Óbuda University

This study investigated the effects of knee braces with differing stiffness on in vivo knee kinematics and neuromuscular control during single-leg lateral landings. 14 healthy males performed landings under three conditions: no brace (Control), low-stiffness (Type-1), and high-stiffness (Type-2). Kinematics were quantified via dual fluoroscopic imaging, and sEMG recorded seven lower-limb muscles. Brace mechanics were assessed via three-point bending. Statistical analysis used repeated-measures ANOVA (α = 0.05). Kinematically, neither brace restricted knee flexion. Both significantly reduced varus angle (Type-1: 27-100% stance, ${p} = 0.043$ ; Type-2: 60-100% stance, ${p} = 0.033$ ), and Type-2 also lowered peak sagittal flexion acceleration (5.0 rad/s2, ${p} = 0.013$ ). Neuromuscularly, Type-1 enhanced multiplanar control, advancing rectus femoris (154.7 ms vs. Type-2, ${p} = 0.005$ ) and vastus lateralis (35.6 ms vs. Control, ${p} = 0.046$ ) activation without increasing rotational instability. Conversely, Type-2 demonstrated a trade-off: despite earlier vastus medialis activation (43.6 ms vs. Control, ${p} = 0.011$ ), it significantly delayed gluteus medius activation (23.9 ms vs. Type-1, ${p} = 0.037$ ) and, critically, exacerbated compensatory internal-rotation acceleration (3.3 rad/s2 vs. Type-1, ${p} = 0.006$ ) at peak flexion. The low-stiffness brace leveraged neuromuscular coordination for multiplanar stability, whereas the high-stiffness brace improved frontal-plane protection at the cost of rotational instability. These findings provide biomechanical evidence for the synergistic optimization of mechanical support and neuromuscular adaptation in knee brace design for populations with similar characteristics to the young male athletes studied herein.

Single-leg landing (SL) imposes substantial mechanical demand on the patellar tendon, with peak patellar tendon force (PPTF) serving as a key metric for characterizing the internal mechanical environment of the tendon. This study integrates 3D modeling with high-resolution in vivo kinematics to quantify the patellar tendon moment arm (PTMA) and the PPTF, examining their biomechanical correlations and neuromuscular features. Minimal sex-related PTMA differences suggest comparable anatomical leverage during knee flexion across both sexes. In both sexes, PPTF was significantly positively correlated with the knee flexion angle at initial contact (IC) and significantly negatively correlated with the knee range of motion (ROM). Muscle network analysis showed lower clustering coefficients in high-frequency versus low-frequency bands. Reduced IC knee flexion and increased ROM attenuate patellar tendon mechanical demand. By incorporating individualized moment-arm analysis, this study provides a biomechanical basis for understanding patellar tendon loading during landing.

The arrangement of dry, mono- and bidisperse granular systems composed of spherical particles, dynamically introduced from a central inlet under the effect of gravity, is being investigated within a cylinder with frictionless walls. The analysis, performed using 3D discrete element modeling, investigated the arrangement and structure of granular systems with an 1:3 particle diameter ratio and varying mass fractions. The analysis focuses on the temporal and spatial evolution of kinetic segregation, the ordering of the systems, and the development of different types of interactions (particle–particle and particle–wall). Additionally, the 2D arc of the upper surface of the particle system is described using for a quick determination of the interstitial air volume and the void fraction within the granular systems. For the analysis of the effect of dynamic filling, static, space-filling samples were created. A detailed research plan was prepared to thoroughly document the computational methods of the study. Based on the incoming mass fraction into the same system, 6 segregation 3D zones can be distinguished. Fractures (cracks) form in the framework of the mono-disperse particle system early in its arrangement within the container. The resulting concave surface can be well approximated with linear and quadratic curves. The average normal force acting on the volume units of the smaller particles is 1.7–2.8 times greater than that of the larger ones. The temporal segregation of particles barely depends on size. The entry of small particles at a 10

