Extracellular matrix remodeling has been proposed as one mechanism by which proximal pulmonary arteries stiffen during pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Although some attention has been paid to the role of collagen and metallomatrix proteins in affecting vascular stiffness, much less work has been performed on changes in elastin structure-function relationships in PAH. Such work is warrant...

EFFECTS OF HYPERTENSION AND AGING ON VASCULAR SMOOTH MUSCLE CELL CONTRIBUTION TO RECONSTITUTED AORTIC TISSUE STIFFNESS by Nancy Lisa Sehgel Aortic stiffness increases with hypertension and aging, and much of this increase has been thought to occur due to changes in the extracellular matrix. However, an increase in cell stiffness could also be important. To study the cellular contribution to aor...

The vocal ligament is the tension-bearing element in the vocal folds at high pitches. It has traditionally been treated as a vibrating string, with only length and longitudinal stress governing its normal mode frequencies. Results of this investigation show that, when bending stiffness and variable cross section are included, the lowest normal mode frequency can more than double, depending on t...

A completely general method of analysis for three-dimensional raked piles under harmonic excitation is discussed. The piles have been represented by a three-dimensional frame structure and the soil has been represented by a boundary element discretization scheme. A computer program has been written which carries out this analysis and produces a group stiffness matrix that can be included as a f...

Background Increased arterial stiffness can be used as a prognostic marker of arterial hypertension. The relationship between arterial stiffness and arterial hypertension seems to be reciprocal. Objective Evaluation of changes of the arterial elastic prosperities in normotensive subjects, with and without parental history of hypertension. Subjects and Methods One hundred and ten normotensiv...

Tissue models reconstituted from cells and extracellular matrix (ECM) simulate natural tissues. Cytoskeletal and matrix proteins govern the force exerted by a tissue and its stiffness. Cells regulate cytoskeletal structure and remodel ECM to produce mechanical changes during tissue development and wound healing. Characterization and control of mechanical properties of reconstituted tissues are ...

Fig. 1 (a) MRE wave image and Elastogram (b) UTE spatio-temporal strain map (c) Bland-Altman plot MRE: FOV=14cm,Matrix=256X64,TR/TE=50/26.5ms, flip angle=30 ̊, thickness=10cm, BW=±16kHz, continues vibration=60Hz, average stiffness of ROI drawn on the elastogram was measured as the stiffness of the phantom. UTE: center frequency of transducer=3.5 MHz, transient vibration=20ms (1 cycle of 50 Hz si...

This study deals with the vibration and stability analysis of double-graphene nanoribbon-system (DGNRS) based on different nonlocal elasticity theories such as Eringen's nonlocal, strain gradient, and modified couple stress within the framework of Rayleigh beam theory. In this system, two graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are bonded by Pasternak medium which characterized by Winkler modulus and shear...

Fiber networks are assemblies of one-dimensional elements representative of materials with fibrous microstructures such as collagen networks and synthetic nonwovens. The mechanics of random fiber networks has been the focus of numerous studies. However, fiber crimp has been explicitly represented only in few cases. In the present work, the mechanics of cross-linked networks with crimped atherma...

Tissue infiltration of macrophages, although critical for innate immunity, is also involved in pathologies, such as chronic inflammation and cancer. In vivo, macrophages migrate mostly in a constrained three-dimensional (3D) environment. However, in vitro studies, mainly focused on two dimensions, do not provide meaningful clues about the mechanisms involved in 3D macrophage migration. In contr...