ETHOLOGY, Issue 6 2009
Jesse M. S. Ellis
Calls and displays elicited by predators usually function as alarms or to inform predators of their detection. However, predator encounters may afford some individuals the opportunity to demonstrate quality or signal their availability. Here, I report on a class of vocal signals produced in predator-elicited displays that share many characteristics with sexually selected song. White-throated magpie-jays (Calocitta formosa) display at low-threat predators while producing ,loud display calls' (LDCs). I use this term because the calls occur primarily in two display contexts (see below) though occasionally in other contexts as well. Such calls and displays are primarily produced by males, and also occur in one other context, at dawn. Playback experiments showed that despite being elicited by predators, males were more likely than females to respond to LDCs, and more likely to respond when their mate was fertile. Over 134 different call types were produced in over 200 displays by 34 males; the largest minimum repertoire size was 67. Presentations of taxidermic raptor mounts elicited some LDCs, but fewer calls and lower diversity than at dawn or in predator approach displays. The male bias and high diversity suggest that LDCs are an outcome of intersexual selection, while their elicitation by predators suggests an alarm function. I propose that male magpie-jays use predator encounters as opportunities to advertise their presence and availability as mates; they use LDCs as songs. Such a communication system seems to have been favored by the unusual social system of magpie-jays, in which female groups defend territories and males have little opportunity to defend resources for mate attraction, forcing them to advertise when females are paying the most attention, during predator encounters. [source]

Original Advertisements from the Headache Volume 1

HEADACHE, Issue 5 2008
Article first published online: 8 MAY 200
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Women's responses to fashion media images: a study of female consumers aged 30,59

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 3 2010
Joy M. Kozar
Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine whether female consumers ranging in age from 30 to 59 prefer fashion advertising models more closely resembling their age. The sample for this study consisted of 182 women. Stimuli included full-colored photographs of current fashion models. A questionnaire designed to explore participants' responses to the stimuli included scales measuring participants' beliefs about the stimulus models' appearances and attractiveness, participants' purchase intentions and perceived similarity with the models and participants' perceived fashionability of the model's clothing. Participants rated models appearing older in age significantly higher than younger models on the characteristics related to appearance and attractiveness. Advertisements with older models also had a significant positive relationship to participants' purchase intentions as compared to younger-age models. Participants who perceived more similarity to the models were found to have more positive beliefs about the model's appearance and attractiveness and the fashionability of the model's clothing. Perceived similarity also had a significant positive relationship to participants' purchase intentions. As a result of this study, findings suggest that marketers and retailers should consider the age of the model used in their promotional materials. Specifically, it is possible that female consumers either transitioning into, or currently in, the middle adulthood life stages may have a preference for fashion models more closely resembling their age group. [source]

Invitations for Partisan Identification: Attempts to Court Latino Voters Through Televised Latino-Oriented Political Advertisements, 1984,2000

JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 1 2004
Stacey L. Connaughton
By the year 2050, Latinos will represent the dominant ethnic minority in the United States, and researchers are just beginning to examine the campaign messages targeted to this voting bloc. This article employs identification theory to understand the rhetorical approaches used in campaign advertisements designed for these voters. Through a content analysis of campaign spots targeted to Latinos over four presidential elections (1984, 1988, 1996, 2000), we find that the invitations for party identification sent to this group tend to be positive, focus on the Latino (not the candidate), and depict Latinos as an emergent force in American politics. In trying to foster identification from this desirable voting population, it appears that campaign forces encourage Latinos to view themselves, and politics, as valuable and consequential,a marked alternative to most advertising strategies at the close of the 20th century. [source]

Medical Advertisements in Medical Journals: the Case Against

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 10 2009
Carey D. Chisholm MD
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Estimating the number of unlicensed brothels operating in Melbourne

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 1 2010
Marcus Y. Chen
Abstract Objective: To estimate the number of unlicensed brothels operating in Melbourne, Australia, and the sexual health of the women working in them. Methods: Advertisements from Melbourne newspapers published in July 2006 were systematically analysed based on the language used to identify premises likely to be unlicensed brothels. A visit was made to each of the businesses where an address was available. Participating sex workers were tested for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma genitalium and Trichomonas vaginalis using self-collected tampons and polymerase chain reaction. Results: There were 438 advertisements collated, representing 174 separate establishments. Of these, 78 were not considered likely to be brothels. Of the remaining 96, addresses were available for 42 and all of these premises were visited. Thirteen were confirmed as unlicensed brothels. We estimate there were between 13 and 70 unlicensed brothels in Melbourne. Twenty-three women were recruited from four brothels. Only 56% (95% confidence interval (CI) 35-77%) reported having regular sexual health checks and only 13% (95%CI 3-36%) reported prior testing for HIV. Among the 22 women tested, one had chlamydia while another had gonorrhoea, a prevalence of 4.5% (95%CI: 2.3-20.4%) for each infection. Conclusions: The number of unlicensed brothels in Melbourne is much smaller than is generally believed. Women in the sector are infrequently tested for STIs. Implications: As long as a licensing system persists, promotion of sexual health among women in this sector is likely to face hurdles. Further research is needed into the best model for regulating or not regulating sex industries. [source]

