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This is a presentation of the research I have done with the Undergraduate Summer Research Internship. Development of the methods for markerless tracking and 3D reconstruction of black widow spiders using DeepLabCut and Anipose.

Rhabdomyolysis after spider bite has been reported in a small number of patients, and myocarditis in even fewer. However, arrhythmia associated with latrodectism in children has not been described in the literature to date.A girl presented approximately 4.5 h after being bitten on the left ankle by a black spider. Two unifocal premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) were observed on the electrocardiogram. In laboratory tests, creatine kinase was elevated. On day 2, levels of troponin, pro-brain and natriuretic peptide were elevated. Electrocardiogram revealed inverted and biphasic T waves. Echocardiography revealed mild left ventricular dilation, mitral and aortic valve regurgitation. Holter electrocardiogram showed PVCs. Her laboratory and echocardiography findings completely normalized after discharge, and no arrhythmia was observed on the Holter electrocardiogram during outpatient follow-up.Although spider bites are uncommon, they can cause serious systemic effects. These patients should be evaluated for arrhythmia, rhabdomyolysis and myocarditis.Rarely, spider bites can cause serious systemic effects, severe morbidity and death. In a small number of patients, spider envenomation causes rhabdomyolysis and myocarditis. In the present case, the elevated troponin and pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels and electrocardiogram/echocardiography findings were consistent with myocarditis, and an increase in creatinine kinase level indicated rhabdomyolysis. In addition, the electrocardiogram and Holter electrocardiogram revealed unifocal premature ventricular contraction. To our knowledge, arrhythmia due to Latrodectus spider bite has not been described in children to date. In addition, this case demonstrates the coexistence of two serious systemic effects, rhabdomyolysis and myocarditis, with full recovery after appropriate treatment.

Ugriz crne udovice uzrokuje jedan od globalno najvažnijih oblika araneizma, odnosno kliničkih sindroma uzrokovanih ugrizom pauka. Rod koji sačinjava pauke udovice sastoji se od više vrsta pauka od kojih je za naše predjele najznačajnija mediteranska crna udovica; širom svijeta obitavaju druge vrste crnih udovica, s kojima ona mediteranska dijeli određen dio svojstava. Morfološki gledano sve crne udovice karakterističnog su izgleda zbog čega su u pučanstvu prepoznate, a za ljude je opasna jedino ženka crne udovice koja zbog svojih anatomskih obilježja jedina može ugristi čovjeka. Navedeni je pauk vrlo otrovan, a posljedica ugriza jest klinički sindrom poznat kao latrodektizam, sa specifičnom simptomatologijom i epidemiologijom. Otrov crne udovice mješavina je raznih proteina od kojih je jedan iznimno toksičan za kralježnjake ostvarujući svoj mehanizam interakcijom sa živčanim receptorima. Klinički se sindrom manifestira lokalno i sustavno; sistemne reakcije čovjeka na otrov rezultiraju burnom kliničkom slikom i patološkim promjenama u više organskih sustava. Latrodektizam uglavnom prolazi bez komplikacija ili sekvela. Navedeni se klinički sindrom uspješno liječi na više načina, od kojih središnje mjesto zauzima primjena antilatrodektičkog seruma. Incidencija latrodektizma može se umanjiti preventivnim mjerama., The black widow spider bite causes one of the globally most important forms of araneisms, which are clinical syndromes caused by spider bites. The genus to which the black widow spiders belong has several species of spiders, the most important of which is the Mediterranean black widow - in our region; other species of black widows inhabit the world, with whom the Mediterranean black widow shares a certain part of its characteristics. Morphologically, all black widows have a characteristic appearance, which is why they are recognized in the population, and only a female black widow, which is the only one which can bite a human because of its anatomical characteristics, is dangerous. This spider is highly toxic and the result of its bite is a clinical syndrome known as latrodectism, which comes with its specific symptomatology and epidemiology. The black widow spider venom is a blend of various proteins, one of which is extremely toxic to vertebrates through its mechanism of interaction with nerve receptors. Clinical syndrome manifests itself locally and systematically. Latrodectism generally goes without complications or sequelae. The aforementioned clinical syndrome can be successfully treated in a number of ways, of which the use of antilatrodectic serum is central. The incidence of latrodectism can be reduced by preventive measures.

