定向井滑动钻进送钻原理与技术

定向井和水平井钻进经常采用滑动钻进方式。地面间歇向井内送入钻杆是如何转化成井下钻柱对钻头的推进的?如何减小钻柱与井壁的滑动摩擦力给钻压带来的误差?现有的滑动钻进送钻技术各有什么优缺点?这些都是业界关心的问题。为此,把钻具送到井底并加上钻压,暂停地面送钻操作的工况作为研究区间,分析了井底的钻柱弹性、水力振荡器和液力推进器3种送钻原理。阐述了带井下动力的钻具组合、带水力振荡器的钻具组合和带液力推进器的钻具组合的滑动送钻技术,给出了地面钻进参数与井底钻进参数的关系。进而比较了3种送钻技术的特点:带井下动力的钻具组合在井底是依靠钻柱的弹性推动钻头前进;带水力振荡器的钻具组合依靠其产生的水力振动来降低钻柱与井壁间的滑动摩擦力,改善钻压传递效率;带液力推进器的钻具组合在其工作钻压区间,依靠活塞推动钻头前进。结论认为,带液力推进器的钻具组合滑动送钻技术最优,钻压可调、平稳,液力推进器可串联使用,钻进时可以活动上部钻柱。

Induction of apoptosis in purified animal and plant nuclei by Xenopus egg extracts

We have developed a cell-free system that can trigger the nuclei purified from mouse liver and suspensioncultured carrot cells to undergo apoptosis as defined by the formation of apoptotic bodies and nucleosomal DNA fragments. The effects of different divalent cations and cycloheximide on DNA cleavage in this system were assessed.The fact that nuclei of plant cells can be induced to undergo apoptosis in a cell-free animal system suggests that animals and plants share a common signal transduction pathway triggering in the initiation stage of apoptosis.

Extensive Numerical Tests of Leapfrog Integrator in Middle Thermostat Scheme in Molecular Simulations

Accurate and efficient integration of the equations of motion is indispensable for molecular dynamics(MD)simulations.Despite the massive use of the conventional leapfrog(LF)integrator in modern computational tools within the framework of MD propagation,further development for better performance is still possible.The alternative version of LF in the middle thermostat scheme(LFmiddle)achieves a higher order of accuracy and efficiency and maintains stable dynamics even with the integration time stepsize extended by several folds.In this work,we perform a benchmark test of the two integrators(LF and LF-middle)in extensive conventional and enhanced sampling simulations,aiming at quantifying the time-stepsizeinduced variations of global properties(e.g.,detailed potential energy terms)as well as of local observables(e.g.,free energy changes or bondlengths)in practical simulations of complex systems.The test set is composed of six chemically and biologically relevant systems,including the conformational change of dihedral flipping in the N-methylacetamide and an AT(AdenineThymine)tract,the intra-molecular proton transfer inside malonaldehyde,the binding free energy calculations of benzene and phenol targeting T4 lysozyme L99A,the hydroxyl bond variations in ethaline deep eutectic solvent,and the potential energy of the blue-light using flavin photoreceptor.It is observed that the time-step-induced error is smaller for the LFmiddle scheme.The outperformance of LF-middle over the conventional LF integrator is much more significant for global properties than local observables.Overall,the current work demonstrates that the LF-middle scheme should be preferably applied to obtain accurate thermodynamics in the simulation of practical chemical and biological systems.

Harmful Effects on African Clawed Frog （Xenopus laevis） Reproduction as Expression of High Water Phosphates Levels

