Cellulose-degrading microorganisms involved in the breakdown of plant cell wall material in the human gut remain rather unexplored despite their role in intestinal fermentation. Microcrystalline cellulose-degrading bacteria were previously identified in faeces of methane-excreting individuals, whereas these microorganisms were undetectable in faecal samples from non-methane excretors. This sugg...

We have previously shown that the decrease in large artery distensibility observed in patients with essential hypertension (HT group) was primarily due to an increase in distending pressure and not to hypertension-associated structural modifications of the artery, suggesting a functional adaptation of the wall material. To evaluate the elastic properties of the wall material of the common carot...

BACKGROUND Ventricle material properties are difficult to obtain under in vivo conditions and are not readily available in the current literature. It is also desirable to have an initial determination if a patient had an infarction based on echo data before more expensive examinations are recommended. A noninvasive echo-based modeling approach and a predictive method were introduced to determin...

The morphogenesis of tissues, like the deformation of an object, results from the interplay between their material properties and the mechanical forces exerted on them. The importance of mechanical forces in influencing cell behaviour is widely recognized, whereas the importance of tissue material properties, in particular stiffness, has received much less attention. Using Caenorhabditis elegan...

Optimized topology of bi-material acoustic metamaterial lattice plates is studied for maximized locally resonant bandgap of flexural guided waves. Optimized layout of the two relatively stiff and compliant material phases in the design domain is explored, free from any restrictions on the topology and shape of the relevant domains. Multiobjective optimization is performed through which maximize...

The need for fuel efficiency and increased performance in transportation systems continually places new demands on the materials used. The design criteria which automobile and aerospace industries are primarily concerned with are density, strength, stiffness, and corrosion resistance. Low-density materials may reduce fuel costs, increase range, and allow larger payloads. High strength and stiff...

[A] matrix with constants describing the anisotropy of the material [B] strain matrix [BL] linear strain matrix [BNL] nonlinear strain matrix c speed of sound d rate of deformation tensor dp plastic rate of deformation D elastic constitutive tensor [D] matrix of the elastic constitutive tensor [DT] matrix form of the constitutive tensor ds lengths of the vector dx dS lengths of the vector dX dv...

The incremental stiffness characterizes the variation of a material's force response to a small deformation change. In lattices with noninteracting vibrational modes, the excitation of localized states does not have any effect on material properties, such as the incremental stiffness. We report that, in nonlinear lattices, driving a defect mode introduces changes in the static force-displacemen...

This paper presents a three-dimensional nonlinear degrading stiffness model capable of capturing stiffness degradation in bilateral directions for earthquake response analyses of reinforced concrete bridges. Stiffness degradations due to flexural and shear damage are considered. The model can trace the progress of damage from initial failure through gradual degradation of the member stiffness d...

Proprioception comes from muscles and tendons. Tendon compliance, muscle stiffness, and fluctuating activity complicate transduction of joint rotation to a proprioceptive signal. These problems are acute in postural regulation because of tiny joint rotations and substantial short-range muscle stiffness. When studying locomotion or perturbed balance these problems are less applicable. We recentl...