Spatio-temporal variations of shallow seismic velocity changes in Salton Sea Geothermal Field,California in response to large regional earthquakes and long-term geothermal activities

We measure spatio-temporal variations of seismic velocity changes in Salton Sea Geothermal Field,California based on cross correlations of daily seismic traces recorded by a borehole seismic network from December 2007 to January 2014.We find clear co-seismic velocity reductions during the 2010 M 7.2 El Mayor–Cucapah,Mexico earthquake at~100 km further south,followed by long-term recoveries.The co-seismic reductions are larger with longer post-seismic recoveries in higher frequency bands,indicating that material damage and healing process mostly occurred in the shallow depth.In addition,the co-seismic velocity reductions are larger for ray paths outside the active fluid injection/extraction regions.The ray paths inside injection/extraction regions are associated with smaller co-seismic reductions,but subtle long-term velocity increases.We also build 3D transient water flow models based on monthly injection/extraction rates,and find correlations between several water flow parameters and co-seismic velocity reductions.We interpret the relative lack of co-seismic velocity changes within the geothermal region as unclogging of fracture network due to persistent fluid flows of geothermal production.The long-term velocity increase is likely associated with the ground water depletion and subsidence due to net production.

Accounting for anisotropic effects in the prediction of the hydro-mechanical response of a ventilated tunnel in an argillaceous rock

In order to investigate the hydro-mechanical （HM） and chemical perturbations induced in an argillaceous formation by forced ventilation during the operational period of a nuclear waste repository, a specific experiment has been performed in a tunnel, at Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory （URL） in Switzerland. This experiment has been selected in the international project DECOVALEX for model vali- dation and the numerical simulation of this ventilation experiment （VE） is the object of the present paper. Since the argillaceous rock exhibits anisotropic properties, particular attention is given to the evaluation of the effects of various anisotropic features on the predicted results. In situ measurements such as relative humidity （RH）, global water mass extracted, pore water pressure, water content, and relative displace- ments are compared to predictions using both isotropic and anisotropic parameters. Water permeability anisotropy is shown to be the most influencing parameter by far, whereas in situ stress anisotropy has an effect only during the excavation phase. The anisotropy for mechanical parameterization has also some influence, in particular through HM couplings. These HM couplings have the potential to be very significant in terms of providing confidence in describing the experimental observation, and should be considered for further investigation.

Myocardial Fibrosis in the Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM)is a type of hereditary cardiomyopathy caused by gene mutation.Its histological features include cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and disarray as well as myocardial fi brosis.Gene mutation,abnormal signal transduction,and abnormal energy metabolism are considered the main mechanisms of myocardial fi brosis.There is a strong correlation between myocardial fi brosis and the occurrence,development,and prognosis of HCM.We review the application of myocardial fi brosis in the diagnosis and treatment of HCM,focusing on research progress and the application of magnetic resonance imaging on the basis of the characteristics of fi brosis in the diagnosis and prognosis of HCM.

Approaches for representing hydro-mechanical coupling between sub-surface excavations and argillaceous porous media at the ventilation experiment, Mont Terri

At the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory （Switzerland）, a field-scale investigation has been conducted in order to investigate the hydro-mechanical and chemical perturbations induced in the argilla- ceous formation by forced ventilation through a tunnel. This experiment has been selected to be used for processing model development and validation in the international project DECOVALEX-2011. The con- ceptual and mathematical representation of the engineered void, which itself forms a major part of the experiment and is not simply a boundary condition, is the subject of this paper. A variety of approaches have been examined by the contributors to DECOVALEX and a summary of their findings is presented here. Two major aspects are discussed. Firstly, the approaches for the treatment of the surface condition at the porous media/tunnel interface are examined, with two equivalent but differing formulations successfully demonstrated. Secondly, approaches for representing the tunnel with associated air and water vapour movement, when coupled with the hydro-mechanical （HM） representation of the porous medium, are also examined. It is clearly demonstrated that, for the experimental conditions of the ventilation experiment （VE） that abstracted physical and empirical models of the tunnel, can be used successfully to represent the hydraulic behaviour of the tunnel and the hydraulic interaction between the tunnel and the surrounding rock mass.

