Individual Fibers Research Articles

White matter fiber morphology in persisting postconcussive symptoms and posttraumatic headache after pediatric concussion: a fixel-based analysis.

Posttraumatic headache (PTH) represents the most common acute and persistent postconcussive symptom (PCS) in children after concussion, yet there remains a lack of valid and objective biomarkers to facilitate risk stratification and early intervention in this patient population. Fixel-based analysis of diffusion-weighted imaging, which overcomes constraints of traditional diffusion tensor imaging analyses, can improve the sensitivity and specificity of detecting white matter changes postconcussion. The aim of this study was to investigate whole-brain and tract-based differences in white matter morphology, including fiber density (FD) and fiber bundle cross-section (FC) area in children with PCSs and PTH at 2 weeks after concussion. This prospective longitudinal study recruited children aged 5-18 years who presented to the emergency department of a tertiary pediatric hospital with a concussion sustained within the previous 48 hours. Participants underwent diffusion-weighted MRI at 2 weeks postinjury. Whole-brain white matter statistical analysis was performed at the level of each individual fiber population within an image voxel (fixel) to compute FD, FC, and a combined metric (FD and bundle cross-section [FDC]) using connectivity-based fixel enhancement. Tract-based Bayesian analysis was performed to examine FD in 23 major white matter tracts. Comparisons of 1) recovered (n = 27) and symptomatic (n = 16) children, and those with 2) PTH (n = 13) and non-PTH (n = 30; overall mean age 12.99 ± 2.70 years, 74% male) found no fiber-specific white matter microstructural differences in FD, FC, or FDC at 2 weeks postconcussion, when adjusting for age and sex (family-wise error rate corrected p value > 0.05). Tract-based Bayesian analysis showed evidence of no effect of PTH on FD in 10 major white matter tracts, and evidence of no effect of recovery group on FD in 3 white matter tracts (Bayes factor < 1/3). Using whole-brain fixel-wise and tract-based analyses, these findings indicate that fiber-specific properties of white matter microstructure are not different between children with persisting PCSs compared with recovered children 2 weeks after concussion. These data extend the limited research on white matter fiber-specific morphology while overcoming limitations inherent to traditional diffusion models. Further validation of our findings with a large-scale cohort is warranted.

Tonic Stimulation of Dorsal Root Ganglion Results in Progressive Decline in Recruitment of Aα/β-Fibers in Rats

ObjectivesIn this study, we aimed to characterize the recruitment and maintenance of action potential firing in Aα/β-fibers generated during tonic dorsal root ganglion stimulation (DRGS) applied over a range of clinically relevant stimulation parameters. Materials and MethodsWe delivered electrical stimulation to the L5 dorsal root ganglion and recorded antidromic evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs) in the sciatic nerve during DRGS in Sprague Dawley rats. We measured charge thresholds to elicit ECAPs in Aα/β-fibers during DRGS applied at multiple pulse widths (50, 150, 300, 500 μs) and frequencies (5, 20, 50, 100 Hz). We measured the peak-to-peak amplitudes, latencies, and widths of ECAPs generated during 180 seconds of DRGS, and excitation threshold changes to investigate potential mechanisms of ECAP suppression. ResultsTonic DRGS produced ECAPs in Aα/β-fibers at charge thresholds below the motor threshold. Increasing the pulse width of DRGS led to a significant increase in the charge required to elicit ECAPs in Aα/β-fibers, while varying DRGS frequency did not influence ECAP thresholds. Over the course of 180 seconds, ECAP peak-to-peak amplitude decreased progressively in a frequency-dependent manner, where 5- and 100-Hz DRGS resulted in 22% and 87% amplitude reductions, respectively, and ECAP latencies increased from baseline measurements during DRGS at 10, 20, 50, and 100 Hz. Regardless of DRGS frequency, ECAP amplitudes recovered within 120 seconds after turning DRGS off. We determined that ECAP suppression may be attributed to increasing excitation thresholds for individual fibers during DRGS. Following 180 seconds of DRGS, an average of 7.33% increase in stimulation amplitude was required to restore the ECAP to baseline amplitude. ConclusionsDRGS produces a progressive and frequency-dependent reduction in ECAP amplitude that occurs within and above the frequency range used clinically to relieve pain. If DRGS-mediated analgesia relies on Aβ-fiber activation, then the frequency or duty cycle of stimulation should be set to the lowest effective level to maintain sufficient activation of Aβ-fibers.

