On the importance of integrating comparative anatomy and One Health perspectives in anatomy education.

As a result of many factors, including climate change, unrestricted population growth, widespread deforestation and intensive agriculture, a new pattern of diseases in humans is emerging. With increasing encroachment by human societies into wild domains, the interfaces between human and animal ecosystems are gradually eroding. Such changes have led to zoonoses, vector-borne diseases, infectious diseases and, most importantly, the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant microbial strains as challenges for human health. Now would seem to be an opportune time to revisit old concepts of health and redefine some of these in the light of emerging challenges. The One Health concept addresses some of the demands of modern medical education by providing a holistic approach to explaining diseases that result from a complex set of interactions between humans, environment and animals, rather than just an amalgamation of isolated signs and symptoms. An added advantage is that the scope of One Health concepts has now expanded to include genetic diseases due to advancements in omics technology. Inspired by such ideas, a symposium was organised as part of the 19th International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA) Congress (August 2019) to investigate the scope of One Health concepts and comparative anatomy in contemporary medical education. Speakers with expertise in both human and veterinary anatomy participated in the symposium and provided examples where these two disciplines, which have so far evolved largely independent of each other, can collaborate for mutual benefit. Finally, the speakers identified some key concepts of One Health that should be prioritised and discussed the diverse opportunities available to integrate these priorities into a broader perspective that would attempt to explain and manage diseases within the scopes of human and veterinary medicine.

[Location, selection, and comparative anatomy of "Taixi" (KI3), "Shuiquan" (KI5), "Fuliu" (KI7), "Jiaoxin" (KI8), "Zhubin" (KI9), and "Yingu"(KI10) acupoints in rabbits].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the. METHODS: for locating and selecting the acupoints of "Taixi" (KI3), "Shuiquan" (KI5), "Fuliu" (KI7), "Jiaoxin" (KI8), "Zhubin" (KI9), and "Yingu" (KI10) and the morphological structure of these acupoints in rabbits. MethodsAccording to the WHO and national standards for human acupoints and rabbit X-ray images, acupoint locations were marked using the anatomical landmarks on body surface in 10 New Zealand rabbits. The acupoints were dissected to compare the homologous and analogous tissue between rabbits and human body and thus correct the locations of these acupoints. Potentials were measured for the 10 New Zealand rabbits at the corrected locations of the acupoints and around the acupoints, and the final locations of these acupoints were determined by comparing the anatomical results and the data of potentials. Anatomical observation was performed after marking, and the relationship between acupuncture needle and adjacent structure was observed. RESULTS: "Taixi" was located in the ankle area, at the midpoint between the prominence of the medial malleolus and the calca-neal tendon; "Shuiquan" was located in the calcaneal area below "Taixi" in the depression anterior to the calcaneal tuberosity; "Fuliu" was located at the medial side of the calf, at 2 cun above the prominence of the medial malleolus anterior to the calcaneal tendon; "Jiaoxin" was located at the medial side of the calf, at 2 cun above the prominence of the medial malleolus and in the depression posterior to the medial border of the tibia; "Zhubin" was located at the medial side of the calf, at 5 cun above the medial malleolus on the line between "Taixi" and "Yingu"; "Yingu" was located at the medial side of the knee, at the posterior-inferior border of the semitendinosus tendon on the popliteal crease. The results of skin potentials at the acupoints suggested that "Taixi", "Shuiquan", "Fuliu", and "Zhubin" were high-reliability acupoints, "Jiaoxin" was a medium-reliability acupoint, and "Yingu" was a low-reliability acupoint. CONCLUSION: Comparative anatomy combined with imaging, surface anatomy, and electrophysiological techniques of acupoints can help with the accurate localization and selection of acupoints in experimental animals, improve the reliability of acupoint location, and enrich the comparative anatomical data of acupoints.

Comparative anatomy and histochemistry of the leaf blade of two species of Artocarpus.

