First report of family infestation with pubic louse (Pthirus pubis; Insecta: Anoplura: Pthiridae) in Iran – a case report

Tropical Biomedicine 30(1): 152–154 (Mar 2013)

Dehghani, R. [1], Limoee, M. [2] and Ahaki, A.R. [3]

[1] Environment Health Department College of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, I.R.
Iran
[2] Dept. of Public Health and Research Center for Environmental Epidemiology, Kermanshah University of
Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, I.R. Iran
[3] Dept. of Environment Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, I.R. Iran

Abstract

The sucking lice including the head, body and pubic louse infest humans and so they are of high hygienic importance. Pubic lice are transmitted during sexual contact in adults. Thus, infestation of children with pubis louse is very rare. A case of infestation with pubic louse (Pthirus pubis) in a family in Kashan was seen. On examination of family members, the parasites were collected and observed under the light microscope. Infestation of eyelashes with P. pubis lice was confirmed. Since this parasite can be observed on the skin, infestation with this louse has always been one of the concerns of human communities. Pthiriasis has frequently been reported in many parts of the world; however, there are few reports on this infestation in Iran, especially familial infestation with this louse. Hence, this article could be the first report on the familial infestation with P. pubis in Iran and it can be suggested that infestation with pubic lice occurs in sporadic form in all over the country.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23665721

Dung Beetles Use the Milky Way for Orientation

Current Biology
Volume 23, Issue 4, 298-300, 24 January 2013

Marie Dacke [1, 2], Emily Baird [1], Marcus Byrne [2], Clarke H. Scholtz [3], Eric J. Warrant [1]

1 Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
2 School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits 2050, South Africa
3 Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa

Highlights

African dung beetles orient to the starry sky to move along straight paths
The beetles do not orientate to the individual stars, but to the Milky Way

Summary

When the moon is absent from the night sky, stars remain as celestial visual cues. Nonetheless, only birds, seals, and humans are known to use stars for orientation. African ball-rolling dung beetles exploit the sun, the moon, and the celestial polarization pattern to move along straight paths, away from the intense competition at the dung pile. Even on clear moonless nights, many beetles still manage to orientate along straight paths. This led us to hypothesize that dung beetles exploit the starry sky for orientation, a feat that has, to our knowledge, never been demonstrated in an insect. Here, we show that dung beetles transport their dung balls along straight paths under a starlit sky but lose this ability under overcast conditions. In a planetarium, the beetles orientate equally well when rolling under a full starlit sky as when only the Milky Way is present. The use of this bidirectional celestial cue for orientation has been proposed for vertebrates, spiders, and insects, but never proven. This finding represents the first convincing demonstration for the use of the starry sky for orientation in insects and provides the first documented use of the Milky Way for orientation in the animal kingdom.

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/retrieve/pii/S0960982212015072

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982212015072

The Mental Lives of Zombies

Philosophical Perspectives
Volume 26, Issue 1, pages 343–372, 19 December 2012
DOI: 10.1111/phpe.12013

Declan Smithies
The Ohio State University

A zombie is a creature that is just like a conscious subject in all relevant physical, functional or behavioral respects, except that it has no conscious states – there is nothing it is like to be a zombie. Zombies have figured prominently in metaphysical debates about the nature of consciousness, but they can also be usefully employed in raising questions about the relationship between consciousness and cognition. Could there be a cognitive zombie – that is, a creature with the capacity for cognition but with no capacity for consciousness? By definition, zombies cannot have conscious states, but can they nevertheless have cognitive states, such as beliefs, and cognitive processes, such as reasoning and other forms of rational belief revision?

In this paper, I am primarily concerned with conceptual questions about the relationship between consciousness and cognition. As  far as possible, I want to remain neutral on empirical questions about the functional role of consciousness and metaphysical questions about the nature of consciousness and its place in the physical world. So, when I ask whether there could be cognitive zombies, the relevant modality is conceptual possibility, rather than physical possibility or metaphysical possibility. The question is whether cognitive zombies are conceptually possible or impossible – that is, whether they can be coherently conceived or whether this involves some kind of inherent conceptual confusion.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/phpe.12013/abstract

Humans Running in Place on Water at Simulated Reduced Gravity

PLoS ONE 7(7): e37300
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037300
Received: August 1, 2011; Accepted: April 19, 2012; Published: July 18, 2012

Alberto E. Minetti
Department of Human Physiology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

Yuri P. Ivanenko, Germana Cappellini, Nadia Dominici, Francesco Lacquaniti
Laboratory of Neuromotor Physiology, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy

Nadia Dominici, Francesco Lacquaniti
Center of Space BioMedicine, University of Rome
Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

Francesco Lacquaniti
Department of Systems Medicine, Neuroscience Section, University of Rome
Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy


Background

On Earth only a few legged species, such as water strider insects, some aquatic birds and lizards, can run on water. For most other species, including humans, this is precluded by body size and proportions, lack of appropriate appendages, and limited muscle power. However, if gravity is reduced to less than Earth’s gravity, running on water should require less muscle power. Here we use a hydrodynamic model to predict the gravity levels at which humans should be able to run on water. We test these predictions in the laboratory using a reduced gravity simulator.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We adapted a model equation, previously used by Glasheen and McMahon to explain the dynamics of Basilisk lizard, to predict the body mass, stride frequency and gravity necessary for a person to run on water. Progressive body-weight unloading of a person running in place on a wading pool confirmed the theoretical predictions that a person could run on water, at lunar (or lower) gravity levels using relatively small rigid fins. Three-dimensional motion capture of reflective markers on major joint centers showed that humans, similarly to the Basilisk Lizard and to the Western Grebe, keep the head-trunk segment at a nearly constant height, despite the high stride frequency and the intensive locomotor effort. Trunk stabilization at a nearly constant height differentiates running on water from other, more usual human gaits.

Conclusions/Significance

The results showed that a hydrodynamic model of lizards running on water can also be applied to humans, despite the enormous difference in body size and morphology.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0037300