Chemical Prelithiated 3D Lithiophilic/-Phobic Interlayer Enables Long-Term Li Plating/Stripping.

The up-to-date lifespan of zero-excess lithium (Li) metal batteries is limited to a few dozen cycles due to irreversible Li-ion loss caused by interfacial reactions during cycling. Herein, a chemical prelithiated composite interlayer, made of lithiophilic silver (Ag) and lithiophobic copper (Cu) in a 3D porous carbon fiber matrix, is applied on a planar Cu current collector to regulate Li plating and stripping and prevent undesired reactions. The Li-rich surface coating of lithium oxide (Li2O), lithium carboxylate (RCO2Li), lithium carbonates (ROCO2Li), and lithium hydride (LiH) is formed by soaking and directly heating the interlayer in n-butyllithium hexane solution. Although only a thin coating of ∼10 nm is created, it effectively regulates the ionic and electronic conductivity of the interlayer via these surface compounds and reduces defect sites by reactions of n-butyllithium with heteroatoms in the carbon fibers during formation. The spontaneously formed lithiophilic-lithiophobic gradient across individual carbon fiber provides homogeneous Li-ion deposition, preventing concentrated Li deposition. The porous structure of the composite interlayer eliminates the built-in stress upon Li deposition, and the anisotropically distributed carbon fibers enable uniform charge compensation. These features synergistically minimize the side reactions and compensate for Li-ion loss while cycling. The prepared zero-excess Li metal batteries could be cycled 300 times at 1.17 C with negligible capacity fading.

Dynamic strengthening of UHMWPE yarns by incorporating ZrO2/PU coatings

Wrapping is an effective technique for reducing defects in fabric weaving and promoting even wetting in composite manufacturing, which is potential to enhance the impact resistance of armor materials. In this study, we impregnated UHMWPE yarns with a polyurethane (PU) compound and cured them to create composite yarns, and ZrO2 was introduced to improve the toughness. The microstructures were analyzed using three-dimensional X-ray computed tomography, optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Quasi-static and dynamic tensile experiments were conducted using a universal testing machine and Kolsky tension bar, respectively. High-speed imaging was used to capture the real-time failure process, and post-fracture analysis was performed to examine the fracture morphology. The effects of strain rate, gauge length, and the presence of PU and ZrO2 on the mechanical behavior of the yarns were investigated. The results showed that the peak force of the composite yarns with PU coatings exhibited strain-rate dependency at low strain rates (below 4.4 × 10−2 s−1) but became insensitive to strain rate in the higher range of 4.4 × 10−2 s−1 to 1500 s−1. Furthermore, the introduction of ZrO2 effectively increased the peak force, potentially by strengthening the bonding between individual fibers within the yarn.

Employing limestone and calcined clay for preserving the strain-hardening response of PET fiber-reinforced cementitious composites

The degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers in alkaline environments limits their use in strain-hardening cementitious composites (SHCC). Prolonged PET exposure to alkaline environments has a detrimental effect on its mechanical performance, mainly due to the physicochemical transformation caused by alkaline hydrolysis. This study presents a tailored cementitious matrix design containing high amounts of limestone and calcined clay, replacing 75 wt% of Portland cement, to attain and maintain the strain-hardening response of composites incorporating PET fibers as dispersed reinforcement. Analytical and mechanical tests were carried out at different curing ages, ranging from 7 to 60 days, to study the effects of aging on virgin PET fibers, both within the matrix and outside it (in the pore solution). The results showed a pronounced degradation of the PET fibers in the test pore solution at pH 12.5, manifested by a progressive reduction in the load-bearing capacity of the individual fibers with prolonged immersion. Conversely, when the PET fibers were aged in-matrix under laboratory conditions and tested under tension, the performance of the corresponding composites showed resilience to aging, exhibiting reasonable tensile strength and remarkable strain capacities that exceeded 4 %.

