The Body as an Electronic Scheme.

There is no clear evidence that acupuncture points and meridians are separate organs or specific tissues. However, in traditional Chinese medicine, the mechanism of acupuncture action is associated with the vital energy concept. To identify the body's energy source and the material basis of its transmission, transformation, and use, it is necessary to consider it as an energy-generating object, with all its components. By abstracting from the body's usual structural view, we found that it is an autonomous energy-generating object. The human body generates energy through the lungs and digestive tract, which are electrochemical generator organs. Because the generated energy must be transferred to the consumer, the body has wire and transformer analogs. It bears an obvious resemblance with an electronic circuit, where cellular structures, tissues, and their combinations act as electrical and radioelements. The heart, brain, and muscles, which have well-known electrical parameters, as well as acupuncture points, offer information about the state of these electronic circuits. This article describes an extra-organ approach for systematizing body structures. It also attempts to represent the meridians and acupuncture points system as integral electro-radioelements, as well as the local circuit components of the whole body's electronic scheme.

Astronaut omics and the impact of space on the human body at scale.

Future multi-year crewed planetary missions will motivate advances in aerospace nutrition and telehealth. On Earth, the Human Cell Atlas project aims to spatially map all cell types in the human body. Here, we propose that a parallel Human Cell Space Atlas could serve as an openly available, global resource for space life science research. As humanity becomes increasingly spacefaring, high-resolution omics on orbit could permit an advent of precision spaceflight healthcare. Alongside the scientific potential, we consider the complex ethical, cultural, and legal challenges intrinsic to the human space omics discipline, and how philosophical frameworks may benefit from international perspectives.

Sex Doll Specifications versus Human Body Characteristics.

Sex dolls have been criticized for reproducing unrealistic expectations about human bodies. Yet precise sex doll measurements are lacking in the literature nor has there been any systematic attempt to determine the extent to which sex dolls exaggerate human characteristics. To address this gap, we compared the specifications of sex dolls marketed in the USA with the characteristics of women and men living in the USA. Specifically, we tested if and to what degree female dolls were slimmer (H1) and male dolls more muscular (H2) than female and male humans, respectively. Furthermore, we tested if and to what degree female dolls' breasts (H3) and male dolls' penises (H4) were larger than those of women and men. We also tested if sex dolls' observed race/ethnicity was more often White than that of the US population (H5). In 2023, we collected the measures of all 757 full-body sex dolls marketed by the US retailer SexyRealSexDolls.com. Body measures from the US population were extracted from scientific literature. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed using R. All hypotheses were fully or partially confirmed, which indicated that sex dolls marketed in the USA are not realistic depictions of the US population but hypergendered (H1, H2), hypersexualized (H3, H4), and racially fetishized (H5). Implications of the lack of realism are discussed.

The Human Body is the Collective Unconscious: Archetypal Images as Innate Embodied Metaphors.

For a significant part of its history, archetype theory has been undermined by criticisms containing unexamined Cartesian assumptions. Such assumptions treat all cognition as disembodied, consisting of mere manipulation of abstract, inherently meaningless signs mimicked from verbal instruction or cultural learning. Since the 1980s, due to the results of many independent disciplines, however, this view is being replaced with one of embodied cognition. This shift has important consequences for archetype theory, allowing us to provide a non-reductive biological anchor that explains many characteristics of the archetypal image.

Pendant une partie importante de son histoire, la théorie des archétypes a été discréditée par des critiques contenant des hypothèses cartésiennes qui n'étaient pas remises en question. De telles hypothèses considèrent que toute capacité cognitive est désincarnée et consiste en une simple manipulation de signes abstraits et intrinsèquement dépourvus de sens, imités à partir d'instructions verbales ou d'apprentissage culturel. Néanmoins depuis les années 1980, du fait de résultats provenant de plusieurs disciplines indépendantes, cette façon de voir est remplacée par une autre: celle de la capacité cognitive incarnée. Ce déplacement a des conséquences importantes pour la théorie des archétypes, nous permettant de fournir un ancrage biologique non­réducteur qui explique un grand nombre de caractéristiques de l'image archétypale.

Durante una parte significativa de su historia, la teoría de los arquetipos se ha visto afectada por críticas que contenían supuestos cartesianos no examinados. Dichos supuestos dan cuenta de toda cognición como incorpórea, consistiendo en la mera manipulación de signos abstractos e intrínsecamente carentes de significado, imitados a partir de la instrucción verbal o el aprendizaje cultural. Sin embargo, desde la década de 1980, gracias a los resultados de muchas disciplinas independientes, este punto de vista se está sustituyendo por el de la cognición encarnada. Este cambio tiene importantes consecuencias para la teoría de los arquetipos, ya que nos permite ofrecer un anclaje biológico no reductivo que explica muchas características de la imagen arquetípica.

Universal and cultural factors shape body part vocabularies.

Every human has a body. Yet, languages differ in how they divide the body into parts to name them. While universal naming strategies exist, there is also variation in the vocabularies of body parts across languages. In this study, we investigate the similarities and differences in naming two separate body parts with one word, i.e., colexifications. We use a computational approach to create networks of body part vocabularies across languages. The analyses focus on body part networks in large language families, on perceptual features that lead to colexifications of body parts, and on a comparison of network structures in different semantic domains. Our results show that adjacent body parts are colexified frequently. However, preferences for perceptual features such as shape and function lead to variations in body part vocabularies. In addition, body part colexification networks are less varied across language families than networks in the semantic domains of emotion and colour. The study presents the first large-scale comparison of body part vocabularies in 1,028 language varieties and provides important insights into the variability of a universal human domain.

Light-Adaptive Human Body Key Point Detection Algorithm Based on Multi-Source Information Fusion.

The identification of key points in the human body is vital for sports rehabilitation, medical diagnosis, human-computer interaction, and related fields. Currently, depth cameras provide more precise depth information on these crucial points. However, human motion can lead to variations in the positions of these key points. While the Mediapipe algorithm demonstrates effective anti-shake capabilities for these points, its accuracy can be easily affected by changes in lighting conditions. To address these challenges, this study proposes an illumination-adaptive algorithm for detecting human key points through the fusion of multi-source information. By integrating key point data from the depth camera and Mediapipe, an illumination change model is established to simulate environmental lighting variations. Subsequently, the fitting function of the relationship between lighting conditions and adaptive weights is solved to achieve lighting adaptation for human key point detection. Experimental verification and similarity analysis with benchmark data yielded R2 results of 0.96 and 0.93, and cosine similarity results of 0.92 and 0.90. With a threshold range of 8, the joint accuracy rates for the two rehabilitation actions were found to be 89% and 88%. The experimental results demonstrate the stability of the proposed method in detecting key points in the human body under changing illumination conditions, its anti-shake ability for human movement, and its high detection accuracy. This method shows promise for applications in human-computer interaction, sports rehabilitation, and virtual reality.

Unraveling the Microbiome-Human Body Axis: A Comprehensive Examination of Therapeutic Strategies, Interactions and Implications.

This review scrutinizes the intricate interplay between the microbiome and the human body, exploring its multifaceted dimensions and far-reaching implications. The human microbiome, comprising diverse microbial communities inhabiting various anatomical niches, is increasingly recognized as a critical determinant of human health and disease. Through an extensive examination of current research, this review elucidates the dynamic interactions between the microbiome and host physiology across multiple organ systems. Key topics include the establishment and maintenance of microbiota diversity, the influence of host factors on microbial composition, and the bidirectional communication pathways between microbiota and host cells. Furthermore, we delve into the functional implications of microbiome dysbiosis in disease states, emphasizing its role in shaping immune responses, metabolic processes, and neurological functions. Additionally, this review discusses emerging therapeutic strategies aimed at modulating the microbiome to restore host-microbe homeostasis and promote health. Microbiota fecal transplantation represents a groundbreaking therapeutic approach in the management of dysbiosis-related diseases, offering a promising avenue for restoring microbial balance within the gut ecosystem. This innovative therapy involves the transfer of fecal microbiota from a healthy donor to an individual suffering from dysbiosis, aiming to replenish beneficial microbial populations and mitigate pathological imbalances. By synthesizing findings from diverse fields, this review offers valuable insights into the complex relationship between the microbiome and the human body, highlighting avenues for future research and clinical interventions.

