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When different modes of communication are used in combination and for example convey visual and acoustic information, they form a multimodal signal. Frogs are best known for using acoustic communication, but many species also use visual or colour signals, some of which are dynamic, and may be combined with acoustic signals. In this context, the question of whether these two modes of communication reinforce the same message or offer different information is poorly understood. Male whirring tree frogs, Litoria revelata, use a multimodal signal during courtship, which combines a vocalisation and dynamic sexual dichromatism, with nuptial display colours shifting from brown or grey to bright yellow. Here, we examined the properties of the advertisement call and nuptial colour of vocalising male whirring tree frogs and tested whether the two signals were likely to reinforce each other or convey independent information. We found only weak associations between elements of male colouration and vocalisations, suggesting that advertisement calls and nuptial colour do not reinforce each other and that the signals may instead convey different information.Significance statementDynamic nuptial colour and vocalisation in combination is a relatively common multimodal signal in frogs but is unstudied. We looked for relationships between properties of colour and vocalisation in an Australian tree frog to explore whether the two sensory modes formed backup signals or multiple messages. We did not find predictive relationships between nuptial colour and vocalisation, supporting the multiple messages hypothesis and suggesting that nuptial colour is not necessarily directed at females for the purposes of mate attraction, potentially differing from the assumed function of the vocalisation. Our study is also the first to formally characterise aspects of dynamic sexual dichromatism in the whirring tree frog (Litoria revelata) and the first to describe the advertisement call of this species in its southern distribution. Whilst we do not specifically address the function of dynamic sexual dichromatism in this species, our findings do not contradict the existing literature in respect to it being a male-male directed signal.

Since we all have one and use it every day, why is it that people squirm when the anus is mentioned? In Reading from Behind, Jonathan Allan addresses this question in a playful, yet scholarly exploration of everything from porn to poetry, from Brokeback Mountain to Myra Breckinridge, democratizing the anus as a site of necessity and as a location of pleasure.

As an almost exclusively female-dominated medium, the popular romance novel has, throughout its history, allowed women writers to “amplify their political voice” (Teo, 2016, p. 102), especially when they could not actively participate in politics. Commonly, writers fashion storylines that reflect and process concerns from the real world in a fictional context. Using the Regency Romance as an example and based on Jayashree Kamblé’s theory that romance novels have a shared DNA that evolves in response to social and cultural influences, this paper first defines the figure of the romance hero in the pre-Trump era to segue into analysing selected novels published by Tessa Dare in 2011 (A night to surrender) and Sarah MacLean in 2012 (A rogue by any other name). This figure is then compared and contrasted with the incarnations of the hero in these authors’ publications from 2017 (The day of the duchess by MacLean) and 2019 (The wallflower wager by Dare) to map how his phenotype has evolved to reflect a shift in cultural perceptions regarding sex and sexual power dynamics. As I intend to show, in the wake of the 2016 US presidential election and the “#MeToo” movement, the new hero’s phenotype differs specifically in the expression of gendered power and sexuality. He is less forceful than his predecessors and places heavy emphasis on the heroine’s enthusiastic consent and pleasure.

Carotenoid-dependent ornaments can reflect animals’ diet and foraging behaviors. However, this association should be spatially flexible and variable among populations to account for geographic variation in optimal foraging behaviors. We tested this hypothesis using populations of a marine predator (the brown booby, Sula leucogaster ) that forage across a gradient in ocean depth in and near the Gulf of California. Specifically, we quantified green chroma for two skin traits (foot and gular color) and their relationship to foraging location and diet of males, as measured via global positioning system tracking and stable carbon isotope analysis of blood plasma. Our three focal colonies varied in which foraging attributes were linked to carotenoid-rich ornaments. For gular skin, our data showed a shift from a benthic prey-green skin association in the shallow waters in the north to a pelagic prey-green skin association in the deepest waters to the south. Mean foraging trip duration and distance of foraging site from coast also predicted skin coloration in some colonies. Finally, brown booby colonies varied in which trait (foot versus gular skin color) was associated with foraging metrics. Overall, our results indicate that male ornaments reflect quality of diet and foraging–information that may help females select mates who are adapted to local foraging conditions and therefore, are likely to provide better parental care. More broadly, our results stress that diet-dependent ornaments are closely linked to animals’ environments and that we cannot assume ornaments or ornament signal content are ubiquitous within species, even when ornaments appear similar among populations.

