Chemical heterogeneity as a factor of improving the strength of steels manufactured by selective laser melting technology

The aim of this paper was to establish the causes of the heterogeneity of the chemical composition of the metal obtained by the LC technology. The powdered raw material was made from a monolithic alloy, which was fused by the SLM, the initial raw material was a laboratory melting metal of a low-carbon chromium-manganese-nickel composition based on iron. To determine the distribution pattern of alloying chemical elements in the resulting powder, electron-microscopic images of thin sections were combined with X-ray analysis data on the cross-sections of the powder particles. As a result, it was found that transition (Mn, Ni) and heavy (Mo) metals are uniformly distributed over the powder particle cross-sections, and the mass fraction of silicon (Si) is uneven: in the center of the particles, it is several times larger in some cases. The revealed feature in the distribution of silicon is supposedly due to the formation of various forms of SiO4 upon the cooling of the formed particles. The internal structure of the manufactured powder is represented by the martensitic structure of stack morphology. After laser fusion, etched thin sections revealed traces of segregation heterogeneity in the form of a grid with cells of ~ 200 μm

Study of the effect of diamond nanoparticles on the structure and mechanical properties of the medical Mg–Ca–Zn magnesium alloy

The paper addresses the production and investigation of the Mg–Ca–Zn alloy dispersionhardened by diamond nanoparticles. Structural studies have shown that diamond nanoparticles have a modifying effect and make it possible to reduce the average grain size of the magnesium alloy. Reduction of the grain size and introduction of particles into the magnesium matrix increased the yield strength, tensile strength, and ductility of the magnesium alloy as compared to the original alloy after vibration and ultrasonic treatment. The magnesium alloy containing diamond nanoparticles showed the most uniform fracture due to a more uniform deformation of the alloy with particles, which simultaneously increased its strength and ductilit

Microstructure and biodegradation performance of Mg–4Ca–1Zn based alloys after ultrasonic treatment and doping with nanodiamonds for biomedical applications

This work aims to study microstructural features, phase composition, topology, surface potential, and the biodegradation performance of Mg–4Zn–1Ca-based alloys whose melts were ultrasonically (US) treated and doped with nanodiamonds (ND). The findings show a correlation between the ratio of the secondary phase segregated along the grain boundaries and the biodegradation rate in the RPMI-1640 synthetic culture medium. The fewer Ca2Mg6Zn3 phase fraction, the lower the biodegradation rate. Also, ND doping does not significantly affect the biodegradation rate. Intriguingly, the latter in the US-treated alloy was found to be noticeably inhibited due to a smoother topography and the presence of the fewest Ca2Mg6Zn3 phase fraction segregated along the grain boundaries. Further studies are needed to assess the biodegradable potential of the ND doped alloy, which melt was ultrasonically treated

Concept, opportunities and challenges of urban tourism in the Arab world: Case studies of Dubai, Cairo and Amman

This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the current situation of urban tourism with referring to the experiences of the Arab World. By using bibliographic documentation and descriptive-analytic method, this paper addresses the main opportunities, impediments, and challenges of urban tourism in three Arab cities (Dubai, Cairo and Amman). This paper indicates that the three cities have many opportunities stemming from their location and their rich tourism resources. Moreover, urban tourism in these cities should confront some internal (country based) and external (global and regional) challenges such as seasonality, pollution, congestion, competition, funding and instability. Some recommendations and policy implications were suggested. The paper concludes, by arguing, that common internal and external challenges need to be addressed in a systematic manner within the broader cultural and tourism policy context in which urban tourism is now implicated. There is a lack of literature on urban tourism within the Arab countries, which is attributed to that tourism in the Arab world is heritage dominated type. Therefore, this research also attempts to bridge the gap in the existing literature about urban tourism in the Arab cities

Detection potential of the KM3NeT detector for high-energy neutrinos from the Fermi bubbles

A recent analysis of the Fermi Large Area Telescope data provided evidence for a high-intensity emission of high-energy gamma rays with a E 2 spectrum from two large areas, spanning 50 above and below the Galactic centre (the ‘‘Fermi bubbles’’). A hadronic mechanism was proposed for this gamma-ray emission making the Fermi bubbles promising source candidates of high-energy neutrino emission. In this work Monte Carlo simulations regarding the detectability of high-energy neutrinos from the Fermi bubbles with the future multi-km3 neutrino telescope KM3NeT in the Mediterranean Sea are presented. Under the hypothesis that the gamma-ray emission is completely due to hadronic processes, the results indicate that neutrinos from the bubbles could be discovered in about one year of operation, for a neutrino spectrum with a cutoff at 100 TeV and a detector with about 6 km3 of instrumented volume. The effect of a possible lower cutoff is also considered.Published7–141.8. Osservazioni di geofisica ambientaleJCR Journalrestricte

