Sanskrit Medical Literature

Уайт Д. Г. Алхимическое тело: традиция сиддхов в средневековой Индии / Пер. с англ. В. В. Каткова. — СПб.: Издательство «АИК», 2024 —744 с. — (Серия «Eastern Esotericism»). ISBN 978-5-94396-283-7

ТОЛЬКО ОЗНАКОМИТЕЛЬНЫЙ ФРАГМЕНТ, электронная версия не распространяется.
Начиная с V века нашей эры, различные индийские мистики начали изобретать целый ряд техник, с помощью которых можно было сделать себя бессмертными. Эти люди называли себя сиддхами — термин, ранее использовавшийся для класса полубогов небожителей, почитаемых как индуистами, так и буддистами. В течение следующих веков возникли три типа индуистских сиддхов, каждый из которых имел свою собственную специализированную практику: эротическую, минеральную, йогическую. Для средневековых сиддхов Индии эти три типа практики непосредственно вели к телесному бессмертию, сверхъестественным способностям и самообожествлению; к статусу полубожественных сиддхов старых культов. В «Алхимическом теле» Дэвид Гордон Уайт рассматривает в более широком индийском контексте эту утраченную традицию средневековых сиддхов. Работая основана на ранее неисследованных алхимических источниках. Автор впервые демонстрирует, что средневековые дисциплины индуистской алхимии и хатха-йоги практиковались одними и теми же людьми и что их можно понять только при совместном рассмотрении. Сексуальные жидкости человека и структуры тонкого тела являются микрокосмическими эквивалентами веществ и приспособлений, которыми манипулирует алхимик в своей лаборатории. Благодаря этому Уайт открывает путь к новому и более полному пониманию всего спектра средневекового индийского мистицизма в более широком контексте южноазиатского индуизма, буддизма, джайнизма и ислама. Эта книга является важным справочником для всех, кто интересуется индийской йогой, алхимией и зарождением средневековой науки.

Mapping the History of Ayurveda: Culture, Hegemony and the
Rhetoric of Diversity authored by Girija KP is a milestone in the
new critical scholarship on the history of medicine in India.
The book foregrounds the heterogeneous planes of
knowledge interaction between Ayurveda and other
knowledge systems and traces the evolution of Ayurveda as a
classical tradition along with the parallel growth of
nattuvaidyam, its indigenous counterpart. Nattuvaidyam (as
known in Malayalam) is a set of indigenous healing practices
clubbed together as a miscellaneous category.

The Ma‘dan al-šifā’-i Sikandar-šāhī is an extensive Persian handbook of Ayurvedic medicine made for Miyān Bhuwa ibn Ḫawāṣṣ Ḫān, a vizir of Sultan Sikandar Lōdī (r. 1489-1517) to whom the book was dedicated. This treatise was thought to provide Indian Muslim physicians, unfamiliar with Sanskrit, with a comprehensive manual of Ayurvedic medicine and therapy. Miyān Bhuwa allocated considerable resources to achieving this translation project and hired scholars to translate the many parts of Ayurvedic books used to compile the Persian text. This article explores the reasons behind the production of the Ma‘dan al-šifā’ and proposes a new reading of this book. It argues that Miyān Bhuwa’s project was part of a broader process of incorporation of Ayurvedic materials within Persian texts which had already started about two centuries earlier and which allowed Muslim physicians to master new forms of interpretation, classification and treatment of diseases when compared with earlier Arabic and Persian medical books. It looks at the epistemic and the practical issues raised in the preface of the Ma‘dan al-šifā’, which directly questions the adequacy of how Greco-Arabic thought understood body temperament in the Indian environment. It inquires into the authorship of this Persian Ayurvedic handbook and suggests that probably Miyān Bhuwa only assembled the translations made from Sanskrit texts. The last part of the article looks at the conceptual structure of the Ma‘dan al-šifā’ and how the Sanskrit sources and their models shaped the organization of the sections of the Persian book. Moreover, it suggests that the overall framework of the book relied on the overlap of models of presentation of medical knowledge, a device meant to negotiate between the models of the Sanskrit sources and those of the Muslim readers.

This article conceptualizes the entanglements between home remedies, vernacular medical knowledge, and gender in Hindu middle-class urban households of early twentieth-century North India through the genre of printed healing recipes in Hindi and the space of the kitchen. It focuses particularly on the vibrant and eclectic "home recipes" written by Yashoda Devi, the leading woman Ayurvedic practitioner of the period. In the process, the paper attempts to theorize recipes as a distinct genre, often authored by women, and an arena where literate women's voices came to be heard, recorded, and published in colonial India. Putting a spotlight on women kitchen pharmacists, the article shows how they were repositors, consumers, domestic doctors, writers, and transmitters of local, home-based health practices and quotidian preventive medicine. While often upholding idealizations of the "good" housewife, these printed recipes also conjoined gender identities and positive kitchen experiences, resting on authority and sharing between women in the field of everyday medicine. Finally, the article shows how these popular Ayurvedic recipes were often projected as upholders of noninvasive, low-cost medicine beyond the regimentations of the colonial state.

