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Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) represents the most recent modality in retinal imaging for non-invasive and depth-selective visualization of blood flow in retinal vessels. With regard to quantitative OCTA measurements for early detection of subclinical alterations, it is of great interest, which intra- and extra-ocular factors affect the results of OCTA measurements. Here, we performed OCTA imaging of the central retina in 65 eyes of 65 young healthy female and male participants and evaluated individual physical fitness levels by standard lactate diagnostic using an incremental maximal performance running test. The main finding was that OCTA measurements of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area were associated with physical fitness. Using multivariate regression analysis, we found that running speed at the individual lactate threshold, a marker strongly associated with aerobic performance capacity, significantly contributed to differences in FAZ area (β = 0.111, p = 0.032). The data indicates that smaller FAZ areas are likely observed in individuals with higher aerobic exercise capacity. Our findings are also of interest with respect to the potential use of retinal OCTA imaging to detect exercise-induced microvascular adaptations in future studies.

Open abdominal wounds with intestinal fistula formation are challenging complications in abdominal surgery. Special fistula devices (SFD) used along with negative pressure wound therapy with instillation and dwell time (NPWTi-d), may improve management of these wounds, increasing NPWT dressing durability and helping decrease dressing leakage.A 57-year-old, obese (body mass index: 55 kg/m²) female with a long history of Crohn disease and multiple intestinal resections, presented with an incarcerated parastomal hernia, abscess formation, and septic shock. After the hernia was repositioned and the infection controlled, a bovine mesh-augmented hernia repair was performed. Skin rotation flaps for wound closure became necrotic and led to an infected, open abdominal wound measuring about 60 cm x 50 cm with formation of 2 additional small bowel fistulas alongside the ostomy and a massive bacterial and fungal superinfection. After surgical debridement, NPWTi-d with 10 minutes soaking time with isotonic saline solution followed by 2 to 4 hours negative pressure therapy with -125 mm Hg combined with SFDs was initiated; once the infection was controlled approximately 3 weeks after initiation, treatment was switched to traditional NPWT with -125 mm Hg continuous negative pressure and SFDs. Dressings were changed on demand. During the whole treatment period, local infection was brought under control, the wound was clean, and thick granulation tissue formed (even on exposed parts of the mesh). The dressing stability provided a high level of patient comfort.By providing expedient wound cleaning, decontamination, local infection control, and patient comfort, as well as helping generate granulation tissue even on biological mesh, NPWTi-d used with SFDs represents a viable tool for the management of challenging fistulizing abdominal wounds.

High-contrast imaging enabled by a starshade in formation flight with a space telescope can provide a near-term pathway to search for and characterize temperate and small planets of nearby stars. NASA's Starshade Technology Development Activity to TRL5 (S5) is rapidly maturing the required technologies to the point at which starshades could be integrated into potential future missions. Here we reappraise the noise budget of starshade-enabled exoplanet imaging to incorporate the experimentally demonstrated optical performance of the starshade and its optical edge. Our analyses of stray light sources - including the leakage through micrometeoroid damage and the reflection of bright celestial bodies - indicate that sunlight scattered by the optical edge (i.e., the solar glint) is by far the dominant stray light. With telescope and observation parameters that approximately correspond to Starshade Rendezvous with Roman and HabEx, we find that the dominating noise source would be exozodiacal light for characterizing a temperate and Earth-sized planet around Sun-like and earlier stars and the solar glint for later-type stars. Further reducing the brightness of solar glint by a factor of 10 with a coating would prevent it from becoming the dominant noise for both Roman and HabEx. With an instrument contrast of 1E-10, the residual starlight is not a dominant noise; and increasing the contrast level by a factor 10 would not lead to any appreciable change in the expected science performance. If unbiased calibration of the background to the photon-noise limit can be achieved, Starshade Rendezvous with Roman could provide nearly photon-limited spectroscopy of temperate and Earth-sized planets of F, G, and K stars, Accepted for publication in the Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS)

The perimeter of a sunflower-like starshade has hundreds of meters of sharp edges that are directly exposed to sunlight. The sunlight diffracts and reflects from the edge resulting in a dual-lobed glint pattern that can be brighter than an exoplanet. We present estimates of the glint brightness distribution for the Starshade Rendezvous Mission and the HabEx Starshade Mission concepts based on measurements of flight-like, environmentally tested, uncoated metallic edges using custom-built scatterometers. A companion paper addresses the performance for edges coated with a thin anti-reflection coating.

