Influence of Hydrologic Heterogencity on Thermal-Hydrologic Behavior in Emplacement Drifts

Fracture networks have been characterized as highly permeable continuum within the porous rock matrix in thermal-hydrologic models used to support performance assessments of the proposed nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Uncertainty and spatial variability of the fracture permeability are important considerations for understanding thermal-hydrologic behavior within the host rock surrounding an emplacement drift. In this paper, we conducted numerical experiments with a number of realizations of intrinsic fracture permeability and examine thermal conditions around an emplacement drift. Peak temperature and boiling duration on the drift wall are used as indices to quantify, the influence of fracture permeability. The variability of peak temperature and boiling duration resulting from small-scale fracture-permeability heterogeneity is compared with the variability resulting from variability of host-rock thermal conductivity and infiltration flux. An examination of rock dryout and condensate drainage shows that small-scale heterogeneity in fracture permeability results in a relatively small range in dryout volume and does not prevent the shedding of condensate through the pillar-separating emplacement drifts

Geologic CO2 storage using pre-injection brine production in tandem reservoirs: A strategy for improved storage performance and enhanced water recovery

Deployment barriers for CO2 capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in saline reservoirs can be grouped under three categories: (1) net cost (after accounting for utilization benefits); (2) water intensity of CO2 capture, and (3) uncertainty about storage capacity and permanence. The third category is often considered to be the most challenging. Overpressure, which is fluid pressure that exceeds the original reservoir pressure due to CO2 injection, is the limiting metric for storage capacity and permanence because it drives key physical risks: induced seismicity, caprock fracture, and CO2 leakage. Variables that control overpressure include: (1) the quantity of CO2 and the rate at which it is injected, (2) the size of the reservoir storage compartment, and (3) reservoir permeability. Geologic surveys, geologic logs, and core data from exploration wells provide information that can be used to estimate the size and permeability of the reservoir compartment, but large uncertainties will only be narrowed after there is operational experience with moving large quantities of fluid to move into and/or out of the reservoir. Unlike CCUS applied to CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery (CO2-EOR) in mature oil fields, CCUS in a saline reservoir will typically (a) have less geologic information and little or no production and injection history to estimate how much CO2 can be safely and permanently stored and (b) not have the advantage of depleted reservoir pressure prior to CO2 injection. Numerous studies have evaluated strategies for managing CO2 storage reservoirs by producing brine to reduce the pressure buildup due to CO2 injection. Most of these studies assume that separate injection and production wells will be used and that brine production will begin during or after the CO2 injection phase. We present a strategy where brine production begins prior to the CO2 injection phase, using the wells that will subsequently be used for CO2 injection. In this strategy, all wells are initially used for exploration and monitoring and then to produce brine prior to injecting CO2. Our strategy also includes the option of using reservoirs in tandem, including: CO2-storage reservoirs: due to their high seal integrity, these are preferred for CO2 storage. Brine produced from these reservoirs may or may not be directly used for water generation. Brine-storage reservoirs: these are used to store brine and/or residual brine and, with treatable brine composition, to produce brine for water generation. For zero net injection, high seal integrity is not required. This strategy has several advantages. First, pressure drawdown observed during brine production mirrors the pressure buildup during CO2 injection, providing necessary data to directly estimate reservoir storage capacity before any CO2 is injected. Second, pressure drawdown is greatest where CO2 will be injected, which is more efficient both on a per well basis and per mass of removed brine basis. Pre-injection brine production in saline reservoirs shares two key advantages of CO2-EOR: (a) greater knowledge about reservoir properties and storage capacity and (b) depleted reservoir pressure, which increases storage capacity. A third advantage is that the flexibility of our tandem-reservoir approach can be used to improve the economics of Enhanced Water Recovery (EWR). The primary metric for selecting a brine-storage reservoir is for its brine composition to be more amenable for treatment for beneficial uses, such as saline cooling water or water generated through desalination. Where applicable, EWR will reduce the water intensity of CCUS, which is particularly valuable in water-stressed regions. For a range of tandem-reservoir scenarios, we assess the influence of CO2-storage and brine-storage reservoir properties (e.g., reservoir compartment size, seal permeability, and salinity) on reservoir pressure management and EWR. We also illustrate how pre-injection brine production can be used as a tool for site selection and characterization, including assessments of CO2 storage capacity and permanence. This work was sponsored by the USDOE Fossil Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, managed by Traci Rodosta and Andrea McNemar. This work was performed under the auspices of the USDOE by LLNL under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344

Effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate on bovine oocytes matured