In Brazil, there are two species of Artocarpus that were introduced: Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg, known as fruta-pão, and Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam., known as jaca. Both are used as food and medicine. The objective of this work was to conduct a comparative anatomical and histochemical study between A. altilis and A. heterophyllus. Techniques of optical, polarized and scanning electron coupled to energy dispersive spectroscopy. The anatomical characterization showed the characters of general occurrence in the family Moraceae and of those that allow the differentiation of A. altilis and A. heterophyllus. The histochemistry revealed the sites of synthesis and/or storage of the metabolites. The chemical microanalyses brought new information about the chemical composition of crystals. The study provides pharmacobotanical data for the quality control of the species.

History of the Development of Anesthesia for the Dolphin: A Quest to Study a Brain as Large as Man's.

It is important for academic-minded human anesthesiologists to have an interdisciplinary perspective when engaging in cutting-edge research as well as the practice of human anesthesiology. This was a philosophy promoted by Dr. Robert Dripps, former pioneering Chairman of the Anesthesiology Department at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). Many human and veterinary anesthesiologists as well as biomedical engineers and neuroscientists benefited from Dr. Dripps's constructive outlook personified in the quest to develop dolphin anesthesiology.The motivation to anesthetize dolphins came from the fact that scientists and physicians wanted to study the brain of the dolphin, a brain as large as man's. Also, investigators wanted to develop anesthesia for the dolphin in order to study the electrophysiology of the dolphin's highly sophisticated auditory system, which facilitates the dolphin's amazing echolocation capability.Dolphin anesthesia involves a complex matter of unique neural control, airway anatomy, neuromuscular control of respiration, and sleep behavior.

Digital dissection of the model organism Xenopus laevis using contrast-enhanced computed tomography.

The African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, is one of the most widely used model organisms in biological research. However, the most recent anatomical description of X. laevis was produced nearly a century ago. Compared with other anurans, pipid frogs - including X. laevis - exhibit numerous unusual morphological features; thus, anatomical descriptions of more 'typical' frogs do not detail many aspects of X. laevis skeletal and soft-tissue morphology. The relatively new method of using iodine-based agents to stain soft tissues prior to high-resolution X-ray imaging has several advantages over gross dissection, such as enabling dissection of very small and fragile specimens, and preserving the three-dimensional topology of anatomical structures. Here, we use contrast-enhanced computed tomography to produce a high-resolution three-dimensional digital dissection of a post-metamorphic X. laevis to successfully visualize: skeletal and muscular anatomy; the nervous, respiratory, digestive, excretory and reproductive systems; and the major sense organs. Our digital dissection updates and supplements previous anatomical descriptions of this key model organism, and we present the three-dimensional data as interactive portable document format (PDF) files that are easily accessible and freely available for research and educational purposes. The data presented here hold enormous potential for applications beyond descriptive purposes, particularly for biological researchers using this taxon as a model organism, comparative anatomy and biomechanical modelling.

Yin and yang surfaces: an evolutionary perspective.

A search of the Chinese medicine literature reveals several conflicting explanations of the division of the body into yin and yang surfaces. This paper attempts to clarify this basic concept and reconcile the differing descriptions of it through an exploration of material from other disciplines. A remarkable similarity exists between the surfaces on the human body that are defined by the pathways of the yin and yang meridians and those that have evolved from the ventral and the dorsal aspects of early vertebrate structure. Many of the evolutionary changes described have parallels in our embryological development and are evident in the underlying anatomy of our limbs. The degree of convergence between the two descriptions strongly supports the definition of the yin and yang surfaces as those traversed by the yin and yang meridians. It also goes a long way towards reconciling the conflicting definitions found in the literature. Finding a solution to this question of yin and yang surfaces that is based on anatomy and evolutionary theories has several advantages. It can throw light on differences in the clinical effects of points on the yin and yang meridians and enable the identification of anomalies in the pathways of the main meridian network.

