Connective tissue is one of the four primary types of animal tissue, along with epithelial tissue, muscle tissue, and nervous tissue. It develops from the mesenchyme, derived from the mesoderm, the middle embryonic germ layer. Connective tissue is found in between other tissues everywhere in the body, including the nervous system. The three meninges, membranes that envelop the brain and spinal cord, are composed of connective tissue. Most types of connective tissue consists of three main components: elastic and collagen fibers, ground substance, and cells. Blood, and lymph are classed as specialized fluid connective tissues that do not contain fiber. All are immersed in the body water. The cells of connective tissue include fibroblasts, adipocytes, macrophages, mast cells and leucocytes.
A Witches' Sabbath is a purported gathering of those believed to practice witchcraft and other rituals. The phrase became popular in the 20th century.
Lipodystrophy syndromes are a group of genetic or acquired disorders in which the body is unable to produce and maintain healthy fat tissue. The medical condition is characterized by abnormal or degenerative conditions of the body's adipose tissue. A more specific term, lipoatrophy , is used when describing the loss of fat from one area. This condition is also characterized by a lack of circulating leptin which may lead to osteosclerosis. The absence of fat tissue is associated with insulin resistance, hypertriglyceridemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and metabolic syndrome.
Lipolysis is the metabolic pathway through which lipid triglycerides are hydrolyzed into a glycerol and free fatty acids. It is used to mobilize stored energy during fasting or exercise, and usually occurs in fat adipocytes. The most important regulatory hormone in lipolysis is insulin; lipolysis can only occur when insulin action falls to low levels, as occurs during fasting. Other hormones that affect lipolysis include glucagon, epinephrine, norepinephrine, growth hormone, atrial natriuretic peptide, brain natriuretic peptide, and cortisol.
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) or brown fat makes up the adipose organ together with white adipose tissue. Brown adipose tissue is found in almost all mammals.
Adipose tissue, body fat, or simply fat is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. In addition to adipocytes, adipose tissue contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, vascular endothelial cells and a variety of immune cells such as adipose tissue macrophages. Adipose tissue is derived from preadipocytes. Its main role is to store energy in the form of lipids, although it also cushions and insulates the body. Far from being hormonally inert, adipose tissue has, in recent years, been recognized as a major endocrine organ, as it produces hormones such as leptin, estrogen, resistin, and cytokines. In obesity, adipose tissue is also implicated in the chronic release of pro-inflammatory markers known as adipokines, which are responsible for the development of metabolic syndrome, a constellation of diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis. The two types of adipose tissue are white adipose tissue (WAT), which stores energy, and brown adipose tissue (BAT), which generates body heat. The formation of adipose tissue appears to be controlled in part by the adipose gene. Adipose tissue – more specifically brown adipose tissue – was first identified by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner in 1551.
Flying ointment is a hallucinogenic ointment said to have been used by witches in the practice of European witchcraft from at least as far back as the Early Modern period, when detailed recipes for such preparations were first recorded and when their usage spread to colonial North America.
Adipocytes, also known as lipocytes and fat cells, are the cells that primarily compose adipose tissue, specialized in storing energy as fat. Adipocytes are derived from mesenchymal stem cells which give rise to adipocytes through adipogenesis. In cell culture, adipocyte progenitors can also form osteoblasts, myocytes and other cell types.
Reduction mammoplasty is the plastic surgery procedure for reducing the size of large breasts. In a breast reduction surgery for re-establishing a functional bust that is proportionate to the woman's body, the critical corrective consideration is the tissue viability of the nipple–areola complex (NAC), to ensure the functional sensitivity and lactational capability of the breasts. The indications for breast reduction surgery are three-fold – physical, aesthetic, and psychological – the restoration of the bust, of the woman's self-image, and of her mental health.
Resistin also known as adipose tissue-specific secretory factor (ADSF) or C/EBP-epsilon-regulated myeloid-specific secreted cysteine-rich protein (XCP1) is a cysteine-rich peptide hormone derived from adipose tissue that in humans is encoded by the RETN gene.
