Primary Migration Research Articles

CO2 storage in Residual Oil Zones: Field-scale modeling and assessment

Residual Oil Zones (ROZs) are formed as the result of secondary tectonic activities which trigger extensive oil remobilization after the primary petroleum migration. The ROZs are attractive targets for CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery (CO2-EOR) and storage: first, because in many cases, the thickness of the ROZ ensures an overall recoverable volume of oil comparable to that of the Main Pay Zone (MPZ) and second, because the ROZ has favorable containment and capacity for large-scale and long-term EOR-storage projects. This study investigates one of the underlying theories of the ROZ formation, called the Altered Hydrodynamic Flow Fields (AHFF). The impact of the AHFF process on the formation of ROZs is specifically investigated using a field-scale simulation model for a Permian Basin San Andres reservoir. The simulation model is tuned and verified by validating the ROZ's characteristics, such as the thickness of the ROZ, the shape of the saturation profile, and the tilt of the OWC. The tuned Permian Basin San Andres reservoir model is used to simulate the primary recovery and the secondary waterflooding phases in the MPZ. Depending on the CO2 availability and ROZ development strategy, six different development scenarios are specified beyond the waterflooding phase. The corresponding simulations are performed to find the optimum EOR-storage strategies for the MPZ-ROZ through the extensive comparison of key performance parameters, including the cumulative oil recovery, CO2 storage and, net CO2 utilization. The results confirm the technical viability of CO2-EOR and storage in the ROZ. The most favorable expansion strategy in terms of oil production and CO2 storage is the simultaneous development of the MPZ and the ROZ from the beginning of EOR-storage process. Most importantly, the study demonstrates that the volume of the utilized CO2 has a substantial effect on the success of the EOR-storage. While other expansion strategies such as sequential development also provide reasonable oil production response and CO2 storage potential, early project expansion into the ROZ without sufficient investment in CO2 resources is shown to be detrimental to the economics of the project. Finally, several important technical considerations for CO2 storage are qualitatively discussed, including assessment of the ROZ storage capacity, saltwater disposal requirements, and reduced risk of CO2 leakage in the ROZ.

Inhibition or ablation of transglutaminase 2 impairs astrocyte migration

Astrocytes play numerous complex roles that support and facilitate the function of neurons. Further, when there is an injury to the central nervous system (CNS) they can both facilitate or ameliorate functional recovery depending on the location and severity of the injury. When a CNS injury is relatively severe a glial scar is formed, which is primarily composed of astrocytes. The glial scar can be both beneficial, by limiting inflammation, and detrimental, by preventing neuronal projections, to functional recovery. Thus, understanding the processes and proteins that regulate astrocyte migration in response to injury is still of fundamental importance. One protein that is likely involved in astrocyte migration is transglutaminase 2 (TG2); a multifunctional protein expressed ubiquitously throughout the brain. Its functions include transamidation and GTPase activity, among others, and previous studies have implicated TG2 as a regulator of migration. Therefore, we examined the role of TG2 in primary astrocyte migration subsequent to injury. Using wild type or TG2−/− astrocytes, we manipulated the different functions and conformation of TG2 with novel irreversible inhibitors or mutant versions of the protein. Results showed that both inhibition and ablation of TG2 in primary astrocytes significantly inhibit migration. Additionally, we show that the deficiency in migration caused by deletion of TG2 can only be rescued with the native protein and not with mutants. Finally, the addition of TGFβ rescued the migration deficiency independent of TG2. Taken together, our study shows that transamidation and GTP/GDP-binding are necessary for inhibiting astrocyte migration and it is TGFβ independent.

