Meridians Under the Skin

The physical nature of the acupuncture meridian system is currently the subject of enquiry. The original structural descriptions for the meridian system contained in the Huang Di Nei Jing, The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine, are detailed and specific. The Nei Jing states that dissection has been used as a tool for looking at the anatomy of the human body. The words used in the Nei Jing to describe meridians repeatedly contain the character for silk. The fascia of the body resembles silk in appearance. It pervades the body, wrapping around every structure, alternatively separating structures, or connecting them. An obvious question arises: was the character for silk chosen to describe meridians because it was what was observed by dissection by the authors of the Nei Jing? If this hypothesis holds, the nature of the physical substrate for acupuncture could then be literally described in the characters originally used for the meridian network - the silk-like fascial tissue of the body

Divided maxillary artery in relation to the lateral pterygoid muscle

We describe an anatomical variation of the right maxillary artery. The variation loops deep, giving off a middle meningeal artery with an extremely short extracranial segment, then bifurcates into unequal branches. The smaller branch passes superficial to the lateral pterygoid head and distributes primarily to the masticatory muscles. The larger partially pierces the lateral pterygoid lower head, re-emerges superficially, branches again and passes into the pterygopalatine fossa. The larger lies superficial to the lingual and inferior alveolar nerves and deep to the buccal nerve. An embryonic development origin of the cranial arteries is suggested

Anomalous plantar intrinsic foot muscle attaching to the medial longitudinal arch: possible mechanism for medial nerve entrapment: a case report.

BackgroundMuscular variations are potentially symptomatic and may complicate imaging interpretation. Intrinsic foot musculature and extrinsic tendon insertion variations are common. Distinct supernumerary muscles are rare. We report a novel anomalous intrinsic foot muscle on the medial longitudinal arch.Case presentationAn accessory muscle was encountered on the medial arch of the right foot of a 78-year-old white male cadaver, between layers two and three of the foot intrinsics. It did not appear to be a slip or variant of a known foot muscle. This muscle consisted of two slips that ran transversely on the plantar aspect of the medial arch, crossing the medial transverse tarsal joint and attaching to the tuberosity of the navicular, the short and long plantar ligaments, and spring ligament.ConclusionsThe medial plantar vessels and nerve passed from deep to superficial between the two slips, and this suggests a possible location for medial nerve entrapment

Avian intestinal ultrastructure changes provide insight into the pathogenesis of enteric diseases and probiotic mode of action

Abstract Epithelial damage and loss of barrier integrity occur following intestinal infections in humans and animals. Gut health was evaluated by electron microscopy in an avian model that exposed birds to subclinical necrotic enteritis (NE) and fed them a diet supplemented with the probiotic Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain H57 (H57). Scanning electron microscopy of ileal mucosa revealed significant villus damage, including focal erosions of epithelial cells and villous atrophy, while transmission electron microscopy demonstrated severe enterocyte damage and loss of cellular integrity in NE-exposed birds. In particular, mitochondria were morphologically altered, appearing irregular in shape or swollen, and containing electron-lucent regions of matrix and damaged cristae. Apical junctional complexes between adjacent enterocytes were significantly shorter, and the adherens junction was saccular, suggesting loss of epithelial integrity in NE birds. Segmented filamentous bacteria attached to villi, which play an important role in intestinal immunity, were more numerous in birds exposed to NE. The results suggest that mitochondrial damage may be an important initiator of NE pathogenesis, while H57 maintains epithelium and improves the integrity of intestinal mucosa. Potential actions of H57 are discussed that further define the mechanisms responsible for probiotic bacteria’s role in maintaining gut health

A plethora of choices: an anatomists’ practical perspectives for the selection of digital anatomy resources

The use of digital resources in the new learning environment has drastically influenced how human topographic anatomy is taught and assessed. An array of digital technologies for anatomy teaching have been recently adopted in medical and health science schools in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. This resulted from a surging demand for digital anatomy technologies in the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and required rapid digital up-skilling of anatomists. Despite the wide adoption of digital technologies in anatomy teaching, there is little comprehensive information on the selection and implementation of these digital resources from a practical perspective. Based on the authors’ experience and supported by literature, this article describes their implementation of digital anatomy resources for teaching gross anatomy in eleven Australian universities. This paper highlights the advantages and limitations that the authors encountered and their recommendations for using these current digital technologies in anatomy teaching