2004/12/22 by Luciano da Fontoura Costa, Matheus Palhares Viana, Marcelo E. Beletti +1
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Mathematics · Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #Bone Metabolism and Diseases #Bone health and osteoporosis research #Morphological variations and asymmetry #cond-mat.dis-nn #physics.bio-ph #q-bio.QM #q-bio.TO
paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/1.2166473
published as Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 033903 (2006) · 3 pages, 1 figure, The following article has been submitted to Applied Physics Letters. If it is published, it will be found online at http://apl.aip.org/
arxiv created 2004/12/22 · openalex publication_date 2006/01/16 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Bone structure in mammals involves a complex network of channels (Havers and Volkmann channels) required to nourish the bone cells. This work describes how three-dimensional reconstructions of such systems can be obtained and represented in terms of complex networks. Three important findings are reported: (i) The fact that the channel branching density resembles a power law implies the existence of distribution hubs; (ii) the joint node degree density indicates a clear tendency of connection involving nodes with degree 3; and (iii) the application of the recently introduced concept of hierarchical clustering coefficient allows the identification of typical scales of channel redistribution. A series of relevant biological insights is drawn and discussed.