Coordination of Geological and Engineering Research in Support of the Gulf Coast Co-Production Program

Shallow-marine sandstones in Northeast Hitchcock field having high porosities and permeabilities contain abundant authigenic kaolinite and have acted as preferential conduits for fluid migration. Authigenic clay creates fluid production problems because of its delicate structure. Dislodged clay will obstruct pore throats at high production rates. A maximum safe rate of fluid production will need to be determined for co-produced wells. Middle and lower Miocene barrier-island sands in Northeast Hitchcock field have the potential for receiving large volumes of co-produced brines. These sands have permeabilities in excess of 2,000 md, are internally homogeneous, and are laterally extensive in the field area. Detailed geologic analyses of two reservoirs in Seeligson field delineate heterogeneous, fluvial sandstones that probably contain isolated, undrained reservoir compartments. Zone 15 can be subdivided into at least four genetic sandstones, and Zone 18-C can be subdivided into two separate sandstones. Two new pool discoveries (Miocene) in Tom O'Connor field developed during growth-fault activity along the Vicksburg Fault Zone. Deposition of these sandstones, as part of an offshore system during initial parasequence deposition, was confined between the Vicksburg Fault Zone and the Tom O'Connor anticlinal crest.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Coordination of Geological and Engineering Research in Support of the Gulf Coast Co-Production Program - Final Report

At Northeast Hitchcock field, the presence of the Skolithos assemblage and other structures has supported the interpretation of shallow-marine, tidal, distributary-mouth-bar, and channel depositional environments for most of the major reservoir sandstones. Several shaly horizons exhibit characteristics of interdistributary bays, and the Frio A is capped by a thin sequence of crevasse splays and washover sands that represent the initiation of the transgression that overlapped the Frio in Anahuac times. The high-energy depositional environment of reworked distributary-mouth-bar sandstones is the major control of the high porosity (around 30 percent) and permeability (around 1,000 millidarcies) in Frio A sandstones at Northeast Hitchcock field. Well-winnowed sandstones with high porosities and permeabilities contain abundant authigenic kaolinite and have served as preferential conduits for migrating acid waters and major fluid flow during co-production. Authigenic clay can create fluid production problems due to its delicate structure. Dislodged clay may obstruct pore throats at high production rates, necessitating the determination of a maximum safe rate of fluid production for co-produced wells. Middle and lower Miocene barrier island sands, buried at depths from 3,500 to 6,800 feet in Northeast Hitchcock field, have the potential to receive large volumes of co-produced brines from the Frio 1-A reservoir. These sands exhibit high permeabilities exceeding 2,000 millidarcies, are internally homogeneous, and are laterally extensive in the field area. The 6,150-foot sand (lower Miocene) was chosen for initial brine disposal in the H.D.S. Thompson No. 3 brine-disposal well based on these criteria. The 3,780-foot sand (middle Miocene) is recommended for future up-hole brine disposal in the H.D.S. Thompson No. 3 well because it is shallower, requiring less injection pressure and lower costs for brine disposal.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Secondary Natural Gas Recovery: Targeted Technology Applications for Infield Reserve Growth in Fluvial Reservoirs in the Frio Formation Seeligson Field, South Texas

This report summarizes the results of a 3-year research program, including findings from a project experiment site in fluvial reservoirs within Seeligson field. These reservoirs comprise channel-fill and crevasse-splay sandstones, levee siltstones, and floodplain siltstones and mudstones. Despite Seeligson field's poorly contacted reservoir compartments, its potential for secondary gas recovery in the middle Frio Formation is lower compared to other fields in the FR-4 play. Seeligson field features well-connected fluvial sandstones that have been efficiently drained by a relatively higher number of completions. In contrast, many other fields in the play (such as Stratton and Agua Dulce) contain less intensively completed, isolated fluvial sandstones, representing uncontacted reservoir compartments. Differences in fluvial reservoir architecture and completion practices must be considered as an important aspect of any infield exploration program for fields in the FR-4 play and other gas plays.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Secondary Natural Gas Recovery: Targeted Technology Applications for Infield Reserve Growth

