Figure 4.

The strain-moment curves of the third loading cycle are reported for each specimen, showing how the strain in the ALL varied in front of the vertebra (left charts) and in front of the disc (right charts) for specimens A, B, C (from top to bottom). The end of the NZ and the beginning of the EZ (identified on moment-angle curves, Figure 2), are reported here with circles. The values of minimum and maximum slope (% strain/Nm) for the NZ and EZ are reported for both of the curve flexion-to-extension and extension-to-flexion.