Due to the complexity of applying a well-defined stretch during human walking, most of our knowledge about the short latency stretch reflex modulation in humans is based on H-reflex studies. To illuminate the difference between the two methodologies, both types of reflexes were evoked in the same subjects, same experiment. Stretch reflexes were evoked via a stretch device capable of evoking str...

29 single frog skeletal muscle fibers were stretched during fused tetanic contractions. The force increase during stretch exhibited a breakpoint at a critical length change (average: 16.6 nm per one-half sarcomere) that was independent of velocity of stretch and of sarcomere length between 1.8 and 2.8 microns. After stretch there was an early decaying force component with a force-extension curv...

Long after a cut peripheral nerve reinnervates muscle and restores force production in adult cats, the muscle does not respond reflexively to stretch. Motivated by the likelihood that stretch areflexia is related to problems with sensing and controlling limb position after peripheral neuropathies, we sought to determine the underlying mechanism. Electrophysiological and morphological measuremen...

AIMS Angiotensin II (Ang II) stimulates cardiac remodelling and fibrosis in the mechanically overloaded myocardium. Although Rho GTPases regulate several cellular processes, including myocardial remodelling, involvement in mediating mechanical stretch-induced regulation of angiotensinogen (Ao), the precursor to Ang II, remains to be determined. We, therefore, examined the role and associated si...

Single fibers from the tibialis anterior muscle of Rana temporaria at 0.8-3.8 degrees C were subjected to long tetani lasting up to 8 s. Stretch of the fiber early in the tetanus caused an enhancement of force above the isometric control level which decayed only slowly and stayed higher throughout the contraction. This residual enhancement was uninfluenced by velocity of stretch and occurred on...

The decorrelation stretch is a process that is used to enhance (stretch) the color differences found in a color image. The method used to do this includes the removal of the inter-channel correlation found in the input pixels; hence, the term "decorrelation stretch". The purpose of this document is to explain: 1) the conditions that normally appear in multispectral data that indicate that color...

PURPOSE Most animal models of stress urinary incontinence simulate maternal injuries of childbirth since delivery is a major risk factor but they do not reproduce the nerve stretch known to occur during human childbirth. We hypothesized that pudendal nerve stretch produces reversible dysfunction of the external urethral sphincter. MATERIALS AND METHODS Female virgin Sprague-Dawley® rats were ...

AIMS The expression of PUMA (p53-up-regulated modulator of apoptosis), an apoptosis-regulating gene, increases during endoplasmic reticulum stress. The mechanisms by which cyclic stretch influences the regulation of PUMA in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) during apoptosis remain unclear. We hypothesized that cyclic stretch enhances PUMA expression in VSMCs undergoing apoptosis. METHODS A...