Concepts and Principles

Universal Principles

Ashley Davidoff MD

Copyright The Common Vein 2014

“…It is in us and all around us…We just have to look…And when we see “it” we can only stand in awe.”

Davidoff

The Common Vein is a web site dedicated to the understanding of biology using foundation principles as a framework for the detail, and images and imagery to communicate the concepts. Biology is part of a continuum from the embryonic hydrogen atom to the universe. The Common Vein explores the thread of commonality that enables appreciation and understanding. The aim of the project is to promote a sense of awe by providing a perspective- a place from which to look at the world.

For some a picture speaks a thousand words. For others the words speak louder than the pictures.

For some understanding concepts before embarking on the detail seems logical. For others understanding the detail in order to understand the whole is natural. “Lumpers and splitters” describes this difference.

The Common Vein explores concepts through images and imagery to help those who understand the world through conceptual frameworks. I am one of those people.

Understanding is also enhanced by using similes. We comprehend when we can draw parallels in our experience. For example one can get a sense of the relationship of the cell to the body by drawing a parallel of the relationship between the brick and a house.

The Common Vein explores concepts through images and imagery to help those who understand the world through the eyes of images and concepts. I am one of those people.

We start with a unit – and the unit combines with other units to form a larger unit which is bigger and more powerful than the component parts. The units have need to bond and organize as they build bigger and more powerful units. A subliminal force drives the units to become more whole. The essence of the common vein is to understand the units, the bonds and the force that drives them to become whole.

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now when then?”

— Maimonides

Maimonides speaks to the need to be both an individual and part of the community in order to become whole. Striving to become whole is the struggle of the smallest atom but also of the universe, let alone the individual. The importance of time for the individual is stressed by Maimonides. This dictum is a driving force of the author and of the work of The Common Vein.

Hydrogen to the Universe and Biology in Between

The Whole is Bigger than the Parts

There are three elements that frame the approach of The Common Vein; the unit; links and bonds; yearning to become “whole”.

Units – First Concept

A unit is a building block

The Brick

The brick is the basic building block to the wall, and the wall is a precursor of a room, a house or a skyscraper..

Examples are all around us and in us. The letter is the unit to the book, the single brush stroke the unit to the painting, the musical note to the symphony, the cell to the body, and the hydrogen atom is the essential unit to the universe.

Connections, Links, Bonds – The Second Step

The interdependence of structures in the universe is the glue that makes it all happen. At the atomic level the positive force of the protons, and the negative force of the electrons keep them together as a unit.

The Glue that Makes it All Happen

Positive and Negative – the most primitive force

This primitive bond is the essence of all else that follows. The electrical bonds between atoms allow the formation of molecules. The bonds between molecules allow the formation of macromolecules. As biology emerges, intercellular adhesion proteins hold the cells together and extracellular matrix and collagen form the scaffolding on which structures are connected and supported. Blood vessels nerves, lymphatic and ducts connect the cells and organs and allows them to connect and communicate with each other.

On Wholeness and Unity – The Third step

Despite the apparent wholeness of a unit – there is a “yearning” to combine with other units to become more whole. The positive and negative force combine at the beginning of creation to become the hydrogen atom. Despite the achievement of this bond the hydrogen atom also combines with other hydrogen atoms to form other elements. The bonding of male and female, the sperm and the egg is a beautiful example in mammalian biology.

Yearning to Become One

The image exemplifies the yearning of the sperm to become one with the egg as many race in an attempt to fulfil their need to bond.

Once bonded, despite the achievement of a new unit, there is a driving force to evolve into something more whole. This is accomplished by cell division. Division after division eventually results in a living organsim that becomes a human baby after 9 months. The baby is the new unit, but as it grows and matures it becomes an individual who yearns for wholeness and accomplishes this by bonding with another person and creating a family – the new and larger unit providing a sense of wholeness. The family is not complete without the community, and the community needs the country and the country needs other countries and the earth needs the solar system, and the solar system needs the universe.

Drawing Parallells in the World Around Us

The letters are the building blocks of the word. The word is to the sentence as the sentence is to the paragragraph. Chapters are the building blocks of a book. The book is the essential unit of the library.

