progress in tridimensional (3d) laser forming of stainless steel sheets

Achievement of complex shapes with high dimensional accuracy and precision by forming process is a demanding challenge for scientists and practitioners. Available technologies are numerous, with laser forming being progressively emerging because of limited springback, lack of molds and sophisticated auxiliary equipments. However, laser forming finds limited applications, especially when forming of tridimensional (3d) complex shapes is required. In this case, cost savings are often counterbalanced by the need for troublesome forming strategies. Therefore, traditional alternatives based on mechanical devices are usually preferred to laser systems. In the present work, 3d laser forming of stainless steel sheets by high power diode laser is investigated. In particular, the set of scanning patterns to form domes from flat blanks by simple and easy-to-manage radial paths alone was found. Numerous 3d items were also processed by diode laser to manufacture a number of complex shapes with high flexibility and limited efforts to modify the auxiliary forming equipment. Based on the experimental results and analytical data, the high power diode laser was found able to form arbitrary 3d shapes through the implementation of tailored laser scanning patterns and appropriate settings of the operational parameters

On the canonical foliation of an indefinite locally conformal Kähler manifold with a parallel Lee form

We study the semi-Riemannian geometry of the foliation $mathcal F$ of an indefinite locally conformal Kähler (l.c.K.) manifold $M$, given by the Pfaffian equation $omega = 0$, provided that $nabla omega = 0$ and $c = | omega | neq 0$ ($omega$ is the Lee form of $M$). If $M$ is conformally flat then every leaf of $mathcal F$ is shown to be a totally geodesic semi-Riemannian hypersurface in $M$, and a semi-Riemannian space form of sectional curvature $c/4$, carrying an indefinite c-Sasakian structure (in the sense of T. Takahasi). As a corollary of the result together with a semi-Riemannian version of the de Rham decomposition theorem (due to H. Wu) any geodesically complete, conformally flat, indefinite Vaisman manifold of index $2s$, 0 < s < n, is locally biholomorphically homothetic to an indefinite complex Hopf manifold ${mathbb C}H^n_s (lambda )$, 0 < lambda < 1, equipped with the indefinite Boothby metric $g_{s, n}$

On Schwarzschild's interior solution and perfect fluid star model

We solve the boundary value problem for Einstein’s gravitational field equations in the presence of matter in the form of an incompressible perfect fluid of density rho and pressure field p(r) located in a ball r leq r_0. We find a 1-parameter family of time-independent and radially symmetric solutions {(g_a, rho_a, p_a) : -2m &lt; a &lt; 9 kappa M/(4c^2) identifies the “physical” (i.e., such that p_a(r) geq 0 and p_a(r) is bounded in 0 leq r leq r_0) solutions {p_a : a in mathcal{U}_0} for some neighbourhood mathcal{U}_0 subset (-2m , +infty) of a = 0. For every star model {g_a : a_0 &lt; a &lt; a_1}, we compute the volume V(a) of the region r leq r_0 in terms of abelian integrals of the first, second, and third kind in Legendre form

Beltrami equations on Rossi spheres

Beltrami equation $overline{L}_t (g) = mu( cdot , t) L_t (g)$ on $S^3$ (where $L_t$, $t in (-1,1)$, are the Rossi operators i.e., $L_t$ spans the globally nonembeddable CR structure $mathcal{H} (t)$ on $S^3$ discovered by H. Rossi) are derived such that to describe quasiconformal mappings $f: S^3 to N subset mathbb{C}^2$ from the Rossi sphere $(S^3 , mathcal{H} (t))$. Using the Greiner-Kohn-Stein solution to the Lewy equation and the Bargmann representations of the Heisenberg group, we solve the Beltrami equations for Sobolev-type solutions $g_t$ such that $g_t - v in W^{1,2}_F (S^3, theta)$ with $v in CR^infty (S^3 , mathcal{H} (0))$

Time resolved imaging studies of the plasma produced by laser ablation of silicon in O2/Ar atmosphere

The dynamics of the expansion plasma produced by excimer laser ablation of a silicon target into oxygen and mixed O2/Ar atmosphere were studied by means of time-resolved imaging of the expanding plume. Experiments were performed in pure oxygen, ranging between 0.13 and 13.33 Pa, and at different O2/Ar ratios at a fixed total pressure of 13.33 Pa. The occurrence of a shock wave (SW) generated by the supersonic expansion of the plasma was observed at high pressure values. The presence of the SW had a strong influence on the structure of SiOx thin films. In fact, silicon dioxide thin films were always obtained in presence of the SW, irrespective of the oxygen content in the gaseous mixture. On the contrary, suboxide thin films were obtained when the expansion occurred at lower pressure values (no SW presence). The temperature rise following the developing of the SW, is supposed to enhance the oxygen molecules dissociation by increasing the efficiency of the silicon oxidation reaction

