A Novel Bioinformatic Approach to Understanding Addiction

Finding the genetic markers that influence complex, multigenic substance addiction phenotypes has been an area of significant medical study. Understanding complex disease traits like addiction has been hampered by the lack of functional insights into novel variants to the human genome. We hypothesized that gene location plays a role in functional genomic neighborhoods. To test whether there is a relationship between opiate, dopamine, and GABA disease and population allele frequencies, we used genes obtained from addiction literature curated by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). These addiction and metabolism focused search terms generated opiate, dopamine, and GABA addiction results (N=587 genes). These genes were then projected onto the genome to identify cluster regions of genetic importance for substance addiction. Clusters were defined as regions of the genome with more than six genes within a 1.5Mb linear genomic window. We identified seven hotspots located on chromosomes 4, 6 (2 clusters), 10, 11, and 19. Human polymorphism data was surveyed from the 1148 individuals comprising the 11 sample populations of the HapMap Project dataset. Our analyses demonstrate that when human populations are assessed, ten candidate addiction alleles were identified. Finally assessments of public genome wide association studies show long range linkages to canonical addiction genes. This study delineates a novel method to identify novel candidate addiction variants using a systems biology approach that relies on an interdisciplinary set of data, including genomic, pathway data, and population variation. Important connections to sociological and environmental data are discussed to contextualize addiction data

Some case studies of ocean wave physical processes utilizing the GSFC airborne radar ocean wave spectrometer

The NASA K sub u band Radar Ocean Wave Spectrometer (ROWS) is an experimental prototype of a possible future satellite instrument for low data rate global waves measurements. The ROWS technique, which utilizes short pulse radar altimeters in a conical scan mode near vertical incidence to map the directional slope spectrum in wave number and azimuth, is briefly described. The potential of the technique is illustrated by some specific case studies of wave physical processes utilizing the aircraft ROWS data. These include: (1) an evaluation of numerical hindcast model performance in storm sea conditions, (2) a study of fetch limited wave growth, and (3) a study of the fully developed sea state. Results of these studies, which are briefly summarized, show how directional wave spectral observations from a mobile platform can contribute enormously to our understanding of wave physical processes

In search of templates

This paper explores, both wit This study reflects a recent shift towards the study of early stages of expert memory acquisition for chess positions. Over the course of fifteen sessions, two subjects who knew virtually nothing about the game of chess were trained to memorise positions. Increase in recall performance and chunk size was captured by power functions, confirming predictions made by the template theory (Gobet & Simon, 1996, 1998, 2000). The human data was compared to that of a computer simulation run on CHREST (Chunk Hierarchy and REtrieval STructures), an implementation of the template theory. The model accounts for the pattern of results in the human data, although it underestimates the size of the largest chunks and the rate of learning. Evidence for the presence of templates in human subjects was found

Reducing environmental pollution caused by construction plant

Quantifiable data produced in a national report by the Environment Agency of England and Wales entitled ‘Water pollution incidents in England and Wales 1997’ and published by the Stationery Office in 1998, identifies that of over 3,723 substantiated pollution incidents across England and Wales in 1997. Within the generic sector classed as ‘Industry’ the construction industry was the most frequent polluter responsible for 22% of all substantiated water-related pollution incidents in that sector. The report also identified that a significant number (28%) of all substantiated pollution incidents across England and Wales are directly attributable to mineral-based fuels and oils many of which are used extensively within the construction industry. This paper seeks to locate the possible causes and effects for some of that oil-based pollution, discuss the issues and identifies a unique and radical Client-motivated solution within the UK to reduce and mitigate the undesirable impacts upon the environment. Evidence produced by the oil industry shows the enormous amount of one particularly aggressive pollutant –hydraulic oil, – which remains annually, unaccounted for. Hydraulic oil is used in most tracked earthmoving machinery; the sort of machinery most closely associated with construction work carried out near to watercourses. Biodegradable hydraulic oil is much more considerate to the environment, but is more expensive and not usually installed in new plant and machinery. The paper argues that on a life cycle basis the use of biodegradable oil is viable and feasible and that there are many external factors that make its usage desirable

Feynman-Jackson integrals

We introduce perturbative Feynman integrals in the context of q-calculus generalizing the Gaussian q-integrals introduced by Diaz and Teruel. We provide analytic as well as combinatorial interpretations for the Feynman-Jackson integrals.Comment: Final versio

Directional spectra of ocean waves from microwave backscatter: A physical optics solution with application to the short-pulse and two-frequency measurement techniques

Two simple microwave radar techniques that are potentially capable of providing routine satellite measurements of the directional spectrum of ocean waves were developed. One technique, the short pulse technique, makes use of very short pulses to resolve ocean surface wave contrast features in the range direction; the other technique, the two frequency correlation technique makes use of coherency in the transmitted waveform to detect the large ocean wave contrast modulation as a beat or mixing frequency in the power backscattered at two closely separated microwave frequencies. A frequency domain analysis of the short pulse and two frequency systems shows that the two measurement systems are essentially duals; they each operate on the generalized (three frequency) fourth-order statistical moment of the surface transfer function in different, but symmetrical ways, and they both measure the same directional contrast modulation spectrum. A three dimensional physical optics solution for the fourth-order moment was obtained for backscatter in the near vertical, specular regime, assuming Gaussian surface statistics

A high frequency correction to the Kirchhoff approximation, with application to rough surface EM wave scattering

A high frequency correction to the Kirchhoff approximation is developed for application to rough surface scattering. An approximate solution to the magnetic field integral equation for perfect conductivity and plane wave excitation yields a perturbed surface current expressed as a linear function of the second derivatives of surface height. The corrected surface current vector is substituted into the far field Stratton-Chu integral and average backscattered powers for the four polarization combinations are computed on the assumption that the surface is describable as a stationary Gaussian random process. The strength of this scattering solution is that it can account for height curvature correlation without requiring small height and slope

Microwave radar oceanographic investigations

The Radar Ocean Wave Spectrometer (ROWS) technique was developed and demonstrated for measuring ocean wave directional spectra from air and space platforms. The measurement technique was well demonstrated with data collected in a number of flight experiments involving wave spectral comparisons with wave buoys and the Surface Contour Radar (SCR). Recent missions include the SIR-B underflight experiment (1984), FASINEX (1986), and LEWEX (1987). ROWS related activity is presently concentrating on using the aircraft instrument for wave-processes investigations and obtaining the necessary support (consensus) for a satellite instrument development program. Prospective platforms include EOS and the Canadian RADARSAT

Charged coherent states related to su_{q}(2) covariance

A new kind of q-deformed charged coherent states is constructed in Fock space of two-mode q-boson system with su_{q}(2) covariance and a resolution of unity for these states is derived. We also present a simple way to obtain these coherent states using state projection method.Comment: 7 pages. To appear in Modern Phyics Letter: