Diatomaceous soils are comprised of the silica frustules of diatom microalgae that are present in marine and lacustrine environments throughout the world.Owing to their unique origin,diatomaceous soils are typically c...Diatomaceous soils are comprised of the silica frustules of diatom microalgae that are present in marine and lacustrine environments throughout the world.Owing to their unique origin,diatomaceous soils are typically characterized by high intraparticle porosity,complex particle shapes,and uniform mineralogy,causing them to exhibit atypical physical and engineering behaviors.A substantial deposit of diatomaceous silt was observed during site exploration for construction of the Buck Creek Bridge on OR140 near Klamath Falls,OR,USA.A comprehensive laboratory and in situ testing program indicated that the diatomaceous soil possessed“non-textbook”engineering properties.Specifically,tested samples had high liquid limits(≈100%-140%)with natural water contents at or near the liquid limit.Geologically,the soil is expected to be normally consolidated,yet high apparent overconsolidation ratios(OCR)(≈15-40)were observed both in oedometric consolidation tests and through cone penetration test(CPT)correlations.Standard penetration test(SPT)results show a corrected standard penetration resistance consistent with a medium-dense sand(i.e.(N1)_(60)≈25).CPT results include corrected tip resistances(qt)of approximately 7-10 MPa and excess pore pressures(u_(2))of up to 4 MPa.In CPT dissipation tests,pore water pressures(PWPs)returned to hydrostatic pressure in less than 1 h.In this work,we synthesize these seemingly disparate material properties in an attempt to infer appropriate engineering properties for the diatomaceous deposit at the Buck Creek Bridge and attempt to provide insight into the underlying reasons for the observed behavior.展开更多
Site characterization and rapid reliable identification of energy resources play a key role for future efficient energy production.Over the last several decades,many laboratory and in-situ techniques were developed to...Site characterization and rapid reliable identification of energy resources play a key role for future efficient energy production.Over the last several decades,many laboratory and in-situ techniques were developed to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize the sites and minerals.Despite the advancements,there are still many challenges associated with exploration,rapid detection,and spatial interpolation of the energy resources within a site.Spectroscopy techniques offer solutions to the current ongoing efforts on site characterization,exploration and collection of resources,quality control monitoring during production,and reclamation of the production sites due to environmental contamination.Spectral analysis has shown great promise in providing in-situ measurements that are comparable to arduous laboratory physio-chemical analysis.Spectroscopy is a fairly new technology in some sectors and has seen limited use but has shown great potential in exceeding the minimum standards implemented.This paper presents review of the current spectroscopy techniques that have been used in the agriculture,landfill,nuclear power,mining,and ground contamination industries with respect to the production of energy.A general overview of how spectral analysis techniques are being used to benefit each of these sectors along with some of the drawbacks associated with each is presented.Three frameworks including basic process,operation flowchart,minimum number of tests to be performed,and information on spatial interpolation analysis are presented.These frameworks along with the basic processes can be implemented for characterization of energy resource sites。展开更多
The two Co sites are well characterized in reduced Co-Mo/Al_2O_3 and Ru-Co- Mo/Al_2O_3 by new bands at 1895 and 1880 cm^(-1)in the IR spectra due to NO adsorption.
Tryptophan （Trp） is an intrinsic fluorescent probe for detecting the site-specified dynamics inside/outside protein. It is found that the Trp can easily be inserted in desired sites of protein, which affects the int...Tryptophan （Trp） is an intrinsic fluorescent probe for detecting the site-specified dynamics inside/outside protein. It is found that the Trp can easily be inserted in desired sites of protein, which affects the integrity of the overall structure. To evaluate this effect, we design thirteen double point mutants of staphylococcal nuclease, each of which has a single Trp residue planted at an internal site. The studies on Trp fluorescence, ANS-binding fluorescence, far- and near-UV CD spectra, and enzymatic activity are carried out. It is found that the mutation at the hydrophobic core of protein generates molten globular state conformation, which is a loose structure compared to their original compactness in wild type （WT）. Its enzyme activity and surface hydrophobicity are also affected. The studies show that by proper site designing and external binding, Trp mutagenesis is a suitable method for carrying out the study on site specified dynamics of proteins.展开更多
Characterization of unknown groundwater contaminant sources is an important but difficult step in effective groundwater management. The difficulties arise mainly due to the time of contaminant detection which usually ...Characterization of unknown groundwater contaminant sources is an important but difficult step in effective groundwater management. The difficulties arise mainly due to the time of contaminant detection which usually happens a long time after the start of contaminant source(s) activities. Usually, limited information is available which also can be erroneous. This study utilizes Self-Organizing Map (SOM) and Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) algorithms to develop surrogate models that can approximate the complex flow and transport processes in a contaminated aquifer. The important feature of these developed surrogate models is that unlike the previous methods, they can be applied independently of any linked optimization model solution for characterizing of unknown groundwater contaminant sources. The performance of the developed surrogate models is evaluated for source characterization in an experimental contaminated aquifer site within the heterogeneous sand aquifer, located at the Botany Basin, New South Wales, Australia. In this study, the measured contaminant concentrations and hydraulic conductivity values are assumed to contain random errors. Simulated responses of the aquifer to randomly specified contamination stresses as simulated by using a three-dimensional numerical simulation model are utilized for initial training of the surrogate models. The performance evaluation results obtained by using different surrogate models are also compared. The evaluation results demonstrate the different capabilities of the developed surrogate models. These capabilities lead to development of an efficient methodology for source characterization based on utilizing the trained and tested surrogate models in an inverse mode. The obtained results are satisfactory and show the potential applicability of the SOM and GPR-based surrogate models for unknown groundwater contaminant source characterization in an inverse mode.展开更多
Characterizing spatial distribution of soil liquefaction potential is critical for assessing liquefactionrelated hazards(e.g.building damages caused by liquefaction-induced differential settlement).However,in engineer...Characterizing spatial distribution of soil liquefaction potential is critical for assessing liquefactionrelated hazards(e.g.building damages caused by liquefaction-induced differential settlement).However,in engineering practice,soil liquefaction potential is usually measured at limited locations in a specific site using in situ tests,e.g.cone penetration tests(CPTs),due to the restrictions of time,cost and access to subsurface space.In these cases,liquefaction potential of soil at untested locations requires to be interpreted from limited measured data points using proper interpolation method,leading to remarkable statistical uncertainty in liquefaction assessment.This underlines an important question of how to optimize the locations of CPT soundings and determine the minimum number of CPTs for achieving a target reliability level of liquefaction assessment.To tackle this issue,this study proposes a smart sampling strategy for determining the minimum number of CPTs and their optimal locations in a selfadaptive and data-driven manner.The proposed sampling strategy leverages on information entropy and Bayesian compressive sampling(BCS).Both simulated and real CPT data are used to demonstrate the proposed method.Illustrative examples indicate that the proposed method can adaptively and sequentially select the required number and optimal locations of CPTs.展开更多
Reverse transcriptase (rt) fragments from LINE retrotransposons in the mulberry genome were analyzed in terms of heterogeneity, phylogeny, and chromosomal distribution. We amplified and characterized conserved domains...Reverse transcriptase (rt) fragments from LINE retrotransposons in the mulberry genome were analyzed in terms of heterogeneity, phylogeny, and chromosomal distribution. We amplified and characterized conserved domains of the rt using degenerate primer pairs. Sequence analyses indicated that the rt fragments were highly heterogeneous and rich in A/T bases. The sequence identity ranged from 31.8% to 99.4%. Based on sequence similarities, the rt fragments were categorized into eight groups. Furthermore, similar stop codon distribution patterns among a series of clones in the same group indicated that they underwent a similar evolutionary process. Interestingly, phylogenetic analyses of the rt fragments isolated from mulberry and 13 other plant species revealed that two distantly related taxa (mulberry and Paeonia suffruticosa) grouped together. It does not appear that this phenomenon resulted from horizontal transposable element transfer. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis revealed that most of the rt fragments were concentrated in the subtelomeric and pericentromeric regions of the mulberry chromosomes, but that these elements were not abundant in the mulberry genome. Future studies will focus on the potential roles of these elements in the subtelomeric and pericentromeric regions of the mulberry genome.展开更多
