Search

The Zagros basin is one of the most important petroleum-bearing foreland basins in the world, with quite different reserves of different sections along strike. To understand structural characteristics, oil and gas accumulation and the controlling factors is an important foundation when developing the oversea new venture evaluation. We take the the synthetical analysis of the along-strike (NW-SE) structural deformation differences, hydrocarbon accumulation and the controlling factors of the Diyarbakir section of Turkey, the Kirkuk section of Iraq, and Luristan, Khuzestan and Fars sections of Iran. The results show an obviously different 2P recoverable reserves of oil and gas along the strike in the Zagros basin. The Khuzestan section has the largest reserves and is dominated by Neogene reservoirs. The Zagros orogenesis forms a series of anticline structures, and the evaporite caprock forming in different periods affects the oil and gas accumulation differences in various sections of the basin. Since the Miocene, with the continuous collision between the Arabian plate and the Eurasian plate and the large-scale compression and folding occurring in the basin, the Lower Cretaceous hydrocarbon can migrates upward to the Oligocene-Miocene reservoirs along the fractures. The Cenozoic sediment is quite thick in Kirkuk and Khuzestan sections, and the Oligocene-Miocene evaporite can be a quite good regional caprock. The deformation in Fars section is strong, and the Upper Jurassic and Miocene evaporites are destroyed in different scale and the hydrocarbon mainly accumulates within the Upper Permian to Lower Triassic carbonate reservoirs. This study will provide the guidance of the new venture evaluation of the Zagros basin.

The Niger Delta, one of the largest delta in the world, is located on the eastern passive continental margin of the Atlantic Ocean. It was formed during the Niger River entering the Atlantic Ocean. The main part of the delta lies on the Atlantic oceanic crust, and the minor part on the African pre-Cambrian basement. The Central and West African Rift Systems indirectly control the formation of the Niger Delta through controlling the distribution and development of the Benue-Niger river system. It is a prograded delta with typical prograding sequence, i.e., regressive sequence. The prograding sequence is constituted with the marine shale (Akata Formation), paralic sand and shale (Agbada Formation) and continental alluvial sands (Benin Formation) from the bottom to the top. These three lithostratigraphic units are diachronous. All of them are younger seaward. There is a large scale gravity gliding tectonics. The main detachment fault lies in the Akata marine shale. The gravity tectonics can be divided into the front compressional deformation province and the trail extensional deformation province. The front compressional deformation formed a fold-thrust belt. The trail extensional deformation formed horst-graben structures. The detachment folds are well developed in the transitional zone between these two deformation provinces. Accompanied with the gravity-gliding tectonics, shale tectonics are widely developed in the Niger Delta. There is possibly some formation-relation between the gravity-gliding tectonics and the Cenozoic volcanic activities of the Cameroon volcanic line.

Background: DARC (The Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines) is a kind of glycosylated membrane protein that binds to members of the CXC chemokine family associated with angiogenesis and has recently been reported to be implicated in diverse normal physiologic processes. This study aimed to investigate the involvement of DARC in angiogenesis, which is known to generate new capillary blood vessels from preexisting ones. Methods: HDMECs (Human dermal microvascular endothelial cells) were divided into two groups (DARC overexpression group, and control group). We used Brdu staining to detect cell proliferation, and wound healing assay to detect cell migration. Then tube formation assay were observed. Also, western blot and immunofluorescent staining were used to estimate the relationship between DARC and RhoA (Ras homolog gene family, member A). Results: HDMECs proliferation, migration, and tube formation were inhibited significantly when DARC was overexpressed intracellular. DARC impaired microfilament dynamics and intercellular connection in migrating cells, and RhoA activation underlay the effect of DARC on endothelial cell. Furthermore, DARC inhibited the formation of new capillaries in vitro. Conclusion: Our findings revealed the role of DARC in the angiogenic process and provided a novel mechanism for RhoA activation during endothelial cell migration and angiogenesis.

In the hydraulic systems with fixed displacement pump, there is a problem that the flow of three — way pressure compensation valve working with LUDV multi-way valve is low. So a new large flow pressure compensation valve was designed. The valve contains a main channel and two overflow channels. Through bench test and field experiments, the new large flow three-way pressure compensated valve was verified with good unloading pressure characteristics and good pressure compensation characteristics in large flow working conditions. The flow of new valve can reach 400 L/min and unloading pressure can reduce to 3MPa. Thus, the new valve meets the requirements of LUDV multi-way valve under large flow condition. The new large flow three-way pressure compensation valve makes an important contribution to the further research on multi-way valve.

