Time to resuscitate cardiopulmonary resuscitation! The 3R/CPR: Refill-Recoil-Rebound.

Introduction Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) remains a major health issue worldwide with gloomy outcomes due to poor perfusion of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), deemed unsuitable for hemostatic conditions, cardiotorsal anatomy, electrophysiology and thoracic biomechanics. Alternatively, we propose a new management, implementing rational mobilization of stagnant blood: manually with a novel technique of cardiac massage and mechanically with a circulatory flow restoration (CFR) device. Methods Simulated chest compressions were performed through the 5th intercostal space in professional Lifeguards volunteers, placed in the left lateral decubitus position with raised legs and abdominal compression. Expected results Compared to CPR, bypassing the sternal barrier, refilling the heart and then compressing the chest with a recoil-rebound maneuver (3R / CPR) can significantly promote ROSC. Results of CFR device were previously demonstrated. Conclusion 3R/CPR adapts human morphology promoting adequate perfusion and ROSC safely, under all circumstances. Preclinical computational models can confirm the effectiveness of 3R/CPR versus CPR.

New Approach to Dental Morphometric Research Based on 3D Imaging Techniques

Recent progress in imaging and image processing techniques has provided for improvements in odontological research in a variety of aspects. Thus, the presented method has been developed precisely in order to assess metrically 3D reconstructions of teeth. Rapidly and accurately obtained data of a wide range and appropriate density are sufficient enough for morphometric studies rather than tooth size assessments which are inherent to conventional techniques. The main contributions providing for holistic and objective morphometric analysis of teeth are the following: (1) interpretation of basic dental morphological features; (2) automated of orientational coordinate system setup based on tooth surface analysis; (3) new tooth morphometric parameters which could not be obtained through application of conventional odontometric techniques; (4) methodological novelty for automated odontomorphometric analysis pipeline. Application of tomographic imaging, which has been used for obtaining 3D models, expands the proposed method potential further through providing detailed and comprehensive reconstructions of teeth. The current study was conducted on unique material from the archaeological site of Sunghir related to the Upper Palaeolithic period. Metric assessments of external and internal morphological layers of teeth were performed in common orientation and sectioning. The proposed technique allowed more profound analysis of Sunghirian teeth which date back to the times of modern human morphology formation.

Sliding Mode Control of an Actuated Knee Joint Orthosis

Introduction: In this paper, a robust sliding mode controller is developed to control an orthosis used for rehabilitation of lower limb. Materials and Methods: The orthosis is defined as a mechanical device intended to physically assist a human subject for the realization of his movements. It should be adapted to the human morphology, interacting in harmony with its movements, and providing the necessary efforts along the limbs to which it is attached. Results: The application of the sliding mode control to the Shank-orthosis system shows satisfactory dynamic response and tracking performances. Conclusion: In fact, position tracking and speed tracking errors are very small. The sliding mode controller effectively absorbs disturbance and parametric variations, hence the efficiency and robustness of our applied control.

Cardiovascular dynamics among differently trained individuals during simulated microgravity exposure in the form of head-down tilt

Introduction: Human morphology and physiology are not designed inherently to function in microgravity. Hence, exposure to hypo or microgravity, as it occurs during space exploration, poses challenges in the form of peculiar adaptive physiological processes in healthy astronauts. These changes may vary (to a certain extent) depending on type of physical fitness (namely, aerobic or anaerobic) and may have definitive impact on short duration space mission. The study aimed to examine the cardiovascular dynamics during short duration exposure to simulated microgravity condition in differently trained individuals. Material and Methods: Temporal variations in body fluid distribution were studied during 6° head-down tilt (HDT) for 4-hours in 31 healthy males in age range of 20–40 years divided into three groups based on their physical training, namely; resistance trained (RT), endurance trained (ET), and untrained (UT). This was based on their history of physical training, VO2 max, and peak anaerobic power. Results: Heart rate in the ET group and RT group showed increasing and decreasing trend respectively, however, statistically remained non-significant. Systolic and diastolic pressures showed a significant increase in the ET group at the 4th h of HDT as compared to baseline and the 1st h. No significant variation in pulse pressure could be seen. Mean arterial pressures showed significant increase in the ET group at the 4th h of HDT as compared to baseline and the 1st h of HDT. Stroke volume and cardiac output did not vary significantly. Conclusion: ET individuals in the present study demonstrated decreased sensitivity of baroreceptors than RT or UT individuals, whereas, the RT group demonstrated more stability/resilience in terms of cardiovascular dynamics than ET and UT groups under exposure to short duration simulated microgravity.

