Abdominal fat content assessment by computed tomography in toy breed dogs

The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the abdominal fat distribution in toy breed dogs using computed tomography (CT) in relation to the breed, age, and sexual status. In 140 dogs (52 Maltese, 33 Poodles, 32 Shih-Tzus, and 23 Yorkshire Terriers), the total fat area (TA), visceral fat area (VA), subcutaneous fat area (SA) and body area (BA) were measured at the third and sixth lumbar vertebral level on non-contrast transverse CT images. The differences in the TA/BA and VA/SA according to the breed, age, and sexual status, and correlations with the age were analysed. The differences in the TA/BA and VA/SA among the breeds were revealed (P < 0.05). There was no difference for the TA/BA among the sexual statuses, but the VA/SA was higher in spayed females than in intact females (P = 0.001). Positive correlation of the age with the TA/BA in the Maltese, Poodles, and intact females, and the age with the VA/SA in the Maltese, Shih-Tzus, Yorkshire Terriers, neutered males, and spayed females were found. The results showed that the abdominal fat composition varied according to the breed, age, and sex, which may have implications on defining obesity-related disease risks in different populations. Careful monitoring of the VA/SA in the breed (Maltese, Shih-Tzu, and Yorkshire Terrier), age (senior dogs), and sexual status (neutered dogs) may be required.

Function of Trunk-Mediated “Greeting” Behaviours between Male African Elephants: Insights from Choice of Partners

A common behavioural interaction between male African elephants is for an actor to direct his trunk to contact a same sex conspecific’s mouth, temporal gland, or genital region. Such behaviours are often referred to as “greetings”. Along with its inherent tactile element, these behaviours also likely provide olfactory information to actors concerning aspects of the target’s phenotype, including sexual status, feeding history, individual identity, and emotional state. Here, we explore whether the age and novelty of potential interactors affect the choice of individuals targeted by male African elephants for these trunks to scent emitting organ (SEO) behaviours at social hotspots in a male-dominated area. Male elephants of all ages, except older adolescents aged 16–20 years, preferentially targeted elephants of the same age class for trunk-to-SEO behaviours. Elephants younger than 26 years did not direct trunk-to-SEO behaviours to mature bulls (26+ years) more than expected by chance, suggesting these behaviours are not primarily used for younger males to establish contact with, or obtain information from or about older, more experienced individuals. We also found no evidence that males directed these behaviours preferentially to new individuals they encountered at male aggregations (compared to those they arrived in groups with), suggesting these behaviours are not primarily employed by males as a reunion display to establish relationships between new individuals or update relationships between familiar individuals separated over time. Age-mates may be preferentially targeted with these behaviours as a means to facilitate further interaction with partners (e.g., for sparring activity), or as a safe way to assess relative dominance rank in similarly aged and hence, size and strength, matched dyads. Our results suggest male African elephants use close contact trunk-to-SEO behaviours continuously over time, to facilitate positive relationships, test willingness to interact, and assess aspects of phenotype, between males occupying the same ecological space.

Festovergrep

Youth, parties and drinking is a well-known mix. Most often it is social and fun. A sense of freedom can be present: You can do things that are prohibited in other circumstances. But sometimes things go wrong, boundaries are crossed, and someone ends up violated. This chapter explores such situations: sexual assaults that happen at parties or related to social drinking situations among youth. The aim is to understand the types of experience they represent for the victim: In what sense was the incident a violation? The empirical basis for our analysis is women’s narratives about party-related sexual assaults in their youth. The analysis points towards four main types of experience: manipulative assaults, opportunistically exploited vulnerability, situational appeal (effervescence) and scripted entrapment. These experiences are differentiated by the victim’s degree of agency in the sexual interaction and her interest in the assailant(s) or the social situation per se. We suggest that victims’ understandings of what happened to them hinge on how their experience relates to these dimensions. However, this is not the whole story. Victims’ interpretations of sexual assault situations are also impacted by their perception of the assailant’s position in the gender market: Situations involving assailants with low socio-sexual status are more often recognized as assaults.

