Mapping the potential impact of synthetic biology on Australian foreign policy

Synthetic biology is an emerging technology that will impact on the future security and prosperity of Australia. As a discrete policy area synthetic biology has not been explored in relation to Australian foreign policy. To begin this process an understanding of Australia’s genetic endowment, Australia’s agricultural endowment and those security concerns novel to synthetic biology need to be developed. The convergence of the biological sciences and the information sciences is creating novel security concerns that impact on Australian sovereignty, both mainland and the Antarctic Territories, plant and animal health, and defence medical infrastructure. These concerns cross many traditional disciplinary and policy boundaries, an awareness of this is required and a nascent national practitioner community can develop this further. Drawing from work conducted by the US and UK synthetic biology practitioner communities, this article lays out the unique touch points synthetic biology has on Australian foreign policy.     

由经有数家、家有数说到括囊大典、贯通六艺——论郑玄通学的产生

郑玄通学的形成背景需要进一步探讨,晚清今文家关于两汉经学一直壁垒森严,到郑玄才被打破的说法影响还很大.其实汉代的经今古文学根本没有那么壁垒森严,"通"早已是一种大趋势,这一事实已有学者申说过,但其原因,笔者以为重要的是自王莽以后朝廷的导向,这是不容忽视的,经学作为政治统治学说,朝廷的引导往往在其中起着决定性的作用.     

The Measurement by Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) of Disturbance Within the Nasca World Heritage Site

In this paper we report on our use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) as a means of monitoring the Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Pampas de Jumana World Heritage Site in Peru, where the colossal ground drawings, popularly known as the Nasca Lines, are found. Our research to date indicates that the environment in which the Nasca geoglyphs are found, and the nature of the geoglyphs themselves, are suited perfectly for investigation by SAR. SAR also provides a new and valuable tool for understanding the human activities and natural processes that have damaged the geoglyphs and which, unchecked, will continue to do so in the future. Further, SAR can be used to categorize geoglyphs according to structural differences and similarities in ways that have heretofore not been possible, thereby serving as a basis for a geoglyph catalogue.     

Integrating radar and laser-based remote sensing techniques for monitoring structural deformation of archaeological monuments

Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (GBInSAR) and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) were purposely integrated to obtain 3D interferometric radar point clouds to facilitate the spatial interpretation of displacements affecting archaeological monuments. The paper describes the procedure to implement this integrated approach in the real-world situations of surveillance of archaeological and built heritage. Targeted tests were carried out on the case study of the Domus Tiberiana sited along the northern side of the Palatino Hill in the central archaeological area of Rome, Italy, and displacements of the monument were monitored over almost one year of acquisition. The GBInSAR – TLS integration provided updated information about the condition of the archaeological structures in relation to their history of instability mechanisms, and did not highlighted a general worsening for the stability of the entire monument. Point-wise and prompt detection of displacement anomalies and/or sudden changes in displacement trends proved the suitability of the method to support early warning procedures, also to evaluate effects on the masonry due to human activities.     

Variability in Wood-Frame Building Damage using Broad-Band Synthetic Ground Motions: A Comparative Numerical Study with Recorded Motions

Earthquake damage to light-frame wood buildings is a major concern for North America because of the volume of this construction type. In order to estimate wood building damage using synthetic ground motions, we need to verify the ability of synthetically generated ground motions to simulate realistic damage for this structure type. Through a calibrated damage potential indicator, four different synthetic ground motion models are compared with the historically recorded ground motions at corresponding sites. We conclude that damage for sites farther from the fault (>20 km) is under-predicted on average and damage at closer sites is sometimes over-predicted.     

A preliminary study on the photo - degradation of printing pigments on banknotes issued during the period of the Republic of China北大核心

为了初步评价光照对民国纸币的影响,为博物馆纸币文物的展陈照明和保存提供建议,本研究选取了八枚纸币分别进行LED灯和自然光老化实验,并通过拉曼光谱仪和X射线荧光光谱仪确定了纸币样品颜料的主要成分——合成有机颜料红49:1、普鲁士蓝、铬酸铅和炭黑。通过老化前后的色差分析可知,纸币红色颜料变化最大,其他颜色变化相对较小。因此,对于民国纸币类文物,尤其是含有红色合成有机颜料的纸币文物,需要控制其光照条件以防止老化变色。