INTRODUCTION Relative value units (RVUs) were developed as a quantifier of requisite training, knowledge, and technical expertise for performing various procedures. In select procedures, increasing RVUs have been shown to substitute well for increasing surgical complexity and have been linked to greater risk of complications. The relationship of RVU to outcomes has yet to be examined in the pla...

Background. The goals of this project were to evaluate the current perspective on letters of recommendation and to assess the need for, and acceptance of, a more standardized letter of recommendation (LOR). Methods. An eight-question survey was distributed to plastic surgery program directors. A five-point Likert scale was selected as a means of quantifying the participants' responses to the su...

Many beginning writers, especially medical residents, feel difficulties in writing journal articles. However, illogical and un-scientific papers are not accepted for publication even if their topics are creative and interesting. The authors should do their best to convince reviewers and readers of their opinions using evidence through reasoning, explanation, and data interpretation. The aim of ...

BACKGROUND Various studies have been conducted in many countries to determine the perception/awareness about plastic surgery. The present study assessed the views of college students about plastic surgery. METHODS A questionnaire consisted of nine questions regarding the basic knowledge about plastic surgery was randomly distributed among college students. The students were given 20 minutes t...

This paper is on the elasto-plastic analysis of plane stress problems. A five-parameter yield surface is presented. This yield criterion uses associate flow along with mixed hardening rule. The analytical formulations are written and related computer program for non-linear analysis is prepared. Finally, based on the formulations, numerical examples are solved.

In this paper we present an elastic-plastic analysis of the small-scale yielding crack-tip fields for pressure-sensitibe materials. Mode 1 loading and plane-strain conditions are assumed. The yield criterion is chosen to be a linear combination of the effective stress and the hydrostatic stress. For power-law hardening materials. our elastic-plastic finite element analysis shows that HRRtype cr...

A new plastic hinge integration method overcomes the problems with nonobjective response caused by strain-softening behavior in force-based beam–column finite elements. The integration method uses the common concept of a plastic hinge length in a numerically consistent manner. The method, derived from the Gauss–Radau quadrature rule, integrates deformations over specified plastic hinge lengths ...

An elastic-plastic analysis is performed for two problems relevant to fracture mechanics: a semi­ infinite body with an edge crack in a far out-of-plane shearing field and an infinite plate under plane stress conditions containing a finite line crack in a remote tensile field. Amplitudes of the dominant singularity in the plastic region at the crack tip, the plastic stress and strain intensity ...

This paper investigates the elastic-plastic seismic behavior of long span cable-stayed steel bridges through the plane finite-element model. Both geometric and material nonlinearities are involved in the analysis. The geometric nonlinearities come from the stay cable sag effect, axial force-bending moment interaction, and large displacements. Material nonlinearity arises when the stiffening ste...

An elastic-plastic model for contacting rough surfaces that is based on accurate Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of an elasticplastic single asperity contact is presented. The plasticity index Ψ is shown to be the main dimensionless parameter that affects the contact of rough surfaces. Below Ψ = 0.6 the contact problem is purely elastic and above Ψ = 8 it is mostly plastic. The mean real contact ...