Terrestrial laser scanning(TLS) is a useful technology for rock mass characterization. A laser scanner produces a massive point cloud of a scanned area, such as an exposed rock surface in an underground tunnel,with mi...Terrestrial laser scanning(TLS) is a useful technology for rock mass characterization. A laser scanner produces a massive point cloud of a scanned area, such as an exposed rock surface in an underground tunnel,with millimeter precision. The density of the point cloud depends on several parameters from both the TLS operational conditions and the specifications of the project, such as the resolution and the quality of the laser scan, the section of the tunnel, the distance between scanning stations, and the purpose of the scans. One purpose of the scan can be to characterize the rock mass and statistically analyze the discontinuities that compose it for further discontinuous modeling. In these instances, additional data processing and a detailed analysis should be performed on the point cloud to extract the parameters to define a discrete fracture network(DFN) for each discontinuity set. I-site studio is a point cloud processing software that allows users to edit and process laser scans. This software contains a set of geotechnical analysis tools that assist engineers during the structural mapping process, allowing for greater and more representative data regarding the structural information of the rock mass, which may be used for generating DFNs. This paper presents the procedures used during a laser scan for characterizing discontinuities in an underground limestone mine and the results of the scan as applied to the generation of DFNs for further discontinuous modeling.展开更多
Cone penetration testing (CPT) is a cost effective and popular tool for geotechnical site characterization. CPT consists of pushing at a constant rate an electronic penetrometer into penetrable soils and recording con...Cone penetration testing (CPT) is a cost effective and popular tool for geotechnical site characterization. CPT consists of pushing at a constant rate an electronic penetrometer into penetrable soils and recording cone bearing (q<sub>c</sub>), sleeve friction (f<sub>c</sub>) and dynamic pore pressure (u) with depth. The measured q<sub>c</sub>, f<sub>s</sub> and u values are utilized to estimate soil type and associated soil properties. A popular method to estimate soil type from CPT measurements is the Soil Behavior Type (SBT) chart. The SBT plots cone resistance vs friction ratio, R<sub>f</sub> [where: R<sub>f</sub> = (f<sub>s</sub>/q<sub>c</sub>)100%]. There are distortions in the CPT measurements which can result in erroneous SBT plots. Cone bearing measurements at a specific depth are blurred or averaged due to q<sub>c</sub> values being strongly influenced by soils within 10 to 30 cone diameters from the cone tip. The q<sub>c</sub>HMM algorithm was developed to address the q<sub>c</sub> blurring/averaging limitation. This paper describes the distortions which occur when obtaining sleeve friction measurements which can in association with q<sub>c</sub> blurring result in significant errors in the calculated R<sub>f</sub> values. This paper outlines a novel and highly effective algorithm for obtaining accurate sleeve friction and friction ratio estimates. The f<sub>c</sub> optimal filter estimation technique is referred to as the OSFE-IFM algorithm. The mathematical details of the OSFE-IFM algorithm are outlined in this paper along with the results from a challenging test bed simulation. The test bed simulation demonstrates that the OSFE-IFM algorithm derives accurate estimates of sleeve friction from measured values. Optimal estimates of cone bearing and sleeve friction result in accurate R<sub>f</sub> values and subsequent accurate estimates of soil behavior type.展开更多
Cone penetration testing (CPT) is an extensively utilized and cost effective tool for geotechnical site characterization. CPT consists of pushing at a constant rate an electronic cone into penetrable soils and recordi...Cone penetration testing (CPT) is an extensively utilized and cost effective tool for geotechnical site characterization. CPT consists of pushing at a constant rate an electronic cone into penetrable soils and recording the resistance to the cone tip (q<sub>c</sub> value). The measured q<sub>c</sub> values (after correction for the pore water pressure) are utilized to estimate soil type and associated soil properties based predominantly on empirical correlations. The most common cone tips have associated areas of 10 cm<sup>2</sup> and 15 cm<sup>2</sup>. Investigators also utilized significantly larger cone tips (33 cm<sup>2</sup> and 40 cm<sup>2</sup>) so that gravelly soils can be penetrated. Small cone tips (2 cm<sup>2</sup> and 5 cm<sup>2</sup>) are utilized for shallow soil investigations. The cone tip resistance measured at a particular depth is affected by the values above and below the depth of interest which results in a smoothing or blurring of the true bearing values. Extensive work has been carried out in mathematically modelling the smoothing function which results in the blurred cone bearing measurements. This paper outlines a technique which facilitates estimating the dominant parameters of the cone smoothing function from processing real cone bearing data sets. This cone calibration technique is referred to as the so-called CPSPE algorithm. The mathematical details of the CPSPE algorithm are outlined in this paper along with the results from a challenging test bed simulation.展开更多
基金This work was funded by the Oregon Department of Transportation(ODOT),which is gratefully acknowledged.