Differential expression of microRNA between normally developed and underdeveloped female worms of Schistosoma japonicum

Eggs produced by bisexual infected mature female worms (MF) of Schistosoma japonicum are important in the transmission of the parasite and responsible for the pathogenesis of schistosomiasis. The single-sex infected female worms (SF) cannot mature and do not produce normal eggs; also they do not induce severe damage to the host. In this study, the microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles of 25d MF and 25d SF were investigated through Solexa deep-sequencing technology to explore the developmental mechanisms of schistosome female worms. There were 36 differentially expressed miRNA, 20 up-regulated and 16 down-regulated found in MF/SF worms, including some development related miRNA such as bantam (ban), let-7, miR-124, miR-8, miR-1, miR-7. There were 166 target genes of up-regulated miRNA and 201 target genes of down-regulated miRNA after comparing the target gene prediction software results with RNA-Seq transcriptome results. Analysis of the target genes shows that different ones are involved in MF and SF worms in Gene Ontology terms, with a similar situation in KEGG. This observation indicates that different genes regulated by differentially expressed miRNA take part in MF and SF and lead to differential sexual status. This means that the sexual status of female worms is regulated by miRNA.

Forgotten, But Not Lost—Alloparental Behavior and Pup–Adult Interactions in Companion Dogs

Socialization with humans is known to be a pivotal factor in the development of appropriate adult dog behavior, but the role and extent of dog–dog interactions in the first two months of life is rarely studied. Although various forms of alloparental behaviors are described in the case of wild-living canids, the social network of companion dogs around home-raised puppies is almost unknown. An international online survey of companion dog breeders was conducted, asking about the interactions of other dogs in the household with the puppies and the pups’ mother. Based on the observations of these breeders, our study showed an intricate network of interactions among adult dogs and puppies below the age of weaning. Alloparental behaviors (including suckling and feeding by regurgitation) were reportedly common. Independent of their sex, other household dogs mostly behaved in an amicable way with the puppies, and in the case of unseparated housing, the puppies reacted with lower fear to the barks of the others. Parousness, sexual status, and age of the adult dogs had an association with how interested the dogs were in interacting with the puppies, and also with how the mother reacted to the other dogs. Our study highlights the possible importance of dog–dog interactions during the early life of puppies in forming stable and low-stress interactions with other dogs later in life.

Libertine Intrigues: Opera Girls in Eighteenth-Century British Discourse

Throughout the eighteenth century, scandalous literature perpetuated a strongly male-gendered image of dance spectatorship through its preoccupation with the moral and sexual status of female ballet dancers. The frequency with which authors of scandal sheets, novels, satire and political criticism alluded to liaisons involving elite men and dancers was, in part, a reflection of the period's broader fascination with the status of women on the stage. However, this active preoccupation with the sexuality of dancers was also allied to an interrogation of aristocratic and moral codes in Britain and France, and was used to instantiate a performative ideal of elite masculinity. This article focuses on the recurring figure of the opera girl, whose pursuit by aristocratic libertines aroused the contempt, curiosity and envy of readers. Incorporating a critique of extant dance criticism, the article explores the interpretative dilemmas that the opera girl's sensational sexuality has traditionally posed for dance scholarship on account of the tendency for the opera girl's attributes to be mapped onto representations of real-life dancers. Sampling sources as diverse as fashionable periodicals, works of history, sentimental novels and prostitute narratives, this article introduces the singular typology and rhetorical functions of the opera girl that distinguish her as a literary type. In the process, a more nuanced reading of opera girls is offered, one that stresses how opera girls refract the debates and anxieties of the period.