High Stability of radiomic features is critical for developing reliable imaging biomarkers that can support risk stratification, treatment response assessment, and personalized therapy in lymphoma patients. To evaluate how partial volume correction (PVC) affects the Stability of 18F-FDG PET radiomic features in lymphoma lesions, with respect to lesion volume and tissue type. This single-center retrospective study included 131 newly diagnosed lymphoma patients (2014–2024) who underwent baseline 18F-FDG PET/CT. In total, 1,603 lesions (1,302 lymph nodes, 117 spleen/liver, 150 bone, and 34 bone and soft-tissue) were semi-automatically segmented and grouped by volume (< 3, 3–10, 10–30, > 30 mL) and tissue type. Ninety-three radiomic features were extracted from non-PVC and PVC images processed with the Richardson–Lucy (RL) and Reblurred Van Cittert (RVC) algorithms after isotropic resampling (3 mm) and discretization (0.25 SUV bin size), following IBSI guidelines. Stability was quantified using the coefficient of variation (CoV) and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2, absolute agreement), with statistical comparisons performed via Mann–Whitney U tests and false discovery rate (FDR) correction. PVC significantly improved feature Stability, particularly for large lesions (> 30 mL), with median ICC2 > 0.90 across most feature categories (e.g., First-Order = 0.99, GLSZM = 0.97, NGTDM = 0.97). Small lesions (< 3 mL) showed lower stability (ICC2 = 0.84–0.94) and higher CoV (0.09–0.21), mainly in texture-based features. First-Order and GLCM features were the most robust overall (ICC2 = 0.92–0.99; CoV = 0.07–0.11). Bone and spleen lesions exhibited the highest Stability (median ICC2 ≈ 0.95), whereas lymph node and liver features were more variable. All volume- and tissue-dependent differences remained significant after FDR correction (p < 0.05). PVC using RL and RVC markedly enhances FDG-PET radiomic Stability in lymphoma, particularly for larger and structurally uniform lesions. Robust features such as First-Order and GLCM can support standardized radiomics workflows and the development of reliable biomarkers for prognosis and personalized therapy. Additionally, PVC reduces variability in texture features, especially in small or heterogeneous lesions. Multicenter validation would further strengthen generalizability beyond this single-center setting.

The development of wearable technology and electronic skin (e-skin) depends on flexible pressure sensors because they convert mechanical signals into electrical outputs. The devices which respond quickly and have comfortable designs for skin contact do not resolve the issue of maintaining device reliability during extended use in real-world body-worn applications. This review centers sweat- and moisture-dominated failure pathways that govern stability during extended wear. In addition, examines how occlusive patches create a harsh skin microenvironment during continuous wear. Moreover, examines how these conditions affect different fields which include sports, fitness applications, medical bandaging practices, virtual reality and industrial wearable technology. Notably, we then map moisture-activated degradation mechanisms across key material families, including polymer swelling and plasticization, leaching and ionic migration, interfacial delamination, biofouling, corrosion of silver-based conductors via chloride chemistry, humidity-driven conductivity drift in PEDOT: PSS, drying/swelling instabilities in hydrogels/ionogels, and the water/oxygen oxidation vulnerability of MXenes. The research evaluates different device-level reliability engineering approaches which combine three encapsulation techniques (hermetic and breathable and hybrid) with four structural designs (porous/foam and microfluidic for sweat control and multilayer wettability-gradient stacks and wet-skin adhesion solutions) to prevent edge lift-off and delamination. However, the study uses compiled literature records to demonstrate that there are no established reliability endpoints for retention and drift and hysteresis tests and that essential cycling and environmental test conditions remain unreported. Consequently, the paper concludes by presenting data-based methods which use machine learning to enhance system reliability through drift correction, anomaly identification, multi-objective design optimization and physics-based modeling systems. The research identifies three main areas which need additional work regarding available data collections and performance assessment standards and official industry standards.