Mechanical stretch has been implicated in phenotypic changes as an adaptive response to stretch stress physically loaded in bladder smooth muscle cells (BSMCs). To investigate stretch-induced signaling, we examined the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family using rat primary BSMCs. When BSMCs were subjected to sustained mechanical stretch using collagen-coated silicon membranes, activat...

Introduction CRT is an effective treatment for patients with heart failure and intraventricular conduction delay. However, clinical non-response rates remain unacceptably high; emphasizing the need for improved selection criteria. Central to the underlying mechanism of resynchronization is the relationship between mechanical and electrical activation. The purpose of this study was to demonstrat...

BACKGROUND Protein kinase C (PKC) in the spinal cord appears to mediate chronic injury-induced pain, but not acute nociceptive pain. Muscle insult results in increased release of glutamate spinally, and hyperalgesia that is reversed by spinal blockade of NMDA and non-NMDA glutamate receptors. Therefore, we hypothesized that spinal activation of PKC 1) mediates the late phase of hyperalgesia 1 w...

Background Failed fertilization occurs 1-3% in the infertile couples. Failure of oocyte activation (OA) is mainly attributed to failed fertilization. ICSI alone artificial oocyte activation (AOA) is only treatment approach for these individuals. Three procedures are introduced for AOA: chemical, mechanical and electrical. Most of the clinical Centers have commonly used ionomycin for activation ...

background: several echocardiographic markers have been introduced to assess the left ventricular (lv) mechanical dyssynchrony. we studied dyssynchrony markers and the latest lv activation site in heart failure patients with and without left bundle branch block (lbbb). methods: conventional echocardiography and tissue velocity imaging were performed for 78 patients (lv ejection fraction ≤ 35%),...

BACKGROUND A recent study has demonstrated that surgical incision induces an anxiety-like behavior but its relationship with incision-evoked mechanical hypersensitivity remains elusive. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is important for the affective pain. The current study aims to explore ERK1/2 activity in the ACC and its role in the d...

Background Numerous studies have shown that placing the left ventricular (LV) pacing lead in the latest contracting region (mechanically dyssynchronous) or the latest activated region (electrically dyssynchronous) of the LV improves patient response to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT). However, no studies have examined electrical and mechanical dyssynchrony in the same patients to examin...

Abstract Introducing supplementary cementitious materials (SCM), e.g. fly ash, into cement composite results in ecological benefits. However, the case of high amount SCM used as a replacement part cement, there are problems related to development desired properties final composite. Such mixtures often require activation. In first this series publications, chemical activation (using Na 2 SO 4 an...