The perming of hair is a common styling procedure with negative impact on the overall properties fibers. Usually, this process uses harsh chemicals to promote disruption disulfide bonds and formation new change shape hair. Here, we explored bovine serum albumin (BSA), silk fibroin (SF), keratin two fusion recombinant proteins (KP-UM KP-Cryst) as agents. A phosphate buffer prepared at different ...

Heated styling appliances, such as straightening irons, have grown in popularity in recent years, as have hair products such as heat-protection sprays. In this study we investigate whether the water in a heat-protection spray can affect the level of damage caused by heat styling. Tryptophan damage from heat styling was measured using fluorescence spectroscopy, and structural damage was investig...

The sense of hearing depends on fast, finely graded neurotransmission at the ribbon synapses connecting hair cells to afferent nerve fibers. The processing that occurs at this first chemical synapse in the auditory pathway determines the quality and extent of the information conveyed to the central nervous system. Knowledge of the synapse's input-output function is therefore essential for under...

The morphology of human hair was extensively discussed in the last century, except for hair medulla, mainly because it was believed to have little or no influence on any useful hair property. Early SEM results showed that medulla is formed by unorganized fibrilar material that could be macrofibrils randomly located in the fiber center. The present paper aims to correlate the fibrilar structures...

Previous analytical and empirical studies of the human auditory system have shown that the cues used for localization are modified by the inclusion of nonrigid scattering surfaces (clothing, hair etc). This paper presents an investigation into the acoustic impedance properties of human hair. The legitimacy of a locally reactive surface assumption is investigated, and an appropriate boundary con...

It has been previously reported that an adenosine receptor-mediated signal-transduction pathway in the dermal papilla cells (DPCs) of hair contributes to minoxidil-induced hair growth. In this study, we investigated this hypothesis further and have elucidated some underlying mechanisms. We performed DNA microarray analyses of DPCs and found that adenosine stimulation increases fibroblast growth...

One prominent manifestation of mechanical activity in hair cells is spontaneous otoacoustic emission, the unprovoked emanation of sound by an internal ear. Because active hair bundle motility probably constitutes the active process of nonmammalian hair cells, we investigated the ability of hair bundles in the bullfrog's sacculus to produce oscillations that might underlie spontaneous otoacousti...

BACKGROUND Mefloquine is widely used for the treatment of malaria. However, this drug is known to induce neurological side effects including depression, anxiety, balance disorder, and sensorineural hearing loss. Yet, there is currently no treatment for these side effects. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In this study, we show that the coenzyme NAD(+), known to play a critical role in maintaining the appro...

Calyx afferents, a group of morphologically and physiologically distinct afferent fibers innervating the striolar region of vestibular sensory epithelia, are selectively labeled by antibodies to the calcium-binding protein calretinin. In this study, the population of calretinin-stained calyx afferents was used to delineate and quantify the striolar region in six rodent species: mouse, rat, gerb...