Week 4 topics 1 and 2 overview

Forensic Anatomy

As part of starting a class in forensic anatomy, the instructor has provided two sets of bones of human adults with an assignment of determining which sets of bones is a male and which is a female. This task will require the use of different characteristics to distinguish between the two sets of bones since males' and females' bones develop at different rates. While every human being is born with some cartilage in his/her bones, the development of the bones occurs different between males and females. The adage that girls mature faster than boys is not only true in emotional development but also evident in the development of bones. Generally, distinguishing between males' and females' bones requires identification of clues or characteristics in the bones themselves.

One of the characteristics to use in determining which sets of bones is male and which is female in this assignment is to look for clues in the pelvis. The pelvis is considered as the major distinguishing feature or characteristic between males and females bones (Main, n.d.). A male's pelvis tends to have contracted head-shaped inlet, sciatic notch, and angle of intersection for two pubic bones. In contrast, a female's pelvis tends to have an open, circular inlet as well as wider sciatic notch and angle of intersection between the two pubic bones.

The second characteristic in this process is the bone's overall sturdiness and size, which provide some essential clues in differentiating the sets of bones of males and females. The use of the overall size and sturdiness of the bone is this task is because male bones tend to develop and grow longer to an extent that they become larger and have more pronounced corners. In contrast to female bones, male bones tend to be longer and thicker, especially in the legs, arms, and fingers. Moreover, male jaw bones are not only generally larger in size but also more pronounced as well as having taller brow.

Muscle Physiology

Maggie recently began exercising and jogs 4 times a week. After her jog she is breathless and her muscles ache. Maggie's condition can be understood from examining what is happening to her skeletal muscle cells based on muscle physiology. Generally, injuries in the skeletal muscles contribute to a huge percentage of all traumas in sports of ranging from 10% to 55% of all sustained injuries. Maggie's muscles ache is a by-product of unaccustomed exercise, which in turn generates peripheral muscle fatigue.

The peripheral muscle fatigue that contributes to muscle pain in Maggie's situation is brought by inadequate energy and the presence of essential metabolites that enable contracting muscles to meet increased energy demand (Baird, Graham, Baker & Bickerstaff, 2012). The insufficient energy levels and metabolites contribute to motor groups that are relatively unable to meet the needed workload. Moreover, Maggie's unaccustomed exercise, especially unusual muscle contractions, generates varying mechanical muscle damage, which results in the muscle aches after exercising. The exercise contributes to metabolic muscle disturbance that leads to release of cellular components based on a flow of events that start with depletion of ATP. This in turn contributes to leakage of extracellular calcium ions into intracellular space because of dysfunction of vital processes.