Expected Earthquake Losses to Buildings in Istanbul and Implications for the Performance of the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool

The city of Istanbul will likely experience substantial direct and indirect losses as a result of a future large earthquake. This paper reports on the expected building losses in the city in terms of probable maximum and average annualized losses and discussed the results from the perspective of the compulsory earthquake insurance scheme operational in the country

Modelling of earthquake hazard and secondary effects for loss assessment in Marmara (Turkey)

This study proposes the methodology for an innovative Earthquake Risk Assessment (ERA) framework to calculate seismic hazard maps in regions where limited seismo-tectonic information exists. The tool calculates the seismic hazard using a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) based on a MonteCarlo approach, which generates synthetic earthquake catalogues by randomizing key hazard parameters in a controlled manner. All the available data was transferred to GIS format and the results are evaluated to obtain a hazard maps that consider site amplification, liquefaction susceptibility and landslide hazard. The effectiveness of the PSHA methodology is demonstrated by carrying out the hazard analysis of Marmara region (Turkey), for which benchmark maps already exist. The results show that the hazard maps for Marmara region compare well with previous PSHA studies and with the National Building Code map. The proposed method is particularly suitable for generating hazard maps in developing countries, where data is not available or easily accessible

Copper-catalysed selective hydroamination reactions of alkynes

The development of selective reactions that utilize easily available and abundant precursors for the efficient synthesis of amines is a long-standing goal of chemical research. Despite the centrality of amines in a number of important research areas, including medicinal chemistry, total synthesis and materials science, a general, selective and step-efficient synthesis of amines is still needed. Here, we describe a set of mild catalytic conditions utilizing a single copper-based catalyst that enables the direct preparation of three distinct and important amine classes (enamines, α-chiral branched alkylamines and linear alkylamines) from readily available alkyne starting materials with high levels of chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivity. This methodology was applied to the asymmetric synthesis of ​rivastigmine and the formal synthesis of several other pharmaceutical agents, including ​duloxetine, ​atomoxetine, ​fluoxetine and ​tolterodine.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (GM58160