Leading the transition to ethical human body sourcing in Africa: The South African experience.

BACKGROUND: The use of human bodies for anatomy education and research forms an integral part of the training of health professionals around the world. However, the ethical acquisition of human remains for this purpose has been a challenge in many countries, particularly for those on the African continent. South African institutions have however, been able to progressively transition to a more ethical approach to human body acquisition. The aim of the current study was to investigate the provenance of human bodies and the number used in South African health sciences institutions during the period 2017-2021. METHODS: an online self-administered anonymised questionnaire was circulated to all health sciences institutions in South Africa. Questions were focused on establishing the provenance and the associated number of bodies and body donor programmes. RESULTS: responses were received from thirteen of the fourteen South African institutions. All thirteen institutions use human bodies for teaching and research, with the majority of the institutions being reliant on bequests (77%) and family donations (62%), and less on unclaimed remains (46%). Most institutions have established body donor programmes. Four institutions were negatively affected by the effects of the pandemic. Memorial services, which continued during the pandemic, were conducted by eight of the thirteen institutions. CONCLUSION: South Africa is leading the transition to the ethical acquisition of human remains on the African continent. It is hoped that South African institutions will soon transform to the exclusive sourcing of bodies through willed donation and provide guidance and support for the other countries on the continent.

Health Effects of Ionizing Radiation on the Human Body.

Radioactivity is a process in which the nuclei of unstable atoms spontaneously decay, producing other nuclei and releasing energy in the form of ionizing radiation in the form of alpha (α) and beta (ß) particles as well as the emission of gamma (γ) electromagnetic waves. People may be exposed to radiation in various forms, as casualties of nuclear accidents, workers in power plants, or while working and using different radiation sources in medicine and health care. Acute radiation syndrome (ARS) occurs in subjects exposed to a very high dose of radiation in a very short period of time. Each form of radiation has a unique pathophysiological effect. Unfortunately, higher organisms-human beings-in the course of evolution have not acquired receptors for the direct "capture" of radiation energy, which is transferred at the level of DNA, cells, tissues, and organs. Radiation in biological systems depends on the amount of absorbed energy and its spatial distribution, particularly depending on the linear energy transfer (LET). Photon radiation with low LET leads to homogeneous energy deposition in the entire tissue volume. On the other hand, radiation with a high LET produces a fast Bragg peak, which generates a low input dose, whereby the penetration depth into the tissue increases with the radiation energy. The consequences are mutations, apoptosis, the development of cancer, and cell death. The most sensitive cells are those that divide intensively-bone marrow cells, digestive tract cells, reproductive cells, and skin cells. The health care system and the public should raise awareness of the consequences of ionizing radiation. Therefore, our aim is to identify the consequences of ARS taking into account radiation damage to the respiratory system, nervous system, hematopoietic system, gastrointestinal tract, and skin.

Robustly and Intrinsically Stretchable Ionic Gel-Based Moisture-Enabled Power Generator with High Human Body Conformality.

Direct harvesting of energy from moist air will be a promising route to supply electricity for booming wearable and distributed electronics, with the recent rapid development of the moisture-enabled electricity generator (MEG). However, the easy spatial distortion of rigid MEG materials under severe deformation extremely inconveniences the human body with intense physical activity, seriously hindering the desirable applications. Here, an intrinsically stretchable moisture-enabled electricity generator (s-MEG) is developed based on a well-fabricated stretchable functional ionic gel (SIG) with a flexible double-network structure and reversible cross-linking interactions, demonstrating stable electricity output performance even when stretched up to 150% strain and high human body conformality. This SIG exhibits ultrahigh tensile strain (∼600%), and a 1 cm × 1 cm SIG film-based s-MEG can generate a voltage of ∼0.4 V and a current of ∼5.7 µA when absorbing water from humidity air. Based on the strong adhesion and the excellent interface combination of SIG and rough fabric electrodes induced by the fabrication process, s-MEG is able to realize bending or twisting deformation and shows outstanding electricity output stability with ∼90% performance retention after 5000 cycles of bending tests. By connecting s-MEG units in series or parallel, an integrated device of "moisture-powered wristband" is developed to wear on the wrist of humans and drive a flexible sensor for tracking finger motions. Additionally, a comfortable "moisture-powered sheath" based on s-MEGs is created, which can be worn like clothing on human arms to generate energy while walking and flexing the elbow, which is promising in the field of wearable electronics.

Cross-Modal Supervised Human Body Pose Recognition Techniques for Through-Wall Radar.

Through-wall radar human body pose recognition technology has broad applications in both military and civilian sectors. Identifying the current pose of targets behind walls and predicting subsequent pose changes are significant challenges. Conventional methods typically utilize radar information along with machine learning algorithms such as SVM and random forests to aid in recognition. However, these approaches have limitations, particularly in complex scenarios. In response to this challenge, this paper proposes a cross-modal supervised through-wall radar human body pose recognition method. By integrating information from both cameras and radar, a cross-modal dataset was constructed, and a corresponding deep learning network architecture was designed. During training, the network effectively learned the pose features of targets obscured by walls, enabling accurate pose recognition (e.g., standing, crouching) in scenarios with unknown wall obstructions. The experimental results demonstrated the superiority of the proposed method over traditional approaches, offering an effective and innovative solution for practical through-wall radar applications. The contribution of this study lies in the integration of deep learning with cross-modal supervision, providing new perspectives for enhancing the robustness and accuracy of target pose recognition.

Changes in the excitability of anterior horn cells in a mental rotation task of body parts.

INTRODUCTION/AIMS: Mental rotation (MR), a tool of implicit motor imagery, is the ability to rotate mental representations of two- or three-dimensional objects. Although many reports have described changes in brain activity during MR tasks, it is not clear whether the excitability of anterior horn cells in the spinal cord can be changed. In this study, we examined whether MR tasks of hand images affect the excitability of anterior horn cells using F-wave analysis. METHODS: Right-handed, healthy participants were recruited for this study. F-waves of the right abductor pollicis brevis were recorded after stimulation of the right median nerve at rest, during a non-MR task, and during an MR task. The F-wave persistence and the F/M amplitude ratio were calculated and analyzed. RESULTS: Twenty participants (11 men and 9 women; mean age, 29.2 ± 4.4 years) were initially recruited, and data from the 18 that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. The F-wave persistence was significantly higher in the MR task than in the resting condition (p = .001) or the non-MR task (p = .012). The F/M amplitude ratio was significantly higher in the MR task than in the resting condition (p = .019). DISCUSSION: The MR task increases the excitability of anterior horn cells corresponding to the same body part. MR tasks may have the potential for improving motor function in patients with reduced excitability of the anterior horn cells, although this methodology must be further verified in a clinical setting.

Fast Human Motion reconstruction from sparse inertial measurement units considering the human shape.

Inertial Measurement Unit-based methods have great potential in capturing motion in large-scale and complex environments with many people. Sparse Inertial Measurement Unit-based methods have more research value due to their simplicity and flexibility. However, improving the computational efficiency and reducing latency in such methods are challenging. In this paper, we propose Fast Inertial Poser, which is a full body motion estimation deep neural network based on 6 inertial measurement units considering body parameters. We design a network architecture based on recurrent neural networks according to the kinematics tree. This method introduces human body shape information by the causality of observations and eliminates the dependence on future frames. During the estimation of joint positions, the upper body and lower body are estimated using separate network modules independently. Then the joint rotation is obtained through a well-designed single-frame kinematics inverse solver. Experiments show that the method can greatly improve the inference speed and reduce the latency while ensuring the reconstruction accuracy compared with previous methods. Fast Inertial Poser runs at 65 fps with 15 ms latency on an embedded computer, demonstrating the efficiency of the model.

