DBD plasma treatment of titanium in O2, N2 and air

Dielectric Barrier Discharge plasma treatment of a titanium metal foil in oxygen, nitrogen and air under atmospheric conditions is investigated employing X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). We investigated three different reference samples and compare the results with a large number of studies on the XPS analysis of titanium compounds containing oxygen and nitrogen. The plasma treatment in all three different process gases leads to the formation of titanium dioxide films, while rather small nitrogen fractions are found after nitrogen and air plasma treatments. This finding is explained basing on plasma chemistry insight from the literature

Mapping Net Form Net Blotch and Septoria Speckled Leaf Blotch Resistance Loci in Barley

Septoria speckled leaf blotch (SSLB), caused by Septoria passerinii Sacc., and net form net blotch (NB), caused by Pyrenophora teres f. teres Drechsler, are fungal diseases that decrease the yields of barley in the Upper Midwest. An effective way to manage these diseases is to plant resistant cultivars. To characterize the genetics of resistance to both pathogens, two advanced barley breeding lines, one resistant to NB (M120) and another resistant to SSLB (Sep2-72), were crossed, creating a population of 115 recombinant inbred lines. The two parents and the population were evaluated in three greenhouse seedling assays for each pathogen and for simple-sequence repeat and diversity arrays technology markers. Composite interval mapping revealed two major quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with NB on chromosome 6H, located in bins 2 and 6. The QTL located in bin 6 explained 19 to 48% of the phenotypic variation and the QTL located in bin 2 explained 25 to 44% of the phenotypic variation. A new locus for resistance to SSLB, Rsp4, was identified on chromosome 6H, located in bins 3 to 4. Mapping these genes in elite breeding germplasm will accelerate the development and utilization of marker-assisted selection to enhance resistance to these diseases. </jats:p

Oberflächen-Desoxidationsmechanismen von Edelstählen bei Vakuumlötprozessen

Zwei Edelstähle werden verglichen, zum einen 1.4301 (AISI 304), ein austenitischer Chrom-Nickel-Stahl, zum anderen 1.4762 (AISI 446), ein ferritischer Chrom-Stahl, der Aluminium enthält. 1.4301 ist leicht durch Vakuumlöten zu fügen, 1.4762 hingegen kaum, da sich während der Wärmebehandlung im Lötofen eine mehrere Mikrometer dicke Aluminiumoxidschicht bildet. Durch den Vergleich der Auswirkungen auf Ober-fläche und Volumen von Wärmebehandlungen bei Sauerstoffpartialdrücken zwischen 10-13 und 10-6 mbar können Rückschlüsse auf die ablaufenden Prozesse gezogen wer-den. Während 1.4301 in der beobachteten Spanne keine Abhängigkeit von Umgebungs- oder Sauerstoffpartialdruck aufweist, offenbart sich bei 1.4762 eine starke Abhängig-keit: Aluminiumoxid bildet sich nur bei Wärmebehandlungen im Hochvakuum, nicht im Ultrahochvakuum. Das Desorptionsverhalten beider Stähle wird untersucht und die Abhängigkeit vom Sauerstoffpartialdruck wird dargestellt. Darauf aufbauend wird ein Desoxidationsmechanismus vorgeschlagen

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived cardiorespiratory fitness in athlete patients

INTRODUCTION: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), as one of the most potent prognostic factors in medicine, is followed longitudinally to guide clinical management. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-related changes in lifestyle stand to influence CRF. OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of the pandemic on perceived CRF in athlete patients and evaluate how perceived CRF change was related to demographics, pre-pandemic measured CRF, and current physical activity (PA). DESIGN: Prospective cohort study, utilizing electronic survey. SETTING: Tertiary care sports cardiology clinical practice. PARTICIPANTS: Adult athlete patients without COVID-19 with pre-pandemic measured CRF using cardiopulmonary exercise testing. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceived change in CRF since pandemic onset; association between perceived CRF change and demographics, PA, health status, and pre-pandemic measured CRF assessed via analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: Among 62 participants (male: 71%, 50.1 +/- 12.1 years old), 40% (25/62) reported no change and 32% (20/62) reported an increase in perceived CRF since pandemic onset. Among the 27% (17/62) who reported a decrease in perceived CRF, in most (12/17), this was characterized as only mild. Demographics and pre-pandemic measured CRF did not differ across groups of perceived CRF change. Participants with a moderate or greater decrease in perceived CRF regarded their overall health (via Euro Quality of Life Visual Analogue Scale) as worse than other groups (ANOVA, p = .001). Although total PA was similar across groups, those who had improvement in perceived CRF reported higher levels of moderate intensity PA (ANOVA, p = .008). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of participants perceived that they had maintained or improved CRF over the pandemic. Findings from this study suggest that a reduction in perceived CRF from pre-pandemic values in athletic patients in clinical practice may not result from population-wide pandemic changes in lifestyle. Worse health status and lower levels of moderate intensity PA were associated with perceived reduction in CRF over the pandemic in athlete patients