Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-deficient knees have impaired proprioception, and, although mechanoreceptors have been found in the ACL, the existence of a reflex elicited from these receptors has not been directly demonstrated in humans. In eight patients that underwent knee arthroscopy and had no sign of ACL disease, thin wire electrodes were inserted into the proximal and mid parts of the A...

Both circular muscles (CM) and longitudinal muscles (LM) of the esophagus participate in peristalsis. Various measurement techniques have yielded conflicting information as to the temporal correlation between contraction in the two muscle layers. High-frequency intraluminal ultrasound (HFIUS) is a novel technique to detect contraction of LM and CM of the esophagus. We investigated the temporal ...

In this study, we investigated: i) the effects of bed rest and a subsequent physical training program on metabolic cost (Cw), mechanical work and efficiency during walking in older and young men; ii) the mechanisms underlying the higher Cw observed in older than young men.Twenty-three healthy male subjects (N = 16 older adults, age 59.6±3.4 years; N = 7 young, age: 23.1±2.9 years) participated ...

For the past 60 years, muscle contraction had been thought to be governed exclusively by the contractile filaments, actin, and myosin. This thinking explained most observations for concentric and isometric, but not for eccentric muscle contractions. Just over a decade ago, we discovered that eccentric contractions were associated with a force that could not be assigned to actin and myosin, but ...

A number of studies show a close temporal relationship between the rate of change in muscle thickness as detected by high-frequency intraluminal ultrasonography (HFIUS) and intraluminal pressure measured by manometry. There is a marked variability in esophageal contraction amplitude from one swallow to another at a given level in the esophagus and along the length of the esophagus. Furthermore,...

It is well known that cigarette smoke can cause erectile dysfunction by affecting the penile vascular system. However, the exact effects of nicotine on the corpus cavernosum remains poorly understood. Nicotine has been reported to cause relaxation of the corpus cavernosum; it has also been reported to cause both contraction and relaxation. Therefore, high concentrations of nicotine were studied...

A patient with cholinergic dysautonomia and a patient with pandysautonomia have each been investigated for disturbances of bladder and urethral function. Both patients suffered from an inability to develop or sustain a detrusor contraction, while retaining normal bladder sensation. Biopsy specimens of bladder muscle stained for acetylcholinesterase revealed a significant reduction in cholinergi...

Hypoxia (0% O2) evokes a late-phase, endothelium-dependent contractile response in porcine isolated pulmonary arteries that may be caused by a cyclooxygenase-independent, endothelium-derived contractile factor. The aim of this study was to further analyze the mechanism underlying this hypoxic response. Proximal porcine pulmonary arterial rings were suspended for isometric tension recording in o...

The relationship between epithelial bioelectric events and epithelium-dependent relaxant and contractile responses of airway smooth muscle in response to hyperosmolar and hypo-osmolar solutions was investigated in guinea pig isolated trachea. Tracheae were perfused with normal or nonisosmotic modified Krebs-Henseleit solution while simultaneously monitoring transepithelial potential difference ...

background and aims. with the introduction of cone beam computed tomography (cbct) in dentistry, a question has been raised whether the technique significantly increases the diagnostic accuracy in comparison with other techniques or not. therefore, the present study was undertaken to assess the accuracy of cbct modality in detecting proximal carious lesions as compared to conventional periapica...