Coseismic gravity and displacement changes of Japan Tohoku earthquake(Mw 9.0)

The greatest earthquake in the modern history of Japan and probably the fourth greatest in the last 100 years in the world occurred on March 11, 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku.Large tsunami and ground motions caused severe damage in wide areas, particularly many towns along the Pacific coast. So far, gravity change caused by such a great earthquake has been reported for the 1964 Alaska and the 2010 Maule events. However, the spatial-temporal resolution of the gravity data for these cases is insufficient to depict a co-seismic gravity field variation in a spatial scale of a plate subduction zone. Here, we report an unequivocal co-seismic gravity change over the Japanese Island, obtained from a hybrid gravity observation（combined absolute and relative gravity measurements）. The time interval of the observation before and after the earthquake is within 1 year at almost all the observed sites, including 13 absolute and 16 relative measurement sites, which deduced tectonic and environmental contributions to the gravity change. The observed gravity agrees well with the result calculated by a dislocation theory based on a self-gravitating and layered spherical earth model. In this computation, a co-seismic slip distribution is determined by an inversion of Global Positioning System（GPS） data. Of particular interest is that the observed gravity change in some area is negative where a remarkable subsidence is observed by GPS, which can not be explained by simple vertical movement of the crust. This indicated that the mass redistribution in the underground affects the gravity change. This result supports the result that Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment（GRACE） satellites detected a crustal dilatation due to the 2004 Sumatra earthquake by the terrestrial observation with a higher spatial and temporal resolution.

Absolute configuration of Buagafuran:An experimental and theoretical electronic circular dichroism study

Buagafuran is a novel drug candidate derived from natural product.Its absolute configuration has been confirmed by electronic circular dichroism combined with modern quantum-chemical calculation using time-dependent density functional theory.The predicted UV absorbance peak is underestimated by several nanometers compared with the experimental data.The applicability of empirical rule for the C=C-C-O system in Buagafuran has also been discussed.Our results show that electronic circular dichroism could be a useful tool for the absolute configuration assignment of chiral drugs,especially for the oily or semisolid substances,whose crystal structures are impossible to obtain.

Chiroptical properties of artemisinin and artemether investigated using time-dependent density functional theory

Chiroptical properties including electronic circular dichroism（ECD） and optical rotatory dispersion（ORD） of artemisinin and artemether have been fully studied using quantum-chemical calculation based on time-dependent density functional theory.Both theoretical ECD and ORD of these two compounds were in good match with the experimental data.ECD spectrum of artemether could be totally attributed to the peroxide group,and that of artemisinin was an overlay of contribution from δ-lactone and peroxide moieties,which leading to a positive maximum at 260 nm.Our results showed that peroxide group could produce a broad ECD band in the far-UV region originated from electron transitions of HOMO →LUMO,HOMO-1 →LUMO and HOMO-2 →LUMO in the case of artemether.This work provided a theoretical interpretation of the ECD behavior of peroxide bond.

Potassium carbonate-based ternary transition temperature mixture(deep eutectic analogues)for CO_(2)absorption:Characterizations and DFT analysis

Is it possible to improve CO_(2)solubility in potassium carbonate(K_(2)CO_(3))-based transition temperature mixtures(TTMs)?To assess this possibility,a ternary transition-temperature mixture(TTTM)was prepared by using a hindered amine,2-amino-2-methyl-1,3-propanediol(AMPD).Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR)was employed to detect the functional groups including hydroxyl,amine,carbonate ion,and aliphatic functional groups in the prepared solvents.From thermogravimetric analysis(TGA),it was found that the addition of AMPD to the binary mixture can increase the thermal stability of TTTM.The viscosity findings showed that TTTM has a higher viscosity than TTM while their difference was decreased by increasing temperature.In addition,Eyring’s absolute rate theory was used to compute the activation parameters(∆G^(*),∆H^(*),and ∆S^(*)).The CO_(2)solubility in liquids was measured at a temperature of 303.15 K and pressures up to 1.8 MPa.The results disclosed that the CO_(2)solubility of TTTM was improved by the addition of AMPD.At the pressure of about 1.8 MPa,the CO_(2)mole fractions of TTM and TTTM were 0.1697 and 0.2022,respectively.To confirm the experimental data,density functional theory(DFT)was employed.From the DFT analysis,it was found that the TTTM+CO_(2)system has higher interaction energy(|∆E|)than the TTM+CO_(2)system indicating the higher CO_(2)affinity of the former system.This study might help scientists to better understand and to improve CO_(2)solubility in these types of solvents by choosing a suitable amine as HBD and finding the best combination of HBA and HBD.

Double Ramification Cycles with Orbifold Targets

In this paper,we consider double ramification cycles with orbifold targets.An explicit formula for double ramification cycles with orbifold targets,which is parallel to and generalizes the one known for the smooth case,is provided.Some applications for orbifold Gromov–Witten theory are also included.