Medical anthropologists have not paid enough attention to the variation at the level of the individual practitioners of biomedicine, and anthropological critiques of biomedical psychiatry as it is practiced in settings outside the Global North have tended to depict psychiatrists in monolithic terms. In this article, we attempt to demonstrate that, at least in the case of India, some psychiatrists perceive limitations in the biomedical model and the cultural assumptions behind biomedical practices and ideologies. This paper focuses on three practitioners who supplement their own practices with local and alternative healing modalities derived from South Asian psychologies, philosophies, systems of medicine and religious and ritual practices. The diverging psychiatric practices in this paper represent a rough continuum. They range from a bold and confident psychiatrist who uses various techniques including ritual healing to another who yearns to incorporate more Indian philosophy and psychology in psychiatric practice and encourages students of ayurvedic medicine to more fully embrace the science they are learning to a less proactive psychiatrist who does not describe a desire to change his practice but who is respectful and accepting of ayurvedic treatments that some patients also undergo. Rather than simply applying a hegemonic biomedical psychiatry, these psychiatrists offer the possibility of a more locally-attuned, context sensitive psychiatric practice.

This paper aims at giving an overview of hospitals in India from ancient to modern times. It deals with European hospitals in India prior to the 19 th century, the rise of hospital medicine and the foundation of the Calcutta Medical College (CMC), and, finally, briefly discusses about the colonial encounter between modern medicine vis-à-vis Āyurveda, and some of its consequences at the level of epistemology. In our era of bio-medicalization, the hospital and the experience of the patient assume a figure completely different from that of pre-hospital medicine era. From the description of hospital in Caraka Sahitā to the provision of medical facilities made in the Brahminical religious institutions of Northern India during the early medieval period, hospitals primarily served for caring and lodging of the sick. A clear distinction between a physician and a surgeon was apparent in a 12 th-century epigraphic record. The decline of surgical knowledge and practice in the scholarly tradition of Indian medical practice was evident. The development of hospitals is among the contributions that Muslim culture brought to Indian society, where hospitals were not extremely common. In the early 19 th century, the brief phase of the Native Medical Institution and medical classes at the Calcutta Sanskrit College nurtured the gestation of hospital medicine. The new secular medicine started at death, when the bedside-practitioner gave up and the scientist-practitioner took over, and these were the same person. Aspiring to talk in the language of modernity, in mimicry of English medical college and hospitals, Āyurvedic institutions began to emerge since the late nineteenth century. Āyurveda was reconstituted in terms of modern medicine. Historically, CMC played its role in the entire process, ushered in the era of hospital medicine,and became instrumental in the marginalization of traditional Indian medicines.

In a revealing paragraph Elizabeth Grosz comments, “Every body is marked by the history and specificity of its existence. It is possible to construct a biography, a history of the body, for each individual and social body.” In doing so, she notes, “The history would include not only all the contingencies that befall a body, impinging on it from the outside,” but any such history “would also have to include the ‘raw ingredients’ out of which the body is produced.” My effort would be to delve into some of the unfamiliar nuances of the context-specific ‘Indian body’ at the epistemological level encountering dislocating colonial epistemological incursions moored in particular socio-economic roots.

This paper aims at giving an overview of hospitals in India from ancient to modern times. It deals with European hospitals in India prior to the 19 th century, the rise of hospital medicine and the foundation of the Calcutta Medical College (CMC), and, finally, briefly discusses about the colonial encounter between modern medicine vis-à-vis Āyurveda, and some of its consequences at the level of epistemology. In our era of bio-medicalization, the hospital and the experience of the patient assume a figure completely different from that of pre-hospital medicine era. From the description of hospital in Caraka Sahitā to the provision of medical facilities made in the Brahminical religious institutions of Northern India during the early medieval period, hospitals primarily served for caring and lodging of the sick. A clear distinction between a physician and a surgeon was apparent in a 12 th-century epigraphic record. The decline of surgical knowledge and practice in the scholarly tradition of Indian medical practice was evident. The development of hospitals is among the contributions that Muslim culture brought to Indian society, where hospitals were not extremely common. In the early 19 th century, the brief phase of the Native Medical Institution and medical classes at the Calcutta Sanskrit College nurtured the gestation of hospital medicine. The new secular medicine started at death, when the bedside-practitioner gave up and the scientist-practitioner took over, and these were the same person. Aspiring to talk in the language of modernity, in mimicry of English medical college and hospitals, Āyurvedic institutions began to emerge since the late nineteenth century. Āyurveda was reconstituted in terms of modern medicine. Historically, CMC played its role in the entire process, ushered in the era of hospital medicine,and became instrumental in the marginalization of traditional Indian medicines.

