Site Classification Research Articles

Characteristics and Spatial Distribution of Vs30 Based on Microtremor Inversion and MASW Data through Landform Unit in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The Yogyakarta region is located in the earthquake-prone areas of Indonesia. An earthquake hazard can be assessed by identifying the site conditions from Vs30 to estimate the potential amplification of ground shaking. Site conditions are affected by the earth surface relief and material composition. The landform is characterized by differences in geomorphological structures and processes, relief/topography, and material. This research aims to analyze the characteristics and spatial distribution of Vs30 based on MASW and microtremor inversion for each landform unit in the Yogyakarta region. We collected 545 microtremor and MASW responses from field measurements. Data inversion was performed to obtain a 1D Vs30 model and estimate the Vs30 value. The results are presented in the Vs30 spatial distribution map and site classification. They show that the value of Vs30 is varied in a range of 140 – 1092 m/s. The site classification ranges from SE to SB. The Vs30 value tends to be similar to the USGS model, except in the karst landform in the Gunungkidul area. Here, the site class ranges from SC to SB, while the USGS model ranges from SD to SC. Based on the landform analysis, the higher average values of Vs30 are for karst, followed by structural, denudational, volcanic, fluvial, marine, and aeolian landforms. This difference indicates that local conditions significantly affect the Vs30. The higher the elevation and the steeper the slope, the larger the Vs30 value. Moreover, the higher values of Vs30 are determined by harder and solid/consolidated material.

Binding Networks Identify Targetable Protein Pockets for Mechanism-Based Drug Design.

The human genome codes only a few thousand druggable proteins, mainly receptors and enzymes. While this pool of available drug targets is limited, there is an untapped potential for discovering new drug-binding mechanisms and modes. For example, enzymes with long binding cavities offer numerous prerequisite binding sites that may be visited by an inhibitor during migration from a bulk solution to the destination site. Drug design can use these prerequisite sites as new structural targets. However, identifying these ephemeral sites is challenging. Here, we introduce a new method called NetBinder for the systematic identification and classification of prerequisite binding sites at atomic resolution. NetBinder is based on atomistic simulations of the full inhibitor binding process and provides a networking framework on which to select the most important binding modes and uncover the entire binding mechanism, including previously undiscovered events. NetBinder was validated by a study of the binding mechanism of blebbistatin (a potent inhibitor) to myosin 2 (a promising target for cancer chemotherapy). Myosin 2 is a good test enzyme because, like other potential targets, it has a long internal binding cavity that provides blebbistatin with numerous potential prerequisite binding sites. The mechanism proposed by NetBinder of myosin 2 structural changes during blebbistatin binding shows excellent agreement with experimentally determined binding sites and structural changes. While NetBinder was tested on myosin 2, it may easily be adopted to other proteins with long internal cavities, such as G-protein-coupled receptors or ion channels, the most popular current drug targets. NetBinder provides a new paradigm for drug design by a network-based elucidation of binding mechanisms at an atomic resolution.

Numerical analysis on gas production from silty hydrate reservoirs in the South China sea by depressurizing: The effect of permeability reduction caused by pore compression

Natural Gas Hydrate (NGH) is widely discovered in silty sediments with a high compressibility in the South China Sea. The permeability reduction in these reservoirs during depressurization is inevitable. Here, we innovatively take the effect of permeability reduction into account to improve the accuracy of production forecast and suggest the optimal production pressures for two different typical reservoirs (i.e., Class I: Site W19 and Class III: Site SH2) in this area. In this study, two typical reservoir-scale production models of NGH reservoir are built, and the effects of bottomhole pressure and pore compressibility and permeability correlation coefficients on gas and water extraction are quantitatively evaluated. The simulation results indicate that for silty NGH reservoirs, the effect of permeability reduction on gas and water recovery during depressurization cannot be overlooked. Pore compressibility and permeability correlation coefficients will significantly affect production, and with an increase in both parameters, the cumulative gas and water recovery will decrease. However, the total gas production will firstly increase and then decrease with a reduction in bottomhole pressure. In addition, the optimal production pressures of sites W19 and SH2 are 1.5 MPa and 5.5 MPa respectively. These findings can give some valuable suggestions for future field tests in this region.

