Although spider bites can produce dermonecrotic wounds, the differential diagnosis of such lesions is extensive. Most of the conditions in the differential are far more common than spider bites. Thus, we suggest that you approach the complaint of a "spider bite" with a skeptical eye. Here we describe the clinical features of spider bites and summarize the treatment options. We also examine the ...

This study compiled 33 verified spider bites from the state of Oregon (USA). The initial goal was to amass a series of bites by the hobo spider to assess whether it possesses toxic venom, a supposition which is currently in a contested state. None of the 33 bites from several spider species developed significant medical symptoms nor did dermonecrosis occur. The most common biters were the yello...

The current study examined the role of thought suppression in spider phobia. Spider phobic (n = 41) and non-phobic (n = 40) subjects were asked to monitor their thoughts for three 5 min periods. During the first period, all subjects were instructed to "think about anything". During the second period, half of the subjects received suppression instructions (i.e., subjects were explicitly asked "n...

This paper presents an immobilization-based control method for spider-like robots that move quasistatically in tunnel environments. The control method is based on an immobilization theory which ensures that when a spider-like mechanism is bracing against the environment at an immobile posture, the naturally occurring compliance at the contacts stabilizes the mechanism as a single body. Based on...

UCLA scientists Katharina Kircanski, Matt Lieberman, and Michelle Craske demonstrated the power of words for people with a professed spider phobia. The experiment went something like this: First, the spider phobics were asked to stand outside next to a Chilean rose-haired tarantula (donʼt worry, it was in a container). People were encouraged to approach the spider little by little. On the first...

Increasing evidence suggests that disgust and fear of contamination is involved in spider phobia. Yet, because the evidence exclusively relies on self-report data it can not be ruled out these findings are produced by mechanisms such as a negative attribution bias, or imprecise emotional labeling. Therefore, the present study sought to complement these previous studies by including physiologica...

This paper presents a novel design of a Jiegged “spider” robot capable of moving in a wide range of two-dimensional tunnels. The spider moves in a quasistatic manner, by stably bracing itself against the tunnel walls and moving a free limb to a new position. The design has been strongly influenced by the recent immobilization theory of Rimon and Burdick [13, 15]. The theory dictates the minimum...

A 48-year-old woman who worked as a cleaner in a Kashan University of Medical Sciences dormitory received a spider bite while collecting garbage on a summer afternoon. She feltimmediate irritation on her arm. She noticed a spider, which she removed and killed. The irritation, itching, and redness on her arm continued. Her hand became edematous and painful after four days and she suffered from i...

The development of a spider silk-manufacturing process is of great interest. However, there are serious problems with natural manufacturing through spider farming, and standard recombinant protein production platforms have provided limited progress due to their inability to assemble spider silk proteins into fibers. Thus, we used piggyBac vectors to create transgenic silkworms encoding chimeric...