Amphibians are considered as reliable indicators of environmental quality. In Europe, a general decline of amphibians population parallels a worldwide decline, and some of the factors which are thought to be responsible to this decline are habitat loss, introduction of exotic species, disease and decreasing water quality. Recent investigations suggest that these eutrophic conditions may be associated with frog reproduction problems. Water quality criteria settled for the different species of amphibians do not currently exist, but in the present paper, the authors report their observation about water phosphate concentrations in association with hipofertility in African clawed frogs （Xenopus laevis）. The study considered two different groups of African clawed frog showing hypofertility （22 patients） hosted in captivity. The animals were visited, and the filtration systems functionality and the water quality were checked, i.e., temperature, pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphates, hardness and alkalinity. In the first group, it was decided to perform ultrasound scans, parasitological tests on fecal samples, and microscopical/macroscopical examination, as well as microbiological analysis on collected oocytes. In the second group, only fecal samples were collected in order to perform parasitologiacal exams. No pathological findings were showed by veterinary tests. Water changes were carried out in both facilities and after two months, the fertility in African clawed frogs improved, evidencing the involvement of phosphates values in the onset of the problem and even more in its resolution. More studies are needed to further define this correlation.

Laser scanning fluorescence microscopic measurement of the movement of cleaving egg surface of Rana Amurensis

By laser scanning fluorescence microscopy for quan-titative measurement of fluorescence intensity changes on egg surface stained with fluorescein isothiocyanate duxing cleavage furrow extending forward, it was found that in area of presumptive cleavage furrow the scanning curve became ∨ shape, indicating dark stripe appeared in that place. Then the fluorescence intensity increased at the place where the botton of ∨ shape had located, and the scanning curve tuxned to ∧ shape, indicating single stripe was formed. While enhanced fluorescence appeared on the borders of ∧ shape, an M shape curve was found, show-ing double stripe occurred. During the distance between two borders of M shape incresing from 50 μm to 100μm,a fluorescence peak came to sight in the middle of the M shape, which being the cleavge furrow bottom. The two lateral sides of furrow bottom with decreasing fluorescence were nascent membrane. At that time the curve became W shape. By the sides of cleavage furrow the the stress folds became conspicous after double stripe stage, showing the stretching of the egg surface being increased. With our[31, 33] and others[32] reports that polylysine could induce the appearance of nascent membrane and phyto-hemagglutinins could decrease or prevent the appearance of nascent membrane, we believed the idea of Schroeder[25] that increasing mechanical stress could initiate nascent membrane formation and thought that the stress lay to the outsides of cleavage furrow.

A survey for Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans in Chinese amphibians

For the last decade, chytridiomycosis was considered to be caused by a single species of fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis （Bd）, but a second chytrid species, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans （Bs）, was recently isolated from an in- fected Salamandra salamandra in the Netherlands. To date, Bs has only been found in the Netherlands. To assess whether Bs is present in China, we analyzed a total of 665 samples, including 425 wild samples, 41 preserved specimens, and 199 captive sam- pies, from 30 different species, including both urodeles and anurans. Our sample sites covered 15 provinces in China. All of the samples tested negative for Bs, resulting in a 95% confidence limit for a prevalence of 0.6%. The absence of Bs observed in this large-scale survey in China has significant implications for amphibian conservation and for border trade management strategies intended to control amphibian diseases. We strongly recommend the continued close monitoring of Bs to verify the status of this potentially devastating amphibian fungus in China .

Red River barrier and Pleistocene climatic fluctuations shaped the genetic structure of Microhyla fissipes complex （Anura： Microhylidae） in southern China and Indochina

South China and Indochina host striking species diversity and endemism. Complex tectonic and climatic evolutions appear to be the main drivers of the biogeographic patterns. In this study, based on the geologic history of this region, we test 2 hypotheses using the evolutionary history of Microhyla fissipes species complex. Using DNA sequence data from both mitochondrial and nuclear genes, we first test the hypothesis that the Red River is a barrier to gene flow and dispersal. Second, we test the hypothesis that Pleistocene climatic cycling affected the genetic structure and population history of these frogs. We detect 2 major genetic splits that associate with the Red River. Time estimation suggests that late Miocene tectonic movement associated with the Red River drove their diversification. Species distribution modeling （SDM） resolves significant ecolo- gical differences between sides of the Red River. Thus, ecological divergence also probably promoted and maintained the diversification. Genogeography, historical demography, and SDM associate patterns in southern China with climate changes of the last glacial maximum （LGM）, but not Indochina. Differences in geography and climate between the 2 areas best explain the discovery. Responses to the Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycling vary among species and regions.