diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantDataManager.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantDataManager.java
index 42ad75d17..936e68b84 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantDataManager.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantDataManager.java
@@ -28,8 +28,10 @@ package org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.variantrecalibration;
 import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.collections.ExpandingArrayList;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.exceptions.UserException;
+import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.Utils;
 
 import java.io.PrintStream;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 
 /**
  * Created by IntelliJ IDEA.
@@ -38,6 +40,11 @@ import java.io.PrintStream;
  */
 
 public class VariantDataManager {
+    public enum TailType {
+        TWO_TAILED,
+        SMALL_IS_GOOD,
+        BIG_IS_GOOD
+    }
 
     protected final static Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(VariantDataManager.class);
 
@@ -46,6 +53,7 @@ public class VariantDataManager {
     public final int numAnnotations;
     public final double[] meanVector;
     public final double[] varianceVector; // This is really the standard deviation
+    public final TailType[] tailTypes;
     public boolean isNormalized;
     public final ExpandingArrayList<String> annotationKeys;
 
@@ -59,6 +67,7 @@ public class VariantDataManager {
             numAnnotations = 0;
             meanVector = null;
             varianceVector = null;
+            tailTypes = null;
         } else {
             numAnnotations = _annotationKeys.size();
             if( numAnnotations <= 0 ) {
@@ -66,7 +75,9 @@ public class VariantDataManager {
             }
             meanVector = new double[numAnnotations];
             varianceVector = new double[numAnnotations];
-            isNormalized = false;            
+            tailTypes = new TailType[numAnnotations];
+            Arrays.fill(tailTypes, TailType.TWO_TAILED);
+            isNormalized = false;
         }
         annotationKeys = _annotationKeys;
     }
@@ -79,6 +90,8 @@ public class VariantDataManager {
         varianceVector = new double[numAnnotations];
         isNormalized = true;
         annotationKeys = new ExpandingArrayList<String>();
+        tailTypes = new TailType[numAnnotations];
+        Arrays.fill(tailTypes, TailType.TWO_TAILED);
 
         int jjj = 0;
         for( final String line : annotationLines ) {
@@ -90,6 +103,22 @@ public class VariantDataManager {
         }
     }
 
+    //
+    // code for dealing with TailTypes
+    //
+    
+    public void setAnnotationType(String annotation, TailType t ) {
+        int i = annotationKeys.indexOf(annotation);
+        if ( i == -1 ) throw new UserException.BadInput("Attempt to modify unknown annotation " + annotation + ": cluster file has " + Utils.join(",", annotationKeys));
+        tailTypes[i] = t;
+        logger.info("Updating annotation " + annotation + " to have tail type " + t);
+    }
+
+    public TailType getAnnotationType(int i) {
+        return tailTypes[i];
+    }
+
+
     public void normalizeData() {
         boolean foundZeroVarianceAnnotation = false;
         for( int jjj = 0; jjj < numAnnotations; jjj++ ) {
diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantGaussianMixtureModel.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantGaussianMixtureModel.java
index 3375fbbdf..52e16fd16 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantGaussianMixtureModel.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantGaussianMixtureModel.java
@@ -86,6 +86,8 @@ public final class VariantGaussianMixtureModel extends VariantOptimizationModel
     private static final Pattern ANNOTATION_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("^@!ANNOTATION.*");
     private static final Pattern CLUSTER_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("^@!CLUSTER.*");
 
+    private static final double MAX_SIGMA_TO_BE_IN_GAUSSIAN = 4.0;
+
     public VariantGaussianMixtureModel() {
         dataManager = null;
         maxGaussians = 0;
@@ -449,7 +451,30 @@ public final class VariantGaussianMixtureModel extends VariantOptimizationModel
 
         for( int jjj = 0; jjj < dataManager.numAnnotations; jjj++ ) {
             final double value = decodeAnnotation( genomeLocParser, dataManager.annotationKeys.get(jjj), vc, false );
-            annotations[jjj] = (value - dataManager.meanVector[jjj]) / dataManager.varianceVector[jjj];
+
+            double z = (value - dataManager.meanVector[jjj]) / dataManager.varianceVector[jjj];
+//            switch ( dataManager.getAnnotationType(jjj) ) {
+//                case TWO_TAILED: // z is already fine
+//                    break;
+//                case SMALL_IS_GOOD:
+//                    if ( z < 0.0 ) {
+////                        logger.info(String.format("One-tailed test correction: %s %.2f mu=%.2f sigma=%.2f z=%.2f, newZ = 0",
+////                                dataManager.annotationKeys.get(jjj), value, dataManager.meanVector[jjj], dataManager.varianceVector[jjj], z));
+//                        z = 0.0;
+//                    }
+//                    break;
+//                case BIG_IS_GOOD:
+//                    if ( z > 0.0 ) {
+////                        logger.info(String.format("One-tailed test correction: %s %.2f mu=%.2f sigma=%.2f z=%.2f, newZ = 0",
+////                                dataManager.annotationKeys.get(jjj), value, dataManager.meanVector[jjj], dataManager.varianceVector[jjj], z));
+//                        z = 0.0;
+//                    }
+//                    break;
+//                default:
+//                    throw new ReviewedStingException("Unexpected annotation tail type: " + dataManager.getAnnotationType(jjj));
+//            }
+
+            annotations[jjj] = z;
         }
 
