The parotid gland; a reinterpretation of its anatomic structure

The parotid gland does not have a constant size and shape and relationship to the facial nerve. It consists of two glandular masses, one lying on the masseter muscle and the other in the pterygoid space to a varying depth. These two masses are connected by a glandular bridge, either wide or narrow, which lies on the posterior border of the mandible. The course of the facial nerve may be through this connecting bridge or it may pass to one side or a branch may pass on either side. In passing forward, the nerve branches may lie wholly within the glandular mass on the masseter, wholly beneath it or partly within it and partly beneath it.     

Deltovertebral flap to cover a large scalp defect: case report.

A deltovertebral flap based on the perforating cutaneous branches of the posterior intercostal vessels (the exact opposite of the deltopectoral flap) was used successfully to cover a large scalp defect. The procedure is a rather hazardous one, due to the numerous stages and the awkward postoperative position. However, it may be used to repair the lateral aspect of the neck or the occipital region when a flap is necessary and other methods are not feasible.     

The lateral forearm flap as a modification of the lateral arm flap: vascular anatomy and clinical implications

The forearm extension of the lateral arm flap was introduced on the basis of the vascular territory of the posterior radial collateral artery extending beyond the elbow into the forearm. However, there is controversy as to whether the posterior radial collateral artery extends as a single trunk below the elbow or if it terminates more proximally with only a rich vascular plexus extending beyond the elbow. The purpose of this study was to revisit the artery's anatomy in the region of the elbow and to study its distribution in the forearm. Using latex and barium-gelatin injections of the posterior radial collateral artery in ten cadaveric upper limbs, it was observed that terminal branching of the artery occurred 4.5 cm proximal to the lateral epicondyle of the humerus. Distal to the epicondyle, the terminal branches of the posterior radial collateral artery were seen to fan out as finely arborized branches supplying the lateral forearm skin. No single, constant vascular trunk to the forearm skin could be identified. Furthermore, in its distribution toward the periphery, the terminal branches of the posterior radial collateral artery took an increasingly superficial course. Proximal to the epicondyle, the vessels lay deep within the subcutaneous fat, whereas distal to the epicondyle, they were very close to skin. These findings suggest that lateral forearm skin cannot be islanded without risk of vascular disruption and that the distally sited flap should include skin proximal to the epicondyle for safety.     

Anatomical basis for a technic of cutting flaps out of the musculus rectus femoris for creating a rectal sphincter apparatus

As demonstrate the surgical anatomy investigations of the m. rectus femoris performed in 100 preparations, obtained from corpses of persons belonging to various age periods, in connection with sphincteroplasty the vascular-nervous hilus of the muscle is projected at the level of the upper third of its medial part. The ascending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex artery with the vein of the same name and the muscular branch of the femoral nerve get into their composition. The intramuscular course of the vessels and nerves of the I-III orders of branching and that of the muscular fasciculi coincide. For the sphincteroplasty it is expedient to use muscular-tendinous flaps, cut out from the medial part of the musculus.     

树鼩(Tupaia belangeri chinensis)的脑底动脉环

用25只树鼩,从升主动脉灌注带色的橡胶乳液,在解剖显微镜下进行解剖观察,用目测微尺进行测量。大多数树鼩(22只)有完整的脑底动脉环。由左、右大脑前动脉向内侧各发一前交通动脉组成大脑前总动脉。前交通动脉口径为大脑前动脉的75～85％。后交通动脉口径与大脑后动脉相近,连于颈内动脉与大脑后动脉(基底动脉的分支)之间。测量了组成脑底动脉环有关动脉的口径。由于后交通动脉足够粗大,只有中断左、右颈总动脉和左、右椎动脉,才能造成全脑缺血。     

Arterial supply of the anterior ear.