Expansion cone for the 3-inch PMTs of the KM3NeT optical modules

[EN] Detection of high-energy neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources will open a new window on the Universe. The detection principle exploits the measurement of Cherenkov light emitted by charged particles resulting from neutrino interactions in the matter containing the telescope. A novel multi-PMT digital optical module (DOM) was developed to contain 31 3-inch photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). In order to maximize the detector sensitivity, each PMT will be surrounded by an expansion cone which collects photons that would otherwise miss the photocathode. Results for various angles of incidence with respect to the PMT surface indicate an increase in collection efficiency by 30% on average for angles up to 45 degrees with respect to the perpendicular. Ray-tracing calculations could reproduce the measurements, allowing to estimate an increase in the overall photocathode sensitivity, integrated over all angles of incidence, by 27% (for a single PMT). Prototype DOMs, being built by the KM3NeT consortium, will be equipped with these expansion cones.This work is supported through the EU, FP6 Contract no. 011937, FP7 grant agreement no. 212252, and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.Adrián Martínez, S.; Ageron, M.; Aguilar, JA.; Aharonian, F.; Aiello, S.; Albert, A.; Alexandri, M.... (2013). Expansion cone for the 3-inch PMTs of the KM3NeT optical modules. Journal of Instrumentation. 8(3):1-19. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/8/03/T03006S1198

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass

Severe early onset preeclampsia: short and long term clinical, psychosocial and biochemical aspects

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy specific disorder commonly defined as de novo hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks gestational age. It occurs in approximately 3-5% of pregnancies and it is still a major cause of both foetal and maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide1. As extensive research has not yet elucidated the aetiology of preeclampsia, there are no rational preventive or therapeutic interventions available. The only rational treatment is delivery, which benefits the mother but is not in the interest of the foetus, if remote from term. Early onset preeclampsia (<32 weeks’ gestational age) occurs in less than 1% of pregnancies. It is, however often associated with maternal morbidity as the risk of progression to severe maternal disease is inversely related with gestational age at onset2. Resulting prematurity is therefore the main cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity in patients with severe preeclampsia3. Although the discussion is ongoing, perinatal survival is suggested to be increased in patients with preterm preeclampsia by expectant, non-interventional management. This temporising treatment option to lengthen pregnancy includes the use of antihypertensive medication to control hypertension, magnesium sulphate to prevent eclampsia and corticosteroids to enhance foetal lung maturity4. With optimal maternal haemodynamic status and reassuring foetal condition this results on average in an extension of 2 weeks. Prolongation of these pregnancies is a great challenge for clinicians to balance between potential maternal risks on one the eve hand and possible foetal benefits on the other. Clinical controversies regarding prolongation of preterm preeclamptic pregnancies still exist – also taking into account that preeclampsia is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the Netherlands5 - a debate which is even more pronounced in very preterm pregnancies with questionable foetal viability6-9. Do maternal risks of prolongation of these very early pregnancies outweigh the chances of neonatal survival? Counselling of women with very early onset preeclampsia not only comprises of knowledge of the outcome of those particular pregnancies, but also knowledge of outcomes of future pregnancies of these women is of major clinical importance. This thesis opens with a review of the literature on identifiable risk factors of preeclampsia

Measurement of nuclear modification factors of gamma(1S)), gamma(2S), and gamma(3S) mesons in PbPb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

The cross sections for ϒ(1S), ϒ(2S), and ϒ(3S) production in lead-lead (PbPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV have been measured using the CMS detector at the LHC. The nuclear modification factors, RAA, derived from the PbPb-to-pp ratio of yields for each state, are studied as functions of meson rapidity and transverse momentum, as well as PbPb collision centrality. The yields of all three states are found to be significantly suppressed, and compatible with a sequential ordering of the suppression, RAA(ϒ(1S)) > RAA(ϒ(2S)) > RAA(ϒ(3S)). The suppression of ϒ(1S) is larger than that seen at √sNN = 2.76 TeV, although the two are compatible within uncertainties. The upper limit on the RAA of ϒ(3S) integrated over pT, rapidity and centrality is 0.096 at 95% confidence level, which is the strongest suppression observed for a quarkonium state in heavy ion collisions to date. © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP3.Peer reviewe

Azimuthal separation in nearly back-to-back jet topologies in inclusive 2-and 3-jet events in pp collisions at root s=13TeV

A measurement for inclusive 2- and 3-jet events of the azimuthal correlation between the two jets with the largest transverse momenta, Delta phi(12), is presented. The measurement considers events where the two leading jets are nearly collinear ("back-to-back") in the transverse plane and is performed for several ranges of the leading jet transverse momentum. Proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1) are used. Predictions based on calculations using matrix elements at leading-order and next-to-leading-order accuracy in perturbative quantum chromodynamics supplemented with leading-log parton showers and hadronization are generally in agreement with themeasurements. Discrepancies between the measurement and theoretical predictions are as large as 15%, mainly in the region 177 degrees <Delta phi(12) <180 degrees. The 2- and 3-jet measurements are not simultaneously described by any of models.Peer reviewe