A decrease in load-bearing activity, as experienced during spaceflight or immobilization, affects the musculoskeletal system in animals and humans, resulting in the loss of bone and connective tissue. It has been suggested that hypergravity (HG) can counteract the deleterious effects of microgravity-induced musculoskeletal resorption. However, little consensus information has been collected on ...

A recently published constitutive model for drying of a partially saturated porous material is extended to take into account finite air (gas) pressure as well as finite external load, variables that are absent during simple drying under atmospheric conditions. We further use the result to derive a general form of effective stress in a partially saturated material. The proposed framework overcom...

BACKGROUND Evaluation of causal relations between physical load and musculoskeletal disorders is hampered by the lack of knowledge as to the biological relevance of different loading parameters and the large variability between individuals. As indicators of molecular changes in the extracellular matrices of structures of the musculoskeletal system, biomarkers of collagen metabolism may provide ...

BACKGROUND Load carriage is associated with musculoskeletal injuries, such as stress fractures, during military basic combat training. By investigating the influence of load carriage during exercises on the kinematics and kinetics of the body and on the biomechanical responses of bones, such as the tibia, we can quantify the role of load carriage on bone health. METHODS We conducted a cross-s...

The United States MEPS (musculoskeletal--eyestrain--psychosocial--stress) study consisted of 1 group of 28 female data entry operators. The intervention was in 3 parts: workstation redesign (including advanced ergonomic chairs, motorized adjustable workstations, advanced adjustable keyboards, adjustable copyholders, adjustable footrests, monitor support surfaces) and ergonomic training/coaching...