The Transforming Science: Some Remarks on the Medico-Alchemical Teachings in Selected Works of Siddha Yākōpu, with Special Reference to the Kuru Nūl Aimpattaintu The paper explores the concept of variously conceived transformations associated with figurative transcendence of manifold limitations, referred to in medico-alchemical Tamil Siddha literature. The research has been based on the study of selected texts of Yākōpu alias Irāmatēvar, one of prominent Tamil Siddha authors dated to 17th–18th centuries. Special reference has been made to the Kuru Nūl Aimpattaintu (“Fifty-five [Verses] of the Book on the Excellence”), considered by its author as a book containing some essential teachings of his science. The transformations referred to in the text concern both the domains of the human body, and the non-biological matter, being the object of alchemical operations of the Siddha adept. Such transforming science taught by Yākōpu is based on the action of certain substances credited with...

This paper investigates the interrelationships between modern Indian state, medicine and public health since 1835. Calcutta Medical College (CMC) inaugurated the era of hospital medicine in India and was contemporaneous with the transition from mercantile to free, competitive capital. Preceded by a period nativity of visual, verbal and psychic acculturations, the first dissection as the hallmark of civilization was done. The doctors passing out represented physician and surgeon interwoven. The new medical graduates were inscribed with the insignia of clock-time, secularism, scientific experiments, new disciplinary techniques and governance. All these were essential comportments for the consolidation of the modern state. Through extension of public health medicine acquired a political status inasmuch as it gained a new relevance to the interests of the state. Āyurveda too was reconstituted as neo- Āyurveda and deployed in the service of the modern state.

This article presents an English translation of interview with a doctor of traditional Indian medicine (Ayurveda), Astavaidya, V. C. Na*** Namputiri (1929~) in Kerala, India. The contents of the interview are 1. Background and education, 2. History of the family and Astavaidyas, 3. The legacy of Vahata (Vagbhata), 4. Medical texts and manuscripts, 5. Special treatments, Rasayana, 6. Sanskrit and Malayalam literature.

Time was a problem in medieval South Asia. It was – among other things – a medical problem that philosophers and physicians set out to solve. The complexities of medical practice – which entailed considering an almost infinite set of variables and combinations – meant that no normal person could possibly derive the principles of medicine in a single lifetime. There was too much to know and too little time. This meant that medical practitioners had to rely on the words of other people to carry out their cures. Practicing medicine depended on trusting the proper authorities. This article follows the arguments of two philosophers employed in royal courts in the 9th century – Jayanta Bhaṭṭa and Ugrāditya – who constructed arguments about how to relate to the textualized past of medicine in Sanskrit. Both scholars accepted that the temporalities of knowledge necessitated that medicine was originally propounded by an omniscient individual. But they disagreed on who counted as an authority and on the value of the Sanskrit medical classics. The article uses these scholars to show the temporalities of medicine in pre-colonial South Asia as multiple, shifting and contested. Moving beyond binaries of historical and mythic time in colonial and pre-colonial South Asia, this article attends to the work of medieval scholars to explicate the multiple rhythms of time that existed side-by-side prior to the epistemic violence of colonialism and the rise of modern Ayurveda.

The foot for more comfort and elasticity with optimal cosmesis. This new prosthetic foot combines multiaxial joint movements with the positive qualities of the OTTO BOCK Dynamic Foot. • Dampened heel strike through plantar flexion • Elastic forefoot as in the Dynamic Foot • Pronation and supination possible in any position of the joint • Low degree of transverse rotation due to joint bearing elasticity • For patients who are moderately active The Multiaxial Foot is supplied with a mounted modular adaptor. Alignment recommendations: • Mid foot positioned 10-15 mm anterior to the weight bearing line • Heel heights of 10-15 mm

This article aims to analyze the ideas of health and illness in ancient Buddhism, making use of the theoretical tools of medical anthropology and historical–philological inquiry. As a contribution to the conceptual history of medicine in Buddhism, I intend to focus the present investigation on the ascetic problem of the “end of the world” as a means of achieving complete healing. The asceticism of early Buddhism reconciles the goal of transcendence with that of healing, carrying out a complex reflection on awareness and presence.

History of Indian medical heritage is due to receive serious attention from historians. There is need to fill in this gap by writing narratives based on primary evidences such as inscriptions, manuscripts and other intangible sources like oral traditions, etc. Among them, inscriptions play a crucial role in chronicling the development of Indian medical traditions, the status of medical men in the society, the royal patronage in the form of grants of land, donations, providing medical aid to common people, paying remunerations to the medical men for their services, and establishment of medical facilities. The article explores information available from Ashokan inscriptions about plantation of medicinal plants and setting up of treatment facilities for men and cattle. It also includes other inscriptions from Telangana, Andhrapradesh and Tamilnadu covering narratives about veterinary physicians, Jaina surgeon named Aggalayya, maternity hospital, preventive measures for people during epidemics and about Parahita family of physicians and other information about Indian medical heritage.

