Planck Finale

"Not by chance, but by truth, what though..."
King John

Planck goes on with further calculations to verify what would be intuitively obvious, that different compositions of the nano materials yields differing strength calculations depending on particular makeup scenarios. E.g. 100% calcified material might be stronger than 30% mineral-70% collagen in one sense and weaker in the next. i.e. as our equine cannon slams into the ground at speed 100% calcified might better withstand a concussive force emanating from the ground but be weaker in face of a sheer force from a bad step.

Said another way, Planck obviously takes a snap shot of material at given points in time and their calculations will of course vary as the make up and composition of the materials vary.

And thus, Planck calculates different strength scenarios depending on composition, states that their method would also work for the larger structures, but that their project will be limited before they go on to calculate scenarios e.g. for osteon structures. They have given us a method.

In the most general sense, Planck stands for the importance of calcification, mineralization, ossification, whatever we're to call it, regards FR (fracture resistance), but, also a whole lot more, in that they detail the function and development of these nano structures so that there is now scientific basis to make further observations.

But, may we take the Planck model's seriously, for, after all, the modeling photo appearing at top of last post in terms of the exterior mineral coating looks very little like this image taken by Paul Hansma with his Atomic Force Microscope:
There are extrafibrillar mineral blobs, to be sure, but where are the patterns? Be assured, they are there. The above image is too small to see them, and we need look at the same image enlarged at 100nm. To see the obvious patterns you will have to click on the below link from Hansma and scroll down to the bone images. At higher resolution of 100nm the exterior mineral fibril coating patterns postulated by Planck are obvious:

http://hansmalab.physics.ucsb.edu/pdf/321%20-%20Kindt,%20J.K._MRSProc._2005.pdf

What then may we take from Planck that assists in determining "frequency" of speed work necessary to develop and maintain FR?

We look again at what occurs at the nano level as our horse motors down the track. I'd postulated the effects in terms of:

rearrangement of materials
temporary increases in bone glue proteins
temporary compaction of the mineral lattice that will rebound over time unless reinforced by subsequent speed work

all to create density and strength.

I thereafter realized the need to consider the role of mineralization or the question whether equine speed work might possibly stimulate additional mineralization that might create further improvement in FR.

Planck obviously answers this question. Mineralization is of crucial importance in these calculations, but how may this be quantified in terms of how frequently speed work is required? Planck stops short of answering the question and contains some info that the mineralization processes and what stimulates them are as yet unknown. I'll look at this important question, next post.

Training:
Sunday 1/31: Off more due to the trainer then the weather, though the ground is still hard as a rock.

Planck Wrap Up IV

Black regions (above) HA extrafibrillar mineral reinfocements, white regions--underlying collagen fibril.

Extra (outside)fibrillar mineralization enhances FR (fracture resistance). That's a bare statement for us, but becomes established fact in Planck. Why?

Note the fibrils and mineral patterns in the illustration..

With extrafibrillar mineralization research finds a decrease in spacing between fibrils Those weaker spaces have filled with stronger extrafibrillar mineral rings.

BUT, there's more. Due to the pattern or periodicity of the mineral arrangement (above) the fibril maintains its flexibility. Hence this conclusion: extrafibrillar mineralization (mineral growth outside the fibril) increases strength while maintaining flexibility. The conclusion as stated in Planck:

"As a result of this process and the deposition of additional extrafibrillar shells on the surface, the fibril would become considerably stiffer in directions perpendicular to the fibril axis while the increase in its bending rigidity would be less pronounced, thus preserving the fibril's flexibility."

For us its simply: extrafibrallar mineralization enhances FR!!!

