1 Biological Preliminaries- 1.1 The uterus- 1.2 Functional unit- 1.3 Electrophysiological properties- 1.4 Neuroendocrine modulators- 1.5 Coupling phenomenon- 1.6 Crosstalk phenomena- Exercises- 2 Models of the Gravid Uterus- 2.1 Biological changes in pregnant uterus- 2.2 Mechanical models of the gravid uterus- 2.3 Models of myoelectrical activity- Exercises- 3 A Dynamic Model of the Fasciculus- 3.1 Formulation of the model- 3.2 Effects of change in the ionic environment on myoelectrical activity- 3.2.1 Physiological condition- 3.2.2 Changes in - 3.2.3 Changes in - 3.2.4 Changes in - 3.3 Effects of ion channel agonists/antagonists- 3.3.1 T - type Ca2+ channels - 3.3.2 L type Ca2+ channels- 3.3.3 BKCa channels- 3.3.4 channels- 3.3.5 channels- Exercises- 4 General Theory of Thin Shells- 4.1 Basic assumptions- 4.2 Geometry of the surface- 4.3 Tensor of affine deformation- 4.4 Equations of continuity of deformations- 4.5 Equations of equilibrium- Exercises- 5 Essentials of the Theory of Soft Shells- 5.1 Deformations of the shell- 5.2 Principal deformations- 5.3 Membrane forces- 5.4 Principal membrane forces- 5.5 Equations of motion in general curvilinear coordinates- 5.6 Remarks- 5.7 Nets- 5.8 Corollaries of the fundamental assumptions- Exercises- 6 Continual Model of the Myometrium- 6.1 Basic assumptions- 6.2 Model formulation- 6.3 Biofactor- 6.4 Special cases- Exercises- 7 Models of Synaptic Transmission and Regulation- 7.1 System compartmentalization- 7.2 cAMP-dependent pathway- 7.3 PLC pathway- 7.4 Co-transmission in myometrium- 7.4.1 Co-transmission by acetylcholine and oxytocin- 7.4.2 Co-transmission by acetylcholine and adrenaline- 7.4.3 Co-transmission by oxytocin and adrenaline- 7.4.4 Co-transmission by oxytocin and prostaglandins- Exercises- 8 Pharmacology of Myometrial Contractility- 8.1 Classes of drugs- 8.2 Current therapies of myometrial dysfunction- 8.3 Model of competitive antagonist action- 8.4 Model of allosteric interaction- 8.5 Allosteric modulation of competitive agonist/antagonist action- 8.6 Model of PDE-4 inhibitor- 8.7 Myoelectrical activity - Exercises- 9 Gravid Uterus as a Soft Biological Shell- 9.1 Fundamental assumptions- 9.2 Model of the gravid uterus- 9.3 Numerical simulations- 9.3.1 Uterus close to term- 9.3.2 First stage of labor- 9.3.3 Second stage of labor- 9.3.4 Third stage of labor- 9.3.5 Constriction ring- 9.3.6 Uterine dystocia- 9.3.7 Hyper- and hypotonic uterine inertia - Exercises- 10 Biomechanics of the Gravid Uterus in Perspective- 10.1 Ontology of models - 10.2 Applications, pitfalls and problems - Exercises- References- Index- - -