Violent Condition Research Articles

Games, hormones, and “dark” personalities: Dark tetrad and the effects of violent gaming on aggression, cortisol, and testosterone

We investigated how playing a violent versus non-violent video game affects cortisol and testosterone levels, whether these hormonal changes increase implicit aggressive cognition, and whether so-called Dark Tetrad personality traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, everyday sadism) moderate these effects. Fifty-four men played either a violent or a non-violent video game for 25 min. Participants provided salivary samples at the beginning of the experiment (T1), after 25 min of gameplay (T2), and 20 min after gameplay ended (T3). In the violent condition, participants showed a significant decrease in cortisol levels (T1 to T2) and a significant negative trend in cortisol levels from T1 to T3. Moreover, higher Machiavellianism scores were related to a significantly stronger decrease in cortisol (T1 to T2) in this condition. In the non-violent condition, however, participants with higher scores in Machiavellianism had a higher increase in cortisol (T1 to T2). In contrast to changes in hormonal levels, there were no significant effects on implicit aggressive cognition. The present findings illustrate the complex interplay between personality, hormones, and game content, thus further specifying current notions on the effects of violent video games. Playing a violent video game can have a stress-reducing calming effect depending on personality traits such as Machiavellianism and the psychological need satisfaction associated with it. Also, the fact that VVG exposure was not automatically accompanied by an aggression-increasing effect proves that simple cause-effect models are not sufficiently specified without taking the underlying mechanisms into account.

Failure analysis on wave compensator and hull structure of trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) under Medium-Long period wave

In the process of dredging construction, the trailing suction dredger (TSHD) in the medium-long period waves usually encounters a violent 6-DOF (six degree of freedom) motion. It may lead to the failure of the wave compensator beyond its stroke, and also the failure of structural strength due to the impact of drag arm. Based on the CFD method, the motion simulation of a 10000 m3 TSHD under medium-long period waves is carried out, the most violent condition is found as wave height of 3.5 m, period of 12 s, and direction of 90°, with the peak values of roll and heave are 10.84° and 1.18 m. For TSHD under dredging state, the stress on hull and drag arm is calculated. FEM simulation is used to analyze the structural dynamic response and strength failure of the hull structure in collision with drag arm. Finally, the impact of wave conditions on the collision between drag arm and hull is summarized, and the basic safe wave conditions for the failure of the drag arm, hull, and wave compensator are determined to guide the construction safety of TSHD.

Brain Activity and Aggressive Behavior of Online Gamers

Research has shown mixed results in studies of online gaming and its effects, including aggression. The purpose of the current study is to examine the effects of a violent and non-violent game on aggression levels and brain activity. Forty-seven participants completed online questionnaires during pre- and post-gaming. During gaming, participants were randomly assigned to play either an action survival game or puzzle game. A mobile electroencephalography (EEG) recording device was used to record brain activity. Questionnaire results show significant positive correlations between problematic online gaming and aggression. The sub-dimensions of immersion, overuse and physical aggression showed a tendency to increase in the violent condition, while social isolation decreased in the non-violent condition. EEG data revealed some distinctions between the conditions. Frontal asymmetry analyses showed withdrawal-related activation throughout the experiment. Findings obtained suggest a behavioral and neurological distinction in playing different types of games.

Dissociable effects of acute versus cumulative violent video game exposure on the action simulation circuit in university students

ABSTRACT There is an ongoing debate as to whether violent video game exposure (VGE) has a negative impact on social functioning. This debate continues in part because of methodological concerns and the paucity of identifiable neurocognitive mechanisms. Also, little attention has been given to how specific personality characteristics may influence susceptibility to the purported effects. Using a combined experimental and cross-sectional approach, we examined the impact of VGE on action simulation as a function of trait coldheartedness in a sample of university students. Healthy adults played a violent or nonviolent version of Grand Theft Auto V before completing an fMRI measure of action simulation circuit (ASC) activity. Simulation-related activity was not significantly different between groups; however, greater overall activation was observed in left inferior frontal gyrus for those in the violent condition. Contrary to predictions, no evidence was observed that trait coldheartedness significantly interacts with violent gaming to influence ASC activation. However, prior cumulative VGE was negatively correlated with simulation-related activity in a subsection of the ASC. This study highlights a potential dissociation between the effects of acute versus cumulative violent gaming and may challenge assumptions that the directionality of effects for cross-sectional associations always mirror those of acute exposure.

