title: A birdcage model for the Chinese meridian system: Part V: Applications to animals and plants.
abstract: Since we all belong to the Kingdom Animalia, it is not surprising that animals in general benefit from the healing art of acupuncture that helps humans. Consequently, any proposed mechanism of Qi and acupuncture for humans based on animal physiology is probably applicable to animals as well, yet none is capable of explaining most of the complicated physiological effects observed. Not much attention was paid to the effects of Qi and acupuncture on plants (Kingdom Plantae) and on enoki mushrooms (Kingdom Fungi) by the TCM community, probably because they cannot be explained in terms of neurochemistry or connective tissue structures. However, our transmission and birdcage model is in principle applicable across Kingdom boundaries, because it is based on physical properties underlying the biological structure, thus its explanatory power is not restricted by categories of biology. We estimate several possible parameters of the birdcage model for animals and plants and give a possible interpretation for the sound fertilization phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Magnetic Resonance Research Center, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. kaungtiyung@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Kaung-Ti
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Yung
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000818:Animals; D017097:Electric Impedance; D005658:Fungi; D006801:Humans; D016740:Meridians; D008954:Models, Biological; D010944:Plants; D019413:Qi