Acoustic emission localization in complex dissipative anisotropic structures using a one-channel reciprocal time reversal method

This paper presents an imaging method for the localization of the impact point in complex anisotropic structures with diffuse field conditions, using only one passive transducer. The proposed technique is based on the reciprocal time reversal approach (inverse filtering) applied to a number of waveforms stored into a database containing the experimental Green's function of the structure. Unlike most acoustic emission monitoring systems, the present method exploits the benefits of multiple scattering, mode conversion, and boundaries reflections to achieve the focusing of the source with high resolution. Compared to a standard time reversal approach, the optimal refocusing of the back propagated wave field at the impact point is accomplished through a "virtual" imaging process. The robustness of the inverse filtering technique is experimentally demonstrated on a dissipative stiffened composite panel and the source position can be retrieved with a high level of accuracy in any position of the structure. Its very simple configuration and minimal processing requirements make this method a valid alternative to the conventional imaging Structural Health Monitoring systems for the acoustic emission source localization.     

Laboratory measurement of sound absorption of occupied pews and standing audiences

Places of worship, as well as other performing spaces or large arenas are characterized by lightweight pews or seats, with moderate or negligible upholstery, leading to very low absorption coefficients. Consequently, the audience becomes the most important sound absorbing element, capable of playing a fundamental role in determining the acoustic characteristics of the space. Consequently accurate knowledge of its acoustic properties is required for any design purpose. Several studies have been carried out with reference to audiences seated on upholstered theatre seats but there is a considerable lack of information about occupied pews. The well known difficulty of taking into account edge effects during such measurements poses further questions as well as the effect of the density of occupation, and the seasonal variations due to clothing. This paper presents the results of a series of laboratory measurements aimed at clarifying such aspects. The measurements showed that the edge effects are negligible and that total absorption is better related to the number of persons present than to the area they cover. Nonetheless, as the density grows, or when the audience is seated, there is a reduction in absorption which may be explained by the reduction in exposed body surface. Lightweight clothes show a considerable reduction in sound absorption over all the frequency bands, suggesting that significant seasonal fluctuations in reverberation time should be expected in places where the audience is the only sound absorbing surface.     

Abatement of thermal noise due to internal damping in 2D oscillators with rapidly rotating test masses

Mechanical oscillators can be sensitive to very small forces. Low frequency effects are up-converted to higher frequency by rotating the oscillator. We show that for 2-dimensional oscillators rotating at frequency much higher than the signal the thermal noise force due to internal losses and competing with it is abated as the square root of the rotation frequency. We also show that rotation at frequency much higher than the natural one is possible if the oscillator has 2 degrees of freedom, and describe how this property applies also to torsion balances. In addition, in the 2D oscillator the signal is up-converted above resonance without being attenuated as in the 1D case, thus relaxing requirements on the read out. This work indicates that proof masses weakly coupled in 2D and rapidly rotating can play a major role in very small force physics experiments.     

Extreme value statistics distributions in spin glasses

We study the probability distribution of the pseudocritical temperature in a mean-field and in a short-range spin-glass model: the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick and the Edwards-Anderson (EA) model. In both cases, we put in evidence the underlying connection between the fluctuations of the pseudocritical point and the extreme value statistics of random variables. For the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model, both with Gaussian and binary couplings, the distribution of the pseudocritical temperature is found to be the Tracy-Widom distribution. For the EA model, the distribution is found to be the Gumbel distribution. Being the EA model representative of uniaxial magnetic materials with quenched disorder like Fe(0.5)Mn)0.5)TiO(3) or Eu(0.5)Ba(0.5)MnO(3), its pseudocritical point distribution should be a priori experimentally accessible.     

A general framework for the construction of piecewise-polynomial local interpolants of minimum degree

In this paper we consider the problem of designing piecewise polynomial local interpolants of non-uniformly spaced data. We provide a constructive approach that, for any assigned degree of polynomial reproduction, continuity order, and support width, allows for generating the fundamental spline functions of minimum degree having the desired properties. Finally, the proposed construction is extended to handle open sets of data and to the case of multiple knots.     

Collagen stability: insights from NMR spectroscopic and hybrid density functional computational investigations of the effect of electronegative substituents on prolyl ring conformations

Collagen-like peptides of the type (Pro-Pro-Gly)(10) fold into stable triple helices. An electron-withdrawing substituent at the H(gamma)(3) ring position of the second proline residue stabilizes these triple helices. The aim of this study was to reveal the structural and energetic origins of this effect. The approach was to obtain experimental NMR data on model systems and to use these results to validate computational chemical analyses of these systems. The most striking effects of an electron-withdrawing substituent are on the ring pucker of the substituted proline (Pro(i)) and on the trans/cis ratio of the Xaa(i-1)-Pro(i) peptide bond. NMR experiments demonstrated that N-acetylproline methyl ester (AcProOMe) exists in both the C(gamma)-endo and C(gamma)-exo conformations (with the endo conformation slightly preferred), N-acetyl-4(R)-fluoroproline methyl ester (Ac-4R-FlpOMe) exists almost exclusively in the C(gamma)-exo conformation, and N-acetyl-4(S)-fluoroproline methyl ester (Ac-4S-FlpOMe) exists almost exclusively in the C(gamma)-endo conformation. In dioxane, the K(trans/cis) values for AcProOMe, Ac-4R-FlpOMe, and Ac-4S-FlpOMe are 3.0, 4.0, and 1.2, respectively. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations with the (hybrid) B3LYP method were in good agreement with the experimental data. Computational analysis with the natural bond orbital (NBO) paradigm shows that the pucker preference of the substituted prolyl ring is due to the gauche effect. The backbone torsional angles, phi and psi, were shown to correlate with ring pucker, which in turn correlates with the known phi and psi angles in collagen-like peptides. The difference in K(trans/cis) between AcProOMe and Ac-4R-FlpOMe is due to an n-->pi interaction associated with the Bürg-Dunitz trajectory. The decrease in K(trans/cis) for Ac-4S-FlpOMe can be explained by destabilization of the trans isomer because of unfavorable electronic and steric interactions. Analysis of the results herein along with the structures of collagen-like peptides has led to a theory that links collagen stability to the interplay between the pyrrolidine ring pucker, phi and psi torsional angles, and peptide bond trans/cis ratio of substituted proline residues.     

Mononuclear heterocyclic rearrangement. Note I. Kinetic study of the rearrangement of the phenylhydrazone of 3-benzoyl-5-phenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazole into 2,5-diphenyl-4-benzoylamino-1,2,3-triazole

The rates of the mononuclear heterocyclic rearrangement of the phenylhydrazone of 3-benzoyl-5-phenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazole (1) into 2,5-diphenyl-4-benzoylamino-1,2,3-triazole (II) have heen measured in dioxane/water (50:50, v:v) in the range of pS⁺ 3.8–12.2 at various temperatures and the activation parameters determined. On the basis of the results obtained, we present evidence for the occurrence of two different types of reaction: the first, base-catalyzed; the second, pS⁺ -independent. In the base-catalyzed range the catalysis is of the general type.     

Optimization of high-order harmonic generation by adaptive control of a sub-10-fs pulse wave front

We present a method for the optimization of high-order harmonic generation based on wave-front correction of the driving laser beam. The technique exploits wave-front adaptive control by means of a deformable mirror, governed by an optimization procedure.     

Spectroscopic properties in the liquid phase: combining high-level ab initio calculations and classical molecular dynamics.

We present an integrated computational tool, rooted in density functional theory, the polarizable continuum model, and classical molecular dynamics employing spherical boundary conditions, to study the spectroscopic observables of molecules in solution. As a test case, a modified OPLS-AA force field has been developed and used to compute the UV and NMR spectra of acetone in aqueous solution. The results show that provided the classical force fields are carefully reparameterized and validated, the proposed approach is robust and effective, and can also be used by nonspecialists to provide a general and powerful complement to experimental techniques.