Collaborative Research: Biomechanical significance of bone material variation in the locomotor skeleton

虽然人们认识到骨骼健康受到身体活动的影响，但仍不清楚活动的强度、持续时间或频率是否对骨骼完整性产生最积极的影响。本研究通过检查不同形式的运动行为对骨骼解剖学多项指标的不同影响，研究灵长类动物（如人类）的骨骼如何适应体力活动。综合方法要求研究人群具备必要的行为、生物力学和骨结构数据;因此所检查的骨样品来自七种非洲灵长类动物物种的群体，对于这些物种的运动行为和活动模式已经进行了超过15年的研究，提供了一个独特的和广泛的行为变化，从研究骨骼如何响应不同的活动方案。 通过检查这些相互关系，研究将提高对生理活动影响的理解（例如，跑步的强度和频率）对骨骼结构和适应性的影响，从而确定影响四肢骨骼完整性的活动类型。该研究将骨骼数量（大小）和质量（刚度）的考虑结合起来，以计算骨骼结构完整性的测量值。通过微压痕技术确定骨质量，微压痕技术是一种测量整个骨骼中骨刚度的小范围变化的方法，以详细了解骨强度，包括骨折风险。此外，不同类型的运动活动（步行，跑步，跳跃）和活动水平（每天运动所花费的时间）如何影响骨骼适应，通过动力学（骨骼上的力的测量）和重塑（骨骼自我修复的过程）的不同角度进行评估。通过这种比较和多方面的方法，本研究旨在确定身体活动的哪些方面对骨骼强度有积极或消极的影响。 这项研究的总体智力价值是，在确定骨骼解剖和运动行为之间的关联，可以确定的活动，可以积极影响骨骼适应的种类。这些结果应该在人类群体的临床环境中找到应用，在行为和解剖结构之间建立更明确的联系，并通过对骨质量的精细评估，可用作骨健康和功能的指标。此外，这项研究活动还产生了一些具有社会重要性的影响。其中包括为美国本科生和研究生提供人类学、工程学和健康科学方面的跨学科培训;将代表性不足的群体纳入工程学和人类学研究;为保护受威胁的灵长类动物种群做出贡献;以及改善美国三所大学的教育基础设施。

While it is recognized that bone health is influenced by physical activity, it remains unclear whether it is the intensity, duration, or frequency of activity that has the most positive impact on skeletal integrity. This research investigates how the skeleton of primates (such as humans) adapts to physical activity through examination of the differential impact of diverse forms of locomotor behavior on multiple measures of bone anatomy. The integrated approach requires a study population for which the requisite behavioral, biomechanical, and bone structure data are accessible; the bone samples examined therefore come from a population of seven African primate species for which locomotor behavior and activity patterns have been under study for over 15 years, providing a unique and broad spectrum of behavioral variation from which to investigate how bones respond to different activity regimens. Through examination of these interrelationships, the research will improve understanding of the influence of physiological activity (e.g., intensity and frequency of running) on bone structure and adaptation, and thereby identify the types of activity that influence the integrity of limb bones.The study combines consideration of bone quantity (size) with quality (stiffness) to calculate measures of bone structural integrity. Bone quality is determined through the technique of microindentation, a method that measures small-scale variation in bone stiffness throughout bones to permit detailed understanding of bone strength, including fracture risk. In addition, how different types of locomotor activity (walking, running, jumping) and activity levels (amount of time spent per day in locomotion) influence bone adaptation is assessed through the different perspectives of kinetics (the measurement of forces on the skeleton) and remodeling (the process by which bone repairs itself). Through this comparative and multifaceted approach, this research seeks to establish what aspects of physical activity are influential in either positively or negatively affecting bone strength. The overarching intellectual merit of this study is that in determining the association between bone anatomy and locomotor behavior, the kinds of activity that can positively influence bone adaptation may be identified. Such results should find application to clinical contexts for human populations in establishing more definitive links between behavior and anatomy, and through refined assessments of bone quality that can be used as an index of bone health and function. In addition, several impacts of societal importance emerge from this research activity. These include interdisciplinary training in anthropology, engineering, and the health sciences for both undergraduate and graduate US students; inclusion of underrepresented groups in engineering and anthropological research; contributions to the conservation of threatened primate populations; and improvement of educational infrastructure at the university level across three US institutions.