This review focuses on how the study of anatomy in India has evolved through the centuries. Anatomical knowledge in ancient India was derived principally from animal sacrifice, chance observations of improperly buried human bodies, and examinations of patients made by doctors during treatment. The Vedic philosophies form the basis of the Ayurvedic tradition, which is considered to be one of the oldest known systems of medicine. Two sets of texts form the foundation of Ayurvedic medicine, the Susruta Samhita and the Charaka Samhita. The Susruta Samhita provided important surgical and anatomical information of the understanding of anatomy by Indians in the 6th century BCE. Here we review the anatomical knowledge known to this society.

This paper examines the historical development of the doctrine of the five bodily winds (prā nas) in the early Sanskrit literature of Yoga and Āyurveda. Special attention is paid to the Indian's understanding of the connection between atmospheric wind and bodily breath and the role of wind in the human body. The paper traces the evolution of the Indian concept of breath. Originally, wind and breath were used metaphorically to indicate life. Breath was subsequently classified into five types by early ascetics who used breath-control in their practice of Yoga; and these same five breaths were eventually utilized by the Āyurvedic medical thinkers to establish a sophisticated doctrine of wind and its function in the body. Then even nothingness was not, nor existence. There was no air then, nor the heavens beyond it. What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping? Was there then cosmic waters, in depths unfathomed?

In my paper I shall argue that Western medicine has passed through epistemological and paradigmatic shifts from Bedside Medicine to Hospital Medicine to Laboratory Medicine. The singular act of post-mortem dissection differentiated Hospital Medicine from Bedside Medicine and established its unquestionable authority over Indian medical knowledge systems. In Āyurvedic knowledge, there is no single conception of the body, but a dominant one – a bodily frame – through which dosa-s, dhātu-s and mala-s flow. On their behalf, Āyurvedics were caught within a two-edged sword. First, since antiquity treatment of a disease could be efficiently resolved by tri-dosa theory and marman-s, without having any modern anatomical knowledge. Second, to establish Āyurveda as a valid and eternally “modern” repository of knowledge, learning modern anatomy became mandatory for high caste Āyurvedics to usurp it from the lower-caste practitioners. Consequently, a shift from traditional philosophy of tri-doṣa theory to “modern” notion of organ localization of disease occurred. It reconstituted the philosophical matrix of Āyurveda through this “modernization’ of Āyurvedic knowledge of anatomy.

This paper aims at giving an overview of hospitals in India from ancient to modern times. It deals with European hospitals in India prior to the 19 th century, the rise of hospital medicine and the foundation of the Calcutta Medical College (CMC), and, finally, briefly discusses about the colonial encounter between modern medicine vis-à-vis Āyurveda, and some of its consequences at the level of epistemology. In our era of bio-medicalization, the hospital and the experience of the patient assume a figure completely different from that of pre-hospital medicine era. From the description of hospital in Caraka Sahitā to the provision of medical facilities made in the Brahminical religious institutions of Northern India during the early medieval period, hospitals primarily served for caring and lodging of the sick. A clear distinction between a physician and a surgeon was apparent in a 12 th-century epigraphic record. The decline of surgical knowledge and practice in the scholarly tradition of Indian medical practice was evident. The development of hospitals is among the contributions that Muslim culture brought to Indian society, where hospitals were not extremely common. In the early 19 th century, the brief phase of the Native Medical Institution and medical classes at the Calcutta Sanskrit College nurtured the gestation of hospital medicine. The new secular medicine started at death, when the bedside-practitioner gave up and the scientist-practitioner took over, and these were the same person. Aspiring to talk in the language of modernity, in mimicry of English medical college and hospitals, Āyurvedic institutions began to emerge since the late nineteenth century. Āyurveda was reconstituted in terms of modern medicine. Historically, CMC played its role in the entire process, ushered in the era of hospital medicine,and became instrumental in the marginalization of traditional Indian medicines.

This review focuses on how the study of anatomy in India has evolved through the centuries. Anatomical knowledge in ancient India was derived principally from animal sacrifice, chance observations of improperly buried human bodies, and examinations of patients made by doctors during treatment. The Vedic philosophies form the basis of the Ayurvedic tradition, which is considered to be one of the oldest known systems of medicine. Two sets of texts form the foundation of Ayurvedic medicine, the Susruta Samhita and the Charaka Samhita. The Susruta Samhita provided important surgical and anatomical information of the understanding of anatomy by Indians in the 6th century BCE. Here we review the anatomical knowledge known to this society.

