Dr Stephen Eichhorn is Senior Lecturer in Polymer Physics and Biomaterials in the Materials Science Centre at the University of Manchester. He is a member of the ACS Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division and the Institute of Physics. J. W. S. Hearle, M.A., Sc.D., Ph.D., C.Text F.T.I (Hon.), F.Inst.P, is Emeritus Professor of Textile Technology in the University of Manchester, UK. Professor Michael Jaffe was with Celanese and Hoechst Celanese Research in the USA before leaving for the Biomedical Engineering Department at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Dr Takeshi Kikutani is a Professor in the Department of Organic and Polymeric Materials at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Polymer Processing Society and The Society of Fiber Science and Technology, Japan.