Sustaining a Nonviolent Self: Mahatma Gandhi, Madeleine Slade, and Manu Gandhi

Abstract Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) articulated and practised a unique ideology of ahimsa, nonviolence, in his life. Most importantly, ahimsa included refusing the needs and pleasures of the body – sex, food, care, and desire. For Gandhi, embodiment was an intrinsically violent condition, but he ultimately did live in his body. In this paper, I argue that while he perfected a nonviolent selfhood for himself, he relied on the physical and emotional labour of others, particularly the women in his ashrams (and life), to do so. I analyse the writings of two of his women followers, Madeleine Slade (Mirabehn) and Manu Gandhi (his grandniece, with whom he did his infamous experiment of celibacy), to investigate the contours of Gandhi’s selfhood through his interpersonal relationships and quotidian interactions with others. I argue that Gandhi developed a higher-than-human and nonviolent self by denying and repressing his human needs and desires, and by outsourcing some parts of his human self to Madeleine Slade and Manu Gandhi rather violently.

An unbound critical lived-built environment

Through engaged analysis of entangled research-based practice, this article argues that thresholds of distinction between environmental or conflict-based violence are unbound across Lebanon’s critical lived–built environment. Drawing on the fields of architecture, law, art and cultural production, this investigative scope is engaged through de-colonial, feminist and critical legal theory and method. The analysis in this article is an attempt at dismantling the inherent asymmetric power structures – legal, political and architectural – operating through violent risk, which continue to evade certain frames of accountability. This is done to reveal the complexity of this violent limit condition and its materializations, in the proposal of a progressive methodological imagining and investigation: an unbound critical lived–built environment.

The Effect of Media Violence on Early Teens’ Hostility

As violence shown in films steadily increases, notably in those targeted towards the teenage audience, this research looks into its effect specifically by observing the change in audiences’ hostility. An experiment was done on 125 Indonesian secondary school students to observe the effect of exposure to media violence on their feelings of hostility, measured using Anderson’s State Hostility Scale (1995, 2012). Students’ hostility scores were measured beforeand after being exposed to an assigned clip; either a violent clip, or an equally exciting but non-violent clip as a control group. Results showed that those in the violent condition were significantly more hostile after watching than before watching, and those in the violent condition were significantly more hostile post-exposure than those in the non-violent condition. Out of the four dimensions of hostility, the dimension ‘Lack of positive feelings’ was significantly highest in both conditions, and only the dimension ‘Aggravation’ significantly differed between the two conditions. These findings indicate that exposure to media violenceraises teen audiences’ hostility levels significantly, which implies that further precaution should be taken when exposing teens to certain film content which has significant immediate effects ontheir moods, while also raising the issue of its potential long-term effects, should this exposure be continuous.

Experimental Study on Sloshing Characteristics in the Elastic Tank Based on Morlet Wavelet Transform

Hydroelastic effect of sloshing is studied through an experimental investigation. Different excitation frequencies are considered with low-fill-depth and large amplitude. Morlet wavelet transform is introduced to analyze the free surface elevations and sloshing pressures. It focuses on variations and distributions of the wavelet energy in elastic tanks. The evolutions of theoretical and experimental wavelet spectra are discussed and the corresponding Fourier spectrums are compared. Afterwards, average values of the wavelet spectra are extracted to do a quantitative study at various points. From the wavelet analysis, sloshing energies are mainly distributed around the external excitation frequency and expanded to high frequencies under violent condition. In resonance, experimental wavelet energy of the elevation in elastic tanks is obviously less than that in the rigid one; for sloshing pressures, the elastic wavelet energy close to the rigid one and conspicuous impulse is observed. It recommends engineers to concern the primary natural frequency and impulsive peak pressures.

Modulações do existir: entre luzes e sombras

From a critical viewpoint on somatic approaches, contemporary researchers are attuned to a clinic built in the intervals of language communication. The infantile hide-and-seek play that makes disappearance in the connective absence of the look –the eye-to-eye contact as a slippery place to the Outside –points to the universe of small perceptions that inhabit intensive communication. In seeking the concept of Nature as an alliance to expand knowledge about human suffering, Winnicott establishes a critical distance from the classical psychoanalytic model, restoring to thought its problematic dimension and thus approaching current clinicians, researchers and philosophers who stand against the increasingly violent condition of subjection practices.

Management of Craniocerebral Gunshot Injuries: A Review.

