Maciej Henneberg

University of Adelaide · School of Medical Sciences

Background: The leg interosseous membrane (LIM) stabilises the tibia and the fibula. These two bones articulate at the proximal and distal tibiofibular joints. In addition, the LIM is the place of attachment of tibialis anterior muscle, extensor digitorum longus muscle, fibularis tertius muscle (anatomical variant), tibialis posterior muscle and f...

Research indicates that even short duration space flight may cause deficits to psychological health. Crewed members of spaceflights are also vulnerable to various neurobehavioral problems, which may reduce psychological health, work efficiency and group cohesiveness. Mindfulness meditation as a psychological countermeasure for long-term space missi...

In this article we seek to integrate theories of music origins and dance with hominin fossil anatomy and the paleoecological contexts of hominin evolution. Based on the association between rhythm in music, dance and locomotion, we propose that early bipedal hominins may have evolved neurobiological substrates different from other great apes due to...

The Evolutionary Roots of Human Brain Diseases takes an innovative approach and assembles recent findings ranging from evolutionary biology and anthropology to clinical neurosciences, all showing the price on health of human brain evolution. Written by experts in their field, the chapters explore the tenet that extensive human brain development dur...

Biotechnology has become one of the most powerful forces on the planet, since it is capable of altering life processes at a molecular level. Since human bodies are dynamic biological systems, medicine requires to understand the evolutionary antecedents of Homo, especially in relation to neurohormonal regulation. Furthermore, increasing human depend...

Objective Cerebral aneurysms (CAs) are linked to variations in the cerebral basal arterial network (CBAN). This study aimed to find the optimal age for screening to detect brain arterial variations and predict aneurysms before rupture. Design An observational, quantitative and retrospective research. Setting The study analysed 1127 cases of CAs p...

Background and Aims Through reduced natural selection, measured with Biological State Index (Ibs), modern medicine enables most people to survive well beyond the reproductive lifespan leading to deleterious gene accumulation in population. This study explored the role of reduced natural selection in increasing cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence...

Rankings of universities made available to the wide public became ubiquitous despite of voluminous critical discussions of their construction and impacts. Recent rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Times Higher Education (THE) were explored. In this analysis we aim at identifying effectiveness of improving those specific indicators of univers...

Components of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) are present on bone cells. One measure of RAAS activity, the aldosterone-renin-ratio (ARR), is used to screen for primary aldosteronism. Associations between ARR and bone mineral density are conflicting. This study investigated associations between ARR and peripheral quantitative compute...

Objective Relaxed natural selection has been indexed with the Biological State Index (Ibs), which indicates the opportunity for an average member of a population to pass genes to the next generation. This study explores the correlation of Ibs to adolescent obesity prevalence. Methods Population level variables (adolescent obesity prevalence, self-c...

The aims of this study are to determine the oral health status of a rare sample of 19th-century migrant settlers to South Australia, how oral conditions may have influenced their general health, and how the oral health of this group compares with contemporaneous samples in Australia, New Zealand, and Britain. Dentitions of 18 adults and 22 subadult...

The aims of this study are to determine the oral health status of a rare sample of 19th-century migrant settlers to South Australia, how oral conditions may have influenced their general health, and how the oral health of this group compares with contemporaneous samples in Australia, New Zealand, and Britain. Dentitions of 18 adults and 22 subadult...

Archaeological investigation of the dentoalveolar complex in-situ within a human skull requires detailed measurements using non-invasive techniques. Standard macroscopic and radiographic methods have limitations but Large Volume Micro-Computed Tomography (LV Micro-CT) scanning has the potential to acquire data at high resolution in microns. In this...

Application of forensic identification methods to establish authenticity of a historical photograph is made. Joseph Smith Junior was the Prophet and founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often referred to as Mormons. In 1844 Joseph and his brother Hyrum were shot and killed by a mob of angry men who opposed his church and its...

Socioeconomic status has been associated with obesity prevalence increase in both males and females worldwide. We examined the magnitude of the difference between the two relationships and explored the independence of both relationships. Country specific data on gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, sex-specific obesity prevalence rates, urbanis...

Medications used to treat hypertension may affect fracture risk. This study investigated fracture risk for users of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB). Participants (899 men, median age 70.3 yr (59.9–79.1), range 50.0–96.6 yr; 574 women, median age 65.5 yr (58.1–75.4), range 50.1–94.6 yr) were...

Background Archaeological investigations of human skeletal material require non-destructive techniques. Large Volume Micro-Computed Tomography (LV Micro-CT) scanning systems allow acquisition of data from complete skulls. This study aims to determine 1) whether LV Micro-CT scanning can as a single technique provide adequate data for the analysis of...

There exists a negative allometry between vertebrate brain size and body size. It has been well studied among placental mammals but less is known regarding marsupials. Consequently, this study explores brain/body ontogenetic growth in marsupials and compares it with placental mammals. Pouch young samples of 43 koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), 28 po...

Objectives To examine pathological evidence present in a sample of 19th -century settlers to South Australia in the context of an early industrial society. Materials Skeletal remains of 20 adults and 45 nonadults from the government funded burial site (free ground) of St Mary’s Anglican Church Cemetery, gravestones of privately funded burials and...

Ageing and genetic traits can only explain the increasing dementia incidence partially. Advanced healthcare services allow dementia patients to survive natural selection and pass their genes onto the next generation. Country-specific estimates of dementia incidence rates (all ages and 15–49 years old), Biological State Index expressing reduced natu...

Domestication is a process of protecting a particular set of individuals from some influences of their natural environment and managing their reproduction to suit particular needs of a domesticator. Biological characteristics of modern humans are a result of the process of auto-domestication that is continuing. Thus, they include disadvantages occu...

The British colony of South Australia, established in 1836, offered a fresh start to migrants hoping for a better life. A cohort of settlers buried in a section of St Mary’s Anglican Church Cemetery (1847–1927) allocated for government funded burials was investigated to determine their health, with a focus on skeletal manifestations associated with...

Humans are a part of the complex system of life. This consists of a multitude of feedbacks among all parts of living systems. In the case of human origins, many feedbacks became positive rather than homeostatic, thus producing self-amplifying effects in basic morphological and behavioural characteristics of emerging humans: erect bipedalism, social...

Current public health advice is that high ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure is the primary cause of Malignant Melanoma of skin (CMM), however, despite the use of sun-blocking products incidence of melanoma is increasing. To investigate the UVR influence on CMM incidence worldwide WHO, United Nations, World Bank databases and literature provided...

Background Large households/families may create more happiness and offer more comprehensive healthcare among the members. We correlated household size to dementia mortality rate at population level for analysing its protecting role against dementia mortality. Methods This is a retrospective cross-sectional study. Dementia specific mortality rates...

Background The association between a plant-based diet (vegetarianism) and extended life span is increasingly criticised since it may be based on the lack of representative data and insufficient removal of confounders such as lifestyles. Aim We examined the association between meat intake and life expectancy at a population level based on ecologica...

By identifying homogeneity in bone and soft tissue covariation patterns in living hominids, it is possible to produce facial approximation methods with interspecies compatibility. These methods may be useful for producing facial approximations of fossil hominids that are more realistic than currently possible. In this study, we conducted an intersp...

Objective: Socioeconomic status has been associated with obesity prevalence increase in both males and females worldwide. We examined the magnitude of the difference between the two relationships and explored the independence of both relationships. Methods: Country specific data on GDP per capita, sex-specific obesity prevalence rates, urbanisation...

In 2003 historical (non-Aboriginal) human skeletal remains archaeologically excavated from St Mary’s Anglican Church cemetery in Adelaide, South Australia were reinterred in a concrete subterranean crypt. This paper examines preservation status following 15 years of interment. Skeletal remains placed in sealed plastic bags inside plastic curation b...

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor use in women was associated with lower femoral neck and lumbar spine bone mineral density as well as trabecular bone score compared to non-users. No differences were identified for men or for those who used ARB medications.PurposeMany individuals at high fracture risk use medications such as angiotensin-conve...

Throughout the hominin lineage brain size is believed to have increased threefold – increase which, it is argued by some researchers, results in the enhanced brain power that distinguishes humans from any other living being. However, as we demonstrate in this article this supposed increase is the result of comparing the species mean of contemporary...

In this article we provide evidence that evolutionary pressures altered the cranial base and the mastoid region of the temporal bone more than the calvaria in the transition from H. erectus to H. sapiens. This process seems to have resulted in the evolution of more globular skull shape – but not as a result of expansion of the brain in the parietal...

A range of bioarchaeological analyses involving individuals interred in a working-class section of the historic St Mary's Anglican Cemetery in Adelaide, South Australia complement evidence derived from historical documents to elucidate the socioeconomic conditions and challenges associated with a mid-late 19th century rural colonial community. The...

Background Ageing and genetic traits can only explain the increasing dementia incidence partially. Advanced healthcare services allowing dementia patients to survive natural selection (die of dementia) and pass their genes onto their next generation. Methods Country-specific estimates of dementia incidence rates (all ages and 15-49 years old), Biolo...

