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The objective of the paper is to introduce a new technology which secures long horizontal casing deployment by a reliable casing flotation technology. It is common nowadays to drill a slim hole and extends to long horizontal extension to pay zones in condensate and shale oil and gas reservoir. To assure a successful casing deployment into the horizontal section, a flotation collar is often installed to float the casing in horizontal to mitigate the friction and Torque & Drag. However, slim casing may encounter difficulty in circulation and subsequent cementing even after the collar is broken. A new proprietary technique proposed in this paper solved above contingencies and secured 100% success in casing deployment, This technique secures smoothly circulation and cementing by flotating air in horizontal casing interval and purging air out of hole to overcome Spring Effect before circulation and cementing. Often, the flotation collar is made of proprietary material that can break or explodes under certain hydraulic pressure. After breaking, the whole collar becomes a portion of casing with exact the same ID of casing or a very small difference that does not have any negative effect to subsequent Plug & Perf, frac, tools running through and fluid movement. For long horizontal length of small open hole and casing sizes, casing deployment may be difficult if the Torque & Drag and friction through the low sides can not be mitigated. This paper proposes a new technique to fill air full of horizontal interval along inside the casing and ensure a sufficient of air purging to overcome Spring Effect before circulation and cementing. So far twelve (12) wells have been successfully completed including Asian longest horizontal gas well with 7,388.18m measured depth and 4,118.18m horizontal length. All jobs are 100% successful and there is no difficulty in mud circulation and cementing. Even for the longest 4,118.18m horizontal length casing deployment, the hook weight on surface when casing reached the total depth still remained 20 MT. Before this technique was applied, operators were unable to deploy 4 ½" casing through a 6" bit hole beyond 1500m horizontal length. Most often the hook weight at surface were zero when casing extended to almost 1500m in horizontal length. This new technique brings a great value to operators to complete longer horizontal well to yield more production with less investment.

Serum and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase (SGK) 1can be triggered in several malignancies. Most research on SGK1has focused on its role in cancer cells, and we sought to investigate its potential upstream non-coding RNA nominated as Lnc-SGK1, and their expression and diagnostic value in T cells in human gastric cancer (GC). Excessive expression of Lnc-SGK1 and SGK1 were observed in T cell either within the tumor or peripheral T cells, and furthermore associated with Helicobacter pylori infection and high-salt diet (HSD). Within T cells, Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection and high-salt dietcan up-regulated SGK1 expression and in turn enhance expression of Lnc-SGK1 through JunB activation. And expression of Lnc-SGK1 can further enhance transcription of SGK1 through cis regulatory mode. Lnc-SGK1 can induce Th2 and Th17 and reduce Th1 differentiation via SGK1/JunB signaling. Serum Lnc-SGK1 expression in combination with H. pylori infection and/or HSD in T cells was associated with poor prognosis of GC patients, and could be an ideal diagnostic index in human GC.

Ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitoring and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) provide important cardiovascular risk information for dialysis patients. This study aims to evaluate the risk factors of cfPWV and the associations between ambulatory blood pressure, especially night-time blood pressure and cfPWV. We conducted a cross-sectional study in patients on maintenance hemodialysis. ABP and cfPWV were measured on a midweek interdialytic day. Associations were determined using Pearson’s correlation analysis and multiple stepwise regression model. Systolic BPs and pulse pressures, but not diastolic BPs, were significantly and positively associated with cfPWV. In a stepwise regression model, age, diabetes mellitus and all-period systolic BP were independently associated with cfPWV. When day-time and night-time BPs were included in the analysis, respectively, only night-time systolic BP and age remained as independently associated with cfPWV. Ambulatory BPs are potent associates of cfPWV and night-time systolic BP, rather than day-time BPs, is an independently predictor of cfPWV. Our results support the view that controlling of nocturnal hypertension provides a unique cardiovascular protection effect.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is an etiology for a number of diseases in humans. Traditional Chinese herbs have been reported to be effective for treating EV71 infection. However, there is no report about the antiviral effects of CHA against EV71. In this study, plaque reduction assay demonstrated that the inhibitory concentration 50% (IC50) of CHA on EV71 replication is 6.3 µg/ml. When both CHA (20 µg/ml) and EV71 were added, or added post-infection at different time points, CHA was able to effectively inhibit EV71 replication between 0 and 10 h. In addition, CHA inhibited EV71 2A transcription and translation in EV71-infected RD cells, but did not affect VP1, 3C, and 3D expression. Furthermore, CHA inhibited secretions of IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ and MCP-1 in EV71-infected RD cells. Altogether, these results revealed that CHA may have antiviral properties for treating EV71 infection.