The Aiketik Group, distributed at the western end of the South Tianshan Mountains, China, is an important lithostratigraphic unit involved in the South Tianshan orogen. It is separated from the adjacent rocks by faults. Generally, the geologists ascribed it to the Upper Carboniferous according to Pseudostaffella sp., Profusulinella sp. and Fusulinella sp. found from the limestone and sandy limestone of Aiketik. Our radiolarian fossils were obtained from the chert samples collected from the Haladaok section located at the upper Tuoshihan River. The fossils mainly include Albaillella undulata Deflandre, Albaillella paradoxa Deflandre, Albaillella sp. aff. A. paradoxa Deflandre, Albaillella sp. cf. A. deflandrei Gourmelon, Albaillella sp., Albaillella excelsa Ishiga, Kito and Imoto (?), Belowea variabilis (Ormiston et Lane), Callella cf. C. parvispinosa Won, Entactinia cf. E. tortispina Ormiston et Lane, Entactinia aff. E. tortispina Ormiston et Lane, Entactinia variospina Won, Entactinia sp., Eostylodictya rota (Won), Latentifistula impella (Ormistone et Lane) (?), Latentifistula turgida Omiston et Lane, Latentifistulidae gen. et. sp. indet. and Polyentactinia cf. aranea Gourmelon. Among them, Albaillella excelsa Ishiga, Kito and Imoto (?) is a Late Permian species with some elements uncertain as there is only one poorly-preserved fossil of this species found so far. And two radiolarian assemblages can be identified from the other fossils. One is the early Early Carboniferous assemblage represented by Albaillella undulata Deflandre, Albaillella paradoxa and Albaillella sp. cf. A. deflandrei Gourmelon. And the other is the late Early Carboniferous assemblage represented by Eostylodictya rota (Won). This is the first discovery of radiolarian fossils in the Aiketik Group, also the first discovery of Late Permian radiolarian fossils in the South Tianshan Mountains. Meanwhile, this is the current westernmost sampling site of radiolarian fossils in the South Tianshan Mountains.

BACKGROUND: QuikClot is a zeolite-based hemostatic agent that can control severe hemorrhage through adsorption of water in an exothermic reaction. Ion exchanging the calcium ions in zeolite type 5A with cations of a reduced hydration enthalpy can reduce heat generation, but its effect on the hemostatic efficacy is not clear. We developed a new compound zeolite hemostat and tested it against controls in a modified swine model of battlefield injury. METHODS: A modified complex groin injury was created in 42 swine (39.4 +/- 2.6 kg). This included semitransection of the proximal thigh (level of inguinal ligament) and semidivision of the femoral artery and vein. After 3 minutes, the animals were assigned to (1) no dressing (ND), (2) standard dressing (SD), (3) SD + zeolite hemostat (QC), (4) SD + chemically modified zeolite hemostat, where calcium was substituted with silver (Ag) and zinc (Zn) simultaneously, (Ag.Zn-zeolite), and (5) SD+ the compound hemostat composed of Ag.Zn-zeolite and alginate. Resuscitation was started 15 minutes after application of dressing (500 mL of 6% hetastarch during 30 minutes). Survival for 180 minutes was the primary endpoint for this study. Blood loss, wound temperatures, and histologic tissue damage were recorded as well. In addition, the antibacterial activities of these hemostatic agents were tested on agar plates. At the end of experiment, the strength of clots was carefully measured by a Tablet Hardness Analyzer. RESULTS: Mortality in the group treated with the application of the compound hemostat composed of Ag.Zn-zeolite and alginate was 10% versus 100% in the ND group and 71% in the SD group (p < 0.001 vs. ND group, p < 0.05 vs. SD group). The QC group had a mortality rate of 22%, whereas application of Ag- and Zn-substituted zeolite associated with a mortality rate of 37.5%. Ag and Zn substitution of zeolite reduced the in vivo temperature peak to 39.8 degrees C +/- 2.3 degrees C and no thermal injury of tissue was noted in these groups. Ag- and Zn-substituted zeolite posed an antibacterial ability against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli. Addition of an alginate into the modified zeolite hemostat reinforced the strength of clots to 18.52 N +/- 1.33 N. CONCLUSIONS: Application of the compound zeolite hemostat can effectively control hemorrhage and dramatically reduce mortality from a lethal groin wound. In addition to its antibacterial properties, Ag- and Zn-substituted zeolite hemostat can decrease the exothermic reaction and greatly attenuate the heat-induced tissue injury.

