scholarly journals Male genital lobe morphology affects the chance to copulate in Drosophila pachea

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bénédicte M. Lefèvre ◽  
Diane Catté ◽  
Virginie Courtier-Orgogozo ◽  
Michael Lang
Keyword(s):  
Male Genitalia ◽  
Left Lobe ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Single Female ◽  
Female Age ◽  
Drosophila Pachea ◽  
Courtship Signals ◽  
Copulatory Complex ◽  
Male Genital

AbstractIntroductionMale genitalia are thought to ensure transfer of sperm through direct physical contact with female during copulation. However, little attention has been given to their pre-copulatory role with respect to sexual selection and sexual conflict. Males of the fruitfly Drosophila pachea have a pair of asymmetric external genital lobes, which are primary sexual structures and stabilize the copulatory complex of female and male genitalia.ResultsWe tested for a pre-copulatory role of these lobes with a D. pachea stock where males have variable lobe lengths. In 92 mate competition trials with a single female and two males, females preferentially engaged into a first copulation with males that had a longer left lobe and that displayed increased courtship vigor. In 53 additional trials with both males having partially amputated left lobes of different lengths, we observed a weaker and non-significant effect of left lobe length on copulation success. Courtship durations significantly increased with female age and when two males courted the female simultaneously, compared to trials with only one courting male.ConclusionLeft lobe length affects the chance of a male to engage into copulation. The morphology of this primary sexual trait may affect reproductive success by mediating courtship signals or by facilitating the establishment of genital contacts at the onset of copulation.

scholarly journals Male genital lobe morphology affects the chance to copulate in Drosophila pachea

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bénédicte M. Lefèvre ◽  
Diane Catté ◽  
Virginie Courtier-Orgogozo ◽  
Michael Lang
Keyword(s):  
Male Genitalia ◽  
Left Lobe ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Mate Competition ◽  
Single Female ◽  
Female Age ◽  
Drosophila Pachea ◽  
Courtship Signals ◽  
Copulatory Complex ◽  
Male Genital

Abstract Introduction Male genitalia are thought to ensure transfer of sperm through direct physical contact with female during copulation. However, little attention has been given to their pre-copulatory role with respect to sexual selection and sexual conflict. Males of the fruitfly Drosophila pachea have a pair of asymmetric external genital lobes, which are primary sexual structures and stabilize the copulatory complex of female and male genitalia. We wondered if genital lobes in D. pachea may have a role before or at the onset of copulation, before genitalia contacts are made. Results We tested this hypothesis with a D. pachea stock where males have variable lobe lengths. In 92 mate competition trials with a single female and two males, females preferentially engaged into a first copulation with males that had a longer left lobe and that displayed increased courtship vigor. In 53 additional trials with both males having partially amputated left lobes of different lengths, we observed a weaker and non-significant effect of left lobe length on copulation success. Courtship durations significantly increased with female age and when two males courted the female simultaneously, compared to trials with only one courting male. In addition, lobe length did not affect sperm transfer once copulation was established. Conclusion Left lobe length affects the chance of a male to engage into copulation. The morphology of this primary sexual trait may affect reproductive success by mediating courtship signals or by facilitating the establishment of genital contacts at the onset of copulation.

Healing Touch: Clothed Images of the Virgin in Early Modern Portugal

2020 ◽  
pp. 51-78
Author(s):  
Diana Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Reciprocal Relationship ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Religious Art ◽  
Healing Touch ◽  
Devotional Art ◽  
Healing Power ◽  
The Many ◽  
Santa Maria

