Following the first attempt at producing gas from a naturally occurring methane hydrate (MH) deposit in the Daini-Atsumi Knoll in the eastern Nankai Trough area off Honshu Island, Japan in 2013, a ...second attempt was made in April to June of 2017 at a nearby location using two producer wells sequentially and applying the depressurization method. The operation in the first borehole (AT1-P3) continued for 12 days with a stable drawdown of around 7.5 MPa and 41 000 m
3
of methane gas being produced despite intermittent sand-production events. The operation of the other borehole (AT1-P2) followed, with a total of 24 days of flow and 222 500 m
3
of methane gas being produced without sand problems. However, the degree of drawdown was limited to 5 MPa because of a higher water production rate than expected in the second hole. The pressure and temperature sensors deployed in the two producers, along with the two monitoring holes drilled nearby, gathered reservoir response data and information about the long-term MH dissociation processes in the vicinity of the production holes in the temporal and spatial domains. Although the ratio of energy return to the input was considerably larger than that for the depressurization operation, some observations (
e.g.
, the high contrast in the production rates between the two holes and the almost constant or slightly reduced gas production rates) were not predicted by the numerical models. This failure in prediction raises questions about the veracity of the reservoir characteristics modeled in the numerical simulations. This paper presents the operation summaries and data obtained with thought-experiment based-anticipated production behaviors and preliminary analysis of the obtained data as the comparison with expected behaviors. Detailed observations of gas and water production, as well as the pressure and temperature data recorded during the gas flow tests, indicate that the heterogeneous MH distribution within the reservoir was mainly responsible for the discrepancies observed between the anticipated and actual behaviors. Furthermore, the motion of the water that does not originate from MH dissociation introduces complexity, such as the occurrence of concentrated water-producing intervals and unexpected gas production responses to decreases in pressure, into the production behavior. The influence of heterogeneity should be clearly understood for the accurate prediction of gas production behavior based on MH reservoirs.
The second gas production attempt from a methane hydrate (MH) deposit in the eastern Nankai Trough area was made in 2017 with the intensive data acquisition program, and it revealed effects of reservoir characters on the MH dissociation behaviors.
Neural Decoding of Visual Imagery During Sleep Horikawa, T.; Tamaki, M.; Miyawaki, Y. ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
05/2013, Letnik:
340, Številka:
6132
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Visual imagery during sleep has long been a topic of persistent speculation, but its private nature has hampered objective analysis. Here we present a neural decoding approach in which ...machine-learning models predict the contents of visual imagery during the sleep-onset period, given measured brain activity, by discovering links between human functional magnetic resonance imaging patterns and verbal reports with the assistance of lexical and image databases. Decoding models trained on stimulus-induced brain activity in visual cortical areas showed accurate classification, detection, and identification of contents. Our findings demonstrate that specific visual experience during sleep is represented by brain activity patterns shared by stimulus perception, providing a means to uncover subjective contents of dreaming using objective neural measurement.
BACKGROUNDA previous phase I study showed that the infusion of autologous Tregs expanded ex vivo into patients with recent-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) had an excellent safety profile. However, the ...majority of the infused Tregs were undetectable in the peripheral blood 3 months postinfusion (Treg-T1D trial). Therefore, we conducted a phase I study (TILT trial) combining polyclonal Tregs and low-dose IL-2, shown to enhance Treg survival and expansion, and assessed the impact over time on Treg populations and other immune cells.METHODSPatients with T1D were treated with a single infusion of autologous polyclonal Tregs followed by one or two 5-day courses of recombinant human low-dose IL-2 (ld-IL-2). Flow cytometry, cytometry by time of flight, and 10x Genomics single-cell RNA-Seq were used to follow the distinct immune cell populations' phenotypes over time.RESULTSMultiparametric analysis revealed that the combination therapy led to an increase in the number of infused and endogenous Tregs but also resulted in a substantial increase from baseline in a subset of activated NK, mucosal associated invariant T, and clonal CD8+ T cell populations.CONCLUSIONThese data support the hypothesis that ld-IL-2 expands exogenously administered Tregs but also can expand cytotoxic cells. These results have important implications for the use of a combination of ld-IL-2 and Tregs for the treatment of autoimmune diseases with preexisting active immunity.TRIAL REGISTRATIONClinicalTrials.gov NCT01210664 (Treg-T1D trial), NCT02772679 (TILT trial).FUNDINGSean N. Parker Autoimmune Research Laboratory Fund, National Center for Research Resources.