Flexible and Thermally Insulating Porous Materials Utilizing Hollow Double-Shell Polymer Fibers.

The global climate change is mainly caused by carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. To help reduce CO2 emissions and conserve thermal energy, sustainable materials based on flexible thermal insulation are developed to minimize heat flux, drawing inspiration from natural systems such as polar bear hairs. The unique structure of hollow double-shell fibers makes it possible to achieve low thermal conductivity in the material while retaining exceptional elasticity, allowing it to adapt to insulation systems of any shape. The layered system of porous mats reaches a thermal conductivity coefficient of 0.031 W∙m⁻¹∙K⁻¹ and enables to reduce the heat transfer. The results achieved using scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) correlate with the simulated heat flow in the case of individual fibers. This research study brings new insights into the energy efficiency of domestic environments, thereby addressing the growing demand for sustainable and high-performance insulation materials for saving energy loss and reducing pollution footprint.

Yolk-shell MOF-on-MOF hybrid solid-phase microextraction coatings for efficient enrichment and detection of pesticides: Structural regulation cause performance differences

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based composites with different structure-activity relationships have been widely used in the field of organic pollutant adsorption and extraction. Here, two MOF-on-MOF composites with different structures (yolk-shell and core-shell) from homologous sources were prepared by a simple in-situ growth synthesis method and structural regulation. In order to verify the effect of composite structure on the extraction capacity, the adsorption performance of the yolk-shell structure (YS–NH2-UiO-66@CoZn-ZIF) and the core-shell structured (NH2-UiO-66@CoZn-ZIF) material were compared by using them as coating material of direct immersion solid-phase microextraction (DI-SPME) to enrich six pesticides in five matrices. The results showed that because of the unique hollow hierarchical structure, high specific surface area (930.68 m2 g−1), abundant and open active sites, and synergistic and complementary adsorption forces, YS-NH2-UiO-66@CoZn-ZIF composites had the maximum adsorption amount of 36.01–66.31 mg g−1 under the same experiment condition, which was 6.81%–34.26 % higher than that of NH2-UiO-66@CoZn-ZIF. In addition, the adsorption mechanism of the prepared materials was verified and elaborated through theoretical simulations and material characterization. Under the optimized conditions, the YS-NH2-UiO-66@CoZn-ZIF-coated SPME-HPLC-UV method had a wide linear range (0.241–500 μg L−1), a good linear correlation coefficient (R2 > 0.9988), a low detection limits (0.072–0.567 μg L−1, S/N = 3) and low quantification limits (0.241–1.891 μg L−1, S/N = 10). The relative standard deviations of individual fibers and different batches of fibers were 0.47–6.20 % and 0.22–2.48 %, respectively, and individual fibers could be recycled more than 104 times. This work provided a good synthetic route and comparative ideas for exploring the in-situ growth synthesis of yolk-shell composites with reasonable structure-activity relationships.

The mechanical responses of SiC-coated carbon-bonded carbon fiber composites under quasi-static cyclic compressive loading

SiC-coated carbon-bonded carbon fiber composites (CBCFs), serving as novel thermal protection materials for hypersonic vehicles, are manufactured to investigate their mechanical properties concerning reusability. Comprehensive analyses are performed on their microstructures, including the fiber arrangement and the morphology of individual fibers and interconnecting bonds. The results demonstrate that SiC-coated CBCFs exhibit higher elastic moduli and strengths in both typical directions compared to bare CBCFs. To evaluate their durability in repeated use scenarios, a series of quasi-static uniaxial cyclic compressive experiments are conducted with emphasis on the variations of deformation recovery, load bearing and energy dissipation. The results indicate that SiC-coated CBCFs exhibit stable deformation recovery ability in the OP direction after the 25th cycle, with a decelerating decline in their load-bearing capacity observed over subsequent cycles. The energy loss coefficient initially decreases with increasing cycle number, and higher compression loads enlarge the amount of energy that is dissipated in the first cycle. These insights elucidate critical correlations between the mechanical properties of SiC-coated CBCFs and the number of compressive cycles, contributing to the optimization of their practical utilization in reusable scenarios.