The Role of Indigenous Peoples in Guatemalan Political Advertisements: An Ethnographic Content Analysis

COMMUNICATION, CULTURE & CRITIQUE, Issue 3 2010
Colleen Connolly-Ahern
This study investigates the current status of indigenous peoples within Guatemalan society, as articulated in one of the most relevant forms of modern communication, political advertising, and defined by one of the most relevant forms of self-expression to the indigenous peoples of Guatemala, the traje. Using ethnographic content analysis, the study examines the roles and characterizations of indigenous people in 67 television commercials from across the Guatemalan political spectrum. Results indicate that indigenous people are most often seen as "crowd members," and are never given important roles, such as "candidate endorser" or "undecided voter." Overall, wearing traje is associated with helplessness and separateness. The commercials of Q'iché Maya candidate Rigoberta Menchú exhibited many of the same characteristics of other candidates. Le rôle des peuples autochtones dans les publicités politiques guatémaltèques : une analyse de contenu ethnographique Colleen Connolly-Ahern & Antoni Castells i Talens Cette étude explore le statut actuel des peuples autochtones dans la société guatémaltèque, telle qu'elle est articulée dans l'une des formes les plus appropriées de communication moderne, les publicités politiques, et telle que définie par l'une des formes d'expression des peuples autochtones du Guatemala les plus pertinentes, le «traje». Par une analyse de contenu ethnographique, l'étude explore les rôles et les représentations des peuples autochtones dans 67 publicités télévisées couvrant le spectre politique du Guatemala. Les résultats indiquent que les peuples autochtones sont le plus souvent vus comme des «membres de la foule». Ils n'ont jamais de rôles importants comme celui de «partisan d'un candidat» ou d'«électeur indécis'. Dans l'ensemble, le port du «traje» est associéà l'impuissance et à la différence. Les publicités de la candidate maya k'iche' Rigoberta Menchú présentaient plusieurs des mêmes caractéristiques que celles des autres candidats. El Rol de las Personas Indígenas en la Publicidad Política de Guatemala: Un Análisis de Contenido Etnográfico Colleen Connolly-Ahern & Antoni Castells i Talens Advertising and Public Relations College of Communications, Penn State University, State College, PA 16802, USA Resumen Este estudio investiga el estado corriente de las personas indígenas dentro de la sociedad Guatemalteca, articulado en una de las formas más relevantes de la comunicación moderna, la publicidad política, y definido por una de las formas más relevantes de auto expresión de las personas Indígenas de Guatemala, el traje. Usando un análisis de contenido etnográfico, este estudio examina los roles y las caracterizaciones de las personas indígenas en 67 comerciales de televisión a través del espectro político Guatemalteco. Los resultados indican que las personas indígenas son vistas más a menudo como "miembros de la multitud'' y nunca se les da roles importantes tales como ,,el candidato de la representación'' o ,,el votante indeciso. '' En general, el uso del traje está asociado con la impotencia y la separación. Los comerciales de la candidata Q'ich,e Maya Rigoberta Menchú exhibieron muchas de las mismas características de los otros candidatos. [source]

Contesting National Identity During Crisis: The Use of Patriotism in Israeli Advertisements

COMMUNICATION, CULTURE & CRITIQUE, Issue 3 2010
Anat First
Globalization processes have been accelerating since the early 1990s, and Israeli society is undergoing significant changes. Within these changes, symbols, beliefs, and new values are adopted to replace the old ones. Evidence of the Americanization of Israeli society can also be found in advertising, where the dominance of the American narrative has been notable since the 1990s. Over the years a significant increase has occurred in the use of American scenery, values, and heroes, along with the use of English. In this article, we seek to examine whether this extensive use of American motifs in Israeli advertising is also evident during times of national crises in the first decade of 2000. Contester l'identité nationale en temps de crise : l'usage du patriotisme dans les publicités israéliennes Anat First & Eli Avraham Les processus de mondialisation s'accélèrent depuis le début des années 1990 et la société israélienne vit de profonds changements. Dans le cadre de ces transformations, des symboles, des croyances et de nouvelles valeurs sont adoptés afin de remplacer les anciens. Des preuves de l'américanisation de la société israélienne peuvent aussi être vues dans les publicités, où la domination du narratif américain se remarque depuis les années 1990. Au fil des ans, le recours à des paysages, des valeurs et des héros américains, ainsi que l'usage de l'anglais, ont augmenté de façon importante. Dans cet article, nous cherchons à examiner si cet usage considérable de thèmes américains dans les publicités israéliennes est également visible lors de périodes de crises nationales, au cours des années 2000. Luchando por la Identidad Nacional Durante las Crisis: El Uso del Patriotismo en la Publicidad Israelí Anat First & Eli Avraham School of Communication, Netanya Academic College, Netanya, Israel University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel Resumen Los procesos de globalización se han ido acelerando desde los principios de 1990, y la sociedad Israelí está sufriendo cambios significativos. Dentro de estos cambios, los símbolos, creencias, y nuevos valores son adoptados para reemplazar los antiguos. Evidencia de la Americanización de la sociedad Israelí puede ser encontrada también en la publicidad, donde el domino de la narrativa Americana ha sido notable desde 1990. A través de los años un incremento significativo ha ocurrido en el uso de la escenografía Americana, los valores, y los héroes, además del uso del inglés. En este artículo buscamos examinar si este uso extensivo de los motivos Americanos en la publicidad Israelí es evidente también durante los tiempos de crisis nacionales en la primera década del 2000. [source]

