New Generation of Ultra-High Definition Directional Propagation Resistivity for Real Time Reservoir Characterization and Geosteering-While-Drilling

Over the last two decades, the continuing integration of distance-to-boundary logging while drilling (LWD) workflows with the directional drilling processes, has dramatically improved geosteering of deviated and horizontal wells. However, the interpretation of underlying propagation azimuthal electromagnetic measurements has remained challenging in complex thin and multi-layered geologies. Recent technology advancements in LWD electromagnetic propagation resistivity coupled with significant software enhancements provide an opportunity for improving the formation evaluation to reduce wellbore position uncertainty, accurately detecting physical parameters such as layer resistivity and anisotropy, formation dip and azimuth. A newly developed multilayer mapping-while-drilling service with full azimuthal sensitivity is introduced for use in geosteering and formation evaluation while drilling applications. The tool offers the industry's first combination of axial, tilted and transverse antennas to produce a complete measurement set to enable the interpretation of complex and anisotropic formation. Advanced application algorithms are used to calculate a high-definition map of the formation providing horizontal and vertical resistivity (anisotropy), as well as dipping angle and azimuth. Furthermore, the tool can provide deep resistivity borehole images while drilling in real time. The new measurement set, more comprehensive than any other directional propagation resistivity tool in the industry, is discussed in detail. The measurements, combined with a new deterministic inversion, enable reconstruction of the resistivity of up to eight formation layers, and significantly outperforms existing directional propagation resistivity services. The new measurements and data processing workflow are demonstrated with several synthetic and field data. Examples show that this newly developed tool can provide a reliable two-in-one service: geosteering and advanced formation evaluation.

An Analysis of Underemployment among Young Graduates: The Case of a Higher Education Institution in South Africa

Labour markets have undergone vast transformations over the last few years. There are arguments that employment and unemployment measures have not been adequate in understanding the complexities of labour markets. Research on labour underutilisation has focused on one side of the spectrum, which is just about the scarcity of jobs. However, there is more to the labour market than just scarcity of jobs, and many researchers believe unemployment is not a complete measurement of unused labour capacity, which is why this study aimed to investigate the existence of underemployment from the perceptions of young graduates themselves. In this regard, the definition of young people entailed those younger than 35 years as officially defined in South Africa. The study employed a primary data method of data collection in which an online survey was used to collect the necessary data from the alumni database of a South African university. The study used binary logistic regression to determine factors that contributed to or influenced underemployment status. The main findings indicated that underemployment was rife according to age, where younger graduates (20–29 years) were more likely to be underemployed compared to their more mature counterparts; that is, those in the 30–34 age category, with non-White graduates most likely to encounter underemployment compared to their counterparts. This study resulted in important findings that carry significant policy implications and recommendations that may be crucial in correcting the current employment mismatches in the South African graduate labour market.

Entanglement criterion via general symmetric informationally complete measurement

We propose entanglement criteria for multipartite systems via symmetric informationally complete (SIC) measurement and general symmetric informationally complete (GSIC) measurement. We apply these criteria to detect entanglement of multipartite states, such as the convex of Bell states, entangled states mixed with white noise. It is shown that these criteria are stronger than some existing ones.

The evolutionary dance between culture, genes, and everything in between

Uchiyama et al (2021) describe how a more complete measurement of the dynamic nature of culture could help us unmask the true richness of genetic effects on behaviour. I underscore this notion here by reflecting on the role that the dynamic relationship between culture and DNA has played in our evolutionary history and will play in our evolutionary future.

Combined Exposure to Multiple Endocrine Disruptors and Uterine Leiomyomata and Endometriosis in US Women

BackgroundUterine leiomyomata (UL) and endometriosis (EM) are common gynecological diseases damaging the reproductive health of fertile women. Among all the potential factors, environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals are insufficiently addressed considering the multiple pollutants and mixture exposure.MethodsWomen aged 20 to 54 years old in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001-2006, having a complete measurement of ten commonly exposed endocrine-disrupting chemicals (including urinary phthalate metabolites, equol, and whole blood heavy metals) and answered questions about UL and EM were included (N=1204). Multivariable logistic regression model, weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression, and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models were implemented to analyze the combined effect of chemicals on the overall association with UL and EM.ResultsIn single chemical analysis, equol (OR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.11, 3.27) and mercury (Hg) (OR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.14, 3.25) were found positively associated with UL in tertile 3 vs. tertile 1. In WQS regression and BKMR models, the significant positive association between WQS index and UL (OR: 2.54, 95% CI: 1.52, 4.29) was identified and the positive relationship between equol and Hg exposure and UL were further verified. Besides, the mixture evaluation models (WQS and BKMR) also found MEHP negatively associated with UL. Although none of the single chemicals in tertile 3 were significantly associated with EM, the WQS index had a marginally positive association with EM (OR: 2.01, 95% CI: 0.98, 4.15), and a significant positive association was identified in subanalysis with participants restricted to premenopausal women (OR: 2.18, 95% CI: 1.03, 4.70). MIBP and MBzP weighted high in model of EM and MEHP weighted the lowest.ConclusionComparing results from these three statistical models, the associations between equol, Hg, and MEHP exposure with UL as well as the associations of MIBP, MBzP, and MEHP exposure with EM warrant further research.

