There is increasing evidence that fibre size and shape play an important part in the production of health effects related to asbestos. The dimensions of airborne fibres collected at various stages of fibre processing in three mines and six mills producing three types of asbestos were measured using phase contrast light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Airborne fibres of differen...

BACKGROUND The decision whether to retain or resect the posterior cruciate ligament in total knee arthroplasty is at present determined clinically by preoperative radiological variables focusing upon the amount of joint destruction, and subsequent soft tissue contractures. However, these variables give only indirect information on the histological integrity and proprioceptive properties of the ...

Retrograde or antidromic stimulation of the nociceptive C fibres is known to lead to the release of sensory neuropeptides Substance P (SP) and Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) by the peripheral endings of these ultra-thin nerve fibres. These neuropeptides have, among others, a vasodilatory effect, which explains why they play a role in the healing of soft tissues. Burst TENS (Transcutaneo...

The purpose of the present study was to determine the relationships between the changes of myofibrils in fast-twitch oxidative-glycolytic (type IIA) fibres and fast-twitch glycolytic (type IIB) muscle fibres, protein synthesis and degradation rate in exercise-induced myopathic skeletal muscle. Exhaustive exercise was used to induce myopathy in Wistar rats. Intensity of glycogenolysis in muscle ...

Adult brown trout were acclimated for 2–4 weeks to artificial soft water ([Ca2+] 25 mmol l21) at neutral pH and at summer (15 ̊C) temperature. During this period they swam against a current of approximately 0.25 ms21. They then had their dorsal aorta cannulated and were exposed to neutral or sublethal pH (4.5) for 4 days in still water. After 4 days of exposure to sublethal pH, critical swimming...

This paper reports on a unique preservation of soft tissues in the ventrolateral region of the plant-eating dinosaur Psittacosaurus from the Jehol biota of China. The preservation is of a deep cross section through the dermis, which includes multiple layers of collagenous fibres in excess of 25, among the highest recorded in vertebrates, with a further 15 more layers (poorly preserved) estimate...

Little is known about the contribution of C-afferent fibres to chronic painful conditions in humans. We sought to investigate the role of C-fibres in the pathophysiology of pain and hyperalgesia in erythromelalgia as a model disease for chronic pain. Erythromelalgia is a condition characterized by painful, red and hot extremities, and patients often report tenderness on walking. We made microne...

Skeletal muscles are composed of fibres of different types, each type being identified by the isoform of myosin heavy chain which is expressed as slow 1, fast 2A, fast 2X, and fast 2B. Slow fibres are resistant to fatigue due to their highly oxidative metabolism whereas 2X and 2B fibres are easily fatiguable and fast 2A fibres exhibit intermediate fatigue resistance. Slow fibres and fast fibres...

Sheets of muscle fibres dissected from surface portions of frog ileofibularis and semitendinosus muscles were soaked in solutions with elevated K and Cl concentrations. The KCl-loaded muscles were then bathed in low [Cl-] solutions, whereby the membrane potential became transiently inside positive. The repolarization of the twitch fibres from the tonus bundle ("intermediate fibres") was faster ...

A gel consists of one or more gelling agents and a fluid (organic solvent, water, supercritical liquid) which behaves as a viscoelastic material (soft matter) due to the immobilization of solvent molecules in a three-dimensional network. This network results from the self-assembly of the gelling agent into fibres via non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, π–π stacking, van der Waal...