The Letter to the Word, and the Word to the Sentence – and the Story of a Lifetime Gets Told

Shakespeare, had to start with the letters of the word . His genius was his choice of words and how he organized and connected the words. With a few choice words, connected in his unique style, Shakespeare tells the story of a life in graphic fashion in a short paragraph. This paragraph is only part opf a bigger story. The quality of the whole depends on the quality of the parts.

In art, the first step is the single stroke of the brush

The Single Brushstroke is the Beginning of a Work of Art on a White Canvas

As brush strokes are added in specific color and form and linked in unique organization, an artpiece evolves into something bigger and more powerful than the individual parts

Daughter, Mom, and Dad

The artist combines the units of brushstrokes to create an art piece bigger and more powerful than the idividual parts, and in so doing, creates a story in a image that communicates and evokes a feeling, This may be one of many artpieces in a art gallery or museum.

The Musical Note

A Musical Bar

To the atom the units are the protons, electrons, and neutrons.

Units of the Atom

The atom shows a central nucleus (blue) with protons and neutrons (not shown) and surrounding electrons in their orbits

To the molecule the atoms are the building blocks.

Water Molecule

The diagram shows molecules of water. Two atoms of hydrogen (blue), and one atom of oxygen (white) make a molecule of water. Many molecules create a drop of water .

In biology the cell is the building block to the tissues and organs, while the organs are the building blocks of the body.

Liver Cells

In the foreground a few liver cells are grouped together.

Liver Lobule

The liver cells combine and organize themselves around connecting vessels, nerves and ducts. This enable cells to connect with each other, with other organs, and with the body at large. The cells of the liver are organized around the central vein like spokes of a wheel , and are bathed by rivulets of the blood stream which bring the products of digestion to the cells and transport the products manufactured by the liver to the rest of the body.

The cells of the liver are organized like spokes of a wheel around the central draining vein. They are connected to each other in factory line fashion and surrounded by the rivulets of the blood stream that enable connection to the rest of the body. This organizational pattern of liver tissue is called a liver lobule.

Unifying Units toward Unity

There is a remarkable similarity between the structure of the atom, and the structure of the solar system. A central body is surrounded by orbiting structures with forces that keep the structures connected. The marvel of similarity, leads one to ponder about a recurring organizational pattern, and how that pattern is applied to biology which lies in between the atom and the universe.

The Atom and the Universe

The atom (above has a central nucleus containing protons and neutrons

The hydrogen atom is the most primitive atom. It is the building block of all atoms and hence all molecules…it is the most abundant atom on earth and the universe. There is a remarkable similarity between the hydrogen atom and the earth as demonstrated in the image below.

The Atom and the Earth

The image on the left is a hydrogen atom that is spinning on its axis around a magnetic field. The right image shows the earth spinning around its magnetic field. The similarities are striking.

If one considers the atom as a unit and the solar system as a unit then the technique of combining units to build bigger units more powerful than the individual parts allows us to understand in some measure the unifying units to units concept or

1+1= 1

This idea and equation is central to the whole of The Common Vein. It is the simplest way to explain miraculous events in biology and also helps to expplain God.

The Big Picture in a Collage

The following image starts with the proton and atom in the left upper corner and advances through things in betweeen until the solar system. It describes in graphic and conceptual terms how units combine to form somethinual parts.g bigger and more powerful than the individ

From the Atom to the Solar System and a Few Things In Between

In the first row the collage takes us from the proton (top left) through to the element and then to the molecule, and finally to strands of DNA. The second row starts with a group of cells, advances to the tissues, and then to the organ which in this case is the liver. The third row reflects the concept of “units to unity” from the organ (liver with its connections of arteries and veins), to body systems and then to the body.The fourth row advances from the body to the person, to the couple, family, and local community. The last row starts with the the village community and advances to the city, the state, continent and country, the earth and then to solar system. Note the similarity between the proton and the earth (first and second to last image, and between the atom and solar system (second and last image).

Starting From the Beginning

Forces

The most basic forces (as found in the simplest atom) include the positive and negative forces.