Microfracturing during primary migration in shales

In several geological environments, chemical reactions are coupled to rock deformation and the associated stresses induced locally interact with the far field loading. This is the case in immature shales that undergo burial and diagenesis, where the organic matter evolves with temperature into hydrocarbons which induces local volume expansion. At large scale, this mechanism is responsible for the transport of hydrocarbons from source to reservoir rocks, a process referred to as primary migration. However, how the interactions between local fluid production, microfracturing, and transport are coupled remain to be understood. Here, we analyze this coupling phenomenon by developing a discrete element model where the generation of local overpressures occurring in kerogen patches is simulated, while the surrounding rock is subjected to external loading. It is shown that, due to local fluid overpressure; microfracturing occurs and brings the fluids to migrate through the medium. The numerical results are confirmed by laboratory experiments where the network of microfractures induced in an immature Green River shale sample heated under small differential stress was imaged in three dimensions using X-ray microtomography. Moreover, the numerical simulations identify that the state of differential stress and the initial kerogen distribution constitute two key parameters that control the formation of the three-dimensional percolating microfracture network and could thus explain primary migration in shale rocks.

Inhibiting Extracellular Vesicle Release from Human Cardiosphere Derived Cells with Lentiviral Knockdown of nSMase2 Differentially Effects Proliferation and Apoptosis in Cardiomyocytes, Fibroblasts and Endothelial Cells In Vitro.

Numerous studies have shown a beneficial effect of cardiosphere-derived cell (CDC) therapy on regeneration of injured myocardium. Paracrine signaling by CDC secreted exosomes may contribute to improved cardiac function. However, it has not yet been demonstrated by a genetic approach that exosome release contributes to the therapeutic effect of transplanted CDCs. By employing a lentiviral knockdown (KD) strategy against neutral spingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2), a crucial gene in exosome secretion, we have defined the role of physiologically secreted human CDC-derived exosomes on cardiac fibroblast, endothelial cell and primary cardiomyocyte proliferation, cell death, migration and angiogenesis using a series of in vitro coculture assays. We found that secretion of hCDC-derived exosomes was effectively inhibited by nSMase2 lentiviral KD and shRNAi expression was stable and constitutive. hCDC exosome release contributed to the angiogenic and pro-migratory effects of hCDCs on HUVECs, decreased proliferation of fibroblasts, and decreased apoptosis of cardiomyocytes. These in vitro reactions support a role for exosome secretion as a paracrine mechanism of stem cell-mediated cardiac repair in vivo. Importantly, we have established a novel tool to test constitutive inhibition of exosome secretion in stem cell populations in animal models of cardiac disease.

Development of three-dimensional collagen scaffolds with controlled architecture for cell migration studies using breast cancer cell lines.

Cancer is characterized by cell heterogeneity and the development of 3D invitro assays that can distinguish more invasive or migratory phenotypes could enhance diagnosis or drug discovery. 3D collagen scaffolds have been used to develop analogues of complex tissues invitro and are suited to routine biochemical and immunological assays. We sought to increase 3D model tractability and modulate the migration rate of seeded cells using an ice-templating technique to create either directional/anisotropic or non-directional/isotropic porous architectures within cross-linked collagen scaffolds. Anisotropic scaffolds supported the enhanced migration of an invasive breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 with an altered spatial distribution of proliferative cells in contrast to invasive MDA-MB-468 and non-invasive MCF-7cells lines. In addition, MDA-MB-468 showed increased migration upon epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in anisotropic scaffolds. The provision of controlled architecture in this system may act both to increase assay robustness and as a tuneable parameter to capture detection of a migrated population within a set time, with consequences for primary tumour migration analysis. The separation of invasive clones from a cancer biomass with invitro platforms could enhance drug development and diagnosis testing by contributing assay metrics including migration rate, as well as modelling cell-cell and cell-matrix interaction in a system compatible with routine histopathological testing.

Fbxw7β, E3 ubiquitin ligase, negative regulation of primary myoblast differentiation, proliferation and migration

Satellite cells attached to skeletal muscle fibers play a crucial role in skeletal muscle regeneration. During regeneration, the satellite cells proliferate, migrate to the damaged region, and fuse to each other. Although it is important to determine the cellular mechanisms controlling myoblast behavior, their regulators are not well understood. In this study, we evaluated the roles of Fbxw7 in primary myoblasts and determined its potential as a therapeutic target for muscle disease. We originally found that Fbxw7β, one of the E3 ubiquitin ligase Fbxw7 subtypes, negatively regulates differentiation, proliferation and migration of myoblasts and satellite cells on muscle fiber. However, these phenomena were not observed in myoblasts expressing a dominant-negative, F-box deleted Fbxw7β, mutant. Our results suggest that myoblast differentiation potential and muscle regeneration can be regulated by Fbxw7β.