We study the long-time behavior of solutions to a kinetic equation inspired by a model of sexual populations structured in phenotypes. The model features a nonlinear integral reproduction operator derived from the Fisher infinitesimal operator and a trait-dependent selection term. The reproduction operator describes here the inheritance of the mean parental traits to the offspring without variability. We show that, under assumptions on the growth of the selection rate, Dirac masses are stable around phenotypes for which the difference between the selection rate and its minimum value is less than [Formula omitted]. Moreover, we prove the convergence in some Fourier-based distance of the centered and rescaled solution to a stationary profile under some conditions on the initial moments of the solution.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are a group of pathogens infecting new hosts through sexual interactions. Due to its social and economic burden, multiple models have been proposed to study the spreading of pathogens. In parallel, in the ever-evolving landscape of digital social interactions, the pervasive utilization of dating apps has become a prominent facet of modern society. Despite the surge in popularity and the profound impact on relationship formation, a crucial gap in the literature persists regarding the potential ramifications of dating apps usage on the dynamics of STDs. In this paper, we address this gap by presenting a novel mathematical framework - an extended Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible (SIS) epidemiological model to elucidate the intricate interplay between dating apps engagement and the propagation of STDs. Namely, as dating apps are designed to make users revisit them and have mainly casual sexual interactions with other users, they increase the number of causal partners, which increases the overall spread of STDS. Using extensive simulation, based on real-world data, explore the effect of dating apps adoption and control on the STD spread. We show that an increased adoption of dating apps can result in an STD outbreak if not handled appropriately.

L'objectif de l'étude était de valider le Questionnaire bref des dynamiques de pouvoir sexuelles qui évalue l'intérêt sexuel envers des pratiques impliquant une hiérarchisation de pouvoir (c.-à-d., domination, soumission, sexe tendre). Ce questionnaire est une échelle traduite et raccourcie inspirée du questionnaire original Attraction to Sexual Power Dynamics-Revised. Deux échantillons distincts ont été recrutés. L'un regroupe des adultes consultant en thérapie sexuelle (n = 563). Le second est composé de couples adultes de la communauté québécoise (n = 566; 283 couples). Des analyses factorielles confirmatoires soutiennent la structure factorielle tripartite du questionnaire. Les résultats indiquent une cohérence interne satisfaisante pour chaque facteur. Des analyses bivariées soulignent, tel qu'attendu, de faibles associations entre les dynamiques de pouvoir sexuelles et la satisfaction conjugale et sexuelle, l'attachement romantique, ainsi que la violence au sein de la relation intime. Cette étude de validation contribue à outiller les chercheur.e.s avec une mesure des dynamiques de pouvoir sexuelles, favorisant l'expansion d'études empiriques sur le sujet. The purpose of the study was to validate the Brief Sexual Power Dynamics Questionnaire, which evaluates sexual interest in practices involving power hierarchies (i.e., dominance, submission, tender sex). This questionnaire is a translated and shortened scale based on the original questionnaire Attraction to Sexual Power Dynamics-Revised. Two separate samples were recruited. The first included adults consulting in sex therapy (n = 563). The second group comprised adult couples from the Quebec community (n = 566; 283 couples). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the tripartite factor structure of the questionnaire. The results show satisfactory internal consistency for each factor. Bivariate analyses highlighted, as expected, weak associations between sexual power dynamics and relationship and sexual satisfaction, romantic attachment, and intimate partner violence. This validation study contributes to providing researchers with a measure of sexual power dynamics, promoting the expansion of empirical studies on the subject. Intérêt public La sexualité à l'âge adulte peut être exprimée et vécue de multiples façons, mais peu de recherches empiriques se sont intéressées aux dynamiques de pouvoir sexuelles. Le Questionnaire bref de dynamiques de pouvoir sexuelles en neuf items mesure trois construits soit, la soumission, la domination et le sexe tendre. Ces construits reflètent l'intérêt sexuel des personnes envers des pratiques impliquant une hiérarchisation de pouvoir. Les résultats suggèrent une version francophone brève valide, favorisant son utilisation en recherche.

