(1) In light microscopical studies of living isolated frog irises, it was found that the maximal areas of experimentally light induced contractions in the m. sphincter pupillae were located beneath small illuminated regions. There were no visible contractions of muscle cells outside the illuminated areas. It was shown that exposure to light could directly cause contractions of isolated single s...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate within- and between-days reliability of two normalization methods of surface electromyography (sEMG) recordings of the trapezius muscle. METHODS Nineteen women were allocated into 2 groups (healthy and with neck-shoulder pain). The sEMG was recorded in two sessions with 7 days in between sessions. The four portions of the trapezius muscle (the clavicular and acromial fib...

Effects of nifedipine (10(-8)-10(-6) M), verapamil (10(-6)-3 x 10(-5) M) and Bay k 8644 (10(-7) M) on the contractions induced by transmural nerve stimulation or agonists were investigated in the circular smooth muscle of guinea pig vas deferens using a ring preparation. Transmural stimulation (20 Hz for 20 sec) produced biphasic contractions consisting of initial phasic and secondary tonic com...

Although skeletal muscle perfusion is fundamental to proper muscle function, in vivo measurements are typically limited to those of limb or arterial blood flow, rather than flow within the muscle bed itself. We present a noninvasive functional MRI (fMRI) technique for measuring perfusion-related signal intensity (SI) changes in human skeletal muscle during and after contractions and demonstrate...

Torque depression (TD) is the reduction in steady-state isometric torque following active muscle shortening when compared with a purely isometric contraction at the same muscle length and level of activation. The purpose of the present study was to assess spinal and supraspinal excitability in the TD state during submaximal contractions of the dorsiflexors. Eleven young (24 ± 2 yrs) males perfo...

Rapid eccentric contractions of the quadriceps have been shown to produce a more variable motor outcome than isometric and concentric contractions (Christou & Carlton, 1999, 2000). These findings provide additional support to the hypothesis that the central nervous system may control gradation of muscle force differently for eccentric contractions (Enoka, 1996). Several studies suggest that whe...

Muscle contractions present the main source of unpleasant sensations for patients undergoing electrochemotherapy. The contractions are a consequence of high voltage pulse delivery. Relatively low repetition frequency of these pulses (1 Hz) results in separate muscle contractions associated with each single pulse that is delivered. It would be possible to reduce the number of unpleasant sensatio...

STAINSBY, WENDELL N., AND HUGH G. WELCH. Lactate metabolism of contracting dog skeletal muscle in situ. Am. J. Physiol. III(I): 177-183. 1966. -These experiments were designed to quantitate the lactate production by in situ skeletal muscle at various steady work rates. The gastrocnemius-plantaris muscle group and the lower leg (foot excluded) of the dog were used. Venous outflow and arterial an...

To address the scarcity of direct comparison of botulinum neurotoxin serotypes activity on smooth versus striatal muscle, we have studied the action of BoNT/A1 and BoNT/B1 on ex vivo preparations of both muscle types. We have set up and characterized a model of neurogenic contractions in the isolated mouse bladder, and used this model to explore the effects of the two serotypes on contractions ...

We performed two studies to determine the effect of a resistive training program comprised of fast vs. slow isokinetic lengthening contractions on muscle fiber hypertrophy. In study I, we investigated the effect of fast (3.66 rad/s; Fast) or slow (0.35 rad/s; Slow) isokinetic high-resistance muscle lengthening contractions on muscle fiber and whole muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) of the elbow...