文摘Diatomaceous soils are comprised of the silica frustules of diatom microalgae that are present in marine and lacustrine environments throughout the world.Owing to their unique origin,diatomaceous soils are typically characterized by high intraparticle porosity,complex particle shapes,and uniform mineralogy,causing them to exhibit atypical physical and engineering behaviors.A substantial deposit of diatomaceous silt was observed during site exploration for construction of the Buck Creek Bridge on OR140 near Klamath Falls,OR,USA.A comprehensive laboratory and in situ testing program indicated that the diatomaceous soil possessed“non-textbook”engineering properties.Specifically,tested samples had high liquid limits(≈100%-140%)with natural water contents at or near the liquid limit.Geologically,the soil is expected to be normally consolidated,yet high apparent overconsolidation ratios(OCR)(≈15-40)were observed both in oedometric consolidation tests and through cone penetration test(CPT)correlations.Standard penetration test(SPT)results show a corrected standard penetration resistance consistent with a medium-dense sand(i.e.(N1)_(60)≈25).CPT results include corrected tip resistances(qt)of approximately 7-10 MPa and excess pore pressures(u_(2))of up to 4 MPa.In CPT dissipation tests,pore water pressures(PWPs)returned to hydrostatic pressure in less than 1 h.In this work,we synthesize these seemingly disparate material properties in an attempt to infer appropriate engineering properties for the diatomaceous deposit at the Buck Creek Bridge and attempt to provide insight into the underlying reasons for the observed behavior.
文摘Site characterization and rapid reliable identification of energy resources play a key role for future efficient energy production.Over the last several decades,many laboratory and in-situ techniques were developed to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize the sites and minerals.Despite the advancements,there are still many challenges associated with exploration,rapid detection,and spatial interpolation of the energy resources within a site.Spectroscopy techniques offer solutions to the current ongoing efforts on site characterization,exploration and collection of resources,quality control monitoring during production,and reclamation of the production sites due to environmental contamination.Spectral analysis has shown great promise in providing in-situ measurements that are comparable to arduous laboratory physio-chemical analysis.Spectroscopy is a fairly new technology in some sectors and has seen limited use but has shown great potential in exceeding the minimum standards implemented.This paper presents review of the current spectroscopy techniques that have been used in the agriculture,landfill,nuclear power,mining,and ground contamination industries with respect to the production of energy.A general overview of how spectral analysis techniques are being used to benefit each of these sectors along with some of the drawbacks associated with each is presented.Three frameworks including basic process,operation flowchart,minimum number of tests to be performed,and information on spatial interpolation analysis are presented.These frameworks along with the basic processes can be implemented for characterization of energy resource sites。
文摘The two Co sites are well characterized in reduced Co-Mo/Al_2O_3 and Ru-Co- Mo/Al_2O_3 by new bands at 1895 and 1880 cm^(-1)in the IR spectra due to NO adsorption.
基金Supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China under Grant Nos 2013CB921904,2013CB328701-2013CB328706the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11074016,11121091,61177020,11134001and 10828407
文摘Tryptophan （Trp） is an intrinsic fluorescent probe for detecting the site-specified dynamics inside/outside protein. It is found that the Trp can easily be inserted in desired sites of protein, which affects the integrity of the overall structure. To evaluate this effect, we design thirteen double point mutants of staphylococcal nuclease, each of which has a single Trp residue planted at an internal site. The studies on Trp fluorescence, ANS-binding fluorescence, far- and near-UV CD spectra, and enzymatic activity are carried out. It is found that the mutation at the hydrophobic core of protein generates molten globular state conformation, which is a loose structure compared to their original compactness in wild type （WT）. Its enzyme activity and surface hydrophobicity are also affected. The studies show that by proper site designing and external binding, Trp mutagenesis is a suitable method for carrying out the study on site specified dynamics of proteins.
