Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR), a minimally invasive procedure based on tissue engineering principles, was performed in six sheep with papain-induced experimental emphysema (EMPH). Physiologic measurements, at baseline, after generation of EMPH, and at 3 and 9 weeks after BLVR, included lung volumes, diffusing capacity (DL(CO)), pressure-volume relationships for the lung and chest w...

The relation between local circulation and alternate muscle activity among knee extensor synergists was determined during low-level sustained knee extension at 2.5% of maximal voluntary contraction for 60 min in seven subjects. Blood volume of rectus femoris (RF) and vastus lateralis (VL) was assessed by using near-infrared spectroscopy. Surface electromyogram (EMG) was recorded from RF, VL, an...

Magnetostructural correlations in antiperovskite manganese nitrides were investigated systematically for stoichiometric and solid solution Mn3Cu1-x A x N (A = Co, Ni, Zn, Ga, Ge, Rh, Pd, Ag, In, Sn or Sb). This class of nitrides is attracting great attention because of their giant negative thermal expansion, which is achieved by doping Ge or Sn into the A site as a relaxant of the sharp volume ...

For the evaluation of canine gastric motility with ultrasonography, contraction number of pyloric antrum and gastric emptying time (GET) by area and volume method developed by Bolondi et al.'s method were studied in 14 dogs. All experimental dogs were administered with saline and soup solution (10 ml/kg, B.W.). The mean values of contraction number of pyloric antrum in saline and soup group wer...

The conformation of two anti-poly-D-alanyl antibodies was studied before and after interaction with hapten by small-angle X-ray scattering. With both samples a volume contraction could be observed upon interaction with the tetra-D-alanine hapten. The anti-poly-D-alanyl antibodies obtained by immunization with poly-D-alanyl diphtheria toxoid showed a decrease of the volume by 10% and a decrease ...

In this paper, we propose a fast intensity-based registration algorithm for the analysis of contrast-enhanced breast MR images. Motion between pre-contrast and post-contrast images has been modeled by a combination of rigid transformation and free-form deformation. By modeling the conditional probability function to be Gaussian and considering the normalized mutual information (NMI) criterion, ...

Background In the intact circulation, changes in intrathoracic pressure and/or lung volume will simultaneously induce alterations in cardiac volumes, output, and contractility among other alterations [1]. In this study, we evaluate the impact of respiratory suspension on the computation of volume-based early peak filling rate (EPFR) to late peak filling rate (LPFR) ratio using peak velocitybase...

We present a patient with an adrenal pheochromocytoma with an unusual pattern of periodic alternating hypertension and hypotension. Alpha-adrenergic blockade alone failed to affect this pattern, which was abolished only after fluid repletion. The efficacy of volume expansion in ultimately correcting the wide fluctuations of blood pressure implicates a possible reflex neurogenic mechanism for th...

We present a reduced–order heart model with the aim of introducing a novel point of view in the interpretation of the pressure–volume loops. The novelty of the approach is based on the definition of active contraction as opposed to that of active stress. The consequences of the assumption are discussed with reference to a specific pressure-volume loop characteristic of a normal human patient.

The rectal expansion and concomitant sensory function on graded, isobaric, rectal distension within the interval 5-60 cm H2O was investigated in 36 healthy young volunteers. Anal pressure and electromyography (EMG) from the external anal sphincter were simultaneously recorded. Rectal distension caused an initial rapid expansion followed by transient, often repeated, reflex rectal contractions a...