1. The responses of starfish sperm flagella to mechanical stimulation with a microneedle were analysed. Flagellar movement was recorded by high-speed microcinematography and by stroboscopic observation. 2. The amplitude of the bending wave of a flagellum was restricted over its entire length when the microneedle was brought near to the flagellum at its proximal region. Beyond the restricted par...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects on spontaneous beating rate of mouse atrial preparations following selective block of cardiac "funny" (f) channels, I(f), and/or suppression of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) function in the absence and presence of β-adrenoceptor stimulation. ZD7288 [to block I(f)] caused a substantial reduction (222 ± 13 bpm) in beating rate from 431 ± 14 to 20...

In the gymnostome ciliate Didinium nasutum, swimming behaviour depends upon the cyclic activity of about 3000 cilia. The normal beating mode, resulting in forward swimming of the cell, is characterized by a posteriad effective beat (18 left of the longitudinal axis) at a frequency of approximately 15 Hz. Activation of depolarization-sensitive ciliary Ca2+ channels leads to an increase in intrac...

Coronary revascularization was first performed on the beating heart. Later on the heart-lung machine facilitated the wide-spread application and allowed accurate anastomoses to be performed on a fibrillating or arrested heart. The contemporary beating heart surgery goes back to the original approach, thereby using appropriate technology and techniques that have allowed surgeons to perform high ...

Myocardial cells were isolated from newborn rats, cultured on a novel three-dimensional (3-D) honeycomb collagen scaffold (HC) and their morphology and beating rates compared with ones on conventional plastic dishes. On the first day, the cells attached to HC had already started beating. As time went on, the rate of beating increased as the pores of HC gradually filled with the cells, which int...

The mechanism that drives the regular beating of individual cilia and flagella, as well as dense ciliary fields, remains unclear. We describe a minimal model system, composed of microtubules and molecular motors, which self-assemble into active bundles exhibiting beating patterns reminiscent of those found in eukaryotic cilia and flagella. These observations suggest that hundreds of molecular m...

Cultured rat heart cells grown as monolayers in tissue culture will beat for a period of time and eventually stop beating. This process of beating and then stopping has been designated as dedifferentiation (1). McCarl et al. (2) demonstrated in this laboratory that the addition of cortisol acetate to the culture medium, within 24 hr after the cells had stopped contracting, reinitiated the beati...

objective(s): this study aimed to find out whether the chick cardiomyocyte micromass (mm) system could be employed to predict the teratogenecity of common environmental factors. different multivitamins and over the counter drugs were used in this study.   materials and methods: white leghorn 5-day-old embryo hearts were dissected and trypsinized to produce a cardiomyocyte cell suspension in dul...

background: the capability of embryonic carcinoma cells p19 in differentiation to cardiomyocyte was examined through inducing effects of oxytocin (ot) and 5-azacytidin (5az) individually and compared with each other in laboratory condition. materials and methods: p19 embryoid bodies (ebs) was formed through hanging drops method. then, ebs were treated with (5az) or (ot) and the eb medium (ctrl)...

BACKGROUND On-pump beating-heart coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG) is beneficial due to the elimination of cardioplegic arrest. However, there are few reports regarding its efficacy in chronic hemodialysis patients. This study investigated the potential benefits of on-pump beating-heart CABG in chronic hemodialysis patients. METHODS From January 2002 to January 2010, 186 patients...