Определение эффективности способов борьбы с асфальтеносмолопарафиновыми отложениями при эксплуатации нефтяных месторождений

В качестве объекта исследования – рассматривается нефтяные месторождения, а именно Талаканского месторождения, а предметом является технологии предупреждение асфальтеносмолопарафиновых отложений (АСПО) на нефтепромысловых оборудованиях. Цель работы – определение наиболее эффективного метода борьбы с асфальтеносмолопарафиновыми отложениями, и применение технологий удаления отложений на различных нефтяных месторождениях. В процессе исследования были раскрыты причины образования парафиновых отложений и эффективность применения некоторых методов борьбы с АСПО на месторождениях. Область применения: месторождения нефти и газа, имеющие осложнения в виде асфальтосмолопарафиновых отложений.The object of the study is the oil fields, namely the Talakan field, and the subject is the technologies for the prevention of asphaltene-tar-paraffin deposits (ASPO) on oilfield equipment. The purpose of the work is to determine the most effective method of controlling asphaltene-tar-paraffin deposits, and to apply technologies for removing deposits in various oil fields. In the course of the study, the reasons for the formation of paraffin deposits and the effectiveness of the use of some methods of combating ASPO in the fields were revealed. Field of application: oil and gas fields with complications in the form of asphalt-resin-paraffin deposits

Autobiographical memory specificity in response to verbal and pictorial cues in clinical depression

Background Depressed individuals have been consistently shown to exhibit problems in accessing specific memories of events from their past and instead tend to retrieve categorical summaries of events. The majority of studies examining autobiographical memory changes associated with psychopathology have tended to use word cues, but only one study to date has used images (with PTSD patients). Objective to determine if using images to cue autobiographical memories would reduce the memory specificity deficit exhibited by patients with depression in comparison to healthy controls. Methods Twenty-five clinically depressed patients and twenty-five healthy controls were assessed on two versions of the autobiographical memory test; cued with emotional words and images. Results Depressed patients retrieved significantly fewer specific memories, and a greater number of categorical, than did the controls. Controls retrieved a greater proportion of specific memories to images compared to words, whereas depressed patients retrieved a similar proportion of specific memories to both images and words. Limitations no information about the presence and severity of past trauma was collected. Conclusions results suggest that the overgeneral memory style in depression generalises from verbal to pictorial cues. This is important because retrieval to images may provide a more ecologically valid test of everyday memory experiences than word-cued retrieval

The pattern and processes of genome change in endosymbionts old and new : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Molecular BioSciences, Massey University, New Zealand

Bacterial endosymbionts are an important part of eukaryote evolution as they allow their hosts to exploit bacterial abilities. Plastids, the organelles that enable plant and eukaryotic algae tophotosynthesise are ancient cyanobacterial endosymbionts. Since the initial symbiosis ~1.5 billion years ago the majority of their genes has been lost or transferred to their host’s nucleus. This process has carried on independently in the different lineages following the diversification of the lineage. I have compiled a comprehensive data set of fully sequenced plastid genomes to systematically study the frequency of gene transfers from the plastid to the nucleus across the different lineages.Following the reconstruction of the Plantae phylogenetic tree from plastid encoded proteins, gene loss events were reconstructed along its branches. My calculations show that gene losses have occurred at a relative high frequency and in a lineage specific way. This challenges the original idea that gene transfers from the organelle to the nucleus are rare and chance driven events. Bacteria and eukaryotes continue to form endosymbioses and the study of these relationships produces valuable insights into the early stages of organelle evolution, bacterial metabolic pathways and metabolic regulation. They also allow us a glimpse into the ancient history of eukaryote evolution. For this reason, diatoms that have acquired cyanobacterial endosymbionts with the capability to fix molecular nitrogen were chosen to explore the potential and limitations of high-throughput sequencing technologies for investigating this type of relationship when DNA sequences are obtained from environmental samples and in the presence of bacterial contaminants. The results of this work confirmed the suitability of this relatively new technology to sequence mixed samples but also highlighted i) difficulties in sample preparation which can bias the composition of metagenomic samples obtained, and also ii) the varying suitability of different types of samples used in high-throughput sequencing

Compression Modulus and Apparent Density of Polymeric Excipients during Compression—Impact on Tabletability

The present study focuses on the compaction behavior of polymeric excipients during compression in comparison to nonpolymeric excipients and its consequences on commonly used Heckel analysis. Compression analysis at compaction pressures (CPs) from 50 to 500 MPa was performed using a compaction simulator. This study demonstrates that the particle density, measured via helium pycnometer (ρpar), of polymeric excipients (Kollidon®VA64, Soluplus®, AQOAT®AS-MMP, Starch1500®, Avicel®PH101) was already exceeded at low CPs (<200 MPa), whereas the ρpar was either never reached for brittle fillers such as DI-CAFOS®A60 and tricalcium citrate or exceeded at CPs above 350 MPa (FlowLac®100, Pearlitol®100SD). We hypothesized that the threshold for exceeding ρpar is linked with predominantly elastic deformation. This was confirmed by the start of linear increase in elastic recovery in-die (ERin-die) with exceeding particle density, and in addition, by the applicability in calculating the elastic modulus via the equation of the linear increase in ERin-die. Last, the evaluation of “density under pressure” as an alternative to the ρpar for Heckel analysis showed comparable conclusions for compression behavior based on the calculated yield pressures. However, the applicability of Heckel analysis for polymeric excipients was questioned in principle. In conclusion, the knowledge of the threshold provides guidance for the selection of suitable excipients in the formulation development to mitigate the risk of tablet defects related to stored elastic energy, such as capping and lamination

