Human, Animal, or Mineral? Ethical Considerations for Studies of Fossilized Hominin Remains.

Ethical considerations around research and education with modern human subjects, use of human tissue, and studies involving humans are ubiquitous within the global scientific community. This commentary explores considerations around how and whether these types of ethical considerations may apply to hominin fossils. While some might propose that the age of a fossil could be the basis for decisions around their ethical handling, it may be that characteristics or behaviors of the hominins are a more appropriate measure to determine their ethical status.

Research training curriculum and projects undertaken by medical students in Australia and new Zealand.

Background: Research training is vital to medical education, providing students with essential skills for their future evidence-based practice. Most medical programs worldwide include opportunities for students to implement projects. However, gaps remain in understanding how research training is delivered, integrated and assessed with project completion, and little data exists on the range of project types and topics.

Legal and ethical considerations around the use of existing illustrations to generate new illustrations in the anatomical sciences.

It is likely existing anatomical illustrations are often used as the basis for new illustrative works, given not all illustrators have access to human tissues, bodies, or prosections on which to base their illustrations. Potential issues arise with this practice in the realms of copyright infringement and plagiarism when authors are seeking to publish, a matter becoming more prevalent with the proliferation in publishing platforms and the increased adoption of generative artificial intelligence applications within academia. However, there is little published guidance that might inform authors when using an existing illustration as the basis for new work.

More Than Body Parts: A New Ethos of Anatomy Education.

A new ethos of anatomy education goes beyond the learning of body parts in the traditional curriculum. In the traditional curriculum, the focus of only providing information on the structure of the human body left certain learning opportunities overlooked, marginalized, or dismissed as irrelevant; thus, opportunities to foster and shape professional attributes in health care learners were lost. Furthermore, changes in curricula structures and reductions in anatomy teaching hours have necessitated a transformation in how anatomy education is perceived and delivered.

Supporting minority cultures during initial engagements with body donors in the dissecting room: A pilot study exploring perspectives of Pasifika medical students around culture and cultural safety.

The first experience of medical students in the dissecting room (DR) is a challenging event. Few data exist around whether or how culturally appropriate support is required in the DR for students from ethnic minorities. This pilot study explored Pasifika (peoples with heritage from the Pacific Islands) students' first experience of the DR and exposure to body donors to explore cultural perspectives around this event.

MuscleMap: An Open-Source, Community-Supported Consortium for Whole-Body Quantitative MRI of Muscle.

Disorders affecting the neurological and musculoskeletal systems represent international health priorities. A significant impediment to progress in trials of new therapies is the absence of responsive, objective, and valid outcome measures sensitive to early disease changes. A key finding in individuals with neuromuscular and musculoskeletal disorders is the compositional changes to muscles, evinced by the expression of fatty infiltrates.

Artificial Intelligence in Spine and Paraspinal Muscle Analysis.

Disorders affecting the neurological and musculoskeletal systems represent international health burdens. A significant impediment to progress with interventional trials is the absence of responsive, objective, and valid outcome measures sensitive to early disease or disorder change. A key finding in individuals with spinal disorders is compositional changes to the paraspinal muscle and soft tissue (e.

Medical students' initial experiences of the dissection room and interaction with body donors: A qualitative study of professional identity formation, educational benefits, and the experience of Pasifika students.

The first experience of medical students in the dissecting room (DR) likely influences professional identity formation (PIF). Sparse data exist exploring how exposure to the DR and body donors without undertaking dissection influences PIF, or how culture may influence this experience. This qualitative study explored students' first, non-dissection DR experience to determine how this contributes to PIF, including the impact of culture through a Pasifika-student lens.

Understanding how volunteer companionship impacts those during the end of life: A realist evaluation.

Volunteers are a popular unpaid support role in end of life care yet how accompaniment influences the dying is underdeveloped. This study examined how companionship works, for whom, in what circumstances and why. Initial realist ideas were developed through participant observation (14 months), document analysis, and realist interviews with companionship trainers ( = 6).

Ultrasound-based measurement of central adiposity: Key considerations and guidelines.

Central adiposity, which is visceral and subcutaneous adiposity in the abdominal region, is a known risk factor for developing chronic cardiometabolic diseases. Central adiposity can be measured relatively inexpensively using ultrasound. Ultrasound has been shown to be precise and reliable, with measurement accuracy comparable to computed tomography and magnetic resonance.

Ethical concerns surrounding artificial intelligence in anatomy education: Should AI human body simulations replace donors in the dissection room?

The potential effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on the teaching of anatomy are unclear. We explore the hypothetical situation of human body donors being replaced by AI human body simulations and reflect on two separate ethical concerns: first, whether it is permissible to replace donors with AI human body simulations in the dissection room when the consequences of doing so are unclear, and second, the overarching ethical significance of AI use in anatomy education. To do this, we highlight the key benefits of student exposure to the dissection room and body donors, including nontechnical, discipline-independent skills, awareness and interaction with applied bioethics, and professional identity formation.

Educator perspectives on non-technical, discipline-independent skill acquisition: An international, qualitative study.

Gross anatomy education utilizing body donors and human specimens assists the acquisition of non-traditional, discipline-independent skills (NTDIS) such as teamwork, communication, and leadership. Alterations to anatomy curricula, such as those resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, likely impact NTDIS acquisition, yet how this manifests is unclear. This study, therefore, explored anatomy educator perspectives on NTDIS acquisition as a response to changes in teaching delivery.

Use of a novel technique to assess impact of age-related denervation on mouse soleus muscle function.

Denervation contributes to loss of force-generating capacity in aged skeletal muscles, but problems with quantification of denervated fibers mean the precise impact of denervation on muscle function remains unclear. This study therefore looked to develop a reliable assay for identifying denervated muscle fibers, and used this to explore the impact of denervation on age-related force-generation in mouse skeletal muscle. Thirteen young (6-month-old) and 10 old (24-months-old) C57Bl/6 J female mice were utilized.

Combining realist evaluation and transformative evaluation to advance research in palliative care: The case of end of life companionship.

Background: Palliative care requires innovative methods to understand what works, for whom, in what circumstances and why. Realist evaluation has become one prominent approach due to its preoccupation with building, and testing, causal theories to explain the influence of contextual factors on outcomes. Undertaking realist evaluation is not without challenges and may amplify issues of underrepresentation, disempower those working in palliative care, and produce results with poor ecological validity.

An exploration of Aotearoa New Zealander's attitudes and perceptions on the use of posthumous healthcare data.

Aim: Posthumous electronic healthcare data (PHCD) are ubiquitous and increasing in volume. Despite their potential utility and value, no empirically-derived, publicly-generated information exists to guide what uses society may view as acceptable. This study explores the attitude and perceptions of Aotearoa New Zealanders to PHCD utilisation.

Towards defining muscular regions of interest from axial magnetic resonance imaging with anatomical cross-reference: a scoping review of lateral hip musculature.

Background: Measures of hip muscle morphology and composition (e.g., muscle size and fatty infiltration) are possible with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).