The contraction produced can be described as a twitch, summation, or tetanus, depending on the frequency of action potentials. In skeletal muscles, muscle tension is at its greatest when the muscle is stretched to an intermediate length as described by the length-tension relationship. Smooth and cardiac muscle contractions are myogenic and can be modulated by the autonomic nervous system.
sex-linked disorder - any disease or abnormality that is determined by the sex hormones; hemophilia is determined by a gene defect on an X chromosome. bleeder's disease, haemophilia, hemophilia - congenital tendency to uncontrolled bleeding; usually affects males and is transmitted from mother to son.
sex-linked. referring to a pattern of inheritance characteristic of genes located on one type of sex chromosome (for example X) and not found on the other type (for example Y); in mammals, in almost all cases, the gene controlling the trait is on the X chromosome so this pattern is often called X-linked.