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This paper summarizes a ground-motion database developed for the NGA-Sub Project. The database consists of two- A nd three-component ground-motion recordings from selected earthquakes in subduction zones. The database also includes the supporting data such as source, path, and site metadata. The earthquakes are located in Japan, Taiwan, the Pacific Northwest region of North America, Alaska, Mexico, Central and South America, and New Zealand. The events in the database are classified as interface, intraslab, or outer-rise, and have magnitudes ranging from 4 to 9. The database includes more than 71,000 three-component recordings, most of which are from digital accelerograms. The database includes PGA, PGV, pseudo-spectral acceleration for eleven damping values between 0.5% and 30%, Fourier amplitude spectra for frequencies from 0.1 to 100 Hz, and significant-shaking durations based on Arias Intensity. These data are analyzed in the project to model various ground-motion properties.

An evaluation and comparison of the water vapor permeability of cold- and warm-water fish skin gelatin films was conducted with different types of mammalian gelatins. This investigation demonstrated significant differences in physical, chemical and rheological properties between mammalian and fish gelatins.

During 11-12 June 2012, quasi-stationary linear mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) developed near northern Taiwan and produced extreme rainfall up to 510mm and severe flooding in Taipei. Evident back-building (BB) process in these MCSs contributed to the extreme rainfall, and thus is investigated using a cloud-resolving model. Specifically, we seek answers to the question why the location about 15-30km up-stream from the old cell is often more favorable for new cell initiation without the cold pool mechanism in this subtropical event during the mei-yu season. With a horizontal grid size of 1.5 km, the model successfully reproduced the linear MCS and the BB process, which is found to be influenced by both dynamical and thermodynamical effects. During initiation in a background with convective instability, new cells are associated with positive (negative) buoyancy below (above) due to latent heating (adiabatic cooling), which represent a gradual destabilization. At the beginning, the new development is close to the old convection, which provides stronger warming be15 low and additional cooling at mid-levels from evaporation of condensates, thus yielding a more rapid destabilization. This enhanced upward decrease in buoyancy at a lower height eventually creates an upward perturbation pressure gradient force to drive further development along with the buoyancy itself. After the new cell has gain sufficient strength, a descending branch at the old cell's rear flank acts to separate the new cell 20 to about 20 km upstream. Therefore, the advantages of the spot in the BB process can be explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmon oils separated from salmon processing waste and hydrolysate and their derived methyl esters were analyzed and compared with corn oil and its methyl ester. These materials were characterized for their fatty acid profiles, viscosity, volatility, thermal properties, low temperature properties, oxidative stability, and heating value. The salmon oil methyl esters contained 26.64% saturated fatty acid methyl esters compared to 13.68% for corn oil methyl ester. Salmon oil methyl esters also contained relatively high concentrations of eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5) and docosahexaenoic (C22:6) acid methyl esters. Despite these differences in fatty acid composition, salmon and corn oil methyl esters had comparable physical properties. In addition, the methyl esters produced from salmon oils extracted from fish processing by-products and hydrolysate showed little difference in their physical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physical and electrical properties of (Pb,Sr)TiO3 (PSrT) films annealed by various techniques are systematically investigated in this study. The crystallinity and ferroelectricity of PSrT films can be enhanced by excimer laser annealing (ELA), but the effect only works on the upper region of films. On the other hand, PSrT films treated by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) can also improve crystallinity and ferroelectricity. However, the leakage current of films is seriously increased due to defects and interfacial diffusion induced by post-RTA at high temperature. As a result, the laser-assisted two-step annealing (post-ELA+RTA) is proposed in this work. It is found that PSrT films treated by post-ELA+RTA show improved crystallinity, better ferroelectric properties, higher dielectric constant, and lower leakage currents, which bring out the longer lifetime and higher breakdown field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]