Search

Due to the lack of knowledge on the influence law of the temperature profile of layered water injection wells, it is still highly challenging to quantitatively diagnose the water injection profile of layered water injection wells using distributed optical fiber temperature sensing (DTS). In this paper, a temperature profile prediction model for layered water injection wells has been developed by considering the micro-thermal effect and non-isothermal reservoir seepage. The influence of various single-factor changes on the temperature profile of layered water injection wells is simulated and analyzed. Orthogonal experiment analysis results demonstrate that the sensitivity of different factors on wellbore temperature from strong to weak is the injection temperature of the water, injection time, water injection rate, wellbore diameter, formation thermal conductivity, wellbore trajectory, and the permeability of injection formations (Tinj＞t＞Qinj＞D＞Kt＞θ＞k). The injection temperature of water, injection time, and water injection rate are the dominant factors affecting the temperature profile of water injection wells. The results of this paper provide a theoretical foundation for the accurate evaluation of the water injection profile and water injection scheme optimization for the layered water injection wells.

Due to the lack of a robust temperature model and poor knowledge about the influence law of temperature profile, it is still highly challenging to interpret the production profile of vertical wells in layered gas reservoirs from distributed temperature sensing (DTS) quantitatively. In this paper, a coupled temperature prediction model for vertical wells in the layered gas reservoir is developed, considering several microthermal effects and non-isothermal seepage. Based on the theoretical simulation, several single factors' influence on the vertical well's temperature profile in a layered gas reservoir has been analyzed. The sensitivity of temperature profiles on different affecting factors has been evaluated through orthogonal test analysis. It has been found that the influence degree of each factor on the temperature profile of the vertical well in the layered gas reservoir is as follows: formation permeability > production rate >water saturation > wellbore inclination angle > relative density of natural gas > formation thermal conductivity > wellbore diameter (k >Qg > SW > θ > dg > Kt > D). The dominant factors affecting the temperature profile of vertical wells in layered gas reservoirs are formation permeability, production rate, and water saturation. The proposed temperature prediction model can serve as the forward model when developing the inversion system to interpret DTS measurement. The findings of this paper provide solid theoretical support for the quantitative interpretation of the flow rate profile for vertical wells in layered gas reservoirs.

A mutant mitochondrial genome arising amid the pool of mitochondrial genomes within a cell must compete with existing genomes to survive to the next generation. Even weak selective forces can bias transmission of one genome over another to affect the inheritance of mitochondrial diseases and guide the evolution of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Studies in several systems suggested that purifying selection in the female germline reduces transmission of detrimental mitochondrial mutations [1-7]. In contrast, some selfish genomes can take over despite a cost to host fitness [8-13]. Within individuals, the outcome of competition is therefore influenced by multiple selective forces. The nuclear genome, which encodes most proteins within mitochondria, and all external regulators of mitochondrial biogenesis and dynamics can influence the competition between mitochondrial genomes [14-18], yet little is known about how this works. Previously, we established a Drosophila line transmitting two mitochondrial genomes in a stable ratio enforced by purifying selection benefiting one genome and a selfish advantage favoring the other [8]. Here, to find nuclear genes that impact mtDNA competition, we screened heterozygous deletions tiling ∼70% of the euchromatic regions and examined their influence on this ratio. This genome-wide screen detected many nuclear modifiers of this ratio and identified one as the catalytic subunit of mtDNA polymerase gene (POLG), tam. A reduced dose of tam drove elimination of defective mitochondrial genomes. This study suggests that our approach will uncover targets for interventions that would block propagation of pathogenic mitochondrial mutations.

It is not known how selection affects mutations in the multiple copies of the mitochondrial genome. We transferred cytoplasm between D. melanogaster embryos carrying mitochondrial mutations to create heteroplasmic lines transmitting two mitochondrial genotypes. Increased temperature imposed selection against a temperature-sensitive mutation affecting cytochrome oxidase, driving decreases in the abundance of the mutant genome over successive generations. Selection did not influence the health or fertility of the flies but acted during midoogenesis to influence competition between the genomes. Mitochondria might incur an advantage through selective localization, survival or proliferation, yet timing and insensitivity to park mutation suggest that preferential proliferation underlies selection. Selection drove complete replacement of the temperature-sensitive mitochondrial genome by a wild-type genome but also stabilized the multigenerational transmission of two genomes carrying complementing detrimental mutations. While they are so balanced, these stably transmitted mutations have no detrimental phenotype, but their segregation could contribute to disease phenotypes and somatic aging.

Background Cryptococcosis, a fatal fungal infection of the central nervous system, is one of the major killers of AIDS patients and other immunocompromised hosts. The causative agent, Cryptococcus neoformans, has a remarkable ability to 'hide' and proliferate within phagocytic cells of the human immune system. This intracellular phase is thought to underlie the ability of the pathogen to remain latent for long periods of time within infected individuals. Results We now report that Cryptococcus is able to undergo 'lateral transfer' between phagocytes, moving directly from infected to uninfected macrophages. This novel process was observed in both C. neoformans serotypes (A and D) and occurs in both immortalised cell lines and in primary human macrophages. Lateral transfer is independent of the initial route of uptake, since both serum-opsonised and antibody-opsonised C. neoformans are able to undergo direct cell-to-cell transfer. Conclusion We provide the first evidence for lateral transfer of a human fungal pathogen. This rare event may occur repeatedly during latent cryptococcal infections, thereby allowing the pathogen to remain concealed from the immune system and protecting it from exposure to antifungal agents.