For applied shear stresses lower than some typical value #92;sigma#95;#92;text#123;c#125;#92;simeq 0.2#92;sigma#95;#92;text#123;y#125;, the microgel experiences a more complex, anomalous creep behavior, characterized by an initial decrease of the strain, that we attribute to the existence of residual stresses of the order of #92;sigma#95;#92;text#123;c#125; after preshear.
Source: wiktionary