文摘Characterization of unknown groundwater contaminant sources is an important but difficult step in effective groundwater management. The difficulties arise mainly due to the time of contaminant detection which usually happens a long time after the start of contaminant source(s) activities. Usually, limited information is available which also can be erroneous. This study utilizes Self-Organizing Map (SOM) and Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) algorithms to develop surrogate models that can approximate the complex flow and transport processes in a contaminated aquifer. The important feature of these developed surrogate models is that unlike the previous methods, they can be applied independently of any linked optimization model solution for characterizing of unknown groundwater contaminant sources. The performance of the developed surrogate models is evaluated for source characterization in an experimental contaminated aquifer site within the heterogeneous sand aquifer, located at the Botany Basin, New South Wales, Australia. In this study, the measured contaminant concentrations and hydraulic conductivity values are assumed to contain random errors. Simulated responses of the aquifer to randomly specified contamination stresses as simulated by using a three-dimensional numerical simulation model are utilized for initial training of the surrogate models. The performance evaluation results obtained by using different surrogate models are also compared. The evaluation results demonstrate the different capabilities of the developed surrogate models. These capabilities lead to development of an efficient methodology for source characterization based on utilizing the trained and tested surrogate models in an inverse mode. The obtained results are satisfactory and show the potential applicability of the SOM and GPR-based surrogate models for unknown groundwater contaminant source characterization in an inverse mode.
基金supported by grants from the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,China(Project Nos.CityU 11202121 and CityU 11213119).
文摘Characterizing spatial distribution of soil liquefaction potential is critical for assessing liquefactionrelated hazards(e.g.building damages caused by liquefaction-induced differential settlement).However,in engineering practice,soil liquefaction potential is usually measured at limited locations in a specific site using in situ tests,e.g.cone penetration tests(CPTs),due to the restrictions of time,cost and access to subsurface space.In these cases,liquefaction potential of soil at untested locations requires to be interpreted from limited measured data points using proper interpolation method,leading to remarkable statistical uncertainty in liquefaction assessment.This underlines an important question of how to optimize the locations of CPT soundings and determine the minimum number of CPTs for achieving a target reliability level of liquefaction assessment.To tackle this issue,this study proposes a smart sampling strategy for determining the minimum number of CPTs and their optimal locations in a selfadaptive and data-driven manner.The proposed sampling strategy leverages on information entropy and Bayesian compressive sampling(BCS).Both simulated and real CPT data are used to demonstrate the proposed method.Illustrative examples indicate that the proposed method can adaptively and sequentially select the required number and optimal locations of CPTs.
文摘Reverse transcriptase (rt) fragments from LINE retrotransposons in the mulberry genome were analyzed in terms of heterogeneity, phylogeny, and chromosomal distribution. We amplified and characterized conserved domains of the rt using degenerate primer pairs. Sequence analyses indicated that the rt fragments were highly heterogeneous and rich in A/T bases. The sequence identity ranged from 31.8% to 99.4%. Based on sequence similarities, the rt fragments were categorized into eight groups. Furthermore, similar stop codon distribution patterns among a series of clones in the same group indicated that they underwent a similar evolutionary process. Interestingly, phylogenetic analyses of the rt fragments isolated from mulberry and 13 other plant species revealed that two distantly related taxa (mulberry and Paeonia suffruticosa) grouped together. It does not appear that this phenomenon resulted from horizontal transposable element transfer. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis revealed that most of the rt fragments were concentrated in the subtelomeric and pericentromeric regions of the mulberry chromosomes, but that these elements were not abundant in the mulberry genome. Future studies will focus on the potential roles of these elements in the subtelomeric and pericentromeric regions of the mulberry genome.
