Due to the internal structure of the knee joint, the ability to characterize and quantify the dynamic response of the meniscal tissue directly is highly problematic. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the behaviour of the meniscus under loading conditions. Four healthy young females were included. To obtain T2* values in the meniscus, the vTE sequence was used with 10 echoes ranging from 0.8 to 10.1 ms. Submilisecond first echo time is a great advantage of vTE sequence allowing for precise mapping of relatively short T2*. The two-parametric least squares fitting procedure was used to calculate T2* pixel-wise. A custom-made diamagnetic apparatus was developed to simulate stress conditions on the lower limb in a conventional MR scanner. vTE T2* was performed in five consecutive scans, 6:10 min apart. Three different compartments of the medial and lateral meniscus were segmented. The differences at the different time-points were calculated. A constant increase of T2* times after compression was statistically significant in the anterior horn of the medial meniscus. T2* mapping with variable echo time sequence might be a satisfactorily sensitive technique to detect the changes of meniscus physiology under loading conditions.

This article intends to present the first results of a long-term research project, which will result in developing a validated model of a pedestrian for the simulation of crash tests involving tram fronts and, where applicable, the fronts of other urban rail vehicles. The current phase of research includes results of the pilot experiment with a crash-test dummy, and these results supplement the results from simulations, thus demonstrating how important it is to pay special attention to the individual stages of a collision event and how important the localisation of and moulding by an individual tram's front panels are for the nature of the monitored stages. In the first stage, inertia of individual body segments plays a significant role, with the primary contact taking place between the tram's bumper and dummy's thigh. The dummy subsequently "takes the shape" of the tram's front with progressive bumps to shoulders and head following. At that moment, the tram brakes, and the dummy begins to disentangle from the front panel. The friction force between the dummy's soles and the surface of the rail track is very significant for the nature of this second stage of the collision event .The dummy then hits the ground. It is an accelerated fall, and under the given conditions, it is the stage that has the most devastating impact on the dummy. The simulation made shows the way to modify this dangerous stage to be less harmful to a pedestrian involved in a tram collision.

Background: Respiratory muscle strength is an important indicator of human health and sport condition. The aim of this study was to assess the test/retest reliability of mouth pressure (MP) measured by a created pressure sensor mouthpiece in the sitting position and during bench pressing at various intensities.Material and methods: 23 healthy athletes were measured in 3 separate sessions for MP in the sitting position and during flat bench press at an intensity of one repetition maximum (1RM), 3 x 90% of 1RM, 8 x 80% of 1RM and 12 x 60% of 1RM. Results:The measurement device showed acceptable reliability with ICC (Intraclass correlation) ranging from 0.75 to 0.95, where the highest reliability was reached in between repetitions, and slightly decreased when measurements were done in different sessions. The ANOVA showed differences between mouth pressure at different exercise loads (F 4, 56 = 22.18, p< 0.001),with the highest MP measured in the sitting position, followed by 90% of 1RM, 80% of 1RM and 60% of 1 RM load. Conclusions:This study shows acceptable reliability of MP measurement by a mouthpiece device with piezo-resistant sensor. The MP depends on the exercise intensity during the bench press and is higher in sitting than in the supine body position.

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