The impact of tides on the capillary transition zone

The capillary transition zone, also known as the capillary fringe, is a zone where water saturations decrease with height above the water table/oil–water contact as a result of capillary action. In some oil reservoirs, this zone may contain a significant proportion of the oil in place. In groundwater assessments, the capillary fringe can profoundly affect contaminant transport. In this study, we investigated the influence of a tidally induced, semi-diurnal, change in water table depth on the water saturation distribution in the capillary fringe/transition zone. The investigation used a mixture of laboratory experiments, in which the change in saturation with depth was monitored over a period of 90 days, and numerical simulation. We show that tidal changes in water table depth can significantly alter the vertical water saturation profile from what would be predicted using capillary–gravity equilibrium and the drainage or imbibition capillary pressure curves

Production of human monoclonal antibody to X31 influenza virus nucleoprotein.

In vitro stimulation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells with X31 influenza virus antigen has been used to enrich for specific anti-X31 antibody-producing cells. Following Epstein-Barr virus transformation of these stimulated cells, a cell line which produces human antibody to X31 virus was derived and subsequently cloned. The cloned cells secrete and IgGl kappa antibody which is directed against the nucleoprotein of A type influenza virus. Culture supernatants contain 10 to 20 micrograms/ml of specific antibody which is now used as a standard for the ELISA assay used in our laboratory to detect antibodies to influenza virus

Functional Hierarchy of Herpes Simplex Virus Type-1 Membrane Proteins in Corneal Infection and Virus Transmission to Ganglionic Neurons

© 2014 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. All rights reserved. Purpose: To determine the relative importance of viral glycoproteins gK, gM, gE and the membrane protein UL11 in infection of mouse corneas and ganglionic neurons. Methods: Mouse eyes were scarified and infected with herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1(F), gE-null, gM-null, gK-null, or UL11-null viruses. Clinical signs of ocular disease were monitored daily. Virus shedding was determined at 24, 48 and 72h post infection. Viral DNA within trigeminal ganglia (TG) was quantified by quantitative PCR at 30d post infection. Results: The gE-null virus replicated as efficiently as the parental virus and formed viral plaques approximately half-the-size in comparison with the HSV-1(F) wild-type virus. The UL11-null and gM-null viruses replicated approximately one log less efficiently than the wild-type virus, and formed plaques that were on average one-third the size and one-half the size of the wild-type virus, respectively. The gK-null virus replicated more than 3-logs less efficiently than the wild-type virus and formed very small plaques (5-10 cells). Mice infected with the wild-type virus exhibited mild clinical ocular symptoms, while mice infected with the mutant viruses did not show any significant ocular changes. The wild-type virus produced the highest virus shedding post infection followed by the gM-null, gE-null and UL11-null viruses, while no gK-null virus was detected at any time point. All TG collected from mice infected with the wild-type virus and 6-of-10 of TG retrieved from mice infected with the UL11-null virus contained high numbers of viral genomes. The gE-null and gM-null-infected ganglia contained moderate-to-low number of viral genomes in 4-of-10 and 2-of-10 mice, respectively. No viral genomes were detected in ganglionic tissues obtained from gK-null eye infections. Conclusions: The results show that gK plays the most important role among gM, gE and UL11 in corneal and ganglionic infection in the mouse eye model