The present study examined the effect of football (F, n=15) training on the health profile of habitually active 25-45-year-old men with mild hypertension and compared it with running (R, n=15) training and no additional activity (controls, C, n=17). The participants in F and R completed a 1-h training session 2.4 times/week for 12 weeks. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased in all groups but the decrease in diastolic blood pressure in F (-9 +/- 5 (+/- SD) mmHg) was higher than that in C (-4 +/- 6 mmHg). F was as effective as R in decreasing body mass (-1.6 +/- 1.8 vs-1.5 +/- 2.1 kg) and total fat mass (-2.0 +/- 1.5 vs -1.6 +/- 1.5 kg) and in increasing supine heart rate variability, whereas no changes were detected for C. Maximal stroke volume improved in F (+13.1%) as well as in R (+10.1%) compared with C (-4.9%). Total cholesterol decreased in F (5.8 +/- 1.2 to 5.5 +/- 0.9 mmol/L) but was not altered in R and C. We conclude that football training, consisting of high-intensity intermittent exercise, results in positive effects on blood pressure, body composition, stroke volume and supine heart rate variability, and elicits at least the same cardiovascular health benefits as continuous running exercise in habitually active men with mild hypertension.

Astronomical spectropolarimeters can be subject to many sources of systematic error which limit the precision and accuracy of the instrument. We present a calibration method for observing highresolution polarized spectra using chromatic liquid-crystal variable retarders (LCVRs). These LCVRs allow for polarimetric modulation of the incident light without any moving optics at frequencies ≥10Hz. We demonstrate a calibration method using pure Stokes input states that enables an achromatization of the system. This Stokes-based deprojection method reproduces input polarization even though highly chromatic instrument effects exist. This process is first demonstrated in a laboratory spectropolarimeter where we characterize the LCVRs and show example deprojections. The process is then implemented the a newly upgraded HiVIS spectropolarimeter on the 3.67m AEOS telescope. The HiVIS spectropolarimeter has also been expanded to include broad-band full-Stokes spectropolarimetry using achromatic wave-plates in addition to the tunable full-Stokes polarimetric mode using LCVRs. These two new polarimetric modes in combination with a new polarimetric calibration unit provide a much more sensitive polarimetric package with greatly reduced systematic error.

Context. Spectroscopy data in general often deals with an entanglement of spectral line properties, especially in the case of blended line profiles, independently of how high the quality of the data may be. In stellar spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry, where atomic transition parameters are usually known, the use of multi-line techniques to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of observations has become common practice. These methods extract an average line profile by means of either least squares deconvolution (LSD) or principle component analysis (PCA). However, only a few methods account for the blending of line profiles, and when they do, they assume that line profiles add linearly. Aims. We abandon the simplification of linear line-adding for Stokes I and present a novel approach that accounts for the nonlinearity in blended profiles, also illuminating the process of a reasonable deconvolution of a spectrum. Only the combination of those two enables us to treat spectral line variables independently, constituting our method of nonlinear deconvolution with deblending (NDD). The improved interpretation of a common line profile achieved compensates for the additional expense in calculation time, especially when it comes to the application to (Zeeman) doppler imaging (ZDI). Methods. By examining how absorption lines of different depths blend with each other and describing the effects of line-adding in a mathematically simple, yet physically meaningful way, we discover how it is possible to express a total line depth in terms of a (nonlinear) combination of contributing individual components. Thus, we disentangle blended line profiles and underlying parameters in a truthful manner and strongly increase the reliability of the common line patterns retrieved. Results. By comparing different versions of LSD with our NDD technique applied to simulated atomic and molecular intensity spectra, we are able to illustrate the improvements provided by our method to the interpretation of the recovered mean line profiles. As a consequence, it is possible for the first time to retrieve an intrinsic line pattern from a molecular band, offering the opportunity to fully include them in a NDD-based ZDI. However, we also show that strong line broadening deters the existence of a unique solution for heavily blended lines such as in molecular bandheads.

Context. Arcturus is the second closest K giant and among the brightest stars in the sky. It has not been found to have a magnetic field, even though Ca ii H&K lines as activity indicators imply that Arcturus is magnetically active. Aims. We measure the mean longitudinal magnetic field strengths and interpret them in terms of an intraseasonal activity modulation. Methods. We apply our new Zeeman component decomposition (ZCD) technique to three single sets of Stokes I and V spectra to measure the longitudinal component of the magnetic field responsible for tiny Zeeman signatures detected in spectral line profiles. Results. For two of the spectra, we report the detection of the Zeeman signature of a weak longitudinal magnetic field of 0.65 ± 0.26 G and 0.43 ± 0.16 G. The third measurement is less significant, but all the measurements closely reproduce a rotationally modulated activity cycle with four active longitudes. Conclusions. For the first time, a magnetic field on Arcturus is directly detected. This field can be attributed to a diminishing solartype αΩ-dynamo acting in the deepening convection zone of Arcturus. We demonstrate that our new method ZCD lowers the detection limit of very weak magnetic fields from spectropolarimetric measurements.