Types, characteristics and effects of natural fluid pressure fractures in shale: A case study of the Paleogene strata in Eastern China

Paleogene organic-rich shales from the Dongying Sag and Zhanhua Sag of Jiyang Depression in Bohai Bay Basin and Northern Jiangsu Basin in Eastern China are studied, to categorize the types and characteristics of natural fluid pressure fractures and their effects on hydrocarbon primary migration. The study shows that fluid overpressure is the main reason for the formation of natural fluid pressure fractures. The natural fluid pressure fractures include three types, early drainage fractures, bedding-parallel vein fractures, and hydrocarbon generation and expulsion fractures. Early drainage fractures have the typical characteristics of snaking morphology, bedding-parallel vein fractures are filled with fibrous calcite vein and coexist with organic matter, and hydrocarbon generation and expulsion fractures generated by hydrocarbon-generating pressurization of kerogen are the key to episodic expulsion of organic-rich shale. Fractures of multiple origins, such as natural fluid pressure fractures, bedding fractures and structural fractures, accumulate gradually, forming interconnected fracture networks which are significant primary migration pathways and reservoir space, act as the seepage channel in the process of multi-scale seepage and are the premise of realizing volume fracturing in shale reservoirs.

Multiples: Signal or noise?

Migration and migration inversion are the seismic processing methods for structural determination and subsequent amplitude analysis, respectively. To date, the most well-founded and physically interpretable migration method is based on predicting a coincident source and receiver experiment at depth at time equals zero. We have extended that migration method for heterogeneous media and to accommodate two-way propagation in a local sense at every point from the source to the target reflector and back from the reflector to the receiver and in a global sense, separately for each of the two legs from the source to the reflector and from the reflector to the receiver. That provides the first migration method that avoids high-frequency assumptions in the imaging principle and how it is implemented, and hence, it is equally effective at all frequencies at the target or reservoir. This advance for two-way wave propagation migration then provides a tool to quantitatively, unambiguously, and definitively define the role of primaries and multiples in migration. Our conclusion was that with data consisting of primaries and multiples, for an accurate discontinuous velocity model, only primaries contribute to migration with the same image and inversion results independent of whether multiples are kept or removed. However, for a smooth and continuous velocity model (i.e., generally assumed in practice), every multiple will result in a false, misleading, and potentially injurious subsurface image and hence must be removed before migration. In practice, we migrate with a smooth velocity model, and hence multiples must be removed. When the collection of primaries is incomplete, a multiple can be used to provide an approximate image of an unrecorded primary. However, it is always the migration of primaries that provides subsurface structure and amplitude information.

Migration Phenotype of Brain-Cancer Cells Predicts Patient Outcomes.

Glioblastoma multiforme is a heterogeneous and infiltrative cancer with dismal prognosis. Studying the migratory behavior of tumor-derived cell populations can be informative, but it places a high premium on the precision of invitro methods and the relevance of invivo conditions. In particular, the analysis of 2D cell migration may not reflect invasion into 3D extracellular matrices invivo. Here, we describe a method that allows time-resolved studies of primary cell migration with single-cell resolution on a fibrillar surface that closely mimics invivo 3D migration. We used this platform to screen 14 patient-derived glioblastoma samples. We observed that the migratory phenotype of a subset of cells in response to platelet-derived growth factor was highly predictive of tumor location and recurrence in the clinic. Therefore, migratory phenotypic classifiers analyzed at the single-cell level in a patient-specific way can provide high diagnostic and prognostic value for invasive cancers.

