Introduction: We aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the 26-item Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-26) for measuring the quality of life in patients treated for localized prostate cancer. The EPIC-26 is a patient-reported outcome instrument recommended for use with patients treated for localized prostate cancer. Methods: This study is based on data collected prospectively between September 2014 and February 2017 in Alberta, Canada. Men were treated with either radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy and administered the EPIC-26. Responses to the EPIC-26 were the primary outcome. Construct validity was measured using confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was measured using Chronbach’s alpha and item-total correlation. Ceiling and floor effects were also investigated. Results: EPIC-26 response data from 205 participants (prostatectomy =138; radiation=60; both=7) were used in this analysis. The EPIC-26 was administered an average of 33.8 weeks after treatment. The confirmatory factor analysis model did not meet the threshold for adequate fit. Several items had near-zero factor loadings and were non-significant. Four out of the EPIC- 26’s five domains met the acceptable reliability threshold based on Cronbach’s alpha. Ceiling effects were observed in four out of five domains. Conclusions: The EPIC-26 demonstrated poor construct validity, adequate reliability, and large ceiling effects. Several issues were observed, suggesting that the instrument’s five domains were not well-defined by their respective items. The original EPIC’s conceptual framework should be reviewed and the shortened instrument revised to improve its performance for measuring post-treatment quality of life.

Background: The goal of the study is to understand the potential energy absorption benefits ofcomponents fabricated using fused deposition modeling additive manufacturing under high strain rateloading.

The surface tensions of liquid Ti, Zr, and Hf at their melting points were measured in pure argon atmosphere by the drop-weight method. A uniform longitudinal field induction coil was used to melt the sample rod tip. The average values obtained were 1390±4O, 1400±40, and 1460±40 dynes/em, respectively.

Aluminum alloys exhibit an attractive combination of mechanical and physical properties such as high stiffness and low density, which favors their utilization in many structural applications. Thus, increasing the structural applications of aluminum alloy is the driving force for the need to adequately understand its deformation and failure mechanisms under various types of dynamic loading conditions. In this study, full field plastic deformation of AA6061-T6 aluminum alloy at high strain-rates under compressive and torsion loads are measured using split Hopkinson compression, torsion Kolsky bars, and a high speed digital image correlation system. The stress-strain curves obtained using the high speed digital cameras are compared with results obtained from the elastic waves in the compression and torsion bars. A post deformation analysis of the specimen also shows strain localization along narrow adiabatic shear bands in the AA6061-T6 alloy.

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