In the case of arabinoxylan, no crosslinks were observed and no changes to the cellulose crystallinity were measured. Therefore we can assume that a similar number of cellulose entanglements are present compared to cellulose only samples and thus we observe similar compression strengths. As the strain rate increases, and consequently the time of the deformation shortens, the water present in the composites plays a more significant role in generating a high internal pressure and leading to higher normal stresses. The presence of the non-cellulosic polysaccharides make it more difficult for the water to flow due to their viscoelasticity, independently of how they interact with the cellulose scaffold, which led to similar behaviour for the CXG and CAX composites under rapid compression. These results suggest different potential roles for hemicellulosic components in governing the micromechanics of the plant cell wall. While xyloglucan has the potential to play a role in making the plant cell wall more resistant to compressive stresses at both long and short times of deformation, arabinoxylan may contribute in a similar fashion at short time deformations such as in responding to a sudden impact on the cell wall. Interestingly at short timescales of deformation the presence of hemicelluloses led to a mainly elastic behaviour. The elastic behaviour was also predominant in the cellulose only samples being extended to values double those for slow strain rates. We propose that at slow strain rates mechanical behaviour is due mainly to microstructural contributions while at fast strain rates the contribution from constrained fluid becomes dominating, leading to mainly elastic behaviour throughout. The effect of hemicelluloses on fluid movement is suggested to be the result of the presence of polysaccharides between cellulose fibrils, irrespective of whether the polysaccharide is tethered to the cellulose or loosely associated with the surface of fibrils, increasing the hardness of the composites under compression. This together with the motions of the polysaccharide chains themselves will contribute to the mechanical response. These results suggest a key role for water in plant cell wall mechanics which would be especially significant at short times of deformation, assisting the plant to resist sudden deformations. Prevention of HIV transmission using safe and effective treatments with specific mechanisms of action remains a necessary challenge in the development of BU 4061T Proteasome inhibitor microbicides. Of the options currently being explored, HIV entry has become an attractive target for HIV treatment and prevention. Entry is a multi-step process in which interactions between viral and host proteins result in fusion of the enveloped virus with host membranes. Fusion of the host and viral membranes occurs through direct insertion of gp41 into the host membrane and subsequent formation of a trimer of gp41 hairpin complexes, composed of the heptad repeat regions 1 and 2. The formation of this stable complex, referred to as a NVP-BKM120 944396-07-0 6-helix bundle, brings the viral and host membranes into close enough proximity for fusion to occur. During membrane fusion, conformational changes in the envelope proteins provide a kinetic window for inhibition by drugs that bind to the gp41 ectodomain. One such drug, enfuvirtide, is an anionic, 36-amino acid peptide that competes with the HR2 region of gp41 for binding to HR1, thus preventing formation of the mature gp41 6-helix bundle required for fusion. Currently, enfuvirtide is the only fusion inhibitor approved for HIV treatment, and resistant viruses continue to emerge.