Glial cell activation, recruitment, and survival of B-lineage cells following MCMV brain infection

BackgroundChemokines produced by reactive glia drive migration of immune cells and previous studies from our laboratory have demonstrated that CD19+ B cells infiltrate the brain. In this study, in vivo and in vitro experiments investigated the role of reactive glial cells in recruitment and survival of B-lineage cells in response to (murine cytomegalovirus) MCMV infection.MethodsFlow cytometric analysis was used to assess chemokine receptor expression on brain-infiltrating B cells. Real-time RT-PCR and ELISA were used to measure chemokine levels. Dual-immunohistochemical staining was used to co-localize chemokine production by reactive glia. Primary glial cell cultures and migration assays were used to examine chemokine-mediated recruitment. Astrocyte: B cell co-cultures were used to investigate survival and proliferation.ResultsThe chemokine receptors CXCR3, CXCR5, CCR5, and CCR7 were detected on CD19+ cells isolated from the brain during MCMV infection. In particular, CXCR3 was found to be elevated on an increasing number of cells over the time course of infection, and it was the primary chemokine receptor expressed at 60 days post infection Quite different expression kinetics were observed for CXCR5, CCR5, and CCR7, which were elevated on the highest number of cells early during infection and decreased by 14, 30, and 60 days post infection Correspondingly, elevated levels of CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL13, as well as CCL5, were found within the brains of infected animals, and only low levels of CCL3 and CCL19 were detected. Differential expression of CXCL9/CXCL10 and CXCL13 between microglia and astrocytes was apparent, and B cells moved towards supernatants from MCMV-infected microglia, but not astrocytes. Pretreatment with neutralizing Abs to CXCL9 and CXCL10 inhibited this migration. In contrast, neutralizing Abs to the ligand of CXCR5 (i.e., CXCL13) did not significantly block chemotaxis. Proliferation of brain-infiltrating B cells was detected at 7 days post infection and persisted through the latest time tested (60 days post infection). Finally, astrocytes produce BAFF (B cell activating factor of the TNF family) and promote proliferation of B cells via cell-to-cell contact.ConclusionsCXCR3 is the primary chemokine receptor on CD19+ B cells persisting within the brain, and migration to microglial cell supernatants is mediated through this receptor. Correspondingly, microglial cells produce CXCL9 and CXCL10, but not CXCL13. Reactive astrocytes promote B cell proliferation.

Hydrocarbon generation and migration under a large overthrust: The carbonate platform under the Semail Ophiolite, Jebel Akhdar, Oman

The Natih B source rock of the Jebel Akhdar dome in the Oman Mountains hosts at least three different generations of solid bitumen. This study presents detailed analyses of thermal maturity based on solid bitumen reflectance, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy of matrix and solid bitumen. The Natih B source rock was sampled in different valleys (Wadis) around the Jebel Akhdar dome. Detailed petrography of organic material was conducted by optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The petrographic data was used to calibrate an integrated thermal basin model of the Wadi Nakhr area. Due to ophiolite obduction the Natih B source rock was buried to 7.4 to 8km and a maximum temperature of c. 240°C. Hydrocarbon generation and associated primary migration was burial induced and took place from 78 to 66Ma with solid bitumen precipitation in the source rock. A resulting high-reflective solid bitumen generation reflects temperatures of deepest burial in the order of 225°C to 240°C. Based on an elaborated paragenetic sequence two other solid bitumen generations were linked to two oil migration events taking place during uplift (55–50Ma and 48–45Ma), after deepest burial (around 65Ma).

Microstructural characterization of pore types in unconventional gas reservoirs utilizing FEG-SEM: An example from the Galembo Member of the Cretaceous La Luna Formation, Middle Magdalena Valley Basin (Colombia)

Mineralogy and microstructure are key variables defining the physical properties of a rock. Mudstones show inherently heterogeneous matrix pore-size distributions. They can show organic and inorganic pores and the transport mechanism through pores is different, and, therefore, it is necessary to describe their organic and inorganic porosity. This work uses Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscopy to characterize the Galembo Member mudstones, Cretaceous La Luna Formation, Middle Magdalena Valley Basin, Colombia. There are several pore types in mudstones, including interparticle pores due to flocculation of clay minerals, organoporosity due to burial and thermal maturity of organic matter, intraparticle pores from organisms, intraparticle pores within mineral grains, and microchannels and microfractures, including dissolution, fillings and interlayer fractures. The existence of interconnected pores in such complex fracture-pore system provides effective pathways for primary gas migration and it also provides a storage space for the residual petroleum in mudstones, which is important for the primary migration and storage for mudstone gas resources. The pore connectivity is high and increases towards the top of the Galembo Member.