         return evaluateGaussiansForSingleVariant( annotations, log10pVarInCluster );
@@ -783,9 +808,18 @@ public final class VariantGaussianMixtureModel extends VariantOptimizationModel
                 double value = 0.0;
                 for( int ppp = 0; ppp < numAnnotations; ppp++ ) {
                     final double myMu = mu[kkk][ppp];
-                    final double myAnn = annotations[ppp];
+                    double myAnn = annotations[ppp];
                     final double mySigma = sigmaVals[ppp][jjj];
-                    value += (myAnn - myMu) * mySigma;
+                    double z = (myAnn - myMu) * mySigma;
+
+                    switch ( dataManager.getAnnotationType(jjj) ) {
+                        case TWO_TAILED:    break;
+                        case SMALL_IS_GOOD: if( myAnn < myMu && Math.abs(z) < MAX_SIGMA_TO_BE_IN_GAUSSIAN ) { z = 0.0; } break;
+                        case BIG_IS_GOOD:   if( myAnn > myMu && Math.abs(z) < MAX_SIGMA_TO_BE_IN_GAUSSIAN ) { z = 0.0; } break;
+                        default:            throw new ReviewedStingException("Unexpected annotation tail type: " + dataManager.getAnnotationType(jjj));
+                    }
+
+                    value += z;
                 }
                 final double jNorm = annotations[jjj] - mu[kkk][jjj];
                 final double prod = value * jNorm;
diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantRecalibrator.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantRecalibrator.java
index dcd82c7de..7b26ea24e 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantRecalibrator.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/variantrecalibration/VariantRecalibrator.java
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2010 The Broad Institute
  *
@@ -121,6 +122,11 @@ public class VariantRecalibrator extends RodWalker<ExpandingArrayList<VariantDat
     @Argument(fullName = "selectionMetric", shortName = "sm", doc = "Selection metric to use", required=false)
     private SelectionMetricType SELECTION_METRIC_TYPE = SelectionMetricType.NOVEL_TITV;
 
+    // arguments for handling 1 sided annotations
+    @Hidden
+    @Argument(fullName="use_annotation", shortName="an", doc="Allows us to provide information about the sidedness of annotations.  Can be either -AN QD [two-sided], -AN QD- [values less than mean are good] and -AN QD+ [values greater than the mean are good]", required=false)
+    private List<String> USE_ANNOTATIONS = null;
+
     public enum SelectionMetricType {
         NOVEL_TITV,
         TRUTH_SENSITIVITY
@@ -172,6 +178,25 @@ public class VariantRecalibrator extends RodWalker<ExpandingArrayList<VariantDat
                 throw new UserException.BadArgumentValue("OPTIMIZATION_MODEL", "Variant Optimization Model is unrecognized. Implemented options are GAUSSIAN_MIXTURE_MODEL and K_NEAREST_NEIGHBORS" );
         }
 
+
+        // deal with annotations
+        if ( USE_ANNOTATIONS  != null ) {
+            for ( String annotation : USE_ANNOTATIONS ) {
+                VariantDataManager.TailType type = VariantDataManager.TailType.TWO_TAILED;
+                String annotationName = annotation;
+                if ( annotation.endsWith("-") ) {
+                    type = VariantDataManager.TailType.SMALL_IS_GOOD;
+                    annotationName = annotation.substring(0, annotation.length()-1);
+                }
+                else if ( annotation.endsWith("+") ) {
+                    type = VariantDataManager.TailType.BIG_IS_GOOD;
+                    annotationName = annotation.substring(0, annotation.length()-1);
+                }
+
+                theModel.dataManager.setAnnotationType( annotationName, type );
+            }
+        }
+
         boolean foundDBSNP = false;
         for( ReferenceOrderedDataSource d : this.getToolkit().getRodDataSources() ) {
             if( d.getName().startsWith("input") ) {
diff --git a/scala/qscript/depristo/VQSRCutByNRS.scala b/scala/qscript/depristo/VQSRCutByNRS.scala
index 74d1f60ac..185b54da2 100755
--- a/scala/qscript/depristo/VQSRCutByNRS.scala
+++ b/scala/qscript/depristo/VQSRCutByNRS.scala
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class recalibrate extends QScript {
   @Argument(fullName = "prefix", doc="Prefix argument", required=false)
   var prefix: String = ""
 