Positive and Negative – The Most Basic Forces

Positive and negative are extreme states – like black and white, but are attractive to each other

The Hydrogen Atom and the Earth

The hydrogen atom precesses on two axes like a spinning top. As a result of the electrical forces and its motion it also acts as if it is a magnet.

The earth also precesses on two axes and has a magnetic field running through its center that enables the compass to align and provide a spatial directional.The similarity makes one ponder.

Hydrogen Atom and the Earth – An Uncanny Resemblance

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The Atom and the Solar System

The atom has a central nuclear core consisting of protons and neutrons and is surrounded by electrons circulating in orbitals.

The solar system has a central core called the sun and is surrounded by planets orbiting around it.

The similarity makes one ponder!

The Atom and the Solar System

Artistic licence has been taken to present a series of atoms in the background of repetitive images of the part of the solar system. The structure of the atom with its central nucleus dominates the scene and is shown with orbiting shells containing the electrons

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The Atom, Biology and the Universe

We have observed the similarities between the hydrogen atom and the earth and the atom and the solar system.

We understand at the time of the big bang that the simplest atom – the hydrogen atom – was in abundance.

We know that about 60% of the body is made from the hydrogen atom.

From our ancient bible it is understood that man was made from the earth and that Adam is the legendary first human on earth. The name Adam is the derived from the hebrew word “adamah” which means earth.

So the puzzle of how the hydrogen atom in its simplicity and then in its multiplicity gets transposed into the miracle of biology.

Where does biology fit in between the atom and the solar system and universe?

The atom is the building block of all structure and is seen at the bottom of the image and the solar system as part of the universe lies as a black mystery above. Between the two stands my daughter Danielle on the beaches of Newport Rhode island pondering at the age of 9 years where she and the rest of biology fits in the grand scheme of events.

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The Start of Biology

Raw Material

The most basic raw materials of organic biology include the carbon hydrogen and oxygen atoms. In a variety of combinations they form proteins fats and carbohydrates.

In the Beginning – Time 0 – The Raw Materials

The greens of the earth, the blues of water and our heavens, and the light of the sun shine through.

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Attractive Forces

Couple

Forces of Passion

Two opposite forces are needed to bring the life about.

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Close to a New Beginning

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Power of Multiplication – An Introduction to Units to Unity

Parts Making up the Whole

Although the whole is bigger and more powerful than the individual parts, the strength of the whole depends on the uniqueness, strength, and power of the individual parts that make it up.

Cell Division to Form the Blastocyst a Precursor of the Embryo

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Cell to The Lobule to the Segments to the Organ

The series of images starts with the cells of the liver (a) that unite and organize to form sheets of cells (b), that in turn organize to form lobules of the liver (c) which in turn for subsegments (d), which form lobes (e), and eventually the liver itself (f).

Organs Coming Together

The organs coming together merely make a body. It is a mind and soul that make the person.

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Body Mind and Soul Together

Power of the Group in Dance

Individuals in the Group

Power of the Group in Song

Individuals in the Group in Song

The sculpture consists of vertical stones that represent the bodies of members of the group which in this case are reminiscent of a choir. The bodies are toppped with different colored glass and semiprecious stones that give individuality and uniqueness to each member of the group. The group is led by a master who wears a garment of white crystal that faces the audience, but his front side is made of the same material as the members of his group. The group is organized in a semi circle and size is graded from small in front to large in the back. This is done to provide a sense of oneness to the whole that is made of unique individuals. The units to unity concept could just as well have been the organelles of th cell, the notes of a music piece, the letters of the word or the brush strokes a painting coming together in exquisite harmony. units to unity choir cell power of the group importance of individual

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Power of the Group in Biology

School of Travally Fish

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Power of the Parts in Biology

The Parts that Make the Flower

Power of the Units We Build on Our Farms

Rocks in the Wall, and Farmlands in the Mountains – Units to Unity in Peruvian Mountains

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Power of the Units We Build in Our Cities

Parts to form the Whole in Architecture

Rooms to the Hotel

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Connections Bonds Links and Ties Making it All Happen – The Second Concept

The way units get put together is the key to their ability to form units bigger and more powerful than the individual parts. The following images reveal the way units get linked to each other.

