Stress-intensity factors (SIFs) are the most important parameters in fracture mechanics analysis of structures. These parameters are evaluated for a stationary crack in functionally graded plates of arbitrary geometry using a novel Galerkin based mesh-free method. The method involves an element-free Galerkin method (EFGM), where the material properties are smooth functions of spatial coordinate...

s reviewed Full articles reviewed 1,878 articles excluded: 252: Did not address any Key Question 81: Case series 80: Background, commentary, protocol, guideline, or review 79: Nonrandomized study that did not attempt to control for selection bias 18: Abstract only 12: Did not attempt any outcomes of interest 11: Did not focus sufficiently on a patient population of interest 8: Did not report da...

we report the cases of two patients diagnosed with morgagni hernia who presented with nonspecific abdominal symptoms. both underwent laparo­scopic surgery that used a dual-sided mesh, polyvinylidene fluoride (pvdf; dynamesh ipom®). the procedures were successful and both patients were discharged with no complications. there was no recurrence in 18 months of follow up. herein is the report of th...

A method that computes linear digital filter networks containing delay-free loops is proposed. Compared to existing techniques the proposed method does not require a rearrangement of the network structure, conversely it makes use of matrices describing this structure and specifying the connections between the filter blocks forming the network. For this reason the efficiency of the method become...

Multi-layered stacks are commonly used in microelectronic packaging. Traditionally, these systems are designed using linear-elastic analysis either with analytical solutions or finite element method. Linear-elastic analysis for layered structures yields very conservative results due to stress singularity at the free edge. In this paper, it is shown that a damage mechanics based nonlinear analys...

Direct interface tracking computes spray behavior based only on first principles. It is an advanced form of direct numerical simulation, but with the emphasis shifted from resolving details of turbulence to details of multiphase flow. The moving interface requires special treatment and advanced numerical methods. A code that is capable of accurate resolution of three-dimensional free-surface de...

OBJECTIVES Complications of polypropylene pubovaginal tension-free tape slings (TVT, SPARC, and others), such as erosion into the bladder or chronic pain attributed to the mesh sling are rare events; however, when they occur, it may necessitate removal of the sling. To date, removal through a laparotomy incision or by operative cystoscopy has been the most common approach. We present 5 cases of...

A hybrid Lagrangian-Eulerian (hLE) scheme, combining a particle-based, mesh-free technique with a finitevolume flow solver, is developed for direct simulations of two-phase flows. This approach merges the naturally adaptive nature of particle-based schemes, for efficient representation of the interface between two media, with the relative flexibility offered by grid-based solvers for complex fl...