Higher carotid-radial pulse wave velocity in healthy offspring of patients with Type 2 diabetes

DIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 3 2004
O. D. McEleavy
Abstract Aims, To determine whether carotid-radial pulse wave velocity (crPWV), a simple non-invasive measurement of muscular artery structure and function, is increased in offspring of patients with Type 2 diabetes compared with well-matched controls with no family history of diabetes. Serum levels of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) were also examined. Methods, Offspring (n = 19, M = 8) were recruited via contact with patients attending clinics. Controls (n = 19, M = 8) were recruited by advertisement. crPWV was measured using COMPLIOR. Blood pressure and heart rate were determined and fasting blood taken for measurement of metabolic and endothelial parameters. Results, Offspring and controls were well matched [mean (sd)] for age [33.1 (9.6) vs. 32.8 (9.5) years], body mass index [24.8 (4.9) vs. 24.3 (3.4) kg/m2], waist circumference [78.3 (2.3) vs. 76.3 (2.5) cm], and systolic blood pressure [120 (9.3) vs. 119 (14.2) mmHg]. crPWV was 10% higher in the offspring [9.94 (1.3) m/s] compared with controls [9.01 (1.2) m/s, P = 0.02] despite similar pulse pressure [52 (10.5) vs. 53.5 (9.3) mmHg] and resting heart rate [71 (8.7) vs. 69 (14.0) beats/min]. They also showed a trend toward higher sICAM-1 [217 (55) vs. 188 (40) ng/ml, P = 0.07] concentrations which were also strongly correlated to crPWV in offspring (r = 0.63, P = 0.004). Conclusions, Vascular dysfunction in the form of increased muscular artery stiffness is present from an early stage in subjects at higher risk of developing diabetes. This may be secondary to impaired activation of endothelial signalling pathways in the context of inherited insulin resistance. [source]

Effect of an antismoking advertisement on cinema patrons' perception of smoking and intention to smoke: a quasi-experimental study

ADDICTION, Issue 7 2010
Reiner Hanewinkel
ABSTRACT Aims To assess the effect of an antismoking advertisement under real-world conditions. Design Quasi-experimental study. Setting/participants Multiplex cinema in Kiel, Germany; 4073 patrons were surveyed after having viewed a movie. Some 4005 patrons were ,10 years old (28.7% between 10 and 17 years). A total of 654 subjects (16.3%) were smokers. Intervention In the intervention condition (weeks 1 and 3), a 30-second antismoking advertisement,accentuating long-term health consequences of smoking and promoting cessation,was shown prior to all movies; in the control condition (weeks 2 and 4) no such spot was shown. Main outcome measures (i) Awareness of smoking in the movie, (ii) approval of smoking in the movie, (iii) attitude towards smoking, (iv) intention to smoke in the future and (v) desire to smoke among smokers. Findings Patrons who were exposed to the antismoking advertisement were more likely to be female, but did not differ with respect to smoking status. After controlling for gender differences, patrons exposed to the antismoking advertisement had (i) higher awareness of smoking in the movies, (ii) lower levels of approval of smoking in the movies, and (iii) a more negative attitude towards smoking in general compared with those not exposed. Among smokers, smoking in the movies increased urge to smoke, but there was no interaction between smoking in the movies and experimental condition. Conclusions Study results suggest that placing an antismoking advertisement before movies can affect attitudes towards smoking, bolstering evidence in support of such policies. [source]

Comparing the effects of entertainment media and tobacco marketing on youth smoking in Germany