Activities during the year comprised screening and selection of gas fields for detailed studies; integrated geological, petrophysical, geophysical, and engineering analyses of the fields selected; and data acquisition in cooperative wells. A comprehensive workplan was prepared, and a methodology for geological and engineering screening of sandstone reservoirs was developed and applied to leading candidate fields. Contacts made with field operators resulted in active participation of Mobil Exploration and Producing U.S., Inc., and Shell Western Exploration and Production Inc. Lake Creek, Seeligson, McAllen Ranch, and Stratton-Agua Dulce fields were selected for study. These fields are representative of a spectrum of depositional systems and reservoir heterogeneities in highly productive gas reservoirs in the Texas coastal plain. Producing intervals are fluvial Frio reservoirs in Seeligson and Stratton-Agua Dulce fields, deltaic Vicksburg reservoirs in McAllen Ranch field, and deltaic Wilcox reservoirs in Lake Creek field. New data, comprising cores, open- and cased-hole logs, vertical seismic profiles, and sequential formation-pressure tests, were acquired in two wells in Seeligson field and in one well in McAllen Ranch field. Results to date suggest that reservoir heterogeneity can be defined using integrated geologic, geophysical, and engineering data.Bureau of Economic Geolog

MusMorph, a database of standardized mouse morphology data for morphometric meta-analyses

Complex morphological traits are the product of many genes with transient or lasting developmental effects that interact in anatomical context. Mouse models are a key resource for disentangling such effects, because they offer myriad tools for manipulating the genome in a controlled environment. Unfortunately, phenotypic data are often obtained using laboratory-specific protocols, resulting in self-contained datasets that are difficult to relate to one another for larger scale analyses. To enable meta-analyses of morphological variation, particularly in the craniofacial complex and brain, we created MusMorph, a database of standardized mouse morphology data spanning numerous genotypes and developmental stages, including E10.5, E11.5, E14.5, E15.5, E18.5, and adulthood. To standardize data collection, we implemented an atlas-based phenotyping pipeline that combines techniques from image registration, deep learning, and morphometrics. Alongside stage-specific atlases, we provide aligned micro-computed tomography images, dense anatomical landmarks, and segmentations (if available) for each specimen (N = 10,056). Our workflow is open-source to encourage transparency and reproducible data collection. The MusMorph data and scripts are available on FaceBase (www.facebase.org, https://doi.org/10.25550/3-HXMC) and GitHub (https://github.com/jaydevine/MusMorph)

MusMorph, a database of standardized mouse morphology data for morphometric meta-analyses.

Complex morphological traits are the product of many genes with transient or lasting developmental effects that interact in anatomical context. Mouse models are a key resource for disentangling such effects, because they offer myriad tools for manipulating the genome in a controlled environment. Unfortunately, phenotypic data are often obtained using laboratory-specific protocols, resulting in self-contained datasets that are difficult to relate to one another for larger scale analyses. To enable meta-analyses of morphological variation, particularly in the craniofacial complex and brain, we created MusMorph, a database of standardized mouse morphology data spanning numerous genotypes and developmental stages, including E10.5, E11.5, E14.5, E15.5, E18.5, and adulthood. To standardize data collection, we implemented an atlas-based phenotyping pipeline that combines techniques from image registration, deep learning, and morphometrics. Alongside stage-specific atlases, we provide aligned micro-computed tomography images, dense anatomical landmarks, and segmentations (if available) for each specimen (N = 10,056). Our workflow is open-source to encourage transparency and reproducible data collection. The MusMorph data and scripts are available on FaceBase ( www.facebase.org , https://doi.org/10.25550/3-HXMC ) and GitHub ( https://github.com/jaydevine/MusMorph )

Geologic Studies of Geopressured and Hydropressured Zones in Texas: Test-Well Site Selection

The primary objective achieved in this project was to identify sites for test wells capable of long-term production of methane-bearing water from the shallow geopressured and deep hydropressured zones. The process of test-well site selection involved several steps, each contributing to the basic knowledge of shallow geopressured and deep hydropressured aquifers. First, zones within the geopressured and deep hydropressured section of the Texas Gulf Coast Tertiary were defined based on pressure gradients and temperatures. Next, high-sandstone corridors, corresponding to the trends of the Wilcox Group and Frio Formation, were identified for each of these zones. Five fairways, or areas of greatest net-sandstone thickness, were located within the corridors. Areas most prospective for testing entrained methane resources in the shallow geopressured and deep hydropressured zones were identified in each fairway. Finally, test sites were selected in four of the prospect areas: the Blessing Prospect in Matagorda County, the Nueces Bay and Corpus Channel Prospects in San Patricio and Nueces Counties, and the Sarita Prospect in Kleberg County. Knowledge gained from these geologic studies and subsequent testing will be significant in (1) evaluating the technical and economic feasibility of producing solution gas from the shallow geopressured and deep hydropressured zones, and (2) comparing these zones with deeper, hotter geopressured zones (studied previously in DOE-funded projects) as sources of entrained methane.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Soluble Nogo66 receptor promotes retinal ganglion cell survival after optic nerve transection and ocular hypertension-induced glaucoma injuries

