The bacterial flagellar motor is an ion-driven rotary machine in the cell envelope of bacteria. Using a gold nanoparticle as a probe, we observed the precession of flagella during rotation. Since the mechanism of flagella precession was unknown, we investigated it using a combination of full simulations, theory, and experiments. The results show that the mechanism can be well explained by fluid...

Because of their many inputs and bilateral projections, interneurons surrounding the trigeminal motor nucleus (MotV) are thought to be very important in control of jaw movements and reflexes. However, their interactions with the trigeminal motoneurons are almost unknown. In the present study an in vitro slice preparation was used to investigate this relationship in rat. The zone bordering MotV ...

We determined the origin of corticospinal neurons in the frontal lobe. These neurons were labeled by retrograde transport of tracers after injections into either the dorsolateral funiculus at the second cervical segment or the gray matter of the spinal cord throughout the cervical enlargement. Using retrograde transport of tracer from the arm area of the primary motor cortex, we defined the arm...

The claustrum is interconnected with the frontal lobe, including the motor cortex, prefrontal cortex, and cingulate cortex. The goal of the present study was to assess whether the claustral projections to distinct areas within the frontal cortex arise from separate regions within the claustrum. Multiple injections of tracers were performed in 15 macaque monkeys, aimed toward primary motor area ...

The corpus callosum (CC) is the largest white matter tract in the brain. It enables interhemispheric communication, particularly with respect to bimanual coordination. Here, we use diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in healthy humans to determine the extent to which structural organization of subregions within the CC would predict how well subjects learn a novel bimanual task. A single DTI scan was...

kinematic synthesis of a trailing six-member mechanism has been carried out to achieve five precision points of an automotive steering mechanism. the inner wheel can be rotated up to forty five degrees with fair accuracy. results show that the divergent end behavior of ackermann steering mechanism has been overcome by the present mechanism. the work is similar to earlier work by the present aut...

The discovery of mirror neurons revived interest in motor theories of perception, fostering a number of new studies as well as controversies. In particular, the degree of motor specificity with which others' actions are simulated is highly debated. Human corticospinal excitability studies support the conjecture that a mirror mechanism encodes object-directed goals or low-level kinematic feature...

Masked primes presented prior to a target can trigger response activation processes that may later be subject to inhibition. Evidence for response inhibition has previously been obtained with primes presented at fixation, but not with primes presented in the periphery of the visual field. It is argued that this central-peripheral asymmetry reflects a threshold mechanism in motor control. Foveal...

The actomyosin molecular motor, the motor composed of myosin II and actin filament, is responsible for muscle contraction, converting chemical energy into mechanical work. Although recent single molecule and structural studies have shed new light on the energy-converting mechanism, the physical basis of the molecular-level mechanism remains unclear because of the experimental limitations. To pr...

Yeehaw! The rotation of a visible-light-driven molecular motor based on barbituric acid is tamed by hydrogen bonding “lasso” mechanism between its serendipitously-formed tertiary hydroxy stereocentre and lower half carbonyl groups.