Twenty cadaver auricles were injected with a latex solution to define the arterial supply of the anteroauricular surface. Two arterial networks exist, the network of the triangular fossa-scapha and the network of the concha. Both eventually communicate on the anthelix. The triangular fossa-scapha network originates from one subbranch of the upper auricular branch of the superficial temporal artery and from branches of the posterior auricular artery that come through the earlobe and triangular fossa and over the helical margin. The conchal network is provided by two to four perforators that come from the posterior auricular artery, piercing the conchal floor. Auricular branches of the superficial temporal artery in the preauricular region and their communications with the posterior auricular artery also were confirmed. We believe that a greater understanding of the detailed arterial anatomy in this area allows one to develop safely a variety of surgical techniques for reconstruction of the ear.     

Sectorial angioarchitecture of the human tibia.

The blood supply of the periosteum of the human tibia was investigated by anatomical dissection of 12 lower extremities which were filled with injection mass. By division of the tibia into 4 segments (proximal and distal fifths; proximal and distal diaphysis) a general supplying system of the periosteum was found. The proximal fifth of the tibial periosteum is nourished by branches of the arteriae recurrentes tibiales anterior et posterior and the aa. inferiores medialis et lateralis genus. At the proximal diaphysis (next three tenths of the tibia) periosteal branches arise from the aa. tibialis anterior and posterior, whereas the distal diaphysis is nourished exclusively by semicircular vessels of the a. tibialis anterior which twine around the bone and merge with each other at the facies medialis. Concerning the periosteal blood supply of the distal fifth of the tibia, two different types were found. In two thirds of the cases the lateral side was nourished by branches of the a. tibialis anterior, which are supported by vessels from the a. fibularis. In one third the latter branch was absent so that the rami periostales arising from the a. tibialis anterior nourished the lateral aspect of the distal tibia alone. The dorsal region was supplied in all cases by rami of the a. fibularis and a. tibialis posterior. On the medial side the periosteal nourishment is ensured only by anastomosis. Branches of the a. tibialis anterior supply the facies lateralis and facies posterior where it is supported by vessels of the a. tibialis posterior and in a minor region of rami of the a. fibularis (distal) and a. poplitea (proximal).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

THE PAROTID GLAND—A Reinterpretation of Its Anatomic Structure

The parotid gland does not have a constant size and shape and relationship to the facial nerve. It consists of two glandular masses, one lying on the masseter muscle and the other in the pterygoid space to a varying depth. These two masses are connected by a glandular bridge, either wide or narrow, which lies on the posterior border of the mandible. The course of the facial nerve may be through this connecting bridge or it may pass to one side or a branch may pass on either side. In passing forward, the nerve branches may lie wholly within the glandular mass on the masseter, wholly beneath it or partly within it and partly beneath it.     

Head sensory organs of Dactylopodola baltica (Macrodasyida, Gastrotricha): a combination of transmission electron microscopical and immunocytochemical techniques

The anterior and posterior head sensory organs of Dactylopodola baltica (Macrodasyida, Gastrotricha) were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, whole individuals were labeled with phalloidin to mark F-actin and with anti-alpha-tubulin antibodies to mark microtubuli and studied with confocal laser scanning microscopy. Immunocytochemistry reveals that the large number of ciliary processes in the anterior head sensory organ contain F-actin; no signal could be detected for alpha-tubulin. Labeling with anti-alpha-tubulin antibodies revealed that the anterior and posterior head sensory organs are innervated by a common stem of nerves from the lateral nerve cords just anterior of the dorsal brain commissure. TEM studies showed that the anterior head sensory organ is composed of one sheath cell and one sensory cell with a single branching cilium that possesses a basal inflated part and regularly arranged ciliary processes. Each ciliary process contains one central microtubule. The posterior head sensory organ consists of at least one pigmented sheath cell and several probably monociliary sensory cells. Each cilium branches into irregularly arranged ciliary processes. These characters are assumed to belong to the ground pattern of the Gastrotricha.     