Local seismic hazard map based on the response spectra of stiff and very dense soils in Bengkulu city, Indonesia

It is well known that seismic hazard assessment should be implemented to design infrastructures in an earthquake-prone area such as Bengkulu. This paper presents local seismic hazard maps based on the response spectra of stiff and very dense soils in Bengkulu city, Indonesia. We collect the soil data and conduct the seismic wave propagation. The input motion for wave propagation analysis is generated from the spectral acceleration curves of stiff and dense soils. Various ground motion parameters such as peak ground acceleration, short-period and long-period spectral accelerations, and amplification factors are presented in microzonation maps. The results show that the peak ground acceleration in the study area ranges from 0.2 to 0.8 g, while the spectral acceleration varies between 0.5–1.5 g and 0.4–0.8 g for periods of 0.2 and 1 s, respectively. The amplification factor of the site is observed to vary from 0.5 to 1.6. Considering other spectral accelerations in Bengkulu, the spectral acceleration design shows a good performance. The results indicate the site characteristics of Bengkulu city, which can provide engineers with site class for structural building design.

Spatial Pattern Analysis of Xinjiang Tourism Resources Based on Electronic Map Points of Interest.

This study considers the Point of Interest data of tourism resources in Xinjiang and studies their spatial distribution by combining geospatial analysis methods, such as the average nearest neighbor index, standard deviation ellipse, kernel density analysis, and hotspot analysis, to explore their spatial distribution characteristics. Based on the analysis results, the following conclusions are made. Different categories of tourism resource sites have different spatial distributions, and all categories of tourism resources in Xinjiang are clustered in Urumqi city. The geological landscape resource sites are widely distributed and have a ring-shaped distribution in the desert area of southern Xinjiang. The biological landscape resources are distributed in a strip along the Tianshan Mountains. The water landscape resources are concentrated in the northern Xinjiang area. The site ruins are mostly distributed in the western region of Xinjiang. The distributions of the architectural landscape and entertainment and shopping resources are highly coupled with the distribution of cities. The distributions of the six categories of tourism resource points are in the northeast-southwest direction. The centripetal force and directional nature of the resource points of the water landscape are not obvious. The remaining five categories of resource points have their own characteristics. The distribution of resources in the site ruins is relatively even, and there are many hotspot areas in the geomantic and architectural landscapes, which are mainly concentrated in Bazhou and other places. The biological landscape has many cold-spot areas, distributed in areas such as Altai in northern Xinjiang and Hotan in southern Xinjiang. The remaining four categories have cold-spot and hotspot areas with different distributions. Tourism is an important thrust for economic development. The study of the distribution of tourism resources on the spatial distribution of tourism resources has clear guidance for later tourism development, can help the tourism industry optimize the layout of resources, and can promote tourism resources to achieve maximum benefits. The government can implement effective control and governance.

CHEST X-RAY FINDINGS AT PNEUMONIA PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT FUNGAL INFECTIONS AND NOT CURED AFTER ANTIBIOTIC THERAPY IN DR. SOETOMO HOSPITAL SURABAYA FROM JANUARY 2019 - SEPTEMBER 2020

Background: Fungal infections are often overlooked causes of community pneumonia, posing significant problems in diagnosis and treatment. The criteria for the diagnosis of fungal pneumonia are based on clinical manifestations, radiological features, and sputum culture. Definitive diagnosis based on sputum culture results takes a long time and is limited to some health center. Patients with clinical pneumonia often receive antibiotic empiric therapy which can sometimes worsen the patient's prognosis. Characteristics of lesions on chest X-rays are expected to be an easier, cheaper, and faster choice of supporting diagnostic tools. Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive study. Researchers identified data on pneumonia patients who did not recover with antibiotic therapy who underwent chest X-ray and sputum examination. A chest X-ray was observed once without serial examination and evaluated for abnormalities in the lung, pleura, lesion site and severity category. Results: A retrospective study of chest X-ray of the pneumonia patients who did not resolve with antibiotic therapy and sputum culture (n=200) was performed in the 15-93 year age group. It was found that the most common fungal age group was 46-55 years and males (62%). Chest X-ray images obtained are non-specific lesions on the lungs and pleura (consolidation, fibrosis, cavitation, nodulation, atelectasis, pneumothorax, pleural effusion and thickening), on the right and left sides of the thorax with mild to severe degrees. Images could not be distinguished between images without fungal (n=83) and images with fungal (n=117). In the fungal group there are several comorbidities, such as malignancy, HIV, COPD, tuberculosis, COVID 19, sepsis, stroke, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis, and chronic renal failure. Conclusion: There were no differences between the chest x-ray in pneumonia with or without fungal infection. The radiographic characteristics obtained in both groups were non-specific lesions on the lungs and pleura (consolidation, fibrosis, cavitation, nodulation, atelectasis, pneumothorax, pleural effusion and thickening), on the right and left sides of the thorax, as well as mild to severe degrees.