Transcranial direct current stimulation accelerates recovery of function, induces neurogenesis and recruits oligodendrocyte precursors in a rat model of stroke

BackgroundClinical data suggest that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may be used to facilitate rehabilitation after stroke. However, data are inconsistent and the neurobiological mechanisms underlying tDCS remain poorly explored, impeding its implementation into clinical routine. In the healthy rat brain, tDCS affects neural stem cells (NSC) and microglia. We here investigated whether tDCS applied after stroke also beneficially affects these cells, which are known to be involved in regeneration and repair. MethodsFocal cerebral ischemia was induced in rats by transient occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. Twenty-eight animals with comparable infarcts, as judged by magnetic resonance imaging, were randomized to receive a multi-session paradigm of either cathodal, anodal, or sham tDCS. Behaviorally, recovery of motor function was assessed by Catwalk. Proliferation in the NSC niches was monitored by Positron-Emission-Tomography (PET) employing the radiotracer 3′-deoxy-3′-[18F]fluoro-l-thymidine ([18F]FLT). Microglia activation was depicted with [11C]PK11195-PET. In addition, immunohistochemical analyses were used to quantify neuroblasts, oligodendrocyte precursors, and activation and polarization of microglia. ResultsAnodal and cathodal tDCS both accelerated functional recovery, though affecting different aspects of motor function. Likewise, tDCS induced neurogenesis independently of polarity, while only cathodal tDCS recruited oligodendrocyte precursors towards the lesion. Moreover, cathodal stimulation preferably supported M1-polarization of microglia. ConclusionsTDCS acts through multifaceted mechanisms that far exceed its primary neurophysiological effects, encompassing proliferation and migration of stem cells, their neuronal differentiation, and modulation of microglia responses.

Surface Wettability of Basal Surfaces of Clay Minerals: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Understanding the wettability of clay mineral surfaces is crucial for enhancing oil recovery, investigating primary migration of hydrocarbon, and evaluating the performance of sealing rocks in a petroleum system. On the basis of molecular dynamics simulations, we investigated the interactions between four typical clay minerals (i.e., pyrophyllite, montmorillonite, illite, and kaolinite) and confined pore fluids (i.e., water/alkane/salts). The influences of surface group, layer charge, and salts on the wettability of clay surfaces were revealed. As the layer charge increases, the hydrophilicity of the montmorillonite basal surface gradually increases. The basal surface of 2:1-type pyrophyllite is completely alkane-wet independent of salts. However, for 1:1-type kaolinite, the presence of salts makes the siloxane surface completely water-wet, whereas it is partially alkane-wet at the absence of salts. In general, the salt ions adsorbed onto clay surfaces promote the surface hydrophilicity. By using nonequil...

Transformation of the pore space during the simulation of the generation of hydrocarbon fluids in the Domanik horizon of the South-Tatar crest as an example

The main purpose of this paper is to study the factors that control changes in rock structure during catagenetic transformation of organic matter. Hydrocarbon generation and primary migration can be controlled by numerous parameters; the most important are temperature, pressure, hydrocarbon composition, and organic matter type and content. The influences of most of these parameters have been studied and experimentally demonstrated. However, there are a few works that are dedicated to the investigation of the texture features of rocks, as well as the quantitative content of the organic matter on the pore space transformation of rocks. Therefore, these parameters are the most important when studying the primary migration processes. It was found experimentally that the rock pore space after each stage of heating is transformed, forming new pore spaces and channels that connect the primary pores. A sample with a relatively low content of organic matter has been found to undergo fewer changes in pore-space morphology in comparison to rock that is saturated in organic content. It has been found that that the change of pore-space morphology depends on the original structure of the rocks. Most of the structural changes were observed during rock heating within 260–430°C; the most intense formation of hydrocarbons was revealed within this interval.

