OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that individuals who respond favorably to bracing will exhibit decreased patellofemoral joint stress during stair ambulation. DESIGN A repeated-measures, cross-sectional study. BACKGROUND Ascending and descending stairs is one of the most painful activities of daily living for persons with patellofemoral pain (PFP). Although patellar bracing has been shown t...

The internal brace technique uses a high-strength suture tie to augment injured tissues or a primary repair, allowing early rehabilitation. Anatomic repair with internal bracing is a novel and promising treatment for femoral-sided medial knee avulsion injuries of the medial collateral ligament and posterior oblique ligament. Unfortunately, biomechanical and clinical data are lacking. To evaluat...

The energy absorption of concrete filled, hollow-steel bracing was analyzed respect to geometric and mechanical parameters including the width-to-thickness section ratio, slenderness level, and strength of the steel and concrete. Local buckling and ductility were also investigated with respect to variation in the cross-section. The infill increased the compression resistance, even after multipl...

A prospective study was designed to determine whether the combined use of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and dynamic bracing was more effective than use of either alone in reducing upper-extremity spasticity in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Twenty-four patients (12 males, 12 females; mean age 8y 7mo [SD 4y 2mo]; age range 3-18y) diagnosed with spastic hemiplegic ...

BACKGROUND The aim of our study is to evaluate the ability of a pre- fabricated humeral bracing system in providing sufficient stability to fracture union and carry out a cost analysis comparing bracing versus surgical fixation for these fractures. MATERIAL AND METHODS A review of humeral shaft fractures treated with a pre-fabricated humeral bracing system was undertaken. RESULTS 20 humeral...

BACKGROUND Abnormalities of cardiac structure and function are common in a wide range of populations including those with and without established clinical cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study reports the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), the four patterns of LV geometry and establishes clinical characteristics and five-year outcomes of each group in people of advanced age. ...

BACKGROUND Many years of bracing represent a burden to the patients. Early weaning may be the result of poor compliance, but may also be planned in patients with a long expected treatment time and a reduced stable primary curve during bracing. The aim of the present cohort study was to compare curve size, health related quality of life and surgical rates at long-term follow-up after ordinary br...

One of the methods for retrofitting reinforced concrete moment frames is the use of steel braces. In this research, the seismic performance of a double-skinned concrete framing system reinforced with two concentric (CBF) and eccentric (EBF) steel bracing, was investigated under seven near-fault earthquake records of varying intensity. For this purpose, two ten-story concrete frames with five sp...

This paper investigates the applicabilty of an innovative bracing, called Articulated Quadrilateral (AQ) bracing system, which uses shape memory alloys (SMAs), for retroffiting low-rise to high-rise vulnerable SMFRs against strong ground motions. The paper investigates brace fundamental engineering characteristics, design of the system and also configuration of the brace (the proportion of SMA ...