基金funded by the NIOSH Mining Program under Contract No. 200-2016-91300
文摘Terrestrial laser scanning(TLS) is a useful technology for rock mass characterization. A laser scanner produces a massive point cloud of a scanned area, such as an exposed rock surface in an underground tunnel,with millimeter precision. The density of the point cloud depends on several parameters from both the TLS operational conditions and the specifications of the project, such as the resolution and the quality of the laser scan, the section of the tunnel, the distance between scanning stations, and the purpose of the scans. One purpose of the scan can be to characterize the rock mass and statistically analyze the discontinuities that compose it for further discontinuous modeling. In these instances, additional data processing and a detailed analysis should be performed on the point cloud to extract the parameters to define a discrete fracture network(DFN) for each discontinuity set. I-site studio is a point cloud processing software that allows users to edit and process laser scans. This software contains a set of geotechnical analysis tools that assist engineers during the structural mapping process, allowing for greater and more representative data regarding the structural information of the rock mass, which may be used for generating DFNs. This paper presents the procedures used during a laser scan for characterizing discontinuities in an underground limestone mine and the results of the scan as applied to the generation of DFNs for further discontinuous modeling.
文摘Cone penetration testing (CPT) is a cost effective and popular tool for geotechnical site characterization. CPT consists of pushing at a constant rate an electronic penetrometer into penetrable soils and recording cone bearing (q<sub>c</sub>), sleeve friction (f<sub>c</sub>) and dynamic pore pressure (u) with depth. The measured q<sub>c</sub>, f<sub>s</sub> and u values are utilized to estimate soil type and associated soil properties. A popular method to estimate soil type from CPT measurements is the Soil Behavior Type (SBT) chart. The SBT plots cone resistance vs friction ratio, R<sub>f</sub> [where: R<sub>f</sub> = (f<sub>s</sub>/q<sub>c</sub>)100%]. There are distortions in the CPT measurements which can result in erroneous SBT plots. Cone bearing measurements at a specific depth are blurred or averaged due to q<sub>c</sub> values being strongly influenced by soils within 10 to 30 cone diameters from the cone tip. The q<sub>c</sub>HMM algorithm was developed to address the q<sub>c</sub> blurring/averaging limitation. This paper describes the distortions which occur when obtaining sleeve friction measurements which can in association with q<sub>c</sub> blurring result in significant errors in the calculated R<sub>f</sub> values. This paper outlines a novel and highly effective algorithm for obtaining accurate sleeve friction and friction ratio estimates. The f<sub>c</sub> optimal filter estimation technique is referred to as the OSFE-IFM algorithm. The mathematical details of the OSFE-IFM algorithm are outlined in this paper along with the results from a challenging test bed simulation. The test bed simulation demonstrates that the OSFE-IFM algorithm derives accurate estimates of sleeve friction from measured values. Optimal estimates of cone bearing and sleeve friction result in accurate R<sub>f</sub> values and subsequent accurate estimates of soil behavior type.
文摘Cone penetration testing (CPT) is an extensively utilized and cost effective tool for geotechnical site characterization. CPT consists of pushing at a constant rate an electronic cone into penetrable soils and recording the resistance to the cone tip (q<sub>c</sub> value). The measured q<sub>c</sub> values (after correction for the pore water pressure) are utilized to estimate soil type and associated soil properties based predominantly on empirical correlations. The most common cone tips have associated areas of 10 cm<sup>2</sup> and 15 cm<sup>2</sup>. Investigators also utilized significantly larger cone tips (33 cm<sup>2</sup> and 40 cm<sup>2</sup>) so that gravelly soils can be penetrated. Small cone tips (2 cm<sup>2</sup> and 5 cm<sup>2</sup>) are utilized for shallow soil investigations. The cone tip resistance measured at a particular depth is affected by the values above and below the depth of interest which results in a smoothing or blurring of the true bearing values. Extensive work has been carried out in mathematically modelling the smoothing function which results in the blurred cone bearing measurements. This paper outlines a technique which facilitates estimating the dominant parameters of the cone smoothing function from processing real cone bearing data sets. This cone calibration technique is referred to as the so-called CPSPE algorithm. The mathematical details of the CPSPE algorithm are outlined in this paper along with the results from a challenging test bed simulation.
基金Project(2021YFA1401300)supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of ChinaProject(2021RC3021)supported by the Science and Technology Innovation Program of Hunan Province,ChinaProject(2021JJ40780)supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province,China。
