

Large-scale quantum computation will only be achieved if experimentally implementable quantum error correction procedures are devised that can tolerate experimentally achievable error rates. We describe a quantum error correction procedure that requires only a 2-D square lattice of qubits that can interact with their nearest neighbors, yet can tolerate quantum gate error rates over 1%. The precise maximum tolerable error rate depends on the error model, and we calculate values in the range 1.1--1.4% for various physically reasonable models. Even the lowest value represents the highest threshold error rate calculated to date in a geometrically constrained setting, and a 50% improvement over the previous record.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure

Hypocretin-1 receptors regulate the reinforcing and reward-enhancing effects of cocaine: pharmacological and behavioral genetics evidence.

Considerable evidence suggests that transmission at hypocretin-1 (orexin-1) receptors (Hcrt-R1) plays an important role in the reinstatement of extinguished cocaine-seeking behaviors in rodents. However, far less is known about the role for hypocretin transmission in regulating ongoing cocaine-taking behavior. Here, we investigated the effects of the selective Hcrt-R1 antagonist SB-334867 on cocaine intake, as measured by intravenous (IV) cocaine self-administration in rats. The stimulatory effects of cocaine on brain reward systems contribute to the establishment and maintenance of cocaine-taking behaviors. Therefore, we also assessed the effects of SB-334867 on the reward-enhancing properties of cocaine, as measured by cocaine-induced lowering of intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) thresholds. Finally, to definitively establish a role for Hcrt-R1 in regulating cocaine intake, we assessed IV cocaine self-administration in Hcrt-R1 knockout mice. We found that SB-334867 (1-4 mg/kg) dose-dependently decreased cocaine (0.5 mg/kg/infusion) self-administration in rats but did not alter responding for food rewards under the same schedule of reinforcement. This suggests that SB-334867 decreased cocaine reinforcement without negatively impacting operant performance. SB-334867 (1-4 mg/kg) also dose-dependently attenuated the stimulatory effects of cocaine (10 mg/kg) on brain reward systems, as measured by reversal of cocaine-induced lowering of ICSS thresholds in rats. Finally, we found that Hcrt-R1 knockout mice self-administered far less cocaine than wildtype mice across the entire dose-response function. These data demonstrate that Hcrt-R1 play an important role in regulating the reinforcing and reward-enhancing properties of cocaine and suggest that hypocretin transmission is likely essential for establishing and maintaining the cocaine habit in human addicts

Studies in the use of cloud type statistics in mission simulation

A study to further improve NASA's global cloud statistics for mission simulation is reported. Regional homogeneity in cloud types was examined; most of the original region boundaries defined for cloud cover amount in previous studies were supported by the statistics on cloud types and the number of cloud layers. Conditionality in cloud statistics was also examined with special emphasis on temporal and spatial dependencies, and cloud type interdependence. Temporal conditionality was found up to 12 hours, and spatial conditionality up to 200 miles; the diurnal cycle in convective cloudiness was clearly evident. As expected, the joint occurrence of different cloud types reflected the dynamic processes which form the clouds. Other phases of the study improved the cloud type statistics for several region and proposed a mission simulation scheme combining the 4-dimensional atmospheric model, sponsored by MSFC, with the global cloud model

On the Nature of Precursors in the Radio Pulsar Profiles

In the average profiles of several radio pulsars, the main pulse is accompanied by the preceding component. This so called precursor is known for its distinctive polarization, spectral, and fluctuation properties. Recent single-pulse observations hint that the sporadic activity at the extreme leading edge of the pulse may be prevalent in pulsars. We for the first time propose a physical mechanism of this phenomenon. It is based on the induced scattering of the main pulse radiation into the background. We show that the scattered component is directed approximately along the ambient magnetic field and, because of rotational aberration in the scattering region, appears in the pulse profile as a precursor to the main pulse. Our model naturally explains high linear polarization of the precursor emission, its spectral and fluctuation peculiarities as well as suggests a specific connection between the precursor and the main pulse at widely spaced frequencies. This is believed to stimulate multifrequency single-pulse studies of intensity modulation in different pulsars.Comment: 5 pages, no figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter