D. Gross¹, T. Rangelov², P. Dineva³

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.1, No.1, pp. 35-48, 2005, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2005.001.035

Abstract Scattering of time harmonic waves by a finite crack in a homogeneous piezoelectric plane under plane strain conditions is studied. Using generalized displacements and tractions, the problem is described by a non-hypersingular traction based boundary integral equation method (BIEM). The fundamental solution is derived in closed form by Radon transforms. As a typical example, the procedure is applied to a straight crack under incident longitudinal waves and under vertically polarized shear waves. The K-factor results are compared with those from the literature for a special case. Furthermore, their dependence on parameters like frequency, angle of More >

Dimitrije Stamenovic´ ¹

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.2, No.2, pp. 69-76, 2005, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2005.002.069

Abstract It is well established that adherent cells change their orientation in response to non-uniform substrate stretching. Most observations indicate that cells orient away from the direction of the maximal substrate strain, whereas in some cases cells also align with the direction of the maximal strain. Previous studies suggest that orientation and steering of the cell may be closely tied to cytoskeletal contractile stress but they could not explain the mechanisms that direct cell reorientation. This led us to develop a simple, mechanistic theoretical model that could predict a direction of cell orientation in response to More >

Nan Shen^1,2, Dabajyoti Datta¹, Chris B. Schaffer^1,3,4,5, Eric Mazur^1,6

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.2, No.1, pp. 17-26, 2005, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2005.002.017

Abstract Analysis of cell regulation requires methods for perturbing molecular processes within living cells with spatial discrimination on the nanometer-scale. We present a technique for ablating molecular structures in living cells using low-repetition rate, low-energy femtosecond laser pulses. By tightly focusing these pulses beneath the cell membrane, we ablate cellular material inside the cell through nonlinear processes. We selectively removed sub-micrometer regions of the cytoskeleton and individual mitochondria without altering neighboring structures or compromising cell viability. This nanoscissor technique enables non-invasive manipulation of the structural machinery of living cells with several-hundred-nanometer resolution. Using this approach, we More >

X. Han¹, H. Ding^∗2, G. R. Liu¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.9, No.1, pp. 49-56, 2005, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2005.009.049

Abstract An analytical-numerical method is presented for analyzing dispersion and characteristic surface of waves in a hybrid multilayered piezoelectric plate. In this method, the multilayered piezoelectric plate is divided into a number of layered elements with three-nodal-lines in the wall thickness, the coupling between the elastic field and the electric field is considered in each element. The associated frequency dispersion equation is developed and the phase velocity and slowness, as well as the group velocity and slowness are established in terms of the Rayleigh quotient. Six characteristic wave surfaces are introduced to visualize the effects of More >

J. Sladek¹, V. Sladek¹, J. Krivacek¹, Ch. Zhang²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.8, No.3, pp. 259-270, 2005, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2005.008.259

Abstract A meshless method based on the local Petrov-Galerkin approach is presented for stress analysis in three-dimensional (3-d) axisymmetric linear elastic solids with continuously varying material properties. The inertial effects are considered in dynamic problems. A unit step function is used as the test functions in the local weak-form. It is leading to local boundary integral equations (LBIEs). For transient elastodynamic problems the Laplace-transform technique is applied and the LBIEs are given in the Laplace-transformed domain. Axial symmetry of the geometry and the boundary conditions for a 3-d linear elastic solid reduces the original 3-d boundary More >

R.H. Moore¹, S. Saigal²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.7, No.3, pp. 283-292, 2005, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2005.007.283

Abstract An efficient method for treating slivers and other poorly shaped elements in finite element solutions is presented. A major difficulty for finite element analyses arises from the creation of slivers in automated mesh generation. Sliver shaped elements can degrade the accuracy of a solution and are difficult to remove from a mesh. The proposed method treats slivers by first merging them with neighboring elements to form polyhedra and next subdividing the polyhedra into well-shaped tetrahedral elements. The method does not require the cumbersome and expensive operations of addition or rearrangement of nodes. The validity and More >

S. Deguchi^1,2, T. Ohashi², M. Sato²

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.2, No.4, pp. 205-216, 2005, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2005.002.205

Abstract Intracellular stress transmission through subcellular structural components has been proposed to affect activation of localized mechano-sensing sites such as focal adhesions in adherent cells. Previous studies reported that physiological extracellular forces produced heterogeneous spatial distributions of cytoplasmic strain. However, mechanical signaling pathway involved in intracellular force transmission through basal actin stress fibers (SFs), a mechano-responsive cytoskeletal structure, remains elusive. In the present study, we investigated force balance within the basal SFs of cultured smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells by (i) removing the cell membrane and cytoplasmic constituents except for materials physically attaching to the… More >

S. Deguchi^1,2, T. Ohashi², M. Sato²

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 125-134, 2005, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2005.002.125

Abstract Actin bundles in vascular endothelial cells (ECs) play a critical role in transmitting intracellular forces between separate focal adhesion sites. However, quantitative descriptions of tension level in single actin bundles in a physiological condition are still poorly studied. Here, we evaluated magnitude of preexisting tension in a single actin bundle of ECs on the basis of measurements of its preexisting stretching strain and tensile properties. Cultured ECs expressing fluorescently-labeled actin were treated with detergents to extract acin bundles. One end of an actin bundle was then dislodged from the substrate by using a microneedle, resulting… More >

Cheng Zhu¹, Rodger P. McEver²

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 91-104, 2005, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2005.002.091

Abstract Force can shorten the lifetimes of receptor-ligand bonds by accelerating their dissociation. Perhaps paradoxical at first glance, bond lifetimes can also be prolonged by force. This counterintuitive behavior was named catch bonds, which is in contrast to the ordinary slip bonds that describe the intuitive behavior of lifetimes being shortened by force. Fifteen years after their theoretical proposal, catch bonds have finally been observed. In this article we review recently published data that have demonstrated catch bonds in the selectin system and suggested catch bonds in other systems, the theoretical models for their explanations, and More >

C. Shu^1,2, W. X. Wu², C. M. Wang³

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 189-200, 2005, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2005.002.189

Abstract This paper demonstrates the application of a meshfree least square-based finite difference (LSFD) method for analysis of metallic waveguides. The waveguide problem is an eigenvalue problem that is governed by the Helmholtz equation. The second order derivatives in the Helmholtz equation are explicitly approximated by the LSFD formulations. TM modes and TE modes are calculated for some metallic waveguides with different cross-sectional shapes. Numerical examples show that the LSFD method is a very efficient meshfree method for waveguide analysis with complex domains. More >