The black widow spider (BWS) is a venomous spider whose bite can cause various clinical conditions that range from local damage to serious systemic complications, including death. Cases of myocarditis following a BWS bite are rare but they can be fatal on occasion. However, the prognostic significance of the bite and presentation of myocarditis is unknown. Our case involved a 50-year-old man who presented with myocarditis after being bitten by a BWS and subsequently admitted to the intensive care unit for cardiac monitoring. During the hospital stay, he showed worsening signs on both the electrocardiographic and echocardiographic evaluations despite therapeutic success. Subsequent cardiac magnetic resonance and coronary angiography investigations showed no significant alterations; blood and instrumental test results slowly improved, and the patient was discharged home after 12 days of hospitalization without complications. This case illustrates that acute myocarditis, although an infrequent complication of BWS bite, has the potential to be lethal. The correct diagnosis, which is not always easy to formulate, is important to identify those patients who can benefit from careful monitoring and specific therapies aimed at reducing the risk of life.

Gene duplication and positive selection can be important determinants of the evolution of venom, a protein-rich secretion used in prey capture and defense. In a typical model of venom evolution, gene duplicates switch to venom gland expression and change function under the action of positive selection, which together with further duplication produces large gene families encoding diverse toxins. Although these processes have been demonstrated for individual toxin families, high-throughput multitissue sequencing of closely related venomous species can provide insights into evolutionary dynamics at the scale of the entire venom gland transcriptome. By assembling and analyzing multitissue transcriptomes from the Western black widow spider and two closely related species with distinct venom toxicity phenotypes, we do not find that gene duplication and duplicate retention is greater in gene families with venom gland biased expression in comparison with broadly expressed families. Positive selection has acted on some venom toxin families, but does not appear to be in excess for families with venom gland biased expression. Moreover, we find 309 distinct gene families that have single transcripts with venom gland biased expression, suggesting that the switching of genes to venom gland expression in numerous unrelated gene families has been a dominant mode of evolution. We also find ample variation in protein sequences of venom gland–specific transcripts, lineage-specific family sizes, and ortholog expression among species. This variation might contribute to the variable venom toxicity of these species.

V nalogi podrobneje predstavimo spolno biologije črne vdove, Latrodectus tredecimguttatus, ki živi na Balkanu, ter preverjamo prisotnost nekaterih za rod značilnih paritvenih vedenj. Vsa vedenja smo tudi kvantificirali. Prav tako smo iskali individualne razlike v agresivnosti tako pri samcih kot samicah in povezave med agresivnostjo samice do plena in spolnim kanibalizmom. Poskusili smo tudi najti podporo za hipotezo »prelite samičine agresije«. Vse našteto smo preverjali v standardiziranih vedenjskih poskusih za osebnost posameznega spola ter na koncu v paritvenih poskusih. Vrsti smo pripisali tri zanjo še neznana vedenja. Ta so odlaganje samčeve pajčevine na samičino mrežo, uničevanje samičine mreže ter oralni spolni kontakt. Pokazali smo, da so individualne razlike v agresivnosti prisotne pri samcih, a ne samicah, ter da bistveno vplivajo na pojavnost spolnega kanibalizma. Agresivnejši samci so se parili prej, pogosteje ter dlje, agresivnost pa je povezana tudi z aktivnostjo samcev. Samice so pogosteje napadale manj aktivne samce. Po pričakovanjih hipoteze prelivanja agresivnosti nismo potrdili, za pojavnost spolnega kanibalizma pa predlagamo samičino kontroliranje paritev, bodisi zaradi preprečevanja monopolizacije ali v prid genetske heterogenosti zaroda. In this work, we presented a detailed description of the mating biology of the blackwidow Latrodectus tredecimguttatus, native to the Balkans, and invesigeted some of the genus -specific mating behaviours . All observed behaviours were also quantified. Additionally, we searched for individual differences in aggression in both males and females and looked for a connection between female aggression towards prey and sexual cannibalism. We attempted to find support for the “aggressive spill over hypothesis”. All of the above was tested in behavioural personality trials, standardized for each sex and finally ending in a mating trial. We described three so far unobserved behaviours for this species, includingmale silk deposition on the female web, destruction of the female web by the male and oral sexual encounters. We showed that individual differences in aggression are indeed present in males, but not females, and that they do have an impact on the occurrence of sexual cannibalism. More aggressive males mated sooner, more often, longer and were generally more active. Females also attacked less active males more often. As expected, we found no evidence supporting the “aggressive spill over hypothesis”, which suggests that sexual cannibalism is the females’ way of controlling copulations, whether it be to prevent monopolization or to promote heterogeneity in offspring.