A thermo-hydro-mechano-chemical formulation for modeling water transport around a ventilated tunnel in an argillaceous rock

Argillaceous rocks are being considered as potential host rocks for deep geological disposal. For the research work in DECOVALEX-2011, 5 participant research teams performed simulations of a labora- tory drying test and a ventilation experiment for Mont Terri underground laboratory built in argillaceous rock formation. Our study starts with establishing a coupled thermo-hydro-mechano-chemical （THMC） processes model to simulate water transport in rock around the ventilated tunnel. Especially in this THMC formulation, a three-phase and two-constituent hydraulic model is introduced to simulate the processes which occur during tunnel ventilation, including desaturation/resaturation in the rock, phase change and air/rock interface, and to explore the Opalinus clay parameter set, It can be found that water content evolution is very sensitive to intrinsic permeability, relative permeability and capillary pressure in clay rock. Water loss from surrounding rock is sensitive to the change of permeability in clay which is induced by excavation damaged zone. Chemical solute transport in the rock near ventilation experiment tunnel is simulated based on the coupled THMC formulation. It can be estimated that chemical osmotic flow has little significance on water flow modeling. Comparisons between simulation results from 5 teams and experimental observations show good agreement. It increases the confidence in modeling and indi- cates that it is a good start for fully THMC understanding of the moisture transportation and mechanical behavior in argillaceous rock.

Clinical efficacy of low-dose emetine for patients with COVID-19:a real-world study

Objective:Emetine,an isoquinoline alkaloid that is enriched at high concentrations in the lung,has shown potent in vitro activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2).The aim of this study was to better understand the effectiveness of low-dose emetine for patients with coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19).Methods:In this real-world study,63 patients with mild or common COVID-19 were recruited from Wuhan Fangcang Shelter Hospital and five COVID-19-designated hospitals in Anhui Province,China from February to March 2020.Thirty-nine patients from Wuhan Fangcang Shelter Hospital were assigned to a pragmatic randomized controlled clinical trial,and 24 patients from the 5 COVID-19-designated hospitals in Anhui Province underwent a real-world study.The medication course of emetine was less than 10 days.The main symptoms and adverse reactions of all patients were observed and recorded.The primary outcome measure was the time required for a negative SARS-CoV-2 RNA result or the negative result rate on day 10.Secondary outcomes included axillary temperature,transcutaneous oxygen saturation,and respiratory frequency recovery.The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University on February 20,2019(approval No.PJ2020-03-19)and was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on February 20,2019(registration number:ChiCTR2000030022).Results:The oxygen saturation values were higher in the treatment group than in the control group on the first day after enrollment for patients treated at Fangcang Shelter Hospital.The axillary body temperature,respiratory rate,and oxygen saturation among patients in Fangcang Shelter Hospital were related to the time effect but not to the intervention measures.The respiratory rate and oxygen saturation of patients in the Anhui designated hospitals were related to the intervention measures but not to the time effect.The axillary body temperature of patients in Anhui designated hospitals was related to the time effect but not to the intervention measures.Conclusion:Our preliminary study shows that low-dose emetine combined with basic conventional antiviral drugs improves clinical symptoms in patients with mild and common COVID-19 without apparent adverse effects,suggesting that moderately increased doses of emetine may have good potential for treatment and prevention of COVID-19.

Post-Newtonian parameter γ in generalized non-local gravity

We investigate the post-Newtonian parameter γ and derive its formalism in generalized non-local(GNL) gravity, which is the modified theory of general relativity(GR) obtained by adding a term m^(2n-2)R□(-n)R to the Einstein-Hilbert action. Concretely,based on parametrizing the generalized non-local action in which gravity is described by a series of dynamical scalar fields φ~i in addition to the metric tensor g_(μν), the post-Newtonian limit is computed, and the effective gravitational constant as well as the post-Newtonian parameters are directly obtained from the generalized non-local gravity. Moreover, by discussing the values of the parametrized post-Newtonian parameters γ, we can compare our expressions and results with those in Hohmann and Jrv et al.(2016), as well as current observational constraints on the values of γ in Will(2006). Hence, we draw restrictions on the nonminimal coupling terms F around their background values.