The effect of variation of shear walls placement on the response of building structure using the Direct Displacement-Based Design method

Shear walls' placement in specific positions could develop different structural responses to the building and affect the structure's strength to the received lateral loads. This research aims to find the variations in the shear walls' placement on the structure's response under the Direct Displacement Based Design (DDBD) method. The object of this research is the model of a 10-story reinforced concrete building located in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Modelling of building structures is carried out in this study with four variations of shear wall placement. First, the walls are located at every building's corner. The shear wall is then positioned in the core of the building, where the apertures have shrunk. Then, the shear wall is located on the edge of the building. Last, the shear wall is located on the edge of the building. ANOVA method is used to analyze the significant difference, i.e., variations in the walls' placement. This research indicates the significant differences in the x-direction shear force and the y-direction moment The shear walls are suggested to be placed according to the building's condition and the earthquake ground site's class to produce an optimal structure to resist earthquake loads.

Automated Optimization of Web Interfaces and Application to E-commerce

As the spirit of PC, programming has increasingly more significant effect on humanbeings. GUI (Graphical User Interface) innovation is generally utilized as a result of its accommodating point of interaction and simple activity. The meaning of ideal position is setting explicit; it targets augmenting quantifiable parts of the client experience, and it is determined utilizing master information installed in the framework, which depends on HCI standards, client studies, and information examination. The Quality of web applications are currently prima center. As mostof the exchanges like online business, banking and e-administration are done on the web, having a web application to accompany quality factors and secure is presently the need. It has been observed that stylish elements are unequivocal in choosing the nature of web application. The framework recognizes the site classification, assembles a format model, contrasts it and the pertinent ideal model, and suggests an elective design of intelligent components. The framework is carried out as an open-source programming, and it at present backings the re-situating of a solitary intuitive component. In the paper, we talk about a further speculation of this way to deal with help a bigger number of intuitive articles in a more extensive range of situations.

Influence of site conditions on seismic performance of isolated high-speed railroad bridges

Earthquakes have occurred frequently in western China (Sichuan, Tibet, etc.) while the complex site conditions in western regions bring great uncertainty to the seismic performance of isolated high-speed railroad bridges (HSRBs). By studying the relationship between structure-dependent and structure-independent seismic intensity measures, soil site conditions are taken into account in the probabilistic seismic demand model (PSDM), which is applied to analyze the failure probability of the isolated HSRB under different site conditions. Based on the design parameters and test results of a typical isolated HSRB in western region, the analysis of the finite element model of the structure was performed. Probabilistic seismic demand models of the isolated HSRB were developed. The seismic fragility curves of the isolated HSRBs were obtained and the failure probabilities under different site conditions were compared and analyzed. The evaluation of the failure probability that the failure probability of the isolated HSRBs in the site area with seismic intensity of 9 is 35.84% and 78.19% under the soil site categories D and E, respectively. Therefore, the seismic spectrum characteristics of the soil site are an important factor affecting the seismic response of isolated HSRB structures. This study provides a more effective modified PSDM for seismic performance assessment of isolated HSRBs under the different site conditions.

Second primary malignancies (SPM) in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST): 10-year experience from the Ottawa Hospital (TOH).