A three-dimensional miscible transport model for seawater intrusion in a phreatic aquifer with a transition zone is presented. This model considers many important factors, such as the effect of variable density on fluid flow, the effect of precipitation infiltration and phreatic surface fluctuation on the process of seawater intrusion, the existence of great discharge pumping wells, etc. The difficulty in solving this problem can be tackled by the presented numerical method and iteration technique. This model is used to describe seawater intrusion in Huangheying, Longkou, People's Republic of China. The simulated values agree very well with the field data (e.g., the total mean values of the absolute error of Cl− concentration are 46.13 mg/L and 55.67 mg/L, respectively, and those of the water head are 0.24 m and 0.08 m, respectively).

Background Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) caused by enterovirus 71 (EV71) is very common in China. It is difficult to distinguish between EV71 and coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) infections in clinical HFMD patients. Routine laboratory diagnosis of EV71 infection is time-consuming and requires expensive instruments. In this study, we have developed a one-step, single tube, reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for rapid and sensitive detection of EV71. Methods Six primers that can recognize 6 distinct regions on the VP2 gene of EV71 were designed for RT-LAMP assay. The amplification was completed by incubating all reagents in a single tube with reverse transcriptase and Bst DNA polymerase under the isothermal condition (60°C) for 60 min, and could be evaluated by using GoldView staining under a handheld ultraviolet torch lamp or electrophoresis analysis. Results A total of 123 specimens collected from suspicious patients with HFMD were simultaneously detected by RT-LAMP and PCR fluorescence probing assay. The RT-LAMP amplified products containing EV71 were digested by HinfI and TaqI restriction endonucleases; in contrast, non-specific products with CVA16, coxsackievirus A4 and coxsackievirus B3 could not be detected in RT-LAMP assay. Meanwhile, RT-LAMP assay could amplify EV71 virus with a detection limit of 1 PFU/ml within 60 min. Compared with PCR fluorescence probing assay, RT-LAMP assay exhibited 98.4% identity during the detection of EV71 viral RNA without the missing of positive samples. Conclusion Our results indicated that RT-LAMP is a rapid, sensitive, specific and accurate method for the detection of EV71 in clinical specimens. Therefore, this developed method has potential application for rapid and comprehensive surveillance for EV71 infection, especially in developing country.

China's first sea-water intrusion observation network is in the Laizhou Bay region. The data obtained for four consecutive years are presented. There is usually a wide transition zone in the study area, but in some regions, a relatively distinct and sharp interface is formed. A detailed analysis has shown that there are at least two types of salt-water/fresh-water interface. The interface in the study area had moved about 140 m along the main observed section in a period of three years and three months due to the effect of pumping wells. Salt water may invade via the riverbed deposits but usually changes its invading direction due to the united effect of the pumping wells. Sea-water intrusion was caused by the excessive pumping of ground water from the coastal aquifer. The interface was generally formed on the inland side not far away from the powerful discharge pumping center, and sea-water intrusion stops there. The monitoring data suggested that if the powerful discharge pumping center moves landward, salt water will start advancing landward until a new equilibrium is reached, and even if a new pumping well, whose discharge is very small, is drilled, the equilibrium would be upset, thus causing the interface to advance inland slowly.

Sea-water intrusion was observed in China's coastal aquifers as early as the 1960s. At present, it covers an area of more than 580 km2, and is continuing to extend in the coastal area of Laizhou Bay. There is a wide transition zone of 1.5–6.0 km, in which both the simple mixing of local fresh water and sea water and the cation exchange can be recognized. In this paper, extensive chemical and head data sets in four dimensions relevant to the distribution of the sea-water intrusion and ion exchange are presented.