-  trait UNIVERSAL_GATK_ARGS extends CommandLineGATK { logging_level = "INFO"; jarFile = gatkJarFile; memoryLimit = Some(4) }
+  trait UNIVERSAL_GATK_ARGS extends CommandLineGATK { logging_level = "INFO"; jarFile = gatkJarFile; memoryLimit = Some(3) }
 
 class Target(val name: String, val reference: File, val rodName: String, val VCF: File, val intervals: Option[String], val titvTarget: Double) {
     def clusterFile = new File(name + ".clusters")
@@ -37,11 +37,20 @@ val TGPWExGdA = new Target("1000G.WEx.GdA", hg19, "b37", new File("/humgen/gsa-s
 
 val targets = List(HiSeq, WEx, LowPassN60, LowPassAugust, TGPWExFH, TGPWExGdA)
 
+val allTailedAnnotations = List("QD+", "SB-", "HaplotypeScore-", "HRun-")
+val someTailedAnnotations = List("QD", "SB-", "HaplotypeScore-", "HRun")
+val twoTailedAnnotations = List("QD", "SB", "HaplotypeScore", "HRun")
+
 def script = {
     for (target <- targets) {
       add(new GenerateVariantClusters(target) )
-      add(new VariantRecalibratorTiTv(target) )
-      add(new VariantRecalibratorNRS(target) )
+      add(new VariantRecalibratorTiTv(target, someTailedAnnotations, ".sb.hs.tailed") )
+      add(new VariantRecalibratorNRS(target, someTailedAnnotations, ".sb.hs.tailed") )
+      add(new VariantRecalibratorTiTv(target, allTailedAnnotations, ".all.tailed") )
+      add(new VariantRecalibratorNRS(target, allTailedAnnotations, ".all.tailed") )
+      add(new VariantRecalibratorTiTv(target, twoTailedAnnotations, ".untailed") )
+      add(new VariantRecalibratorNRS(target, twoTailedAnnotations, ".untailed") )
+
     }
 }
 
@@ -66,7 +75,7 @@ class GenerateVariantClusters(t: Target) extends org.broadinstitute.sting.queue.
 }
 
 
-class VariantRecalibratorBase(t: Target) extends org.broadinstitute.sting.queue.extensions.gatk.VariantRecalibrator with UNIVERSAL_GATK_ARGS {
+class VariantRecalibratorBase(t: Target, ans: List[String]) extends org.broadinstitute.sting.queue.extensions.gatk.VariantRecalibrator with UNIVERSAL_GATK_ARGS {
     this.reference_sequence = t.reference
     this.DBSNP = new File("/humgen/gsa-hpprojects/GATK/data/dbsnp_129_" + t.rodName + ".rod")
     this.rodBind :+= RodBind("hapmap", "VCF", "/humgen/gsa-hpprojects/GATK/data/Comparisons/Validated/HapMap/3.2/genotypes_r27_nr." + t.rodName + "_fwd.vcf")
@@ -80,18 +89,20 @@ class VariantRecalibratorBase(t: Target) extends org.broadinstitute.sting.queue.
     this.priorDBSNP = Some(2.0)
     this.priorHapMap = Some(2.0)
     this.target_titv = t.titvTarget
+    this.use_annotation ++= ans
+    this.out = new File("/dev/null")
 }
 
-class VariantRecalibratorTiTv(t: Target) extends VariantRecalibratorBase(t) {
+class VariantRecalibratorTiTv(t: Target, ans: List[String], prefix: String) extends VariantRecalibratorBase(t, ans) {
     this.tranche ++= List("0.1", "1.0", "10.0", "100.0")
-    this.out = new File(t.name + ".titv.recalibrated.vcf")
-    this.tranchesFile = new File(t.name + ".titv.tranches")
+    //this.out = new File(t.name + ".titv.recalibrated.vcf")
+    this.tranchesFile = new File(t.name + prefix + ".titv.tranches")
 }
 
-class VariantRecalibratorNRS(t: Target) extends VariantRecalibratorBase(t) {
+class VariantRecalibratorNRS(t: Target, ans: List[String], prefix: String) extends VariantRecalibratorBase(t,ans) {
     this.sm = Some(org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.variantrecalibration.VariantRecalibrator.SelectionMetricType.TRUTH_SENSITIVITY)
     this.tranche ++= List("50", "25", "10", "5", "2", "1", "0.5", "0.1")
-    this.out = new File(t.name + ".ts.recalibrated.vcf")
-    this.tranchesFile = new File(t.name + ".ts.tranches")
+    //this.out = new File(t.name + ".ts.recalibrated.vcf")
+    this.tranchesFile = new File(t.name + prefix + ".ts.tranches")
 }
 }