Main description:

Resistance arteries have been recognized for some time as key factors in the regulation of vascular flow resistance, where they determine the regional and local distribution of blood and arterial pressure. Chapters provide an overview of the physiological, biochemical, and electrophysiological characteristics of these vessels, as well as a critical evaluation of the methodologies for studying small arteries and an examination of the membrane and neural mechanisms involved in the control of vascular tone.

Contents:

CH. 1. Vascular Resistance: Structural vs Functional Basis.- CH. 2. The Resistance Vasculature: Functional Importance in the Circulation.- CH. 3. Common In Vitro Investigative Methods.- CH. 4. In Vivo Measurements of Resistance Artery Dynamics.- CH. S. Chronic In Vivo Microcirculatory and Hemodynamic Techniques.- CH. 6. The UItrastructure of Arterioles.- CH. 7. Geometry, Structure, and Mechanics of Resistance Arteries.- CH. 8. Growth and Modification in Number of Resistance Vessels.- CH. 9. Myogenic Properties of Blood Vessels In Vitro.- CH. 10. The Myogenic Response: In Vivo Studies.- CH. 11. Flow-Dependent Vascular Tone.- CH. 12. Conduction in the Resistance Vessel Wall:Contributions to Vasomotor Tone and Vascular Communication.- CH. 13. Neural Control of Resistance Arteries.- CH. 14. Local Metabolic Influences on Resistance Vessels.- CH. 15. Monovalent-Ion Pumps and Carriers in Resistance Arteries.- CH. 16. Ion Channels in Resistance Arteries.- CH. 17. Membrane Biochemistry of Vascular Smooth Muscle of Resistance Blood Vessels and Changesin Hypertension.- CH. 18. Regulation of Calcium Sensitivity in Vascular SmoothMusde.- CH. 19. Hemodynamics in Arteriolar Networks.- CH. 20. Autoregulation and Resistance-Artery Function.- CH. 21. The Microvascular Consequences of Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension.- CH. 22. Acute-Microvascular-Injury Mechanisms.- CH. 23. Chaos in the Fractal Arteriolar Network.- CH. 24. Scaling the Resistance Vessels: Architecture of the Mammalian Arterial Tree.