11536 Background: The secondary malignancies in patients with GIST are relatively high. We present our 10-year experience of SPM in patients with GIST from a regional Cancer Centre in Canada. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed in all GIST patients treated at TOH between January 2011 and December 2021. Patients were identified using ICD-10 codes and electronic medical records reviewed. Clinicopathological data were analyzed. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate associated factors with SPM. Survival analysis was estimated with the use of the Kaplan-Meir method and compared by log-rank test. Results: In total, 248 patients with GIST were identified. Of these patients, 61 (25%) had SPM; synchronous (9, 15%) and metachronous (52, 85%). Nine patients had two additional primary cancers other than GIST, and four patients had three additional primary cancers. The median age at diagnosis was 70 (range 44 – 90) years, and males were (59%). The most common SPMs were skin cancer (14, 17%), melanoma (5), and non-melanoma (9), followed by prostate cancer (13, 16%) and breast cancer (12, 15%). Colorectal cancer and hematological malignancies were found in (5, 11%) patients each, while RCC was found in (4, 6%). Thyroid cancer, lung cancer, neuroendocrine tumor, bladder cancer, thymoma, and other types of cancers were collectively found in 15 patients (24%). The majority (57%) of SPM diagnosed before GIST, 30% after GIST. The most common primary GIST locations were in the stomach (62%), followed by the small bowel (30%), and the most common histology was spindle cell (69%), followed by mixed histology (13%). The majority of GIST were localized (46 patients, 75%). Based on Miettinen risk classes for non-metastatic GIST, 74% had zero to low-risk disease, while 26% had moderate or high-risk disease. There was no association between SPM and GIST primary site (p = 0.4), TNM stage (p = 0.8), histology (p = 0.2), Mitosis (p = 0.5), and Miettinen risk class (p = 0.6). The median follow-up time was 53 months (range 1 – 132), and four patients lost follow-ups. Five years overall survival of SPM group vs. non SPM, 79.8% vs. 94.1%, (p = 0.03). Cox regression did not reveal a significant association with the covariants Conclusions: We observed that one out of four GIST patients have SPM. Skin, prostate, breast cancers were the most common SPM associated with GIST. Molecular studies are needed to explore the association/underlying mechanisms of GIST with these malignancies.

Популяция ели под пологом перестойных березняков в зоне смешанных лесов европейской части России

The results of studies of the under-canopy population of spruce (Picea abies L.) in over-mature birch forests (Betuletum oxalidosum) of the Moscow region are presented. The purpose of the research was to study of the renewal process periodicity, age, vertical structure and condition of the spruce population. The work was carried out on a permanent trial plot in the period 2008–2018. The undulating feature of the spruce renewal process under the canopy of birch forest with a frequency of 30–40 years within the age of the birch trees under consideration has been established. It is determined that the basis of spruce forests formed under the canopy are trees with a renewal period of less than 30 years, which by the onset of the decay of birch forests form the first and second layers with an average age approaching the age of quantitative maturity. The age structure of the spruce population in birch forests aged 115 years is characterized by the dominance of trees of two age groups — 21–40 and 91–120 years, which account for 29 % and 37 % of the population, respectively. The emerging spruce forests belong to conditionally even-aged stands. Trees with a height of 2,0 m dominate (about 40 %) in the vertical structure of the population. The age dynamics of the stand is aimed at a slight increase in undergrowth trees and the first storey, and a decrease in the number of the second storey trees occurs. This is due to the emergence of new spruce specimens and the transition of part of the trees of the second storey to the first one. It was found that weakened trees predominate in the under-canopy population of spruce in overmature birch forests. Trees of the first layer are in the best condition (status category CS = 1). The state of undergrowth trees during the observation period did not change, remaining weakened (CS = 2,3–2,4). The set of trees of the second layer was characterized by positive dynamics — from the category of strongly weakened (CS = 2,7), due to the mortality, it moved to the category of weakened (CS = 2,0). Trees with a renewal period of up to 30 years are in the best condition. As a result of the succession process, after the decay of birch forests, low-density spruce forests with a productivity corresponding to the III site class will be formed.

