Anna R. Gagliardi¹, Neil Fleshner², Bernard Langer³, Hartley Stern³, Adalsteinn D. Brown⁴

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.12, No.5, pp. 2808-2815, 2005

Abstract Objectives: There is evidence of variation in both the processes and outcomes of prostate cancer care, resulting in possible harm to patients and increased costs to the health system. Care could be improved by first identifying critical, measurable indicators that correlate with quality of care. This work was conducted to develop indicators of prostate cancer care using a modified three-step Delphi approach.
Methods: A 17-member multidisciplinary panel reviewed potential indicators extracted from the medical literature through two consecutive rounds of rating followed by consensus discussion. The panel then prioritized the indicators selected in the previous two rounds.
Results:… More >

Aleksandr N. Guz¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.8, No.3, pp. 217-230, 2005, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2005.008.217

Abstract The ultrasonic non-destructive method of determination of stresses in near-the-surface layers of solid bodies is based on the regularities of elastic surface wave propagation in bodies with initial (residual) stresses. Above mentioned regularities are received in the framework of the 3-D linearized theory of waves propagation in bodies with initial (residual) stresses. Computational methods are used for solution of the dispersion equations as applied to problems under consideration. Description of the non-destructive method and information on instruments and devices for measurements are presented. Some examples of non-destructive determination of stresses in near-the-surface layers of materials 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 >

Ru-Min Chao, Yen-Ji Chen, F.C. Lin¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.2, No.1, pp. 73-86, 2001, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2001.002.073

Abstract The two-dimensional elasticity problem of an isotropic material, containing a centered-crack with unknown boundary traction is studied by the inverse procedure. The dual boundary integral equations are used to analyze the problem. While solving the ill-posed inverse problem, both of the conjugate gradient method and the regularization method are used. A scaling factor depending upon the material constant μ is introduced into the sensitivity matrix in order to keep the order of magnitude the same throughout the formulation. The result by using the displacement measurement will be compared with those by stress measurement, and an extensive More >