ADDICTION, Issue 5 2009
James D. Sargent
ABSTRACT Aims To examine differential effects of smoking in films and tobacco advertising on adolescent smoking. We hypothesize that movie smoking will have greater effects on smoking initiation, whereas tobacco advertising receptivity will primarily affect experimentation. Design Longitudinal observational study of adolescents. Setting School-based surveys conducted in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Participants A total of 4384 adolescents age 11,15 years at baseline and re-surveyed 1 year later; ever smoking prevalence was 38% at time 1. Measurements The main outcome variable combined two items assessing life-time and current smoking (alpha = 0.87). Baseline never smokers were analyzed separately from those who had tried smoking (ever smokers). Exposure to smoking in 398 internationally distributed US movies was modeled as a continuous variable, with 0 corresponding to the 5th percentile and 1 to the 95th percentile of exposure. Tobacco marketing receptivity consisted of naming a brand for a favorite tobacco advertisement. Ordinal logistic regressions controlled for socio-demographics, other social influences, personality characteristics of the adolescent and parenting style. Findings Whereas 34% of ever smokers were receptive to tobacco marketing at time 1, only 6% of never smokers were. Among time 1 never smokers, exposure to movie smoking was a significantly stronger predictor of higher time 2 smoking level [adjusted proportional odds ratio = 2.76, 95% confidence interval (1.84, 4.15)] than was tobacco marketing receptivity (1.53 [1.07, 2.20]). Among time 1 ever smokers, both tobacco marketing receptivity and exposure to movie smoking predicted higher levels of time 2 smoking [2.17 (1.78, 2.63) and 1.62 (1.18, 2.23), respectively], and the two estimates were not significantly different. Conclusions In this longitudinal study, exposure to movie smoking was a stronger predictor of smoking initiation than tobacco marketing receptivity, which was more common among ever smokers. The results suggest that entertainment media smoking should be emphasized in programs aimed at preventing onset, and both exposures should be emphasized in programs aimed at experimental smokers. [source]

Anabolic steroid users' attitudes towards physicians

ADDICTION, Issue 9 2004
Harrison G. Pope
ABSTRACT Aims To assess anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) users' trust in the knowledge and advice of physicians. Design Interviews of AAS users and non-users. Setting Research offices. Participants Eighty weight-lifters (43 AAS users, 37 non-users) recruited by advertisement in Massachusetts and Florida, USA. Measurements Personal interviews and questionnaire responses, including subjects' ratings of physicians' knowledge regarding various health- and drug-related topics. AAS users also rated their level of trust in various sources of information about AAS. Findings Both groups of subjects gave physicians high ratings on knowledge about general health, cigarette smoking, alcohol, and conventional illicit drugs, but gave physicians markedly and significantly lower ratings on knowledge about AAS. When rating sources of information on AAS, users scored physicians as no more reliable than their friends, Internet sites, or the person(s) who sold them the steroids. Forty percent of users trusted information on AAS from their drug dealers at least as much as information from any physician that they had seen, and 56% had never revealed their AAS use to any physician. Conclusion AAS users show little trust in physicians' knowledge about AAS, and often do not disclose their AAS use to physicians. These attitudes compromise physicians' ability to educate or treat AAS users. Physicians can respond to these problems by learning more about AAS and by maintaining a high index of suspicion when evaluating athletic male patients. [source]

In 12-step groups, helping helps the helper

ADDICTION, Issue 8 2004
Sarah E. Zemore
ABSTRACT Aims The helper therapy principle suggests that, within mutual-help groups, those who help others help themselves. The current study examines whether clients in treatment for alcohol and drug problems benefit from helping others, and how helping relates to 12-step involvement. Design Longitudinal treatment outcome. Participants An ethnically diverse community sample of 279 alcohol- and/or drug-dependent individuals (162 males, 117 females) was recruited through advertisement and treatment referral from Northern California Bay Area communities. Participants were treated at one of four day-treatment programs. Measurements A helping checklist measured the amount of time participants spent, during treatment, helping others by sharing experiences, explaining how to get help and giving advice on housing and employment. Measures of 12-step involvement and substance use outcomes were administered at baseline and a 6 month follow-up. Findings Helping and 12-step involvement emerged as important and related predictors of treatment outcomes. In the general sample, total abstinence at follow-up was strongly and positively predicted by 12-step involvement at follow-up, but not by helping during treatment; still, helping positively predicted subsequent 12-step involvement. Among individuals still drinking at follow-up, helping during treatment predicted a lower probability of binge drinking, whereas effects for 12-step involvement proved inconsistent. Conclusions Findings support the helper therapy principle and clarify the process of 12-step affiliation. [source]

Diversity of the Vocal Signals of Concave-Eared Torrent Frogs (Odorrana tormota): Evidence for Individual Signatures