Ammonium bituminosulfonate or ammonium bituminosulphonate is a product of natural origin obtained in the first step by dry distillation of sulfur-rich oil shale. By sulfonation of the resulting oil, and subsequent neutralization with ammonia, Ichthammol results as a viscous, water-soluble substance with a characteristic bitumen-like odor. It is used in medicine as a treatment for different skin diseases, including eczema and psoriasis. Ointments containing 10% or 20% Ichthammol are most common. They are sometimes called "black ointments" or "drawing salves". Ichthammol's dermatological action was promoted by German physician Paul Gerson Unna.
Gluteoplasty denotes the plastic surgery and the liposuction procedures for the correction of the congenital, traumatic, and acquired defects and deformities of the buttocks and the anatomy of the gluteal region; and for the aesthetic enhancement of the contour of the buttocks.
Fibrinolysin is an enzyme derived from plasma of bovine origin (plasmin) or extracted from cultures of certain bacteria. It is used locally only and exclusively together with the enzyme desoxyribonuclease. Fibrinolysin and desoxyribonuclease both act as lytic enzymes. The combination is available as ointment containing 1 BU fibrinolysin and 666 BUs desoxyribonuclease per gram.
During the 20th century, there were various alleged instances of soap being made from human body fat. During World War I the British press claimed that the Germans operated a corpse factory in which they made glycerine and soap from the bodies of their own soldiers. Both during and after World War II, widely circulated rumors claimed that soap was being mass-produced from the bodies of the victims of Nazi concentration camps which were located in German-occupied Poland. During the Nuremberg trials items were presented as evidence of such production. The Yad Vashem Memorial has stated that the Nazis did not produce soap with fat which was extracted from Jewish corpses on an industrial scale, saying that the Nazis may have frightened camp inmates by deliberately circulating rumors in which they claimed that they were able to extract fat from human corpses, turn it into soap, mass-produce and distribute it.
Peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor gamma, also known as the glitazone reverse insulin resistance receptor, or NR1C3 is a type II nuclear receptor functioning as a transcription factor that in humans is encoded by the PPARG gene.
Congenital generalized lipodystrophy is an extremely rare autosomal recessive condition, characterized by an extreme scarcity of fat in the subcutaneous tissues. It is a type of lipodystrophy disorder where the magnitude of fat loss determines the severity of metabolic complications. Only 250 cases of the condition have been reported, and it is estimated that it occurs in 1 in 10 million people worldwide.
Acquired generalized lipodystrophy is a rare skin condition that appears during childhood or adolescence, characterized by fat loss affecting large areas of the body, particularly the face, arms, and legs. There are 4 types of lipodystrophy based on its onset and areas affected: acquired or inherited, and generalized or partial. Both acquired or inherited lipodystrophy present as loss of adipose tissues, in the absence of nutritional deprivation. The near-total loss of subcutaneous adipose tissue is termed generalized lipodystrophy while the selective loss of adipose tissues is denoted as partial lipodystrophy. Thus, as the name suggests, AGL is a near-total deficiency of adipose tissues in the body that is developed later in life. It is an extremely rare disease that only about 100 cases are reported worldwide. There are three main etiologies of AGL suspected: autoimmune, panniculitis-associated, or idiopathic. After its onset, the disease progresses over a few days, weeks, months, or even in years. Clinical presentations of AGL are similar to other lipodystrophies, including metabolic complications and hypoleptinemia. Treatments are also similar and mainly supportive for symptomatic alleviation. Although HIV- or drug-induced lipodystrophy are a type of acquired lipodystrophy, its origin is very specific and distinct hence is usually not discussed with AGL.
A pishtaco is a mythological boogeyman figure in the Andes region of South America, particularly in Peru and Bolivia. Some parts of the Andes refer to the pishtaco as kharisiri, or ñakaq, or lik'ichiri in the Aymara language.
The National Socialist Underground murders were a series of racist murders by the German Neo-Nazi terrorist group National Socialist Underground. The NSU perpetrated the attacks between 2000 and 2007 throughout Germany, leaving ten people dead and one wounded. The primary targets were ethnic Turks, though the victims also included one ethnic Greek and one ethnic German policewoman.
Sacamantecas or mantequero is the Spanish name for a kind of bogeyman or criminal characterized by killing for human fat.
