We report the first measurement of the double-spin asymmetry A_{LT} for charged pion electroproduction in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic electron scattering on a transversely polarized ^{3}He target. The kinematics focused on the valence quark region, 0.16<x<0.35 with 1.4<Q^{2}<2.7  GeV^{2}. The corresponding neutron A_{LT} asymmetries were extracted from the measured ^{3}He asymmetries and proton over ^{3}He cross section ratios using the effective polarization approximation. These new data probe the transverse momentum dependent parton distribution function g_{1T}^{q} and therefore provide access to quark spin-orbit correlations. Our results indicate a positive azimuthal asymmetry for π^{-} production on ^{3}He and the neutron, while our π^{+} asymmetries are consistent with zero.

Flow coefficients v_{n} for n=2, 3, 4, characterizing the anisotropic collective flow in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV, are measured relative to event planes Ψ_{n}, determined at large rapidity. We report v_{n} as a function of transverse momentum and collision centrality, and study the correlations among the event planes of different order n. The v_{n} are well described by hydrodynamic models which employ a Glauber Monte Carlo initial state geometry with fluctuations, providing additional constraining power on the interplay between initial conditions and the effects of viscosity as the system evolves. This new constraint can serve to improve the precision of the extracted shear viscosity to entropy density ratio η/s.

Back-to-back hadron pair yields in d+Au and p+p collisions at √s(NN)=200 GeV were measured with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Rapidity separated hadron pairs were detected with the trigger hadron at pseudorapidity |η|<0.35 and the associated hadron at forward rapidity (deuteron direction, 3.0<η<3.8). Pairs were also detected with both hadrons measured at forward rapidity; in this case, the yield of back-to-back hadron pairs in d+Au collisions with small impact parameters is observed to be suppressed by a factor of 10 relative to p+p collisions. The kinematics of these pairs is expected to probe partons in the Au nucleus with a low fraction x of the nucleon momenta, where the gluon densities rise sharply. The observed suppression as a function of nuclear thickness, p(T), and η points to cold nuclear matter effects arising at high parton densities.

We present measurements of J/ψ yields in d+Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=200  GeV recorded by the PHENIX experiment and compare them with yields in p+p collisions at the same energy per nucleon-nucleon collision. The measurements cover a large kinematic range in J/ψ rapidity (-2.2<y<2.4) with high statistical precision and are compared with two theoretical models: one with nuclear shadowing combined with final state breakup and one with coherent gluon saturation effects. In order to remove model dependent systematic uncertainties we also compare the data to a simple geometric model. The forward rapidity data are inconsistent with nuclear modifications that are linear or exponential in the density weighted longitudinal thickness, such as those from the final state breakup of the bound state.

We report the first measurement of target single spin asymmetries in the semi-inclusive ^{3}He(e,e^{'}π^{±})X reaction on a transversely polarized target. The experiment, conducted at Jefferson Lab using a 5.9 GeV electron beam, covers a range of 0.16<x<0.35 with 1.4<Q^{2}<2.7  GeV^{2}. The Collins and Sivers moments were extracted from the azimuthal angular dependence of the measured asymmetries. The π^{±} Collins moments for ^{3}He are consistent with zero, except for the π^{+} moment at x=0.35, which deviates from zero by 2.3σ. While the π^{-} Sivers moments are consistent with zero, the π^{+} Sivers moments favor negative values. The neutron results were extracted using the nucleon effective polarization and measured cross section ratios of proton to ^{3}He, and are largely consistent with the predictions of phenomenological fits and quark model calculations.

RATIONALE Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous disease of unknown etiology, although M. tuberculosis may play a role in the pathogenesis. The traditional view holds that inflammation in sarcoidosis is compartmentalized to involved organs. OBJECTIVES To determine whether whole blood gene expression signatures reflect inflammatory pathways in the lung in sarcoidosis and whether these signatures overlap with tuberculosis. METHODS We analyzed transcriptomic data from blood and lung biopsies in sarcoidosis and compared these profiles with blood transcriptomic data from tuberculosis and other diseases. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Applying machine learning algorithms to blood gene expression data, we built a classifier that distinguished sarcoidosis from health in derivation and validation cohorts (92% sensitivity, 92% specificity). The most discriminative genes were confirmed by quantitative PCR and correlated with disease severity. Transcript profiles significantly induced in blood overlapped with those in lung biopsies and identified shared dominant inflammatory pathways (e.g., Type-I/II interferons). Sarcoidosis and tuberculosis shared more overlap in blood gene expression compared with other diseases using the 86-gene signature reported to be specific for tuberculosis and the sarcoidosis signature presented herein, although reapplication of machine learning algorithms could identify genes specific for sarcoidosis. CONCLUSIONS These data indicate that blood transcriptome analysis provides a noninvasive method for identifying inflammatory pathways in sarcoidosis, that these pathways may be leveraged to complement more invasive procedures for diagnosis or assessment of disease severity, and that sarcoidosis and tuberculosis share overlap in gene regulation of specific inflammatory pathways.

