Fabrication of 2×2 crosspoint switches using a sputtered SiO2 intermixing technique

We report the fabrication of a 2×2 crosspoint switch, which monolithically integrates passive waveguides and electroabsorption modulators on one chip, using the sputtered SiO₂ technique for quantum-well intermixing. The static performance of the modulators has been tested, and a modulation depth of 25 dB has been obtained at a wavelength of 1.55 μm for an applied bias of 2 V     

Thermally Sprayed Coatings as Effective Tool Surfaces in Sheet Metal Forming Applications

Two approaches to produce wear-resistant effective surfaces for deep drawing tools by thermal arc wire spraying of hard materials are presented. Arc wire spraying is a very economic coating technique due to a high deposition rate. The coated surface is very rough compared to that of conventional sheet metal forming tools. In the first approach, the coated surface is smoothed in a subsequent CNC-based incremental roller burnishing process. In this process, the surface asperities on the surface are flattened, and the roughness is significantly reduced. In the second approach, the hard material coatings are not sprayed directly on the tool but on a negative mould. Afterward, the rough “as-sprayed” side of the coating is backfilled with a polymer. The bonded hard metal shell is removed from the negative mould and acts as the surface of the hybrid sheet metal forming tool. Sheet metal forming experiments using tools based on these two approaches demonstrate that they are suitable to form high-strength steels. Owing to a conventional body of steel or cast iron, the first approach is suitable for large batch sizes. The application of the second approach lies within the range of small up to medium batch size productions.     

Bücherschau

Ohne Zusammenfassung VDI     

Examination of inmates' ability to malinger on the MMPI-2.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the performance of federal minimum security inmates given experimental instructions to malinger psychopathology on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2; J. N. Butcher et al, 1989) and to compare the results from these experimental malingerers to those from samples of inmates and psychiatric inpatients given the test under standard instructions. Results indicated that the MMPI-2 validity scales can differentiate with a high degree of accuracy inmates instructed to malinger mental illness from actual psychiatric patients. This study is one of few applications of the new BackSide F (Fb) scale. It was found to be less accurate in classifying experimental malingerers than the Infrequency (F) scale. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Optical sampling using nondegenerate four-wave mixing in asemiconductor laser amplifier

Picosecond optical sampling using nondegenerate four-wave mixing in a semiconductor laser amplifier (SLA) is demonstrated for the first time. High-peak-power pulses and electrical gating of the SLA produce an optical sampling signal with a high signal-to-noise ratio     

Effect of the impact conditions on the mechanical properties of injection‐molded parts

This work focused on the study of the impact event on molded parts in the framework of automotive components. The influence of the impact conditions and processing parameters on the mechanical behavior of talc‐filled polypropylene specimens was analyzed. The specimens were lateral‐gate discs produced by injection molding, and the mechanical characterization was performed through instrumented falling weight impact tests concomitantly assisted with high‐speed videography. Results analyzed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method have shown that from the considered parameters, only the dart diameter and test temperature have significant influence on the falling weight impact properties. Higher dart diameter leads to higher peak force and peak energy results. Conversely, higher levels of test temperatures lead to lower values of peak force and peak energy. By means of high‐speed videography, a more brittle fracture was observed for experiments with higher levels of test velocity and dart diameter and lower levels of test temperature. The injection‐molding process conditions assessed in this study have an influence on the impact response of moldings, mainly on the deformation capabilities of the moldings. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 52:1845–1853, 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Epigenetic Clocks Are Not Accelerated in COVID-19 Patients

Age is a major risk factor for severe outcome of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In this study, we followed the hypothesis that particularly patients with accelerated epigenetic age are affected by severe outcomes of COVID-19. We investigated various DNA methylation datasets of blood samples with epigenetic aging signatures and performed targeted bisulfite amplicon sequencing. Overall, epigenetic clocks closely correlated with the chronological age of patients, either with or without acute respiratory distress syndrome. Furthermore, lymphocytes did not reveal significantly accelerated telomere attrition. Thus, these biomarkers cannot reliably predict higher risk for severe COVID-19 infection in elderly patients.