Assessing injury risks of reclined occupants in a frontal crash preceded by braking with varied seatbelt designs using the SAFER Human Body Model.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effects of different seatbelt geometries and load-limiting levels on the kinematics and injury risks of a reclined occupant during a whole-sequence frontal crash scenario, using simulations with the Active SAFER Human Body Model (Active SHBM). METHODS: The Active SHBM was positioned in a reclined position (50°) on a semi-rigid seat model. A whole-sequence frontal crash scenario, an 11 m/s2 Automated Emergency Braking (AEB) phase followed by a frontal crash at 50 km/h, was simulated. The seatbelt geometry was varied using either a B-pillar-integrated (BPI) or Belt-in-seat (BIS) design. The shoulder belt load-limiting level of the BPI seatbelt was also varied to achieve either similar shoulder belt forces (BPI_Lower_LL) or comparable upper body displacements (BPI_Higher_LL) to the BIS seatbelt. Kinematics of different body regions and seatbelt forces were compared. The risks of sustaining a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), two or more fractured ribs (NFR2+), and lumbar spine vertebral fractures were also compared. RESULTS: During the pre-crash phase, head, first thoracic vertebra, and first lumbar vertebra displacements were greater with the BPI seatbelt than with the BIS, mainly due to the lack of initial contact between the torso and the seatbelt. Pelvis pre-crash displacements, however, remained consistent across seatbelt types. In the in-crash phase, variations in shoulder belt forces were directly influenced by the different load-limiting levels of the shoulder belt. The mTBI (around 20%) and NFR2+ (around 70-100%) risks were amplified with BPI seatbelts, especially at higher load-limiting force. However, the BPI design demonstrated reduced lumbar spine fracture risks (from 30% to 1%). CONCLUSIONS: The BIS seatbelt appears promising, as seen with the reduced mTBI and NFR2+ risks, for ensuring the protection of reclined occupants in frontal crashes. However, additional solutions, such as lap belt load limiting, should be considered to reduce lumbar spine loading.

Skeleton-derived extracellular vesicles in bone and whole-body aging: From mechanisms to potential applications.

The skeleton serves as a supportive and protective organ for the body. As individuals age, their bone tissue undergoes structural, cellular, and molecular changes, including the accumulation of senescent cells. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a crucial role in aging through the cellular secretome and have been found to induce or accelerate age-related dysfunction in bones and to contribute further via the circulatory system to the aging of phenotypes of other bodily systems. However, the extent of these effects and their underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, this paper attempts to give an overview of the current understanding of age-related alteration in EVs derived from bones. The role of EVs in mediating communications among bone-related cells and other body parts is discussed, and the significance of bones in the whole-body aging process is highlighted. Ultimately, it is hoped that gaining a clearer understanding of the relationship between EVs and aging mechanisms may serve as a basis for new treatment strategies for age-related degenerative diseases in the skeleton and other systems.

Vibration reduction of human body biodynamic response in sitting posture under vibration environment by seat backrest support.

Four-degree-of-freedom (4-DOF) human-chair coupling models are constructed to characterize the different contact modes between the head, chest back, waist back and backrest. The seat-to-head transfer ratio (STHT) is used as an evaluation metric for vibration reduction effectiveness. The simulated vibration reduction ratio of the model is close to the experimental results, which proves the validity of the model. The peak STHT is obviously reduced (P < 0.05, T-test) with seat-backrest support. The experiments show that supporting the head ( a 1 , P < 0.05, Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed ranks) has the best vibration reduction effect (21%), supporting the chest back ( a 2 , P < 0.05) has a reduced effect (11%), and supporting the waist back ( a 3 , P < 0.05) has the weakest effect (4%). When the upper torso is in full contact with the backrest, the peak STHT curve and resonance frequency are positively correlated with the contact stiffness of the seat surface and negatively correlated with the contact damping. In order to reduce the seat-to-head transfer ratio, the lowest STHT peak and lowest total energy judgments were proposed as the selection methods for the selection of the contact stiffness and damping of the backrest in two environments (periodic and non-periodic excitation), respectively.

Efficient Model-Based Anthropometry under Clothing Using Low-Cost Depth Sensors.

