Comparative Analysis of 3-D Trabecular Bone Architecture: Applications to Locomotor Reconstruction in Fossil Primates

3-D 小梁骨结构的比较分析：在化石灵长类动物运动重建中的应用

• 批准号: 0617097
• 负责人: Alan Walker
• 金额: $ 16.51万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-08-01 至 2010-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0617097&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Comparative; Analysis; Trabecular; Bone; Architecture

The principal goal of this project is to measure important features of trabecular bone -- the spongy tissue found inside the ends of the long bone of the skeleton. The investigators want to measure the variation of trabecular bone structure across primates in relation to body mass and locomotion and to determine the mechanical consequences of that variation using computational models. Trabecular bone, which is made up of a complex interconnected network of rods and plates, has received a significant amount of attention in studies of aging and bone loss due to osteoporosis, but comparatively little attention from physical anthropologists and comparative anatomists. Many factors such as behavior, body size, sex, genetics, and development may play important roles in determining the structure of trabecular bone in adult animals. This project will investigate some of these factors by looking at three important questions: (1) how does trabecular structure vary within and between primate species and what is the relationship of this variation to body size and sex? (2) does trabecular bone structure reflect locomotor behaviors and differential limb usage during locomotion (e.g., in leaping or arm swinging)? and (3) how do the elastic properties of trabecular bone vary across body size, locomotor mode, and limb element?High-resolution x-ray computed tomography will be used to collect data from the humerus and femur for a diverse sample of living and recently extinct primates ranging in size from mouse lemur to gorilla. Bone features such as volume, thickness, number, shape, interconnectedness, and orientation will be analyzed. Micromechanical finite element models will be used to calculate the elastic properties of the volumes by simulating experimental compression tests. Using the bone architectural properties and elastic constants, the relationships among body mass, bone structure and the calculated mechanical properties will be analyzed.The intellectual merits of this project include producing a better understanding of the role of physiological and behavioral factors on bone structure. It will not only broaden understanding of bone biology and bone structural variation, but will also produce the comparative data necessary to reconstruct the paleobiology of extinct primates.This project also represents a cross-disciplinary international collaboration between physical anthropologists at Penn State University and a biomechanical engineer at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands in which the varied expertise of the researchers will be used to answer questions about bone biology that have relevance to primate anatomy, functional morphology, bone biology, and human health. The broader impacts of the project include the production of a large comparative dataset that will be implemented into the anthropological curriculum and used to train undergraduate and graduate students in physical anthropology. Copies of the CT data also will be given to the curators of the lending museums to be archived for use by other scientists and potentially to be used for interactive computer-based museum exhibits. The results of this project will certainly have implications for understanding human skeletal disorders such as osteoporosis.

该项目的主要目标是测量小梁骨的重要特征——在骨骼长骨末端发现的海绵组织。研究人员想要测量灵长类动物小梁骨结构的变化与体重和运动的关系，并利用计算模型确定这种变化的机械后果。小梁骨是由复杂的棒和板相互连接的网络组成的，在骨质疏松症引起的衰老和骨质流失的研究中受到了大量关注，但相对而言，很少受到体质人类学家和比较解剖学家的关注。许多因素，如行为、体型、性别、遗传和发育可能在决定成年动物小梁骨的结构中起重要作用。这个项目将通过三个重要的问题来研究其中的一些因素：(1)灵长类动物物种内部和物种之间的小梁结构是如何变化的，这种变化与体型和性别的关系是什么？(2)骨小梁结构是否反映运动行为和运动过程中肢体使用的差异（如跳跃或摆动手臂）？(3)小梁骨的弹性特性如何随体型、运动方式和肢体元素的不同而变化？高分辨率的x射线计算机断层扫描将用于收集来自肱骨和股骨的数据，这些数据来自于从鼠狐猴到大猩猩的各种现存和最近灭绝的灵长类动物样本。骨骼特征，如体积，厚度，数量，形状，相互连接和方向将被分析。微力学有限元模型将通过模拟实验压缩测试来计算体积的弹性特性。利用骨的建筑性能和弹性常数，分析了人体质量、骨结构和计算力学性能之间的关系。这个项目的智力价值包括更好地理解生理和行为因素对骨骼结构的作用。它不仅将拓宽对骨骼生物学和骨骼结构变异的理解，而且还将产生重建已灭绝灵长类动物古生物学所需的比较数据。该项目还代表了宾夕法尼亚州立大学体质人类学家和荷兰埃因霍温理工大学生物力学工程师之间的跨学科国际合作，其中研究人员的各种专业知识将用于回答与灵长类动物解剖学，功能形态学，骨骼生物学和人类健康相关的骨骼生物学问题。该项目的更广泛影响包括制作一个大型比较数据集，该数据集将用于人类学课程，并用于训练体质人类学的本科生和研究生。CT数据的副本也将提供给出借博物馆的馆长存档，供其他科学家使用，并可能用于基于计算机的互动式博物馆展览。这个项目的结果肯定会对理解骨质疏松症等人类骨骼疾病产生影响。