But, you're cleverly asking, that mineral pattern in their illustration hardly looks anything like the muck in those Hansma images of the fibrils? How can they know extrafibrillar minerals pattern in this manner? See last post--they discern these patterns because the rate of growth of extrafibrillar minerals is exactly the same as intrafibrillar growth. The cellular mineral growth inside and outside occurs simultaneously, and so, the staggered pattern of HA platelets inside the fibril is the same on the outside. Intrafibrillar platelets, per last post, maintain a spacing of 40nm between themselves, and they Planck can assume, for purpose of calculations, that the pattern of growth outside the fibril and inside are exactly the same! By measuring one aspect of the structure they're able to arrive at additional valid calculations, such as this one:


They go on. As a result of these considerations we can find the mechanical properties of a collagen fibril coated with minerals. AND we can find those mechanical properties in various stages of the mineralization process for various mineral fractions!

They calculate strength for the initial naked stage, and on to various mineral fractions, and they come up with a set of numbers. We can look at these numbers and see various strengths depending on the degree of extrafibrillar mineralization. One measurement leads to the next, and finally we come up with strength calculations for these:
a fibril bundle.

Interestingly, they note, by looking at their numbers, that strength appears to increase geometrically as mineralization increases. Increasing strength brings into play additional strength increasing properties, e.g. as the spaces between the fibrils fill with platelets interactions between neighboring fibrils also increases. To accurately calculate thereafter they need consider the numbers produced by these additional interactions, and so on.

And, as they consider the mineral bundle they must commence calculations of the effect of the bone glue proteins that aid in holding the bundle together! The glue is referred in the article as NCPs (non-collageneous proteins).

Then: "with the above considerations in mind, we can express the effective stiffness tensor of a bundle of aligned fibrils."

Again, the result is various numbers depending on all the material variables of the ever changing structure.

The article concludes with them making calculations for fibril arrays aligned in different manners: parallel, perpendicular, chaotic, patterned, unpatterned, and so on. "Once the stiffness tensor (of one type of array) is known, we can model other types of fibril arrays corresponding to differences in known orientations."

I am now, I think, ready for the grand finale, next post.

Training: We're off due to weather and other things, and hopefully can get going tomorrow as a warm up starts. Noticed the Blood Horse video of Street Cry. What a beaut.! Then there's Double Honor, sire of Jet Propulsion, winner of the Sunshine Millions Turf today, looking even better and standing in Florida for less than $4000.00. Double Honor, quite a horse:

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/stallion-directory/stallion.aspx?stallion_no=4008760

Misc.

"...the spirit drains away, all valor spent."

Another little line from Goethe, describing my present mood vis a vis our weather. The devils, described above by Mephisto, lost the battle with the Angels for Faust's soul, and I am losing my battle with the weather. Really, it is unbelievable around here. Trying to recall the last gallopable day at my farm. 80 days ago, I'd say.

The computer is back on line, virus's ejected. New hard drive. What a pleasure after fighting lock ups for the last months. Took me all day to load all the programs etc. etc.. Back to work now, and back to bones hopefully tomorrow.

Training:
1/28: Ground conditions suddently thaw enough for a nice pasture romp with the horses into it.
1/29: back near single digits. Off.

Planck Wrap Up III: Results

Feeling my way through the article:

Regards our friends the Type I Bone Collagen Fibrils--and this site will be sans illustrations until eviction of some extremely pesky computer viruses--might we be interested, per Planck, in the "elastic stiffness" tensor? Thinking this may have something to do with fracture resistance (FR)???

Hypothesis from earlier research (2005): strength and toughness depend on size/arrangement pattern of mineral platelets. Patterns?

The initial growth of platelets along the naked fibril skin first "thickens" and then grows into reinforcing rings around the fibril. Pattern!

Growth of these "rings", i.e resulting from deposition of additional extrafibrillar shells on its surface, the fibril becomes considerably stiffer in directions perpendicular its axis. (Reconsider that last. This seems highly important. A "force" blows by perpendicular to the axis of the fibril--i.e. at 90 degree angle. The fibril is "stiffer" due to reinforcing rings.) Furthermore: due to the geometric design of this growth the fibril's flexibility is preserved! And so, we a have a stronger, flexible fibril resulting from the extrafibrillar mineral rings.