AbstrAct: Creation and subsequent abandonment of a number of earlier species considered human ances-tors: Eoanthropus dawsoni, Hesperopithecus haroldcooki, Homo gardarensis and Ramapithecus punjabicus is present-ed using cases from the history of science. This review indicates that the fossil evidence for these species has been questionable from th...

Objective Segments of cerebral basal arterial network (CBAN) dampen the peak pressure in blood flowing through these arteries, thus minimising the chances of development of cerebral aneurysms. The objective of this research was to find the relationship of occurrence of intracranial aneurysms to variations of the components of the CBAN. Design and...

Since the middle to late 20 th century the majority of children born in the developing world have been likely to enter into post-reproductive age. Currently, child mortality is at its lowest level in human history. While more children are living to post reproductive age, approximately 15% of couples are experiencing infecundity. This is either a re...

This review evaluates the role of mechanotransduction (MT) in heart failure (HF) pathobiology. Cardiac functional and structural modifications are regulated by biomechanical forces. Exposing cardiomyocytes and the myocardial tissue to altered biomechanical stress precipitates changes in the end-diastolic wall stress (EDWS). Thereby various intercon...

In modern humans, facial soft tissue thicknesses have been shown to covary with craniometric dimensions. However, to date it has not been confirmed whether these relationships are shared with non-human apes. In this study, we analyze these relationships in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) with the aim of producing regression models for approximating f...

Nineteenth century medical understanding of human metabolism was limited, therefore, the incidence of metabolic deficiencies was not fully recorded. In addition, the transition from agricultural based mode of life to the industrial one significantly changed the pattern of these metabolic deficiencies. They were further altered by colonization of di...

The human brain is commonly considered unique in its growth pattern, especially in its fast growth in early infancy. Consequently, many researchers were encouraged to find peculiarities in the human brain and development which differentiated it from the brains of other animals. In this paper, we argue that the pattern of human brain growth is not d...

Identification of incinerated human remains may rely on genetic analysis of burned bone which can prove far more challenging than fresh tissues. Severe thermal insult results in the destruction or denaturation of DNA in soft tissues, however genetic material may be preserved in the skeletal tissues. Considerations for DNA retrieval from these sampl...

The key to evolution is reproduction. Pathogens can either kill the human host or can invade the host without causing death, thus ensuring their own survival, reproduction and spread. Tuberculosis, treponematoses and leprosy are widespread chronic infectious diseases whereby the host is not immediately killed. These diseases are examples of the co-...

The novel pathogen Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has created a global crisis. Currently, the limits of public health systems and medical knowhow have been exposed. COVID-19 has challenged our best minds, forcing them to return to the drawing board. Fear of infection leadin...

http://digital.casalini.it/4818150

Approximate location of the 12th meridian in the hand and the forearm in relation to median artery and median nerve.

This review explores the incessant evolutionary interaction and co-development between immune system evolution and somatic evolution, to put it into context with the short, over 60-year, detailed human study of this extraordinary protective system. Over millions of years, the evolutionary development of the immune system in most species has been co...

Background: The segments of cerebral basal arterial network (CBAN) dampen the peak systolic pressure in blood flowing through these arteries. The number of aneurysms occurring in segments of CBAN will vary with the ability of each arterial segment to dampen the peak systolic pressure. Materials and Methods: Diameters of segments of CBAN were measu...

The article examines Genghis Khan's death from the historico-medical perspective. Although several etiologies have been proposed over the years, most of these at a closer look appear to be later inventions by historians. A reassessment of the available evidence suggests instead bubonic plague as the most likely clinical scenario. Genghis Khan's dea...

For several decades, anatomists and biological anthropologists have made an intensive study in anatomical variations in ancestral and living humans. While many anatomical variants do not require clinical attention, some may present diagnostic problems or augur adverse symptoms. It is only in the last few decades that a plausible argument has been m...

Objectives The aim of this study was to establish an anatomical index for early prediction of the risk of development of aneurysms in anterior communicating arterial complex (AcomAC). The asymmetric diameter of one anterior cerebral artery (ACA) to other could alter haemodynamics and may contribute to formation of aneurysms in AcomAC and be a relia...

In 2003 historical (non-Aboriginal) human skeletal remains archaeologically excavated from St Mary’s Anglican Church cemetery in Adelaide, South Australia were reinterred in a concrete subterranean crypt. This paper examines preservation status following 15 years of interment. Skeletal remains placed in sealed plastic bags inside plastic curation b...

Objective The key to evolution is reproduction. Pathogens can either kill the human host or can invade the host without causing death, thus ensuring their own survival, reproduction and spread. Tuberculosis, treponematoses and leprosy are widespread chronic infectious diseases whereby the host is not immediately killed. These diseases are examples...

