Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) as a method applicable to large samples for strengthening metallic materials via severe plastic deformation has recently attracted considerable interest. For biomedical applications, ECAP‐treated pure titanium is a promising alternative for implants subjected to high mechanical loads as it contains no potentially cytotoxic alloying elements. The consequences of an ECAP treatment for the physico‐chemical properties of the air formed passive layers of pure or alloyed titanium, which are of the utmost importance for the biological response to these materials, are studied here for the first time. This includes mechanical, electron microscopic, and electrochemical investigations in protein containing media to study the reactions that occur immediately after implantation in the phase boundary between implant and biological system. The ECAP treatment results in a positive shift of the flatband potential and a particularly strong increase of the donor density for the native oxide layers. This is associated with increased electronic conductivity of the oxide layers under anodic polarization.

Many European countries are currently witnessing an increased development and expansion of continuing higher education at universities. In Germany, this development has until now been rather modest in comparison to countries such as England, France, Finland and the United States. The status of continuing education still seems just as unclear as the actual management of the implementation processes, something that is evident not least in the language or linguistic expressions used by those responsible for implementing continuing higher education. Systematically analysing language, and in particular metaphors, allows us to illuminate how meaning is attributed, and the challenges faced, by those implementing continuing higher education at universities. Based on two case studies from Germany, this paper demonstrates which perspectives and problems can lie hidden behind metaphors, and which effects this can have on how the implementation of continuing higher education is perceived and shaped.

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