ETHOLOGY, Issue 11 2009
Albert S. Feng
Male concave-eared torrent frogs (Odorrana tormota) have an unusually large call repertoire and have been shown to communicate ultrasonically. We investigated the individual specificity of male advertisement calls in order to explore the acoustic bases of individual recognition, which was demonstrated in an accompanying study. Vocalizations of 15 marked males were recorded in the field. A quantitative analysis of the signals revealed eight basic call-types. Two of them (the single- and multi-note long-calls) were investigated in more detail. Long-calls were characterized by pronounced and varying frequency modulation patterns, and abundant occurrence of nonlinear phenomena (NLP), i.e., frequency jumps, subharmonics, biphonations and deterministic chaos. The occurrence of NLP was predictable from the contour of the fundamental frequency in the harmonic segment preceding the onset of the NLP, and this prediction showed individual-specific patterns. Fifteen acoustic variables of the long calls were measured, all of which were significantly different among individuals, except biphonic segment duration. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) showed that 54.6% of the calls could be correctly assigned to individual frogs. The correct classification was above chance level, suggesting that individual specificity of calls underlie the ability of males to behaviorally discriminate the vocal signals of their neighbors from those of strangers, a remarkable feat for a frog species with a diverse vocal repertoire. The DFA classification results were lower than those for other anurans, however. We hypothesize that there is a tradeoff between an increase in the fundamental frequency of vocalizations to avoid masking by low-frequency ambient background noise, and a decrease in individual-specific vocal tract information extractable from the signal. [source]

Geographic Variation in Male Sexual Signals in Strawberry Poison Frogs (Dendrobates pumilio)

ETHOLOGY, Issue 9 2007
Heike Pröhl
In this paper, we compare the advertisement calls of 207 neotropical strawberry poison frogs (Dendrobates pumilio) collected in 21 localities along a transect from northern Costa Rica to western Panama. Populations varied most in call duration and call rate, while pulse rate and duty cycle were less variable. Multivariate analyses showed that call variation followed a cline with higher call rates, shorter calls, lower duty cycles and higher pulse rates in the southeast. Body size decreased towards the southeast and explained most variation in dominant frequency, as well as some residual variation in call rate. We conclude that a combination of geography and morphology is largely responsible for call variation within this species. Two inferred bio-acoustic groups were roughly in accordance with two genetic groups, geographically separated in central Costa Rica. However, genetic distances among populations did not co-vary with call dissimilarity after correction for geographic distances. Thus, differences in calls between genetic groups are probably mainly a result of clinal variation. These findings agree with the general observation that bio-acoustic variation is often not (highly) associated with genetic divergence. Moreover, colour polymorphism observed among Panamanian populations was not reflected in a higher variability in call parameters relative to the monomorphic Costa Rican populations. [source]

Female Attraction to Conspecific Chemical Cues in the Palmate Newt Triturus helveticus

ETHOLOGY, Issue 8 2005
Jean Secondi
Although chemosignals are largely used in sexual communication in urodeles, olfactometer studies in newts provided contrasting results about the sex specificity of female behavioural responses. Because long-range sexual advertisement is believed to be costly, some species might restrain this activity to close interactions with conspecifics. We tested chemical-mediated sexual attraction in female palmate newt (Triturus helveticus) by measuring the attraction to male and female odours in a linear water olfactometer. Unexpectedly, females were attracted towards conspecifics regardless of sex. They did not show attraction towards Limnaea stagnalis, a common sympatric aquatic gastropod. These results do not support the use of long-range male sexual signalling in the palmate newt. Instead, conspecific attraction is likely to promote aggregation of males and females in breeding ponds. Observations in the field and in the laboratory tend to support the aggregative behaviour of this species. We discuss the possible function of conspecific attraction in this context. Heading towards any conspecific would increase the probability of finding potential mates. Chemical cues do not need to be sex-specific at that stage so that long-range sexual advertisement might be unnecessary. This work emphasizes the need for studies investigating the evolutionary relationships between sexual signalling systems and population-distribution patterns. [source]

The Chorus Song of Cooperatively Breeding Laughing Kookaburras (Coraciiformes, Halcyonidae: Dacelo novaeguineae): Characterization and Comparison Among Groups

ETHOLOGY, Issue 1 2004
Myron C. Baker
I studied vocalizations of laughing kookaburras in Western Australia by sampling the laugh-song choruses of eight different groups and the isolated vocalizations of four individuals of this cooperatively breeding species. These data provided a description of the acoustic structure of vocal elements of the laugh song and a between-group comparison of laugh choruses. I identified six different categories of syllables: some syllable types appear graded with modal forms predominating. Group choruses were produced by several birds vocalizing simultaneously, usually following initiation by a single bird producing one of two typical introductory sets of syllable repetitions. Statistical analyses of samples of mid-chorus vocalizations of kookaburra groups revealed that the samples from each of the eight groups clustered in principal coordinate space and the group clusters segregated from each other to a significant degree. Linear discriminant analysis assigned 24 of the 25 samples to their correct groups. These results suggest that there is group-specific vocal signature information in the laugh chorus. The within-group similarity and between-group differences may result from heritable variation or from imitation learning. Observations of the contexts of the laugh chorus vocalization supported the interpretations of others that the chorus song is involved in group advertisement of territory occupancy and in defense of the communal borders. [source]