Objective Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a major ingredient of catechin polyphenols and is considered one of the most promising bioactive compounds in green tea because of its strong antioxidant properties. However, the protective role of EGCG in bovine oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM) has not been investigated. Therefore, we aimed to study the effects of EGCG on IVM of bovine oocytes. Methods Bovine oocytes were treated with different concentrations of EGCG (0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 μM), and the nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation, cumulus cell expansion, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, total antioxidant capacity, the early apoptosis and the developmental competence of in vitro fertilized embryos were measured. The mRNA abundances of antioxidant genes (nuclear factor erythriod-2 related factor 2 [NRF2], superoxide dismutase 1 [SOD1], catalase [CAT], and glutathione peroxidase 4 [GPX4]) in matured bovine oocytes were also quantified. Results Nuclear maturation which is characterized by first polar body extrusion, and cytoplasmic maturation characterized by peripheral and cortical distribution of cortical granules and homogeneous mitochondrial distribution were significantly improved in the 50 μM EGCG-treated group compared with the control group. Adding 50 μM EGCG to the maturation medium significantly increased the cumulus cell expansion index and upregulated the mRNA levels of cumulus cell expansion-related genes (hyaluronan synthase 2, tumor necrosis factor alpha induced protein 6, pentraxin 3, and prostaglandin 2). Both the intracellular ROS level and the early apoptotic rate of matured oocytes were significantly decreased in the 50 μM EGCG group, and the total antioxidant ability was markedly enhanced. Additionally, both the cleavage and blastocyst rates were significantly higher in the 50 μM EGCG-treated oocytes after in vitro fertilization than in the control oocytes. The mRNA abundance of NRF2, SOD1, CAT, and GPX4 were significantly increased in the 50 μM EGCG-treated oocytes. Conclusion In conclusion, 50 μM EGCG can improve the bovine oocyte maturation, and the protective role of EGCG may be correlated with its antioxidative property

Integrated Geothermal-CO2 Reservoir Systems: Reducing Carbon Intensity through Sustainable Energy Production and Secure CO2 Storage

AbstractLarge-scale geologic CO2 storage (GCS) can be limited by overpressure, while geothermal energy production is often limited by pressure depletion. We investigate how synergistic integration of these complementary systems may enhance the viability of GCS by relieving overpressure, which reduces pore-space competition, the Area of Review, and the risks of CO2 leakage and induced seismicity, and by producing geothermal energy and water, which can defray parasitic energy and water costs of CO2 capture

The know-do gap in quality of health for chronic non-communicable diseases in rural China

Proper management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is a severe challenge to China's rural health system. This study investigates what influences the poor medical treatment of NCDs (diabetes and angina) by evaluating the “know-do gap” between provider knowledge and practice. To determine whether low levels of provider knowledge low quality of patient care is the primary constraint on the quality of NCDs diagnosis and treatment in rural China. Providers from Village Clinics (VC) and Township Health Centers (THC), and Standardized Patients (SP) were selected by a multi-stage random sampling method. Clinical vignettes were administered to 306 providers from 103 VCs and 50 THCs in rural Sichuan Province. SPs presented diabetes symptoms completed 97 interactions with providers in 46 VCs and 51 THCs; SPs presented angina symptoms completed 100 interactions with providers in 50 VCs and 50 THCs. Process quality, diagnosis quality, and treatment quality were assessed against national standards for diabetes and angina. Two-tailed T-tests and tests of proportions for continuous outcomes and tests of proportions for binary dependent variables were used to compare vignette and SP results. Differences between vignette and SP data calculated the know-do gap. Regression analyses were used to examine the providers/facility characteristics and knowledge/practice associations. THC providers demonstrated significantly more knowledge in vignettes and better practices in SP visits than VC providers. However, levels of knowledge were low overall: 48.2% of THC providers and 28.2% of VC providers properly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, while 23.8% of THC providers and 14.7% of VC providers properly diagnosed angina. With SPs, 2.1% of THC providers and 6.8% of VC providers correctly diagnosed type 2 diabetes; 25.5% of THC providers and 12.8% of VC providers correctly diagnosed angina. There were significant know-do gaps in diagnosis process quality, diagnosis quality, and treatment quality for diabetes (p < 0.01), and in diagnosis process quality (p < 0.05) and treatment quality for angina (p < 0.01). Providers in rural China display low levels of knowledge when treating diabetes and angina. Despite low knowledge, evidence of the know-do gap indicates that low-quality healthcare is the primary constraint on the quality of NCD diagnosis and treatment in rural China. Our research findings provide a new perspective for the evaluation of the medical quality and a technical basis for the development of new standardized cases in the future