Pilot-Symbols Aided Carrier Phase Recovery for 100G PM-QPSK Digital Coherent Receivers

A feed-forward pilot-symbols aided carrier phase recovery scheme is described. The approach relies on pilot symbols that are time-division multiplexed with the transmitted data. The main advantage of the proposed solution is that of avoiding the phase ambiguity problem after a cycle slip. For homogeneous PM-QPSK transmission the proposed scheme outperforms blind carrier recovery with differential decoding

On the activity loss of hydrolases in organic solvents: II. a mechanistic study of subtilisin Carlsberg

BACKGROUND: Enzymes have been extensively used in organic solvents to catalyze a variety of transformations of biological and industrial significance. It has been generally accepted that in dry aprotic organic solvents, enzymes are kinetically trapped in their conformation due to the high-energy barrier needed for them to unfold, suggesting that in such media they should remain catalytically active for long periods. However, recent studies on a variety of enzymes demonstrate that their initial high activity is severely reduced after exposure to organic solvents for several hours. It was speculated that this could be due to structural perturbations, changes of the enzyme's pH memory, enzyme aggregation, or dehydration due to water removal by the solvents. Herein, we systematically study the possible causes for this undesirable activity loss in 1,4-dioxane. RESULTS: As model enzyme, we employed the protease subtilisin Carlsberg, prepared by lyophilization and colyophilization with the additive methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MβCD). Our results exclude a mechanism involving a change in ionization state of the enzyme, since the enzyme activity shows a similar pH dependence before and after incubation for 5 days in 1,4-dioxane. No apparent secondary or tertiary structural perturbations resulting from prolonged exposure in this solvent were detected. Furthermore, active site titration revealed that the number of active sites remained constant during incubation. Additionally, the hydration level of the enzyme does not seem to affect its stability. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy studies revealed no substantial increase in the rotational freedom of a paramagnetic nitroxide inhibitor bound to the active site (a spin-label) during incubation in neat 1,4-dioxane, when the water activity was kept constant using BaBr(2 )hydrated salts. Incubation was also accompanied by a substantial decrease in V(max)/K(M). CONCLUSION: These results exclude some of the most obvious causes for the observed low enzyme storage stability in 1,4-dioxane, mainly structural, dynamics and ionization state changes. The most likely explanation is possible rearrangement of water molecules within the enzyme that could affect its dielectric environment. However, other mechanisms, such as small distortions around the active site or rearrangement of counter ions, cannot be excluded at this time

Role of endogenous opioids on nociceptive threshold in patients with exercise-induced myocardial ischemia.

To evaluate whether endogenous opioids (EO) play a role in the perception of anginal pain, a randomized double blind clinical trial, using naloxone (N) and placebo (P) and measuring beta-endorphin (beta-ep) plasma levels, was performed. We studied 10 patients with angiographically assessed coronary artery disease (CAD) and stable exercise-induced myocardial ischemia (established by 2 preliminary bicycle ergometric tests) of whom 5 symptomatic (SYM) and 5 asymptomatic (ASYM) and 5 subjects without CAD as a control group (CON). On a third exercise test the beta-ep plasma level (fmol/ml) was measured at rest (SYM 5.4 +/- 2.3 vs ASYM 7.2 +/- 2.3 vs CON 6.8 +/- 2.6, NS), at peak exercise (SYM 4.4 +/- 1.8 vs ASYM 8.0 +/- 4.2 and vs CON 6.2 +/- 2.7, NS) and during recovery (SYM 7.5 +/- 4.2 vs ASYM 7.2 +/- 3.0 vs CON 6.7 +/- 2.5, NS). On 2 subsequent tests patients received N (0.2 mg/kg) or P intravenously and chest pain was evaluated on an analogue scale (score from 1 to 10). After N compared to P we observed: an increased perception of chest pain in SYM (6.8 +/- 1.5 vs 4.2 +/- 1.0; p less than 0.01) without significant changes of the ischemic threshold (total work, heart rate-blood pressure product, ST segment changes, 2D-echocardiographic wall motion abnormalities); no modifications in ASYM and CON.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS