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Hosting an emerging play of the Springer/Goddard shale, the South Central Oklahoma Oil Province (SCOOP), is also the main production field for the underlying Woodford Formation. Understanding the reservoir quality of the Chesterian-age Goddard shale, currently little has been achieved, is vital to sustainable hydrocarbon production and exploration. Using polar (DI water and/or API brine) and nonpolar (n-decane) fluids to probe hydrophilic and hydrophobic pore networks, the purpose of this study is to examine wettability, pore connectivity, fluid imbibition, and tracer migration of the Springer shale. To achieve this, we collected core samples from two wells located at the heart of the play and performed mercury injection capillary pressure, wettability, fluid imbibition, and vapor absorption tests. Results from these studies show that the Springer shale has a stronger affinity to oil (n-decane in this study), compared to DI water and API brine. With porosity values averaging at 6.32 ± 0.75% and permeability of 20.0 ± 6.52 nD, the majority of pore-throat sizes for the Springer shale are 5–50 nm. The utility of wettability tracers of different molecular sizes helps tease out the intertwined relationship of pore-throat sizes, connectivity, and associated wettability of shale. The imbibition results suggest a molecular entanglement effect at the scale of 0.5 nm, even for the tracer penetration of a wetting fluid of n-decane. A petrophysical analysis of the Springer shale presented in this work is beneficial to further understand the pore structure and fluid movement within the shale to facilitate increased production and accurate economic evaluations.

特集2: フィールド医学 = Special Issue 2: Field Medicine, 本誌公刊にあたっては、京都大学学士山岳会、京都大学「霊長類学・ワイルドライフサイエンス」・リーディング大学院からの助成をうけました。

Multiple tests were conducted on graptolite shale samples from Middle Ordovician Pingliang Formation in three typical areas in Ordos Basin to investigate the relationship between micro-nano pore structure, graptolite content, rock composition, TOC, maturity, main and trace elements and gas content. The graptolite of Pingliang Formation concentrates in the black shale at the lower section of this layer. Pores in the shale are diverse in types, including pores made by extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), in bio-graptolite body, as inter-granular void of clay minerals, intra-granular, interstitial space between mineral crystals, micro-fractures, and intra-granular dissolution structures etc. Tests show that graptolite affected the sedimentary environment and shale gas accumulation; graptolites content is positively correlated to TOC, in a certain range, specific surface area is positively correlated to TOC and maturity, etc., as overall a lithologic inorganic and organic ratios. The rare earth elements (REE) patterns of the three areas are similar, indicating the same provenance. REE, Fe, Al and Ti content are negatively correlated to TOC, indicating the high REE content is not caused by organic matter enrichment, but related to the absorption of minerals particles. Gas content is positively correlated to specific surface area, TOC and maturity. The above factors contribute to space and size distribution of micro-nano pores in shale. Key words: graptolite shale, pore type, geochemical parameters, Ordovician Pingliang Formation, Ordos Basin

本稿は, 高所プロジェクトの提唱してきた「糖尿病アクセル仮説」の一部について検証した科学論文 (Glucose intolerance associated with hypoxia in people living at high altitudes in the Tibetan highland. BMJ open 2016) のレビューである。耐糖能障害がライフスタイルと低酸素血症といかに関連するかを, 中国からインドにわたるチベット高原 (2900-4800m) の1258人の住民において研究された。社会経済的要因, 高度3500m 以上在住, および低酸素血症が, 高所住民の耐糖能異常の増加に大きく関与していることが報告された。低酸素血症, 多血症, 耐糖能異常の3者には密接な関係があり, 加齢とライフスタイル変化がその関係を促進している (糖尿病アクセル仮説) ことが検証された。, The association between glucose intolerance and high altitudes (2900-4900m) was clarified in Tibetan highlanders. The hypothesis was verified that dwelling at high altitudes have vulnerability to diabetes accelerated by lifestyle change or aging. 1258 subjects (40-87 years) were examined; farmers in Domkhar (2900-3800m), nomads in Haiyan, Ryuho, and Changthang (3000-4800m), and urban dwellers in Leh and Jiegu (3300-3700m). The prevalence of glucose intolerance was higher in urban dwellers and in farmers compared with nomads. Dwelling at a higher altitude was significantly associated with fasting hyperglycemia (odds ratios for >4500 and 3500-3999m were 3. 59 and 2. 07 vs 1.0, 特集2: 総合地球環境学研究所「高所プロジェクト」特集 = Special Issue 2: The High Altitude Project in Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

