‎In the present research，monkeys respond to sexual stimulation by the gradual increase in muscle tension in two to four seconds.

It means that monkeys begin to respond （to sexual stimulation by the gradual increase in muscle tension ）in 2 to 4 seconds‘ time

Is my understanding right？

Question

‎In the present research，monkeys respond to sexual stimulation by the gradual increase in muscle tension in two to four seconds.

It means that monkeys begin to respond （to sexual stimulation by the gradual increase in muscle tension ）in 2 to 4 seconds‘ time

Is my understanding right？

OwLeho · Accepted Answer

Almost. The "gradual increase in muscle tension" is describing how the monkeys respond. It is not describing the sexual stimulation. So [the way they respond] to the sexual stimulation [is by gradually increasing their muscle tension].

So that means that the "sexual stimulation" causes the "gradual increase in muscle tension" response. And it happens within 2 to 4 seconds, yes.

OwLeho · Answer

@f85b03dd Yes, exactly! =)

OwLeho · Answer

@f85b03dd Yes, that is correct.

OwLeho · Answer

@f85b03dd  "no more than" and "not more than" usually mean the same thing. So it will not change the meaning.

OwLeho · Answer

@f85b03dd And yes, "at least" 2 seconds is correct and not "at last" 2 seconds. Good catch! Using "at least 2 seconds" is correct for this sentence.

And you are welcome!

OwLeho · Answer

@f85b03dd Yes, "monkreys" is a mistake. It does need to change to be "monkeys". And yes, "monkreys" is not a word in English. That is a very good catch!

So yes, "monkeys" is the correct word.

OwLeho · Answer

@f85b03dd The "in from" part is really awkward phrasing. I think they mixed up two different phrases for this.

So:
You can say that something happened "in two to four seconds" 
or you can say that something "[took] from two to four seconds" to happen.

[basically they are trying to say that you may have to wait two seconds at least or four seconds at most, for this thing to happen]

But it looks like they tried to say it both ways at the same time, so I think that is a minor mistake. Maybe they said it one way, then changed it to phrase this the other way...but accidentally left in an extra word. But it really shouldn't have "in from". It should either have "in" or "from" but not both.

But this may have also happened because the grammar doesn't like putting "from [number of seconds]" into that part of the sentence. So to make the phrase "from two to four seconds" work with the grammar, you really have to restructure the sentence. So they basically had two options for how to write this sentence without breaking the grammar like that.

These would be correct:
- "It takes from two to four seconds of sexual stimulation for young monkeys to demonstrate full tumescence." 
- Or they could just keep the rest of the sentence the way it is with "Young monkeys can demonstration full tumescence in 2 to 4 seconds of sexual stimulation." [but they had to remove the "from" and keep only the "in" here.]

So I think that they wanted to use "from two to four seconds" but then they noticed that the grammar didn't like it, but they didn't know how to fix it (by restructuring the sentence) so they tried to use both "in" and "from" together. Which is not correct for this sentence. Which is why it doesn't quite work. But you can still see what they meant to say, because both ways of saying it would have meant the same thing.

OwLeho · Answer

@f85b03dd Well it says "Young monkeys can demonstrate full tumescence" in that time. So that means they can reach full tumescence within that time / by that time. So after as little as two seconds or as much as four seconds, young monkeys can reach full tumescence, which is much quicker compared to other (older) monkeys (because ten seconds is the typical reaction time for monkeys).

So if some of the young monkeys can reach their full tumescence after 2 to 4 seconds, then the start of tumescence for that monkey must happen before that. So for a very fast young monkey, who reached full tumescence after only 2 seconds of sexual stimulation, they must have started to react and started tumescence at 1 second, so that they could be at full tumescence by 2 seconds. Which is very fast.

If it did not specifically say "full" tumescence in two to four seconds...then I would assume it only was the beginning response time instead of the full tumescence time. Because it is just so fast. But it says that they can demonstrate "full tumescence" in that time, so the beginning response time (when it begins response to the stimulation) must be almost immediate to when the sexual stimulation starts. So the sexual stimulation begins and they respond almost at the exact same time. So young monkeys respond almost instantly to the stimulation.

So for young monkeys:
- stimulation starts .... and they respond to that stimulation almost instantly
- then at 2 to 4 seconds, they have reached full tumescence already.

And for other monkeys and most monkeys:
- stimulation starts
- somewhere after that (typically around ten seconds) they start to react/or reach tumescence

Or at least, that is based on how that was written and phrased. That is what it seems to be saying.

OwLeho · Answer

@f85b03dd Okay. I'm going to break this down into specific words and chunks.

"develops" makes it sound like it starts and then also progresses during that time frame.

If something happens "within" [that time frame] means that it does not take any longer than [that time frame], so it happens in that amount of time, or less than that amount of time. So "within 2 to 4 seconds" = 2 to 4 seconds at most, 2 to 4 seconds or less.

So: "Tumescence develops within 2 to 4 seconds of sexual stimulation" = Tumescence starts and continues to develop in the first 2 to 4 seconds after the sexual stimulation has begin.

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The line "full tumescence early in sexual response cycle" is adding to the information. So tumescence starts to develop within 2 to 4 seconds (which is very fast), and then reaching full tumescence also happens quickly. It doesn't give an exact time for it, but it says it is reached "early in sexual response cycle." So it is still fast for the whole cycle.

This is contrasted with the second example for older monkeys. They only reach full tumescence immediately before orgasm. So they wait until the very last part of the sexual response cycle, before they finally reach full tumescence.

--

So young monkeys start tumescence very quickly when stimulated, and then reach full tumescence soon after that, and then they keep their tumescence for awhile before they finish the sexual response cycle with an orgasm.

And older monkeys take 2-3 times longer to even achieve tumescence at all, because they only reach full tumescence immediately before orgasming. So they have only partial tumescence for most of the time. So they have a much slower response and development rate for their sexual response cycle and for the tumescence development.

Or at least, that is what this description seems to say.

(Also, it is super impressive that you studying something like medicine, and also in a different language too. That is very challenging but also exciting. So I wish you the best of luck in your studies!)

OwLeho · Answer

@f85b03dd Maybe this will help.

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Within 4 seconds = means that 4 seconds is the maximum. So it can be 1, or 2, or 3, or 4 seconds. But that it is less than 4 seconds for this to happen. [Well, technically 4 seconds or less.]

For example: 
- Within four seconds, it should start to change color. If it has not changed at all after 6 seconds, then you probably did it incorrectly and you will need to start over. 
- Within ten minutes, he had gotten bored. (he got bored before ten minutes had finished). 
- Within an hour she had finished all of her chores. (in less than an hour, she had finished all of her chores).

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In 4 seconds = means that you wait 4 seconds for this to happen, so it basically means 'after 4 seconds' this thing will happen.

For example:
- check the food in five minutes / in five minutes it should be done cooking
- The taxi will be here in four minutes.
- The movie will start in ten minutes. 
- The plane will arrive in 25 minutes.

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When you have a number range (like "3-4 times longer" or "2 to 3 seconds" etc) then that usually means that it is between those two numbers. So it is at minimum the smaller number, or at most the larger number.

So for example:
- The pancakes are 3 to 4 inches wide.
- The boards are 6 to 8 feet in length. 
- It will take 4 to 5 minutes to cook.

Phrasing like "from 2 to 4 seconds" reinforces that same meaning. That it starts "from" the lower number and can go as far as the higher number. That it is between those two numbers. But not less or more than those two numbers. So "2 to 4" = 2 at the least, possibly 3, or possibly 4 at the most. So it is within that range, between those two possible numbers.

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So, when you combine "within" or "in" + a number range [like "2 to 4 seconds"], then it means this:

"in" or "within" + a number range = you will have to wait until at least the smaller amount of time, and at most the longer amount of time. Because it should happen "within" the range that is between these two numbers.

So for example:

Delivery will arrive in 3 to 5 days. = delivery will arrive in at little as 3 days, or at most in 5 days. If it arrives sooner than 3 days, that means it arrived "early" And if it arrived after 5 days, that means it arrived "late". Because it was supposed to arrive in 3, 4 or 5 days.

Note: if you want to say that it is "in 2 seconds or less [which is 1 second]...or up to 4 seconds or less [which is 1 or 2 or 3]." then it is both easier and clearer to just say "in 4 seconds or less". To give the maximum time and say "within this maximum time" = within 4 seconds. Because you are not actually giving a range at all for that meaning.

