PREFACE -- CONTENTS -- I. CELL MECHANICS -- IMAGING AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF GUINEA PIG OUTER HAIR CELLS STUDIED BY ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Materials and Methods -- 3 Results -- 4 Discussion -- 5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL MICRO TENSILE TESTER FOR SINGLE ISOLATED CELLS AND ITS APPLICATION TO VISCOELASTIC ANALYSIS OF AORTIC SMOOTH MUSCLE CELLS -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Micro Tensile Tester -- 3 Tensile Test Protocol and Data Analysis -- 4 Results -- 5 Viscoelastic Analysis -- 6 Discussion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- SHEAR DEPENDENT ALBUMIN UPTAKE IN CULTURED ENDOTHELIAL CELLS -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Materials and Methods -- 3 Results -- 4 Discussion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- BIOMECHANICAL AND BIOTRIBOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF SURFACE AND SURFACE ZONE IN ARTICULAR CARTILAGE -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Protective Roles of Surface Layer of Articular Cartilage -- 3 Surface Profile and Elastic Property of Cartilage Surface -- 4 Visualization of Time-Dependent Strain in Articular Cartilage in Compression -- 5 Discussion -- 6 Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- II. CELL RESPONSE TO MECHANICAL STIMULATION -- OSTEOBLASTIC MECHANOSENSITIVITY TO LOCALIZED MECHANICAL STIMULUS DEPENDS ON ORIENTATION OF CYTOSKELETAL ACTIN FIBERS -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Materials and Methods -- 3 Results -- 4 Discussion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- MICROBIOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CULTURED ENDOTHELIAL CELLS ESTIMATED BY ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Methods -- 3 Results -- 4 Discussion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- EFFECTS OF MECHANICAL STRESSES ON THE MIGRATING BEHAVIOR OF ENDOTHELIAL CELLS -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Materials and Methods -- 3 Results -- 4 Discussion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- III. TISSUE ENGINEERING.

ENGINEERING APPROACHES TO REGULATE CELL DIFFERENTIATION AND TISSUE REGENERATION -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Approach to Regulate Cell Differentiation and Tissue Regeneration by Means of Three Dimensional Scaffolds -- 3 Approach to Regulate Cell Differentiation and Tissue Regeneration by Means of Physical Stimulation -- 4 Approach to Regulate Cell Differentiation and Tissue Regeneration by Means of Spheroid Formation -- 5 Summary -- Acknowledgements -- References -- A NEW THEORY ON THE LOCALIZATION OF VASCULAR DISEASES -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Our Theory (hypothesis) "Flow-dependent concentration polarization theory" -- 3 Theoretical Study -- 4 Experimental Study -- 5 Concluding Remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- AUTOMORPHOGENESIS OF LOAD BEARING FIBROUS TISSUES: GENERATION OF TENSILE STRESS, CELL ALIGNMENT, AND MATRIX DEFORMATION BY FIBROBLASTS -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Materials and Methods -- 3 Results -- 4 Discussion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- IV. COMPUTATIONAL BIOMECHANICS -- NOTE ON ANISOTROPIC PROPERTIES OF CANCELLOUS BONE AND TRABECULAE: ELASTICITY AND HARDNESS -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Methods -- 3 Results and Discussion -- 4 Summary and Remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- APPLICATION OF COMPUTATIONAL BIOMECHANICS TO CLINICAL CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Problems in Computational Biomechanics -- 3 Concluding Remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- BIOMECHANICAL STUDY FOR SKELETAL MUSCLE INJURY AND A VIEW OF MICRO-BIOMECHANICS FOR MICROSTRUCTURE OF MUSCLE -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Methods -- 3 Results and Discussion -- 4 View of Micro Biomechanics of Muscle for Injury Prevention -- 5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR AND STRUCTURAL CHANGES OF CELLS SUBJECTED TO MECHANICAL STIMULI: DEFORMATION, FREEZING, AND SHOCK WAVES -- 1 Introduction.

2 Modeling and Numerical Simulation of the Mechanical Behavior of a Vascular Endothelial Cell under Substrate Deformation -- 3 Morphological Change of the Tissue Histological Microstructures due to Freezing and Thawing -- 4 Response of Suspended Cells to Shock Waves -- 5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- SUBJECT INDEX -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y.