Chemo-mechanical ageing of paper: effect of acidity, moisture and micro-structural features

A multi-scale modeling framework is proposed for the prediction of the chemo-mechanical degradation of paper, with the particular aim of uncovering the key factors affecting the degradation process. Paper is represented as a two-dimensional, periodic repetition of a fibrous network unit cell, where the fibers are characterized by a moisture-dependent chemo-hygro-mechanical constitutive behavior. The degradation of paper occurs primarily as a result of the hydrolysis of cellulose, which causes a reduction of the degree of polymerization and a consequent decrease of the effective mechanical properties, ultimately leading to fiber embrittlement and a loss of material integrity. The interplay between the acidity of the paper, the ambient environmental conditions, and its chemo-mechanical degradation behaviour is a complex process. In the model, these interactions are accounted for by determining the coupled temporal evolution of the degree of polymerization, the acidity of the paper, and the moisture content, from which the time-dependent tensile strength of the paper is calculated. The internal stresses developing in the fibrous network under a change in moisture content lead to brittle fiber fracture once they reach the fiber tensile strength. The successive breakage of individual fibers results in damage development in the fibrous network, altering its effective constitutive properties. The temporal evolution of the effective hygro-mechanical properties of the fibrous network is calculated by employing asymptotic homogenization. For obtaining accurate model input, the strength and stiffness properties of individual fibers and the degree of polymerization of paper samples are measured at different ageing times by carrying out dedicated experiments. Subsequently, a series of numerical simulations is performed to analyze the chemo-mechanical degradation process of paper, highlighting the influence of the time-evolving acidity and moisture content. The numerical study further considers the effects of micro-structural features (i.e., the anisotropy of the fibrous network orientation and the fiber longitudinal elastic modulus) on the macroscopic degradation response of paper. The results of this work may help conservators of cultural heritage institutions determining optimal environmental conditions to limit or delay the time-dependent degradation of valuable historical paper artefacts.

Influence of reconstruction uncertainty in fiber orientation distribution on the effective elastic constants of composites reinforced with discontinuous fibers: a Monte Carlo simulation study

The orientation distribution of fibers in discontinuous fiber composite materials is influenced by various factors associated with the manufacturing process. Predicting fiber orientation distribution can be achieved through software simulation of the process or experimental methods, such as X-ray computed tomography. As uncertainties related to the reconstruction of fiber orientation distribution may be unavoidable in practical cases, this paper investigates the impact of some of these uncertainties on the effective elastic constants of composites through Monte Carlo simulations. The primary objective of this study is to address how the ratio of fiber detection and the measurement error of individual fiber orientation influence the orientation tensors and effective elastic constants. To predict the elastic properties of composites under various scenarios of fiber orientation distributions, a micromechanical model incorporating an orientation averaging procedure has been used. Three cases of different fiber orientation distributions have been analyzed. The conducted Monte Carlo simulations enabled the presentation of a quantitative description of the uncertainty associated with the reconstruction of the orientation distribution of fibers, including the effective elastic constants. The resulting distributions of orientation tensors and elastic constants have been analyzed and discussed.