Background: Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway plays an important role in response to viral infection. The aim of this study was to explore the function and mechanism of MAPK signaling pathway in enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection of human rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells. Methods: Apoptosis of RD cells was observed using annexin V-FITC/PI binding assay under a fluorescence microscope. Cellular RNA was extracted and transcribed to cDNA. The expressions of 56 genes of MAPK signaling pathway in EV71-infected RD cells at 8 h and 20 h after infection were analyzed by PCR array. The levels of IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, and TNF-α in the supernatant of RD cells infected with EV71 at different time points were measured by ELISA. Results: The viability of RD cells decreased obviously within 48 h after EV71 infection. Compared with the control group, EV71 infection resulted in the significantly enhanced releases of IL-2, IL-4, IL-10 and TNF-α from infected RD cells (p

Background The mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (MEK/ERK) signaling pathway is involved in viral life cycle. However, the effect of MEK/ERK pathway in enterovirus 71(EV71)-infected immature dendritic cells (iDCs) is still unclear. Methods Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated and induced to generate iDCs. Unifected iDCs and EV71-infected iDCs with a multiplicity of infection (MOI = 5) were analyzed by flow cytometry. Differential gene expressions of MEK/ERK signaling pathway molecules in EV71-infected iDCs were performed by PCR arrays. The phosphorylation of MEK/ERK pathway molecules in EV71-infected iDCs preincubated without or with U0126 (20 μM) at indicated times was detected by Western blot. The concentrations of IL-1α, IL-2, IL-6, IL-12, TNF-α, IFN-α1, IFN-β and IFN-γ in culture supernatant were analyzed by the luminex fluorescent technique. Results When iDCs were infected with EV71 for 24 h, the percentage of CD80, CD83, CD86 and HLA-DR expressed on iDCs significantly increased. PCR arrays showed that gene expressions of molecules in MEK/ERK signaling pathway were remarkably upregulated in EV71-infected iDCs. EV71 infection activated both MEK1/2 and ERK1/2, which phosphorylated their downstream transcription factor c-Fos, c-Jun, c-myc and Elk1. Importantly, the treatment of U0126 significantly inhibited MEK/ERK signaling pathway molecules and severely impaired virus replication., Additionally, EV71 infection promoted the expression of son of sevenless (SOS1) and increased the secretion of IL-1α, IL-2, IL-6, IL-12, TNF-α,IFN-β and IFN-γ. Furthermore,the release of IL-1α, IL-2,IL-6 and TNF-α could be effectively suppressed by inhibitor U0126. Conclusions Our data suggest that the MEK/ERK signaling pathway plays an important role in EV71-infected iDCs and these molecules may be potential targets for the development of new anti-EV71 drugs.

Background Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection can induce the apoptosis of infected cells. The aim of this study is to explore the effect of EV71 infection on apoptosis mechanisms in virus-infected human rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells. Methods The apoptosis of RD cells was examined using annexin V-FITC/PI by flow cytometry and cytokines were detected by ELISA. Cellular RNA was extracted and transcribed to cDNA. PCR array was employed to analyze the expressions of 84 apoptotic genes from EV71-infected RD cells at 8 and 20 h postinfection, respectively. In addition, the expressions of FasL, caspase, AKT2, JNK1/2, c-Jun and NF-κB proteins were detected by western blotting. Results Flow cytometry demonstrated that the apoptosis or death of EV71-infected RD cells was increased by 37.1% with a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 5 at 20 h postinfection. The production of IL-4, IL-10 and TNF-α was enhanced by the subsequent EV71 infection. PCR array revealed significant changes in the expressions of apoptotic genes. Among 84 genes, 42 genes were down-regulated after EV71 infection at 8 h, whereas 32 genes were up-regulated at 20 h postinfection. Moreover, the ligands of TNF superfamily such as FasL, CD40L and TNF-α were significantly up-regulated and enhanced the expressions of apoptosis-related cysteine peptidases, including caspase-10, -8, -7 and -3. In addition, EV71 infection induces the phosphorylation of AKT2, JNK1/2, c-Jun and NF-κB at 20 h postinfection. Conclusion PCR array for the determination of apoptosis gene expressions is an informative assay in elucidating biological pathways. During the early stage of EV71 infection, the apoptotic process of RD cells is significantly delayed. EV71 infection can also induce the expressions of FasL, TNF-α and CD40L, which contribute to the apoptosis of RD cells.