POSITION OF AXIS FOR ROTATION AT THE INTERVERTEBRAL JOINT IN RATS

To elucidate whether the position of axis for rotation at the intervertebral joint is related to the spinal curvature, the authors investigated the spinal columns of rats. The spinal column of the rat was composed of 7 cervical, 13 thoracic, 6 lumbar, 4 sacral, and 27 coccygeal vertebrae. It was observed that the position of axis for rotation at the intervertebral joint was shifted on the superior and inferior views of the 2nd thoracic vertebra and was next shifted on the superior and inferior views of the 10th thoracic vertebra. X-ray examination demonstrated that lordosis was seen in the cervical and lower 1umbar (L4-L6) spine, whereas kyphosis was seen in the thoracic and upper lumbar (Ll-L3) spine. The present study did not support the possibility that the position of axis for rotation at the intervertebral joint was dorsal in the spinal site of lordosis, whereas it was ventral in the spinal site of kyphosis

SHIFT OF AXIAL POSITION FOR ROTATION AT THE INTERVERTEBRAL JOINT IN DOGS

To elucidate whether the position of axis for rotation at the intervertebral joint is related with the spinal curvature, the authors investigated the spinal columns of beagles. The spinal column of beagle was composed of 7 cervical, 13 thoracic, 7 lumbar, 3 sacral, and 19 coccygeal vertebrae. It was observed that the position of axis for rotation at the intervertebral joint was shifted on the superior and inferior views of the 2nd thoracic vertebra and was next shifted on the superior and inferior views of the 10th thoracic vertebra. It was suggested that in the case of beagle and Wistar rat with 13 thoracic vertebrae, the upper shift of axial position for rotation at the intervertebral joint occurred on the superior and inferior views of the 2nd thoracic vertebra and the lower shift of axial position for rotation at the intervertebral joint occurred on the superior and inferior views of the 10th thoracic vertebra

AXIS FOR ROTATION AT THE INTERVERTEBRAL JOINT IN JAPANESE MONKEYS

The position of axis for rotation at the intervertebral joint was investigated using ten Japanese monkeys. The position of axis for rotation at the intervertebral joint was shifted from dorsal to ventral direction on the superior and inferior views of the 1st thoracic vertebra and was next shifted from ventral to dorsal direction on the superior and inferior views of the 10th thoracic vertebra, with some exceptions. X-ray examination demonstrated that in the Japanese monkeys, lordosis was seen in both the cervical and lower lumbar(L5-L7) spine, whereas kyphosis was seen in the thoracic and upper lumbar (L1-L4) spine. Therefore, the possibility that the position of axis for rotation at the intervertebral joint was related to the curvature of the spinal column was not supported by the present study

AXIS FOR ROTATION AT THE INTERVERTEBRAL JOINT IN JAPANESE MONKEYS

The position of axis for rotation at the intervertebral joint was investigated using ten Japanese monkeys. The position of axis for rotation at the intervertebral joint was shifted from dorsal to ventral direction on the superior and inferior views of the 1st thoracic vertebra and was next shifted from ventral to dorsal direction on the superior and inferior views of the 10th thoracic vertebra, with some exceptions. X-ray examination demonstrated that in the Japanese monkeys, lordosis was seen in both the cervical and lower lumbar(L5-L7) spine, whereas kyphosis was seen in the thoracic and upper lumbar (L1-L4) spine. Therefore, the possibility that the position of axis for rotation at the intervertebral joint was related to the curvature of the spinal column was not supported by the present study

SUPERFICIAL BRACHIAL ARTERY CONTINUING INTO THE FOREARM AS THE RADIAL ARTERY

The superficial brachial artery continuing into the forearm as the radial artery was observed in the right upper limb of an 86-year-old Japanese woman who died of pneumonia. The large-sized superficial brachial artery originating from the axillary artery descended ventral to the median nerve, crossed over the median nerve, and continued into the forearm as the radial artery. The small-sized brachial artery, the continuation of the axillary artery, gave off the deep brachial artery and continued into the forearm as the ulnar artery. The brachial artery joined the superficial brachial artery with an anastomotic branch

ONE CASE OF THE DOUBLE INFERIOR VENAE CAVAE FOUND IN A JAPANESE MAN

One case of the double inferior venae cavae was found in a 74-year-old man during ordinary dissection practice at Nara Medical University School of Medicine in 2005. The persistent left inferior vena cava was a similar size as the right inferior vena cava. The interiliac vein connected between the left and right inferior venae cavae. According to the classification of Takemoto et al. (1978), the present case belonged to type II-b-3

STRUCTURE AND BONE MINERAL DENSITY OF BABOON VERTEBRAE

The authors dissected a 5-year-old male baboon and examined the structure and bone mineral density (BMD) of the vertebrae. The baboon backbone consisted of 7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 7 1umbar, 3 sacral, and 19 coccygeal vertebrae. It was observed that long accessory processes were present in the 10th-12th thoracic and the lst-5th lumbar vertebrae. The superior articular process was held between the accessory and inferior articular processes of the adjacent vertebra. Therefore, the rotary movement of the vertebral column was restricted in the range between the 10th thoracic and 5th 1umbar vertebrae. Regarding the intervertebral joint, the position of axis for rotation was shifted from ventral to dorsal direction on the superior and inferior views of the 10th thoracic vertebra. The average BMD of the vertebrae was the highest in the cervical vertebrae, and decreased in the order of the lower thoracic, lumbar, and upper thoracic vertebrae

Epitaxial Growth of LiMn₂O₄ Thin Films by Chemical Solution Deposition for Multilayer Lithium-Ion Batteries

Cathodic LiMn₂O₄ films on various single-crystal substrates for use in thin-film Li-ion batteries prepared using a chemical solution deposition method are reported. Transmission electron microscopy is utilized to characterize the microstructures of the films. The results show that the film/substrate lattice misfit can affect significantly the quality of epitaxially grown grains of LiMn₂O₄. Using state-of-the-art high-angle annular dark-field imaging, the degree of coherency and lattice distortion at interfaces between LiMn₂O₄ and Au-coated and uncoated Al₂O₃ (0001) single-crystal substrates are examined at the atomic scale. When the lattice misfit is sufficiently small, fully coherent LiMn₂O₄/Au heterointerfaces form, although lattice strain to a distance of up to around 10 nm from the interface changes the symmetry of spinel LiMn₂O₄ from cubic to tetragonal. Such an interface in the LiMn₂O₄/Au/Al₂O₃ system facilitates high-quality epitaxial film growth to thicknesses of a couple hundred nanometers

ANCIENT HUMAN BONES WITH MERCURIC COSMETICS EXCAVATED FROM THE BURIAL MOUND OF KANZO-YAMA IN TOKUSHIMA

A complete human skeleton was excavated from a burial mound built in the 6 th Century(Kofun period of Japan) at the top of Kanzo-yama hill of Itano-cho, Tokushima. Most of the cranio-facial bones, neck and upper thoracic bones appeared reddishly painted with mercuric cosmetics(mercuric sulfide). Bones were mostly laid ventral-up in the anatomical arrangement ; the cranium was dolico-cephalic(73.0 in cranial index), the midface low(54.7 in Kollmann index), and the nose middle(47.1 in nasal index). This is one of the most well-preserved excavations of human remains of the Kofun period of Toku- shima, an adult male estimated to be 162 cm in height