Latent sensitization is a model of chronic pain in which an injury triggers a period of hyperalgesia followed by an apparent recovery, but in which pain sensitization persists but is suppressed by opioid and adrenergic receptors. One important characteristic of latent sensitization is that hyperalgesia can be triggered by acute stress. To determine whether the effect of stress is mimicked by the activation of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) signaling in the brain, rats with latent sensitization induced by injecting complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA, 50 μl) in one hind paw were given an intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of CRF. The i.c.v. injection of CRF (0.6 μg, 10 μl), but not saline, induced bilateral mechanical hyperalgesia in rats with latent sensitization. In contrast, CRF i.c.v. did not induce hyperalgesia in rats without latent sensitization (injected with saline in the hind paw). To determine whether descending pain inhibition mediates the suppression of hyperalgesia in latent sensitization, rats with CFA-induced latent sensitization received an intrathecal injection of lidocaine (10%, 1 μl) at the cervical-thoracic spinal cord to produce a spinal block. Lidocaine-injected rats, but not rats injected intrathecally with saline, developed bilateral mechanical hyperalgesia. Intrathecal lidocaine did not induce hyperalgesia in rats without latent sensitization (injected with saline in the hind paw). These results show that i.c.v. CRF mimicked the hyperalgesic response triggered by stress during latent sensitization, possibly by blocking inhibitory spinal descending signals that suppress hyperalgesia.

This study aims to document the classification and controlling factors of organic pores distributed in the continental shale reservoir of the Chang-7 Member of the Yanchang Formation in the Ordos Basin. More than 105 sample blocks were collected from the continental shale gas reservoirs of the Chang-7 Member from 18 separate wells located in central and southern Ordos Basin. Samples were etched via argon ion polishing in preparation for imaging using core plugs and drill cuttings. Next, an environmental scanning electron microscope Quanta 250 FEG was used to scan the micropores; these results are presented in the Samples section. The Quanta 250 FEG can also be used to analyze the media of micropores via energy dispersive spectroscopy. Detailed pore structure parameters were calculated by analyzing the adsorption and desorption isotherms of the samples. Specimen results indicate that all organic pores developed in type-II kerogen and combined with different thermal evolution stages of organic hydrocarbon expulsion can be divided into either 1) oil outlet pores, 2) gas outlet pores, or 3) gas pore groups. Most organic pores are irregular, bubble-like, elliptical, and elongated. Pore diameters are primarily less than 1 μm, with median values ranging from 0.1 μm to 0.2 μm. Relatively small oil outlet pores, ranging from 10 nm to 150 nm, are always concave or elliptical when isolated. Gas outlet pores with diameters ranging from several tens of nanometers to hundreds of nanometers are elliptical, spherical, or ellipsoidal. Numerous randomly aggregated and dispersed gas outlet pores that form gas pore groups emerge and are partially connected to a certain extent. The controlling factors of organic pores in the study area are vitrinite reflectance and the rock brittleness index. Particularly, thermal evolution controls the development of organic pores through different vitrinite reflectances (Ro) with specific total organic carbon (%) of shale. In addition, relative brittleness indexes combined with the degree of diagenesis and evolution are calculated using a mineral constituent method. The results show a positive correlation between the gas pore groups distribution and the rock brittleness index based on the relationship between relative brittleness indexes and the number of organic pores in the samples.