Data from: Habitat type and dispersal mode underlie the capacity for plant migration across an intermittent seaway

Background and Aims - Investigating species distributions across geographic barriers is a commonly utilized method in biogeography to help understand the functional traits that allow plants to disperse successfully. Here the biogeographic pattern analysis approach is extended by using chloroplast DNA whole-genome ‘mining’ to examine the functional traits that have impacted the dispersal of widespread temperate forest species across an intermittent seaway, the 200 km wide Bass Strait of south-eastern Australia. Methods - Multiple, co-distributed species of both dry and wet forests were sampled from five regions on either side of the Strait to obtain insights into past dispersal of these biomes via seed. Using a next-generation sequencing-based pool-seq method, the sharing of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was estimated between all five regions in the chloroplast genome. Key Results - A total of 3335 SNPs were detected in 20 species. SNP sharing patterns between regions provided evidence for significant seed-mediated gene flow across the study area, including across Bass Strait. A higher proportion of shared SNPs in dry forest species, especially those dispersed by birds, compared with wet forest species suggests that dry forest species have undergone greater seed-mediated gene flow across the study region during past climatic oscillations and sea level changes associated with the interglacial/glacial cycles. Conclusions - This finding is consistent with a greater propensity for long-distance dispersal for species of open habitats and proxy evidence that expansive areas of dry vegetation occurred during times of exposure of Bass Strait during glacials. Overall, this study provides novel genetic evidence that habitat type and its interaction with dispersal traits are major influences on dispersal of plants

Conservation implications of limited genetic diversity and population structure in Tasmanian devils ( Sarcophilus harrisii )

Tasmanian devils face a combination of threats to persistence, including Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD), an epidemic transmissible cancer. We used RAD sequencing to investigate genome-wide patterns of genetic diversity and geographic population structure. Consistent with previous results, we found very low genetic diversity in the species as a whole, and we detected two broad genetic clusters occupying the northwestern portion of the range, and the central and eastern portions. However, these two groups overlap across a broad geographic area, and differentiation between them is modest ( = 0.1081). Our results refine the geographic extent of the zone of mixed ancestry and substructure within it, potentially informing management of genetic variation that existed in pre-diseased populations of the species. DFTD has spread across both genetic clusters, but recent evidence points to a genomic response to selection imposed by DFTD. Any allelic variation for resistance to DFTD may be able to spread across the devil population under selection by DFTD, and/or be present as standing variation in both genetic regions

Rapid evolutionary response to a transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils

Although cancer rarely acts as an infectious disease, a recently emerged transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils ( Sarcophilus harrisii ) is virtually 100% fatal. Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) has swept across nearly the entire species' range, resulting in localized declines exceeding 90% and an overall species decline of more than 80% in less than 20 years. Despite epidemiological models that predict extinction, populations in long-diseased sites persist. Here we report rare genomic evidence of a rapid, parallel evolutionary response to strong selection imposed by a wildlife disease. We identify two genomic regions that contain genes related to immune function or cancer risk in humans that exhibit concordant signatures of selection across three populations. DFTD spreads between hosts by suppressing and evading the immune system, and our results suggest that hosts are evolving immune-modulated resistance that could aid in species persistence in the face of this devastating disease. A recently emerged infectious cancer has caused the near extinction of the Tasmanian devil, but some populations persist. Here, Epstein et al . provide evidence for possible resistance via rapid evolution in two genomic regions that contain cancer-related immune response genes

Threonine Phosphorylation of IkB zeta Mediates Inhibition of Selective Proinflammatory Target Genes

Transcription factors of the NF-κB family play a crucial role for immune responses by activating the expression of chemokines, cytokines, and antimicrobial peptides involved in pathogen clearance. IκBζ, an atypical nuclear IκB protein and selective coactivator of particular NF-κB target genes, has recently been identified as an essential regulator for skin immunity. This study discovered that IκBζ is strongly induced in keratinocytes that sense the fungal glucan zymosan A. Additionally, IκBζ is essential for the optimal expression of proinflammatory genes, such as IL6, CXCL5, IL1B, or S100A9. Moreover, this study found that IκBζ was not solely regulated on the transcriptional level but also by phosphorylation events. This study identified several IκBζ phosphorylation sites, including a conserved cluster of threonine residues located in the N-terminus of the protein, which can be phosphorylated by MAPKs. Surprisingly, IκBζ phosphorylation at this threonine cluster promoted the recruitment of histone deacetylase 1 to specific target gene promoters and, thus, negatively controlled transcription. Taken together, this study proposes a model of how an antifungal response translates to the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and highlights an additional layer of complexity in the regulation of the NF-κB responses in keratinocytes

Genotype calls from Stacks for Tasmanian devil RAD-seq

This VCF file contains raw genotype calls produced by Stacks as described in Epstein et al. 2016. Very briefly, the genotyping workflow was quality control -> PCR de-duplication (for paired-end samples) -> Alignment to reference -> Filter out MAPQ < 40 -> Stacks