Silica, alumina and aluminosilicates as solid stationary phases in gas chromatography

Silica, alumina and Aluminosilicates of different Si/Al ratios were prepared by conventional precipitation or co-precipitation methods and then subjected to thermal treatment at 800 °C. The parent and thermally treated materials were characterized by means of FTIR, SEM and thermal analysis (DTA and TGA) in order to elucidate the main structural properties. Surface textural characteristics were investigated by means of nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms at −196 °C. Pore size distribution curves indicated the presence of mesopores (10–150 Å) exhibiting maxima at 35 Å. The maxima were shifted toward higher values by increasing the alumina content. Thermodynamic parameters, ΔH, ΔG and ΔS, were determined by means of inverse gas chromatography using n-hexane as a probe. The untreated and thermally treated materials were tested as solid stationary phases in gas chromatography. The separation efficiency of various non polar and polar compounds was explained in terms of surface texture and thermodynamic parameters

Fingerprinting of biomarker characteristics of some Egyptian crude oils in Northern Western Desert as evidence for organic matter input and maturity level assessment

This study describes the fingerprinting of crude oils from different Egyptian oil formations using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The samples were obtained from Gindi, Abu El gharadig, south deep Abu El gharadig, Dahab- Merier and Faghur basins from Western Desert. Diagnostic biomarkers parameters applied in this study provide evidences about the source of organic matter, the depositional environment and maturity of the studied oils. The results showed that the crude oils of Faghur basin are believed to be originated from mixed source predominately terrestrial with chief contribution of clastic rocks deposited under oxic conditions. However, the crude oils from Gindi, Abu El gharadig, South deep Abu El gharadig and Dahab- Merier basins were generated from marine carbonate source rock deposited under anoxic depositional environment. Keywords: Egypt, Biomarkers, GC–MS, Depositional environment, Maturity, Western Deser

Distribution of triterpanes and steranes biomarkers as indication of organic matters input and depositional environments of crude oils of oilfields in Gulf of Suez, Egypt

Eight crude oils collected from different oilfields distributed within the northern, central and southern Gulf of Suez basin to detect the distribution of triterpanes and steranes biomarkers as indication of organic matter input and depositional environments of crude oils and lithology of organic matters. This achieved throughout the application of gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis. The results revealed that the Gulf of Suez samples are believed to be of marine organic matter input deposited under anoxic depositional environment. Off shore samples S3 and S4 from Central Province of Gulf of Suez basin show low maturity levels, while the other samples which were of higher maturity levels. Keywords: Triterpanes, Steranes, Crude oils, Gulf of Suez, Egyp

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale. Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter; identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation; analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution; describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity; and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes