Table 8.

p-values for the comparison of the mechanical outcomes, averaged over all quadrants, between the circumferential and meridional directions, in the control, buffer-treated and enzyme-treated groups. Paired Student's t-tests were used for statistical analysis.

	Control	Buffer-treated	Enzyme-treated
Low-pressure stiffness	<0.005	<0.0001	0.09
High-pressure stiffness	0.13	<0.0001	0.65
Transition strain	<0.05	0.054	0.75
Hysteresis	0.60	0.55	0.79
Initial creep rate (first 80 s)	0.90	<0.05	0.24
Final creep rate (after 80 s)	0.39	0.001	0.59