The confluence of multiple branches of history in recent times, mainly owing to a revival of interest in histories of science and environmental history, has revealed the presence of a network of knowledge, which has been in existence from the Renaissance and in some fields even prior to it. Interwoven into the global web of knowledge transfers are the histories of botanical science and medical systems, which this article intends to analyse in the context of the Indo-Portuguese-Dutch engagements on the south-western coast of India. The Malabar Coast, in particular, plays a unique role in the history of Indian Ocean trade and it offers a fertile arena to investigate the multi-layered interplay between diverse knowledge systems both at a global and local level. The encounters between the European and the local knowledge systems occured more in terms of social-cultural exchange and the production of hybrid systems of knowledge rather that of cultural conflict. An in-depth analysis of Ga...

This paper is concerned with a special branch of folk medicine in Tamil Nadu, India, which is practiced by the Narikuravar, a formerly peripatetic hunter community settled all over South India. This paper starts with a description of the Narikuravar folk healing practices and epistemologies and discusses processes of professionalization and commercialisation. The second part of this paper asks how the Narikuravar healers gain authority and popularity in the growing health industry market in Tamil Nadu, and what makes their medicine so special in the eyes of their clients. The argument put forward here, is that the power of the Narikuravar healer is related to the position and image of the Narikuravar community within the wider society. Narikuravar are associated with 'nature' as opposed to the surrounding peasant caste groups which stand for 'culture'; and they are often regarded as still living in the 'Indian past', as opposed to 'Indian modernity'. In the Kuravanci, a folk literary genre which was very popular in Tamil Nadu from the seventeenth until the nineteenth century, the image of the Narikuravar as a fortune-teller and folk healer is elaborated upon, but notions of their traditional life style and magic healing powers are also found in later representations of the Narikuravars, for example in the 1972 movie Kuratti Magan. Narikuravar medicine is located within various pairs of oppositions, such as East/West (English), traditional/modern and folk/classical medicine. These images and representations are today exploited by the Narikuravar themselves as commercial tools in their representations of themselves in the context of market strategies, but they are also used for the negotiation of identity within the wider social and political sphere, for example in the efforts of the Narikuravar Tamil association to gain the recognition of a Scheduled Tribe. In other words, they accept and welcome these representations of "natural" and "traditional" healing powers and transform them into a resource that can be sold in specific encounters with clients from other communities or used in articulating their identity and place in the hierarchy in the diversity management of the modern nation state. Dieser Artikel beschäftigt sich mit einer spezifischen Heiltradition und den mit ihr verbundenen Repräsentationen und fragt, wie sich diese auf die Beziehungen zwischen unterschiedliche Akteuren und Gruppen auswirkt. Der Fokus liegt auf der

This review focuses on how the study of anatomy in India has evolved through the centuries. Anatomical knowledge in ancient India was derived principally from animal sacrifice, chance observations of improperly buried human bodies, and examinations of patients made by doctors during treatment. The Vedic philosophies form the basis of the Ayurvedic tradition, which is considered to be one of the oldest known systems of medicine. Two sets of texts form the foundation of Ayurvedic medicine, the Susruta Samhita and the Charaka Samhita. The Susruta Samhita provided important surgical and anatomical information of the understanding of anatomy by Indians in the 6th century BCE. Here we review the anatomical knowledge known to this society.

This review focuses on how the study of anatomy in India has evolved through the centuries. Anatomical knowledge in ancient India was derived principally from animal sacrifice, chance observations of improperly buried human bodies, and examinations of patients made by doctors during treatment. The Vedic philosophies form the basis of the Ayurvedic tradition, which is considered to be one of the oldest known systems of medicine. Two sets of texts form the foundation of Ayurvedic medicine, the Susruta Samhita and the Charaka Samhita. The Susruta Samhita provided important surgical and anatomical information of the understanding of anatomy by Indians in the 6th century BCE. Here we review the anatomical knowledge known to this society.

Anatomical knowledge, especially knowledge gained from dissecting a cadaver, was the “Midas touch” which ushered in a new era of medicine. It universalized ‘modern’ medicine and made it the only source of practical as well as theoretical knowledge of the body. All other medical knowledge (traditional and indigenous) was made subservient to it. Importantly, the edifice of modern medicine was constructed over this new theoretical backbone. Anatomy has a long and chequered past as a scientific discipline. Its heyday came in the 19th century, with the development of quick, effective surgical techniques on the battlefield and, later, the introduction of anesthesia, when knowledge of the structural intricacies of the body began to have practical significance for doctors. A new norm and epistemological structure began to emerge.
Eastern and Western medicine began with similar fusions of religion, spirituality, and science. Anatomists resorted to analogies of the universe to explain the body when superstitions surrounding death and the fate of the soul prevented closer observation through dissection. The dead body was venerated and paid due honour. Dissection was a taboo and social stigma. Like Āyurveda, there was greater emphasis on prognosis than diagnosis.

