Indeed, even in the country where the crisis began, Greece, the cycle of spending cuts, tax increases and contraction has not resulted in a course correction, and the same path now lies in store for much larger economies like those of Italy and Spain.
The increased tendon reflex gain and contraction rate could be due to a higher level of α-motoneuron activation, which evoked quicker and stronger muscle contraction.
No correlation among the EPCs increase and the contraction force (r = 0.24, p = 0.28) or maximal current (r = 0.12, p = 0.64) was observed.
9-AC increased force and contraction time during 20 Hz but not 50 Hz stimulation.
In cell cultures, oestrogen interacts with adhesion molecules, producing increased deformability and contraction, which theoretically could facilitate cellular exfoliation (Gorodeski, 1998).
Myofibroblasts are generally considered to be the major effector cells responsible for the fibrotic events in the disease, since they contribute to the increased synthesis and contraction of the ECM, which is typical of this disorder.
Important findings of this study were: (1) V0 of voluntarily activated muscle increased with increasing contraction intensity, and (2) V0 of electrically activated muscle was independent of contraction intensity.
51 Thus, both increased mechanical stress and contraction can further increase myofibroblast contractile and matrix synthetic activity.
Functionality assays revealed that hiPSC-smooth muscle tissue cultured in the bioreactor had an increased calcium signaling and contraction in response to a cholinergic agonist, significantly higher mature elastin content and improved mechanical properties in comparison to the static control.
Functionally, Wnt3a inhibited fibroblast proliferation, but increased cell migration and contraction.
We have previously shown that treatment with a decoy ActRIIB soluble receptor (ActRIIB-mFc) increased muscle size and contraction force [15], [26].