As a part of a research program aiming to mobilize marine gas hydrate deposits as an energy resource, the worlds' first gas production attempt was performed in early 2013 in the Daini Atsumi Knoll, ...Eastern Nankai Trough, off Honshu Island, Japan. The test concluded with 119 000 m
3
(under ambient conditions) of methane gas production during six consecutive days of depressurization operation through a borehole drilled at 1000 m water depth. As thermal and mass transportation in a heterogeneous geological formation are the governing factors of efficiency and effectiveness of the resource, the test was associated with intensive underground temperature monitoring. Temperature sensors installed in one production and two observation boreholes could detect temperature variations during gas production due to the endothermic gas hydrate dissociation process and mass/heat transport around the boreholes. The measurements in the observation holes started one year before the test and continued until plug-and-abandonment, and thus enabled monitoring of both the initial temperature and temperature change arizing from recovery processes. The depth profiles of measured temperatures in all holes can be related to the geological features of the corresponding formation, and those thermal responses revealed the intervals where gas hydrate dissociation predominantly occurred. By analyzing the energy conservation in the production borehole, the gas and water production profiles could be estimated and major gas and water production zones were identified. Preliminary numerical analysis results show the range of formation permeability and that the observed temperature drop is equivalent to the heat consumption by hydrate dissociation for the volume of produced methane gas. Moreover, the thermal responses could provide some clues about the location and mechanism of the sand production event. This sand production event ultimately terminated the production operations on the seventh day of flow.
As a part of a research program aiming to mobilize marine gas hydrate deposits as an energy resource, the worlds' first gas production attempt was performed in early 2013 in the Daini Atsumi Knoll, Eastern Nankai Trough, off Honshu Island, Japan.
The effects of ozone microbubbles (OMB) generated by different methods on removal of residual fenitrothion (FT) in three kinds of vegetables were examined. FT-infiltrated lettuce, cherry tomatoes and ...strawberries were immersed in solutions containing OMB generated by using a microbubble generator of a decompression-type or a gas–water circulating-type combined with an ozone generator at an initial OMB concentration of 2.0
ppm for 0, 5 or 10
min. Residual FT in each vegetable was removed more efficiently by the OMB treatments with the decompression type than with the gas–water circulation type, showing that the pesticide-removing effect of OMB varies with the method of OMB generation.
Abstract
Assessing individual responses to glucocorticoid drug therapies that compromise immune status and affect survival outcomes in neuro-oncology is a great challenge. Here we introduce a ...blood-based neutrophil dexamethasone methylation index (NDMI) that provides a measure of the epigenetic response of subjects to dexamethasone. This marker outperforms conventional approaches based on leukocyte composition as a marker of glucocorticoid response. The NDMI is associated with low CD4 T cells and the accumulation of monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells and also serves as prognostic factor in glioma survival. In a non-glioma population, the NDMI increases with a history of prednisone use. Therefore, it may also be informative in other conditions where glucocorticoids are employed. We conclude that DNA methylation remodeling within the peripheral immune compartment is a rich source of clinically relevant markers of glucocorticoid response.
The removal of fenitrothion (FT) pesticide residues from vegetables by immersion in ozone-microbubbled solution was demonstrated. FT-treated lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and strawberries were immersed ...in ozone-microbubbled, ozone-millibubbled, and dechlorinated water. After that the percentage of residual FT in the vegetables was determined. Residual FT was efficiently removed from lettuce by immersing it in ozone-microbubbled solution containing more than 1.0ppm dissolved ozone, or continuously generated ozone-microbubbled solution containing 2.0ppm dissolved ozone. Similarly, for cherry tomatoes and strawberries, the continuously generated ozone-microbubbled solution containing 2.0ppm dissolved ozone was highly effective. These results showed that ozone microbubbles effectively removed residual pesticides not only from leafy vegetables but also from fruity vegetables.