Arterial component of the angioarchitecture of the canine ovary

In order to study and possibly identify a vascular pattern in the canine ovary, 30 ovarian specimens received arterial injections of a mixture of 'Micropaque' with hydrosoluble red pigment, followed by clearing. The aorta or the femoral artery was catheterized and the injection was performed under a constant pressure of 120 mm Hg. The blood supply of the ovary is provided by the ovarian and the uterine artery. The former appears to be the most important of the two arteries since it is the largest and is the origin of a very rich vascular net in the ovarian stroma. It follows a helicine course within the broad ligament and enters into the ovarian stroma either by a single trunk or by two divergent branches, each supplying the anterior and the posterior half. When there is only a single trunk, one can see a vascular tuft totally occupying the stroma, with tortuosities running in the same direction as the longitudinal axis of the ovary. When there are two branches, the distribution is similar but with two tufts instead of one. From the ovarian artery several branches arise, the largest and most frequent being the lateral tubal artery and a branch which anastomoses with the uterine artery in the mesovarium. Other branches anastomose with one another or with branches of the uterine artery, forming a rich vascular net along the mesovarium. The uterine artery is situated within the broad ligament and runs along the lateral border of the uterus and up to the superior extremity of the uterus where it ends.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Interneurones subserving ocelli in two species of trichopterous insects: morphology and central projections

Summary The central projections of ocellar interneurones in two species of trichopterous insects Agrypnia varia F. and Limnephilus flavicornis F. were analysed by use of cobalt iontophoresis. The interneurones were classified into three groups: large-, medium- and small-caliber neurones based on the diameters of the axons. Seven large-diameter neurones project from each lateral ocellus into the central nervous system. Of these, four neurones terminate in the posterior slope (three ipsilateral and one contralateral). Three neurones possess branches in the contralateral posterior slope and proceed down the cervical connective into the thoracic ganglia. Medium-sized neurones connect the neuropiles of the three ocelli to each other. Small-diameter neurones contact the contralateral lobula and medulla of the optic lobes and connect the three ocellar neuropiles. Large-diameter neurones of the median ocellus were found to terminate bilaterally or ipsilaterally in the posterior slope. In the posterior slope four different subregions can be recognised: (1) the dorso-lateral, (2) the ventro-lateral, (3) the lateral, into which large-diameter interneurones of the lateral ocelli send branches, and (4) the medial, innervated by interneurones of the median ocellus. Interneurones of the median ocellus send branches into the lateral region as well.     

Descending unpaired median neurons with bilaterally symmetrical axons in the suboesophageal ganglion of Manduca sexta larvae

Three large median cell bodies with a diameter between 40 and 70 μm that exhibit octopamine immunoreactivity were identified in the posterior part of the suboesophageal ganglion of the tobacco hawkmoth larva, Manduca sexta. These neurons possess bilaterally symmetrical axons in the posterior neck connectives, and at least one of them extends through the whole ventral nerve cord to the terminal abdominal ganglion. Therefore, these neurons belong to the class of descending ventral unpaired median neurons. From each cell body, a primary neurite ascends anteriorly, which after bending dorsally turns posteriorly and then bifurcates to give rise to two descending axons. From the primary neurite two main dendritic branches ascend anteriorly, and four characteristic branches can be distinguished originating from them: two descending dendritic branches and two ascending dendritic branches. Dense arborizations from all these branches exist in all neuromeres of the suboesophageal ganglion. Intracellular recordings from these neurons show that in contrast to the ventral unpaired median neurons of thoracic and abdominal ganglia, they do not produce overshooting action potentials but exhibit passive soma spikes only. During pharmacologically evoked fictive motor patterns these neurons show coupling to various motor patterns such as crawling, feeding and molting.     

