SUMMARY We investigated the induced seismicity, source mechanisms and mechanical responses of a decametre-scale hydraulic stimulation pre-existing shear zone in crystalline rock, at Grimsel Test Site, Switzerland. The analysis reveals metre-scale complexity stimulation, which remains hidden reservoir-scale. High earthquake location accuracy allowed separation four distinct clusters, three were ...

The adaptability of skeletal muscle to changes in the mechanical environment has been well characterized at the tissue and system levels, but the mechanisms through which mechanical signals are transduced to chemical signals that influence muscle growth and metabolism remain largely unidentified. However, several findings have suggested that mechanical signal transduction in muscle may occur th...

Although hyperalgesia to mechanical stimuli is a frequent sign in patients with inflammation or neuropathic pain, there is to date no objective electrophysiological measure for its evaluation in the clinical routine. Here we describe a technique for recording the electroencephalographic (EEG) responses elicited by mechanical stimulation with a flat-tip probe (diameter 0.25 mm, force 128 mN). Su...

Analysis of the feeding kinematics of Astatotilapia (a small cichlid fish) suggests the presence of peripheral feedback modulation of the motor pattern, allowing the act of suction to be abbreviated. In this way, the effort spent in suction is minimized. The biological significance of the development of such a modulating feedback system is not immediately obvious from a ‘classical ecological’ p...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to clarify the neural mechanisms underlying orofacial pain abnormalities after cervical spinal nerve injury. Nocifensive behavior, phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (pERK) expression and astroglial cell activation in the trigeminal spinal subnucleus caudalis (Vc) and upper cervical spinal dorsal horn (C1-C2) neurons were analyzed in rats wi...

The aim of this work was to develop an in vitro model to study mechanical compression effects on cartilage. A pressure-controlled compression device was used in this study. Cartilage explants obtained from human knee were compressed at 1MPa/1Hz for 7 hours (30 min ON, 30 min OFF) under normoxia (5% CO2, 21% O2) or hypoxia (5% CO2, 5% O2). Cell viability was analyzed while nitric oxide (NO) and ...

Cervical radiculopathy represents aberrant mechanical hypersensitivity. Primary sensory neuron's ability to sense mechanical force forms mechanotransduction. However, whether this property undergoes activity-dependent plastic changes and underlies mechanical hypersensitivity associated with cervical radiculopathic pain (CRP) is not clear. Here we show a new CRP model producing stable mechanical...

Osteocytes, former osteoblasts entombed in the bone matrix, form an extensive cell communication network that is thought to detect microdamage and mechanical strains and to transmit signals leading to repair and compensatory bone augmentation or reduction. Bone active hormones and drugs control the integrity of this network by regulating osteocyte apoptosis, which might be a determinant of bone...

Senapati, Arun K., Stacey C. LaGraize, Paula J. Huntington, Hilary D. Wilson, Perry N. Fuchs, and Yuan B. Peng. Electrical stimulation of the anterior cingulate cortex reduces responses of rat dorsal horn neurons to mechanical stimuli. J Neurophysiol 94: 845–851, 2005. First published February 16, 2005; doi:10.1152/jn.00040.2005. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in the affective ...

The study was performed to check if the well-known intestinal spasmolytic effect of mebeverine is paralleled by any changes in intestinal transepithelial currents. The transepithelial potential difference related to ionic currents of the isolated rabbit distal colon wall was measured by means of Ussing's technique under control conditions and after gentle mechanical stimulation of intestinal ep...