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Abstract: Infectious diseases have always been a concern for human health, responsible for numerous pandemics throughout history. Even with the advancement of medicine, new infectious diseases have been discovered over the years, requiring constant effort in medical research to avoid future problems. Like the emergence of new diseases, the increase in resistance of certain bacterial strains also becomes a concern, carried out through the misuse of antibiotics, generating the adaptation of certain microorganisms. Worldwide, the resistance developed by several bacterial strains is growing exponentially, creating awareness and developing novel strategies to control their evolution a mandatory research topic. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an example of a bacterial strain that causes serious and mortal infections. The fact is that this bacterial strain started to develop resistance against commonly used antibiotics, first to penicillin and against methicillin. Thus, the treatment against infections caused by MRSA is limited and difficult due to its capacity to develop defense mechanisms against the antibiotic's action. Given the urgency to find new alternatives, the scientific community has been developing interesting research regarding the exploitation of natural resources to discover bioactive molecules that are able to inhibit/kill MRSA. In this sense, several natural matrices, namely plants, have shown great potential against MRSA, due to the presence of phenolic compounds, molecules with high antimicrobial capacity due to their chemical structure and arrangement.

First of all, this article aimed to evidence the role of a modified printer developed for continuous carbon fibre reinforced PolyAmide (cCF/PA6-I) together with the use of a fully open slicing step on the printing quality and the longitudinal/transverse tensile and in-plane shear properties. A comprehensive assessment of the microstructure and properties with a similar material (cCF/PA6-I), but produced with a commercial printer (i.e., Markforged® MarkTwo) has been achieved. Our customised printer and the open slicer used have made possible to better control the print conditions (i.e., layer height and distance between filaments), to reduce the porosity from more than 10% to about 2% and improve the mechanical properties. Moreover, the understanding of the behaviour of these 3D printed composites with wide-ranging external temperatures is mandatory for future use in a severe environment and/or development of new thermally active 4D printed composites. The 3D printed cCF/PA6-I composites have been then thermomechanically characterised along different printing directions (0, 90 and ± 45°) from −55 to +100 °C. Unlike the longitudinal properties that hardly change with temperature, the transverse and in-plane shear stiffness and strength of these 3D printed composites were particularly sensitive to temperature variations, with decreases of 25–30% and 30–55%, respectively. This was due to the high sensitivity of the polymer matrix, the fibre/matrix and interfilament interfaces when the composites were loaded along those directions, because damages induced by internal thermal stresses. Fractography has also been carried out to reveal damage mechanisms. The authors would like to thank IRT Saint Exupery, the European Space Agency (ESA contract 4000133620) for financial support. Antoine le Duigou wish also to thank the French Ambassady in Japan and the PHC SAKURA program.

Background Conflicting results between bacterial mutagenicity tests (the Ames test) and mammalian carcinogenicity tests might be due to species differences in metabolism, genome structure, and DNA repair systems. Mutagenicity assays using human cells are thought to be an advantage as follow-up studies for positive results in Ames tests. In this collaborative study, a thymidine kinase gene mutation study (TK6 assay) using human lymphoblastoid TK6 cells, established in OECD TG490, was used to examine 10 chemicals that have conflicting results in mutagenicity studies (a positive Ames test and a negative result in rodent carcinogenicity studies). Results Two of 10 test substances were negative in the overall judgment (20% effective as a follow-up test). Three of these eight positive substances were negative after the short-term treatment and positive after the 24 h treatment, despite identical treatment conditions without S9. A toxicoproteomic analysis of TK6 cells treated with 4-nitroanthranilic acid was thus used to aid the interpretation of the test results. This analysis using differentially expressed proteins after the 24 h treatment indicated that in vitro specific oxidative stress is involved in false positive response in the TK6 assay. Conclusions The usefulness of the TK6 assay, by current methods that have not been combined with new technologies such as proteomics, was found to be limited as a follow-up test, although it still may help to reduce some false positive results (20%) in Ames tests. Thus, the combination analysis with toxicoproteomics may be useful for interpreting false positive results raised by 24 h specific reactions in the assay, resulting in the more reduction (> 20%) of false positives in Ames test.

Summary The larvae of the genus Baylisascaris can cause larva migrans in mammals and birds. This study investigated the larval migration of Baylisascaris potosis, the roundworm of kinkajou (Potos flavus), in chickens and the associated clinical manifestations of the host. Thirty-six 3-week-old chickens divided into 6 groups were orally inoculated with 3,000 B. potosis eggs/chick. Each group of chicken was necropsied at days 1, 2, 3, 7, 30 and 90 PI (post inoculation), and the number of larvae in various organs were counted until day 90 PI. No clinical signs were observed in chickens during the study. Larvae were detected from the liver, lungs or breast-muscles of 13/36 (36.1%) chickens. The mean total number of larvae in the liver, lungs and breast-muscles at days 1, 2, 3, 7, 30 and 90 PI were 0.34, 0.17, 1.66, 1.01, 0.17 and 0, respectively. No larvae were found in the brain, eyes, hid-limb muscles, heart, kidneys and spleen. Although infectivity of larvae in egg-inoculated chickens was low, the present study demonstrated that B. potosis larvae can migrate in chickens tissues up to day 30 PI. The result suggests that chickens can serve as a paratenic host for B. potosis and may underline a public health importance of B. potosis infection as a potential foodborne disease in humans.

Fermented products have been gaining a notable importance in recent years due to the health benefits that they can provide in relation to the initial unfermented food matrix, i.e. in the enhancement of nutrients, effect on glucose metabolism and bioactivity, the presence of probiotics in some foods. The paper gives a current analysis of the fermented food/beverage and health relationship studies present in the literature and it is based on a literature quantitative analysis approach. VOSviewer software was utilized to extract and elaborate bibliometric data. 1504 publications ranged from the year 1970 to 2022 were retrieved by literature search and were collectively cited in 25,868 documents. The subject areas mainly covered are: “Agricultural and Biological Sciences”, “Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology”, “Immunology and Microbiology” and “Medicine”. 1148 terms, in total, are identified and the top recurring terms on the fermented food/beverage and health research are: metabolism, lactobacillus, food microbiology, lactic acid, animals. The functionality of fermented foods are here explored. Innovation is represented towards obtaining specific fermented foods (i.e. yogurts), by changing the fermentation conditions, or by adding or removing compounds that alter the fermentation, and thus, with the improvement of technologies like nanotechnology, targeted nutrition and others, it is expected that fermented food will consolidate their position in the food market. The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to the CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). M. Carocho and S. Heleno thank FCT, for their individual employment program-contract (CEECIND/00831/2018, CEECIND/03040/2017), while L. Barros thanks FCT, through the institutional scientific employment program-contract. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

“Económicos” are traditional Portuguese pastry products; although their production is low-cost, their nutritional value is equally low. Since it is a widely consumed product in the Trás-os-Montes region, it is important to add value to it without making significant changes to the traditional recipe. Thus, this work has the main objective to increase the nutritional power of “económicos” through the incorporation of chestnut (Castanea sativa) fruit flour. The influence of the incorporation of 9% of chestnut flour as a new ingredient was analysed in terms of physical parameters (texture, colour, pH, water activity and moisture), nutritional content (according to the official AOAC methodology) and chemical parameters (sugars, fatty acids and organic acids) and the ability to control the microbial load over shelf life (32 days). Overall, the addition of the chestnut flour did not drastically change the appearance of the chemical and physical profiles of the cakes, but resulted in a lighter crumb (L*), slight changes in the texture profile, reduction of fat, and most importantly, introduced healthier flour to this inexpensive cake. Moreover, it did not stimu- late the growth of microorganisms (total aerobic mesophiles, coliforms, Bacillus cereus, molds, and yeasts) during the 32 days of storage. The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through the national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). This work was funded by the FEDER-Interreg España-Portugal pro- gramme through the project TRANSCoLAB 0612_TRANS_CO_LAB_2_P and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Regional Operational Program North 2020, within the scope of Project GreenHealth - Digital strategies in biological assets to improve well-being and promote green health, Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000042, to which J. Ueda is thankful for his grant. S. Heleno and M. Carocho thank the FCT for their individual employment program–con- tracts (CEECIND/00831/2018 and CEECIND/03040/2017), while L. Barros is thankful for her institutional scientific contract. F. Fernandes and M. Pedrosa thank the FCT for their PhD grants (SFRH/BD/145467/2019 and SFRH/BD/2021.04531, respectively). info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Recently, as buildings have become taller, base structures on construction sites have to be excavated wider and deeper. Generally, excavated soil is transported vertically using clamshells. However, clamshells are large construction machines, and their operation is subject to physical and time limitations. In this study, we focused on the intestinal tract, which transports various fluids by muscle contraction and relaxation. We used a peristaltic conveyance system that simulates a peristaltic movement type pump to vertically transfer excavated soil. In a previous study, we successfully lifted low-water content sediments using a watering system that increases the water content ratio of the transported sediment. From the experiments, the lifting conditions were determined according to the type of sediment. However, the relationship between the driving conditions of the device and vertical transport is not known. For practical use of this equipment, the rate of lifted soil should show an improvement. In this study, we investigated the driving conditions of the equipment according to the soil type to further improve the conveyance efficiency. First, we investigated the appropriate position and amount of water added for each soil type. Next, the lifting rate was compared for various patterns under different conditions.

Muffins are snacks made from flour and chocolate and preserved with synthetic additives. Following consumer trends, the search for natural food additives has gained traction. Plants such as rosemary, lemon balm, and oregano were analyzed following an optimization of ultrasound assisted extraction, screened for their antioxidant and antimicrobial activity and incorporated in chocolate muffins, comparing them to synthetic preservatives over the course of 8 days. The nutritional profile, organic and fatty acids, soluble sugars, texture profile, external color and digital imaging of the muffin pores were analyzed. Slight changes were sought for the muffins incorporated with the natural extracts. By means of linear discriminant analysis, rosemary extract was considered the most promising extract to preserve the muffins due to its similarity to potassium sorbate, showing no changes in the muffins it was incorporated in, although it showed a lower amount of phenolic compounds when compared to lemon balm. This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the FEDER-Interreg España-Portugal programme for financial support through the project TRANSCoLAB 0612_TRANS_CO_LAB_2_. The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to the CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). L.B. and R.C.C. also thank the national funding by FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology, through the institutional scientific employment program-contract for their contracts and, M.C., S.H. and J.P. to the national funding by FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology, through the individual scientific employment program-contracts (CEECIND/00831/2018, CEECIND/03040/2017 and CEECIND/01011/2018). The authors are also grateful to FEDER-Interreg España-Portugal programme for financial support through the project TRANSCoLAB 0612_TRANS_CO_LAB_2_. M.C.P. and J.M.U. contributed in the same manner for this manuscript. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The XXI century has brought along many changes in how consumers look at food and perceive their diets. There is an increasing awareness towards what goes into manufacturing these foods, with an important concern being drawn towards food additives. While it is known that additives are needed to preserve or change attributes of food, it is also widely understood that consumers prefer natural additives to synthetic ones, and thus, the industry is looking for alternatives from plant sources. Here, the extraction of 5 different plants (oregano (Origanum vulgare L.), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.), salvia (Salvia officinalis L.), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) and basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)), was optimized from three extraction types, namely decoction, infusion and cold hydroethanolic (80:20) ultrasound extraction, carried out through Response Surface Methodology (RSM) using Design Expert, pending the analysis of phenolic compounds through HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS. The variables used for RSM were temperature, time of extraction and watts (ultrasound). The extraction with the highest phenolic content for each plant was then selected and screened for its antibacterial and antifungal activity, relying on the microdilution method against foodborne pathogens, before using these extracts as natural food additives in yogurts and muffins. The bacterial species used were Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Enterobacter cloacae, while the fungi species were Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus versicolor, Penicillium funiculosum, Trichoderma viride and Penicillium verrucosum var. cyclopium. Two synthetic and widely used preservatives were also screened against these contaminants, namely sodium benzoate (E211), and potassium metabisulfite (E224), while also confirming the sensitivity of the microbes with known antibiotics. Overall, the plant extracts showed a high inhibition of fungi, with all extracts showing lower minimum inhibition concentrations than both the synthetic preservatives, except for P. verrucosum, where potassium metabisulfite showed the same inhibition capacity. Regarding the antibacterial activity, the most sensitive bacteria to the extracts was S. aureus, where all showed the same activity as potassium metabisulfite. Lemon balm was the best extract of all, showing the same inhibition as sodium benzoate against B. cereus and E. cloacae. Overall, this work proves that plant extracts, obtained though “green” and cheap technologies can be alternatives to synthetic food additives, due to showing the same, or, in some cases, better antimicrobial activity. Furthermore, a mixture of these extracts can result in synergistic effects and improve the antimicrobial activities. The next step in the determination of the efficacy of these extracts is their incorporation in yogurts and muffins, which is ongoing. Acknowledgments Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). S. Heleno and M. Carocho thank FCT for their individual research program-contract (CEECIND/00831/2018; CEECIND/03040/2017), while L. Barros thanks FCT for her institutional scientific employment program-contract.

Summary The larvae of the genus Baylisascaris can cause larva migrans in mammals and birds. This study investigated the larval migration of Baylisascaris potosis, the roundworm of kinkajou (Potos flavus), in chickens and the associated clinical manifestations of the host. Thirty-six 3-week-old chickens divided into 6 groups were orally inoculated with 3,000 B. potosis eggs/chick. Each group of chicken was necropsied at days 1, 2, 3, 7, 30 and 90 PI (post inoculation), and the number of larvae in various organs were counted until day 90 PI. No clinical signs were observed in chickens during the study. Larvae were detected from the liver, lungs or breast-muscles of 13/36 (36.1%) chickens. The mean total number of larvae in the liver, lungs and breast-muscles at days 1, 2, 3, 7, 30 and 90 PI were 0.34, 0.17, 1.66, 1.01, 0.17 and 0, respectively. No larvae were found in the brain, eyes, hid-limb muscles, heart, kidneys and spleen. Although infectivity of larvae in egg-inoculated chickens was low, the present study demonstrated that B. potosis larvae can migrate in chickens tissues up to day 30 PI. The result suggests that chickens can serve as a paratenic host for B. potosis and may underline a public health importance of B. potosis infection as a potential foodborne disease in humans.

A semi-classical approximation has been a powerful tool in understanding the dynamics of low-energy heavy-ion reactions. Here we discuss two topics in this regard, for which Mahir Hussein was a world leading pioneer. The first topic is heavy-ion fusion reactions of neutron-rich nuclei, in which the breakup process of the projectile nucleus plays a crucial role. The second is rainbow and glory scattering, for which characteristic oscillatory patterns in differential cross sections can be well understood in terms of intereferences among several semi-classical trajectories., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures. A contribution to the topical issue "Cluster structure and dynamics of nuclei - A tribute to Mahir Hussein", to be published in Euro. Phys. J. A

Extranodal extension (ENE) of lymph node metastasis and the presence of a positive or close margin (PCM) are major risk factors for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma recurrence. This retrospective multicentre cohort study compared the prognostic impact of postoperative radiotherapy (RT) and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients at high risk of recurrence. One hundred and eighteen patients with PCM and/or ENE who underwent definitive surgery plus either adjuvant RT or CCRT using cisplatin for OSCC were investigated. The cohort-wide 5-year loco-regional control (LRC), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) rates (the main outcome measures) were 54.3%, 35.8%, and 43.2%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that age ≥64 years (hazard ratio (HR) 0.584), cT3-4 stage (HR 1.927), ≥4 metastatic lymph nodes (HR 1.912), and PCM (HR 2.014) were significant independent predictors of OS. Moreover, postoperative CCRT with cisplatin was associated with a significantly improved LRC rate, but not with improved DFS or OS rates, compared to postoperative RT (HR 0.360). Given that CCRT with cisplatin does not significantly improve survival, additional clinical trials will be required to validate new regimens that further improve the outcomes of patients with loco-regionally advanced OSCC going forward.

In order to investigate the possibility of high thermal conductivity material, composite resin sheets combining large grain size AlN filler and agglomerated BN filler were prepared and heat conductivity characteristics were evaluated. In combination with BN filler, the superiority of AlN filler to Al 2 O 3 filler was confirmed. We investigated the influence of particle size and blending amount of AlN filler and sheet forming conditions and discussed the problem of high thermal conductivity.

Sesamin is a major lignan constituent of sesame and possesses various health-promoting effects. Previous studies have demonstrated that sesamin extends the lifespan of Drosophila and Caenorhabditis elegans and corrects oxidative damage-related tissue dysfunction in mammals. To understand its anti-aging effects, we aimed to determine whether sesamin restores tissue function hampered by oxidative damage and suppresses several aging-related phenotypes using Drosophila senescence-accelerated models.We elucidated the anti-aging effects of sesamin on several aging-related phenotypes in the muscle, brain and midgut using the senescence-accelerated models (Sod1n1 mutant and Sod1-depleted flies) by immunostaining experiments. We determined the expression levels of several anti-oxidative and DNA repair genes using quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). We also identified the metabolite of sesamin in Drosophila by LC-MS/MS.We confirmed that sesamin (0.35 and 2 mg/ml) extended the lifespan of the fly models. As observed in mammals, it can be absorbed and metabolized by Drosophila adults. The sesamin feeding suppressed the age-dependent impairment of locomotor activity and inhibited the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in their bodies. Sesamin delayed the age-dependent accumulation of damaged proteins in the muscle, partially suppressed the loss of dopaminergic neurons in adult brains displaying ROS accumulation, and suppressed the accumulation of DNA damage and hyperproliferation of intestinal stem cells. Four antioxidative genes and two DNA repair genes were simultaneously upregulated in sesamin-fed adults. CONCLUSIONS: These observations represent the first direct evidence of the anti-aging effects of sesamin at the individual level. We propose that sesamin exerts anti-aging effects in the muscles, brain and midgut by inducing antioxidative and DNA repair genes, resulting in extended lifespan in flies.

Titanium and its alloys have desirable properties, such as high specific strength and excellent corrosion resistance, and have been used in a wide range of applications from aerospace engineering to sporting goods, and, of course, bicycles. Bicycles were developed in the early 19th century and were initially constructed from wood. Bicycles made of iron appeared in the middle of the 19th century. Later, titanium and its alloys were applied to sporting and racing bicycles, for example, mountain bikes, due to their high specific strength and excellent corrosion resistance. In particular, frames, screws, gears, and hubs are often constructed from titanium alloys, for example, Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Some problems associated with these materials are seizure and adhesion, cracks and breakage, and difficultly of cutting.

Sb deposition and reaction on In/Si(111) were investigated by low-energy electron microscopy, low-energy electron diffraction, synchrotron radiation micro X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and synchrotron radiation X-ray photo-emission electron microscopy. The Sb deposition process strongly depends on the initial In/Si(111) phases such as √3 × √3, √31 × √31 and 4 × 1. On the In/Si(111) surface where two phases co-exist, the diffusion of In atoms, which are released by the attack of Sb, modifies the deposition and reaction process of Sb. On a mixed In/Si(111) √31 × √31 + 4 × 1 surface, an InSb(111) 2 × 2 structure with elongated domains initially forms along steps. Then In atoms are replaced by Sb atoms and InSb(111) 2 × 2 transforms into Sb/Si(111) 2 × 1 by further reaction with Sb atoms. Here, the existence of the 4 × 1 phase promotes the formation of larger InSb(111) 2 × 2 domains.

Grain-oriented Fe-3%Si steels are industrially important soft magnetic materials that are usually used in transformer cores but have also recently started to be used in motor cores [1]. Further improvements in the magnetic properties of grain-oriented steels are required to increase the efficiency of electrical machinery. The magnetic properties of grain-oriented steels strongly depend on the magnetic domain structures. The magnetic domains in grain-oriented steels mainly consist of the 180° basic domains and supplementary domains, such as lancet domains. The lancet domains, which occur due to a tilt angle of the [001] easy axis out of the steel surface (β), affect not only iron losses but also magnetostrictive noise. Therefore, it is important to understand the behavior of the lancet domains in order to further improve the magnetic properties. Many studies of the lancet domains [2-4] have been performed, for example, under applied stresses and external magnetic fields at the room temperature (RT). However, the behavior of lancet domains in the region above RT has not yet been investigated even though the operating temperature of transformers and electric motors are generally above RT. In this paper, the changes in the lancet domains of grain-oriented steels over the range from RT to the Curie point were observed using photoemission electron microscopy combined with X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD-PEEM). Moreover, the domain theory enabled us to quantitatively explain the observed temperature dependence of the lancet domains.

Background: Identification of promising biomarkers that predict the prognosis of patients with breast cancer is needed. In this study, we hypothesised that the expression of the epithelial–mesenchymal transition-related biomarker plastin3 (PLS3) in peripheral blood could be a prognostic factor in breast cancer. Methods: We examined PLS3 expression in breast cancer cell lines with epithelial and mesenchymal traits and in circulating tumour cells (CTCs) obtained from the peripheral blood of breast cancer patients. We investigated PLS3 expression in the peripheral blood of 594 patients with breast cancer to evaluate the clinical significance of PLS3 expression. Results: Robust PLS3 expression was observed in different breast cancer cell lines (Hs578t, MCF-7, MDA-MB-468, and MDA-MB-231) as well as in a bone marrow derived cancer cell line (BC-M1). In both the training (n=298) and validation (n=296) sets, PLS3 expression was observed in CTCs of patients with breast cancer. PLS3-positive patients showed significantly poorer overall and disease-free survival than PLS3-negative patients (P=0.0001 and 0.003, respectively). Subset analysis revealed that this prognostic biomarker was relevant in patients with stage I–III cancer, particularly in patients with luminal-type and triple-negative-type tumours. Conclusions: These data demonstrated that PLS3 was expressed in CTCs undergoing the epithelial–mesenchymal transition in patients with breast cancer. Furthermore, PLS3 may be an excellent biomarker for identifying groups at risk of recurrence or with a poor prognosis.

Background Predictive biomarkers for the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have great benefit in the selection of treatment options, including liver transplantation (LT), for HCC. The purpose of this study was to identify specific microRNAs (miRs) in exosomes from the serum of patients with recurrent HCC and to validate these molecules as novel biomarkers for HCC recurrence. Methods We employed microarray-based expression profiling of miRs derived from exosomes in the serum of HCC patients to identify a biomarker that distinguishes between patients with and without HCC recurrence after LT. This was followed by the validation in a separate cohort of 59 HCC patients who underwent living related LT. The functions and potential gene targets of the recurrence-specific miRs were analysed using a database, clinical samples and HCC cell lines. Results We found that miR-718 showed significantly different expression in the serum exosomes of HCC cases with recurrence after LT compared with those without recurrence. Decreased expression of miR-718 was associated with HCC tumour aggressiveness in the validated cohort series. We identified HOXB8 as a potential target gene of miR-718, and its upregulation was associated with poor prognosis. Conclusion Circulating miRs in serum exosomes have potential as novel biomarkers for predicting HCC recurrence.

Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation and Deposition (PIII&D) systems based on pulsed metal tubes are a very promising technique to deposit diamond-like carbon and correlated thin films. A hollow cathode plasma can be appropriately used to locally deposit glass-like carbon films on small substrates by means of PIII&D. The morphology, microstructure, roughness as well as the investigation of the chemical structure of the as-deposited graphitic films outside the pulsed tube are reported. By the described PIII&D setup, the power of the discharge plasma can be properly adjusted to produce a range of disordered carbon films. But their structures are not so extensively changed since high temperatures (around 900 °C) are inherent in these conditions. Furthermore, there is a minimum power required to sustain the hollow cathode discharge when small tubes are used. Moreover, an additional effect caused by the intense bombardment of secondary electrons outside the tube can account for the growing of more ordered and rougher graphitic carbon coatings. We have then found that those nanostructured glass-like carbon films are strongly dependent on the power of the produced plasma that impinges on the substrate surface increasing its temperature.

Titanium and its alloys have a high specific strength, excellent corrosion resistance, and good biocompatibility. Therefore, these alloys are adopted as raw materials for artificial bones and joints. Furthermore, these alloys are used as materials for dental surgery. In the development of alloy design, beta-type titanium alloys that possess a lower Young’s modulus than other types of titanium alloys, e.g., Ti-6Al-4V alpha-beta-type alloys, are being actively investigated worldwide. Based on these studies, titanium-niobium-tantalum and zirconium system alloys were developed. For example, Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr alloy has a low Young’s modulus, excellent biocompatibility, and improved mechanical properties. Many researchers are actively investigating surface modifications and surface treatments. Additive manufacturing, namely 3D printing, wherein metal powders are piled up layer by layer to produce goods without a mold, has attracted attention in many fields, including manufacture of implants, especially porous structural implants with a low Young’s modulus. It is very important that titanium and its alloys be applied to health-care goods, e.g., wheelchairs and prostheses. Therefore, we herein consider four topics: alloy development, coating and surface modification, additive manufacturing, and health care applications.