The existence of the five-quark Fock states for the intrinsic charm quark in the nucleons was suggested some time ago, but conclusive evidence is still lacking. We generalize the previous theoretical approach to the light-quark sector and study possible experimental signatures for such five-quark states. In particular, we compare the d-ū and ū + d-s-s data with the calculations based on the five-quark Fock states. The qualitative agreement between the data and the calculations is interpreted as evidence for the existence of the intrinsic light-quark sea in the nucleons. The probabilities for the |uuduū and |uuddd Fock states are also extracted.

In the sea urchin, entry of β-catenin into the nuclei of the vegetal cells at 4th and 5th cleavages is necessary for activation of the endomesoderm gene regulatory network. Beyond that, little is known about how the embryo uses maternal information to initiate specification. Here, experiments establish that of the three maternal Wnts in the egg, Wnt6 is necessary for activation of endodermal genes in the endomesoderm GRN. A small region of the vegetal cortex is shown to be necessary for activation of the endomesoderm GRN. If that cortical region of the egg is removed, addition of Wnt6 rescues endoderm. At a molecular level, the vegetal cortex region contains a localized concentration of Dishevelled (Dsh) protein, a transducer of the canonical Wnt pathway; however, Wnt6 mRNA is not similarly localized. Ectopic activation of the Wnt pathway, through the expression of an activated form of β-catenin, of a dominant-negative variant of GSK-3β or of Dsh itself, rescues endomesoderm specification in eggs depleted of the vegetal cortex. Knockdown experiments in whole embryos show that absence of Wnt6 produces embryos that lack endoderm, but those embryos continue to express a number of mesoderm markers. Thus, maternal Wnt6 plus a localized vegetal cortical molecule, possibly Dsh, is necessary for endoderm specification; this has been verified in two species of sea urchin. The data also show that Wnt6 is only one of what are likely to be multiple components that are necessary for activation of the entire endomesoderm gene regulatory network.

OBJECTIVE:: Adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) plays an important role in regulating whole-body energy homeostasis. The aim of this study was to investigate dietary α-lipoic acid (α-LA) supplementation on the activation of AMPK in both central and peripheral tissues in obese rats induced by ovariectomy. METHODS:: Ovariectomized (Ovx) rats were treated with α-LA (200 mg/kg) 3 to 10 weeks after surgery. Body weight, food intake, fat mass, phosphorylated AMPKα (pAMPKα), and phosphorylated acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) protein expression in both the hypothalamus and white adipose tissue (WAT) as well as plasma leptin and adiponectin levels were measured in rats after either Ovx or sham operations. RESULTS:: Compared with control rats, ovariectomy led to increased body weight, food intake, and WAT mass 2 to 10 weeks after surgery. Furthermore, plasma leptin and adiponectin levels as well as hypothalamic pAMPKα expression were significantly increased after ovariectomy, accompanied by a reduction in pAMPKα expression in WAT after ovariectomy. However, after treatment with α-LA, the elevation of leptin and adiponectin levels and the activation of hypothalamic AMPKα and ACC, as induced by ovariectomy, were significantly suppressed. Meanwhile, decreased fat mass and increased pAMPKα and phosphorylated ACC expression in the WAT were observed in Ovx rats treated with α-LA. CONCLUSIONS:: α-LA significantly decreased appetite and fat accumulation, possibly through the regulation of central and peripheral AMPK activities in rats. Therefore, this study provides a rationale for the therapeutic use of α-LA for obesity in postmenopausal women.

Large parity-violating longitudinal single-spin asymmetries A(L)(e+)=-0.86(-0.14)(+0.30) and A(L)(e-)= 0.88(-0.71)(+0.12) are observed for inclusive high transverse momentum electrons and positrons in polarized p+p collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt[s]= 500 GeV with the PHENIX detector at RHIC. These e± come mainly from the decay of W± and Z0 bosons, and their asymmetries directly demonstrate parity violation in the couplings of the W± to the light quarks. The observed electron and positron yields were used to estimate W± boson production cross sections for the e± channels of σ(pp → W+ X) × BR(W+ → e+ ν(e))= 144.1 ± 21.2(stat)(-10.3)(+3.4)(syst) ± 21.6(norm)  pb, and σ(pp → W- X) × BR(W- → e- ν[over ¯](e))= 31.7 ± 12.1(stat)(-8.2)(+10.1)(syst) ± 4.8(norm)  pb.