Cysteine functionalized Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (Cys-Fe3O4 MNPs) were prepared facilely for Hg(II) removal from aqueous solutions. Using Fe2+ as precursors, air as oxidant and Cys as protectant, this novel material was one-pot synthesis at room temperature by oxidation–precipitation method with the assistance of sonication. The MNPs were characterized by TEM, VSM, FTIR, X-ray powder diffraction analysis (XRD) and TGA methods. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the removal efficiency was as high as 95% and the maximum sorption capacity is found to be 380 mg/mol for Hg(II). Study on adsorption kinetics shows that adsorption of Hg(II) onto Cys-Fe3O4 MNPs follows pseudo-first-order kinetic model and the adsorption rate constant was 0.22 min−1. Additionally, the Hg(II)-loaded Cys-Fe3O4 MNPs could be easily regenerated up to 95% using 1.0 M acetic acid. These results indicated that Cys-Fe3O4 MNPs is a potentially attractive material for the removal of Hg(II) from water.

This is the third report of of a longitudinal survey of neuro-degenerative diseases, walking in swampy jungle of West New Guinea. When we visited small city of Agats, where about five thousand people of the Asmat tribe lived, we found very few patients with neuro-degenerative diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Parkinson disease. City of Agats lies a few hundred kilometers northwest to the main district of Mappi, where many patients with neuro-degenerative diseases have been found by our survey. When we had dinner in a hotel in Agats, we barely managed to eat the Sago worm which lived in a Sago palm tree. A female doctor from a big city of Indonesia said that she had never eaten those ugly worms and that it is another culture in her country. In the old days of coastal swampy jungle of West New Guinea, Sago was once the staple food among many tribes of Papua. But monetary economy has changed their self-sufficient living of life, and people now need money to get rice from outlander merchants. A young man has been suffering from retrobulbar optic neuritis, and became blind. He worked in a palm oil factory to get money only to take to drinking methyl-alcohol. A French film named "Cybèle ou les Dimanches de Ville d'Avray" was awarded the American Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1962. The heroine of the film confided that her true name is Cybèle, very old name in ancient times. In the cinema, I wondered how old it could be. Thirty years later when I visited Turkey, I found that Cybèle was a Greek goddess of the earth, a Gaea or Gaia. But I found also that the big plaster figure in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara was named as the Goddess of the Earth. This figure was thought to be built 8, 000 years ago. Nowadays modern Turkish people regard Cybèle as the same goddess of the earth. So the name of Cybèle might be traced as old as in the New Stone Age. Papuan people lived the Stone Age living until quite recently. And Asmat people make wood carvings resembling the Anatolian figure, and I wonder if they once called them Cybèle before the era of monetary economy.

本稿は2012年3月6日から3月16日までインドネシアのパプア州南西部の先住民族アウユの居住地域で実施した文化人類学的予備調査の成果である. この調査は, 医学調査及び食・栄養調査と共同で行った. 前半は, ディグール川下流域の町バデとその周辺で調査を行った. ここでは, バデの町の地図を作成し, 町の主要な行政機関, キリスト教会(カトリックとプロテスタント), イスラム寺院, 市場などを観察した. ついで, 栄養調査の受診者のひとりの家庭を訪問し, その生活状況を見た. また, 近隣の湿地におけるサゴヤシからのデンプン採取とその調理を観察した. 後半には, イア川沿いの村々における医学調査に同行し, 家屋の構造, 地域の主要産業であるゴム生産と家計収入などの地域経済とその変化, 父系クランとリーダーシップなどの概要を調査した. 全体として, 文化人類学と医学・食と栄養学の共同調査の方法を探った., This article describes a preliminary study carried out along with medical and nutritional research in March 2012, in the southwest of Papua, Indonesia where the indigenous people Auyu settles. First, we started our research in Bade, a town located lower part of Digul River and around the town. Author of this article walked around Bade visiting government offices, Christian church (both Catholics and Protestants), Muslim temple, and a market and then created the map of the town. And then, we visited a home of a diabetic patient who joined medical/nutritional check-up to observe her lifestyle. We also observed the process to get Sago starch from Sago palm in the neighboring marshy jangle, as well as Sago cooking at her home. Later, we visited some villages along with Ia River and observed the structure of houses, researched local economy such as rubber industrials and household income and its change, and patrilineal clan and its leadership. Through these researches, we sought the optimal method for the collaboration between cultural anthropology and medical/nutritional research in the field.

