Stress fibers are contractile bundles in the cytoskeleton that stabilize cell structure by exerting traction forces on the extracellular matrix. Individual stress fibers are molecular bundles composed of parallel actin and myosin filaments linked by various actin-binding proteins, which are organized end-on-end in a sarcomere-like pattern within an elongated three-dimensional network. While mea...

Histological and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characteristics of the microvasculature of muscle fibers in the anterior third of the adult rat tongue are described. For light microscopy, the specimens were embedded in paraffin and frontal sections were stained with Picro-Sirius. Thick sections were obtained from Spurr embedded samples and stained with toluidine blue solution. For SEM, spec...

A theoretical model is established to study the self-similar pulses in nonlinear polarization evolution (NPE) mode-locked fiber lasers. The propagation of pulse in single mode fibers and gain fibers are described by coupled Ginzburg- Landau equation (GLE). Two wave plates and a polarizer are considered to realize the NPE mechanism in simulation. This model describes the laser completely and pro...

The cytoarchitecture of the rat cerebellar cortex was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after exposure of cell surfaces by NaOH maceration and subsequent mild mechanical dissection. SEM observation clearly differentiated the three layers of the cerebellar cortex: the molecular layer, which consisted of a dense accumulation of thin nerve fibers; the Purkinje cell layer, in which larg...

During traditional acupuncture, fine needles are inserted subcutaneously and rotated, which causes loose fascial tissue to wind around the needle. This coupling is stronger at acupuncture points, which tend to fall above intermuscular fascial planes, than control points, which lay above skeletal muscle. These different anatomical constraints may affect the mechanical coupling. Fascia at acupunc...

Highly birefringent (Hi-Bi) air-clad silica microfibers (MFs) with wavelength and sub-wavelength scale transverse dimensions are studied theoretically and experimentally. Hi-Bi MFs are taper-drawn from the standard SMF-28 single mode fibers that are "pre-processed" by "cutting away" parts of the silica cladding on opposite sides of the fiber with a femtosecond infrared laser. Such Hi-Bi MFs hav...

A range of elliptical undulators (EU) has recently been constructed at ELETTRA, whose main parameters are listed in Table 1 below. They are all based on the APPLE-II scheme [1], but two different terminations have been used due to specific installation requirements. Also, one of them (EU12.5) features a quasi-periodic field to suit special beamline needs. The minimum magnetic gap corresponds to...

In this study, efficient methods for optimal sensor placement (OSP) based on a new geometrical viewpoint for damage detection in structures is presented. The purpose is to minimize the effects of noise on the damage detection process. In the geometrical viewpoint, a sensor location is equivalent to projecting the elliptical noise on to a face of response space which is corresponding to the sens...