The tension created in a screw, especially the fluked threading, when tightened. An engineering term used to describe the degree of tightness of a screw, usually in implant dentistry.
Volume of blood returned to the heart.
In cardiac physiology, the end-diastolic stretch of a heart muscle fiber. In the intact ventricle, this is approx, equal to the end-diastolic volume or pressure. At the bedside, preload is estimated by measuring the central venous pressure or the pulmonary capillary wedge pressure.