In my paper I shall argue that Western medicine has passed through epistemological and paradigmatic shifts from Bedside Medicine to Hospital Medicine to Laboratory Medicine. The singular act of post-mortem dissection differentiated Hospital Medicine from Bedside Medicine and established its unquestionable authority over Indian medical knowledge systems. In Āyurvedic knowledge, there is no single conception of the body, but a dominant one-a bodily frame-through which dos as , dhātu-s and mala-s flow. On their behalf, Āyurvedics were caught within a two-edged sword. First, since antiquity treatment of a disease could be efficiently resolved by tri-dos a theory and marman-s, without having any modern anatomical knowledge. Second, to establish Āyurveda as a valid and eternally "modern" repository of knowledge, learning modern anatomy became mandatory for high caste Āyurvedics to usurp it from the lower-caste practitioners. Consequently, a shift from traditional philosophy of tri-doṣa theory to "modern" notion of organ localization of disease occurred. It reconstituted the philosophical matrix of Āyurveda through this "modernization' of Āyurvedic knowledge of anatomy.

p. 29: esertu for ESERTU; naptartu for NAPT D ARTU. p. 38: ra rbisu for ra rbis D u, literally 'lurker'. The full Akkadian equivalent of the official entitled LÚ MAŠKIM.URU KI is ra rbis D a rli. In the lexical text Hh. II 32 maškim.uru ki and MIN (= ra-bi-s D u) a-li are equated. p. 57: A syllabic cuneiform sign can represent a whole or part syllable. p. 58: While it is true that the Hittite cuneiform sign lexicon is relatively small, the advantages proposed by the author in comparison to an alphabetic script are invalid: Hittite cuneiform is not 'very economical in terms of space' and is not written 'with great rapidity'. The complexity of Hittite cuneiform is compounded by the regular use of Sumerograms and Akkadograms rather than syllabically written Hittite. Sign distinctions can be very small but in some periods the signs LA and AD are identical. p. 59: A scribal school (É.DUB.BA.A) is mentioned in a Hittite letter not from Hattusa, as noted by P. D. Gesche, Schulunterricht in Babylonien im ersten Jahrtausend v. Chr., p. 27 (Münster, 2000). p. 69: Writing boards of walnut wood, as well as an ivory set, were recovered from well AB in the North West Palace at Nimrud (J. and D. Oates, Nimrud: An Assyrian Imperial City Revealed, pp. 97-9, 219-20 (London, 2001)). Traces of a mixture of beeswax and orpiment, which softened the wax, were still stuck to the keyed surfaces of the ivory boards and bore clear impressions of cuneiform signs. For a photograph see J. E. Curtis and J. E. Reade, Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum, p. 191 (New York, 1995). p. 151: MUSH for MUŠ; MUSEN for MUŠEN. p. 188: Spring is between mid-March and mid-June and autumn between September and November, not vice versa. p. 194: The Hittite word nuntarriyashas is genitive singular, so the festival title should be rendered EZEN nuntarriyash b as. The springtime AN.TAH b .SUM or 'crocus' festival is so called because the spring crocus appears with the melting of the snow and symbolizes that season. p. 253: LÚ.MEŠ MAŠKIM.URU-LIM for LÚ.MEŠ MAŠKIM.URU-LIM. p. 274 n. 21: ana ittisu for ana ittišu. p. 287 n. 37: The Sumerian sign for woman is variously read SAL (p. 29: SAL SUHUR.LAL) and MUNUS (p. 287 n. 37: MUNUS.ŠU.GI). The basic meaning of MUNUS ŠU.GI is 'old woman', not simply 'old'. The use of this Sumerogram in Hittite to denote a woman with high ritual status and authority can be compared to the semantic range of Akkadian šibu, 'old man, witness, city elder'. The author cites time travel as the only means of experiencing the ancient world but he has made considerable progress in bridging the inevitable gap with this informed and enjoyable book.

The frictional action at stump/socket interface is discussed by a simplified model andjinite ekment model ana&srs and clinical pressure ,measurements. The fn'ction applied to the stump skin produces stresses within tissues and the.te .stres)es may damage the tissues and affect their normal functions. The combination of normal and shear stresse., is considered to br a critical Jactw kading fo amputee's discomfort and tissue damage. Hozoever, j-iction al thr stumfi/sorket intmfare has a b&e$cial action. '4 simpl$ed re.ridual limb model and a finite element model using rea[ gnome@ have been developed to analyse the support action o/friction. Both results show that the friction play\ a critical rolu both in supporting the load of the amputee's body during the support phase of the gait cycle and jr, preuenting the prosthesis from slipping off the limb during swing phase. Pressures at the below-knee socket dun'ng walking-71~~ measured with conditions of diJffPrent frirtion. The results reural that a larger pressure was produced at the lubricated interface than at the normal intPrfucr. A proper rhoire of coejjcient of friction will balance the requir-empnts of relies of load stress und redurtio)) oJ'.slip roith the <general ability to support loads. Cop@$t 0 19% t:'l.~Yoier Sri~nrr Ltd for IPl.:MB.