This review explores the incessant evolutionary interaction and co-development between immune system evolution and somatic evolution, to put it into context with the short, over 60-year, detailed human study of this extraordinary protective system. Over millions of years, the evolutionary development of the immune system in most species has been co...

The present pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is generally referred to as “COVID-19”. It is commonly thought to have started in the Wuhan area, China, in late 2019 and then spread, e.g., to Northern Italy in early 2020. However, a growing number of reports point to an earlier start of the outbreak and its global spread. Given the current state of knowl...

The median artery has been considered as an embryonic structure, which normally regresses around the 8th week of gestation. However, various prevalences have been reported in adults since the 18th century. Furthermore, in a study by Henneberg and George (1995; Am J Phys Anthropol 96, 329-334), has suggested that increasing prevalence of the median...

Gluten consumption has been controversially associated with obesity in previous studies. We sought to examine this association at the worldwide level. Country specific data were obtained from 168 countries. Scatter plots, bivariate, partial correlation and multiple linear regression models were used to explore and compare the coincidence between ob...

Extant humans are currently increasing their genetic load, which is informing present and future human microevolution. This has been a gradual process that has been rising over the last centuries as a consequence of improved sanitation, nutritional improvements, advancements in microbiology and medical interventions, which have relaxed natural sele...

Standard protocols for extracting DNA from bone are variable and are largely dependent on the state of preservation. In archaic samples, endogenous DNA is believed to be tightly bound to crystal aggregates in the Hydroxyapatite (HAp) matrix requiring prolonged demineralisation to allow its release. By comparison, fresh bone contains abundant cellul...

Objective: The low melanin production (depigmentation) evolved from low ultraviolet radiation may be the principal determinant of malignant melanoma of skin (C43). Design: Country-specific estimates of C43 incidence, daily UVR exposure, skin colour (EEL), socioeconomic status (GDP PPP), magnitude of reduced natural selection (Ibs), ageing, urbaniza...

Background: The low melanin production (depigmentation) evolved in response to low ultraviolet radiation may be the principal determinant of malignant melanoma of skin (C43). Methods: Worldwide country-specific estimates of melanoma incidence, daily UVR levels, skin colour (EEL), socioeconomic status (GDP PPP), magnitude of reduced natural selection...

Since their development, auditory, visual and pain-reducing neuroprosthetic devices have improved the lives of thousands of patients. Further advances in motor neuroprosthetics are attempting to restore motor functions in tetraplegic, limb loss and brain stem stroke paralysis subjects. This has been clinically feasible by simulating the conditions...

Our article explains some of the misgivings of the agricultural revolution. Generally speaking, growing crops was not a good idea. It had a negative impact on human health and pathed the way for many social problems which have remained.

Syphilis was perceived to be a new disease in Europe in the late 15th century, igniting a debate about its origin that continues today in anthropological, historical, and medical circles. We move beyond this age‐old debate using an interdisciplinary approach that tackles broader questions to advance the understanding of treponemal infection (syphil...

Human intelligence has been theorized since the ancient Greeks. Plato and Aristotle incorporated theories of human intelligence into their metaphysical and cosmological theories which informed the social and medical sciences for centuries. With the advent of the 20th century, human intelligence became increasingly standardized based on Intelligence...

Abstract Background: Rupture of anterior communicating artery complex (AcomAC) aneurysms is a common cause of haemorrhagic brain strokes. Ability to predict development of aneurysms in advance would allow stroke prevention. Asymmetry of the components of cerebral basal arterial network (CBAN) could alter hemodynamics and may contribute to formation...

The time of the Vesuvius eruption, which perished Pompeii, Herculaneum and surrounding areas in ad 79, was initially set on the 24–25 August, based on written contemporary documents of the ancient historian Pliny the Younger. This date has been challenged by archaeologists and volcanologists/meteorologists, who moved the time of the eruption furthe...

Palmistry or Chiromancy is the art of reading lines on the palm of the hands. Today, many researchers believe that the lines on the palms of the hands can predict the individual’s future. Computer programs are being designed which can automatically read the lines on the palm of the hand. One popular theory is that the length of the line of life wil...

A deep learning artificial neural network was adapted to the task of sex determination of skeletal remains. The neural network was trained on images of 900 skulls virtually reconstructed from hospital CT scans. When tested on previously unseen images of skulls, the artificial neural network showed 95% accuracy at sex determination. Artificial intel...

Background Total blood supply to an organ, or its part, is proportional to its function. The aim of this project was to investigate whether there is a lateralisation of total functions of cerebral hemispheres by determining differences in the arterial blood supply to left and right cerebral hemispheres. Methods Diameters of right and left anterior...