A Spatial Perspective of the Patterns and Characteristics of Main- and Substream Migration to the Western Cape, South Africa

This article provides a contemporary spatial perspective of patterns and trends in migration to the Western Cape during the period 2001 to 2011 and contributes an important new perspective on one of the dominant migration streams in South Africa. It applies the concepts of mainstream and substream migration from the differential urbanisation model to analyse characteristics and patterns normally hidden by aggregated migration data. The findings confirm the continuation of strong primary migration streams between the Eastern Cape and municipalities in the Western Cape driven mainly by productionism. These migrants are mostly unmarried, young (25–29 years), mostly unemployed or not economically active, with low incomes. A significant proportion (31.3 %) end up living in informal dwellings in backyards or informal settlements largely concentrated in the provincial primary city, Cape Town. A smaller but prominent substream of migrants to the province consists of affluent, highly skilled, mostly married migrants from other metropolitan cities in South Africa, many from Gauteng. These migrants are driven by environmentalism, and favour Cape Town and adjacent municipalities as their destination—particularly those areas along the south coast of the province containing intermediate-size cities. These identified migration patterns and characteristics hold important development implications at both provincial and municipal levels.

Phosphorylation of murine double minute-2 on Ser166 is downstream of VEGF-A in exercised skeletal muscle and regulates primary endothelial cell migration and FoxO gene expression.

We demonstrated in a previous study that murine double minute (Mdm)-2 is essential for exercise-induced skeletal muscle angiogenesis. In the current study, we investigated the mechanisms that regulate Mdm2 activity in response to acute exercise and identified VEGF-A as a key stimulator of Mdm2 phosphorylation on Ser(166) (p-Ser166-Mdm2). VEGF-A and p-Ser166-Mdm2 protein levels were measured in human and rodent muscle biopsy specimens after 1 bout of exercise. VEGF-A-dependent Mdm2 phosphorylation was demonstrated in vivo in mice harboring myofiber-specific deletion of VEGF-A (mVEGF(-/-)) and in vitro in primary human and rodent endothelial cells (ECs). Exercise increased VEGF-A and p-Ser166-Mdm2 protein levels respectively by 157 and 68% in human muscle vs. pre-exercise levels. Similar results were observed in exercised rodent muscles compared to sedentary controls; however, exercise-induced Mdm2 phosphorylation was significantly attenuated in mVEGF(-/-) mice. Recombinant VEGF-A elevated p-Ser166-Mdm2 by 50-125% and stimulated migration by 33% in ECs when compared to untreated cells, whereas the Mdm2 antagonist Nutlin-3a abrogated VEGF-driven EC migration. Finally, overexpression of a Ser166-Mdm2 phosphorylation mimetic increased EC migration, increased Mdm2 to FoxO1 binding (+55%), and decreased FoxO1-dependent gene expression compared with ECs overexpressing WT-Mdm2. Our results suggest that VEGF-mediated Mdm2 phosphorylation on Ser(166) is a novel proangiogenic pathway within the skeletal muscle.

Effects of p35 Mutations Associated with Mental Retardation on the Cellular Function of p35-CDK5

p35 is an activation subunit of the cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5), which is a Ser/Thr kinase that is expressed predominantly in neurons. Disruption of the CDK5 or p35 (CDK5R1) genes induces abnormal neuronal layering in various regions of the mouse brain via impaired neuronal migration, which may be relevant for mental retardation in humans. Accordingly, mutations in the p35 gene were reported in patients with nonsyndromic mental retardation; however, their effect on the biochemical function of p35 has not been examined. Here, we studied the biochemical effect of mutant p35 on its known properties, i.e., stability, CDK5 activation, and cellular localization, using heterologous expression in cultured cells. We also examined the effect of the mutations on axon elongation in cultured primary neurons and migration of newborn neurons in embryonic brains. However, we did not detect any significant differences in the effects of the mutant forms of p35 compared with wild-type p35. Therefore, we conclude that these p35 mutations are unlikely to cause mental retardation.