The main focus of this thesis is to offer new insight into the portrayal of female superheroes in comic books and the ways in which they highlight important feminist issues. I have divided the topic into three chapters, each featuring a female superhero and discussing different aspects of their visual and narrative presence, and analyzing how they express feminist and psychoanalytic topics both in relation to each other as well as compared to corresponding male superheroes. The first chapter looks at Wonder Woman, who is an iconic presence among superheroes in general, examines the ways in which this is accomplished through images and narrative. The second chapter discusses She-Hulk, and what is problematic about the monstrosity associated with the character. Finally, the third chapter analyzes Black Widow, and how the character challenges gender roles through both bodily image and her superhero identity. In concluding, the main points will be summarized as the superheroes are compared and contrasted to highlight the argument that I am making.

Ovaj rad predstavlja lik i djelo internista i infektologa Zvonimira Maretića u svim područjima njegova predanog rada. Od klasičnog gimnazijalca preko medicinskog fakulteta do liječnika specijalista širokih svjetonazora i ideologija, uspeo se na najviše grane i sam vrh hrvatske i svjetske medicine čime je zaslužio najveće epitete medicinske i zdravstvene struke, istražujući izvan okvira svih mogućnosti te pretvaravši hobije u seriozan posao s tendencijom liječenja i brige za zdravlje čovjeka i njegove okoline, otkrivanje novih lijekova i općeniti napredak. Putovao je mnogo. Više poslom nego privatno, prenosio je svoje bogato iskustvo i znanje u mnogim dijelovima svijeta. U hrvatskom školstvu zapaženu ulogu ima kao profesor medicinskog fakulteta u Zagrebu i Rijeci. U mnogočemu je volio biti prvi. Otkrivati i stvarati. Proučavati, evidentirati i dokumentirati. Jednostavno svojom stručnošću i znanstvenim radom pisati povijest. Premda načelno cijenjeno, djelo Zvonimira Maretića, pionira infektologije i turističke medicine u Hrvatskoj, nedovoljno je proučeno i poznato. Ovaj rad, temeljeći se na analizi objavljene oskudne literature, ali prvenstveno na dosad neiskorištenoj obiteljskoj arhivi i razgovorima s članovima obitelji, nastoji ispraviti neopravdanu zanemarenost znanstvenika koji je prvi u Europi pripremio serum protiv ugriza crne udovice te time, kao i pripravom seruma protiv uboda morskog pauka i drugim svojim radovima, stekao svjetski ugled i priznanja. Ponekad se čini kako se ljudi doslovno zatvaraju unutar okvira svojih mogućnosti, znanja pa tako i struke, no Zvonimir Maretić bio je avanturist željan penjanja iznad svih granica znanosti., This paper presents the person and the work of Zvonimir Maretić, Doctor of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, in all the areas of his dedicated work. From classical grammar school through medical school, to a medical specialist of a broad worldview and ideology, he climbed to the highest branches and the top of both, Croatian and international medicine, which has earned him the highest epithets of both the medical and the health professions, exploring beyond the scope of possibilities and turning his hobbies into serious work with the tendency of treatment and concern for the health of man and his environment, the discovery of new drugs and progress in general. He has travelled extensively. More due to his work than privately, conveyed his vast experience and knowledge in many parts of the world. In the Croatian educational system he holds a prominent role as a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb and Rijeka. In many ways he has liked to be the first. To discover and to create. To explore, record and to document. Putting it in simple terms, he has liked to write history with his expertise and scientific work. Although generally appreciated, the work of Zvonimir Maretića, the pioneer of infectious diseases and tourist medicine in Croatia, has been insufficiently studied and known. This paper, based on the analysis of the scarcely published literature, and primarily on the previously unused family archives and interviews with family members, seeks to correct an unjustifiable neglect of the scientist who was the first in Europe to prepare a serum against the bite of the black widow and with it, as well as preparing a serum against weever fish bites and his other works, he gained international reputation and recognition. Sometimes it seems that people are literally closing themselves within the framework of their capabilities, knowledge and their profession, but Zvonimir Maretić was an adventurer eager to climb beyond all the limits of science.