But, more tests necessary.

Enter Planck which looks at these hypothesis from the smallest levels in the materials hierarchy on up. Planck decides to test this at the levels of the hierarchy smallest to larger, by modeling and calculating. "Different mineralization scenarios are tested." And, Planck uses 3D (3 dimensional) calculations whereas earlier research was 1D.

Elastic properties of bone is calculated at each hierarchy level. They calculate by methods of materials science the "elastic stiffness tensor" of each level.

Results:
1. A single collagen fibril: elastic properties of a single fibril strongly depend on shape and volume fraction of the fibril. i.e. shape of the HA mineral platelets and percentage of the fibril which is mineralized.

And, of equal importance, when the volume fraction of mineral platelets is lower the interaction (reinforcement) between neighboring mineral platelets is greatly reduced compared to a volume fraction that is optimized!!!

2. Mineralized collagen fibril reinforced with extrafibrillar minerals (i.e. maximum mineralization on the interior, and mineral coated on the exterior):

Note that the outside mineral coating attached to the "skin" of the fibril is composed of platelets of different shapes and sizes. The HA mineral platelets "strongly adhere" to this skin(recall the Hansma images!).

3. Fibril Arrays: Space between collagen fibrils is only 1-2n: the HA mineral platelet is initially deposited in the extrafibrillar space and these platelets prevent the collagen fibrils from merging.

Fibrils arrange themselves in parallel bundles.

What is the spacing between the mineral blobs on the fibril surface?Roughly the same as the spacing between HA platelets within the fibrils, about 40 nm. They conclude that the growth of exterior platelets is an extension of the intrafibrillar platelet growth. Remember that mineral platelet growth occurs simultaneous and at the same rate inside and outside the fibril! I guess those collagen molecules are literally farting minerals from the moment of birth.

Continue next post.

Training:
still off. busy week, frozen ground. trainer needing to get in training mode. but, lost shoe has been reapplied. Theoretically, we're ready to go. Fairmount back in business!

Planck Wrap Up II

"Who was it built this house so ill with shovel and with spade.
For thee dull guest in hempen twill it's far too neatly made..." --Goethe

Relative buried. Nice funeral. All over for her. She'll be missed.

Back at the ranch I have lost another long Planck post. Continue to have computer virus problems. I'll try it again later.

Our new "dam the torpedos" training started today with a little pasture work in the rain.

Planck Wrap Up I

Planck adds to our understanding of equine fracture resistance, what?

#1 some actual recent research, which

#2 differs from typical equine vet school grant research asking questions in search of a subject. Planck is profusely documented, seems logical, understandable, assigns appropriate terminology, and, significantly for this blog, examines things at the nano scale from a "materials" point of view, an approach that seems fairly new even in human bone research.

#3 Due to Planck I am now understanding:

Type 1 Collagen Molecules (i.e. bone collagen as opposed to tendon-ligament collagen) are packed into collagen fibrils, that they "self arrange" leaving water gaps that will subsequently permit leaching of mineral salts into the nano spaces.

Simultaneously with mineralization inside the fibril, mineralization proceeds outside the fibril in terms of skin coating and extrafibrillar rings in the 1-2 nm spaces between the fibrils. As things proceed arrays of fibrils self arrange and also mineralize. Significance?

Planck seems to relate the amount and type of mineralization with strength of bone. The elastic properties of each of the nano components increases in strength as mineralization proceeds. Significantly, the more extra fibrillar mineral rings, the greater the strength of tissue.

Planck essentially fills in the question--is the amount and process of mineralization-ossification important in fracture resistance? I'd like to take one closer look next post by looking at how Planck reached their conclusions, and what we may take forward in terms of FR.

