Experimental investigation on permeability and mechanical deformation of coal containing gas under load

Coalbed effective permeability is widely used as a primary index to evaluate gas-drainage effect in CBM exploitation field. However, it seems to be difficult to obtain by the reason of dynamic change in close relationship with crustal stress, methane pressure, porosity, and adsorption. Due to their dissimilar adsorption properties and tectonic deformation degrees, different types of coal containing gas have various stress-strain and gas seepage curves. The paper presents the experimental investigations of the dynamic relationship between coal permeability and deformation under load. In this work, stress-strain and permeability investigations were performed using anthracite lump with a vitrinite reflectance of about 3.24% at various pressures and temperatures. The permeability (including the initial, minimum, and maximum) decreased with increasing temperature. At a constant confining pressure, the strains in different directions almost all increased with increasing axial stress and decreased with increasing pore methane pressure during the prefracture stage. At a constant pore pressure, the compression strength of the coal specimens increased approximately linearly during the prefracture stage and sharply decreased during the postfracture stage, while the permeability decreased rapidly and then increased slowly during the prefracture and remained stable during the postfracture stage. The permeability of the coal specimens mainly depended on the inner fissures. The permeability was greater during the postfracture than that during the prefracture stage. At the same temperature, the gas seepage curve of each coal specimen could be divided into three sections: decreasing, increasing, and constant sections. The necessary time for the permeability to reach a steady state increased as the confining and pore pressures increased. At high confining pressures (i.e., 6 MPa and 8 MPa), no significant differences between the methane seepage velocities of the specimens were evident, and their seepage curves were similar to prefracture. However, clear differences were observable at the postfracture stage. The seepage abilities of the coal specimens were more sensitive to stress than temperature in the same condition

SNP Assay Development for Linkage Map Construction, Anchoring Whole-Genome Sequence, and Other Genetic and Genomic Applications in Common Bean.

A total of 992,682 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was identified as ideal for Illumina Infinium II BeadChip design after sequencing a diverse set of 17 common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L) varieties with the aid of next-generation sequencing technology. From these, two BeadChips each with >5000 SNPs were designed. The BARCBean6K_1 BeadChip was selected for the purpose of optimizing polymorphism among market classes and, when possible, SNPs were targeted to sequence scaffolds in the Phaseolus vulgaris 14× genome assembly with sequence lengths >10 kb. The BARCBean6K_2 BeadChip was designed with the objective of anchoring additional scaffolds and to facilitate orientation of large scaffolds. Analysis of 267 F2 plants from a cross of varieties Stampede × Red Hawk with the two BeadChips resulted in linkage maps with a total of 7040 markers including 7015 SNPs. With the linkage map, a total of 432.3 Mb of sequence from 2766 scaffolds was anchored to create the Phaseolus vulgaris v1.0 assembly, which accounted for approximately 89% of the 487 Mb of available sequence scaffolds of the Phaseolus vulgaris v0.9 assembly. A core set of 6000 SNPs (BARCBean6K_3 BeadChip) with high genotyping quality and polymorphism was selected based on the genotyping of 365 dry bean and 134 snap bean accessions with the BARCBean6K_1 and BARCBean6K_2 BeadChips. The BARCBean6K_3 BeadChip is a useful tool for genetics and genomics research and it is widely used by breeders and geneticists in the United States and abroad

Kindlin-1 regulates keratinocyte electrotaxis

Kindler syndrome (KS) is an autosomal recessive blistering skin disease resulting from pathogenic mutations in FERMT1. This gene encodes kindlin-1, a focal adhesion protein involved in activation of the integrin family of extracellular matrix receptors. Most cases of KS show a marked reduction or complete absence of the kindlin-1 protein in keratinocytes, resulting in defective cell adhesion and migration. Electric fields also act as intrinsic regulators of adhesion and migration in the skin, but the molecular mechanisms by which this occurs are poorly understood. Here we show that keratinocytes derived from KS patients are unable to undergo electrotaxis, and this defect is restored by overexpression of wild-type kindlin-1 but not a W612A mutation that prevents kindlin-integrin binding. Moreover, deletion of the pleckstrin homology domain of kindlin-1 also failed to rescue electrotaxis in KS cells, indicating that both integrin and lipid binding are required for this function. Kindlin-1 was also required for the maintenance of lamellipodial protrusions during electrotaxis via electric field-activated β1 integrin. Indeed, inhibition of β1 integrins also leads to loss of electrotaxis in keratinocytes. Our data suggest that loss of kindlin-1 function may therefore result in epithelial insensitivity to electric fields and contribute to KS disease pathology