Over the last decades there was a growing interest in religious materiality, miraculous images, votive practices, and how the faithful engaged with devotional art, as well as a renewed impetus to discuss the long-recognized association between sculpture and touch, after the predominance of the visuality approach. Additionally, the neglected phenomenon of clothing statues has also been increasingly explored. Based on the reading of Santuario Mariano (1707–1723), written by Friar Agostinho de Santa Maria (1642–1728), this paper will closely examine those topics. Besides producing a monumental catalogue of Marian shrines and pilgrimage sites, this source offers a unique insight into the religious experience and the reciprocal relationship between image and devotee in Early Modern Portugal, and is a particularly rich source when describing the believers’ pursuit of physical contact with sculptures. This yearning for proximity is partly explained by the belief in the healing power of Marian sculptures, which in turn seemed to be conveniently transferred to a myriad of objects. When contact with the images themselves was not possible, devotees sought out their clothes, crowns, rosary beads, metric relics, and so forth. Items of clothing such as mantles and veils were particularly used and so it seems obvious they were not mere adornments or donations, but also mediums and extensions of the sculptures’ presence and power. By focusing on the thaumaturgic role of the statues’ clothes and jewels, I will argue how the practice of dressing sculptures was due to much more than stylistic desires or processional needs and draw attention to the many ways believers engaged with religious art in Early Modern Portugal.

Sex Education of the Visually Impaired Child: The Role of Parents

1986 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 675-680
Author(s):  
Clara Shaw Schuster
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Sex Education ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Ego Identity ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Major Mode ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
Role Of Parents ◽  
Impaired Children

Sexuality is an integral part of one's self-concept. As such it effects mental health and social behaviors. Visually impaired children are deprived of the major mode of learning about gender differences and appropriate sexual conduct within our culture. Consequently, the primary caretaker or parents, who play a major role in the formation of a child's ego-identity, must reevaluate current social taboos against physical contact and generate naturalistic experiences to aid the child in the identification of gender differences, anatomical functioning, and interpersonal skills associated with expressing one's sexuality. Specific, age-appropriate intervention strategies for use within the family context are offered.

scholarly journals The role of telehealth during COVID-19 outbreak: A systematic review based on current evidence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elham Monaghesh ◽  
Alireza Hajizadeh
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
English Language ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Search Results ◽  
Effective Option ◽  
Critical Appraisal Skills

Abstract Purpose The outbreak of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a public health emergency of international concern. Telehealth is effective option to fight COVID-19 outbreak. The aim of this systematic review was to identify the role of telehealth services during COVID-19 outbreak.Methods This systematic review was conducted through searching five databases including PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science and Science direct. Inclusion criteria included studies clearly defined role of telehealth services in COVID-19 outbreak, published from December 31, 2019, written in English language and published in peer reviewed. Two reviewers independently assessed search results, extracted data, and assessed quality of included studies. Quality assessment was based on the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) checklist. Narrative synthesis was undertaken to summarize and report the findings.Results Eight studies met the inclusion out of the 142 search results. Currently, healthcare providers and patients who are self-isolating, telehealth is certainly appropriate to minimizing the risk of COVID-19 transmission. This solution has the potential to avoidance of direct physical contact, provide continuous care to the community and finally reduce morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 outbreak.Conclusions The use of telehealth improves the provision of health services. Therefore, telehealth should be an important tool in caring services while keeping patients and health providers safe as the COVID-19 outbreak.

scholarly journals Influence of Age, Host Plant and Mating Status in Pheromone Production and New Insights on Perception Plasticity in Tuta Absoluta

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aroa Domínguez ◽  
Sergio López ◽  
Ana Bernabé ◽  
Ángel Guerrero ◽  
Carmen Quero
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Tuta Absoluta ◽  
Pheromone Production ◽  
Female Age ◽  
Young Females ◽  
The Family ◽  
Important Pest ◽  
Behavioral Parameters ◽  
First Time

The tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is one of the most important pests of tomato worldwide. However, in spite of its tremendous economic importance, the success of environmentally friendly measures to control the pest is still limited. Study of physiological and behavioral parameters that affect pheromone production has provided useful information for pest management. Our results show no clear difference in pheromone production by females over the period from 2 h before to 2 h after the scotophase. However, pheromone production was clearly dependent on female age, with young females producing the highest amount of each pheromone component 10 days after emergence. In the presence of the host plant (physical contact and olfaction of the plant volatiles), virgin and mated females produced higher amounts of the major component of the pheromone (TDTA) than those in the absence of plant and those devoid of olfaction (antennectomized) but in physical contact with the plant. In electrophysiological experiments, TDTA elicited slightly lower responses on male antennae than the pheromone mixture. When stimulated at certain time intervals after the first exposure to TDTA, male antennae became more sensitive to the stimulus (sensitization effect). For the first time in an insect of the family Gelechiidae, we have found that females are able to detect their own pheromone (autodetection). Altogether, our results may represent a step forward in the knowledge of the chemical communication of this important pest.

