background: an analysis performed on the collected data from the local drug and poison information centre (dpic) of jundishapur university revealed that stings are the main causes of poisonings with frequency of 56%, followed by drug poisoning in 31%, and chemical exposure poisoning in 5.5% in khuzestan, the southwestern province of iran. objectives: the aim of the present study was to report t...

We encountered a dead southern black racer snake (Coluber constrictor priapus) coiled around a dead Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). We suggest the owl was strangled by the snake before the snake died of wounds inflicted by the owl. There are previous reports of intense physical struggle between Great Horned Owls (and other raptors) and large constrictors but this is the first documented re...

Jay W. Fox and José María Gutiérrez recently finished editing a Special Issue on the topic "Snake Venom Metalloproteinases" in Toxins. The Special Issue covers a wide range of topics, including the molecular evolution and structure of snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs), the mechanisms involved in the generation of diversity of SVMPs, the mechanism of action of SVMPs, and their role in the p...

Field observations and experimental evidence refute previous objections to the coral snake mimicry hypothesis. Concordant color pattern variation spanning hundreds of miles and several presumed venomous models strongly suggests that several harmless or mildly venomous colubrid snakes are indeed mimics of highly venomous elapids.

Snake venom can cause local tissue damage and lead to coagulopathy, shock, neurotoxicity and acute kidney injury. Hypopituitarism is a rare complication following snake bite. It has been described following Russell's viper bite from Burma and South India. Herein we describe a patient who presented with severe thyrotoxicosis and partial hypopituitarism following snake bite.

OBJECTIVES To describe the clinical syndrome associated with definite tiger snake (Notechis spp) envenoming and to examine the ability of tiger snake antivenom (TSAV) to bind free venom in vivo. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS We conducted a prospective cohort study within the Australian Snakebite Project, reviewing all definite tiger snake envenoming cases between October 2004 and June 2011...

This paper addresses the theoretical modeling of the dynamics of a pressure-operated soft snake robot. An accurate dynamic model is a fundamental requirement for optimization, control, navigation, and learning algorithms for a mobile robot that can undergo serpentine locomotion. Such algorithms can be readily implemented for traditional rigid robots, but remain a challenge for nonlinear and low...

The present study investigated the ability of a number of presynaptic snake neurotoxins (snake beta-neurotoxins) to produce nerve-evoked train-of-four fade, tetanic fade and endplate potential run-down during the development of neuromuscular blockade in the isolated mouse phrenic-hemidiaphragm nerve-muscle preparation. All the snake beta-neurotoxins tested, with the exception of notexin, produc...

Snake-poison is a subject of perennial interest to all dwellers in India.For, notwithstanding the laborious researches of numerous distinguished observers, the problem of an antidote to snake-venom still remains unsolved, and poisonous snakes continue to wield their, terrible destructive power with fatal freedom. The physiological action of Indian snake-poison has been carefully studied by Fayr...

This paper describes a fast process of parametric snake evolution with a multiresolution strategy. Conventional parametric evolution method relies on matrix inversion throughout the iteration intermittently, in contrast the proposed method relaxes the matrix inversion which is costly and time consuming in cases where the resulting snake is exible. The proposed method also eliminates the input o...