Introduction to Functional Morphology and Biomechanics

Monday, January 11th, 2016. Dr. Jordi Marcé-Nogué.

1. Statics: Vector notation, force, moment, work, energy, Newton laws, levers, free body diagram and equilibrium. Exercises.

2. Beam Theory: Equilibrium in the cross-section of a beam, laws and diagrams. Exercises.

Tuesday, January 12th, 2016. Dr. Jordi Marcé-Nogué.

3. Elasticity in Beams: Axial forces, Bending, Shear and Torsion.

Wednesday, January 13th, 2016. Dr. Richard Fariña.

4. Basic principles.

• Mass (concept and units), force (units, special case: Weight), pressure (concept, units), energy (units, forms of energy: Potential, kinetic, elastic), power (units, example: Metabolic rate).
• Conditions of equilibrium: Forces and moments. Mechanical advantage. Biological examples.
• Practical session: Measurements in ulnas to assess the extention of the forearm in mammals.
• Biological materials, function and properties: Stress, strain, elastic modulus. Factor of safety, examples in biology.

5. Mastication in vertebrates.

• Transition from reptiles to mammals, the problem of the resultant in the craniomandibular joint region.
• Terrestrial locomotion and athleticism in tetrapods.
• Beam theory applied to the long bones of the extremities in parasagittal terrestrial vertebrates.
• Second moment of area, section modulus, strength indicator.
• Examples in reconstructing habits in extinct vertebrates.

Thursday, January 14th, 2016. Dr. Richard Fariña and Dr. Soledad De Esteban-Trivigno.

6. Scale and allometry.

• Dynamic similarity.
• Froude number, origin of the concept and application to terrestrial locomotion.
• Geometric similarity, isometry and allometry.
• The importance of body size. Metabolic rate, athleticism and skin features.
• Scale and allometry. Geometric and elastic similarities.
• Body mass estimation: 3D reconstruction, regression, principal components analysis, centroid size (Geometric Morphometrics). Percent of prediction error. Mean and medium values.
• Practical session: Comparison of body mass estimations with different methods.

Friday, January 15th, 2016. Dr. Pere Ibáñez-Gimeno.

7. Entheseal changes.

• Definition, types, morphological variation and etiology. Entheseal changes and their dependence on activity. Terminology.
• Entheseal development: Description vs. quantification. Scoring systems: Criteria to grade the entheseal changes using different methods. Intraobserver and interobserver tests.
• Practical session: Grading entheseal changes in human bones and comparison with other animals. Statistical treatment of the data.
• Statistical analyses to deduce activity patterns: Aggregation and functional groups. Comparisons between populations, sexual dimorphism and bilateral asymmetry. Multifactorial analyses.
• Examples of studies inferring activity patterns from entheseal changes. Further applications: Activity-dependence of morphological characteristics. New approaches: 3D laser scanning and fractal analysis.

8. Cross-sectional properties.

• Previous considerations: Wolff’s Law and bone functional adaptation. Types of mechanical loadings. Rigidity and strength. Definition and biomechanical meaning of cross-sectional properties: Cross-sectional areas, second moments of area, section moduli and shape variables.
• Obtaining images of diaphyseal sections: Sections of interest and orientation of bones. Methods to obtain the images: Broken or cut sections, CT scanning, latex cast method and ellipse model method. Relevance of the outer and the inner contours. Scale.
• Practical session: Obtaining the outer contour from 3D images. Reconstruction of the inner contour from biplanar radiographs. Calculation of cross-sectional properties. Statistical treatment of the data.
• Size standardization for cross-sectional properties.
• Statistical analyses to deduce activity patterns. Comparisons between populations, sexual dimorphism and bilateral asymmetry.
• Relationship between entheseal changes and cross-sectional properties.