A programmable bioreactor using a voice-coil actuator was developed to enable research on the effects of periodic vibratory stimulus on human and porcine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). We hypothesized that low frequency vibrations would result in a cartilage phenotype and higher frequency vibrations would result in a bone phenotype. The mechanical stimulation protocol is adjusted from a compute...

During voluntary contractions, human motoneurons discharge with a physiological variability of ∼20%. However, studies that have measured the contractile responses to microstimulation of single motor axons have used regular trains of stimuli with no variability. We tested the hypothesis that irregular (physiological) trains of stimuli produce greater contractile responses than regular (nonphysio...

Several studies found that breathing abnormalities like OSA or Cheyne-Stokes ventilation are related to periodic changes in heart rate [1,2]. The influences of OSA on HRV analyzed by power spectral analysis have not been investigated until now. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to assess changes in the power spectrum of HRV during episodes of OSA as compared to a normal breathing patter...

A melodic pitch experiment was performed to demonstrate the importance of time-interval resolution for pitch strength. The experiments show that notes with a low fundamental (75 Hz) and relatively few resolved harmonics support better performance than comparable notes with a higher fundamental (300 Hz) and more resolved harmonics. Two four note melodies were presented to listeners and one note ...

BACKGROUND Despite the theoretical benefits of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) in preterm infants, systematic reviews of randomized clinical trials do not confirm improved outcomes. The authors hypothesized that oscillating a premature lung with multiple frequencies simultaneously would improve gas exchange compared with traditional single-frequency oscillatory ventilation (SFOV)....

Cortico-muscular coherence was compared during ramp-and-hold isometric and quasi-isotonic contraction of the ankle joint in human subjects. EEG was recorded from the leg area of the motor cortex. EMG was recorded from the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle. The subjects were requested to maintain a steady low level of dorsiflexion and at intervals of 10 s to increase the contraction level within 1 s...

Consciousness presumes a set of integrated functions such as sensory processing, attention, and interpretation, and may depend upon both local and long-range phase synchronization of neuronal activity in cerebral cortex. Here we investigated whether volatile anesthetic isoflurane at concentrations that produce loss of consciousness (LOC) disrupts long-range anterio-posterior and local anterior ...

The effect of lithium on neurocognition is not still fully explored. Brain oscillatory activity is altered in bipolar disorder. We aimed to assess the oscillatory responses of euthymic bipolar patients and how they are affected by lithium monotherapy. Event-related oscillations in response to visual target stimulus during an oddball paradigm in 16 euthymic drug-free and 13 euthymic lithium-trea...