MORPHOLOGY OF THE CAECUM IN LABORATORY ANIMALS IN HEALTH: SPECIES COMPARISON

In recent decades, the prevalence of gastrointestinal diseases has increased thus posing the immediate, both therapeutic and surgical treatment. It brings forth a problem of searching new and improving existing approaches and techniques for correcting the above-mentioned diseases. Preclinical studies in this area are conducted exclusively on laboratory animals and peculiarities of the morphological features of their organs are of great importance when comparing with the human morphology. The methodology used in the study included histological, morphometric and statistical techniques; biopsy samples of caecum taken from 5 rabbits were investigated. We assessed the correctness of the trait distribution by each of the variations, the mean values for each trait studied, standard errors and standard deviations. The significance of the difference of values between independent micrometric values in the normal trait distribution was determined by Student's criterion. The paper describes the main morphological characteristics of the caecum in rabbits and compared the findings obtained with similar structures of the human caecum. The caecum of rabbits, as of humans, has four layers: mucous, submucosal, muscular and serous. The mucous membrane consists of the epithelial layer located on the basement membrane and the muscular plate and contains cellular elements. The submucosa is composed of loose fibrous connective tissue, which contains collagen and reticular fibres, elements of diffuse lymphoid tissue, blood vessels, and nerve endings. The muscular and serous membranes are quite similar to the human caecum. Thus, the optic light microscopy has demonstrated the morphology of the caecum in rabbits is similar to that in the human caecum.

Ancient DNA helps trace the peopling of the world

Many of us are fascinated by narratives regarding the origin and evolution of our species. Who are we? How did we people the world? Answers to these simple questions remain elusive even though researchers have been quite successful in describing past human morphology and culture using evidence from anthropology, archaeology, history, sociology and linguistics. However, when they address human migrations, archaeologists are somewhat restricted to surviving artifactual evidence and limited to descriptions of culture expansions, which may have occurred by the movement of either ideas or people. The advent of genomics, by which one can sequence whole or part of an individual's DNA, provided a powerful means to dig into past human demographic history. Notably, the coalescent theory posits that individuals in a population share genetic variants that originated from a common ancestor. This powerful theory is the basis for a number of bioanalytical innovations that utilize genetic data to reconstruct human movements around the world.

Assessing human morphology using statistical shape analysis

Measurements of human body size and shape are an important source of information for a range of scientific fields and applications; however, practitioners still rely on traditional tools and methods which limit the kinds of measurements that can be taken. Recent literature has suggested that 3D imaging technology is a more sophisticated tool that could enable the comprehensive characterisation of human body shape. The aim of this programme of doctoral study was to determine whether shape anthropometrics can complement existing techniques in the assessment of human morphology. A novel analytical procedure was developed using geometric morphometrics and statistical shape analysis methods to extract numeric parameters from 3D imaging data, which describe scale-invariant characteristics of human torso shape. Though errors in anatomical landmark identification and participant scanning posture can affect the acquisition of shape anthropometrics, the developed methods were found to have high test-retest reliability, suitable for use within subsequent investigations. A series of investigations were conducted to determine whether shape measures provide additional information which is not captured by existing anthropometric techniques. The findings of these investigations suggest that body shape measures show a complex dependence on body size. Though certain shape features demonstrate a degree of allometric scaling and change with increases in body size, there are significant proportions of shape variation which cannot be explained by existing anthropometrics. These non-allometric variations in body shape have been shown to improve the estimation of subcutaneous abdominal adiposity in a small cohort of participants, and have demonstrated the potential for misclassification of individuals using existing indices, such as BMI and WHR. This programme of research provides a more detailed understanding of human morphological variation, which could inform the development of improved tools for characterising how body shape relates to its underlying mass distribution.