Holoparasites have evolved a number of adaptations for pollination in parallel with their parasitic strategies. Complex floral pigmentation patterns, comprising spots or stripes that act as visual nectar or landing guides for pollinators, are common and diversified, but their structure and function are poorly understood and almost nothing is known about the role that micromorphological features might play in generating or complementing those visual stimuli. By means of scanning electron and confocal digital microscopy, petal micromorphology was analysed in the two subspecies of the holoparasitic Cistanche phelypæa (subsp. phelypæa and subsp. lutea, Orobanchaceae). Plant material was collected in the semi-deserts of southeastern Spain in 2009 (subsp. lutea), and in coastal salt marshes in southern Portugal in 2012 (subsp. phelypæa). Cistanche phelypæa subspecies were already known to differ in several morphological features of flowers and leaves, as well as in their habitats and hosts. Our data have shown that they also differ in several micromorphological features of the petal epidermis. Three different sculpture types of the petal epidermis were recognized. Our results show that petal micromorphology can be used in the separation of taxa, with potential utility in the determination of dried specimens in this genus, inherently poorly preserved in herbaria. The putative influence of the visual and tactile effects originating from this micromorphological variability on the interactions between plants and pollinators and in the reproductive biology of the former is discussed in detail.

This article aims to evaluate the influence of remelting on the experimental Al-Si-Cu type alloy with higher iron content on mechanical properties in relation to the resulting structure. The remelting or recycling process is one of the means of reducing the production costs of the forge plant. The experimental part deals with the analysis of the results of mechanical properties, structural analysis, and the process of crystallization of structural components and their changes due to the increased iron content caused by remelting at different states of the examined alloy. The effect of remelting and ageing on microstructure was observed using a combination of different analytical techniques (light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and upon deep etching and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX)). Tensile strength and elongation tests point to the negative effect of alloying, a gradual increase in wt% Fe and a change in the morphology of the iron phases, which began to manifest significantly after the fourth remelting. The process of natural ageing has been shown to be effective only on alloys with a lower number of remelting cycles, whereas the application of artificial ageing has resulted in improved mechanical properties in all the test alloys.

Flowers of holoparasitic plants have evolved several adaptations for pollination as part of their parasitic strategies. A study of the petal epidermis may be useful to systematics as well as to the knowledge of ecological and co-evolutionary adaptations between the parasites and their pollinators. The present work is a comparative study of the microsculpture of nectar guides and landing platforms in the flowers of holoparasitic species in the family Orobanchaceae. In total, 285 samples of 39 species from 10 holoparasitic genera (Boschniakia C.A.Mey. ex Bong., Boulardia F.W.Schultz, Cistanche Hoffmanns. & Link, Conopholis Wallr., Diphelypaea Nicolson, Epifagus Nutt., Mannagettaea H.Sm., Orobanche L., Phacellanthus Siebold & Zucc. and Phelipanche Pomel) and as an outgroup, of six additional hemiparasitic genera (Castilleja Mutis ex L.f., Euphrasia L., Orthantha (Benth.) A.Kern., Parentucellia Viv., Rhinanthus L., and Striga Lour.) were analysed using both light and scanning electron microscopy. Types of epidermal cells were characterised, and their distribution on the adaxial and abaxial surfaces of the petals determined. The following four major epidermal types were recognised: tabular rugose striate cells (TRS), areolate cells (AS), papillose conical cells (PCS) and lobular striate cells (PLS). Two main types of trichomes were observed, namely glandular and non-glandular. Our results showed that petal micromorphology may be useful to systematics; its influence in relation to the pollinators is discussed.

This paper presents influence of rare earth metals (REM) on the microstructure and morphology of non-metallic inclusions of G17CrMo5-5 cast carbon steel The research has been performed on successive industrial melts. Each time about 2000 kg of liquid metal was modified. The REM was in the form of mishmetal of the composition 49, 8% Ce, 21, 8% La, 17, 1% Nd, 5, 5% Pr and 5, 35% the rest of REM. Therareearth metals were put into the ladle during tapping of heat melt from the furnace.

The aim of the paper is to describe and specify the properties and microstructure of Al-Si alloy using Zr, a combination of Zr with elements used in the grafting of Al (Ti) alloys, and modification (Sr). Al-Si alloys with a combination of Zr and Ti and Sr elements represent an opportunity for the development of new aluminum alloys with a specific use. The experiment focused on the analysis of the synergistic effects of Zr with Ti and Zr with Sr on a AlSi7Mg0.3Cu0.5 alloy. The experimental alloys contained a constant Zr content of 0.15 wt. % and were alloyed with a gradual addition of Ti and Sr in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 wt. % for Ti, and 0.1 to 0.3 wt. % for Sr. The experimental samples were cast by meltable model casting technology. In variants with a constant addition of Zr 0.15 wt. % and a gradual addition of Ti, we observed an increase in the values of mechanical characteristics, with a significant decrease in ductility. When evaluating the structure of experimental alloys, Ti affected it by increasing the number of precipitated Zr phases. Experimental alloys with Zr and Sr addition were characterized by nucleation of Zr phases in angular morphology. It can be concluded that the investigated elements are expected to have a positive (strengthening) effect even at higher operating temperatures.

This paper discusses changes in the microstructure and abrasive wear resistance of G17CrMo5-5 cast steel modified with rare earth metals (REM). The changes were assessed using scanning microscopy. The wear response was determined in the Miller test to ASTM G75. Abrasion tests were supplemented with the surface profile measurements of non-modified and modified cast steel using a Talysurf CCI optical profilometer. It was demonstrated that the modification substantially affected the microstructure of the alloy, leading to grain size reduction and changed morphology of non-metallic inclusions. The observed changes in the microstructure resulted in a three times higher impact strength (from 33 to 99 kJ/cm²) and more than two times higher resistance to cracking (from 116 to 250 MPa). The following surface parameters were computed: Sa: Arithmetic mean deviation of the surface, Sq: Root-mean-square deviation of the surface, Sp: Maximum height of the peak Sv: Maximum depth of the valley, Sz: Ten Point Average, Ssk: Asymmetry of the surface, Sku: Kurtosis of the surface. The findings also indicated that the addition of rare earth metals had a positive effect on the abrasion behaviour of G17CrMo5-5 cast steel.