To assess the dynamic activations of the key brain areas associated with the time-course of the sexual arousal evoked by visual sexual stimuli in healthy male subjects. Fourteen right-handed heterosexual male volunteers participated in this study. Alternatively combined rest period and erotic video visual stimulation were used according to the standard block design. In order to illustrate and quantify the spatiotemporal activation patterns of the key brain regions, the activation period was divided into three different stages as the EARLY, MID and LATE stages. For the group result (p < 0.05), when comparing the MID stage with the EARLY stage, a significant increase of the brain activation was observed in the areas that included the inferior frontal gyrus, the supplementary motor area, the hippocampus, the head of the caudate nucleus, the midbrain, the superior occipital gyrus and the fusiform gyrus. At the same time, when comparing the EARLY stage with the MID stage, the putamen, the globus pallidus, the pons, the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the lingual gyrus and the cuneus yielded significantly increased activations. When comparing the LATE stage with the MID stage, all the above mentioned brain regions showed elevated activations except the hippocampus. Our results illustrate the spatiotemporal activation patterns of the key brain regions across the three stages of visual sexual arousal.

Mathematical modeling of transmission dynamics of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV has considerably advanced HIV research by highlighting the importance of certain types of partnerships in epidemic spread. Notably, concurrent partnerships, defined as a sexual partnership in which one or more of the partnership members have other sexual partners while continuing sexual activity with the original partner, have been shown to play a fundamental role in potentiating the spread of STIs and HIV. Risk behaviors such as concurrency and sex without condoms as well as STI/HIV prevalence vary with physical, social, and emotional factors within partnerships. The efficiency of STI/HIV transmission appears to vary across types of concurrent partnerships according to the differing dynamics within them. Previous research on partnership dynamics has improved our understanding of the multidimensional aspects of sexual partnering, but little is understood of how these aspects of sexual partnering interact and increase risks for HIV, nor how types of partnerships, partnership dynamics, and concurrency work together to affect both the behavior of condom use and the biological transmission of disease. In this article, we discuss the need to extend our understanding of concurrency to include partnerships among men who have sex with men (MSM) and to differentiate between types of partnerships and to develop interventions to modify risk within partnerships. We also introduce a conceptual framework that reflects how individual and partner characteristics influence partnership dynamics that in turn influence risk behaviors, such as concurrency and not using condoms, and associated risks for STIs and HIV.

A fifteen month study (December 2002 though February 2004) of a meiofaunal community living in moss and lichen from a Pecan tree on the campus of Jacksonville State University reports 9,791 microinvertebrates. Echiniscus mauccii was the most prevalent tardigrade species (1,329 specimens) and was chosen to determine population dynamics and some aspects of their life histories. The average length of all the specimens (adults, juveniles, males, and females) for each month was determined. A plot of all E. mauccii specimens was used to determine the following life stages of this species; juvenile, pre-reproductive, and reproductive. The studied population exhibited relatively constant population size and juvenile recruitment occurred year round with no increased reproduction during a season of the year. Thus, E. mauccii is an opportunistic breeder. Males of this species were found for the first time on a Laurasian land mass and females were found to be significantly larger than males. A protected Fisher's LSD test revealed a significant negative relationship between average adult length and the number of adults collected per month, but not between adult and juvenile lengths. As the population became more dense the average adult size decreased suggesting competition between at least the adults. Echiniscus mauccii is a sexually dimorphic animal that is iteroparous, breeds whenever conditions are appropriate, has a relatively constant population size, produces a small number of large eggs, and exhibits competition between adults. Thus, E. mauccii exhibits classic K-selected traits.