Modeling near-field tsunami observations to improve finite-fault slip models for the 11 March 2011 Tohoku earthquake

The massive tsunami generated by the 11 March 2011 Tohoku earthquake (M_w 9.0) was widely recorded by GPS buoys, wave gauges, and ocean bottom pressure sensors around the source. Numerous inversions for finite-fault slip time histories have been performed using seismic and/or geodetic observations, yielding generally consistent patterns of large co-seismic slip offshore near the hypocenter and/or up-dip near the trench, where estimated peak slip is ~60 m. Modeling the tsunami generation and near-field wave processes using two detailed rupture models obtained from either teleseismic P waves or high-rate GPS recordings in Japan allows evaluation of how well the finite-fault models account for the regional tsunami data. By determining sensitivity of the tsunami calculations to rupture model features, we determine model modifications that improve the fit to the diverse tsunami data while retaining the fit to the seismic and geodetic observations

An aeronautical mobile satellite experiment

The various activities and findings of a NASA/FAA/COMSAT/INMARSAT collaborative aeronautical mobile satellite experiment are detailed. The primary objective of the experiment was to demonstrate and evaluate an advanced digital mobile satellite terminal developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory under the NASA Mobile Satellite Program. The experiment was a significant milestone for NASA/JPL, since it was the first test of the mobile terminal in a true mobile satellite environment. The results were also of interest to the general mobile satellite community because of the advanced nature of the technologies employed in the terminal

Combined trellis coding and feedforward processing for MSS applications

The idea of using a multiple (more than two) symbol observation interval to improve error probability performance is applied to differential detection of trellis coded MPSK over a mobile satellite (fading) channel. Results are obtained via computer simulation. It is shown that only a slight increase (e.g., one symbol) in the length of the observation interval will provide a significant improvement in bit error probability performance both in AWGN and fading environments

The 25 October 2010 Mentawai tsunami earthquake (M_w 7.8) and the tsunami hazard presented by shallow megathrust ruptures

The 25 October 2010 Mentawai, Indonesia earthquake (M_w 7.8) ruptured the shallow portion of the subduction zone seaward of the Mentawai islands, off-shore of Sumatra, generating 3 to 9 m tsunami run-up along southwestern coasts of the Pagai Islands that took at least 431 lives. Analyses of teleseismic P, SH and Rayleigh waves for finite-fault source rupture characteristics indicate ∼90 s rupture duration with a low rupture velocity of ∼1.5 km/s on the 10° dipping megathrust, with total slip of 2–4 m over an ∼100 km long source region. The seismic moment-scaled energy release is 1.4 × 10^(−6), lower than 2.4 × 10^(−6) found for the 17 July 2006 Java tsunami earthquake (M_w 7.8). The Mentawai event ruptured up-dip of the slip region of the 12 September 2007 Kepulauan earthquake (M_w 7.9), and together with the 4 January 1907 (M 7.6) tsunami earthquake located seaward of Simeulue Island to the northwest along the arc, demonstrates the significant tsunami generation potential for shallow megathrust ruptures in regions up-dip of great underthrusting events in Indonesia and elsewhere

The cardiomyocyte "redox rheostat": Redox signalling via the AMPK-mTOR axis and regulation of gene and protein expression balancing survival and death.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a key role in development of heart failure but, at a cellular level, their effects range from cytoprotection to induction of cell death. Understanding how this is regulated is crucial to develop novel strategies to ameliorate only the detrimental effects. Here, we revisited the fundamental hypothesis that the level of ROS per se is a key factor in the cellular response by applying different concentrations of H2O2 to cardiomyocytes. High concentrations rapidly reduced intracellular ATP and inhibited protein synthesis. This was associated with activation of AMPK which phosphorylated and inhibited Raptor, a crucial component of mTOR complex-1 that regulates protein synthesis. Inhibition of protein synthesis by high concentrations of H2O2 prevents synthesis of immediate early gene products required for downstream gene expression, and such mRNAs (many encoding proteins required to deal with oxidant stress) were only induced by lower concentrations. Lower concentrations of H2O2 promoted mTOR phosphorylation, associated with differential recruitment of some mRNAs to the polysomes for translation. Some of the upregulated genes induced by low H2O2 levels are cytoprotective. We identified p21Cip1/WAF1 as one such protein, and preventing its upregulation enhanced the rate of cardiomyocyte apoptosis. The data support the concept of a "redox rheostat" in which different degrees of ROS influence cell energetics and intracellular signalling pathways to regulate mRNA and protein expression. This sliding scale determines cell fate, modulating survival vs death