МЕХАНИЧЕСКИЕ СВОЙСТВА СВЕРХВЫСОКОПРОЧНОГО ФИБРОБЕТОНА С РАЗЛИЧНЫМ ВИДОМ СТАЛЬНОЙ ФИБРЫ

The article examines the influence of steel fiber type and volumetric content on the mechanical properties of UHPFRC. Five fiber types were used: corrugated 15/0.3 and 22/0.3 mm, straight 13/0.3 and 13/0.2 mm, and hooked-end 30/0.5 mm. The fiber volume content ranged from 0 to 3%. During the experimental studies, compressive strength, flexural strength, as well as the flexural fracture energy were determined. It has been discovered that an increase in the volumetric content of steel fiber results in an enhancement of all the properties under consideration, irrespective of the type of fiber. The fiber has the biggest effect on the bending fracture energy and the least on the compressive strength. Linear relationships between the mechanical characteristics of UHPFRC and the fiber factor were established, which reflects the volumetric content, length, and diameter of an individual fiber. The slope angle of the approximating lines of the “compressive strength-fiber factor” and “flexural strength-fiber factor” relationships takes on different values depending on the type of fiber used. The highest slope angle is found for corrugated fiber. It was discovered that there is a threshold value of the fiber factor, upon reaching which the steel fiber leads to an increase in the flexural strength of the UHPFRC. According to a generalized quality criterion it has been determined that corrugated fiber with dimensions of 22/0.3 mm is the optimal substitute for straight fiber 13/0.2 mm, which is widely utilized for the production of Ultra-High Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete

Fiber-based Probes for Electrophysiology, Photometry, Optical and Electrical Stimulation, Drug Delivery, and Fast-Scan Cyclic Voltammetry In Vivo.

Recording and modulation of neuronal activity enables the study of brain function in health and disease. While translational neuroscience relies on electrical recording and modulation techniques, mechanistic studies in rodent models leverage genetic precision of optical methods, such as optogenetics and imaging of fluorescent indicators. In addition to electrical signal transduction, neurons produce and receive diverse chemical signals which motivate tools to probe and modulate neurochemistry. Although the past decade has delivered a wealth of technologies for electrophysiology, optogenetics, chemical sensing, and optical recording, combining these modalities within a single platform remains challenging. This work leverages materials selection and convergence fiber drawing to permit neural recording, electrical stimulation, optogenetics, fiber photometry, drug and gene delivery, and voltammetric recording of neurotransmitters within individual fibers. Composed of polymers and non-magnetic carbon-based conductors, these fibers are compatible with magnetic resonance imaging, enabling concurrent stimulation and whole-brain monitoring. Their utility is demonstrated in studies of the mesolimbic reward pathway by simultaneously interfacing with the ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens in mice and characterizing the neurophysiological effects of a stimulant drug. This study highlights the potential of these fibers to probe electrical, optical, and chemical signaling across multiple brain regions in both mechanistic and translational studies.

Challenges to Increasing Dietary Fiber in White Flour and Bread.

Increasing the intake of dietary fiber from staple foods is a key strategy to improve the health of consumers. White bread is an attractive vehicle to deliver increased fiber as it is widely consumed and available to all socio-economic groups. However, fiber only accounts for about 4% of the dry weight of white flour and bread compared to 10-15% in whole grain bread and flour. We therefore discuss the challenges and barriers to developing and exploiting new types of wheat with high fiber content in white flour. These include defining and quantifying individual fiber components and understanding how they are affected by genetic and environmental factors. Rapid high throughput assays suitable for determining fiber content during plant breeding and in grain-utilizing industries are urgently required, while the impact of fiber amount and composition on flour processing quality needs to be understood. Overcoming these challenges should have significant effects on human health.

Conversion of Waste Agricultural Biomass from Straw into Useful Bioproducts—Wheat Fibers and Biofuels

Straw, the primary agricultural waste, constitutes approximately 20% of the total biomass in the EU. Only a small fraction of the material is applied in various products, e.g., animal bedding, mulch, building, and composite materials, while a significantly larger portion is often burned in the field. This practice, while prohibited for several reasons, including the increased risk of fire and the release of carbon dioxide contributing to global warming, is still prevalent. Given the increasingly evident effects of climate change, EU legislation aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible. One of the strategies includes applying the cascade principle in the circular economy. This principle aims to use the entire raw material, in this case, cereal crops, such that the products with the highest added value, like cellulose fibers from cereal straw, are extracted first. The vast potential for utilizing lignocellulosic agro-waste sustainably arises from its status as the most abundant organic compound on Earth. Its significant presence, renewability, and biodegradability make it a desirable source for producing materials in numerous industries. This study examines the potential of wheat fibers, isolated from the straw of two distinct cultivars (Srpanjka represents an old variety, and Kraljica represents the new variety) primarily for application in technical textiles. The following testing methods were applied: determination of wheat fibers and residues yield, fibers tensile properties, length, moisture content/regain, density, morphology, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The yield of isolated fibers relies on the wheat variety and the climatic conditions affecting plant growth, resulting in fiber yields from 10.91% to 15.34%. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis indicates reduced peak intensity, which is related to hemicellulose and lignin content, suggesting their improved deposition following the process of chemical maceration. Wheat fiber quality was found to be comparable to cotton fibers regarding its density. However, they showed a significant difference in higher moisture regain (9.72–11.40%). The vast majority of the scientific papers related to wheat fibers did not indicate the length of the individual fibers obtained by chemical maceration nor their strength. Therefore, this paper indicated that both varieties demonstrated sufficient fiber tenacity (greater than 10 cN/tex) and fiber length (2–3 cm), stressing the spinning potential of these fibers into yarns and extending their use to the apparel industry. Moreover, our research underscores the feasibility of adhering to the zero-waste principle. A high percentage of solid waste remaining after fiber extraction (25.3–39.5%) was successfully used for biofuel production, thus closing the loop in the circular economy.