Craniocerebral gunshot injuries (CGI) are increasingly encountered by neurosurgeons in civilian and urban settings. Unfortunately this is a prevalent condition in developing countries, with major armed conflicts which is not very likely to achieve a high rate of prevention. Management goals should focus on early aggressive, vigorous resuscitation and correction of coagulopathy; those with stable vital signs undergo brain computed tomography scan. Neuroimaging is vital for surgical purposes, especially for determine type surgery, size and location of the approach, route of extraction of the foreign body; however not always surgical management is indicated, there is also the not uncommon decision to choose non-surgical management. The treatment consist of immediate life salvage, through control of persistent bleeding and cerebral decompression; prevention of infection, through extensive debridement of all contaminated, macerated or ischemic tissues; preservation of nervous tissue, through preventing meningocerebral scars; and restoration of anatomic structures through the hermetic seal of dura and scalp. There have been few recent studies involving penetrating craniocerebral injuries, and most studies have been restricted to small numbers of patients; classic studies in military and civil environment have identified that this is a highly lethal or devastating violent condition, able to leave marked consequences for the affected individual, the family and the health system itself. Various measures have been aimed to lower the incidence of CGI, especially in civilians. It is necessarily urgent to promote research in a neurocritical topic such as CGI, looking impact positively the quality of life for those who survive.

Martin HägglundDying for Time: Proust, Woolf, NabokovDying for Time: Proust, Woolf, Nabokov. Martin Hägglund. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012. Pp. 197.

<i>Martin Hägglund</i>Dying for Time: Proust, Woolf, Nabokov<i>Dying for Time: Proust, Woolf, Nabokov</i>. Martin Hägglund. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012. Pp. 197.

Hobbes and the Wolf-Man: Melancholy and Animality in Modern Sovereignty

Homo homini lupus, man is a wolf to man, remains one of the most well-known and often quoted dicta in the tradition of political theory. Political theorists take this phrase by Thomas Hobbes in the Epistle Dedicatory of De Cive to illustrate the brutish, anarchical, and violent condition of man in the state of nature, prior to the establishment of a civil state. Contrary to conventional wisdom, I suggest that this brief passage directs our attention to lycanthropy: an acute, melancholic syndrome which seventeenth-century scholars thought could turn humans into animals. I suggest that Hobbes's political theory stands for a therapeutic intervention to curb the lycanthropic tendencies of his time. Hobbes's shock therapy implies leaving animality behind, as nonpolitical, and securing humanity in an artificial commonwealth. However, Hobbes's intervention will be insufficient, as the animality left behind, excluded from the realm of politics, will return reinstating symptoms of lycanthropy.

Hobbes and the Wolf-Man: Animality and Melancholy in Modern Sovereignty

Homo homini lupus, man is a wolf to man, remains one of the most well-known and often quoted dicta in the tradition of political theory. Political theorists take this phrase by Thomas Hobbes in the Epistle Dedicatory of De Cive to illustrate the brutish, anarchical, and violent condition of man in the state of nature, prior to the establishment of a civil state. Contrary to conventional wisdom, I suggest that this brief passage directs our attention to lycanthropy: an acute, melancholic syndrome which seventeenth-century scholars thought could turn humans into animals. I suggest that Hobbes's political theory stands for a therapeutic intervention to curb the lycanthropic tendencies of his time. Hobbes's shock therapy implies leaving animality behind, as nonpolitical, and securing humanity in an artificial commonwealth. However, Hobbes's intervention will be insufficient, as the animality left behind, excluded from the realm of politics, will return reinstating symptoms of lycanthropy.

Retaliatory Aggression and the Effects of Point of View and Blood in Violent Video Games

In this study, an experimental design was utilized to test, first, the effect of a violent game versus a no game control on physical and verbal aggression and retaliatory aggression against a confederate. In addition, the effects of two internal video game manipulations were explored. Overall, those in the violent game condition were more verbally and physically aggressive than those in the no game condition. In terms of internal game features, third-person play with the blood on, especially when combined with aggressive cognitions and to some extent, hostile affect, encouraged more aggressive outcomes.

Playing a violent television game affects heart rate variability

To investigate how playing a violent/nonviolent television game during the evening affects sympathetic and parasympathetic reactions during and after playing as well as sleep quality during the night after playing. In total, 19 boys, 12-15 years of age, played television games on two occasions in their homes and participated once without gaming. Heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) and physical activity were measured during gaming/participating and the night to follow using a portable combined heart rate and movement sensor. A sleep diary and questionnaires about gaming experiences and session-specific experiences were filled in. Criteria for Selection of Games: Violent game involves/rewards direct physical violence (no handguns) against another person, and nonviolent game involves/rewards no violence; same game design ('third-person game'); conducted in the same manner; no differences concerning motor activity; similar sound and light effects; no sexual content, violence against women or racial overtones. During violent (vs. nonviolent) gaming, there was significantly higher activity of the very low frequency component of the HRV and total power. During the night after playing, very low frequency, low frequency and high frequency components were significantly higher during the violent (vs. nonviolent) condition, just as total power. There were no significant differences between the three conditions (violent/nonviolent/no gaming) with respect to an index reflecting subjectively perceived sleep difficulties. Nor was there any difference between violent and nonviolent condition for any single sleep item. Violent gaming induces different autonomic responses in boys compared to nonviolent gaming--during playing and during the following night--suggesting different emotional responses. Subjectively perceived sleep quality is not influenced after a single gaming experience. Future studies should address the development of the autonomic balance after gaming over longer time than a night, physiological adaptation to frequent gaming and potential gender differences.

