The ability of a quadruped to apply propulsive ground reaction forces (GRF) during rapid acceleration may be limited by muscle power, foot traction or the ability to counteract the nose-up pitching moment due to acceleration. Because the biomechanics of acceleration change, both throughout the stride cycle and over subsequent strides as velocity increases, the factors limiting propulsive force ...

After occurrence of spinal cord injury, it is not known whether the respiratory rhythm generator undergoes plasticity to compensate for respiratory insufficiency. To test this hypothesis, respiratory variables were measured in adult semiaquatic turtles using a pneumotachograph attached to a breathing chamber on a water-filled tank. Turtles breathed room air (2 h) before being challenged with tw...

The regional embryonic origin of trunk and limb musculature was determined through heterospecific homotopic or heterotopic transplantations of quail somitic or somiticsomatopleural mesoderm into chick hosts, and through localized X-irradiation of the somitic mesoderm. Experiments were performed on 2-day embryos. Results show that the myoblastic component of all truncal and appendicular muscles ...

jury falls. Studies of fractures in wild populations are potentially useful in testing this theory. Few such studies have been published. In this study, we focused on healed fractures to the pectoral girdle in three species of Accipit• Members of this genus are specialized forest predators that primarily use a series of perch and scan periods from the concealment of tree branches m•d bushes bef...

From comparisons of the cephalic and pectoral girdle structures of Plotosus lineatus with those of other plotosid as well as non-plotosid siluriforms, plotosid catfishes can be defined by at least six autapomorphies. These are: (1) the absence of the ventral division of the muscle arrector dorsalis; (2) the double articulation between the neurocranium and the anterior part of the suspensorium; ...

Rheumatic polymyalgia (RPM) is a relatively common inflammatory disease of unknown origin that presents almost exclusively in adults over the age of 50. It is characterized by morning pain and stiffness in the cervical region and in the pectoral and pelvic girdles and may be associated with giant cell arteritis (GCA).1 Pleural or pericardial effusion is rare in patients with RPM without GCA and...

The head and anterior trunk region of most actinopterygian fishes is stiffened as, uniquely within vertebrates, the pectoral girdles have a direct and often strong connection through the posttemporal to the posterior region of the skull. Members of the mesopelagic fish family Stomiidae have their pectoral girdle separated from the skull. This connection is lost in several teleost groups, but th...

The Flrt3 (Fibronectin-Leucine-Rich Transmembrane protein) gene encodes a fibronectin and leucine-rich repeat transmembrane protein whose expression is controlled by fibroblast growth factors (FGFs). FLRT3 has been implicated in neurite outgrowth after nerve damage, as a positive regulator of FGF signalling and in homotypic cell adhesion. Here we describe Flrt3 expression during chick embryonic...

The cephalic and pectoral girdle structures of the South African catfish Austroglanis gilli are described and compared with those of other catfishes, either studied by us or described in the literature, as the foundation for a discussion on Austroglanididae autapomorphies, and also on the phylogenetic relationships between the austroglanidids and the other catfishes. Our observations, compariso...

Many teleost fishes produce sounds for social communication with mechanisms that do not involve swim bladder musculature. Such sounds may reflect physical attributes of the sound-production mechanism, be constrained by body size and therefore control signal reliability during agonistic behaviors. We examined kinematics of the cranium, median fins and caudal peduncle during sound production in t...