The importance of addressing lifestyle disease in remote area has been emphasized along with rapid modernization. In March 2012, medical survey was conducted in Bade, Papua in Indonesia, a town near river with a rapid development of market economy from traditional lifestyle. Through the survey of 119 community-living adults, we revealed 6% of the diabetic participants and 11% of impaired glucose tolerance. We observed drastic dietary shift in staple food (sago to rice) and a strong belief about healthy diet which is the misunderstood thought that rice is the healthiest food. The case involves a 69-year-old woman who was eating only rice with sprinkled sugar (occasionally with fruits) for past 2 years. Blood tests revealed her diabetic state (HbA1c:7.0%), dyslipidemia (HDL-cholesterol, 21mg/dl; LDL-cholesterol, 51mg/dl; triglyceride, 146mg/dl), and anemic state with low hemoglobin concentration:8.4g/dl, due to an iron-deficient diet. Her body mass index was 34kg/m3; height, 157cm; weight, 84kg; waist, 120cm. Nutritional assessment showed her total energy intake was 1907kcal/day, with very low protein intake. The woman's family was relatively rich in this community; therefore, her food choice was related to poor health-related knowledge and not monetary issues. She strongly believed that rice was the only food that could improve her health. Thus, education as well as treatment is very important for lifestyle-related diseases, especially for elderly people in remote areas without adequate information.

To observe the effect of multiple electroacupuncture (EA) on the pain threshold and the regulation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of neuropathic pain rats. Rats were prepared with a unilateral chronic constriction injury (CCI) to the sciatic nerve. EA was done in acupoints “Huan Tiao” and “Yang Ling Quan” for 30 min every day and the thermal thresholds were detected after EA at 3, 5, 7, 10, 14 days after operation. On day 14 after nerve injury, the in situ hybridization method was used to investigate the change of NMDA R1 mRNA in L4–L5 DRG. The thermal threshold reduced significantly from day 3 after operation in CCI rats. After multiple EA treatment, the ipsilateral thermal hyperalgesia relieved gradually and the thermal threshold had no difference with control side after day 5 (P>0.05). From Day 7 after operation, the thermal threshold at each time point were significantly different compared with CCI group respectively (P>0.05). Moreover the EA had accumulative effect. On Day 14 after operation, the NMDAR1 mRNA positive neurons and the mean optic density in ipsilateral L4–5, DRG were less than that of control side (P

Buddhism for Tibetan people was not only the dominant official ethnic religion but also principal philosophical identity, especially in Tibetan elderly highlanders. Tibetan elderly highlanders manage their health situation according to their beliefs about Tibetan Buddhism. These beliefs were constructed using both modern and traditional knowledge. For example, Tibetan elderly highlanders explained the cause of their illnesses as being due to biomedical factors such as genetics, and also cultural factors such as karma from either previous or current lifetimes. Several studies have illustrated how culture might affect the interpretation and experience of the illness. Tibetan elderly highlanders considered that illness and ageing were natural parts of the birth-and-death lifecycle. Disease was primarily regarded as the result of individual past karma (or action) in either past or current life. The definition of "Karma" or "Cause and Effect" meant that there were inescapable results of personal actions. Therefore, Tibetan elderly highlanders considered that their suffering and health situation were the result of their own previous karma. Tibetan Buddhism values (acceptance) and practices (mindfulness meditation) enhanced better age-related disease management and the cultural differences in the perceptions of disease in Tibetan elderly highlanders may assist a further progression in clinical management.