Molecular Bonding

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Bonds in the Cell

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Sutures of the Skull Linking the Bones for Strength

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Joints Linking the Bones of the Hand for Functionality

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The Umbilicus – Linking The Fetus with the Mother

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Friendship in Peru

Paternal Bonding

Spiritual Bonding

Connections and Links in the City

Links to the City

Johannesburg

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Roads and Bridges of Boston

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Phone Lines Electric Lines Cable – Connections Making it All Come Together

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Bridges

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A Third Concept –

Some of the Designs of Biology – Trees in Nature and Biology – Enabling Efficient Transport

In biology, the bonding of structures is not only to have them support each other structurally, but also to combine forces to function. In the world of botany, the roots of the trees that absorb water and nutrients have to be connected to the leaves that are the factories of energy production. The branching pattern of the tree typifies the concept of bonding and connecting, but also enabling transport of metabolites to places where they are needed.

Main Trunk and First Divisions

The roots and the leaves have to be connected, and transport of food and water has to be able to be delivered. The rootlets below the ground absorb water and nutrients at the cellular level and as they gather in units to unity format, they emerge as the trunk above ground. The branching pattern above ground reverses the units to unity to accomodate the above ground environment and repeated branching enables the connection of the cells of the rootlets with the cells of the leaves.

The tree like branching pattern is seen in the body as well. The airways of the lungs takes the oxygen at the trunk of the airway – the trachea and through branching brings the oxygen at a cellular level to the alveoli. The cells of the capillaries connect with the cells of the lungs and then the capillaries advance on a units to unity arborising pattern to enable transport of the oxygen to the heart.

Main Trunk and First Divisions in the Lung

This is a photo taken near Lake Michigan at the end of the Fall in Chicago showing the illuminated base of the naked trees. The dichotomous branching is reminiscent of the tracheal branching into the two mainstem bronchi. Turn them upside down and the similarity is remarkable. Chicago trees branching pattern Lake Michigan Christmas lights asymmetric branching pattern trees in the body

Trees in Nature Division oafter Division – All Connected

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Branching in the Airways and Lungs – CTscan

CT reconstructed tracheobronchial tree in a patient with normal airways Courtesy Douglas and Ashley Davidoff MD. 32620

Combining Biology and Nature to Form an Artistic Rendering

Another Tree in the Body

The Portal Circulation of the Liver – Artistic Rendering of a CT scan

The tree has a root system below and a branching system above. The nature of the tree and biology is to be gifted a brief period to enable us to borrow from the earth, and to evolve the raw products toward the heavens.

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Bringing the Concepts Together in a Medical Educational Endeavour – The Common Vein

Applying Units to Unity, Branching Patterns, Linking, Organizing and Art to Medicine

How to start with a word like “heart” and end up with an encyclopedia of knowledge using an arborised knowledge base, founded in basic principles.

There are 5 basic recurring principles in the field of medicine; structure function, disease, diagnosis, and medicine.

Tenets of Biology and Medicine

Roots Main Stem and First Branches

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When van Gogh started a new painting he started with a single brush stroke – and when Shakespeare or Beethoven started with their endeavors they started with a single unit of their discipline. Take the word heart as the first of your exploration into encyclopedic knowledge and take only the next step – a sentence that describes that word defining the essence of its structure, function, diseases, diagnostic and treatment characteristics. As you become satisfied that you have explored the word at its essence then move on to a paragraph, and then to a chapter and then to the book.

Start with a Word, Advance to the Sentence, and then to the Paragraph.

If you are interested it can grow to an Encyclopedia

Inverted Cone Growth

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Apply the Principles of Structure Function Disease Diagnosis and Treatment to each Organ System as The Cone is Advanced

Inverted Cone Building Units

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Advancing From Simplicity to Complexity

Each Limb of the tree Will Have Smaller Branches

Universal Descriptors of Biological Structure

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Adding Each of the Organs

Using Units to Unity to Build The Common Vein

10355b structure function disease diagnosis treatment drawing Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD ikon TCV