Since the tendon was tapped repeatedly in the experiment just above the threshold, the averaged peak tapping force was used as the threshold in tapping force.
Compared with control subjects, MS patients had a significantly lower threshold in tapping force (p =.026), yet their evoked reflex torque was significantly higher (p =.033).
The system impulse response was obtained through system identification and characterized by the tendon reflex gain, contraction rate, reflex threshold in tapping force, and reflex loop delay.
We next study the role of grain boundary pinning (e.g., due to impurities or precipitate phases) by introducing a linear bubble model that includes lower and upper thresholds in the driving force for bubble growth.
The device, capable of delivering stimulus rates between 2 and 17 mm/s, maximum force 27 N, was validated in a cross-over study on 8 juvenile pigs (6 8 weeks of age) to check the repeatability and reliability of force threshold measurement and assess its ability to measure changes in force threshold following an inflammatory challenge.
Finally, it is worth pointing out that where these biases are present, threshold estimates are likely to be more difficult to ascertain (for information about the influence of order effects on thresholds in two-alternative forced choice paradigms, see García-Pérez & Alcalá-Quintana, 2010; Ulrich, 2010; Ulrich & Vorberg, 2009).
Testing to answer other less critical questions is precluded by the threshold test ban treaty, in force since 1976.
Indeed, we have recently identified a similar force threshold in α-catenin (a force sensing protein at cell cell junctions), where a force greater than 5 pN also exposes a vinculin-binding site increasing the binding affinity for vinculin a thousand fold.
This study covers the investigation of impact damage growth and determination of Hertzian failure and maximum force thresholds in three different types of composites.
Moreover, due to our strict methodological guidelines, the survey had to be cancelled and repeated if weather conditions exceeded specific thresholds (in temperature and wind force), which resulted in additional working time (repeated visit of the test area).
