Material property variation of mandibular symphyseal bone in colobine monkeys.

The anterior mandibular corpus of anthropoid primates is routinely subjected to masticatory loads that result in relatively high local levels of stress and strain. While structural morphological responses to these loads have been extensively explored, relatively little is known about material property variation in mandibular bone of nonhuman primates. Consequently, the role of regional and local variation in bone stiffness in conditioning stress and strain gradients is poorly understood. We sampled elastic modulus variation in the bone of the anterior mandibular corpus in two species (N = 3 each) of sympatric colobine monkeys, Procolobus badius and Colobus polykomos. These monkeys were chosen for comparison owing to their distinctive dietary regimens, as P. badius rarely includes hard objects in its diet while C. polykomos habitually processes obdurate items during feeding. Elastic modulus is determined through bone hardness data obtained via microindentation, which enables the description of stiffness variation on sub-millimeter scales. Labial bone stiffness exceeds that of lingual bone in the sample overall. Female mandibular bone is generally stiffer than that found in males, and overall Procolobus mandibular bone is stiffer than that in Colobus. These results, interpreted collectively, suggest that the material response to elevated masticatory stress is increased compliance of the affected bone.

Structural analysis of human rib fracture and implications for forensic interpretation.

Patterns of rib fractures are of significant clinical and forensic interest. Linking patterns of rib fracture with specific physical events provides a foundation for understanding the nature of traumatic events that are associated with rib fracture in forensic contexts. In this study, isolated human ribs (n = 8) were end-loaded to failure to investigate: (i) local deformations (bone strain) prior to and during structural failure, (ii) location of ultimate failure, and (iii) fracture mode. Structural properties of ribs were used to calculate theoretical stresses to determine whether such calculations could be used to predict site of fracture. Ribs fractured on the sternal side of midshaft in all experiments, but mode of failure varied with transverse, buckle, spiral, and "butterfly" fractures observed. Comparison of calculated stress with observed strain values suggest that experimental, rather than theoretical, approaches will be most productive in furthering understanding rib fracture in forensic contexts.

Elastic modulus variation in mandibular bone: a microindentation study of Macaca fascicularis.

We characterized the heterogeneous anisotropic elastic properties of mandibular bone in an adult female specimen of Macaca fascicularis using the technique of microindentation. This approach used an indenter of known mass and geometry to sample bone hardness at a spatial resolution in the order of 100 mum. Hardness values were converted to elastic modulus using empirically derived regression. We determined properties in alveolar, midcorpus, and basal regions of coronal and transverse sections taken from multiple locations along the corpus and ramus. Within sections, we determined properties from endosteal, midcortical, and periosteal regions. We found regional variations in bone structure, including bands of orthotropic circumferential lamellar bone at the endosteal and periosteal corpus base, angular region, and ramus. Transversely isotropic osteonal bone characterizes the midcortices of alveolar and basal regions, with many resorption spaces in alveolar regions restricting sampling opportunities. Regional variations in elasticity include relatively compliant bone in the anterior corpus and ramus. Basal cortical bone is stiffer longitudinally than transversely or superoinferiorly, while the evidence for directional dependence in alveolar bone is equivocal. Alveolar bone appears to be relatively compliant with respect to bone found in midcorpus or basal regions. Considerable variation exists in structure and material properties on a highly localized scale, more so than is discernible through conventional approaches for determining material property variation.

Functional significance of cortical bone distribution in anthropoid mandibles: an in vitro assessment of bone strain under combined loads.

Local variation in cortical bone thickness in the postcanine mandibular corpus appears to be stereotypical among anthropoids. Specifically, at sections under the molars, lingually situated cortical bone is typically thinner than that along the lateral aspect. This pattern applies despite phylogenetic, dietary, and allometric differences among the anthropoids sampled to date. Demes et al. (Food Acquisition and Processing in Primates [1984] New York: Plenum Press, p. 369-390) employed a theoretical analysis of mastication in Gorilla and Homo to argue that this pattern could be explained with reference to biomechanical stresses. Specifically, they proposed that the combined effects of torsion and direct shear on the working-side corpus create a condition in which net stresses and strains are reduced along the lingual cortical plate. Demonstration of this effect would suggest a functional linkage between localized differences in bone mass and strain gradients in the facial skeleton. We conducted an empirical evaluation of the effects of the combined loads of torsion and direct shear in vitro on a sample of formalin-fixed human mandibles. Rosette strain gages were affixed to the lateral and medial aspects of the corpus in each specimen, and surface strains were recorded separately under controlled torsional and occlusal loads, and under simultaneous application of these loads. The hypothesis that lingual strains are reduced under combined twisting and occlusal loads was generally supported; however, we observed reduction in surface strains at some sites along the lateral aspect of the corpus under these combined loads as well. These unexpected findings are attributable to unanticipated loading conditions imposed by occlusal forces, which result from sources of stress in addition to direct shear. These experiments provide provisional support for the hypothesis that superposed sources of bone strain produce large strain gradients between buccal and lingual aspects of the mandibular corpus, and that local variation in bone mass may be associated with these gradients.