Intracellular Macromolecular Crowding within Individual Stress Fibers Analyzed by Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy

IntroductionThe diffusion of cell components such as proteins is crucial to the function of all living cells. The abundance of macromolecules in cells is likely to cause a state of macromolecular crowding, but its effects on the extent of diffusion remain poorly understood.MethodsHere we investigate the diffusion rate in three distinct locations in mesenchymal cell types, namely the open cytoplasm, the stress fibers in the open cytoplasm, and those below the nucleus using three kinds of biologically inert green fluorescent proteins (GFPs), namely a monomer, dimer, and trimer GFP. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) was used to determine the diffusion coefficients.ResultsWe show that diffusion tends to be lowered on average in stress fibers and is significantly lower in those located below the nucleus. Our data suggest that the diffusive properties of GFPs, and potentially other molecules as well, are hindered by macromolecular crowding. However, although the size dependence on protein diffusion was also studied for monomer, dimer, and trimer GFPs, there was no significant difference in the diffusion rates among the GFPs of these sizes. These results could be attributed to the lack of significant change in protein size among the selected GFP multimers.ConclusionThe data presented here would provide a basis for better understanding of the complex protein diffusion in the nonuniform cytoplasm, shedding light on cellular responses to mechanical stress, their local mechanical properties, and reduced turnover in senescent cells.

A new species of Australotaenia (Cestoda: Proteocephalidae) from a hylid frog in Australia

A new species of the little-known genus Australotaenia de Chambrier &amp; de Chambrier, 2010 is described from Ranoidea australis (Gray) (Anura: Hylidae), commonly known as the giant frog, northern snapping frog or round frog and which is a burrowing frog species native to Australia. Australotaenia hobbsi n. sp. is the fourth species of the genus, but the first taxon found in a burrowing frog and in northern Australia. The other species were found in Australian tree frogs (Litoria spp.) in southwestern and southeastern Australia, and in the homalopsid snake Enhydris enhydris (Schneider) in Cambodia. Australotaenia hobbsi n. sp. differs from its congeners (i) by the wider strobila (maximum body width 1,750 µm versus &lt; 930 µm), scolex (570 µm versus &lt; 390 µm) and suckers (diameter 215–230 µm versus &lt; 140 µm); (ii) by the smaller relative size of the cirrus sac (12–15% of proglottid width versus 17–33%); (iii) by the absence of a vaginal sphincter (present in the other three species); (iv) different arrangement of the inner longitudinal musculature, which consists of a few individual muscle fibres (in contrast to the fibres grouped in bundles in other species). Australotaenia species and Pangasiocestus romani Scholz &amp; de Chambrier, 2012 from the spot pangasius Pangasius lernaudii Boucourt, both of the subfamily Acanthotaeniinae, are unique among proteocephalids in terms of intermediate uterine development, with a high concentration of chromophilic cells around the tip of the lateral uterine diverticula.