Call overlapping signals sexual status in Darwin’s frogs

Background. In animal reproductive contexts, calling behaviour is mostly performed by males but in species in which females call, it is not known how vocal interaction occurs between sexes, particularly when sexual dimorphism in signals is low, as in cases in which call repertoire is identical but acoustic properties differ. In Darwin’s frog (Rhinoderma darwinii), a species in which males brood larvae inside their vocal sacs, females have higher dominant frequency and shorter calls and notes than males. Since in this species males persist calling after getting pregnant with larvae, different vocal interaction patterns are expected to occur among animals having dissimilar reproductive status. Methodology. To explore the mechanisms underlying vocal recognition among the different sexual status of R. darwinii, we recorded natural duets between non-pregnant males (NPM), pregnant males (PM) and females (F) and evaluated their evoked vocal response to natural playback stimuli of each sexual status from November to February 2015-2016 in Chiloé island, Chile. Call rate, phase angles, sound pressure level (SPL), number of overlapping calls and delay of overlapping calls were measured to determine differential responses between natural duets and in response to stimuli consisting of natural calls of individuals of different sexual status. Results. Spontaneous duet interactions occurred mainly between males and no clear differences between duets were detected. In playbacks, call ratios in response to calls of different sexual status were similar. Females decreased their SPL in response to F calls, while F and PM had longer call delays and lower call overlaps between each other. Major differences were observed in call overlap, as the occurrence of this phenomenon was larger in playback experiments than during natural duets. The number of calls overlapped during natural duets was fewer (10.9 %) than during playback experiments (36.8 %). Conclusions. Our results suggest that in R. darwinii, PM and F signalize their sexual status by decreasing their call overlap and that NPM respond indistinctly to the other sexual status. In general, these differences in selective call overlap between Darwin's frogs arise as a novel mechanism for signal recognition between animal vocal interactions.

Call overlapping signals sexual status in Darwin’s frogs

Background. In animal reproductive contexts, calling behaviour is mostly performed by males but in species in which females call, it is not known how vocal interaction occurs between sexes, particularly when sexual dimorphism in signals is low, as in cases in which call repertoire is identical but acoustic properties differ. In Darwin’s frog (Rhinoderma darwinii), a species in which males brood larvae inside their vocal sacs, females have higher dominant frequency and shorter calls and notes than males. Since in this species males persist calling after getting pregnant with larvae, different vocal interaction patterns are expected to occur among animals having dissimilar reproductive status. Methodology. To explore the mechanisms underlying vocal recognition among the different sexual status of R. darwinii, we recorded natural duets between non-pregnant males (NPM), pregnant males (PM) and females (F) and evaluated their evoked vocal response to natural playback stimuli of each sexual status from November to February 2015-2016 in Chiloé island, Chile. Call rate, phase angles, sound pressure level (SPL), number of overlapping calls and delay of overlapping calls were measured to determine differential responses between natural duets and in response to stimuli consisting of natural calls of individuals of different sexual status. Results. Spontaneous duet interactions occurred mainly between males and no clear differences between duets were detected. In playbacks, call ratios in response to calls of different sexual status were similar. Females decreased their SPL in response to F calls, while F and PM had longer call delays and lower call overlaps between each other. Major differences were observed in call overlap, as the occurrence of this phenomenon was larger in playback experiments than during natural duets. The number of calls overlapped during natural duets was fewer (10.9 %) than during playback experiments (36.8 %). Conclusions. Our results suggest that in R. darwinii, PM and F signalize their sexual status by decreasing their call overlap and that NPM respond indistinctly to the other sexual status. In general, these differences in selective call overlap between Darwin's frogs arise as a novel mechanism for signal recognition between animal vocal interactions.

‘She Made Herself up Provocatively for the Charming of the Eyes of Men’ (Jdt. 10.4): Cosmetics and Body Adornment in the Stories of Judith and Susanna

The use of cosmetics and body adornment in order to decorate and beautify oneself is an almost universal part of the human experience. This was also true of the ancient Palestinian culture that gave rise to the Hebrew Bible and early Jewish literature. Despite this, cosmetics and their function in the narratives in which they feature is an understudied subject within the academic scholarship of biblical literature. This article discusses the use of cosmetics in biblical and Jewish-Hellenistic texts, demonstrating that cosmetics were associated with immoral behavior and illicit sexual practices. Nevertheless, in the stories of Judith and Susanna, these characters apparently receive no such censure for applying cosmetic oil. By considering the use of cosmetics akin to a speech act, able to communicate something specific about one's social or sexual status, this article provides a new access to understanding these narratives and the characterisations of their female heroines.