Parasitic fauna of a yellow-legged gull colony in the island of Escombreras (South-eastern Mediterranean) in close proximity to a landfill site: potential effects on cohabiting species

2015 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Hervías Parejo ◽  
Carlos Martínez-Carrasco ◽  
Julia I. Diaz ◽  
Lidia Chitimia ◽  
Juana Ortiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Helminth Community ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Parasitic Fauna ◽  
Waste Landfill ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Larus Michahellis ◽  
Fishery Discards

AbstractWe identified the ectoparasites and helminth fauna of yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis michahellis), breeding near to a solid waste landfill, and compared infection levels with those of other yellow-legged gull colonies. Moreover, we analysed correlations between parasites and sex and body condition of yellow-legged gulls, co-infections and the helminth community structure in order to propose the role of this species as reservoir of certain parasites. We also discuss the potential transmission of parasites between the yellow-legged gull and the endangered Audouin’s gull, because interactions between these two species, such as kleptoparasitism and predation, occur frequently around colonies. The following species were recorded: Ornithodorus capensis (Arthropoda); Cosmocephalus obvelatus, Paracuaria adunca, Eucoleus contortus, Tetrameres skrjabini and Contracaecum sp. (Nematoda); Tetrabothrius cylindraceus (Cestoda); Acanthotrema armata, Cardiocephaloides longicollis and Ornithobilharzia intermedia (Digenea). Tetrabothrius cylindraceus, A. armata and O. capensis are new parasite records for this host. The dependence of yellow-legged-gulls on fishery discards is supported by the dominance of parasites transmitted through marine intermediate hosts with interest to fisheries in the study area. However, the shift in diet from natural resources to food derived from human activities seems not to affect the parasitic fauna of yellow-legged gull. Besides of direct physical contact between individuals in nesting and resting habitats, the high availability of fishery discards could increase the risk of Audouin’s gulls to be infected by common parasites of yellow-legged gull.

Touch

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfonso Troisi
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Biochemical Effects ◽  
Physiological And Biochemical

This chapter briefly reviews recent empirical research on touch, including the role of touch in early development, emotions that can be conveyed by touch, the importance of touch for interpersonal relationships, and how friendly touch affects compliance in different situations. Physiological and biochemical effects of touch are also reviewed, including decreased heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol, and increased oxytocin. The beneficial effects of touch, including massage therapy, for socioemotional and physical well-being are explained in light of the importance of mother–infant contact in all primate species. To develop normally, primate infants and human babies need much physical contact with their mothers; touch deprivation is one of the most pathogenic condition for a young primate. The second part of the chapter analyzes how cultural evolution has elaborated the natural predisposition toward affiliative touch, creating complex rituals and specific taboos. Finally, the chapter briefly discusses “displacement activities” that consist mostly of movements focused on one’s own body, such as self-touching, scratching, and self-grooming.

A Feminist Methodology of Age-Grading and History in Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 418-426
Author(s):  
Corrie Decker
Keyword(s):  
African Women ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
African History ◽  
Feminist Methodology ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Female Age ◽  
Age Grading ◽  
European Colonialism

Abstract Age is an essential category of analysis for African history. For over a century, social scientists have emphasized the central role of age-grading in African cultures. Whereas most people in precolonial African societies assessed age in relative terms (juniors vs. seniors), European colonialism expanded the legal importance of chronological age. Gender mattered to both definitions of age. Faced with two incommensurable systems for understanding life stages—one based on relational (male) seniority and the other on chronological age—African women growing up during the colonial period found new ways to assert a sense of belonging among generations of women. I argue in favor of a feminist methodology that recognizes the broader trend among a generation of young women in Africa who employed conflicts over age to assert their maturity, and in doing so located themselves in their own histories. Identifying female age sets and generations thus offers new perspectives on how African girls and women make and remake history.

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