Ultra-Wideband Indoor Positioning and IMU-Based Activity Recognition for Ice Hockey Analytics

Currently, gathering statistics and information for ice hockey training purposes mostly happens by hand, whereas the automated systems that do exist are expensive and difficult to set up. To remedy this, in this paper, we propose and analyse a wearable system that combines player localisation and activity classification to automatically gather information. A stick-worn inertial measurement unit was used to capture acceleration and rotation data from six ice hockey activities. A convolutional neural network was able to distinguish the six activities from an unseen player with a 76% accuracy at a sample frequency of 100 Hz. Using unseen data from players used to train the model, a 99% accuracy was reached. With a peak detection algorithm, activities could be automatically detected and extracted from a complete measurement for classification. Additionally, the feasibility of a time difference of arrival based ultra-wideband system operating at a 25 Hz update rate was determined. We concluded that the system, when the data were filtered and smoothed, provided acceptable accuracy for use in ice hockey. Combining both, it was possible to gather useful information about a wide range of interesting performance measures. This shows that our proposed system is a suitable solution for the analysis of ice hockey.

First results of a promising Doppler lidar configuration to derive wind gusts within the FESSTVaL campaign

<p>A central aspect of the Field Experiment on Sub-Mesoscale Spatio-Temporal Variability in Lindenberg (FESSTVaL, www.fesstval.de) is the investigation of wind gusts with Doppler lidar measurements. Compared to meteorological tower observations, they have the advantage of being able to probe higher altitudes of the atmosphere, they thus offer the possibility to record a vertical profile of wind gusts with a resolution of about 30 m in the atmospheric boundary layer. Nevertheless, it is difficult to capture wind gusts with these instruments as it is challenging to measure fluctuations of short duration with an instrument which needs a certain time for one complete measurement.</p><p>Based on the research of Suomi et al. (2017), different configurations were tested in a pre-campaign in autumn 2019 to identify a suitable measurement mode for Halo Photonics Stream Line Scanning Doppler LiDAR systems. Different lidars were operated in parallel to compare configurations against each other. A promising mode was tested during the FESST@MOL campaign in summer 2020 for a three month period. This is a continous scan mode (CSM) configuration that takes about 3.4 seconds per circulation and performs measurements in 10-11 directions.</p><p>The derived wind gusts and mean wind speeds are compared with high resolution sonic anemometer measurements at 90.3 m to verify the quality of the lidar measurements. In a first comparison good agreement is shown despite the different measuring principles. In addition, various parameters are tested to identify optimal thresholds that allow a reliable derivation of wind gusts.</p><p>In summer 2021 this fast CSM mode will be operated and further tested in the FESSTVaL campaign in parallel with UAS measurements. Moreover lidars will be installed at different locations to analyse the spatial characteristics of wind gusts with this scanning configuration.</p><p><strong>Reference</strong></p><p>Suomi, I., Gryning, S.‐E., O'Connor, E.J. and Vihma, T. (2017), Methodology for obtaining wind gusts using Doppler lidar. Q.J.R. Meteorol. Soc., 143: 2061-2072. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3059</p>

People Lifting Patterns—A Reference Dataset for Practitioners

Many health professionals do not use correct person transfer techniques in their daily practice. This results in damage to the paraspinal musculature over time, resulting in lower back pain and injuries. In this work, we propose an approach for the accurate multimodal measurement of people lifting and related motion patterns for ergonomic education regarding the application of correct patient transfer techniques. Several examples of person lifting were recorded and processed through accurate instrumentation and the well-defined measurements of kinematics, kinetics, surface electromyography of muscles as well as multicamera video. This resulted in a complete measurement protocol and unique reference datasets of correct and incorrect lifting schemes for caregivers and patients. This understanding of multimodal motion patterns provides insights for further independent investigations.

Accurate prediction of clinical stroke scales and improved biomarkers of motor impairment from robotic measurements

Objective One of the greatest challenges in clinical trial design is dealing with the subjectivity and variability introduced by human raters when measuring clinical end-points. We hypothesized that robotic measures that capture the kinematics of human movements collected longitudinally in patients after stroke would bear a significant relationship to the ordinal clinical scales and potentially lead to the development of more sensitive motor biomarkers that could improve the efficiency and cost of clinical trials. Materials and methods We used clinical scales and a robotic assay to measure arm movement in 208 patients 7, 14, 21, 30 and 90 days after acute ischemic stroke at two separate clinical sites. The robots are low impedance and low friction interactive devices that precisely measure speed, position and force, so that even a hemiparetic patient can generate a complete measurement profile. These profiles were used to develop predictive models of the clinical assessments employing a combination of artificial ant colonies and neural network ensembles. Results The resulting models replicated commonly used clinical scales to a cross-validated R2 of 0.73, 0.75, 0.63 and 0.60 for the Fugl-Meyer, Motor Power, NIH stroke and modified Rankin scales, respectively. Moreover, when suitably scaled and combined, the robotic measures demonstrated a significant increase in effect size from day 7 to 90 over historical data (1.47 versus 0.67). Discussion and conclusion These results suggest that it is possible to derive surrogate biomarkers that can significantly reduce the sample size required to power future stroke clinical trials.