Training:

The horses have been off. At my age I seem to be proving other than an airborne ranger dying in the mud and trying to recall the last dry day at the farm. A couple of days in early November, I believe. My thoughts have been a little scattered as we are burying a relative this week. Hopefully some dam the torpedo's training will begin Saturday, although looks like rain every day to February.

Measurements

I'm looking at the Planck physics article thanking my lucky stars to find something by a bunch of materials scientists, as opposed to another bit of grant research emanating from some vet school, when I bump into a book "How The Laws Of Physics Lie" written in 1983 by philosopher Nancy Cartwright. Hmmm. We'll get back to that one. But for now, the Planck piece and the understanding that if they can measure something--anything-- all sorts of additional extrapolations can be drawn. E.g. 19th century paleontologists were able to primarily age the earth merely by measuring rock strata. They'd mark a specific point on the cliff and say that everything above was younger, everything below, older. Compare this to other rock strata around the globe, and you're able to come up with years and age even before the advent of carbon dating methods.

Similarly, astronomers measuring Super Novae at the edge of the universe, map the entire universe per here:

http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/index.html

The Planck article measures and calculates at the nano scale and then arrives at seemingly important conclusions. Thus, in the spirit of documentation, this post will contain some rather dry measurements and descriptions that standing alone mean nothing at all, but presumably will take on significance when the ramifications of size, and even "existence", are considered.

What is the overall mineral fraction of bone: HA mineral crystallization averages 32-52% in wet bone. The rest of bone is organic material or water.

HA mineral crystals in bone are located in one of two places: 1. inside Type 1 Bone Collagen Fibrils, or 2. Outside the fibrils by either coating the skin of the fibrils or by building mineral rings around the fibrils.

The total % of mineralization inside and outside the fibrils is controversial because there is contradictory research. X-ray research seems to show that 70% of the mineralization occurs "within" the fibril and hence is intrafibrillar. But AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) studies such as those by Hansma show just the opposite that 70% of mineralization occurs outside the fibrils. The Planck piece believes the X-ray research is correct and that only 30% of mineralization occurs outside the fibrils.

Inside, the fibrils are composed of collagen molecules, HA mineral platelets and water. Interestingly, the new born fibril begins to mineralize when hydroxyapetite minerals invade the H2O portion of the fibril in an osmotic process.

intrafibrillar mineralization, as the fibril ages, eventually saturates the water portion of the fibril, and thereafter invades the live collagen.

simultaneously with intrafibrillar mineralization, extrafibrillar mineralization (outside coating and mineral rings around the fibrils) proceeds at roughly the exact same pace as mineralization inside the fibril.

Size:

HA interfibrillar mineral platelet: 50 x 25 x 3 nm (length x width x diameter)

HA extrafibrillar mineral blob 40 x 25 x 3 nm.

HA reinforcing ring: 5 nm diameter x 59 nm wide.

76% of a fibril's outer surface becomes coated with HA

Collagen Type 1 molecule(inside the fibril) = 300 x 67 x 1.5 nm arranged hexagonally. Spacing between molecules = 40 nm is filled with water.

Collagen Fibril = 100 nm diameter. Length and width omitted.

Collagen molecules self-assemble in staggered fashion to form new born fibrils.

Distance between adjacent fibrils = 1-2 nm.

Space between adjacent fibrils is empty or contains bone glue proteins.

This interfibrillar spacing is subsequently filled in by HA mineral salts and coating rings.

Individual fibrils self assemble themselves into bundles of various shapes and orientations.

Diameter of a fibril bundle (multiple fibrils forming a basic unit) = 100 nm

adjacent fibrils have a tendency to merge together--be glued together by bone glue proteins--or at certain places be bonded with "bridges" containing HA minerals.

Training:
Thurs. 1/14: Off
Fri. 1/15: pasture romp is curtailed after 3 heats when I realize we might bruise a coffin bone on hard crusty snow. But, they get in a little speed.
Sat. 1/16: cold, frozen mud and snow. impossible ground conditions. off.