Measuring human body dimensions is critical for many engineering and product design domains. Nonetheless, acquiring body dimension data for populations using typical anthropometric methods poses challenges due to the time-consuming nature of manual methods. The measurement process for three-dimensional (3D) whole-body scanning can be much faster, but 3D scanning typically requires subjects to change into tight-fitting clothing, which increases time and cost and introduces privacy concerns. To address these and other issues in current anthropometry techniques, a measurement system was developed based on portable, low-cost depth cameras. Point-cloud data from the sensors are fit using a model-based method, Inscribed Fitting, which finds the most likely body shape in the statistical body shape space and providing accurate estimates of body characteristics. To evaluate the system, 144 young adults were measured manually and with two levels of military ensembles using the system. The results showed that the prediction accuracy for the clothed scans remained at a similar level to the accuracy for the minimally clad scans. This approach will enable rapid measurement of clothed populations with reduced time compared to manual and typical scan-based methods.

Are there any completely sterile organs or tissues in the human body? Is there any sacred place?

The human microbiome comprises an ample set of organisms that inhabit and interact within the human body, contributing both positively and negatively to our health. In recent years, several research groups have described the presence of microorganisms in organs or tissues traditionally considered as 'sterile' under healthy and pathological conditions. In this sense, microorganisms have been detected in several types of cancer, including those in 'sterile' organs. But how can the presence of microorganisms be detected? In most studies, 16S and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequencing has led to the identification of prokaryotes and fungi. However, a major limitation of this technique is that it cannot distinguish between living and dead organisms. RNA-based methods have been proposed to overcome this limitation, as the shorter half-life of the RNA would identify only the transcriptionally active microorganisms, although perhaps not all the viable ones. In this sense, metaproteomic techniques or the search for molecular metabolic signatures could be interesting alternatives for the identification of living microorganisms. In summary, new technological advances are challenging the notion of 'sterile' organs in our body. However, to date, evidence for a structured living microbiome in most of these organs is scarce or non-existent. The implementation of new technological approaches will be necessary to fully understand the importance of the microbiome in these organs, which could pave the way for the development of a wide range of new therapeutic strategies.

There and Back Again: Building Systems That Integrate, Interface, and Interact with the Human Body.

Since Dr. Theodor Schwann posed the extension of Cell Theory to mammals in 1839, scientists have dreamt up ways to interface with and influence the cells. Recently, considerable ground in this area is gained, particularly in the scope of bioelectronics. New advances in this area have provided with a means to record electrical activity from cells, examining neural firing or epithelial barrier integrity, and stimulate cells through applied electrical fields. Many of these applications utilize invasive implantation systems to perform this interaction in close proximity to the cells in question. Traditionally, the body's immune system fights back against these systems through the foreign body response, limiting the efficacy of long-term interactions. New technologies in tissue engineering, biomaterials science, and bioelectronics offer the potential to circumvent the foreign body response and create stable long-term biological interfaces. Looking ahead, the next advancements in the biomedical sciences can truly integrate, interface, and interact with the human body.

Investigating the status of whole-body donation across the United States of America.

Dissection of human body donors is a valuable part of anatomical education, research, and clinical training. In the United States, deceased human bodies are predominantly sourced through whole-body donation programs (BDPs) housed by academic institutions. Due to the lack of information regarding BDPs, the aim of this study was to gather information from US BDPs through a survey to better understand the donation process and standard operating procedures of these programs. In 2021, a Qualtrics survey was distributed to 125 BDPs and yielded responses from 72 program leaders. Collectively, these programs received more than 26,000 whole-body donations annually. Findings show that 70% typically receive enough donations to fit the needs of their institutions, 17% receive a surplus of donations, and 13% receive too few donations. Sixty-eight percent of programs permit next of kin body donation regularly or in times of need, and 44% allow next of kin to make changes to a donor's donation form after death. On average, over 85% of the registered donor population is composed of white individuals, and only 6 institutions have methods in place to promote diversity among their donor population. Overall, there is considerable variability in the operation of BDPs across the United States. These findings can be used to make recommendations about donor enrollment and program operations to ultimately improve the donation process. Future research needs to investigate the opinions and preferences of body donors along with their next of kin on the body donation process and associated policies.