The Wupata'erkan Group, also called Wupata'erkan Formation, distributed in the South Tianshan, Xinjiang, China, mainly consists of gray and dark gray fine-grained clastic rocks, interlayered with volcanic rocks, carbonates and cherts. Some ultra-basic rocks (blocks) punctuate the formation. The formation was variously assigned to Silurian-Middle Devonian, Silurian-Lower Devonian, and pre-Devonian, mainly based on Atrypa bodini Mansuy, Hypothyridina parallelepipedia (Brour.) and Prismatophyllum hexagonum Yoh collected from the limestone interlayers, respectively. However, radiolarian fossils obtained from 24 chert specimens of the Wupata'erkan Group, mainly include Albaillella sp. cf. A. undulata Deflandre, Albaillella sp. cf. A. paradoxa Deflandre, Albaillella cf. A. deflandrei Gourmelon, Albaillella sp. cf. A. indensis Won, Albaillella sp. cf. A. excelsa Ishiga, Kito and Imoto, Albaillella sp. and Latentifistulidae gen. et. sp. indet., are earliest Carboniferous and Late Permian. The earliest Carboniferous assemblage is characterized by Albaillella sp. cf. A. undulata Deflandre, Albaillella sp. cf. A. paradoxa Deflandre, Albaillella cf. A. deflandrei Gourmelon and Albaillella sp. cf. A. indensis Won, and the Late Permian assemblage by Albaillella sp. cf. A. excelsa Ishiga, Kito and Imoto. This new stratigraphic evidence indicates that the Wupata'erkan Group is possibly composed of rocks with different ages from Silurian to Permian, and therefore, it is probably an ophiolite melange. The discovery of Late Permian Albaillella sp. cf. A. excelsa provides more reliable evidence supporting the existence of a Permian relic ancient oceanic basin in the western part of Xinjiang South Tianshan.

Determination of Ribonucleic Acid structure is challenging, in order to optimize the RNA pseudoknotted structure,the paper investigates the computational problem and complexity of predicting RNA structure. A new computational method and model with minimum free energy are adopted to predict RNA structure. The main contribution of the paper is to achieves an efficient approximation algorithm for finding RNA pseudoknotted structure and nested structures. We have compared with other algorithms in time complexity and space complexity, the approximation algorithm takes O(n3) time and O(n2) space,where n is the length of the RNA sequences. The experimental tests for a large database of RNA show that the algorithm is more exact and effective than the algorithms, the algorithm can predict arbitrary pseudoknots, and improve the a predicting accuracy.

In this paper, we study the use of XML path query to search an XML fragment in a collection of XML documents. We present efficient techniques that are able to employ bit-slice bloom-filtered signature file as filter and investigate an approach that are able to measure semantic similarity between the query and the XML document in the collection by considering their structures and contents. A ranked list of XML fragments is generated as the search results. By using a set of path queries on a variety of XML documents, the experiments show that the precision and efficiency of the results perform better than ever.

Pericytes play a crucial role in the homeostasis and maturation of newly formed vessels, but their precursor and the process of their differentiation remain unclear. In this study, we show that in vivo, pericytes in human granulation tissue taken from burn patients expressed CD13 and collagen I, which are cell markers of peripheral blood fibrocytes (PBFCs). Mouse PBFCs, ex vivo labeled by PKH-26 and administered intravenously back to mice, formed lumens in the granulation tissue and expressed pericyte marker NG2. Furthermore, in cell culture, human PBFCs in co-culture with human umbilical vascular endothelial cells or human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMECs) expressed pericyte markers desmin and myosin heavy chain of smooth muscle cell, and some migrated to the membrane of human umbilical vascular endothelial cells or HDMECs to form PBFC/vascular endothelial cell clusters, or formed round PBFC only clusters with their nuclei aligned along a circle. The formation of PBFC/vascular endothelial cell clusters and round PBFC clusters were inhibited by an antibody against monocyte chemotactic protein-1. PBFCs cultured with homogenate of granulation tissue also expressed desmin and myosin heavy chain of smooth muscle cell. Our findings support that the PBFC is a precursor of pericytes, the differentiation of PBFCs is induced by vascular endothelial cells in a paracrine fashion.