["Fiction and Truth": Goethe's anatomical research at the University of Jena]. / "Dichtung und Wahrheit": Goethes anatomische Forschung an der Universität Jena.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was one of the most renowned German poets of the late Age of Enlightenment. However, his engagement went far beyond literature especially relating to politics and natural science. Goethe, primarily trained as a lawyer, developed his own theory of colors and even challenged the concepts of Isaac Newton. His discovery of the human intermaxilary bone questioned all the dogmas of the religious-minded world of the 18th century. Together with the anatomy professor Justus Christian Loder, Goethe performed comparative anatomy and proved the conceptual uniformity of humans and animals on 27 March 1784. Even though, Félix Vicq d'Azyr described the intermaxilary bone simultaneously in Catholic France, Goethe's findings were politically accepted due to the liberal Protestantism of the Duchy of Weimar. Nevertheless, leading anatomists of the century (Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, Petrus Camper and Samuel Thomas v. Soemmerring) mainly rejected Goethe's postulates which led to a delayed publication in 1820; almost 36 years after writing his original manuscript. Today, Goethe's discovery is known to be a fundamental basis for the development of Charles Darwin's theory of phylogenetic evolution. Nowadays, the Department of Anatomy contains the Museum Anatomicum Jenense which was founded by the Duke of Weimar, Carl August and Goethe and entails Goethe's premaxillary bones as its main attraction. The University values the cultural heritage of Goethe's contribution to Medicine and provides access to the collection to the public and generations of medical students. Still today Goethe's legacy is noticeable in the halls of the Alma Mater Jenensis.

[Observation and analysis on the meridian-collateral running track-related anatomical structure in the human body].

In the present paper the authors analyze the anatomical structure of the meridian running track by using the dialectical thought and comprehensive analysis of the integrated Chinese and western medicine. It has been observed that the "Qi-passages" of the 14 meridians of Chinese medicine are located in the connective tissue among the interspace of the muscles, etc. distributing longitudinally. The "Qi-passages" of the 15 Luomai (collaterals of the meridians) are located in the connective tissue among the interspace of the muscles, etc. distributing transversally, while those of the small branches of the meridian collaterals are located in the interspace mesenchyme of the muscle bundles distributing in the whole body. The "Qi-passages" of the tiny branches of the meridian collaterals are located in the mesenchyme of the intracellular space, such as the muscle fibers in the whole body. The authors hold that the so-called "Mai Qi" of the meridian-collaterals is the liquid-Qi flowing in the vertical and horizontal tissue interspaces. The "Qi-passage" of the meridian-collaterals of Chinese medicine is the pathway of the liquid-Qi of the tissue interspaces. The structure of the meridian-collaterals is the tissue interspace. The meridian-collateral system is a regulation-control system in the human body where the Qi-passages communicate with each other, and is, in fact, the protoplasm, the liquid-Qi circulating in the tissue interspaces.

Morphometric analysis of the skull of the Sahel goat breed: basic and clinical anatomy.

The work reports morphometric analysis of the skulls of the Sahel breed of goat. The calculated metric data (mean +/- SD) included the condylobasal length, 16.94 +/- 1.39 cm, while the orbital circumference was 11.30 +/- 0.48 cm. The foramen magnum height and width were 1.82 +/- 0.11 cm and 1.85 +/- 0.15 cm respectively while the foramen magnum index was 89.81 +/- 8.71. Animals above one year of age had significantly higher values for orbital length including horizontal and vertical diameters, overall skull length, basal length, and neurocranium height than animals aged one year and below. The cornual process length, maximum orbital circumference and horizontal diameter obtained in this study were higher than those reported for other Nigerian goat breeds in the literature. The data for the distances from the facial tuberosity to the infraorbital canal, from the mental foramen to the lateral extent of the alveolar root of the lower incisor, as well as from the mandibular foramen to the base of the mandible and that from the mental foramen to the caudal border of the mandible, which are important clinically in the estimation of craniofacial measurements that will aid regional anaesthesia, were however similar to those reported earlier for the Red Sokoto and West African Dwarf breeds implying that a uniform craniometric estimation for associated regional nerve blocks can be attempted for these goat breeds.