Estimate of V/H spectral acceleration ratios for firm soil sites in Eastern Canada

This study aims to provide an estimate of vertical-to-horizontal (V/H) pseudo-spectral acceleration (PSA) ratios in the Eastern Canada seismic zone for firm soils (360 < Vs30 < 760 m/s) referred to as Site Class C in the National Building Code of Canada (NBC). According to previous studies, the 2/3 V/H empirical ratio prescribed in NBC is deemed overestimated for far-field areas and underestimated for near-field areas. In this study, the V/H PSA ratios were computed for 248 records from 67 historic earthquakes in the Eastern Canada region with a magnitude Mw ≥ 3.0 and an epicentral distance (Repi) < 150 km. Given the lack of available records for Site Class C in this region, sets of records from other site classes, mostly Site Class A (Hard rock), were selected and converted to the corresponding records on Site Class C. To this end, the equivalent linear method, using the Pressure-Dependent Modified Kondner Zelasko (MKZ) model of analysis in the frequency domain was selected using the software DEEPSOIL. Computed V/H PSA ratios were then calibrated with those obtained from available Ground Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs) compatible with Site Class C of the studied region. The computed mean V/H PSA ratios were found to exceed the common value of 2/3 recommended in most codes, especially for short periods up to 1.3 sec, and new V/H ratios were proposed as a function of the fundamental period of the building. Finally, a profile of vertical acceleration design spectra (ADSver) was proposed for Site Class C in Montreal and compared with those obtained by ASCE/SEI 7–16 and ASCE 41-17 provisions.

Using UAV Survey, High-Density LiDAR Data and Automated Relief Analysis for Habitation Practices Characterization during the Late Bronze Age in NE Romania

The characterization of prehistoric human behavior in terms of habitation practices using GIS cartography methods is an important aspect of any modern geoarchaeological approach. Furthermore, using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys to identify archaeological sites with temporal resolution during the spring agro-technical works and automated mapping of the geomorphological features based on LiDAR-derived DEM can provide valuable information about the human–landscape relationships and lead to accurate archaeological and cartographic products. In this study, we applied a GIS-based landform classification method to relief characterization of 362 Late Bronze Age (LBA) settlements belonging to Noua Culture (NC) (cal. 1500/1450-1100 BCE) located in the Jijia catchment (NE Romania). For this purpose, we used an adapted version of Topographic Position Index (TPI) methodology, abbreviated DEV, which consists of: (1) application of standard deviation of TPI for the mean elevation (DEV) around each analyzed LBA site (1000 m buffer zone); (2) classification of the archaeological site’s location using six slope position classes (first method), or ten morphological classes by combining the parameters from two small-DEV and large-DEV neighborhood sizes (second method). The results indicate that the populations belonging to Noua Culture preferred to place their settlements on hilltops but close to the steep slope and on the small hills/local ridges in large valleys. From a geoarchaeological perspective, the outcomes indicate a close connection between occupied landform patterns and habitation practices during the Late Bronze Age and contribute to archaeological predictive modelling in the Jijia catchment (NE Romania).

New, Useful Criteria for Assessing the Evidence of Infection in Sepsis Research.

OBJECTIVES:The Sepsis-3 definition states the clinical criteria for sepsis but lacks clear definitions of the underlying infection. To address the lack of applicable definitions of infection for sepsis research, we propose new criteria, termed the Linder-Mellhammar criteria of infection (LMCI). The aim of this study was to validate these new infection criteria.DESIGN:A multicenter cohort study of patients with suspected infection who were admitted to emergency departments or ICUs. Data were collected from medical records and from study investigators.SETTING:Four academic hospitals in Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany.PATIENTS:A total of 934 adult patients with suspected infection or suspected sepsis.INTERVENTIONS:None.MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:Agreement of infection site classification was measured using the LMCI with Cohen κ coefficient, compared with the Calandra and Cohen definitions of infection and diagnosis on hospital discharge as references. In one of the cohorts, comparisons were also made to adjudications by an expert panel. A subset of patients was assessed for interobserver agreement.MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:The precision of the LMCI varied according to the applied reference. LMCI performed better than the Calandra and Cohen definitions (κ = 0.62 [95% CI, 0.59–0.65] vs κ = 0.43 [95% CI, 0.39–0.47], respectively) and the diagnosis on hospital discharge (κ = 0.57 [95% CI, 0.53–0.61] vs κ = 0.43 [95% CI, 0.39–0.47], respectively). The interobserver agreement for the LMCI was evaluated in 91 patients, with agreement in 77%, κ = 0.72 (95% CI, 0.60–0.85). When tested with adjudication as the gold standard, the LMCI still outperformed the Calandra and Cohen definitions (κ = 0.65 [95% CI, 0.60–0.70] vs κ = 0.29 [95% CI, 0.24–0.33], respectively).CONCLUSIONS:The LMCI is useful criterion of infection that is intended for sepsis research, in and outside of the ICU. Useful criteria for infection have the potential to facilitate more comparable sepsis research and exclude sepsis mimics from clinical studies, thus improving and simplifying sepsis research.

