Validation of the three-chamber strategy for studying mate choice in medaka

The three-chamber experiment, in which one test animal can choose between two animals placed in physically inaccessible compartments, is a widely adopted strategy for studying sexual preference in animals. Medaka, a small freshwater teleost, is an emerging model for dissecting the neurological/physiological mechanisms underlying mate choice for which intriguing findings have been accumulating. The three-chamber strategy has rarely been adopted in this species; therefore, here we investigated its validity using medaka colour variants that mate assortatively. First, a total of 551 movies, in which a test male and two choice females interacted for 30 min under a free-swimming condition, were manually analysed. The sexual preference of the males, calculated as a courtship ratio, was highly consistent between human observers (r > 0.96), supporting the objectivity of this manual-counting strategy. Second, we tested two types of three-chamber apparatuses, in which choice fish were presented in either a face-to-face or side-by-side location. Test fish (regardless of sex) spent most of the time associating with choice fish in the compartments. However, their sexual preference, calculated as an association ratio, was poorly reproduced when the locations of the choice fish were swapped. Third, the sexual preferences of males quantified using the manual-counting and either of the three-chamber strategies did not correlate (r = 0.147 or 0.297). Hence, we concluded that, even for individuals of a species like medaka, which spawn every day, sexual preference could not be reliably evaluated using the three-chamber strategy. Optimization of the protocol may solve this problem; however, the explanation for the observation that animals that are ready for spawning persist with never-accessible mating partners must be reconsidered.

Neural and Hormonal Basis of Opposite-Sex Preference by Chemosensory Signals

In mammalian reproduction, sexually active males seek female conspecifics, while estrous females try to approach males. This sex-specific response tendency is called sexual preference. In small rodents, sexual preference cues are mainly chemosensory signals, including pheromones. In this article, we review the physiological mechanisms involved in sexual preference for opposite-sex chemosensory signals in well-studied laboratory rodents, mice, rats, and hamsters of both sexes, especially an overview of peripheral sensory receptors, and hormonal and central regulation. In the hormonal regulation section, we discuss potential rodent brain bisexuality, as it includes neural substrates controlling both masculine and feminine sexual preferences, i.e., masculine preference for female odors and the opposite. In the central regulation section, we show the substantial circuit regulating sexual preference and also the influence of sexual experience that innate attractants activate in the brain reward system to establish the learned attractant. Finally, we review the regulation of sexual preference by neuropeptides, oxytocin, vasopressin, and kisspeptin. Through this review, we clarified the contradictions and deficiencies in our current knowledge on the neuroendocrine regulation of sexual preference and sought to present problems requiring further study.

The Beard as Spectacle and Scandal in a Thirteenth-century Hebrew Maqāma

The Eighth Maqāma by Yaʿacov ben Elʿazar (Toledo, ca. 1200) tells the story of ʿAkhbor, a bearded beggar-preacher who is revealed to be rich and lecherous. His sexual preference for a black maid leads his four white/Arab maids to murder him viciously, but not before taking revenge on his beard. In fact, the most notable feature of the false preacher is his gargantuan beard, which occupies a full one-third of the maqāma, and other beards are also excessively described. Following Robert Bartlett, I will relate to the beard as “social text” and explore its abundant symbolical meanings within the surrounding cultures of Islam and Judaism, as well as against the backdrop of Iberian contemporary society. Further, in order to better understand Ben Elʿazar’s manipulation of both the beard and the genre, as well as his emphasis on sexual, anal and scatological humor, I will have recourse to Mikhail Bakhtin’s theoretical discussions of “the grotesque body,” “the carnivalesque,” and to his generic model of the Mennipea.

Sexual Fluidity in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid propagates the reflection of a war-torn city and subsequent challenges faced by two asylum seekers. But sexual fluidity may appear as another key concern of the novel. This paper analyses the traits of sexual fluidity in Nadia, one of the protagonists of the novel experimenting her situation-dependent flexibility in sexual responsiveness. Nadia, in the beginning, is though found as a heterosexual adult girl, over time she becomes sexually fluid. Again, in the last phase of her life, she returns to meet Saeed, her first noteworthy lover with whom she shares the most crucial part of her life in home and abroad. This shifting of sexual attraction elevates questions about her sex/sexual preference broadly considering the concept of nonexclusive attractions and behaviours. Finally the paper comes to a decision how different concepts of sexuality are motivated by cultural, biological, and psychological constructs.

Clinical application in sexual orientation

When we talk about sexual orientation the first think that come into our mind is on the individual’s sexual identity in relation to the gender. But, we should know that sexual orientation and sexual identity are different. Sexual orientation is also generally defined in terms of several groups, such as heterosexuals, where there is psychological, romantic or sexual attraction towards the opposite sex, homosexuals like gay or lesbian with a psychological, social or sexual preference towards the same sex. This paper is one of the assignments in the Multicultural Counseling's subject, which discusses several cases that discuss about client's sexual orientation, then the causes and impacts of the social environment on their sexual orientation. As we know, this problem is a thing that not consider in majority of environment. Also, we convey how future counselors should respond and behave when dealing with sexual orientation clients.Keywords: sexual orientation; sexual identity; future counselor