The morphology of the musculature and connective tissues of the arms of Octopus bimaculoides was analyzed with light microscopy. We also studied O. briareus and O. digueti, which possess relatively more elongate and less elongate arms, respectively. The morphology of the arms was found to be remarkably uniform among species. The arms consist of a densely packed three-dimensional arrangement of ...

Dystonia is a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary twisting movements and postures. There are many different clinical manifestations, and many different causes. The neuroanatomical substrates for dystonia are only partly understood. Although the traditional view localizes dystonia to basal ganglia circuits, there is increasing recognition that this view is inadequate for accommoda...

Co-contraction of abdominal muscles (abdominal bracing) is considered an effective exercise technique for improving spinal stability, and is often recommended and/or included in rehabilitation and/or fitness programs (Maeo et al., 2013b). Abdominal bracing has been shown to induce higher activation in deep abdominal muscles such as transversus abdominis and internal oblique muscles, which are c...

Knee injury rehabilitation often includes the step-up exercise. However, the authors have been unable to locate documentation of the effect of the step-up exercise on lower extremity strength indices. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a six-week lateral step-up exercise protocol on quadriceps muscle group strength. Twenty female nonetheless (age 20 ± 1.5 yrs, ht 162.6 ± 4...

Efficient human motor control is characterised by an extensive use of joint impedance modulation, which to a large extent is achieved by co-contracting antagonistic muscle pairs in a way that is beneficial to the specific task. Studies in single and multi joint limb reaching movements revealed that joint impedance is increased with faster movements [1] as well as with higher positional accuracy...

Children with Down syndrome begin to develop orthopedic problems including inefficient gait pattern for walking early in childhood. To reduce the sequences of these orthopedic problems few treatment modalities such as serial immobilization casting, corrective splints and surgery were used. However, these modalities may delay the progression of neuro-motor development in a child. Alternatively, ...

Quadriceps exercises are used sparingly in the early rehabilitation of ACL reconstructions because of concern about prematurely stretching the ACL graft. The aim of this study was to determine if a maximum isometric quadriceps contraction significantly translates the tibia anteriorly at 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 75° of flexion. Secondly, the role of the ACL in knee stability was analyzed by compa...

Stiff person syndrome (SPS) is a rare autoimmune disease. Most patients have high-titer antibodies against glutamate decarboxylase (GADAb), which is without practical value in disease monitoring. Benzodiazepines are the first line drugs, but long-term use is not well characterized. This report demonstrates ineffective benzodiazepine therapy of SPS that prompts tachyphylaxis, loss of responsiven...