GMPE-consistent hard-rock site adjustment factors for Western North America

Empirical ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) such as the Next Generation Attenuation-West2 (NGA-West2) GMPEs are limited in the number of recordings on hard-rock stations used to develop the models. Therefore, the site response scaling in the GMPEs cannot be reliably extrapolated to hard-rock conditions. The state of practice for the development of hard-rock adjustment factors involves the use of analytical methods that typically assign small values to the small-strain damping parameter ([Formula: see text]) for hard-rock sites resulting in large scaling factors at short periods. Alternatively, the hard-rock scaling factors developed in Ktenidou and Abrahamson (KA16) based on empirical ground-motion data are used. These empirical factors, developed for a broad rock site category, show that the average hard-rock scaling factors observed in ground-motion data are small in amplitude contrary to the large factors typically obtained from analytical studies. The empirically derived KA16 factors also suffer from limitations due to the relatively small number of rock sites in the data set and do not distinguish between different hard-rock conditions. To address the shortcomings in the current state of practice, we present a methodology to develop linear site adjustment factors to adjust the NGA-West2 GMPEs from V S30 of 760 m/s to target hard-rock site conditions with V S30 ranging from 1000 to 2200 m/s. These factors are analytically derived using the inverse random vibration theory (IRVT) approach of Al Atik et al. but with inputs constrained using the empirical KA16 factors and normalized to the scaling of the NGA-West2 GMPEs for V S30 of 1000 m/s. The proposed factors merge the results of the NGA-West2 site response scaling for V S30 ≤ 1000 m/s with the KA16 hard-rock category factors to produce a site factor model that is a continuous function of V S30. The epistemic uncertainty of these factors is evaluated.

Seismic assessment of irregular RC frames with tall ground story incorporating nonlinear soil–structure interaction

This paper is dedicated to evaluate the nonlinear Soil–Structure Interaction (SSI) impact on the earthquake-based response of vertically irregular reinforced concrete (RC) moment resisting frames. The main contribution of this paper is to evaluate the seismic performance of RC structures with 5 and 10 stories considering a number of key parameters including irregularity ratio, soil type and the vertical safety factor (FSv) of the foundation. In this regard, the beam on nonlinear Winkler foundation (BNWF) scheme is used for the modeling of shallow foundations resting on a semi-infinite sandy medium. Vertical irregularity is considered by using a tall ground story in the RC frames. The models are subjected to 15 earthquake ground motions for conducting nonlinear dynamic time-history analyses to capture the seismic demands of soil–structure systems. The results demonstrate that considering SSI influence reduces the seismic demands in the lower stories, which is more evident in the case of soft soils (site class E). Moreover, a rational relationship between the maximum inter-story drifts and the response of the foundations is observed. It is also concluded that for both regular and irregular structures, lower values of the FSv lead to a considerable decrease in the structural demands (story drifts) and an impressive growth in transient and residual foundation settlements.

Carbon conundrums: Do United States' current carbon market baselines represent an undesirable ecological threshold?

Relative frequency distribution of observed annual mortality expressed in aboveground (AG) carbon (C) (Mg CO2 e ha-1 year-1 ) summarized across supersections by forest type [Hardwood (HW) vs. Softwood (SW)] and site class (Low vs. High) based on approximately 130,000 remeasured USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis plots across the US. Top panel summarizes conditions in plots that do and do not meet the California Air Resources Board standards based on total basal area, whereas bottom panel summarizes conditions in plots falling inside and outside of optimum relative density levels. The latter represents a biophysically-informed approach accounting for changes in tree (and carbon) packing over forest development.