The TracerCAD system is one of the leading prosthetic CAD systems in the world and is increasingly used in clinics to replace traditional methods of residual limb shape capture. Accurate dimensional capture of the residuum is arguably the most important process in the production of a prosthetic socket. TracerCAD system accuracy has previously been tested on a cylindrical model but not a trans-tibial shape. Residual limbs are irregular in shape therefore it is important to assess if shape has an effect on the accuracy of data collected when using TracerCAD. The objective of this study is to investigate the accuracy of the TracerCAD system in measuring a model of a trans-tibial stump of known dimensions and volume. A model of a trans-tibial stump was produced and filled with plaster and measured using a data acquisition system with an accuracy of five micron (0.005 mm). The model was repeatedly traced using the TracerCAD system by an individual user. The mean value of measures taken b...

This study reports on a research project that has utilised, for the first time, a Hydro-casting (HC) technique to create a prosthetic socket for a person with trans-femoral amputation. Outcome measurements of the HC socket were compared with a socket and prosthesis produced by conventional ischial containment (IC) technique. Comparisons were based on differences in (a) stump-socket interface pressures during gait, (b) whole body gait kinetics and kinematics (c) femoral movement within the stump tissues relative to the socket during gait. These observations provided a snapshot of the biomechanical environment of the stump and socket interface and assess the feasibility of using these outcome measurements to highlight differences between the two socket designs. This study demonstrated that it is feasible to use the HC approach to produce a prosthesis that is acceptable to both user and clinician. Results showed similarities between interface pressures, kinetic and kinematic data for both socket designs. The use of ultrasound to detect femoral motion identified that the conventional design paradigm, claiming to stabilise the motion of the femur, may not actually achieve this goal. Additional research is required with larger population of people with a trans-femoral amputation to assess the long term impact of this novel approach.

UNLABELLED Probably the most important factor in evaluating a patient&#39;s prosthesis is quality of life. Transtibial amputations, are among the most frequently performed major limb amputations. Many individuals with transtibial amputations successfully achieve rehabilitation at or near their preamputation levels. Discomfort in prosthetic sockets continues to be a critical challenge faced by both prosthetists and amputees. MATERIAL AND METHODS This paper proposes a fusion Graphic User Interface that combines two types of information (pressure and temperature). Data from pressure sensors and thermistors (an electrical resistor whose resistance is greatly reduced by heating, used for measurement and control) placed on the stump in transtibial prosthetics are collected in real time using a National Instruments Data Acquisition device. RESULTS All the data stored in files are available for offline processing. The user has the possibility to analyse the signal by zooming or positioning ...

The prosthetic application is a highly complex process. Modeling and simulation of biomechanics processes in orthopedics is a certainly field of interest in current medical research. Optimization of socket in order to improve the quality of patient&#39;s life is a major objective in prosthetic rehabilitation. A variety of numerical methods for prosthetic application have been developed and studied. An objective method is proposed to evaluate the performance of a prosthetic patient according to surface pressure map over the residual limb. The friction coefficient due to various liners used in transtibial and transfemoral prosthesis is taken into account also. Creation of a bio-based modeling and mathematical simulation allows the design, construction and optimization of contact between the prosthesis cup and lack of functionality of the patient amputated considering the data collected and processed in real time and non-invasively. The von Mises stress distribution in muscle flap tiss...

Salutogenesis works on a prospective basis by considering creating, enhancing, and improving physical, mental, and social well-being. This research aims to identify the best landscape stimuli that comply with the criteria of both cogni- tive and salutogenic aspects for reducing stress. This research was conducted by first developing the theory-based model and assessment checklist, followed by prelim- inary studies that assessed18 parks in Klang Valley based on a neuro-salutogenic landscape checklist. The results indicated that Taman Aman, Petaling Jaya recorded the best neuro-salutogenic landscape stimuli with the highest score for all three aspects of adaptive, restorative, and assertive elements. This research concludes an interesting theory for design professionals about how neural potentials could explains the specific human response to different design settings.

Alternative sensory systems for the development of prosthetic knees are being increasingly highlighted nowadays, due to the rapid advancements in the field of lower limb prosthetics. This study presents the use of piezoelectric bimorphs as in-socket sensors for transfemoral amputees. An Instron machine was used in the calibration procedure and the corresponding output data were further analyzed to determine the static and dynamic characteristics of the piezoelectric bimorph. The piezoelectric bimorph showed appropriate static operating range, repeatability, hysteresis, and frequency response for application in lower prosthesis, with a force range of 0-100 N. To further validate this finding, an experiment was conducted with a single transfemoral amputee subject to measure the stump/socket pressure using the piezoelectric bimorph embedded inside the socket. The results showed that a maximum interface pressure of about 27 kPa occurred at the anterior proximal site compared to the anterior distal and posterior sites, consistent with values published in other studies. This paper highlighted the capacity of piezoelectric bimorphs to perform as in-socket sensors for transfemoral amputees. However, further experiments are recommended to be conducted with different amputees with different socket types.

