A review of shale pore structure evolution characteristics with increasing thermal maturities

   Pore structure has a significant effect on the occurrence state of shale hydrocarbons and the hydrocarbon storage capability of shale reservoirs. Consequently, it is quite meaningful to clarify the shale pore structure evolution characteristics for understanding the migration and enrichment mechanisms of hydrocarbons within shale reservoirs during different geological stages. The abundant existence of organic matter within shales complicates the shale pore structure evolution process by hydrocarbon generation, migration and cracking. Many studies have been conducted to reveal the shale pore structure evolution characteristics and the controlling factors. Basically, these studies could be divided into two categories based on the sample source: comparing the pore structure of natural shale samples with different thermal maturities; obtaining shale samples with different thermal maturities by conducting thermal simulation experiments on low-mature shale samples and comparing the pore structure of these simulated shale samples. However, no consistent viewpoint on shale pore structure evolution has been reached. This review presents the state of the art of shale pore structure evolution studies. It is widely recognized in the literature that both the inorganic and organic diagenesis control the shale pore structure evolution process. However, it is found that the shale pore structure evolution models proposed in the literature were largely dependent on the samples used. And it is recommended to conduct the two categories of studies simultaneously in order to obtain more reliable shale pore structure evolution characteristics in future investigations.Cited as: Gao, Z., Fan, Y., Xuan, Q., Zheng, G. A review of shale pore structure evolution characteristics with increasing thermal maturities. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2020, 4(3): 247-259, doi: 10.46690/ager.2020.03.0

Modeling the Potential for Aviation Liberalization in Central Asia - Market analysis and implications for the Belt and Road initiative

This study analyzes aviation markets in the five land-locked countries in Central Asia. Panel data spanning from 2007 to 2015 are used to estimate airline entry patterns in origin-destination markets. Econometric estimates for domestic and international markets are subsequently benchmarked, and route groups are paired by alternative matching algorithms so that counter-factual analysis can be conducted. Our investigation suggests that although the Central Asia–China markets are characterized by poor connectivity and high airfares, great benefits could be achieved if more liberal aviation policies such as those proposed by the Belt and Road initiative were introduced. In particular, our counterfactual analysis suggests that if the Central Asia–China markets were regulated and operated in a similar way to the routes between Central Asia and other states, the probability of having aviation services between cities in China and Central Asia would increase by 27%, even by conservative estimates. The number of Chinese destinations could increase by more than 150%. Our study finds strong negative effects of the restrictive regulations on the international aviation markets, and calls for further liberalizations between Central Asia and the region’s major trade partners

Transcriptome profiling reveals the crucial biological pathways involved in cold response in Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis).

Most bamboo species including Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) are tropical or subtropical plants that greatly contribute to human well-being. Low temperature is one of the main environmental factors restricting bamboo growth and geographic distribution. Our knowledge of the molecular changes during bamboo adaption to cold stress remains limited. Here, we provided a general overview of the cold-responsive transcriptional profiles in Moso bamboo by systematically analyzing its transcriptomic response under cold stress. Our results showed that low temperature induced strong morphological and biochemical alternations in Moso bamboo. To examine the global gene expression changes in response to cold, 12 libraries (non-treated, cold-treated 0.5, 1 and 24 h at -2 °C) were sequenced using an Illumina sequencing platform. Only a few differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified at early stage, while a large number of DEGs were identified at late stage in this study, suggesting that the majority of cold response genes in bamboo are late-responsive genes. A total of 222 transcription factors from 24 different families were differentially expressed during 24-h cold treatment, and the expressions of several well-known C-repeat/dehydration responsive element-binding factor negative regulators were significantly upregulated in response to cold, indicating the existence of special cold response networks. Our data also revealed that the expression of genes related to cell wall and the biosynthesis of fatty acids were altered in response to cold stress, indicating their potential roles in the acquisition of bamboo cold tolerance. In summary, our studies showed that both plant kingdom-conserved and species-specific cold response pathways exist in Moso bamboo, which lays the foundation for studying the regulatory mechanisms underlying bamboo cold stress response and provides useful gene resources for the construction of cold-tolerant bamboo through genetic engineering in the future

Surgical Treatment for 11 Cases of Penile Verrucous Carcinoma

Penile verrucous carcinoma is a rare, well-differentiated and low-grade tumor. The surgeons are deficiently aware about the biological behavior and the clinicopathological characteristic of this disease, which raises difficulties during the treatment. In our present study, the clinical and pathological data of 11 patients with penile verrucous carcinoma, aged between 49 to 85 years was retrospectively analyzed. The tumors exhibited exophytic, papillary, caulifower-like or verrucose lesions of great dimensions measuring between 2 to 10 cm on the penises. The tumors were located at glans in 6 cases, invaded the coronoid sulcus in 4 cases and invaded the shaft of the penis in 1 case. Eight cases underwent partial penectomy, while the other 3 were treated with local excision. The diagnosis of penile verrucous carcinoma was confirmed by histopathologic examination of the specimens with the negative surgical margins in all the cases. Within the period of 12 to 60 months of follow-up, all the patients were disease-free with no case of recurrence and metastasis. The novel knowledge and experience of the treatment of penile verrucous carcinoma will be a useful clinical guide for surgeons in the future