Characteristics of earthquake source and ground motions in Northern Vietnam investigated through the 2020 Moc Chau M5.0 earthquake sequence

• The strike-slip rupture mechanism has been verified by the moment tensor inversion. • The isoseismal map of earthquake intensity has been constructed based on field survey. • This earthquake is associated with the activation of the rank II Da River fault. • The site condition of each station is determined using HVSR for further applications. • Earthquake engineering application issues of this area have been clearly addressed. On July 27, 2020, a shallow earthquake with a moment magnitude (M w ) of 5.0 occurred near Moc Chau in Northwestern Vietnam. Several shallow aftershocks, clustered in a small area, followed the mainshock. The mainshock caused damage to infrastructure in the source area, and considerable shaking was felt in many high buildings in surrounding cities. This event was the first recorded significant earthquake by a newly operational Vietnam broadband seismic network. The ground motions of this earthquake sequence were adequately recorded by this network. The strike-slip rupture mechanisms of the events were evaluated through moment tensor inversion analysis. After this earthquake, a field survey was conducted. A combined analysis of damage patterns and source mechanisms revealed that this earthquake sequence might be associated with the active right-lateral Da River fault. The site classification of each station that recorded data on the Moc Chau series was evaluated by computing the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio. This earthquake sequence was analyzed to evaluate the characteristics of the earthquake source and the seismic wave propagation in Northwestern Vietnam and to address the potential earthquake engineering applications of this information.

New ligand-binding sites identified in the crystal structures of β-lactoglobulin complexes with desipramine.

The homodimeric β-lactoglobulin belongs to the lipocalin family of proteins that transport a wide range of hydrophobic molecules and can be modified by mutagenesis to develop specificity for novel groups of ligands. In this work, new lactoglobulin variants, FAF (I56F/L39A/M107F) and FAW (I56F/L39A/M107W), were produced and their interactions with the tricyclic drug desipramine (DSM) were studied using X-ray crystallography, calorimetry (ITC) and circular dichroism (CD). The ITC and CD data showed micromolar affinity of the mutants for DSM and interactions according to the classical one-site binding model. However, the crystal structures unambiguously showed that the FAF and FAW dimers are capable of binding DSM not only inside the β-barrel as expected, but also at the dimer interface and at the entrance to the binding pocket. The presented high-resolution crystal structures therefore provide important evidence of the existence of alternative ligand-binding sites in the β-lactoglobulin molecule. Analysis of the crystal structures highlighted the importance of shape complementarity for ligand recognition and selectivity. The binding sites identified in the crystal structures of the FAF-DSM and FAW-DSM complexes together with data from the existing literature are used to establish a systematic classification of the ligand-binding sites in the β-lactoglobulin molecule.

Study of bilinear elastic horizontal displacement spectrum models

To obtain elastic horizontal displacement spectra for different damping ratios for use in displacement-based seismic design, the influences of the moment magnitude, fault distance, and site class on the 5%-damped elastic horizontal displacement spectrum are first investigated using the ASK14 ground motion prediction equation (GMPE). Then, bilinear displacement spectrum models for different damping ratios are proposed based on the statistical characteristics of the displacement spectra of strong motion records with the principle of retaining the major influencing factors and neglecting the minor ones, and the models are used to describe uniform hazard displacement spectra for a point source site with a return period of 475 years. Finally, the method for implementing the proposed models in practical applications is discussed. The results of the study show the following. The moment magnitude is the main factor affecting the shape of the displacement spectrum. The proposed bilinear displacement spectrum models can reflect the influence of the moment magnitude, reflect the statistical characteristics of the displacement spectra of the actual strong motion records, and well describe the uniform hazard displacement spectra of the point source site with a return period of 475 years. The zoning map of the two spectral displacements and the corresponding site amplification factors and damping scaling factors of the bedrock site at each seismic hazard level are provided to enable the implementation of the proposed bilinear displacement spectrum models in practical applications.