The evolution of Devonian hydrocarbon gases in shallow aquifers of the northern Appalachian Basin: Insights from integrating noble gas and hydrocarbon geochemistry

The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in domestic energy production from unconventional reservoirs. This energy boom has generated marked economic benefits, but simultaneously evoked significant concerns regarding the potential for drinking-water contamination in shallow aquifers. Presently, efforts to evaluate the environmental impacts of shale gas development in the northern Appalachian Basin (NAB), located in the northeastern US, are limited by: (1) a lack of comprehensive “pre-drill” data for groundwater composition (water and gas); (2) uncertainty in the hydrogeological factors that control the occurrence of naturally present CH4 and brines in shallow Upper Devonian (UD) aquifers; and (3) limited geochemical techniques to quantify the sources and migration of crustal fluids (specifically methane) at various time scales. To address these questions, we analyzed the noble gas, dissolved ion, and hydrocarbon gas geochemistry of 72 drinking-water wells and one natural methane seep all located ≫1km from shale gas drill sites in the NAB. In the present study, we consciously avoided groundwater wells from areas near active or recent drilling to ensure shale gas development would not bias the results. We also intentionally targeted areas with naturally occurring CH4 to characterize the geochemical signature and geological context of gas-phase hydrocarbons in shallow aquifers of the NAB. Our data display a positive relationship between elevated [CH4], [C2H6], [Cl], and [Ba] that co-occur with high [4He]. Although four groundwater samples show mantle contributions ranging from 1.2% to 11.6%, the majority of samples have [He] ranging from solubility levels (∼45×10−6cm3 STP/L) with below-detectable [CH4] and minor amounts of tritiogenic 3He in low [Cl] and [Ba] waters, up to high [4He]=0.4cm3 STP/L with a purely crustal helium isotopic end-member (3He/4He=∼0.02 times the atmospheric ratio (R/Ra)) in samples with CH4 near saturation for shallow groundwater (P(CH4)=∼1 atmosphere) and elevated [Cl] and [Ba]. These data suggest that 4He is dominated by an exogenous (i.e., migrated) crustal source for these hydrocarbon gas- and salt-rich fluids. In combination with published inorganic geochemistry (e.g., 87Sr/86Sr, Sr/Ba, Br−/Cl−), new noble gas and hydrocarbon isotopic data (e.g., 20Ne/36Ar, C2+/C1, δ13C-CH4) suggest that a hydrocarbon-rich brine likely migrated from the Marcellus Formation (via primary hydrocarbon migration) as a dual-phase fluid (gas+liquid) and was fractionated by solubility partitioning during fluid migration and emplacement into conventional UD traps (via secondary hydrocarbon migration). Based on the highly fractionated 4He/CH4 data relative to Marcellus and UD production gases, we propose an additional phase of hydrocarbon gas migration where natural gas previously emplaced in UD hydrocarbon traps actively diffuses out into and equilibrates with modern shallow groundwater (via tertiary hydrocarbon migration) following uplift, denudation, and neotectonic fracturing. These data suggest that by integrating noble gas geochemistry with hydrocarbon and dissolved ion chemistry, one can better determine the source and migration processes of natural gas in the Earth’s crust, which are two critical factors for understanding the presence of hydrocarbon gases in shallow aquifers.

TCTP Expression After Rat Spinal Cord Injury: Implications for Astrocyte Proliferation and Migration.

Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is a ubiquitous and highly conserved protein which plays a role in cell proliferation and growth, apoptosis, and cell cycle regulation. However, its expression and function in spinal cord injury (SCI) are still unknown. Here, we demonstrated that expression of TCTP was dynamic changed after acute spinal cord injury. Our results showed that TCTP gradually increased, reached a peak at 3 day, and then declined to basal levels at 14 days after spinal cord injury. Upregulation of TCTP was accompanied with an increase in the levels of proliferation proteins such as PCNA. Immunofluorescent labeling also showed that TCTP located in astrocytes and traumatic SCI induced TCTP colocalizated with PCNA. These results indicated that TCTP might play an important role in astrocyte proliferation. To further probe the role of TCTP, TCTP-specific siRNA-transfected astrocytes showed significant decrease of primary astrocyte proliferation. Surprisingly, TCTP knockdown also reduced primary astrocyte migration, as the reorganization of microtubules and F-actin was disturbed after siRNA transfection. All above indicated that TCTP might play a crucial role in astrocyte proliferation and migration. Collectively, our data suggested that TCTP might play important roles in CNS pathophysiology after SCI.