A comparison of jump performances of the dog flea, Ctenocephalides canis (Curtis, 1826) and the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis (Bouché, 1835)

Veterinary Parasitology
Volume 92, Issue 3, 1 October 2000, Pages 239–241

Marie-Christine Cadiergues [a], Christel Joubert [a], Michel Franc [b]

[a] Unité de Dermatologie-Parasitologie, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse 23, chemin des Capelles 31076, Toulouse cedex 3, France
[b] Unité Associée INRA de Physiopathologie et Toxicologie expérimentales, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse 23, chemin des Capelles 31076, Toulouse cedex 3, France

Abstract

Jump performances of Ctenocephalides canis and Ctenocephalides felis felis have been measured and compared on unfed young imagos. The mean length of the C. felis felis jump was 19.9±9.1 cm; minimum jump was 2 cm, and the maximum was one 48 cm. The C. canis jump was significantly longer (30.4±9.1 cm; from 3 to 50 cm). For height jump evaluation, grey plastic cylindric tubes measuring 9 cm in diameter were used. Their height was increasing from 1 to 30 cm by 1 cm. Groups of 10 fleas of the same species were deposited on the base of the tube. The number of fleas which succeeded in jumping above the tube was recorded. The mean height jump carried out by 50% of fleas was calculated after linearisation of the curves: it was 15.5 and 13.2 cm for C. canis and C. felis, respectively. The highest jump was 25 for C. canis and 17 cm for C. felis.

Keywords

Ctenocephalides canis; Ctenocephalides felis felis; Jump performance

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304401700002740

Case report: sexual intercourse as potential treatment for intractable hiccups

Canadian Family Physician • Le Médecin de famille canadien
vol. 46 no. 8 1631-1632
August • Août 2000

Roni Peleg MD, Aya Peleg PHD

Dr R. Peleg is a Lecturer in the Department of Family Medicine and Dr A. Peleg is an Instructor in the Unit for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, both in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

Hiccup is a pathologic respiratory reflex characterized by a spasm of one or both sides of the diaphragm, causing sudden inspiration and associated closure of the vocal cords. Accessory muscles of respiration are occasionally involved.

Hiccups are usually harmless and self-limiting. Cases have been reported, however, in which hiccups became intractable (singultus) causing insomnia, wasting, exhaustion, and even death. These consequences have prompted scientific scrutiny of an other-wise harmless curiosity.

We  report a case of intractable hiccups that began following treatment with corticosteroids and lasted for 3 days. The hic-cups ended immediately and completely following sexual intercourse.

[...]

Key points

•A 40-year-old man’s 4 days of continuous hiccuping ceased immediately following sexual intercourse.
•The mechanism of sympathetic stimulation similar to being startled has been proposed as an explanation.
•Nothing in the literature corroborates our finding.

Points de repère

•Le hoquet continuel pendant quatre jours d’un homme de 40 ans a cessé immédiatement après qu’il a eu une relation sexuelle.
•Le mécanisme de la stimulation sympathique, sem-blable à celui provoqué par la surprise, a été pro-posé comme explication.
•Rien dans les ouvrages scientifiques ne vient cor-roborer notre conclusion.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2144777/