Determination of Electrical Parameters in Carbonates with Micro-CT, NMR and Gas Displacement Experiments

Understanding the electrical characteristics of carbonate formation and accurately determining the electrical parameters (cementation exponent m and saturation exponent n in Archie equation) are very important for carbonate formations evaluation. However, the study of electrical characteristics faces great challenge because of the variable pore types, the complicated pore structure and the big heterogeneity in carbonates. We selected representative carbonate cores to carry out experiment research based on newly developed technologies in digital core analysis and resistivity test. Three types of cores were selected: the void space is mainly intergranular and intercrystalline; the vugs are developed; the fractures are developed. Firstly, the porosity and permeability of the selected cores have been tested. Then micro-CT with high resolution is used to scan the cores and NMR T2 spectrums of the cores both in water-saturated state and in bound water state are obtained. Finally, the resistivity of the cores in different water saturation is tested by using gas displacement technology. The analysis results of the experimental data show that the intergranular and intercrystalline pore and the fracture both have great influence on R0 while the influence of secondary vug on R0 is slight. Cementation exponent m and saturation exponent n have great difference between different cores and there is no obvious relation between m, n and reservoir parameters (φ or K). However, if we classify the cores based on the pore type, and the values of both m and n have good relationship with bound water saturation

Conformal screen printed graphene 4 × 4 wideband MIMO antenna on flexible substrate for 5G communication and IoT applications

From IOP Publishing via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2021-04-06, revised 2021-07-15, oa-requested 2021-07-29, accepted 2021-07-30, open-access 2021-08-20, epub 2021-08-20, ppub 2021-10Publication status: PublishedAbstract: Screen-printed graphene is integrated with multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology to conquer the most concerned surge in electronic waste caused by the mass deployment of Internet of things (IoT) applications. A flexible MIMO antenna is implemented with simple fabrication process suitable for large-scale production by screen printing graphene highly conductive ink on paper substrate, ensuring high-speed 5G mass data wireless transmission without damaging the ecological environment. This environmental-friendly, low-cost, flexible and conformal MIMO antenna with orthogonal polarization diversity employs co-planar waveguide feed and planar pattern for achieving high space utilization and better integration in most scenarios, for instance, body centric networks and monitoring systems. Excellent performance has been achieved due to the high conductivity of the graphene: the fabricated antenna exhibits an average sheet resistance of 1.9Ωsq−1 . The bandwidth of the antenna ranges from 2.22 GHz to 3.85 GHz (53.71% fractional bandwidth), covering 4G long term evolution, sub-6 GHz 5G mobile communication networks, 2.5 and 3.5 GHz WiMAX, and 2.4 and 3.6 GHz WLAN. Within this range, the antenna exhibits effective radiation, also its envelope correlation coefficient remains below 0.2×10−6 , manifesting outstanding signal transmission quality in a variety of wireless networks. This work illustrates a novel aggregation of MIMO technology and graphene printing electronics, enabling cheap accessible and green MIMO antennas to be massively integrated in IoT applications

A ribosomally synthesised and post-translationally modified peptide containing a β-enamino acid and a macrocyclic motif

Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) are structurally complex natural products with diverse bioactivities. Here we report discovery of a RiPP, kintamdin, for which the structure is determined through spectroscopy, spectrometry and genomic analysis to feature a bis-thioether macrocyclic ring and a β-enamino acid residue. Biosynthetic investigation demonstrated that its pathway relies on four dedicated proteins: phosphotransferase KinD, Lyase KinC, kinase homolog KinH and flavoprotein KinI, which share low homologues to enzymes known in other RiPP biosynthesis. During the posttranslational modifications, KinCD is responsible for the formation of the characteristic dehydroamino acid residues including the β-enamino acid residue, followed by oxidative decarboxylation on the C-terminal Cys and subsequent cyclization to provide the bis-thioether ring moiety mediated by coordinated action of KinH and KinI. Finally, conserved genomic investigation allows further identification of two kintamdin-like peptides among the kin-like BGCs, suggesting the occurrence of RiPPs from actinobacteria

17β-Estradiol Enhances Breast Cancer Cell Motility and Invasion via Extra-Nuclear Activation of Actin-Binding Protein Ezrin

Estrogen promotes breast cancer metastasis. However, the detailed mechanism remains largely unknown. The actin binding protein ezrin is a key component in tumor metastasis and its over-expression is positively correlated to the poor outcome of breast cancer. In this study, we investigate the effects of 17β-estradiol (E2) on the activation of ezrin and its role in estrogen-dependent breast cancer cell movement. In T47-D breast cancer cells, E2 rapidly enhances ezrin phosphorylation at Thr567 in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The signalling cascade implicated in this action involves estrogen receptor (ER) interaction with the non-receptor tyrosine kinase c-Src, which activates the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/Akt pathway and the small GTPase RhoA/Rho-associated kinase (ROCK-2) complex. E2 enhances the horizontal cell migration and invasion of T47-D breast cancer cells in three-dimensional matrices, which is reversed by transfection of cells with specific ezrin siRNAs. In conclusion, E2 promotes breast cancer cell movement and invasion by the activation of ezrin. These results provide novel insights into the effects of estrogen on breast cancer progression and highlight potential targets to treat endocrine-sensitive breast cancers

Hamiltonian-connected graphs

For a simple graph G, let NC D(G) = min{|N(u) ∪ N(v) | + d(w) : u, v, w ∈ V (G), uv ∈ E(G), wv or wu ∈ E(G)}. In this paper, we prove that if NC D(G) ≥ |V (G)|, then either G is Hamiltonian-connected, or G belongs to a well-characterized class of graphs. The former results by Dirac, Ore and Faudree et al. are extended