OwLeho · Answer

@f85b03dd So for your image question:

- "within 100-200 days" means = this should happen anywhere between 100 days to 200 days.

- "Within 200 days" means = this should happen anywhere between 1 day to 200 days.

It is giving a range, so it needs to happen within that range usually. Sometimes it might be a good thing to fall outside of the expected range: if you complete a project 30 days early, then your boss might be impressed. Sometimes. But if you take your car in 6 months early for a yearly tuneup...it is not as useful. And trying to show up earlier than the given office hours...means that you will then have to wait until they open.

So most of the time, if it gives a specific range of numbers, then staying within that range (between those two numbers) is probably important for a reason.

OwLeho · Answer

@f85b03dd Yeah, sorry about that I did say that part wrong. 
So "within 2 to 4 seconds" = 2 to 4 seconds at most, 2 to 4 seconds or less." was not very well phrased. I should have said "within 2 to 4 seconds = it happened between 2 seconds and 4 seconds". And so the way I said it later was much better.

Exactly what the "within 2 to 4 seconds" means will depend on context. It could even use the same phrase for two different tests that they did in the study, to compare the results. For example, they had different results for old monkeys vs young monkeys. So they might compare what was seen "within 2 to 4 seconds" for different groups of monkeys. So the exact meaning for the "within 2 to 4 seconds" will depend on the rest of the sentence and context. That is how you would know if it is "full tumescence" or "starting to develop tumescence" or maybe just muscle tensing before any tumescence can start... It just depends on what it says.

So the rest of the sentence is how you would know exactly what it is that happened "within 2 to 4 seconds" for that specific sentence.

OwLeho · Answer

@f85b03dd Beginning of tumescence. It says that "Tumescence develops within 2 to 4 seconds". So that means it starts, and then it also continues to form, within that 2 to 4 seconds. So that is when the tumescence becomes noticeable, and it continues to form and be created during that time.

Then it says "full tumescence early in sexual response cycle." So that does not tell you exactly when full tumescence happens. But logically it must reach "full tumescence" after the tumescence begins to develop. it has to happen in that order. So if it begins to develop within 2 to 4 seconds, then it must reach ...full... tumescence at some unknown time ...after... 4 seconds. It does not tell us the exact time for when full tumescence is reached. But it does tell us a clue: because it says that "full tumescence" happens "early in sexual response cycle." So it happens comparatively quickly. Compared to what? Compared to how slow it is for older monkeys.

Because older monkeys take "2-3 times longer" to achieve tumescence. And "full tumescence is not attained until immediately prior to orgasm". So for older monkeys, they only reach full tumescence at the very last part of the sexual response cycle, and then orgasm almost immediately after that.

And younger monkeys reach full tumescence early in the sexual response cycle and then keep tumescent until they orgasm much later.

So even without exact times, we can still compare the differences.

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So even though an exact time is not given for most of this, we do know this:

Young monkeys start to develop tumescence within 2 to 4 seconds.
The exact full tumescence time is not said, but it happens soon after that and very early in the sexual response cycle overall.

So for young monkeys, this implies that:
- they respond very quickly to sexual stimulation, 
- they start to develop tumescence within 2 to 4 seconds, 
- they then reach full tumescence soon after that, 
- and they then maintain full tumescence for the rest of the sexual response cycle, 
- and then eventually they orgasm (and that ends the sexual response cycle).

----

Old monkeys start to develop tumescence much slower. 
- And they reach full tumescence even slower than that. 
- they spend most of the sexual response cycle not fully tumescent yet. 
- they only get full tumescence right before they orgasm.
- so the time for when they 1, reach full tumescence, and the time for when they 2, reach orgasm are almost the same time for older monkeys.

So overall we know that:
- older monkeys are much slower to respond to sexual stimulation (by almost 2-3 times longer) until they reach full tumescence, which is only just before orgasm (which ends the sexual response cycle). 
- and that older monkeys spend most of the sexual response cycle only partially tumescent but not fully tumescent.

@f85b03dd Yes, exactly! =)

@f85b03dd Yes, that is correct.

@f85b03dd "no more than" and "not more than" usually mean the same thing. So it will not change the meaning.

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