Yushu earthquake synergic analysis using multimodal SAR datasets

The large earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale that occurred in Yushu County, Qinghai Province, China, on April 14, 2010, caused a huge loss of life and major damage to people’s properties. Using three modal synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) datasets, wide-swath SAR, interferometric SAR and polarimetric SAR, the following studies were conducted: (1) From Radarsat-2 wide swath SAR data, the regional geological structures and lithologic distribution characteristics of the Yushu earthquake were analyzed. (2) Using advanced land observing satellite/phased array L-band interferometric SAR data, the coseismic deformation field of the Yushu earthquake was obtained, and the size and spatial distribution of deformation were studied combining with the result of regional geological background analysis. (3) From Radarsat-2 polarimetric SAR data, the H-α-ρ method was used to extract the spatial distribution of building collapse caused by the earthquake in the Yushu urban area, and the reasons for the severe earthquake damage to buildings are also discussed and assessed. The study results demonstrate the effectiveness and important potential of using multimodal SAR data for synergic analysis and assessment of earthquake disasters.     

Synthesis and micellization behavior of stimuli-responsive polypeptide hybrid triblock copolymer

Polypeptide hybrid triblock copolymer, poly（L-glutamic acid）-b-poly（propylene oxide）-b-poly （L-glutamic acid） （PLGA-b-PPO-b-PLGA）, was synthesized by the ring-opening polymerization of benzyI-L- glutamic N-carboxyanhydride （BLG-NCA） using poly（propylene glycol） bis（2-aminopropyl ether） as initiator, followed by the subsequent deprotection step. The obtained double hydrophilic triblock co- polymer exhibits ＂schizophrenic＂ micellization behavior in aqueous solution upon dually playing with solution pH and temperature. The multi-responsive micellization behavior of this polypeptide hybrid triblock copolymer has been thoroughly investigated by 1H NMR, laser light scattering （LLS）, tempera- ture-dependent optical transmittance, and circular dichroism spectroscopy （CD）.     

Energetic electrons associated with magnetic reconnection in the sheath of interplanetary coronal mass ejection

Magnetic reconnection is an important universal plasma dissipation process that converts magnetic energy into plasma thermal and kinetic energy,and simultaneously changes the magnetic field topology.In this paper,we report the first observation of energetic electrons associated with asymmetric reconnection in the sheath of an interplanetary coronal mass ejection.The magnetic field shear angle was about 151°,implying guide-field reconnection.The width of the exhaust was about 8×104 km.The reconnection rate was estimated as 0.044-0.08,which is consistent with fast reconnection theory and previous observations.We observed flux enhancements of energetic electrons with energy up to 400 keV in this reconnection exhaust.The region where ener- getic electron fluxes were enhanced is located at one pair of separatrices in the higher density hemisphere.We discuss these observation results,and compare with previous observations and recent kinetic simulations.     

Single molecule DNA compaction by purified histones

The compaction of single DNA molecules by purified histones is studied using magnetic tweezers. The compaction rate increases rapidly when the histone concentration is increased from 0.002 to 0.2 mmol/L, and saturates when the concentration is beyond 0.2 mmol/L. The time course of compaction is exponential at low histone concentrations. It becomes sigmoidal at high concentrations. Cooperativity between the histones bound to DNA is proposed to be responsible for the transition. The histones are loaded onto DNA randomly at low concentrations. They tend to bind DNA cooperatively at high con-centrations because the structural torsions of DNA induced by the bound histones become overlapping so that the binding of one histone facilitates the binding of others. Under very large forces, the com- pacted histone-DNA complex can be disrupted in a discrete manner with a step size of -60 nm. But the histones cannot be completely stripped off DNA, as is revealed by the lowered B-S transition plateau of the histone-bound DNA.