Changes in the Frequency Structure of a Mating Call Decrease Its Attractiveness to Females in the Cricket Frog Acris crepitans blanchardi

ETHOLOGY, Issue 8 2001
Klaudia Witte
In many species, females often prefer male signals that are more complex than in nature or beyond the range of calls naturally produced by conspecific males in spectral, temporal and amplitude features. In this study we examined both the ability of females to recognize signals outside the normal range of spectral frequency variation seen in male advertisement calls, and the influence of increasing call complexity by adding spectral components to enhance the attractiveness of a male advertisement call in the cricket frog Acris crepitans blanchardi, while keeping its amplitude constant. We used two different natural male call groups and created the following synthetic call groups: with a dominant frequency at 3500 Hz, i.e. at the normal dominant frequency with a frequency band within the sensitivity range of the inner ear basilar papilla; with a dominant frequency at 700 Hz, i.e. outside the normal range of variation and with a frequency band outside the sensitivity range of the basilar papilla but within the range of the amphibian papilla; with two dominant frequencies, one at 700 Hz and another at 3500 Hz, stimulating the basilar and amphibian papilla simultaneously. In double choice experiments we tested all combinations of the three call groups, and we tested the 3500 Hz call groups against the same natural call groups. Additionally, we tested the 700 Hz call groups against white noise to see whether these signals are meaningful in mate choice. Females preferred 3500 Hz call groups over all other call groups. The synthetic call group was as attractive to females as the same natural call group. The 700 Hz call group was not meaningful in mate choice. The combined (700 Hz + 3500 Hz) call group was significantly less attractive to females than the 3500 Hz call group. Thus, making a call more spectrally complex without increasing its overall amplitude decreases its attractiveness to cricket frog females. [source]

Intra- and Inter-seasonal Variation in the Socio-Spatial Behavior of Adult Male Collared Lizards, Crotaphytus collaris (Reptilia, Crotaphytidae)

ETHOLOGY, Issue 1 2001
Troy A. Baird
When individuals maintain strong inter-seasonal philopatry to the same territories, males may be able to re-establish territory occupancy without intense intra-sexual aggression, and instead spend more time courting females early in the reproductive season. Furthermore, when some males have prior experience defending the same territories, it may be necessary for young males to exhibit higher levels of aggression because they are establishing a territory for the first time. We tested these hypotheses by examining within-season (1992 and 1997) temporal variation in the social behavior of adult male collared lizards of known age and prior territorial experience in a population where inter-season philopatry to territories is high. Contrary to expectations, the frequency of aggression exhibited by males with and without prior territorial experience did not differ. The frequency of intra-sexual aggression was higher in 1992 than in 1997, perhaps because male competitors were more abundant in 1992. Although there was an interactive effect of year, male display and patrol were low at the beginning of the reproductive season in Apr. and May, reached peaks during midseason in June, and then decreased as reproduction ended in July. The size of territories showed a similar pattern, with males defending larger areas in June. Our data support the philopatry hypothesis in that the establishment of territories occurred without high levels of aggression early in the season, perhaps because territory boundaries have been well defined by high rates of patrol and advertisement during the middle of the previous season. Inter-sexual interactions were most frequent in June rather than at the beginning of the reproductive season. Adult females are producing their second clutches and yearling females are producing their first clutches in June. The high rate of inter-sexual encounters in June supports the hypothesis that males allocate more time to courtship when females are receptive because there are more reproductively active females at this time. The temporal pattern of activities in adult Crotaphytus collaris appears to function as a compromise between competing intra- and inter-sexual social demands on males, allowing males to maximize mating opportunities as well as maintain future access to productive territories. [source]

Tailoring visual images to fit: Value creation in persuasive messages

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
Lucia Mannetti
The present studies aimed to extend Regulatory Fit Theory in the domain of persuasive communication by (a) using printed advertisement images without any verbal claim, instead of purely or mostly verbal messages; (b) selecting the images to fit the distinct orientations of regulatory mode rather than regulatory focus; and (c) priming regulatory mode orientation instead of relying on chronic prevalence of either locomotion or assessment orientation. We found that recipients primed with a locomotion orientation experienced fit, and were more persuaded, when exposed to "dynamic" versus "static" visual images; conversely, recipients primed with an assessment orientation experienced fit and were more persuaded when exposed to "static" versus "dynamic" images. Our findings show that the experience of fit can be induced by visual messages, resulting in positive effects in terms of attitude toward product advertisement and estimated price of advertised products. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