Ovaj rad predstavlja lik i djelo internista i infektologa Zvonimira Maretića u svim područjima njegova predanog rada. Od klasičnog gimnazijalca preko medicinskog fakulteta do liječnika specijalista širokih svjetonazora i ideologija, uspeo se na najviše grane i sam vrh hrvatske i svjetske medicine čime je zaslužio najveće epitete medicinske i zdravstvene struke, istražujući izvan okvira svih mogućnosti te pretvaravši hobije u seriozan posao s tendencijom liječenja i brige za zdravlje čovjeka i njegove okoline, otkrivanje novih lijekova i općeniti napredak. Putovao je mnogo. Više poslom nego privatno, prenosio je svoje bogato iskustvo i znanje u mnogim dijelovima svijeta. U hrvatskom školstvu zapaženu ulogu ima kao profesor medicinskog fakulteta u Zagrebu i Rijeci. U mnogočemu je volio biti prvi. Otkrivati i stvarati. Proučavati, evidentirati i dokumentirati. Jednostavno svojom stručnošću i znanstvenim radom pisati povijest. Premda načelno cijenjeno, djelo Zvonimira Maretića, pionira infektologije i turističke medicine u Hrvatskoj, nedovoljno je proučeno i poznato. Ovaj rad, temeljeći se na analizi objavljene oskudne literature, ali prvenstveno na dosad neiskorištenoj obiteljskoj arhivi i razgovorima s članovima obitelji, nastoji ispraviti neopravdanu zanemarenost znanstvenika koji je prvi u Europi pripremio serum protiv ugriza crne udovice te time, kao i pripravom seruma protiv uboda morskog pauka i drugim svojim radovima, stekao svjetski ugled i priznanja. Ponekad se čini kako se ljudi doslovno zatvaraju unutar okvira svojih mogućnosti, znanja pa tako i struke, no Zvonimir Maretić bio je avanturist željan penjanja iznad svih granica znanosti. This paper presents the person and the work of Zvonimir Maretić, Doctor of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, in all the areas of his dedicated work. From classical grammar school through medical school, to a medical specialist of a broad worldview and ideology, he climbed to the highest branches and the top of both, Croatian and international medicine, which has earned him the highest epithets of both the medical and the health professions, exploring beyond the scope of possibilities and turning his hobbies into serious work with the tendency of treatment and concern for the health of man and his environment, the discovery of new drugs and progress in general. He has travelled extensively. More due to his work than privately, conveyed his vast experience and knowledge in many parts of the world. In the Croatian educational system he holds a prominent role as a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb and Rijeka. In many ways he has liked to be the first. To discover and to create. To explore, record and to document. Putting it in simple terms, he has liked to write history with his expertise and scientific work. Although generally appreciated, the work of Zvonimir Maretića, the pioneer of infectious diseases and tourist medicine in Croatia, has been insufficiently studied and known. This paper, based on the analysis of the scarcely published literature, and primarily on the previously unused family archives and interviews with family members, seeks to correct an unjustifiable neglect of the scientist who was the first in Europe to prepare a serum against the bite of the black widow and with it, as well as preparing a serum against weever fish bites and his other works, he gained international reputation and recognition. Sometimes it seems that people are literally closing themselves within the framework of their capabilities, knowledge and their profession, but Zvonimir Maretić was an adventurer eager to climb beyond all the limits of science.

We describe a recent case of presumed redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti) envenomation observed near Noumea in New Caledonia. This is the first local reported case in this archipelago, where L. hasselti is Currently considered a native species. We highlight the challenge of providing appropriate analgesia in this situation and believe that the use of specific redback spider antivenom should be considered in New Caledonia.

La Nuit du Rose Hôtel de Fourré, est un roman, un texte, un poème sans cesse repris et corrigé, matrice des autres textes dont, La Marraine de sel. Fourré, en surréaliste, procède par associations et par système d’intertextualité, avec distance et humour. Le lien associatif passant d’un livre, d’un lieu, d’un rêve, d’un hôtel à un autre, et d’une marraine à une autre, fonctionne. Et dans le même temps, dans ces farces tragiques, la dive bouteille et la mort triomphent à Montparnasse comme à Richelieu. Et c’est dans cet « à-peu-près » mystique, philosophique, littéraire, autobiographique que se situe la poésie de Fourré, entre différentes formes, entre deux bouteilles, entre deux lieux, entre deux temps. La Nuit du Rose Hôtel by Fourré is a novel, a text, a poem, ceaselessly taken back and corrected. It is the matrix of the other texts among which is La Marraine de sel. Fourré, as a surrealist, proceeds by associations and develops an intertextuality system, with distance and humor. The associative links are passing from a book to another book, from a location to another one, from a dream to another dream, from an hotel to an other hotel, and from a godmother to an other one. And at the same time, in these tragic farces, the bottle and the death triumph, in Montparnasse and in Richelieu. It is in this mystic, philosophic, literary, autobiographical « à-peu-près » that Fourré’s poetry is situated, between various forms, between two bottles, between two locations, and between two times.