Geologic Evaluation of Critical Production Parameters for Coalbed Methane Resources: Part 1, San Juan Basin

The Fruitland Formation in the San Juan Basin is the major producer of coalbed methane in the Western U.S. Forty-three to forty-nine Tcf of methane occur in 245 billion short tons of Fruitland coal at depths between 400 and 4,200 ft. Thickest Fruitland coal seams trend northwest and occur in the northern part of the basin, northeast of a syndepositional, structural hinge line; they occur in coastal plain facies southwest of Pictured Cliffs barrier/strandplain sandstones. South of the hinge line, northeast-trending coal seams occur in floodplain facies between northeast-trending Fruitland fluvial systems. Face cleat trends in Fruitland coal seams are predominantly northeast in the southern two-thirds of the basin and northwest but variable in the northern third. Suggested targets for enhanced coalbed permeability are tectonic fractures and fractures associated with subtle folds. Fruitland Formation waters are evolved meteoric waters; water composition reflects hydrologic setting. Waters in the north-central San Juan Basin have high alkalinity and low chlorinity; waters in the southern part are Na-Cl type. Distribution of low-chloride ground water in the Fruitland Formation in the north-central basin coincides with the overpressured area and with flow patterns inferred from the head map. The Fruitland Formation acts regionally as a single hydrologic unit or homogeneous aquifer, but large pressure gradients locally indicate that Fruitland strata may be hydraulically disconnected and behave at the field scale as compartmentalized aquifers. Hydrologic studies defined reservoir characteristics and permeability boundaries in the Fruitland Formation. Geologic and hydrologic parameters were used to divide the San Juan Basin into areas in which coal beds have similar reservoir characteristics. Coalbed wells have negative declines early in their production history followed by exponential decline rates at less than 5 percent/year. Sandstone wells that exhibit coal-decline behavior probably are producing coalbed methane indirectly from coal seams.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Cross-Boarder Teaching and Collaboration

Since the publication of Best Practices for Legal Education, the globalization of both legal education and law practice has exploded. Today’s lawyers increasingly serve border-crossing clients or clients who present with transnational legal issues. As law schools expand their international programs, and enroll increasing numbers of non-U.S. law students, law students transcend cultural and legal borders. As a result, they deepen their understanding of—and sharpen their critical perspective on—their own national systems. Similarly, U.S. law teachers are increasingly called to engage in border-crossing teaching and other academic pursuits. Best Practices did not address these issues. The primary aim of this chapter of Building on Best Practices: Transforming Legal Education in a Changing World (Lexis 2015) is to identify best practices for law teachers engaged with non-U.S. or “international” learners who study or train in a U.S.-style learning environment, either in the United States or abroad. This chapter also addresses collaboration of U.S. law teachers with their counterparts abroad in such areas as developing innovative teaching and clinical legal education, training and research. It identifies eight guiding principles that cut across types of international learning and then applies these principles to three specific contexts: 1) teaching international students in U.S. law school settings; 2) integrating international students in U.S.-based clinics; and 3) collaborating in legal education and reform efforts with law teachers abroad.https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/faculty-chapters/1001/thumbnail.jp

Coronary angiographic morphology in myocardial infarction: A link between the pathogenesis of unstable angina and myocardial infarction

It has previously been shown that analysis of coronary morphology can separate unstable from stable angina. An eccentric stenosis with a narrow neck or irregular borders, or both, is very common in patients who present with acute unstable angina, whereas it is rare in patients with stable angina. To extend these observations to myocardial infarction, the coronary morphology of 41 patients with acute or recent infarction and nontotally occluded infarct vessels was studied. For all patients, 27 (66%) of 41 infarct vessels contained this eccentric narrowing, whereas only 2 (11%) of 18 noninfarct vessels with narrowing of 50 to less than 100% had this lesion (p < 0.001). In addition, a separate group of patients with acute myocardial infarction who underwent intracoronary streptokinase infusion were also analyzed in similar fashion. Fourteen (61%) of 23 infarct vessels contained this lesion after streptokinase infusion compared with 1 (9%) of 11 noninfarct vessels with narrowing of 50 to less than 100% (p < 0.01).Therefore, an eccentric coronary stenosis with a narrow neck or irregular borders, or both, is the most common morphologic feature on angiography in both acute and recent infarction as well as unstable angina. This lesion probably represents either a disrupted atherosclerotic plaque or a partially occlusive or lysed thrombus, or both. The predominance of this morphology in both unstable angina and acute infarction suggests a possible link between these two conditions. Unstable angina and myocardial infarction may form a continuous spectrum with the clinical outcome dependent on the subsequent change in coronary supply relative to myocardial demand