Indivíduo e racionalidade na cultura pós-moderna, uma discussão segundo Gramsci e Adorno

This article investigates the relationship between individual and society, regarding the reflections of Gramsci and Adorno on the theme, as well as the postmodern announcement of subject's death. Regarding the modern roots of the subject conception in Kant, Marx and Freud, the text sustains the hypothesis that the announcement that celebrates the non-existence of an autonomous and conscious subject is a conceptual product of a historical violent condition, once the modern reflection on subject was never accomplished in essence way, but always in terms of elucidation and project.

Experimental study of the differential effects of playing versus watching violent video games on children's aggressive behavior

There is great concern about the effects of playing violent video games on aggressive behavior. The present experimental study was aimed at investigating the differential effects of actively playing vs. passively watching the same violent video game on subsequent aggressive behavior. Fifty-seven children aged 10-13 either played a violent video game (active violent condition), watched the same violent video game (passive violent condition), or played a non-violent video game (active non-violent condition). Aggression was measured through peer nominations of real-life aggressive incidents during a free play session at school. After the active participation of actually playing the violent video game, boys behaved more aggressively than did the boys in the passive game condition. For girls, game condition was not related to aggression. These findings indicate that, specifically for boys, playing a violent video game should lead to more aggression than watching television violence.

Biotransformation of piceid in Polygonum cuspidatum to resveratrol by Aspergillus oryzae

Biotransformation of piceid in Polygonum cuspidatum to resveratrol by Aspergillus oryzae was investigated in this study. Resveratrol is widely used in medicine, food, and cosmetic because of its pharmacological properties. However, it has a much lower content in plants compared with its glucoside piceid, which has a much lower bioavailability. Traditionally, the aglycone is acquired by acid or enzymatic hydrolysis of its glucoside, but the violent condition and the acid pollution in hydrolytic reaction and the high cost of the enzyme limit their industrial development. In this paper, fermentation of P. cuspidatum by A. oryzae was successfully performed, during which, piceid was converted to resveratrol with the highest yield of trans-resveratrol 1.35%, 3.6 times higher than that obtained from raw herb by microwave-assisted extraction. Scale-up production was also performed and the yield of trans-resveratrol was 3.1 times higher after 24 h incubation. Therefore, biotransformation is a better method to increase the yield of resveratrol because of its high yield and mild conditions.

The marital violence under a gender view: domination and possibility of destruction of the hegemonily idealized model of marriage

This study is intended to enlarge the understanding of marital violence. In a qualitative analysis the research investigated what marital violence does mean to women victims of this kind of violence and how it affects their biological, emotional and social life. The results of the qualitative material in this research were achieved through interviews with women in situation of reported violence whose speeches were analyzed under the perspective of Fiorin 3. The analysis of the speeches showed that marital violence is a manifestation of the power assimmetry present in the relation of the genders and the women´s emotional feelings as well as their standard idealized profile as woman, wife and mother turned out to be a strong hidrance to their liberation from that violent relation and oppressive condition. The difficulty to face such a condition results in women having to go on living with their aggressors, which makes marital violence a recurrent, multifaceted phenomenon affecting their physical, mental and social health. Key words: Violence against women, gender and health, gender identity, power.

The Effect of Viewing Varying Levels and Contexts of Violent Sports Programming on Enjoyment, Mood,and Perceived Violence

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the levels and contexts of sports violence and viewer enjoyment, mood, and perceptions of violence. To this end, 188 participants viewed clips in 1 of 3 viewing conditions: nonviolent play, unscripted violent play, and scripted violent play. Findings indicated that viewers enjoyed the violent play more than the nonviolent, enjoyed the unscripted violent play more than the scripted, and found the scripted violent play to be less suspenseful and more violent than the unscripted play. Furthermore, members of the scripted violent play condition reported less positive moods after viewing, especially female and nonsports-fan participants. Possible implications of the findings for entertainment researchers are discussed.