Materials characterization 176(111132), 1-14 (2021). doi:10.1016/j.matchar.2021.111132, The interplay of microstructural mechanisms controlling the deformation-induced martensitic phase transformationsand the texture formation in all phases of a metastable austenitic Cr-Mn-Ni steel was investigatedusing in situ synchrotron radiation diffraction under uniaxial compression and ex situ electron backscatterdiffraction. With increasing deformation, the originally fully austenitic steel transformed to a mixture ofγ-austenite, ε-martensite and α´-martensite. The face centred cubic γ-austenite formed a fibre texture {110} withrespect to the deformation direction. The texture degree increased progressively with increasing deformation.The hexagonal close packed ε-martensite was preferentially oriented with the reciprocal direction {1013} alongthe load axis. The texture degree was nearly independent of the deformation extent. The body centredα´-martensite formed a mixed texture {100} & {111} along the deformation direction. The texture component{100} was very strong in the early stages of the α´-martensite formation, but it deteriorated with increasingdeformation. The texture evolution is explained by the competition between the transformation texture, severaldeformation-induced mechanisms, which are highly sensitive to the local orientation of the grains with respect tothe acting force, like the stacking fault formation and martensitic transformation in austenite, and the variantselection in both martensites and the twinning of α´-martensite., Published by Science Direct, New York, NY

Additional file 3. Participant Information Sheet.

Additional file 2: Supplementary Table 1. Crisis assessment services. Supplementary Table 2. Crisis telephone services. Supplementary Table 3. Crisis houses. Supplementary Table 4. Crisis caf��s. Supplementary Table 5. Acute day units (ADU). Supplementary Table 6. Police and/or ambulance street triage. Supplementary Table 7. Psychiatric decision units (PDU). Supplementary Table 8. Triage wards.

Der hohe Anteil des Verkehrs an den Gesamtemissionen, dem damit verbundenen Beitrag zum Klimawandel sowie der extensive Flächenverbrauch des Individualverkehrs verstärken die politischen Forderungen nach einer Verkehrswende. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, mithilfe ausführlich methodisch dargestellter Verfahren des maschinellen Lernens ein optimales Klassifikationsmodell zu entwickeln. Dieses ermöglicht die Evaluation und Prognose der Verkehrsmittelwahl und damit den Modal Split auf Basis verschiedener Einflussfaktoren insbesondere im Zeitverlauf zwischen 2013 und 2018. Bisherige Untersuchungen konzentrieren sich auf außereuropäische Gebiete und einmalige Erhebungsdurchläufe. Für die Analyse wird auf die von der Technischen Universität Dresden durchgeführte Mobilitätsbefragung 'SrV - Mobilität in Städten' für die 25 großen deutschen Vergleichsstädte der Jahre 2013 und 2018 zurückgegriffen. Nach der Datenaufbereitung werden unter Verwendung deskriptiver Methoden und Zusammenhangsmaße die einzelnen Merkmalsvariablen auf die Eignung in der Modellbildung beurteilt, um möglichst aussagekräftige Modellergebnisse zu erhalten. Basierend auf CART-Entscheidungsbäumen werden Modelle mit dem Bagging-, Random Forest- und dem Boosting-Algorithmus für beide Jahre erstellt. Zur Einordnung der Effektivität der Modelle werden ebenfalls Modelle für Künstliche Neuronale Netzwerke und der Multinomialen Logistischen Regression für beide Jahre untersucht. Auf Basis von Random Forest, das insgesamt in der Untersuchung mit einer Gesamttrefferquote von 82,9 % (AUC-Wert 0,9458) für 2013 und 79,8 % (AUC-Wert 0,9377) für 2018 die besten Gütemaße erzielt, werden die Einflussfaktoren mittels eines Variable Importance Plots und des Partial Dependence Plots beschrieben und ausgewertet. Insbesondere wird festgestellt, dass Länge und Dauer des Weges und die Verfügbarkeit einer Dauerkarte für den öffentlichen Verkehr den größten Einfluss auf die Verkehrsmittelwahl haben. Im Zeitverlauf fällt auf, dass insbesondere MIV-Wege durch Rad- und ÖV-Fahrten substituiert werden, während bei den Fußwegen nur geringe Veränderungen auffallen. Die geschätzten Klassifikationsmodelle erreichen überwiegend herausragende Vorhersagen der Verkehrsmittelwahl, wobei diese Prognosen für das Fahrrad sich am schwierigsten gestalten.:Inhaltsverzeichnis Abbildungsverzeichnis VII Tabellenverzeichnis XI Abkürzungsverzeichnis XIII Symbolverzeichnis XV 1 Einleitung 1 2 Literaturübersicht 3 3 Methodik 5 3.1 Entscheidungsbäume 5 3.1.1 Notation der Baumstruktur 5 3.1.2 Regressionsbäume 6 3.1.3 Klassifikationsbäume 6 3.1.4 Stutzen eines Baumes und Abbruchkriterien 9 3.1.5 Bewertung des Verfahrens 10 3.2 Bagging 11 3.2.1 Idee 11 3.2.2 Bootstrap 12 3.2.3 Subsampling 12 3.2.4 Prinzip des Bagging-Algorithmus 12 3.2.5 Bewertung des Verfahrens und Anpassung 15 3.3 Random Forest 16 3.3.1 Idee 16 3.3.2 Prinzip des Random-Forest-Algorithmus 17 3.3.3 Bewertung des Verfahrens und Anpassung 20 3.3.4 Bewertung der Einflussfaktoren 21 3.4 Boosting 23 3.4.1 Idee 23 3.4.2 Prinzip des AdaBoost-Verfahrens 24 3.4.3 Evaluation 25 3.5 Künstliches Neuronales Netzwerk 25 3.5.1 Idee 26 3.5.2 Prinzip des Künstlichen Neuronalen Netzwerks 26 3.5.3 Evaluation und Anpassungsparameter 29 3.6 Multinomiale Logistische Regression 30 3.7 Gütemaße 30 3.7.1 Trefferquote 30 3.7.2 ROC-Kurve und AUC 30 4 Daten 33 4.1 Datensatz 33 4.2 Datenaufbereitung 34 4.2.1 Auflösung der Multilevelstruktur 34 4.2.2 Daten in der Haushaltsebene 35 4.2.3 Daten in der Personenebene 36 4.2.4 Daten in der Wegeebene 37 4.2.5 Ausreißer und fehlende Werte 37 5 Deskriptive Analyse 39 5.1 Auswertung der kategorialen abhängigen Variablen 39 5.2 Auswertung der kardinalen Variablen 40 5.2.1 Streu- und Lagemaße 40 5.2.2 Korrelation zwischen den kardinalen Variablen 42 5.3 Auswertung der ordinalen und nominalen Variablen 43 5.3.1 Relative Häufigkeiten 43 5.3.2 Beurteilung der ordinalen und nominalen Variablen mithilfe des korrigierten Kontingenzkoeffizienten nach Pearson 46 5.4 Analyse statistischer Unterschiede der beiden untersuchten Stichproben 47 6 Ergebnisse der Modelle 49 6.1 Baumbasierte Klassifikationsverfahren 49 6.1.1 CART-Entscheidungsbäume 49 6.1.2 Bagging 52 6.1.3 Random Forest 53 6.1.4 Boosting 66 6.2 Künstliches Neuronales Netzwerk 69 6.3 Multinomiale Logistische Regression 71 7 Fazit 73 8 Kritische Würdigung und Ausblick 75 Literaturverzeichnis XIX Anhang XXV Danksagung LXI The high share of traffic in total emissions, the associated contribution to climate change and the extensive land consumption of individual traffic reinforce the political demands for a traffic turnaround. The aim of this thesis is to develop an optimal classification model with the help of detailed methodical presented methods of machine learning. This enables the evaluation and forcast of the choice of means of transport and thus the modal split on the basis of various influencing factors, particularly over the course of time between 2013 and 2018. Previous studies have focused on non-European areas and one-off surveys. For the analysis, the mobility survey 'SrV-Mobilität in Städten' carried out by the Technische Universität Dresden for the 25 large German cities in 2013 and 2018 is used. After the data processing, the individual feature variables are assessed for their suitability in the modeling process using descriptive methods and correlation measures in order to obtain the most meaningful model results possible. Based on CART Decision Trees, models with the Bagging, Random Forest and Boosting algorithms are created for both years. To classify the effectiveness of the models, models for Artificial Neural Networks and Multinomial Logistic Regression are also examined for both years. Based on Random Forest, which achieved the best quality measures in the study with an overall accuracy of 82.9 % (AUC value 0.9458) for 2013 and 79.8 % (AUC value 0.9377) for 2018, the influencing factors are described and evaluated using a Variable Importance Plot and the Partial Dependence Plot. In particular, it is found that the length and duration of the journey and the availability of a season ticket for public transport have the greatest influence on the choice of the mode of transport. Over the course of time, it is noticeable that in particular motorized traffic routes are being replaced by cycling and public transport, while only minor changes are noticeable in the case of walking. Most of the estimated classification models achieve excellent predictions in the choice of mode of transport, although these predictions are the most difficult for the bicycle.:Inhaltsverzeichnis Abbildungsverzeichnis VII Tabellenverzeichnis XI Abkürzungsverzeichnis XIII Symbolverzeichnis XV 1 Einleitung 1 2 Literaturübersicht 3 3 Methodik 5 3.1 Entscheidungsbäume 5 3.1.1 Notation der Baumstruktur 5 3.1.2 Regressionsbäume 6 3.1.3 Klassifikationsbäume 6 3.1.4 Stutzen eines Baumes und Abbruchkriterien 9 3.1.5 Bewertung des Verfahrens 10 3.2 Bagging 11 3.2.1 Idee 11 3.2.2 Bootstrap 12 3.2.3 Subsampling 12 3.2.4 Prinzip des Bagging-Algorithmus 12 3.2.5 Bewertung des Verfahrens und Anpassung 15 3.3 Random Forest 16 3.3.1 Idee 16 3.3.2 Prinzip des Random-Forest-Algorithmus 17 3.3.3 Bewertung des Verfahrens und Anpassung 20 3.3.4 Bewertung der Einflussfaktoren 21 3.4 Boosting 23 3.4.1 Idee 23 3.4.2 Prinzip des AdaBoost-Verfahrens 24 3.4.3 Evaluation 25 3.5 Künstliches Neuronales Netzwerk 25 3.5.1 Idee 26 3.5.2 Prinzip des Künstlichen Neuronalen Netzwerks 26 3.5.3 Evaluation und Anpassungsparameter 29 3.6 Multinomiale Logistische Regression 30 3.7 Gütemaße 30 3.7.1 Trefferquote 30 3.7.2 ROC-Kurve und AUC 30 4 Daten 33 4.1 Datensatz 33 4.2 Datenaufbereitung 34 4.2.1 Auflösung der Multilevelstruktur 34 4.2.2 Daten in der Haushaltsebene 35 4.2.3 Daten in der Personenebene 36 4.2.4 Daten in der Wegeebene 37 4.2.5 Ausreißer und fehlende Werte 37 5 Deskriptive Analyse 39 5.1 Auswertung der kategorialen abhängigen Variablen 39 5.2 Auswertung der kardinalen Variablen 40 5.2.1 Streu- und Lagemaße 40 5.2.2 Korrelation zwischen den kardinalen Variablen 42 5.3 Auswertung der ordinalen und nominalen Variablen 43 5.3.1 Relative Häufigkeiten 43 5.3.2 Beurteilung der ordinalen und nominalen Variablen mithilfe des korrigierten Kontingenzkoeffizienten nach Pearson 46 5.4 Analyse statistischer Unterschiede der beiden untersuchten Stichproben 47 6 Ergebnisse der Modelle 49 6.1 Baumbasierte Klassifikationsverfahren 49 6.1.1 CART-Entscheidungsbäume 49 6.1.2 Bagging 52 6.1.3 Random Forest 53 6.1.4 Boosting 66 6.2 Künstliches Neuronales Netzwerk 69 6.3 Multinomiale Logistische Regression 71 7 Fazit 73 8 Kritische Würdigung und Ausblick 75 Literaturverzeichnis XIX Anhang XXV Danksagung LXI

Additional file 1. NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit 2019 Crisis Care Survey.

A starshade is a large flower-shaped screen designed to enable the direct imaging of exoplanets with a space telescope. The starshade perimeter is composed of sharp, precisely shaped edges to minimize the glint of sunlight into the telescope. Past work has focused on bare edges to minimize the terminal radius. This paper describes the broadband, wide-angle performance of edges coated with a thin multi-layer anti-reflection coating. This coating uses a combination of interference and absorption to reduce the surface reflectivity and to avoid the negative effects associated with a large cross-sectional area. A custom scattered light testbed has been developed to quantify the amount of light scattered from sample edges and to validate Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) models of the optical scatter. We show that optical edge samples with this coating significantly reduce the solar glint pattern compared to similar uncoated optical edges.

Vortex Fiber Nulling (VFN) is an interferometric method for suppressing starlight to detect and spectroscopically characterize exoplanets. It relies on a vortex phase mask and single-mode fiber to reject starlight while simultaneously coupling up to 20% of the planet light at separations of l 1λ/D, thereby enabling spectroscopic characterization of a large population of RV and transit-detected planets, among others, that are inaccessible to conventional coronagraphs. VFN has been demonstrated in the lab at visible wavelengths and here we present the latest results of these experiments. This includes polychromatic nulls of 5 10−4 in 10% bandwidth light centered around 790 nm. An upgraded testbed has been designed and is being built in the lab now; we also present a status update on that work here. Finally, we present preliminary K-band (2 micron) fiber nulling results with the infrared mask that will be used on-sky as part of a VFN mode for the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer Instrument in 2021.

The National Academies’ Decadal Survey telescope studies have produced mission design concepts that plot pathways into the future to follow on from Hubble, Spitzer, JWST and NGRST. Considering the results of the LUVOIR and HabEx studies in particular, it is clear that segmented mirrors will eventually be needed to provide very large apertures in space and that this architecture presents both a scientific opportunity and an engineering challenge. Furthermore, while HabEx and LUVOIR cover a great deal of spectrum, both fall short of the mid-IR region where general astronomy and astrophysics can be undertaken that would be impossible from terrestrial observatories and where there also exist spectral features of interest in the search for life. A telescope with similar capabilities to Habex/LUVOIR but also capable of exoplanet work in spectral regions up to 5 μm would largely bridge the gap between those proposals and TPF-I (which would have operated from about 7 μm upwards), and is therefore worthy of study. The Active Telescope for Space Astronomy (ATSA) design study presents a possible architecture and is moderately sized (6 m) to enable the use of both starshade and coronagraph technologies. While the segment gaps of a segmented primary mirror present a challenge for coronagraphy, the architecture does allow direct wavefront control at each segment of that mirror, enabling a great degree of control at the primary source of contrast degradation. While active systems (for example, deformable mirrors on WFIRST CGI) are being incorporated into telescope designs today, a fully active mirror system needs further development for a future mission. With this concept in mind, and intending to build on the LUVOIR and HabEx studies, we discuss the elements of a cooled telescope design enabling both general astrophysics and exoplanet studies from the near UV through to the near-IR.

Interferometry can reach high resolution not only with separated apertures, but also across a single telescope aperture. Indeed, as shown by the Palomar Fiber Nuller (PFN), cross-aperture nulling interferometry can detect companions at much smaller angular offsets from stars than coronagraphy on the same telescope can reach. In particular, the PFN was able to detect the faint secondary companion of the spectroscopic binary η Peg at roughly a third of the telescope’s diffraction beamwidth, with null depth accuracies of several 10-4, while also demonstrating the use of baseline rotation to detect companions, as originally envisioned for space-based nullers. Cross-aperture nulling observations can thus resolve separations well inside the central core of a telescope’s diffraction beam. Here we summarize the lessons learned from the PFN’s demonstration experiments, as well as from larger mid-infrared nullers, pointing toward potential performance improvements that could enable a variety of nulling-based exoplanet and dust observations interior to the coronagraphic regime on larger telescopes. Two interesting new developments are the grating nuller, in which both beam combination and phase shifting are provided by the same optical element, and the vortex fiber nuller, which straddles the coronagraphic and separated-subaperture interferometric regimes.

Objective: Physical activity may protect from ocular complications of diabetic retinopathy (DR). We investigated exercise training effects on the retinal microvasculature using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in type 1 diabetes (T1D). Methods: Twenty T1D patients without clinical signs of DR performed four weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Cycle ergometry was used for determination of physical fitness. OCTA of the macula and optic nerve head was applied to analyze effects on the foveal avascular zone area, vessel density, vessel diameter index and fractal dimension of the superficial plexus, deep plexus and radial peripapillary capillaries. Results: Large effects for improvement of physical fitness in terms of power output at the individual lactate threshold (+10.7 ± 11.3%, p < .001, ES = 0.95) and maximal power output (+8.2 ± 6.4%, p < .001, ES = 1.4) were detected. Participants presented a reduced increase in heart rate (HR) and lactate (LA) at given exercise intensities at follow-up (p ≤ .0176). Baseline OCTA revealed that HbA 1c levels were associated with vessel density in the radial peripapillary capillary and the parafoveal superficial region (p ≤ .014). None of the analyzed microvascular parameters changed in response to the intervention. Conclusion: Despite favorable effects of HIIT on physical fitness of T1D patients, disease-specific training protocols may be needed to overcome potentially impaired retinal microvascular adaptations.

Das thalamokortikale (TK) Netzwerk wurde wiederholt als eine zentrale neuronale Zielstruktur des durch Anästhetika vermittelten Bewusstseinsverlusts beschrieben. Mittels Patch-Clamp-Technik wurde die Wirkung des volatilen Anästhetikums Sevofluran (Sevo) auf TK-Schaltneurone des ventrobasalen Kernkomplexes im vitalen Mäusehirnschnittpräparat untersucht. Neben hemmenden Effekten auf die intrinsische Erregbarkeit zeigte sich dosisabhängig eine verminderte Aktivität von HCN-Kanälen. Zudem führte Sevo zu einer Verstärkung der phasischen und tonischen GABAA-Rezeptor vermittelten Inhibition, wobei letzterer Effekt auf einer Wirkung an der alpha4-Untereinheit zu beruhen scheint. Modulation of thalamic neuronal activity might be a crucial component of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness. In this thesis, the effect of the volatile anesthetic sevoflurane (sevo) on thalamocortical (TC) relay neurons in the ventrobasal complex was examined in acute murine brain slices using the patch-clamp technique. Sevo induced a dose-dependent impairment of HCN-channel function resulting in reduced excitability of TC-neurons. Furthermore, sevo increased phasic as well as tonic GABAA-receptor mediated inhibition. Changes of tonic inhibition appear to be mediated primarily by GABAA-receptors containing the alpha4-subunit.

The Habitable-Zone Exoplanet Observatory Mission (HabEx) is one of four large missions under review for the 2020 astrophysics decadal survey. Its goal is to directly image and spectroscopically characterize planetary systems in the habitable zone around nearby Sun-like stars. In addition, HabEx will perform a broad range of general astrophysics science enabled by a 115- to 1700-nm spectral range and 3 × 3 arcminute field of view. Critical to achieving its science goals, HabEx requires a large, ultrastable UV/optical/near-IR telescope. Using science-driven systems engineering, HabEx specified its baseline telescope to be a 4-m off-axis, unobscured three-mirror anastigmatic architecture with diffraction-limited performance at 400 nm, and wavefront stability on the order of a few tens of picometers. We summarize the systems-engineering approach to the baseline telescope assembly’s optomechanical design, including a discussion of how science requirements drive the telescope’s specifications. We also present structural thermal optical performance analysis showing that the baseline telescope structure meets its specified tolerances. We report new and updated analysis that is not in the HabEx final report.

This study investigated the effects of a four-week HIIT intervention on the cardiometabolic risk profile, liver fat content, insulin requirement, hypoglycaemia, physical fitness, and health-related quality of life in patients with T1DM. A supervised exercise intervention with baseline to follow-up comparison between overweight (BMI = 28.6 ± 2.1 kg/m

The ability to fabricate complex graded structures would be a significant step towards the manufacturing of material systems with properties tailored to individual applications. While powder metallurgy has had some success in this regard, it requires that the semi-finished products be exactly similar to the final component. However, it is significantly cheaper to produce simple, semi-finished products and then join them to form complex components with the desired graded structure through powder forging and simultaneous compaction. It is also essential that the graded structure of the semi-finished products is retained during the forming process. In this study, pre-sintered cylindrical semi-finished products consisting of identical homogeneous layers as well as graded components consisting of non-identical homogeneous layers were joined using powder forging at 1100 &deg, C. The microstructures and densities as well as the mechanical properties of the final components were investigated. It was observed that, upon compaction, the components formed solid structures, in which the reinforcing ZrO2 particles were completely integrated within the transformation-induced plasticity steel matrix. Finally, it was confirmed that the graded structure of the semi-finished products was retained in the final components.

The National Academies' 2020 Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics will provide a broad vision for future science in these disciplines and the Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) is one of four major observatory missions extensively studied in preparation for the survey. HabEx is a space telescope with a 4 m diameter primary mirror, carrying a complement of two general astrophysics camera/spectrographs with coverage from the far UV to the near infrared as well as two key instruments for exoplanet science. These exoplanet instruments consist of a high performance coronagraph (that places stringent demands on the overall observatory design and performance) and a remote (tens of megameters distant) formation flying occulter, consisting of a 52 m diameter starshade deployed from a second launch vehicle. This paper discusses the specific features of the observatory that permit high contrast coronagraphy at the 10−10 contrast level and the design considerations for the coronagraph itself. The starshade design is discussed in the context of the current technology development activities being undertaken by NASA to bring starshade readiness up to TRL5.

Background: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a well-established training modality to improve aerobic and anaerobic capacity. However, sex-specific aspects of different HIIT protocols are incompletely understood. This study aimed to compare two HIIT protocols with different recovery periods in moderately trained females and males and to investigate whether sex affects high-intensity running speed and speed decrement.Methods: Fifty moderately trained participants (30 females and 20 males) performed an exercise field test and were randomized by lactate threshold (LT) to one of two time- and workload-matched training groups. Participants performed a 4-week HIIT intervention with two exercise sessions/week: Group 1 (4 × 30,180 HIIT), 30-s all-out runs, 180-s active recovery and Group 2 (4 × 30,30 HIIT), 30-s all-out runs, 30-s active recovery. High-intensity runs were recorded, and speed per running bout, average speed per session, and speed decrement were determined. Blood lactate measurements were performed at baseline and follow-up at rest and immediately post-exercise.Results: Females and males differed in running speed at LT and maximal running speed determined during exercise field test (speed at LT, females: 10.65 ± 0.84 km h−1, males: 12.41 ± 0.98 km h−1, p < 0.0001; maximal speed, females: 14.55 ± 1.05 km h−1, males: 17.41 ± 0.68 km h−1, p < 0.0001). Estimated maximal oxygen uptake was ~52.5 ml kg−1 min−1 for females and 62.6 ml kg−1 min−1 for males (p < 0.0001). Analysis of HIIT protocols revealed an effect of sex on change in speed decrement (baseline vs. follow-up) in that females showed significant improvements only in the 4 × 30:30 HIIT group (p = 0.0038). Moreover, females performing the 4 × 30:30 protocol presented increased speed per bout and average speed per session at follow-up (all p ≤ 0.0204), while no effect was detected for females performing the 4 × 30:180 protocol. Peak blood lactate levels increased in all HIIT groups (all p < 0.05, baseline vs. follow-up), but males performing the 4 × 30:180 protocol showed no difference in lactate levels.Conclusions: If not matched for physical performance, females, but not males, performing a 4 × 30 HIIT protocol with shorter recovery periods (30 s) present increased average high-intensity running speed and reduced speed decrement compared to longer recovery periods (180 s). We conclude that female- and male-specific HIIT protocols should be established since anthropometric and physiological differences across sexes may affect training performance in real-world settings.

Background High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an important training component to improve aerobic and anaerobic exercise capacity. Higher HIIT workloads in general may generate additional effects on the improvement of exercise capacity, while missing adherence to more strenuous training regimes may affect training success. This study investigated if higher training workload generated by progressive HIIT (proHIIT) is superior to HIIT when used in an uncontrolled setting. Methods Thirty-four moderately trained females and males performed a 4-week training intervention with three exercise sessions per week. Participants were randomized into two HIIT groups using the individual lactate threshold at baseline: Group 1 (N.=17), HIIT, four runs at maximal speed (all-out) with 30 s active recovery (total: 48 runs), Group 2 (N.=17), proHIIT, 4 runs at maximal speed (all-out) with 30-second active recovery with one extra repetition every week (up to seven runs, for a total of 66 runs). An incremental field test protocol with standard blood lactate (LA) diagnostic and heart rate monitoring was used to access changes in exercise capacity. Results Overall, power output (running speed) at LA threshold (baseline LA+1.5 mmol/L) increased by +3.6% (P=0.004, effect size [ES] 0.38) after 4 weeks of HIIT. However, no significant between-group differences pre- vs post-intervention were detected. Conclusions Our data suggest that proHIIT does not provide additional improvement of running speed at individual lactate threshold over HIIT in an uncontrolled setting.

We report on an investigation using ultrafast laser inscription in borosilicate glasses to create in-volume phase optics. An application of an optic fashioned in this way is discussed in the context of broadband “scalar vortex coronagraphy” for astronomical imaging.

This chapter presents microstructure features, which are responsible for transformation-induced and twinning-induced plasticity in austenitic steels, gives an overview of relevant microstructure defects and shows how the microstructure defects and their interactions affect the deformation behaviour of these steels. Numerous examples illustrate the capability of scanning and transmission electron microscopy and X-ray and electron diffraction to detect, to identify and to quantify dislocations, stacking faults, twins and their clusters. In this context, the benefits of the in situ techniques of microstructure analysis are emphasized. As the presence and arrangement of stacking faults in austenite play a central role in the plasticity of the austenitic steels, a large part of this chapter is devoted to the characterization and description of their formation, widening and ordering. A novel method for determination of the stacking fault energy is presented that utilizes in situ X-ray or synchrotron diffraction under deformation. Finally, the dependence of the stacking fault energy on the chemical composition of the steel and on the deformation temperature is addressed, and considered as an effective tool for design of steels with desirable mechanical properties.

Striving towards deployment of SAE level 4+ vehicles in public traffic, researchers and developers face several challenges due to the targeted operation in an open environment. Due to the absence of a human supervisor, ensuring and validating safety while driving automatically is one of the key challenges. The arising complexity of the technical system must be handled during the entire research and development process. In this contribution, we outline the coherence of different safety-activities in the research project UNICARagil. We derive high-level safety requirements and present the central safety mechanisms applied to automated driving. Moreover, we outline the approaches of the project UNICARagil to address the validation challenge for automated vehicles. In order to demonstrate the overall approach towards a coherent safety argumentation, the connection of high-level safety requirements, safety mechanisms, as well as validation approaches is illustrated by means of a selected example scenario.

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In the context of increasing use of renewable energy sources, residential energy supply systems are changing as well. In this paper, a techno-economical model for the energy supply of a district including both electrical and thermal demand as well as renewable energy generation is developed. Furthermore, a high penetration of fuel cell electric vehicles is assumed and the hydrogen has to be provided by the energy supply system as well. The single components of the energy system are optimal sized, with respect to the total cost of ownership of the system, while the systems operation strategy is defined by a fixed ranking list. A reference case is defined by actual or near future techno-economical assumptions of the components. In the resulting optimal system, the most important components are a large PV system, a SOFC for heat and power generation and a PEM electrolyzer for hydrogen production. The produced hydrogen is used solely to refuel the fuel cell electric vehicles. On this basis, the influences of the components investment costs and the energy purchasing costs on the system configuration are investigated. It is shown that, the PV investment costs as well as the feed-in tariff can cause qualitative differences in the system configuration. Moreover, interactions between all conversion devices with respect to the optimal sizing are identified. Finally, it is shown that if the PV investment costs and the feed-in tariff decreases in the future, a reconversion of the self produced hydrogen in the SOFC becomes economically feasible, even for small natural gas purchasing costs.

Electrochemically induced nucleation (EiN) may be used to locally trigger the growth of Ba-fresnoite (Ba2TiSi2O8) in a glass melt leading to the growth of macroscopic dendrites. Applying a Czochralski-like procedure enables to grow such dendrites into macroscopic, glass-permeated single crystals, making them a viable alternative to true single crystals e.g. for piezoelectric applications. Here the defect structure of a dendrite resulting from EiN is analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and electron channelling contrast imaging (ECCI). No indications of crystal defects during growth are observed, illustrating a high degree of perfection in the crystal lattice resulting from dendritic growth after EiN.

The transformation from hexagonal close packed (hcp) to face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal structure upon gaseous nitriding of Co-Cr alloy with initial hcp crystal structure was investigated. During early stages of low-temperature nitriding at 400°C, new reflections on the low-angle side of the hcp-substrate reflections in X-ray diffraction patterns can be attributed to the formation of hcp phase with an expanded lattice on the surface. Prolonged nitriding treatment and nitriding at higher temperatures result in transformation of this expanded hcp into an expanded fcc. An anisotropic progress of mentioned transformation on differently-oriented hcp crystallites is observed. The transformation is slower in hcp orientations with the highest Schmid factor of the basal slip mode with respect to the nitriding direction. This is discussed in a view of developed macrostress in early stages of nitriding and its influence on plastic anisotropic deformation of hcp variants.