The hoof plays an important role in the health and well-being of dairy animals. Consequently, mechanical properties of the hoof horn and changes in this tissue with nutrition or environmental factors are important concerns. A novel experimental approach for evaluating the mechanical behaviour of hoof horn has been developed. The process is comprised of obtaining incremental slices of hoof horn,...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Leprosy involves both the skin and peripheral nervous system. Leprosy patients display an increased incidence of xerosis and altered sensory thresholds, which persist in previously active skin sites. We assessed here whether alterations in stratum corneum (SC) function persist in cured leprosy, and the relationship of epidermal functional abnormalities to each clinical...

BACKGROUND The acidic pH of the stratum corneum (SC) is important for epidermal permeability barrier homeostasis. Acidification of the skin surface has been suggested as a therapeutic strategy for skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis (AD). OBJECTIVE We performed an animal study to evaluate the usefulness of acidification of SC for inhibition of AD lesions and to find out if the therapeuti...

Dandruff is characterized by a flaky, pruritic scalp and affects up to half the world's population post-puberty. The aetiology of dandruff is multifactorial, influenced by Malassezia, sebum production and individual susceptibility. The commensal yeast Malassezia is a strong contributory factor to dandruff formation, but the presence of Malassezia on healthy scalps indicates that Malassezia alon...

BACKGROUND Despite almost the three decades passed since the chemical attacks of Iraqi's army against the Iranian troops, some veterans are still suffering from long-term complications of sulfur mustard (SM) poisoning, including certain skin complaints specially dryness, burning, and pruritus. We thus aimed to evaluate the skin's water and lipid content in patients with a disability of >25% due...

In the recent years, the biophysical properties and presumed physiological role of aquaporins (AQPs) have been expanded to specialized cells where water and solute exchange are crucial traits. Complex but unique processes such as stomatal movement or pollen hydration and germination have been addressed not only by identifying the specific AQP involved but also by studying how these proteins int...

Measurements of electrical resistance appear to be useful indicators of porosity and related water permeability in insect cuticle. To develop an adequate understanding of how such measurements relate to the physical and structural properties of the integument, we made detailed determinations of resistance and impedance values for pronotal cuticle in adult male Periplaneta americana. The most co...

The major hydraulic phase in all the calcium aluminate cements including ciment fondue is CA (CaAl2O4). Once hydrated, it starts to form the hexagonal crystals of CAH10 and C2AH8 that depending on the time and temperature of hydration convert to the cubic crystals of C3AH6 and AH3. The nature, sequence, ...