Journal of Medical Biography最新文献

Achyranthes japonica extract (AJE) is derived from a medicinal plant Achyranthes japonica, known for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties. AJE contains multiple bioactive compounds, including saponins, triterpenoids, phytoecdysteroids, 20-hydroxyecdysone, and inokosterone. The aim of this investigation was to examine the impact of AJE as a phytogenic feed additive on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, excreta microbial count, noxious gas emissions, breast meat quality in broilers. About three hundred and sixty, day-old broilers (Ross 308) were assigned into four treatments (five replication cages/treatment, and 18 birds/cage). Dietary treatments: CON, basal diet; 0.02% AJE, basal diet with 0.02%; 0.04% AJE, basal diet with 0.04% AJE, and 0.06% AJE, basal diet with 0.06% of AJE. Body weight gain increased linearly (p < 0.05) through the inclusion of AJE during days 7 to 21, 21 to 35, as well as the entire experimental period. Besides, feed intake increased (p < 0.05) linearly during days 21 to 35 and the entire experiment with the increased AJE doses in broiler diet. Dry matter digestibility was increased (p < 0.05) linearly along with increasing amounts of AJE. With increasing AJE supplementation, nitrogen and energy utilization tended to improve (p < 0.10). In summary, the addition of AJE in the corn-soybean meal diet led to higher body weight gain and increased feed intake as well as enhanced nutrient digestibility, among them the highest improvement was found in 0.06%-AJE indicating the acceptance of AJE as a phytogenic feed additive.

The professional career of 20th Century British surgeon and artist Henry Tonks provides a unique perspective into the complex balance of technique, creativity, and empathy necessary to heal both body and soul. For Tonks, the skills of surgery did not suffice to address his intense emotional attachment to his suffering patients. For that reason, he turned to painting as an expression of deeper efforts to demonstrate human suffering to which he was so sensitive and which engulfed him at times in the tragedies of mankind. Nevertheless, his appreciation of the fine details of surgery and surgical manipulations of the body never diminished. His anatomic sketches proved invaluable in reconstructive surgery. Yet, his preference remained to display the entire dimensions of his world through brush and colors. In the process, concern for the personal imperfections of both of his chosen professions enabled Tonks to continually analyze his artistry and to instill that same discipline in his students. This, too, made him a revered teacher and effective interpreter of humanism.

Jean Baptiste Lucien Baudens (1804-1857) was a French military surgeon. He served in numerous military conflicts throughout his career. Baudens was an innovator and a leader. Going against traditional dogma, he was the first to attempt laparotomy in the setting of trauma. Although the first patient died, his second survived without further complication. Despite this historical landmark, little is known or written about him within the English literature. Jean Baptiste Lucien Baudens was a pioneer of surgery and the father of trauma laparotomy. He was a passionate educator and dedicated to the training of future surgeons. His contributions to the field of surgery deserve recognition and appreciation.

Benjamin Gibson, a Newcastle-born surgeon, trained in Lancaster, Chester, London and Edinburgh before being appointed as assistant to Charles White, Manchester surgeon and man-midwife. He developed expertise in eye diseases, particularly of children. In 1804 he was appointed Honorary Surgeon to the Manchester Infirmary. He died young in 1812, but had published significantly on the cause of ophthalmia neonatorum, on cataract surgery in infants (the first to do so) and on surgery to reform damaged pupils. He was the first specialist oculist in Manchester and the North of England, and the first in that region to perform cataract extraction.

When the new twin operating theatres at the Edinburgh Department of Surgical Neurology opened for the first time on 1 July 1960, they revealed a revolutionary space-pod design. The new department had been designed to firmly establish the specialty in Scotland and the UK, setting the stage for a period of real progress. The most distinctive feature of the two operating theatres was their egg shape, including domed ceilings pierced with operating lights, general lighting, ventilation grilles and viewing ports for visitors. Norman Dott (1897-1973) and his colleagues set the foundation for prosperity and success that lasted decades. However, 60 years after their opening, the DCN theatres at Western General Hospital shut forever, as the department moved to the new Department of Clinical Neurosciences, at the new Royal Infirmary Edinburgh. Echoes of the old theatres will live on in the new; the boldness of the design of the original theatres reflected the close cooperation between clinician-teachers, architects and administrators for the public good. This tradition of tangible confidence and optimism will hopefully carry into a new era, in the new hospital.

Dr Aletta Henriette Jacobs (9 February 1854 to 10 August 1929) was a Dutch physician and advocate of modern-day women's rights, being among the first female clinicians and to formally enrol at a Dutch university. She bolstered the Dutch and international women's movements and pioneered as the first woman to develop a clinic based on contraceptive principles in 1882 internationally. Her legacy has become paramount in the progression of modern-day feminism, where her vigour for equality and diversity has stipulated campaigns to demand women's voting rights, deregulate acts of prostitution, improve working conditions for women, and promote world peace through her work.

This paper traces the history of Man's Anatomy, one of the most influential anatomy textbooks produced on the African continent. Authored by the two renowned South African educators Phillip Vallentine Tobias and Maurice Arnold, the first volume of this book was published in 1963. Both an anatomy textbook and a dissection manual Man's Anatomy included an in-depth exposition of structures of the human body, presented in an innovative and engaging way. In 1999, in line with the developments in medical and anatomy education as well as broader societal changes, the book was significantly condensed, and its name changed to Practical Anatomy. The second edition of Practical Anatomy was published in 2020 and is currently still in use at many South African universities.

This article details the collaboration between Dr Walter B. Cannon (1871-1945) and Dr Arturo Rosenblueth (1900-1970) at the Department of Physiology at Harvard Medical School (HMS) in the 1930s-1940s. Cannon was a renowned physiologist whose Department of Physiology was home to scientists from around the globe. Rosenblueth joined the Department as a Research Fellow in 1930. Over the following 15 years, Rosenblueth and Cannon co-authored over 20 papers and one book. Rosenblueth ended his tenure at HMS as an assistant professor before returning to Mexico to head a newly created institute of physiology. This article draws from personal and professional correspondences between Cannon and Rosenblueth at HMS in the 1930s and early 40s. These letters, along with others from those at the Department of Physiology and the greater Harvard community paint a picture of the feeling towards Latin American scientists at that time. Finally, this brief survey illuminates some of the contributions of the many Latin American scholars who worked in the department during these years. The diverse backgrounds of these talented young scientists coupled with immense support from Cannon and Rosenblueth enabled remarkable discoveries and innovations in neurophysiology throughout the first half of the 20th century.