Finite Temperature Behavior of the ν=1\nu=1 Quantum Hall Effect in Bilayer Electron Systems

An effective field theoretic description of $\nu=1$ bilayer electron systems stabilized by Coulomb repulsion in a single wide quantum well is examined using renormalization group techniques. The system is found to undergo a crossover from a low temperature strongly correlated quantum Hall state to a high temperature compressible state. This picture is used to account for the recent experimental observation of an anomalous transition in bilayer electron systems (T. S. Lay, {\em et al.} Phys. Rev. B {\bf 50}, 17725 (1994)). An estimate for the crossover temperature is provided, and it is shown that its dependence on electron density is in reasonable agreement with i the experiment.Comment: Corrected typos, and changed content, 5 pages and 2 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.

Introduction to the Special Issue on the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami

The 11 March 2011 Tohoku earthquake (05:46:24 UTC) involved a massive rupture of the plate‐boundary fault along which the Pacific plate thrusts under northeastern Honshu, Japan. It was the fourth‐largest recorded earthquake, with seismic‐moment estimates of 3–5×10^(22)  N•m (M_w 9.0). The event produced widespread strong ground shaking in northern Honshu; in some locations ground accelerations exceeded 2g. Rupture extended ∼200  km along dip, spanning the entire width of the seismogenic zone from the Japan trench to below the Honshu coastline, and the aftershock‐zone length extended ∼500  km along strike of the subduction zone. The average fault slip over the entire rupture area was ∼10  m, but some estimates indicate ∼25  m of slip located around the hypocentral region and extraordinary slip of up to 60–80 m in the shallow megathrust extending to the trench. The faulting‐generated seafloor deformation produced a devastating tsunami that resulted in 5–10‐km inundation of the coastal plains, runup of up to 40 m along the Sanriku coastline, and catastrophic failure of the backup power systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, which precipitated a reactor meltdown and radiation release. About 18,131 lives appear to have been lost, 2829 people are still missing, and 6194 people were injured (as reported 28 September 2012 by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency of Japan) and over a half million were displaced, mainly due to the tsunami impact on coastal towns, where tsunami heights significantly exceeded harbor tsunami walls and coastal berms

Spin-squeezed Ground States in the Bilayer Quantum Hall Ferromagnet

A "squeezed-vacuum" state considered in quantum optics is shown to be realized in the ground-state wavefunction for the bilayer quantum Hall system at the total Landau level filling of $\nu=1/m$ (m: odd integer). This is derived in the boson approximation, where a particle-hole pair creation across the symmetric-antisymmetric gap, $\Delta_{SAS}$, is regarded as a boson. In terms of the pseudospin describing the layers, the state is a spin-squeezed state, where the degree of squeezing is controlled by the layer separation and $\Delta_{SAS}$. An exciton condensation, which amounts to a rotated spin-squeezed state, has a higher energy due to the degraded SU(2) symmetry for $\Delta_{SAS} \neq 0$.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, one figure, to appear in PRB Rapid Communicatio

Torsional nodeless vibrations of quaking neutron star restored by combined forces of shear elastic and magnetic field stresses

Within the framework of Newtonian magneto-solid-mechanics, relying on equations appropriate for a perfectly conducting elastic continuous medium threaded by a uniform magnetic field, the asteroseismic model of a neutron star undergoing axisymmetric global torsional nodeless vibrations under the combined action of Hooke's elastic and Lorentz magnetic forces is considered with emphasis on a toroidal Alfv\'en mode of differentially rotational vibrations about the dipole magnetic moment axis of the star. The obtained spectral equation for frequency is applied to $\ell$-pole identification of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) of X-ray flux during the giant flares of SGR 1806-20 and SGR 1900+14. Our calculations suggest that detected QPOs can be consistently interpreted, within the framework of this model, as produced by global torsional nodeless vibrations of quaking magnetar if they are considered to be restored by the joint action of bulk forces of shear elastic and magnetic field stresses.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures; accepted in Ap