Secular trends in the European male facial skull from the Migration Period to the present: a cephalometric study.

Secular trends in the facial skull over three Central European samples spanning more than 13 centuries were examined. Data were 43 conventional cephalometric landmark points for samples dating from 680 to 830 AD (29 male Avars), from the mid-19th century (49 adult Hapsburg Monarchy males), and from the 20th century (54 living Austrian young adult males). Analyses by standard methods of geometric morphometrics demonstrated shape differences by data and by size, with a strong interaction of these with sample, in that group mean differences were different for small and large individuals (allometry is different from period to period). The oldest sample, from the Migration Period, exhibited allometric features that may possibly be Turkic. There are implications for the orthodontist interested in growth trends or growth predictions in ethnically mixed patient samples.

The development of spinal cord anatomy.

A panel illustrating spinal cord injury in The Dying Lioness in the British Museum dates to 650 BC. This paper outlines the subsequent progression of knowledge of the anatomy of the spinal cord. The animal dissections of Galen are considered because his deductions persisted through the Dark Ages until the late 18th century. Anatomy advanced gradually to yield discoveries of the complex tracts and grey matter elements of the cord and their functions. Amongst many distinguished exponents, the works of Blasius, Huber, Vicq d'Azyr and Stilling are emphasised.

Application of microscopy in authentication of traditional Tibetan medicinal plants of five Rhodiola (Crassulaceae) alpine species by comparative anatomy and micromorphology.

A comparative analysis was undertaken to conduct an anatomical and micromorphological study of five species of Rhodiola-R. kirilowii, R. yunnanensis, R. crenulata, R. fastigata, and R. quadrifida-collected from the western Sichuan province plateau of China. Rhodiola plants are a popularly used ethnodrug from the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau of China. Modern studies have shown that the plants of Rhodiola possess different pharmacological activities, chemical constituents, and efficiencies in clinical application. To distinguish five main species of Rhodiola and ensure their safety and efficacy, microscopic characteristics of roots, rhizomes, and stems, including transverse sections, stem and foliar epidermis, as well as the crude drug powder, were observed. The fixed, sectioned, and stained plant materials, as well as the crude powder, were studied using a light microscope according to the usual microscopic techniques. The results of the microscopic features were systematically and comparatively described and illustrated. The five species have distinct microscopic characteristic differences, thus allowing us to distinguish between the species. Also, semi-quantitative and quantitative micrographic parameter tables were simultaneously presented. Further, a key to the five species and a comparative chart of the key authentication parameters based on these anatomic characteristics analyzed was drawn up and is presented for the Rhodiola species studied. The study indicated that light microscopy and related techniques provide a method that is convenient, feasible, and can be unambiguously applied to the authentication of species of Rhodiola.

[Anatomical visibility of the meridian information channels].

The "structure imperfectness of signal channel rule" put forward by the author of the present paper may provide a theoretical evidence for the systematicness of meridian information channel. The conclusion that no special structure of the meridian-collateral system has been found is likely to serve as a piece of counterevidence. According to the latest structural view, the development of capillaries, lymphatic vessels and nerves needs target cells-released inducible factors. In the initial phase of the development of the organism, the asymmetry of the interspaces among cells results in the production and arrangement imbalance of the sequential factors which make the capillaries, lymphatic vessels and nerves distribute sequentially in time and space. Meridian-collateral, following the "systemic statistic distribution rule", is a general expression of this distribution pattern. As a systematic structure, the meridian-collateral system distributes in an optimized way in the human body and has both orderly and compatible characteristics. The author thinks that the meridian-collateral information channel is anatomically visible in the time and spatial structure, and in its logical structure and compatibility during the process of growth. Hence, many techniques of delicate anatomy, quantitative anatomy, growth anatomy, comparative anatomy, tridimensional remodeling of living creature and dynamical remodeling of growth all should be used as the important tools for studying the meridian information channel. The theory and the anatomical techniques determine what you would finally find.