Three myelin proteins bind to the neuronal Nogo66 receptor (NgR1) that mediates the inhibition of axonal regeneration possibly via two transmembrane coreceptors, LINGO-1 and p75/TROY in the central nervous system (CNS). Modulation of the interactions of these myelin inhibitory proteins with NgR1 can overcome the inhibitory effects of CNS myelin in vitro and in vivo in models of spinal cord injuries. In addition to previous studies that have focused on the roles of NgR1 antagonists in promoting axonal regeneration, here we examined the effect of a soluble fragment of NgR1, sNgR1(27-310)-Fc fusion protein, when injected intravitrealy immediately after injury, on retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival after ocular hypertension (chronic injury) and optic nerve transection (acute injury). The results showed that sNgR1(27-310)-Fc significantly reduced the loss of RGCs in the ocular hypertension glaucoma model 2 weeks after injury and promoted the survival of RGCs 7 days after optic nerve transection. Thus, sNgR1(27-310)-Fc may exhibit neuroprotective activity in addition to its NgR1 antagonist activity that promotes CNS axonal regeneration. Corresponding authors: KF So and DHS Lee. Supported by Biogen Idec Inc

The anti-NgR1 antibody, 1D9, rescues rat retinal ganglion cells after optic nerve transection and ocular hypertension-induced glaucoma

The neuronal leucine rich repeat protein, Nogo66 receptor [NgR1], interacts with at least three CNS myelin proteins [Nogo, MAG and OMgp] and mediates the inhibition of neurite growth. Here we report a monoclonal anti-NgR1 antibody, 1D9, that in addition to inhibiting these interactions in vitro, exhibits neuroprotective properties in vitro and in vivo. Structural analyses performed on the co-crystal complex of the 1D9 Fab and a soluble fragment of NgR1 (sNgR310) indicate that this antibody binds near the junction of the N-terminus cap and leucine rich repeat domain on NgR1. Treatment with 1D9 protected primary neuronal cultures from insults derived from serum withdrawal. Direct intravitreal administration of 1D9 Fab, but not the full 1D9 mAb, consistently promoted the survival of retinal ganglion cells in an optic nerve transection model and an ocular hypertension induced glaucoma model in rat. The lack of activity of the full 1D9 mAb may be partially attributed to NgR1 activation via receptor cross-linking as demonstrated by rhoA activation assay. These results suggest that 1D9 Fab may confer neuroprotection to specific subsets of neurons. Equal contribution: B Hu, A Jirik, and Q Fu Corresponding authors: KF So and DHS Le

Antigen-Induced Pten Gene Deletion in T Cells Exacerbates Neuropathology in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

The Pten tumor suppressor gene is critical for normal intrathymic development of T cells; however, its role in mature antigen-activated T cells is less well defined. A genetically crossed mouse line, Ptenfl/fl GBC, in which Pten gene deletions could be primarily confined to antigen-activated CD8+ T cells, enabled us to evaluate the consequences of Pten loss on the course of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Compared with Ptenfl/fl controls, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) peptide-immunized Ptenfl/fl GBC mice developed more severe and protracted disease. This was accompanied by increased spinal cord white matter myelin basic protein depletion and axonal damage, as well as a striking persistence of macrophage and granzyme B-expressing cellular neuroinfiltrates in the chronic phase of the disease. This persistence may be explained by the observation that anti-CD3 activated Ptenfl/fl GBC T cells were more resistant to proapoptotic stimuli. Consistent with the predicted consequences of Pten loss, purified CD8+ T cells from Ptenfl/fl GBC mice displayed augmented proliferative responses to anti-T-cell receptor stimulation, and MOG-primed Ptenfl/fl GBC T cells exhibited a reduced activation threshold to MOG peptide. Ptenfl/fl GBC mice also developed atypical central nervous system disease, manifested by prominent cervical cord and forebrain involvement. Collectively, our findings indicate that the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathway is an essential regulator of CD8+ T-cell effector function in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis