Heat treatment of wood is an effective method to improve the dimensional stability and durability against biodegradation. Optimisation of a two-stage heat treatment process at relatively mild conditions (<200°C) and its effect on the anatomical structure of hardwoods were investigated by means of a light and scanning electron microscopic analysis. Hardwood species such as beech and poplar, were predominantly sensitive to collaps of the vessels and some deformation of the libriform fibres directly near the vessels. In treated beech and birch radial cracks were observed near the rays. Optimisation of the heat treatment process conditions including the application of a steam hydro thermolysis stage reduced such damages to a minimum. Broken cell walls perpendicular to the fibre direction resulting in transverse ruptures has been noticed in heat treated hardwood species. This contributes to abrupt fractures of treated wood as observed in bending tests which can lead to considerably different failure behavior after impact of mechanical stress. In some treated hardwood species maceration (small cracks between tracheids) was noticed after heat treatment. Heat treatment did not reveal damage to the ray parenchyma pit membranes, bordered pits and large window pit membranes; and the margo fibrils appeared without damage.

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Most patients are free in their choice of hospital for nonemergency admissions. In a nationwide survey in 1000 German households, we interviewed randomly chosen persons (age 14 and older) by phone about what they consider important when choosing a hospital. A standardized questionnaire was used. Additionally, question order was randomized prior to each interview. Demographic data included age, gender, education, and previous admissions to hospitals. Categories that might influence the choice of hospital included "distance to hospital," "friendly staff," "staff-to-patient ratio," "cleanliness," "nosocomial infection rate," "own experiences," "friend's opinion," and "facility's reputation in public media." General cleanliness, low nosocomial infection rates, and friendly staff proved to be the most important issues in our study. In contrast, the reputation of the health care facility in the public media was much less important. It seems that kindness and basic hygiene measures, both quite inexpensive factors, are key issues for patients.

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Racial disparities in policing are well documented, but the reasons for such disparities are often debated. In the current research, we weighed in on this debate using a regional-level bias framework: We investigated the link between racial disparities in police traffic stops and regional-level racial bias, employing data from more than 130 million police traffic stops in 1,413 U.S. counties and county-level measures of racial bias from more than 2 million online respondents. Compared with their population share in county demographics, Black drivers were stopped at disproportionate rates in the majority of counties. Crucially, disproportionate stopping of Black drivers was higher in counties with higher levels of racial prejudice by White residents ( rs = .07−.36). Furthermore, county-level aggregates of White people’s threat-related stereotypes were less consistent in predicting disproportionate stopping ( rs = .00−.19). These observed relationships between regional-level bias and racial disparities in policing highlight the importance of the context in which police operate.