Chemostratigraphy of the upper jurassic (oxfordian) smackover formation for little cedar creek and brooklyn fields, alabama

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The Upper Jurassic(Oxfordian Age)Smackover Formation is a significant source for hydrocarbon production in southwest Alabama. Brooklyn Field is in southeast Conecuh County, Alabama, and has been a major producer of oil and natural gas for the state. The Smackover is a carbonate formation that has been divided into seven distinct lithofacies in the Brooklyn and Little Cedar Creek fields. In southwest Alabama, the facies distribution in the Smackover Formation was influenced by paleotopography of the underlying Paleozoic rocks of the Appalachian system. The goal of this study is to determine elemental ratios in rock core within the Smackover Formation using an X-ray fluorescence(XRF)handheld scanner and to correlate these elemental characteristics to the lithofacies of the Smackover Formation in the Brooklyn and Little Cedar Creek fields. Eight wells were used for the study within Brooklyn Field and Little Cedar Creek fields. Cores from the eight wells were scanned at six-inch intervals. Chemical logs were produced to show elemental weights in relation to depth and lithofacies. The chemical signatures within producing zones were correlated to reservoir lithofacies and porosity. Aluminum, silicon, calcium, titanium, and iron were the most significant(\u3e95% confidence level)predictors of porosity and may be related to the depositional environment and subsequent diageneses of the producing facies. The XRF data suggests relative enrichments in iron, titanium, and potassium. These elements may be related to deposition in relatively restricted marine waters

Chemostratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian) Smackover Formation for Little Cedar Creek and Brooklyn Fields, Alabama

The Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian Age) Smackover Formation is a significant source for hydrocarbon production in southwest Alabama. Brooklyn Field is in southeast Conecuh County, Alabama, and has been a major producer of oil and natural gas for the state. The Smackover is a carbonate formation that has been divided into seven distinct lithofacies in the Brooklyn and Little Cedar Creek fields. In southwest Alabama, the facies distribution in the Smackover Formation was influenced by paleotopography of the underlying Paleozoic rocks of the Appalachian system. The goal of this study is to determine elemental ratios in rock core within the Smackover Formation using an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) handheld scanner and to correlate these elemental characteristics to the lithofacies of the Smackover Formation in the Brooklyn and Little Cedar Creek fields. Eight wells were used for the study within Brooklyn Field and Little Cedar Creek fields. Cores from the eight wells were scanned at six-inch intervals. Chemical logs were produced to show elemental weights in relation to depth and lithofacies. The chemical signatures within producing zones were correlated to reservoir lithofacies and porosity. Aluminum, silicon, calcium, titanium, and iron were the most significant (>95% confidence level) predictors of porosity and may be related to the depositional environment and subsequent diageneses of the producing facies. The XRF data suggests relative enrichments in iron, titanium, and potassium. These elements may be related to deposition in relatively restricted marine waters

GRACE Downscaler: A Framework to Develop and Evaluate Downscaling Models for GRACE

Monitoring and managing groundwater resources is critical for sustaining livelihoods and supporting various human activities, including irrigation and drinking water supply. The most common method of monitoring groundwater is well water level measurements. These records can be difficult to collect and maintain, especially in countries with limited infrastructure and resources. However, long-term data collection is required to characterize and evaluate trends. To address these challenges, we propose a framework that uses data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission and downscaling models to generate higher-resolution (1 km) groundwater predictions. The framework is designed to be flexible, allowing users to implement any machine learning model of interest. We selected four models: deep learning model, gradient tree boosting, multi-layer perceptron, and k-nearest neighbors regressor. To evaluate the effectiveness of the framework, we offer a case study of Sunflower County, Mississippi, using well data to validate the predictions. Overall, this paper provides a valuable contribution to the field of groundwater resource management by demonstrating a framework using remote sensing data and machine learning techniques to improve monitoring and management of this critical resource, especially to those who seek a faster way to begin to use these datasets and applications

Multicenter evaluation of the Xpert MRSA NxG assay for detection of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus in nasal swabs

Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved. Health care-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections are a burden on the health care system. Clinical laboratories play a key role in reducing this burden, as the timely identification of MRSA colonization or infection facilitates infection control practices that are effective at limiting invasive MRSA infections. The Xpert MRSA NxG assay recently received FDA clearance for the direct detection of MRSA from nasal swabs. This multicenter study evaluated the clinical performance characteristics of the Xpert MRSA NxG assay with prospectively collected rayon nasal swabs (n 1,103) and flocked swab (ESwab) nasal specimens (n 846). Culture-based identification methods and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were used as the reference standards for comparison. According to the reference method, the positivity rates for MRSA in the population evaluated were 11.1% (122/1,103) for rayon swabs and 11.6% (98/846) for flocked swabs. The overall sensitivity and specificity of the rayon swabs were 91.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 84.6 to 94.9%) and 96.9% (95% CI, 95.7 to 97.8%), respectively, across eight testing sites. The flocked swab specimens were 92.9% sensitive (95% CI, 86.0 to 96.5%) and 97.6% specific (95% CI, 96.2 to 98.5%) for MRSA detection across six testing sites. The sensitivity and specificity of the combined flocked and rayon swab data were 91.8% (95% CI, 87.4 to 94.8%) and 97.2% (95% CI, 96.3 to 97.9%), respectively. The positive predictive value (PPV) for rayon swabs was 78.7%, versus 83.5% for ESwabs. The negative predictive values (NPVs) for rayon swabs and ESwab specimens were 98.9% and 99.1%, respectively. In conclusion, the Xpert MRSA NxG assay is a sensitive and specific assay for the direct detection of MRSA from nasal swab specimens

Phosphoproteomic Analysis of Signaling Pathways in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patient Samples

Molecular targeted therapy represents a promising new strategy for treating cancers because many small-molecule inhibitors targeting protein kinases have recently become available. Reverse-phase protein microarrays (RPPAs) are a useful platform for identifying dysregulated signaling pathways in tumors and can provide insight into patient-specific differences. In the present study, RPPAs were used to examine 60 protein end points (predominantly phosphoproteins) in matched tumor and nonmalignant biopsy specimens from 23 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma to characterize the cancer phosphoproteome. RPPA identified 18 of 60 analytes globally elevated in tumors versus healthy tissue and 17 of 60 analytes that were decreased. The most significantly elevated analytes in tumor were checkpoint kinase (Chk) 1 serine 345 (S345), Chk 2 S33/35, eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) S65, protein kinase C (PKC) ζ/ι threonine 410/412 (T410/T412), LKB1 S334, inhibitor of kappaB alpha (IκB-α) S32, eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) S209, Smad2 S465/67, insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) S612, mitogen-activated ERK kinase 1/2 (MEK1/2) S217/221, and total PKC ι. To our knowledge, this is the first report of elevated PKC ι in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that may have significance because PKC ι is an oncogene in several other tumor types, including lung cancer. The feasibility of using RPPA for developing theranostic tests to guide personalized therapy is discussed in the context of these data