Phylogenetic relationships of Danio within the order Cypriniformes: a framework for comparative and evolutionary studies of a model species.

The evolutionary relationships of species of Danio and the monophyly and phylogenetic placement of the genus within the family Cyprinidae and subfamily Rasborinae provide fundamentally important phyloinformatics necessary for direct evaluations of an array of pertinent questions in modern comparative biology. Although the genus Danio is not one of the most diverse within the family, Danio rerio is one of the most important model species in biology. Many investigations have used this species or presumed close relatives to address specific questions that have lasting impact on the hypothesis and theory of development in vertebrates. Largely lacking from this approach has been a holistic picture of the exact phylogenetic or evolutionary relationships of this species and its close relatives. One thing that has been learned over the previous century is that many organismal attributes (e.g., developmental pathways, ecologies, behaviors, speciation) are historically constrained and their origins and functions are best explained via a phylogenetic approach. Herein, we provide a molecular evaluation of the phylogenetic placement of the model species Danio rerio within the genus Danio and among hypothesized closely related species and genera. Our analysis is derived from data using two nuclear genes (RAG1, rhodopsin) and five mitochondrial genes (ND4, ND4L, ND5, COI, cyt b) evaluated using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian analyses. The family Cyprinidae is resolved as monophyletic but the subfamily Rasborinae (priority over Danioinae) is an unnatural assemblage. Danio is identified as a monophyletic group sister to a clade inclusive of the genera Chela, Microrasbora, Devario, and Inlecypris, not Devario nor Esomus as hypothesized in previous studies. Danio rerio is sister to D. kyathit among the species of Danio evaluated in this analysis. Microrasbora and Rasbora are non-monophyletic assemblages; however, Boraras is monophyletic.

An annotated bibliography of C.J. van der Klaauw with notes on the impact of his work.

Van der Klaauw was a professor of Descriptive Zoology in the period 1934-1958. This paper presents a concise annotated overview of his publications. In his work three main topics can be recognized: comparative anatomy of the mammalian auditory region, theoretical studies about ecology and ecological morphology, and vertebrate functional morphology. In particular van der Klaauw developed new concepts on functional morphology, based upon a holistic approach. A series of studies in functional morphology of Vertebrates by his students is added. An overview of recent morphological and theoretical studies show that this new approach had a long lasting impact in studies of functional morphology.

Quantitative analysis of human mandibular shape using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics.

Human mandibular morphology is often thought to reflect mainly function, and to be of lesser value in studies of population history. Previous descriptions of human mandibles showed variation in ramal height and breadth to be the strongest difference among recent human groups. Several mandibular traits that differentiate Neanderthals from modern humans include greater robusticity, a receding symphysis, a large retromolar space, a rounder gonial area, an asymmetric mandibular notch, and a posteriorly positioned mental foramen in Neanderthals. Nevertheless, the degree to which these differences are part of modern human variation and/or are related to size and function remains unclear. The aim of this study was to document geographic and functional patterning in the mandibular shape of recent humans, to assess the effects of allometry on mandibular form, and to quantitatively evaluate proposed "Neanderthal" mandibular traits through comparison with samples of geographically diverse recent humans. Data were collected in the form of three-dimensional coordinates of 28 landmarks. Unlike previous studies, this analysis found that modern human mandibular shape exhibits considerable geographic patterning, with some aspects of mandibular morphology reflecting a climatic gradient, and others, a functional specialization. Population history is also reflected in mandibular form, albeit relatively weakly. Proposed "Neanderthal" traits were found to separate Neanderthal from modern human mandibles successfully in the statistical analysis. Of these, the retromolar gap was found to be related to increased mandibular size in modern humans. The status of this trait as a Neanderthal autapomorphy should therefore be treated with caution.