OBJECTIVES We hypothesized that one minus the slope of diastolic on systolic blood pressure in individual 24-h ambulatory blood pressure recordings (ambulatory arterial stiffness index) might reflect arterial stiffness and predict cardiovascular mortality. METHODS In volunteers and a population recruited in China, we studied concordance between ambulatory arterial stiffness index and establis...

Background Arterial (aortic) stiffness is a well-recognized pathophysiological change that plays a significant role in the determination of risk factors for various cardiovascular diseases [1]. Measurement of arterial stiffness using pulse wave velocity (PWV) is the gold standard among non-invasive modalities. Recently, a novel non-invasive MRI based technique known as magnetic resonance elasto...

Brillouin microscopy is a new tool to characterize the stiffness of cells and tissues, however the underlying relationship between stiffness and Brillouin measurements remains unknown. As the stiffness of biological materials is influenced by hydration, we performed Brillouin microscopy on hydrogels whilst independently examining the role of stiffness and water content. Brillouin measurements w...

One purpose of this study was to determine the stiffness of three femoral fixation methods used commonly in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction to secure a double-looped semitendinosus and gracilis (DLSTG) graft and then assess how the stiffness of these methods affects the stiffness of the young human femur-fixation method-graft complex at the time of reconstruction. A second purpo...

in this article the general non-symmetric parametric form of the incremental secant stiffness matrix for nonlinear analysis of solids have been investigated to present a semi analytical sensitivity analysis approach for geometric nonlinear shape optimization. to approach this aim the analytical formulas of secant stiffness matrix are presented. the models were validated and used to perform inve...

in this paper a guided tabu search (gts) is utilized for optimal nodal ordering of finite element models (fems) leading to small profile for the stiffness matrices of the models. the search strategy is accelerated and a graph-theoretical approach is used as guidance. the method is evaluated by minimization of graph matrices pattern equivalent to stiffness matrices of finite element models. comp...

This paper proposed a stiffness analysis method for a 3-PRS mechanism for welding thick aluminum plate using FSW technology. In the molding process, elastic deformation of lead-screws and links are taken into account. This method is based on the virtual work principle. Through a survey of the commonly used stiffness performance indices, the minimum and maximum eigenvalues of the stiffness matri...

Purpose: Core stability and leg stiffness are two determinant mechanisms in athletic performance and risk injury. This study aimed to investigate the gender differences and relationship of these two factors in athletes. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, core stability and leg stiffness of 12 male and 12 female Iranian squash players at national level were examined utilizing McGill’...

Recent studies of human arm movement have suggested that the control of stiffness may be important both for maintaining stability and for achieving differences in movement accuracy. In the present study, we have examined the voluntary control of postural stiffness in 3D in the human jaw. The goal is to address the possible role of stiffness control in both stabilizing the jaw and in achieving t...