Passage of spermatozoa through the epididymis and emission of sperm during ejaculation are based on spontaneous and induced contractions of epididymal peritubular muscle layers. This study deals with the ejaculation-relevant factors noradrenaline (NA) and oxytocin (OT) and their contractile effects in the course of the bovine epididymal duct. Muscle tension recording revealed excitatory effects...

Mechanical behavior of biological structures under dynamic loading generally depends on elastic as well as viscous properties of biological materials. The significance of "viscous" parameters in real situations remains to be elucidated. Behavior of rheological models consisting of a combination of inertial body and two Voigt's bodies were described mathematically with respect to inverse problem...

The quest for ethical foundations in the practice of national product (GNP) and per caput public health spending [2]. This is irrespective of political and ideomedicine goes far back in the mists of time: the Hippocratic oath is hardly more than a synthesis, logical systems. In 1992, application of dialysis therapy ranged from handed down to us, of ethical principles already ongoing in the four...

A growing body of evidence suggests a role of estrogens in the male reproduction via their specific estrogen receptors (ERalpha/ERbeta). Estrogen receptor distribution along the genital tract tissues has been described in different species, but it is unknown in the pig. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to localize ERbeta in the epididymis of mature and immature pigs (aged 2 and 18 mo...

DNA stability and thiol-disulphide status of rat sperm nuclei was observed in vivo during maturation in the epididymis and penetration of oocytes. When spermatids and spermatozoa were stained with acridine orange after fixation with acetic alcohol, the red/green fluorescence ratio observed under a confocal microscope was not different between spermatids (3.81 +/- 0.16) and testicular spermatozo...

Compared to other animals, the anatomy of the human epididymis appears unusual. The caput epididymis is composed mostly of efferent ducts with an undefined initial segment. The present study investigates the regionalization of c-ros in human epididymis by real-time quantitative RT-PCR, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry studies. C-ros gene encodes a receptor-type protein tyrosine ki...

The function of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in sperm maturation was studied by investigating its role in the biochemical maturation of the outer dense fibres. Rat sperm obtained from the caput and cauda epididymis were stimulated overnight with either recombinant MIF or MIF-containing vesicles originating from epididymal fluid at various concentrations. The zinc content of both...

Effect of albumin on proluminal androgen movement from the peritubular space to the intratubular fluids of the adult rat testis and epididymis was examined by using in vivo microperifusion and subsequent micro-puncture of the seminiferous tubules and caput epididymal tubules. Tubules were perfused with four different fluids: (1) Minimum Essential Medium (MEM) containing 3H-testosterone and 14C-...

introduction:  skin  sparing  is  one  of  the  most  desirable  characteristics  of  high  energy  photon  beams. however, the photons emerging from the target of linacs are contaminated by secondary  electrons  as  a  result  of  their  interactions  with  air,  collimators,  flattening  filter  and  any  other  objects in their path. this phenomenon tends to increase the skin dose received b...