WARNING DISPLAYS IN SPINY ANIMALS: ONE (MORE) EVOLUTIONARY ROUTE TO APOSEMATISM

EVOLUTION, Issue 12 2005
Michael P. Speed
Abstract To date, theoretical or laboratory simulations of aposematic evolution in prey animals have focused narrowly on internally stored chemical defense as the source of unprofitability and ignore aposematic advertisement of physical defenses such as spines (and defensive hairs, claws, etc.). This has occurred even though aposematism in spiny animals has been recognized since the 19th century. In this paper we present the first detailed theoretical consideration of aposematism in spiny animals, focusing on questions of initial evolution, costs of display, and coevolution of displays with defenses. Using an individual-based evolutionary model, we found that spines (or similar physical defenses) can easily evolve without aposematism, but when spines do evolve, aposematic displays can also easily evolve if they help to make the prey animal distinctive and if they draw attention to the physical threat. When aposematic displays evolve, they cause reduced investment in costly spines, so that, in addition to signaling unprofitability, aposematic display may enhance the cost-effectiveness of antipredator defenses (one exception to this conclusion is if the display is itself as costly as the defense). For animals with stinging spines, combining physical and chemical defense, the evolution of aposematic display may lead to reduced investment in the toxin compared to the spine. This occurs because spines act as both secondary (repellent) defenses and as primary defenses (their own visible, honest advertisement), whereas internally stored toxins only (generally) act as repellent secondary defenses. We argue that conspicuous aposematism in spines functions as an attention-getting mechanism, whereas conspicuous aposematic display in purely toxic animals may be explained by signal reliability arguments. Finally, one (more) route by which aposematism may initially evolve is by spiny rather than purely chemically defended species, spreading to species with other forms of secondary defense as the signal becomes common. [source]

EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FOR MULTIVARIATE STABILIZING SEXUAL SELECTION

EVOLUTION, Issue 4 2005
Robert Brooks
Abstract Stabilizing selection is a fundamental concept in evolutionary biology. In the presence of a single intermediate optimum phenotype (fitness peak) on the fitness surface, stabilizing selection should cause the population to evolve toward such a peak. This prediction has seldom been tested, particularly for suites of correlated traits. The lack of tests for an evolutionary match between population means and adaptive peaks may be due, at least in part, to problems associated with empirically detecting multivariate stabilizing selection and with testing whether population means are at the peak of multivariate fitness surfaces. Here we show how canonical analysis of the fitness surface, combined with the estimation of confidence regions for stationary points on quadratic response surfaces, may be used to define multivariate stabilizing selection on a suite of traits and to establish whether natural populations reside on the multivariate peak. We manufactured artificial advertisement calls of the male cricket Teleogryllus commodus and played them back to females in laboratory phonotaxis trials to estimate the linear and nonlinear sexual selection that female phonotactic choice imposes on male call structure. Significant nonlinear selection on the major axes of the fitness surface was convex in nature and displayed an intermediate optimum, indicating multivariate stabilizing selection. The mean phenotypes of four independent samples of males, from the same population as the females used in phonotaxis trials, were within the 95% confidence region for the fitness peak. These experiments indicate that stabilizing sexual selection may play an important role in the evolution of male call properties in natural populations of T. commodus. [source]

COSTS OF AN INDUCED IMMUNE RESPONSE ON SEXUAL DISPLAY AND LONGEVITY IN FIELD CRICKETS

EVOLUTION, Issue 10 2004
Alain Jacot
Abstract Immune system activation may benefit hosts by generating resistance to parasites. However, natural resources are usually limited, causing a trade-off between the investment in immunity and that in other life-history or sexually selected traits. Despite its importance for the evolution of host defense, state-dependent fitness costs of immunity received little attention under natural conditions. In a field experiment we manipulated the nutritional condition of male field crickets Gryllus campestris and subsequently investigated the effect of an induced immune response through inoculation of bacterial lipopolysaccharides. Immune system activation caused a condition-dependent reduction in body condition, which was proportional to the condition-gain during the preceding food-supplementation period. Independent of nutritional condition, the immune insult induced an enduring reduction in daily calling rate, whereas control-injected males fully regained their baseline level of sexual signaling following a temporary decline. Since daily calling rate affects female mate choice under natural conditions, this suggests a decline in male mating success as a cost of induced immunity. Food supplementation enhanced male life span, whereas the immune insult reduced longevity, independent of nutritional status. Thus, immune system activation ultimately curtails male fitness due to a combined decline in sexual display and life span. Our field study thus indicates a key role for fitness costs of induced immunity in the evolution of host defense. In particular, costs expressed in sexually selected traits might warrant the honest advertisement of male health status, thus representing an important mechanism in parasite-mediated sexual selection. [source]

Proportion in the Design of Women's Fashionable Clothing: A 50-Year Retrospective

FAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL, Issue 2 2007
Diana Saiki
Proportion is a major element defining the appearance of apparel. This study identifies the proportions found in women's daywear. Data from 4,026 advertisement and main feature photographs in Vogue magazine from 1945 to 1995 are analyzed. Clothing ensembles are measured from left to right (horizontal proportion) and top to bottom (vertical proportion). The greatest number of observed horizontal proportions is in the 50/50 category, which is a proportion that is well balanced. The most frequent vertical proportion is 35/65, which is close to the golden section or ideal proportion. The proportion most equal to the golden section (40/60) is not the most frequent vertical proportion. In the 1960s, a time marked by social unrest and transition in women's roles in the United States, findings indicate that apparel meeting the guidelines of good proportion were not as common as other times. The study of proportion has application in teaching and critiquing design. [source]