Comprehensive Fractal Description of Porosity of Coal of Different Ranks

We selected, as the objects of our research, lignite from the Beizao Mine, gas coal from the Caiyuan Mine, coking coal from the Xiqu Mine, and anthracite from the Guhanshan Mine. We used the mercury intrusion method and the low-temperature liquid nitrogen adsorption method to analyze the structure and shape of the coal pores and calculated the fractal dimensions of different aperture segments in the coal. The experimental results show that the fractal dimension of the aperture segment of lignite, gas coal, and coking coal with an aperture of greater than or equal to 10 nm, as well as the fractal dimension of the aperture segment of anthracite with an aperture of greater than or equal to 100 nm, can be calculated using the mercury intrusion method; the fractal dimension of the coal pore, with an aperture range between 2.03 nm and 361.14 nm, can be calculated using the liquid nitrogen adsorption method, of which the fractal dimensions bounded by apertures of 10 nm and 100 nm are different. Based on these findings, we defined and calculated the comprehensive fractal dimensions of the coal pores and achieved the unity of fractal dimensions for full apertures of coal pores, thereby facilitating, overall characterization for the heterogeneity of the coal pore structure

Heat increases the editing efficiency of human papillomavirus E2 gene by inducing upregulation of APOBEC3A and 3G

Apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing catalytic polypeptide (APOBEC) 3 proteins have been identified as potent viral DNA mutators and have broad antiviral activity. In this study, we demonstrated that apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing catalytic polypeptide 3A (A3A) and A3G expression levels were significantly upregulated in human papillomavirus (HPV)-infected cell lines and tissues. Heat treatment resulted in elevated expression of A3A and A3G in a temperature-dependent manner in HPV-infected cells. Correspondingly, HPV-infected cells heat-treated at 44 °C showed accumulated G-to-A or C-to-T mutation in HPV E2 gene. Knockdown of A3A or A3G could promote cell viability, along with the lower frequency of A/T in HPV E2 gene. In addition, regressing genital viral warts also harbored high G-to-A or C-to-T mutation in HPV E2 gene. Taken together, we demonstrate that apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing catalytic polypeptide 3 expression and editing function was heat sensitive to a certain degree, partly explaining the mechanism of action of local hyperthermia to treat viral warts

Failure mechanism of tip-to-face roof based on energy method and experimental investigation of support-strata interaction

In order to study the stability and influencing factors of the end face roof of the full-mechanized mining face, a mechanical model of tip-to-face roof stability was developed in this study with a combination of the energy method and the “roof-support-coal” system. Meanwhile, the load monitoring system on the canopy of the support and the digital image measuring technique were utilized in a physical simulation model to analyze the influence factors of tip-to-face roof fall, the roof failure characteristics and the evolution characteristics of pressure distribution on the canopy of the support. The results showed that the stability coefficient of the immediate roof within 1 m behind the coal wall was less than 0 based on the mechanical model of tip-to-face roof stability, indicating a high risk of roof collapse in this area. In addition, the vertical and horizontal displacement of the immediate roof increased with the increase of the distance behind the coal wall. Enhancing the working resistance of the support can also reduce the roof subsidence, and the higher roof cohesion and internal friction angle can improve the tip-to-face roof stability. On the other hand, the tip-to-face roof caving, roof broken and roof crushing were observed in sequence during the process of the physical simulation experiments. The middle section of the canopy showed the largest measured pressure, followed by the front and rear sections of the canopy in the descending order. When the roof was intact, the support showed adequate setting load and working resistance, and the interaction between the support and the strata was in good condition. As the roof was broken and led to an unfavorable support position, the support showed a loss of working resistance or an unbalanced loading condition, which may easily result in the crack development in the roof, tip-to-face roof cavity, an iron-bound support and an awful support-strata coupling. According to the digital image measuring technique, the maximum shear strain was found near the tip-to-face area during the tip-to-face roof caving stage. Lastly, it can be concluded that the coupling between the support and strata is closely correlated to the tip-to-face roof stability. Thus, maintaining a good support-strata interaction is beneficial to the stability of the tip-to-face roof