Naked Collagen Fibrils

Returning now to Planck there are important distinctions between naked collagen fibrils, coated fibrils, HA mineral blobs, extra fibrillar mineral reinforcing rings, self assembled fibril arrays, all as sub micronic structures presumably applying to our equines. But how? Planck Institut is measuring these structures, determining their elastic properties and hence strength, leading to further surmises that strength at the electron microscope level relates to properties such as

orientation
shape
distribution and
degree of mineralization

And, since in reading this blog you are familiar with the various physical forces acting on our cannon bone, i.e. various derivatives of "concussion" you will thus recognize the importance of:
.
"...extra fibrillar mineralization considerably reinforces the fibrils properties in the transverse directions and the fibrils shear moduli."

That's where I was. Some numbers, next post.

Training:
Wed. 1/13: 13 min riderless in deep snow. 1/2 mile heats unevenly, as fast as they could go in spots.
Thurs. 1/14: After 3 days of workouts we rest with a lot of melted water on the ground.

Misc.

By the time I read everyone else's blog I run out of time for my own. I had finished up the Planck article with a lengthy post, tried to insert a photo, and somehow lost the whole post, which was discouraging. And thus, similar to Michail Bulgakov who had somehow burned accidentally his entire manuscript of The Master and Margarita before publication and had to rewrite that novel from memory, on a much lesser scale of disaster, I'll plan to rewrite that technical post. And, btw, if you have yet to read Master and Margarita please do, lest you miss one of the great novels of the last century or any century imho.

This post should contain an igloo photo as the winter of 2010 has started quite cold for those of us spending a lot of time outside. As I'd tried to post, the one saving grace was that the low was at -1f instead of -10f as they predicted. If you can predict within 10 degrees you're a weatherperson.

12/23 had been our last pre-icehouse workout as we've been primarily riderless since mid-Sept. after which wet weather prevented any serious galloping. Will see what 2010 brings. Another year and opportunity! The present thinking is to travel once a week to the nearest available track, and try a second farm speed work once a week, and try to race that way. With the Fairmount meet in jeopardy (surely they can figure how to solve that labor dispute), I'm more thinking Lincoln in May as the first meet where in practical weather terms we might be ready. Around here we'll have two weeks of mud when the snow melts, and that's on top of a lot of predicted January rain. Next post, back to bones.

Training:
Mon 1/11/10 We do our first w/o since 12/23 riderless in deep snow. Trying to get the horses to clear a path. 10 min. play.
Tues. 1/12: 10 more min riderless a lot faster. Path starting to clear. Planned tack work cancelled, as its a lot colder than they said.

Back

I thought. The second consecutive post including an intricate bone post, lost to cyberspace. Try again here tomorrow.

With 48 Hours From Hell

blowing in, the ghastly jaws of hell open at left (of the stage):

Mephistopheles:
"With tusks agape, the arching gullet breathes
A raging cataract of flame eternal.
See in the distance fumes and breathes
The citadel of flame in blaze infernal.
Up to the fangs the scarlet flood tide rages,
A few of the dammed swim up on rescue bent,
The vast Hyena mauls them and engorges,
And they resume their anguished hot descent.
The corners too are worth exploring,
Brim full of greatest horrors in least space confined.
Try as you might to terrify the sinful, they count it fraud and figment of the mind.

To the fat devils (with the long straight horns):
You, paunchy rascals , with your cheeks all burning
Who stuffed with hellish sulfur fairly glow.
You clumsy cloddish bull necks never turning,
You search for glint of phosphor there below.
There goes the little soul, winged psyche, land her,
And pluck the wings, it leaves a sordid worm.
And with my stamp of lordship I will brand her,
And off with her in whirling fiery storm..."

As they say about hell, at least you'll be warm. We are hoping things the next two days will be a little warmer then they are predicting. The above is from Faust Part II.

Training: The horses have been off due to weather since 12/23.

Miscs.

Blog will be back tomorrow, hopefully.