Pierre I. Karakiewicz¹, Serge Benayoun^1,2, Daniel J. Lewinshtein^1,2, Felix K.-H. Chun¹, Khaled Shahrour², Paul Perrotte²

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.13, No.4, pp. 3189-3194, 2006

Abstract Objective: Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) has shown promise in large scale studies. We assessed recurrencefree survival in patients treated with intravesical BCG/ Interferon (IFN) for non-muscle invasive, BCG refractory, transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the urinary bladder at our local institution. Methods: Cancer control data were gathered for patients enrolled in a BCG/Interferon protocol at the University of Montreal. The main inclusion criteria consisted of pathologically proven evidence of intravesical BCG failure, and of complete transurethral resection of latest post BCG recurrence. Induction consisted of eight intravesical BCG/Interferon instillations. Select patients were treated with BCG/Interferon maintenance… More >

G. Milani¹, T. Rotunno², E. Sacco³, A. Tralli^1,4

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.2, No.1, pp. 29-50, 2006, DOI:10.3970/sdhm.2006.002.029

Abstract Aim of the present work is the evaluation of the ultimate load bearing capacity of masonry panels reinforced with FRP strips. The investigation is developed performing both experimental and numerical studies. In particular, several panels subjected to different loading conditions are tested in the Tests Laboratory of the University of Florence (Italy). Then, numerical models based on combined homogenization and limit analysis techniques are proposed. The results obtained by numerical simulations are compared with experimental data. The good agreement obtained shows that the proposed numerical model can be applied for the evaluation of the ultimate More >

R. Han¹, M.S. Ingber¹, H.L. Schreyer¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.4, No.3, pp. 163-176, 2006, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2006.004.163

Abstract Decohesion is an important failure mode associated with fiber-reinforced composite materials. Analysis of failure progression at the fiber-matrix interfaces in fiber-reinforced composite materials is considered using a softening decohesion model consistent with thermodynamic concepts. In this model, the initiation of failure is given directly by a failure criterion. Damage is interpreted by the development of a discontinuity of displacement. The formulation describing the potential development of damage is governed by a discrete decohesive constitutive equation. Numerical simulations are performed using the direct boundary element method. Incremental decohesion simulations illustrate the progressive evolution of debonding zones More >

L. Gornet¹, S. Marguet², G. Marckmann³

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.4, No.2, pp. 63-74, 2006, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2006.004.063

Abstract The purpose of the present study is to determine the components of the effective elasticity tensor and the failure properties of Nomex^® honeycomb cores. In order to carry out this study, the NidaCore software, a program dedicated to Nomex®Cores predictions, has been developed using the Finite Element tool Cast3M-CEA. This software is based on periodic homogenization techniques and on the modelling of structural instability phenomena. The homogenization of the periodic microstructure is realized thanks to a strain energy approach. It assumes the mechanical equivalence between the microstructures of a RVE and a similar homogeneous macroscopic volume.… More >

Lingfei Gao¹, Xiaoping Zheng^1,2, Zhenhan Yao¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.3, No.1, pp. 25-36, 2006, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2007.003.025

Abstract A general numerical approach is developed to model the elastic behaviours and failure processes of heterogeneous materials. The heterogeneous material body is assumed composed of a large number of convex polygon lattices with different phases. These phases are locally isotropic and elastic-brittle with the different lattices displaying variable material parameters and a Weibull-type statistical distribution. When the effective strain exceeds a local fracture criterion, the full lattice exhibits failure uniformly, and this is modelled by assuming a very small Young modulus value. An auto-select loading method is employed to model the failure process. The proposed More >

Luming Shen¹, Zhen Chen²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.7, No.3, pp. 305-320, 2005, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2005.007.305

Abstract To simulate the dynamic responses involving different material phases in a finite computational domain without discretizing the whole problem domain, a silent boundary scheme is proposed within the framework of the material point method (MPM) that is an extension from Computational Fluid Dynamics to Computational Solid Dynamics. Because the MPM does not employ fixed mesh connectivity, a robust spatial discretization procedure in the moving domain of influence could be designed by applying viscous damping forces along the computational boundary. To establish a simple interface between the discretization procedures with and without fixed mesh connectivity, a More >

Hiroshi Kadowaki¹, Wing Kam Liu²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.7, No.3, pp. 269-282, 2005, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2005.007.269

Abstract A method to derive governing equations and elastic-plastic constitutive relations for the micropolar continuum model is proposed. Averaging procedures are operated over a surrounding sub-domain for each material point to bridge a discrete microstructure to a macro continuum model. Material parameters are determined by these procedures. The size of the sub-domain represents the material intrinsic length scale, and it is passed into the macroscopic governing equation so that the numerical solution can be regularized for analyses of failure phenomena. An application to a simple granular material model is presented. More >

John T. Parissis, Stamatis Adamopoulos¹, Koula Venetsanou, George Kostakis, Antonios Rigas, Spilios M. Karas, Dimitrios Kremastinos¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.2, pp. 139-144, 2004

Abstract No in vivo data exist about the relationship of circulating granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and soluble adhesion molecules ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 (sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1) to the severity of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and the pathophysiological events of post-infarction left ventricular dysfunction. We investigated the kinetics of these inflammatory mediators in the plasma of patients with AMI, and correlated the findings with the clinical severity of the disease during the first week of hospitalization as well as the degree of left ventricular dysfunction one month after the AMI.
Plasma levels of inflammatory markers were determined in… More >

Dimitrios Tziakas¹, Georgios Chalikias¹, John T. Parissis², Helen Hatzinikolaou¹, Dimitrios Stakos¹, Evropi Papadopoulou³, Alexandros Kortsaris³, Dimitrios Hatseras¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 231-239, 2004

Abstract Introduction. Recent clinical and experimental studies indicate that upregulation of the TNF system can contribute to the progression of cardiac remodeling and heart failure decompensation, by promoting alterations in cardiomyocyte biology and extracellular matrix metabolism. Extracellular matrix turnover is regulated by the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which are endogenous enzymes responsible for extracellular collagen degradation. The present study investigates the fluctuation of serum levels of TNF-α, soluble TNF receptor-1 (sTNFR1) and -2 (sTNFR2), in patients with chronic heart failure both during acute decompensation and the stable state of the syndrome. The second goal of this study… More >

Amy E. Krambeck, Kent C. Krejci, David E. Patterson, Andrew J. LeRoy, Joseph W. Segura

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.11, No.5, pp. 2383-2389, 2004

Abstract Objective: Shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) is an attractive initial treatment for nephrolithiasis. Unfortunately, a significant number of stones are resistant to SWL therapy and require subsequent percutaneous ultrasonic lithotripsy (PUL) for definitive treatment. Our objective was to determine if previous SWL had adverse effects on PUL success and if there were differences between the patients undergoing primary PUL and those undergoing PUL after SWL failure.
Materials and methods: In 2001, 108 PULs were performed at our institution, of which 40 (37%) were performed after SWL failure. Stone location, anesthesia time, stone composition and size, and complication rates… More >