In this study, the effects of ozone microbubbles (OMCB) treatment at various water temperatures on the removal of residual fenitrothion (FT) pesticides and on the physical properties of lettuce and ...cherry tomatoes was examined. The residual FT percentage in lettuce and cherry tomatoes was shown decreased by using higher water temperatures, particularly at 30 °C, resulting in a decrease within the range of 32% to 52%, after the 20‐min treatment. In addition, bubbling OMCB treatment did not alter the color and pulling strength of lettuce and cherry tomatoes. These results indicate that bubbling OMCB treatment at 30 °C is a highly effective method for the removal of FT residues in lettuce and cherry tomatoes, with relatively little effect on crop quality.
Practical Application: The bubbling OMCB has a potential of reducing the FT reduces on vegetables with no adverse effect on the sensory quality of vegetables.
Patient satisfaction is an important outcome of total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, we cannot predict how and why patients are satisfied or dissatisfied with TKA. The hypothesis of this study was ...that patient-reported outcomes (PROs) correlate with in vivo kinematics after TKA.
One hundred knees were analyzed after TKA. The in vivo kinematics of deep knee bending motion were estimated from single-plane fluoroscopy using a two-to-three-dimensional registration technique. Active knee flexion, femoral rotation and rollback were evaluated. The PROs were obtained after surgery using the 2011 Knee Society Scoring System (KSS), and their relationship with in vivo kinematics was determined.
The average minimum and maximum flexion were -2.4 ± 7.3° and 113.2 ± 13.6°, respectively. The average femoral rotation was 7.4 ± 3.4°, and the average medial and lateral rollback were 2.4 ± 4.8 mm and 7.2 ± 5.6 mm, respectively. The multiple regression analysis revealed that the maximum flexion angle significantly contributed to symptoms and satisfaction. In addition, lateral rollback was also a significant factor affecting patient satisfaction. Lateral rollback and lateral Anterior-Posterior (AP) position at maximum flexion were correlated with the maximum flexion angle, whereas femoral rotation did not correlate with flexion angles.
Maximum flexion and lateral rollback are important for better patient satisfaction after TKA. To obtain the maximum flexion angle, it was necessary to perform the normal kinematic pattern with a large amount of lateral rollback.
Summary
Background and Objective
Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and inhaled corticosteroids combined with long‐acting beta2‐agonist (ICS/LABA) are standard treatments for asthma. However, factors that ...might help reduce medication in well‐controlled asthma are unknown. We classified problems of asthma patients into biological, psychological and adherence factors, and investigated factors associated with the indication and failure of a medication step‐down treatment.
Methods
Two hundred twenty two well‐controlled asthma patients receiving ICS or ICS/LABA were assessed for physical and psychiatric problems and followed up for one year from adjustment of their treatment step. Factor B was defined as a presence of chronic upper airway complications. Factor P was defined as presence of psychiatric complications such as sleep disorder, depression, anxiety and somatoform disorders. Factor A was defined as poor adherence to ICS or ICS/LABA inhaler of 75% or less. Success in step‐down treatment was defined as maintenance of well‐controlled status for over one year after step‐down.
Results
Factor B was the most important single negative predictive factor for indication for step‐down treatment (Odds ratio; 0.19). Factor A increased the risk of failure to maintain step‐down treatment most significantly by 23‐fold, and factor B increased it by 11‐fold. The combination of factors B and A increased failure by 24‐fold, factors P and A by 21‐fold, all three factors by 36‐fold. Factor P only interacted with the other factors to reduce chances of stepping down, but did not constitute a problem factor when present alone.
Conclusion and Clinical Relevance
The evaluation of biological, psychological and adherence problems may lead to a more proactive and targeted approach to step‐down treatment for patients with well‐controlled asthma.
PDF