The role of autophagy in cardiovascular disease: Cross-interference of signaling pathways and underlying therapeutic targets

Autophagy is a conserved lysosomal pathway for the degradation of cytoplasmic proteins and organelles, which realizes the metabolic needs of cells and the renewal of organelles. Autophagy-related genes (ATGs) are the main molecular mechanisms controlling autophagy, and their functions can coordinate the whole autophagic process. Autophagy can also play a role in cardiovascular disease through several key signaling pathways, including PI3K/Akt/mTOR, IGF/EGF, AMPK/mTOR, MAPKs, p53, Nrf2/p62, Wnt/β-catenin and NF-κB pathways. In this paper, we reviewed the signaling pathway of cross-interference between autophagy and cardiovascular diseases, and analyzed the development status of novel cardiovascular disease treatment by targeting the core molecular mechanism of autophagy as well as the critical signaling pathway. Induction or inhibition of autophagy through molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways can provide therapeutic benefits for patients. Meanwhile, we hope to provide a unique insight into cardiovascular treatment strategies by understanding the molecular mechanism and signaling pathway of crosstalk between autophagy and cardiovascular diseases

Original Article Hyperbaric spinal anesthesia with ropivacaine coadministered with sufentanil for cesarean delivery: a dose-response study

Abstract: Adjuvant sufentanil could achieve effective spinal anesthesia with low dose of hyperbaric ropivacaine for cesarean delivery. Two previous studies had calculated the 50% effective dose (ED50) of intrathecal ropivacaine coadministered with sufentanil for cesarean delivery. However, the 95% effective dose (ED95) of intrathecal hyperbaric ropivacaine coadministered with sufentanil for cesarean delivery remains uncertain. This study determined the ED95 of intrathecal hyperbaric ropivacaine coadministered with sufentanil for cesarean delivery. 80 ASA physical status I or II parturients undergoing elective cesarean delivery were enrolled in this prospective, randomized, double-blind investigation. A combined spinal and epidural anesthesia was performed at the L3-L4 interspace. Patients received a dose of spinal ropivacaine coadministered with sufentanil 5 μg diluted to 3.0 ml with normal saline and 0.5 ml of 10% dextrose: 7.5 mg (n = 20), 9.0 mg (n = 20), 10.5 mg (n = 20), or 12 mg (n = 20). An effective dose was defined as a dose that provided bilateral sensory block to T7 within 10 min after intrathecal drug administration and required no epidural top-up for surgery to be completed. The ED50 and ED95 values for successful anesthesia were determined using a logistic regression model. The ED50 (95% confidence interval [CI]) for successful anesthesia was 8.4 (4.0-9.8) mg and the ED95 (95% CI) was 11.4 (9.7-13.9) mg. The results show that the ED95 of intrathecal hyperbaric ropivacaine coadministered with sufentanil 5 μg for cesarean delivery was 11.4 mg. The addition of sufentanil could significantly reduce the dosage of ropivacaine

DrM: Mastering Visual Reinforcement Learning through Dormant Ratio Minimization

Visual reinforcement learning (RL) has shown promise in continuous control tasks. Despite its progress, current algorithms are still unsatisfactory in virtually every aspect of the performance such as sample efficiency, asymptotic performance, and their robustness to the choice of random seeds. In this paper, we identify a major shortcoming in existing visual RL methods that is the agents often exhibit sustained inactivity during early training, thereby limiting their ability to explore effectively. Expanding upon this crucial observation, we additionally unveil a significant correlation between the agents' inclination towards motorically inactive exploration and the absence of neuronal activity within their policy networks. To quantify this inactivity, we adopt dormant ratio as a metric to measure inactivity in the RL agent's network. Empirically, we also recognize that the dormant ratio can act as a standalone indicator of an agent's activity level, regardless of the received reward signals. Leveraging the aforementioned insights, we introduce DrM, a method that uses three core mechanisms to guide agents' exploration-exploitation trade-offs by actively minimizing the dormant ratio. Experiments demonstrate that DrM achieves significant improvements in sample efficiency and asymptotic performance with no broken seeds (76 seeds in total) across three continuous control benchmark environments, including DeepMind Control Suite, MetaWorld, and Adroit. Most importantly, DrM is the first model-free algorithm that consistently solves tasks in both the Dog and Manipulator domains from the DeepMind Control Suite as well as three dexterous hand manipulation tasks without demonstrations in Adroit, all based on pixel observations