Promoting Female Weight Management in 1920s Print Media: an Analysis of Ladies' Home Journal and Vogue Magazines

FAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL, Issue 3 2004
Tamara D. Fangman
This study explored if and how editorial and advertising content published in 1920s women's magazines promoted the thin female body ideal of that time. The work was guided by symbolic convergence theory, which suggests that rhetorical visions within the media contribute to audience perceptions of social reality. Ladies' Home Journal and Vogue were selected for analysis. Qualitative content analysis revealed three overarching rhetorical visions concerning female weight management. Through these visions, advertisement and editorial content achieved the rhetorical aims of promoting external and internal means of body control; constructing weight loss as readily achievable, safe, and valuable; and constructing body size as indicative of youthfulness, beauty, and fashionability. The role of visual images in supporting these rhetorical visions is discussed, and findings are situated within their social context. In addition, the relevance of the findings to the recurring popularity of the slim female ideal in the 20th century is explored. [source]

Using virtual topologies to manage inter-domain QoS in next-generation networks

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NETWORK MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2010
Ricardo B. Freitas
Recently, several computer fields have turned to virtualization as a way to simplify complex problems. In this context, the Virtual Topology Service (VTS) was created to manage the advertisement and acquisition of virtual topologies (abstractions of the network status of a domain) and their use in inter-domain resource reservation to provide end-to-end quality of service (QoS). As an effort to create new network architectures which could attend current requirements like mobility and context-aware applications and support autonomous, heterogeneous and mobile domains next-generation networks (NGNs) emerged, with Ambient Networks (AN) as one of its instances. With an ever increasing multitude of online applications, end-to-end QoS has become increasingly important, especially for media and real-time uses. In this context, in order to better manage inter-domain QoS in these new networks, better coping with mobile nodes and domains, this work presents a new design and implementation of the VTS, adapted to the AN environment. The new VTS stores resource reservation information to enable the reuse of these reservations when re-establishing QoS after a node/domain movement. This implementation was tested on a real NGN prototype and showed considerable time saving when compared to QoS re-establishment without reusing the reservations. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

A tree-based approach to matchmaking algorithms for resource discovery

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NETWORK MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2008
Md. Rafiqul Islam
One of the essential operations in a distributed computing is resource discovery. A resource discovery service provides mechanisms to identify the set of resources capable of satisfying the requirements of a job from a large collection of resources. The matchmaking framework provides a reasonable solution to resource management in a distributed environment; it is composed of four important components as classified advertisement (classad), matchmaker protocol, matchmaking algorithm and claiming protocols. Most of the time required to find a resource depends on the performance of the matchmaking algorithms. A distributed environment introduces a large set of heterogeneous resources which is always changing. The matchmaking algorithms should incorporate with this highly changing environment. In this paper we proposed a fast and efficient searching method for matchmaking algorithms which also deals with resource heterogeneity. The proposed approach reduces the searching time to a linear function from a cubic function proposed by R. Raman, M. Livny, and M. Solomon. We discuss briefly the working principles of the method and compare the experimental results of the proposed matchmaking algorithm with those of the existing algorithm. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Screening Job Applicants: The Impact of Physical Attractiveness and Application Quality

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT, Issue 2 2000
Lucy M. Watkins
The present study investigated the impact of physical attractiveness and résuméquality on the evaluation of job applicants in the screening phase of the selection process. One hundred and eighty participants were asked to imagine they were a recruiting officer and to screen an application for the position of graduate trainee manager. Participants read a job advertisement and one of two versions of a curriculum vitae, which differed in quality. Attached to the front page of each curriculum vitae was a passport-sized head-and-shoulders photograph of either an average or an attractive female. A control condition with no attached photograph was also included. Participants judged the likelihood with which they would offer an interview to the applicant, the quality of the application, and the likely starting salary they would offer the applicant. Results indicated that attractiveness had no impact when the quality of the application was high but that attractiveness was an advantage when the application was mediocre. When the résumé quality was average the attractive applicant was evaluated more positively than the control, no photograph, applicant; an attractive photograph boosted the evaluation of a mediocre application. Results are discussed in terms of discrimination and implications for the field of human resource management. [source]

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Selected Abstracts

The Battle for Local Identity: An Ethnographic Description of Local/Global Tensions in a New Zealand Advertisement

Gender and Agricultural Imagery: Pesticide Advertisements in the 21st Century Agricultural Transition

Anti-Predator Signals as Advertisements: Evidence in White-Throated Magpie-Jays