Identifying the Source of a Humoral Factor of Remote (Pre)Conditioning Cardioprotection

Signalling pathways underlying the phenomenon of remote ischaemic preconditioning (RPc) cardioprotection are not completely understood. The existing evidence agrees that intact sensory innervation of the remote tissue/organ is required for the release into the systemic circulation of preconditioning factor(s) capable of protecting a transplanted or isolated heart. However, the source and molecular identities of these factors remain unknown. Since the efficacy of RPc cardioprotection is critically dependent upon vagal activity and muscarinic mechanisms, we hypothesized that the humoral RPc factor is produced by the internal organ(s), which receive rich parasympathetic innervation. In a rat model of myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury we determined the efficacy of limb RPc in establishing cardioprotection after denervation of various visceral organs by sectioning celiac, hepatic, anterior and posterior gastric branches of the vagus nerve. Electrical stimulation was applied to individually sectioned branches to determine whether enhanced vagal input to a particular target area is sufficient to establish cardioprotection. It was found that RPc cardioprotection is abolished in conditions of either total subdiaphragmatic vagotomy, gastric vagotomy or sectioning of the posterior gastric branch. The efficacy of RPc cardioprotection was preserved when hepatic, celiac or anterior gastric vagal branches were cut. In the absence of remote ischaemia/reperfusion, electrical stimulation of the posterior gastric branch reduced infarct size, mimicking the effect of RPc. These data suggest that the circulating factor (or factors) of RPc are produced and released into the systemic circulation by the visceral organ(s) innervated by the posterior gastric branch of the vagus nerve.     

Anatomy of the sinoatrial node and the supply of its vascularization in man

Seventy heart preparations of persons belonging to different sex and age have been investigated, using a complex of anatomical and histological techniques. The dimensions of the sinoatrial node (SAN) vary with age and depend on various size and form of the heart. The large atrial branch of the right and left coronary arteries supplies mainly the SAN with blood. More seldom the atrial branches of both cardiac arteries, having anastomoses, realize the SAN blood supply. The character of the SAN vascularization depends on branching variations of the atrial vessels. At the right coronary variant the sources of the SAN blood supply are the SAN branch, the right intermediate or right posterior atrial branches, and at the left coronary variant--the anterior left, the posterior left and the intermediate left atrial branches. At the even variant the SAN blood supply sources are the right intermediate and the anterior left atrial or the right posterior and the left posterior atrial branches. The data obtained can be used for comparison with the results of coronography to make a skilled analysis of clinical-roentgenological observations.     

A pair of descending neurons with dendrites in the optic lobes projecting directly to thoracic ganglia of dipterous insects

Summary The lobula descending neuron (LDN) of dipterous insects is a unique nerve cell (one on each side of the brain) that projects directly from the lobula complex of the optic lobes to neuropil in thoracic ganglia. In the supraoesophageal ganglia the LDN has two prominent groups of branches of which at least one is dendritic in nature. Postsynaptic branches are distributed in the lobula and some branches, the synaptic relations of which are not yet known, extend to the lobula plate. A second group of branches is found among dendrites of the descending neurons proper, in the lateral midbrain.The arborizations of LDN in the lobula (and lobula plate) map onto a retinotopic neuropil region subserving a posterior strip of the visual field of the compound eye. The arborizations in the lobula complex are extremely variable in size. The numbers of dendritic spines they possess vary greatly between left and right optic lobes of one animal, and between individual animals.     

砂鼠利什曼原虫(Leishmania gerbilli)的亚显微结构

砂鼠利什曼原虫(Leishmania gerbilli)存在于我国西北甘肃某地的砂土鼠或大砂鼠(Rhombomys opimus)体内,是中国特有的种类,王捷等60年代分离培养成功。对L.gerbilli的前鞭毛体的亚显微结构的观察表明:1.质膜下微管间距约为50nm,比别的利什曼原虫的宽;2.鞭毛基部极少观察到基板(basal plate);3.线粒体发达,从动基体所在部位伸向虫体各个部位,内有复杂的结构;4.在通常情况下,L.gerbilli的动基体呈棒状,但当细胞膨胀后则无论在光镜或电镜下动基体均呈扁环结构;5.虫体后部有发达的复片层结构。这一结构由一系列的膜卷绕成,其意义不明。     

Is there a star tree paradox?

