Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 238

Diphtheria caused by the exotoxin of Corynebacterium diptheriae.

An epidemic swept through the former Soviet states due to a number of factors: decreased immunisation rates and the breakdown of public health; waning immunity in adults who were vaccinated as children; poor socioeconomic conditions; population movements; and the resurgence of more toxic strains. [Reference]

Korynee = club (refers to the organism’s shape), diptherite = greek for leather (refers to the greyish membrane that is usually present – classically in the pharynx).

• Vitek CR, Wharton M. Diphtheria in the Former Soviet Union: Reemergence of a Pandemic Disease. Emerg Infect Dis. 1998;4(4):539-550.

René Le Fort (1869 – 1951) was a French surgeon employed a number of different wounding agents which included a wooden club, a kick, a metal shaft and projecting the head against the corner of a marble table to develop the Le Fort classification of facial fractures.

Contrary to popular belief there were no cannon balls, mine shafts or bricks used.

The breakdown of his detailed 35 experiments in 1900 are as follows:

• Metal shaft versus face = 1
• Kick to the face = 2
• Head versus corner of marble table or dissection table = 4
• Head in a vice and tightened = 5
• Wooden club to the face = 23

References

• Tessier P. The classic reprint. Experimental study of fractures of the upper jaw. I and II. René Le Fort, M.D. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1972 Nov;50(5):497-506
• Tessier P. The classic reprint: Experimental study of fractures of the upper jaw. III. René Le Fort, M.D., Lille, France. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1972 Dec;50(6):600-7.

A genuine mental condition whereby people feel compelled to continually post pictures of themselves on social media.

Originally a hoax, the term was first coined in 2014 as a spoof news story. Following on from this, researchers at Nottingham Trent University and Thiagarajar School of Management in India discovered it to be a true phenomenon.

What is your level of selfitis?

• Borderline – Taking photos of one’s self at least three times a day but not posting them on social media.
• Acute – Taking photos of one’s self at least three times a day and posting each one on social media
• Chronic – Uncontrollable urge to take photos of one’s self round the clock and posting the photos on social media more than six times a day.

• Balakrishnan J, Griffiths MD. An Exploratory Study of “Selfitis” and the Development of the Selfitis Behavior Scale. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2018;16(3):722-736.

Daytime.

According to an observation study on burns patients, those who sustained the injury during the day healed faster (17 days versus 28 days if it was sustained at night).

Their theory postulates, the cellular clock modulates the efficiency of actin-dependent processes such as cell migration and adhesion, which ultimately affect the efficacy of wound healing.

On a similar theme, another research team found less adverse affects when heart surgery was performed in the afternoon versus the morning (28 out of 298 vs 54 out of 298)

Glue that sticks on wet surfaces.

The university’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering turned to the “Dusky Arion” slug, which creates sticky mucus as a defence against predators.

The incredible stickiness comes from the trinity of the attraction between the positively charged glue and negatively charged cells in the body; covalent bonds between atoms in the cell surface and the glue, and the way the glue physically penetrates tissue surfaces.

A team in Harvard University have used it to glue a hole in a pigs heart successfully.

• Li J et al. Tough adhesives for diverse wet surfaces. Science 2017; 357 (6349): 378-381