The relationship between anogenital distance and fertility, and genome-wide associations for anogenital distance in Irish Holstein-Friesian cows

peer-reviewedThe evaluation of anogenital distance (AGD), the distance from the center of the anus to base of the clitoris, as a potential fertility trait for genetic selection in dairy cows has generated recent interest. The objectives of this cross-sectional observational study were to (1) characterize the distribution and variability of AGD, (2) determine factors associated with AGD, (3) estimate heritability for AGD, (4) identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) associated with phenotypic variation of AGD, and (5) validate the relationship between categories of AGD and fertility in Irish Holstein-Friesian cows. Anogenital distance was measured using digital calipers in 1,180 Holstein cows (mean ± standard deviation: 225 ± 79 d in milk) from 10 dairy herds located in Munster, Ireland. In addition, age (yr), weight (kg), height at hip (cm), and body condition score (BCS) at the time of AGD measurement were determined in a subset of 281 cows. Genotype information available from 908 cows was subsequently imputed to the Illumina Bovine High Density BeadChip (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA) for genome-wide association analysis of phenotypic variation in AGD. Overall, AGD had a normal distribution and high variability (mean ± standard deviation; 119.2 ± 11.6 mm). Anogenital distance was weakly but positively associated with cow age, hip height, and body weight, and negatively associated with BCS; the phenotypic variation in AGD that was explainable by these variables was small (coefficient of determination; R2 = 0.09, 0.06, 0.10, and 0.02, respectively). The estimated heritability for AGD was 0.37 (standard error of mean ± 0.08). Six SNP of suggestive significance were identified on Bos taurus autosomes 6, 15, 20, and 26; however, none of these SNP was related to previously identified candidate genes for fertility. Cows were categorized into quartiles (Q1; 86 to 111 mm; n = 311, Q2; 112 to 120 mm; n = 330; Q3; 121 to 127 mm; n = 265, and Q4; 128 to 160 mm; n = 274) based on AGD and the association with reproductive outcomes examined (21-d submission rate, pregnancy to first AI, pregnancy rate within 21, 42 and 84-d after the farm mating start date, and number of times bred). None of the reproductive variables differed significantly between AGD categories. In summary, despite identification of high variability and moderate heritability for AGD in Irish Holstein-Friesian cows, reproductive outcomes did not differ between categories of AGD. This latter result differs from our previous finding of an inverse relationship between AGD and pregnancy outcomes in first- and second-parity Canadian Holstein cows, emphasizing the need to test and validate this new phenotype in diverse cow populations

Virulence Genes among Enterococcus faecalis

Most Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium are harmless to humans; however, strains harboring virulence genes, including esp, gelE, cylA, asa1, and hyl, have been associated with human infections. E. faecalis and E. faecium are present in beach waters worldwide, yet little is known about their virulence potential. Here, multiplex PCR was used to compare the distribution of virulence genes among E. faecalis and E. faecium isolated from beaches in Southern California and Puerto Rico to isolates from potential sources including humans, animals, birds, and plants. All five virulence genes were found in E. faecalis and E. faecium from beach water, mostly among E. faecalis. gelE was the most common among isolates from all source types. There was a lower incidence of asa1, esp, cylA, and hyl genes among isolates from beach water, sewage, septage, urban runoff, sea wrack, and eelgrass as compared to human isolates, indicating that virulent strains of E. faecalis and E. faecium may not be widely disseminated at beaches. A higher frequency of asa1 and esp among E. faecalis from dogs and of asa1 among birds (mostly seagull) suggests that further studies on the distribution and virulence potential of strains carrying these genes may be warranted

Fatal breakthrough mucormycosis in a multivisceral transplant patient receiving micafungin: Case report and literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Antifungal agents are routinely used in the post-transplant setting for both prophylaxis and treatment of presumed and proven fungal infections. Micafungin is an echinocandin-class antifungal with broad antifungal cover and favorable side effect profile but, notably, it has no activity against molds of the order Mucorales. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 47-year-old woman underwent multivisceral transplantation for intestinal failure-associated liver disease. She had a prolonged post-operative recovery complicated by invasive candidiasis and developed an intolerance to liposomal amphotericin B. In view of her immunosuppression, she was commenced on micafungin as prophylaxis to prevent invasive fungal infection. However, she developed acute graft versus host disease with bone marrow failure complicated by disseminated mucormycosis which was only diagnosed post mortem. DISCUSSION: Non-Aspergillus breakthrough mold infections with micafungin therapy are rare with only eight other cases having been described in the literature. Breakthrough infections have occurred within one week of starting micafungin. Diagnosis is problematic and requires a high degree of clinical suspicion and microscopic/histological examination of an involved site. The management of these aggressive infections involves extensive debridement and appropriate antifungal cover. CONCLUSION: A high level of suspicion of invasive fungal infection is required at all times in immunosuppressed patients, even those receiving antifungal prophylaxis. Early biopsy is required. Even with early recognition and aggressive treatment of these infections, prognosis is poor