Prostacyclin (prostaglandin I2, PGI2) has a variety of functions, including inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation, vasodilation, and antiplatelet aggregation. PGI2 production in endothelial cells has been reported to increase biphasically after shear loading, but the underlying mechanism is not well understood. To clarify the mechanism for the second phase of PGI2 upregulation, we exam...

It has been postulated that human tendons are viscoelastic and their mechanical properties time-dependent. Although Achilles tendon (AT) mechanics are widely reported, there is no consensus about AT viscoelastic properties such as loading rate dependency or hysteresis, in vivo. AT force-elongation characteristics were determined from 14 subjects in an ankle dynamometer at different loading rate...

The effects of urinary volume on daily urinary excretion of seven heavy metals and four organic substances were examined in relation to the changes in their plasma and erythrocyte concentrations and urinary creatinine excretion in 19 metal workers. The examination was conducted under the conditions of water restriction and loading for six days. The major findings were as follows: (1) urinary ex...

0142-0615/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. A doi:10.1016/j.ijepes.2011.09.011 ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (L.D. Ar (P. Singh), [email protected] (L.S. Titare). This paper presents an algorithm for anticipatory control of load bus voltages. The algorithm optimizes a set of reactive power control variables and maximizes reactive reserve available at gen...

BACKGROUND Three-dimensional finite element analysis (FEA) is effective in analyzing stress distributions around dental implants. However, FEA of living tissue involves many conditions, and the structures and behaviors are complex; thus, it is difficult to ensure the validity of the results. To verify reproducibility and validity, we embedded implants in experimental models and constructed FEA ...

Most of the field problems in geotechnical engineering are in three dimensional state or close to a plane strain condition. Strength and deformation properties of soils in plane strain condition are considerably different from those in an axisymmetric condition. Many researchers have investigated the behaviour of soils under a plane strain condition. However, most of the previous studies have c...

background: alterations in the neuromuscular control of the spine were found in patients with chronic low back pain (clbp). sudden loading of the spine is assumed to be the cause of approximately 12% of lower back injuries. however, some aspects of this problem, such as alterations in the sensory–motor control of the spine, remain questionable. this study investigated postural and neuro–motor c...

This paper presents a novel approach for structural damage detection. The cross-entropy method is used to estimate the structural parameters of a simply supported beam from its response to a static load consisting of a heavy vehicle. Various states of beam damage are modelled through local reductions in flexural rigidity. The proposed method estimates the distribution of stiffness throughout th...

plug-flow digesters with periodic loading mechanism are more enthusiastic than fully mechanized digestion plants for the majority of small or medium scale farms according to the costs and operational complexities. a dual-compartment plug-flow reactor equipped with a passive heating system was designed and experimentally operated by purpose of demonstrating a simple and low cost technology for h...