Alternative sensory systems for the development of prosthetic knees are being increasingly highlighted nowadays, due to the rapid advancements in the field of lower limb prosthetics. This study presents the use of piezoelectric bimorphs as in-socket sensors for transfemoral amputees. An Instron machine was used in the calibration procedure and the corresponding output data were further analyzed to determine the static and dynamic characteristics of the piezoelectric bimorph. The piezoelectric bimorph showed appropriate static operating range, repeatability, hysteresis, and frequency response for application in lower prosthesis, with a force range of 0-100 N. To further validate this finding, an experiment was conducted with a single transfemoral amputee subject to measure the stump/socket pressure using the piezoelectric bimorph embedded inside the socket. The results showed that a maximum interface pressure of about 27 kPa occurred at the anterior proximal site compared to the anterior distal and posterior sites, consistent with values published in other studies. This paper highlighted the capacity of piezoelectric bimorphs to perform as in-socket sensors for transfemoral amputees. However, further experiments are recommended to be conducted with different amputees with different socket types.

Transtibial hydrocast sockets have been shown to be a potential alternative to hand-cast patella-tendon bearing sockets, the use of which would have particular benefits in under-resourced environments. However, data concerning wearer outcomes of hard hydrocast sockets (i.e. those without silicone liners), especially over long-term usage periods, is scarce in the literature. Are there any changes in wearer functional, spatio-temporal or satisfaction outcomes over a long usage period with a hydrocast socket? And how do the post-usage period outcomes compare with those from the wearers original prostheses? In this pre-post interventional study, the clinical outcomes of twenty-one experienced transtibial prostheses users were evaluated using widely-accepted and employed methods to assess wearer functional capacity, mobility, gait and satisfaction. The participants were fit with a hard hydrocast socket and the outcomes after an extensive usage period of 5 months were compared to the pre-...

SL collected the pressure data, completed the data analysis and drafted the manuscript. PL and NL conceived of and secured funding for the study, designed the study, coordinated the study and reviewed the manuscript. JL contributed to the study design, assessed the participants' limbs, supervised the production of the prostheses and reviewed the manuscript.

BACKGROUND: Self-management is an integral component of managing long-term conditions and diseases. For a person with limb loss, this self-management process involves caring for the residual limb, the prosthesis, and the prosthetic socket-residual limb interface. Failure to properly self-manage can result in unwanted secondary complications such as skin breakdown, falls, or non-use of the prosthesis. However, there is little evidence on what self-management interventions are effective at preventing secondary complications. To understand the impact of self-management after the loss of a limb, it is necessary to determine what the current evidence base supports. OBJECTIVE(S): The purpose of this study is to examine the available literature on self-management interventions and/or outcomes for persons with limb loss and describe how it may impact residual limb health or prosthesis use. METHODOLOGY: A systematic review of multiple databases was carried out using a variety of search terms...

The prosthetic application is a highly complex process. Modeling and simulation of biomechanics processes in orthopedics is a certainly field of interest in current medical research. Optimization of socket in order to improve the quality of patient&#39;s life is a major objective in prosthetic rehabilitation. A variety of numerical methods for prosthetic application have been developed and studied. An objective method is proposed to evaluate the performance of a prosthetic patient according to surface pressure map over the residual limb. The friction coefficient due to various liners used in transtibial and transfemoral prosthesis is taken into account also. Creation of a bio-based modeling and mathematical simulation allows the design, construction and optimization of contact between the prosthesis cup and lack of functionality of the patient amputated considering the data collected and processed in real time and non-invasively. The von Mises stress distribution in muscle flap tiss...

History of Indian medical heritage is due to receive serious attention from historians. There is need to fill in this gap by writing narratives based on primary evidences such as inscriptions, manuscripts and other intangible sources like oral traditions, etc. Among them, inscriptions play a crucial role in chronicling the development of Indian medical traditions, the status of medical men in the society, the royal patronage in the form of grants of land, donations, providing medical aid to common people, paying remunerations to the medical men for their services, and establishment of medical facilities. The article explores information available from Ashokan inscriptions about plantation of medicinal plants and setting up of treatment facilities for men and cattle. It also includes other inscriptions from Telangana, Andhrapradesh and Tamilnadu covering narratives about veterinary physicians, Jaina surgeon named Aggalayya, maternity hospital, preventive measures for people during epidemics and about Parahita family of physicians and other information about Indian medical heritage.