Aberrant myonuclear domains and impaired myofiber contractility despite marked hypertrophy in MYMK-related, Carey-Fineman-Ziter Syndrome

Carey Fineman Ziter Syndrome (CFZS) is a rare autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the MYMK locus which encodes the protein, myomaker. Myomaker is essential for fusion and concurrent myonuclei donation of muscle progenitors during growth and development. Strikingly, in humans, MYMK mutations appear to prompt myofiber hypertrophy but paradoxically, induce generalised muscle weakness. As the underlying cellular mechanisms remain unexplored, the present study aimed to gain insights by combining myofiber deep-phenotyping and proteomic profiling. Hence, we isolated individual muscle fibers from CFZS patients and performed mechanical, 3D morphological and proteomic analyses. Myofibers from CFZS patients were ~ 4x larger than controls and possessed ~ 2x more myonuclei than those from healthy subjects, leading to disproportionally larger myonuclear domain volumes. These greater myonuclear domain sizes were accompanied by smaller intrinsic cellular force generating-capacities in myofibers from CFZS patients than in control muscle cells. Our complementary proteomic analyses indicated remodelling in 233 proteins particularly those associated with cellular respiration. Overall, our findings suggest that myomaker is somewhat functional in CFZS patients, but the associated nuclear accretion may ultimately lead to non-functional hypertrophy and altered energy-related mechanisms in CFZS patients. All of these are likely contributors of the muscle weakness experienced by CFZS patients.

Ovine KRT81 Variants and Their Influence on Selected Wool Traits of Commercial Value.

Keratins are the main structural protein components of wool fibres, and variation in them and their genes (KRTs) is thought to influence wool structure and characteristics. The PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism technique has been used previously to investigate genetic variation in selected coding and intron regions of the type II sheep keratin gene KRT81, but no variation was identified. In this study, we used the same technique to explore the 5' untranslated region of KRT81 and detected three sequence variants (A, B and C) that contain four single nucleotide polymorphisms. Among the 389 Merino × Southdown cross sheep investigated, variant B was linked to a reduction in clean fleece weight, while C was associated with an increase in both greasy fleece weight and clean fleece weight. No discernible effects on staple length or mean-fibre-diameter-related traits were observed. These findings suggest that variation in ovine KRT81 might influence wool growth by changing the density of wool follicles in the skin, the density of individual fibres, or the area of the skin producing fibre, as opposed to changing the rate of extrusion of fibres or their diameter.

Physical and Morphological Characterisation of Typha Australis Fibres

Typha australis is an invasive plant from Senegal also found in wetlands. In order to limit its proliferation, typha australis is used in the energy sector but also in construction. This study contributes to the valorisation of typha australis in the field of biocomposites. For this purpose, typha fibres were used. The fibres were extracted manually using a plastic comb, then subdivided into three zones, namely the bottom, middle and top, and dried. The resulting fibres were characterised physically by measuring density, water content and absorption coefficient, and morphologically by determining the morphology but also of the section of the fibres. many respects, the physical property results concerning density show an average of the three areas of 1.53 g/cm3 with a water content between 6 and 10% and an absorption coefficient showing two main absorption phases. As for the tomography results, we directly notice the presence of fibre bundles and not of individual fibres due to the manual extraction method used. Nevertheless, the results obtained suggest a behaviour comparable to that of the most commonly used natural fibres, namely flax.

Green sound-absorbing material prepared by using natural fiber for building acoustics

Natural fibers are recently seen as a replacement for synthetic fibers as core material to produce sound-absorbent materials. These are biodegradable and renewable, and using them as sound-absorbent material brings many environmental benefits as it is much greener compared to existing inorganic and synthetic fibers. Present exploration serves the purpose of investigation and comparison of the acoustic absorption characteristics of individual and mixed natural fibers; jute, coconut coir, and bamboo. Each fiber is reinforced with natural rubber in a certain weight ratio during the fabricating stage. The fibers are then compressed with the help of mould and ram piston in a hydraulic press. The compression is done in the form of cylindrical samples of 40 mm diameter. Each specimen is kept 36 mm thick, according to the given standards. The impedance tube technique is used to evaluate acoustical performances. Multilayered composites made of layers of coir, jute, and bamboo performed better in all the frequency ranges than composites made of individual fibers. Results establish that these fibers are promising and a viable option for light and environment-friendly sound absorption materials.