Dissociation products and structures of solid H2 S at strong compression

Hydrogen sulfides have recently received a great deal of interest due to the record high superconducting temperatures of up to 203 K observed on strong compression of dihydrogen sulfide (H2S). A joint theoretical and experimental study is presented in which decomposition products and structures of compressed H2S are characterized, and their superconducting properties are calculated. In addition to the experimentally known H2S and H3S phases, our first-principles structure searches have identified several energetically competitive stoichiometries that have not been reported previously; H2S3, H3S2, and H4S3. In particular, H4S3 is predicted to be thermodynamically stable within a large pressure range of 25-113 GPa. High-pressure room-temperature X-ray diffraction measurements confirm the presence of H3S and H4S3 through decomposition of H2S that emerge at 27 GPa and coexist with residual H2S, at least up to the highest pressure studied in our experiments of 140 GPa. Electron-phonon coupling calculations show that H4S3 has a small Tc of below 2 K, and that H2S is mainly responsible for the observed superconductivity of samples prepared at low temperature (<100K).Y. L. and J. H. acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 11204111 and No. 11404148, the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu province under Grant No. BK20130223, and the PAPD of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. Y. Z. and Y. M. acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 11274136 and 11534003, the 2012 Changjiang Scholars Program of China. R. J. N. acknowledges financial support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the U.K. [EP/J017639/1]. Calculations were performed on the Cambridge High Performance Computing Service facility and the HECToR and Archer facilities of the U.K.’s national highperformance computing service (for which access was obtained via the UKCP consortium [EP/K013564/1]). J. R. N. acknowledges financial support from the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust. I. E. acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (FIS2013-48286-C2-2-P). M. C. acknowledges support from the Graphene Flagship and Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR), Grant No. ANR-13-IS10- 0003-01. Work at Carnegie was partially supported by EFree, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the DOE, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. DE-SC-0001057 (salary support for H. L.). The infrastructure and facilities used at Carnegie were supported by NNSA Grant No. DE-NA-0002006, CDAC.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Physical Society via http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.02010

Effect of external beam radiation therapy versus transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for non-diffuse hepatocellular carcinoma (≥ 5 cm): a multicenter experience over a ten-year period

BackgroundThe optimal local treatment for HCC with tumor diameter ≥ 5 cm is not well established. This research evaluated the effectiveness of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) versus transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for HCC with tumor diameter ≥ 5 cm.MethodsA total of 1210 HCC patients were enrolled in this study, including 302 and 908 patients that received EBRT and TACE, respectively. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to identify patient pairs with similar baseline characteristics. Overall survival (OS) was the primary study endpoint.ResultsWe identified 428 patients using 1:1 PSM for survival comparison. Compared with the TACE group, the EBRT group had a significantly longer median OS (mOS) before (14.9 vs. 12.3 months, p = 0.0085) and after (16.8 vs. 11.4 months, p = 0.0026) matching. In the subgroup analysis, compared with the TACE group, the EBRT group had a significantly longer mOS for HCC with tumor diameters of 5-7 cm (34.1 vs. 14.3 months, p = 0.04) and 7-10 cm (34.4 vs. 10 months, p = 0.00065), whereas for HCC with tumor diameters ≥ 10 cm, no significant difference in mOS was observed (11.2 vs. 11.2 months, p = 0.83). In addition, the multivariable Cox analysis showed that Child-A, alkaline phosphatase &lt; 125 U/L, and EBRT were independent prognostic indicators for longer survival.ConclusionEBRT is more effective than TACE as the primary local treatment for HCC with tumor diameter ≥ 5 cm, especially for HCC with tumor diameter of 5-10 cm

Regular Patterns for Proteome-Wide Distribution of Protein Abundance across Species

A proteome of the bio-entity, including cell, tissue, organ, and organism, consists of proteins of diverse abundance. The principle that determines the abundance of different proteins in a proteome is of fundamental significance for an understanding of the building blocks of the bio-entity. Here, we report three regular patterns in the proteome-wide distribution of protein abundance across species such as human, mouse, fly, worm, yeast, and bacteria: in most cases, protein abundance is positively correlated with the protein's origination time or sequence conservation during evolution; it is negatively correlated with the protein's domain number and positively correlated with domain coverage in protein structure, and the correlations became stronger during the course of evolution; protein abundance can be further stratified by the function of the protein, whereby proteins that act on material conversion and transportation (mass category) are more abundant than those that act on information modulation (information category). Thus, protein abundance is intrinsically related to the protein's inherent characters of evolution, structure, and function