Application of Ground LiDAR for The Investigation of Outcrop Discontinuities and Estimation of Associated Engineering Characteristics

Reliable and direct information about rock slope materials and discontinuity parameters from field investigation are keys to engineering design, structure maintenance and soil/water conservation. Under the impact of global climate change and the surge in extreme weather events, rapid and accurate equipment or procedures for geological engineering surveys are necessary to harmonize engineering facilities with natural environment. This study utilizes 3D laser scanning technology (also known as ground LiDAR), which obtains the coordinates of surface geometry rapidly in point clouds, to survey two outcrops. Applying ground LiDAR in a geological survey, we compare the results with those provided by the International Society of Rock Mechanics, and analyze the slope stability. This study also discusses the applicability and limitations of ground LiDAR technology in discontinuity investigation and estimation of rock mass engineering characteristics. Suggested operating procedures for the use of ground LiDAR technology in outcrop surveys are provided accordingly. The results show that ground LiDAR technology reduces the in-situ operation time significantly, thus facilitating efficient discontinuity surveys and outcrop parameters evaluation. However, the quantities of office work and the accuracy of point clouds depend on the velocity and accuracy of ground LiDAR surveys. Therefore, inspection of survey results and output parameter, along with the application and operating specifications of geological surveys, including point cloud resolution, reasonable error of superimposition, inspection procedures and data analysis, still await further research.岩石工程道路邊坡經現地調查獲得可靠、直接的岩石材料種類與不連續面參數，為確保工程設計施工、設施營運維護及環境水土保持之關鍵資訊。在近年全球氣候變遷與極端氣候事件規模與頻率加大的衝擊下，迅速、精準的工程地質調查工具與作業方法，為落實工程設施與自然環境永續發展的不二法門。本研究利用三維雷射掃描技術 (又稱光達技術，|iDAR)，運用其可快速取得露頭表面幾何坐標描述點雲的特性，透過2處露頭現地地質調查，探討地面光達在工址地質調查之應用，並比較國際岩石力學學會建議工址現地調查作業方法所獲得的參數，分析評估邊坡的穩定特性，據以提出地面光達應用於露頭不連續面調查與岩體工程特性評估的適用性與限制，並提出地面光達應用於露頭調查的作業程序。研究結果顯示，地面光達技術可大幅縮減現地調查作業時間，為露頭不連續面調查與參數評估的新利器，由於室內分析工作量和點雲的精度決定了|iDAR應用於露頭不連續面調查的速度與精準度，未來針對調查成果與產出參數的檢核、在地質調查的應用與作業規範，包括點雲解析度、疊合容許誤差以及資料分析與檢核程序等，有待進一步深入研究

Functional expression of the recombinant ATPase of orf virus

Nucleotide sequence analysis has indicated that the A32L gene of orf virus can encode an ATPase (Chan et al. in Gene 432:44-53, 2009). In this work, we cloned the A32L gene into a prokaryotic expression vector, and the recombinant protein was expressed and purified. The antigenicity of recombinant ATPase was examined by immunoblotting, and its identity was confirmed by mass spectrometry. The ATP hydrolysis function of the purified recombinant protein was examined, and our results showed that it exhibited the ATPase activity. Similar to other viral ATPases, the ATPase of orf virus remained active in the presence of different divalent ions; nevertheless, unlike other viral ATPases, our recombinant ATPase exhibited similar enzymatic activity in reaction buffers of different pH

Multiplex Amplification Refractory Mutation System Polymerase Chain Reaction (ARMS-PCR) for diagnosis of natural infection with canine distemper virus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Canine distemper virus (CDV) is present worldwide and produces a lethal systemic infection of wild and domestic <it>Canidae</it>. Pre-existing antibodies acquired from vaccination or previous CDV infection might interfere the interpretation of a serologic diagnosis method. In addition, due to the high similarity of nucleic acid sequences between wild-type CDV and the new vaccine strain, current PCR derived methods cannot be applied for the definite confirmation of CD infection. Hence, it is worthy of developing a simple and rapid nucleotide-based assay for differentiation of wild-type CDV which is a cause of disease from attenuated CDVs after vaccination. High frequency variations have been found in the region spanning from the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of the matrix (M) gene to the fusion (F) gene (designated M-F UTR) in a few CDV strains. To establish a differential diagnosis assay, an amplification refractory mutation analysis was established based on the highly variable region on M-F UTR and F regions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sequences of frequent polymorphisms were found scattered throughout the M-F UTR region; the identity of nucleic acid between local strains and vaccine strains ranged from 82.5% to 93.8%. A track of AAA residue located 35 nucleotides downstream from F gene start codon highly conserved in three vaccine strains were replaced with TGC in the local strains; that severed as target sequences for deign of discrimination primers. The method established in the present study successfully differentiated seven Taiwanese CDV field isolates, all belonging to the Asia-1 lineage, from vaccine strains.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The method described herein would be useful for several clinical applications, such as confirmation of nature CDV infection, evaluation of vaccination status and verification of the circulating viral genotypes.</p

第十八届美国理论与应用力学大会总结

1会议概况2018年6月5—9日,第18届美国理论与应用力学大会(18th U.S. National Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, USNCTAM2018)在美国芝加哥召开.本次大会由美国力学国家委员会和中国力学学会联合主办,旨在探讨和交流近四年世界范围内在理论和应用力学领域的基础研究、创新技术的最新进展,吸引了来自世界各地的近千名专家学

以真核載體表現豬環狀病毒基因體及病毒基因的功能分析

豬環狀病毒（Circovirus）屬於環狀病毒科（circoviridae），基因體為環狀單股DNA (~1.7 kb)，不具封套。豬的環狀病毒有兩種基因型（genotype），即PCV-1和PCV-2。其中PCV-2主要造成哺乳豬隻的離乳後多系統消耗性綜合症。PCV的基因體包含兩個ORF，分別為ORF1和ORF2。ORF1可轉譯出Rep蛋白，與病毒複製有關。ORF2則可以轉譯出病毒的capsid 蛋白，為最主要的致免疫原。目前本實驗室已完成: (1)PCV2全長基因體的定序，與(2)重組Rep蛋白的表現、鑑定及純化。本計畫擬研究重組Rep蛋白的功能分析，包含以電泳條帶位移(EMSA)技術探討此蛋白對DNA和RNA之結合性質。此外，將全長病毒基因體選殖到真核表現載體，以細胞轉染方法將病毒基因體送入細胞，分析細胞內各種病毒RNA的合成。最後，擬合成病毒的各種RNA所相對應之cDNA，以探討其功能