Concerns have been raised that posterior probabilities on phylogenetic trees can be unreliable when the true tree is unresolved or has very short internal branches, because existing methods for Bayesian phylogenetic analysis do not explicitly evaluate unresolved trees. Two recent papers have proposed that evaluating only resolved trees results in a "star tree paradox": when the true tree is unresolved or close to it, posterior probabilities were predicted to become increasingly unpredictable as sequence length grows, resulting in inflated confidence in one resolved tree or another and an increasing risk of false-positive inferences. Here we show that this is not the case; existing Bayesian methods do not lead to an inflation of statistical confidence, provided the evolutionary model is correct and uninformative priors are assumed. Posterior probabilities do not become increasingly unpredictable with increasing sequence length, and they exhibit conservative type I error rates, leading to a low rate of false-positive inferences. With infinite data, posterior probabilities give equal support for all resolved trees, and the rate of false inferences falls to zero. We conclude that there is no star tree paradox caused by not sampling unresolved trees.     

The interplay between plant traits and herbivore attack: a study of a stem galling midge in the neotropics

1. The relationship between plant traits and the frequency of attack by a stem galling midge, Neolasioptera sp. (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), on Eremanthus erythropappus (Asteraceae) was studied. The morphological changes of the host after a galler attack and the potential effects of these changes on attacks by the next generation of gallers were analysed. The study was conducted in the Serra do Japi, São Paulo, south-eastern Brazil. 2. Galled branches were significantly longer, thicker, and had more leaves than ungalled branches. Accordingly, gall establishment was higher in the longer and more foliose branches. Hence, it is suggested that ovipositing females are maximizing their performance by selecting larger branches. 3. Galled branches were larger than ungalled branches of the same age. Two hypotheses, not necessarily exclusive, can explain this pattern: (1) the plant vigour hypothesis that the females are choosing the more vigorous, fast-growing branches, which still remain more vigorous after galling; or (2) the resource regulation hypothesis that galling increases branch growth rates, thus increasing resource quality for forthcoming conspecifics. 4. Co-occurrence frequencies of current and past generation galls showed that the likelihood of a branch being galled increased when it, or the branch from which it stemmed, had been galled before. The data indicated that this preference was conditioned by the number of previous attacks. Heavier attack intensities, such as one gall in the same branch and another in the branch from which it stemmed, decreased the probability of further galling. 5. The suggested links between herbivore attack and plant traits indicate that studies on host selection by phytophagous insects must take into account that herbivory itself may change the plant traits that are postulated to be selected by the insects.     

The pattern of lateral-line afferents in urodeles

Summary The organization of posterior and anterior afferents of the lateralline system was studied in several species of urodeles by means of transganglionic transport of horseradish peroxidase. The afferents of each lateral-line nerve form distinct fascicles in the medullary alar plate. Each of the two branches of the anterior lateral-line nerve is organized in two long and one short fascicles. The posterior lateral-line afferents form only two long fascicles. Each ordinary neuromast is supplied by only two afferents, which run in the two ventral medullary fiber bundles. It is suggested that afferents to hair cells displaying one type of polarity form together one bundle, but those contacting hair cells polarized in the opposite way form the second ventral bundle of one lateral-line branch. Thus, the lateral-line afferents may be organized in a directotopic fashion.The short dorsal fascicle formed only by the anterior lateral-line afferents receives fibers exclusively from small pit organs. Each pit organ is supplied by only one afferent. Anatomically, these pit organs resemble in many respects the electroreceptive ampullary organs of certain fish.Neurons labeled retrogradely via the anterior lateral-line nerve afferents have been attributed to the nervus trigeminus or facialis. In addition to the posterior lateral-line afferents, only few centrifugally projecting neurons were labeled. These neurons are discussed as efferents to the posterior lateral-line neuromasts.