The role of Kv1.2 channel in electrotaxis cell migration

Voltage-gated potassium Kv1.2 channels play pivotal role in maintaining of resting membrane potential and, consequently, regulation of cellular excitability of neurons. Endogenously generated electric field (EF) have been proven as an important regulator for cell migration and tissue repair. The mechanisms of ion channel involvement in EF-induced cell responses are extensively studied but largely are poorly understood. In this study we generated three COS-7 clones with different expression levels of Kv1.2 channel, and confirmed their functional variations with patch clamp analysis. Time-lapse imaging analysis showed that EF-induced cell migration response was Kv1.2 channel expression level depended. Inhibition of Kv1.2 channels with charybdotoxin (ChTX) constrained the sensitivity of COS-7 cells to EF stimulation more than their motility. Immunocytochemistry and pull-down analyses demonstrated association of Kv1.2 channels with actin-binding protein cortactin and its re-localization to the cathode-facing membrane at EF stimulation, which confirms the mechanism of EF-induced directional migration. This study displays that Kv1.2 channels represent an important physiological link in EF-induced cell migration. The described mechanism suggests a potential application of EF which may improve therapeutic performance in curing injuries of neuronal and/or cardiac tissue repair, post operational therapy, and various degenerative syndromes

Abundance of SSR Motifs and Development of Candidate Polymorphic SSR Markers (BARCSOYSSR_1.0) in Soybean

Simple sequence repeat (SSR) genetic markers, also referred to as microsatellites, function in map-based cloning and for marker-assisted selection in plant breeding. The objectives of this study were to determine the abundance of SSRs in the soybean genome and to develop and test soybean SSR markers to create a database of locus-specific markers with a high likelihood of polymorphism. A total of 210,990 SSRs with di-, tri-, and tetranucleotide repeats of five or more were identified in the soybean whole genome sequence (WGS) which included 61,458 SSRs consisting of repeat units of di- (≥10), tri- (≥8), and tetranucleotide (≥7). Among the 61,458 SSRs, (AT)n, (ATT)n and (AAAT)n were the most abundant motifs among di-, tri-, and tetranucleotide SSRs, respectively. After screening for a number of factors including locus-specificity using e-PCR, a soybean SSR database (BARCSOYSSR_1.0) with the genome position and primer sequences for 33,065 SSRs was created. To examine the likelihood that primers in the database would function to amplify locus-specific polymorphic products, 1034 primer sets were evaluated by amplifying DNAs of seven diverse Glycine max (L.) Merr. and one wild soybean (Glycine soja Siebold & Zucc.) genotypes. A total of 978 (94.6%) of the primer sets amplified a single polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product and 798 (77.2%) amplified polymorphic amplicons as determined by 4.5% agarose gel electrophoresis. The BARCSOYSSR1.0 SSR markers can be found in Soy- Base (http://soybase.org; verified 21 June 2010) the USDA-ARS Soybean Genome Database

Preliminary safety assessment of a membrane-bound delta 9 desaturase candidate protein for transgenic oilseed crops

AbstractA gene encoding delta 9 desaturase (D9DS), an integral membrane protein, is being considered for incorporation into oilseed crops to reduce saturated fatty acids and thus improve human nutritional value. Typically, a safety assessment for transgenic crops involves purifying heterologously produced transgenic proteins in an active form for use in safety studies. Membrane-bound proteins have been very difficult to isolate in an active form due to their inherent physicochemical properties. Described here are methods used to derive enriched preparations of the active D9DS protein for use in early stage safety studies. Results of these studies, in combination with bioinformatic results and knowledge of the mode of action of the protein, along with a history of safe consumption of related proteins, provides a weight of evidence supporting the safety of the D9DS protein in food and feed