A new semiactive independently variable damper, SAIVD, is developed and shown to be effective in achieving response reductions in smart base isolated buildings in near fault earthquakes. The semiactive device consists of four linear visco-elastic elements, commonly known as Kelvin–Voigt elements, arranged in a rhombus configuration. The magnitude of force in the semiactive device can be adjuste...

The hope was recently expressed (Hill 1937, p. 116) that with the development of a more accurate and rapid technique for muscle heat measurement, a much more consistent picture might emerge of the energy relations of muscles shortening (or lengthening) and doing positive (or negative) work. This hope has been realized, and some astonishingly simple and accurate relations have been found, relati...

Over the past 30 years, sport medicine professionals have promoted stretching as a way to decrease the risk of injury. Two potential mechanisms are often proposed by which stretching could decrease injury: a direct decrease in muscle stiffness via changes in passive visco-elastic properties, or an indirect decrease in muscle stiffness via reflex muscle inhibition and consequent changes in visco...

PURPOSE To measure the endotoxin concentration (EC) of 25 commercially available, hyaluronic acid- and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose-based (HPMC) ophthalmic viscosurgical devices (OVDs). METHODS The in vitro Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) assay, which indicates the presence of endotoxins originating from gram-negative bacteria, was used to determine the EC. The procedure was performed accordin...

This paper investigated the factors that influence Hecht vault performance and assessed the level of model complexity required to give an adequate representation of vaulting. A five-segment planar simulation model with a visco-elastic shoulder joint and a torque generator at the shoulder joint was used to simulate the contact phase in vaulting. The model was customised to an elite gymnast by de...

We employ a genetic algorithm to maximize the energy dissipated per unit areal density in laminates composed of layers of poly-methyl-metha-acrylate (PMMA), adhesive and polycarbonate (PC) impacted at low velocity by a rigid hemi-spherical nosed cylinder. Sources of energy dissipation considered are plastic deformations of the PC and the PMMA, cracking of the PMMA, viscous deformations of the a...