Upper airway surgical treatments for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) attempt to modify dysfunctional pharyngeal anatomy or by-pass the pharynx. Modifications of the pharynx diminish the bulk of soft tissue structures which abut the air column, place them under tension, others alter their spatial inter-relationships. Surgical procedures are designed to modify the retropalatal pharynx, th...

The pharynx of Caenorhabditis elegans is a nearly self-contained neuromuscular organ responsible for feeding. To identify genes involved in the development or function of the excitable cells of the pharynx, I screened for worms with visible defects in pharyngeal feeding behavior. Fifty-two mutations identified 35 genes, at least 22 previously unknown. The genes broke down into three broad class...

Specimens of a species of cyclocoelid digenean inhabiting Jacana spinosa from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, most closely resemble Haematotrephus facioi (Brenes and Arroyo, 1962) Yamaguti, 1971, in the same host from Aranjuez, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica, in having confluent vitelline follicles posteriorly, diagnostic of Neohaematotrophus, and in pharynx length, ovary widt...

The apparent irreversibility of the loss of complex traits in evolution (Dollo's Law) has been explained either by constraints on generating the lost traits or the complexity of selection required for their return. Distinguishing between these explanations is challenging, however, and little is known about the specific nature of potential constraints. We investigated the mechanisms underlying t...

Cardiac arrhythmias are often associated with mutations in ion channels or other proteins. To enable drug development for distinct arrhythmias, model systems are required that allow implementing patient-specific mutations. We assessed a muscular pump in Caenorhabditis elegans. The pharynx utilizes homologues of most of the ion channels, pumps and transporters defining human cardiac physiology. ...

We described the dynamic mechanical properties of the passive pharynx in Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs and the effects of caudal tracheal displacement. During general anesthesia and neuromuscular blockade, airflow through the upper airway (V) and pharyngeal cross-sectional area were measured during ramp decreases in pressure downstream from the pharynx (Pdown). Measurements were made with 0, 1, a...

Swallowing is a complex mechanism in which the functions of the central and autonomic nervous systems are integrated to produce a smooth and speedy transference of the bolus from the mouth to the stomach. The pharyngeal phase of deglutition is the most rapid, being usually of less than a second's duration, and for this reason has been difficult to analyze fully. The forces involved in the propu...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion (MARPE) on changes in airflow in the upper airway (UA) of an adult patient with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) using computational fluid-structure interaction analysis. METHODS Three-dimensional UA models fabricated from cone beam computed tomography images obtained befo...

The human esophagus is composed of striated muscle proximally and of smooth muscle distally with a transition zone between the two. Striated muscle contracts much faster than smooth muscle. The change in pressure over time (dP/d t) of the contraction amplitude should therefore be higher in proximal than in distal esophagus, reflecting the presence of striated muscle proximally. There were 34 no...

OBJECTIVE To determine the presence of Helicobacter pylori and, if detected, its potential prevalence in causing recurrent aphthous ulcers confined to mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues of the pharynx. DESIGN Prospective, controlled clinical trial. SETTING Otolaryngology Department of Tanta University Hospitals, Tanta, Egypt. PATIENTS A total of 146 patients with recurrent multiple aphtho...