Media violence and the self: the impact of personalized gaming characters in aggressive video games on aggressive behavior

A recent development in video games is that players can design and personalize their own in-game characters. It was predicted that this innovation could lead to elevations in the intensity of the psychological effects of video games. The present study confirmed this hypothesis, revealing that participants who played an aggressive video game using their own, personalized character exhibited higher levels of aggressive behavior than participants who played an aggressive game with a non-personalized character. The aggressive behavior levels of the own-character players also exceeded those of individuals who played a non-aggressive game, regardless of whether or not they used a personalized character. Process analyses revealed that participants playing a violent video game with a personalized game character experienced more arousal and self-activation than they did when playing with an impersonal, default game character, which in turn increased aggressive responses

Selective exposure and decision framing: The impact of gain and loss framing on confirmatory information search after decisions

When people make decisions, they often prefer to receive information that supports rather than conflicts with their decision. To date, this effect has mainly been investigated in the context of decisions about gains, whereas decisions about losses have received less attention. Based on Prospect Theory, we expected information search to be differently affected by whether people previously have decided about gains or losses. Three studies have revealed that selectivity of information search is stronger after gain-framed rather than after loss-framed decision problems. An investigation of the underlying psychological processes revealed that gain decisions are made with increased subjective decision certainty (i.e. they are easier and less effortful to make), which in turn systematically increases confirmatory information search

Social exclusion and xenophobia: Intolerant attitudes toward ethnic and religious minorities

The present research investigates the effects of social exclusion on attitudes toward ethnic and religious minorities. Native-born German participants who were socially excluded rather than included reported greater approval for stricter legislation regarding the naturalization of immigrants (Study 1), reported greater prejudice against openly observant Muslims (Studies 2 and 3), and stronger agreement with the view that immigrants are financial burdens to the state (Study 4). Social exclusion threatens the sense of personal control, which in turn leads to stronger rejection of stigmatized outgroups (Study 3). When perceived control was experimentally enhanced, the social exclusion effect disappeared (Study 4). The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed

PEDANT covers all complete RefSeq genomes

The PEDANT genome database provides exhaustive annotation of nearly 3000 publicly available eukaryotic, eubacterial, archaeal and viral genomes with more than 4.5 million proteins by a broad set of bioinformatics algorithms. In particular, all completely sequenced genomes from the NCBI's Reference Sequence collection (RefSeq) are covered. The PEDANT processing pipeline has been sped up by an order of magnitude through the utilization of precalculated similarity information stored in the similarity matrix of proteins (SIMAP) database, making it possible to process newly sequenced genomes immediately as they become available. PEDANT is freely accessible to academic users at http://pedant.gsf.de. For programmatic access Web Services are available at http://pedant.gsf.de/webservices.jsp

The Racing-Game Effect: Why Do Video Racing Games Increase Risk-Taking Inclinations?

The present studies investigated why video racing games increase players’ risk-taking inclinations. Four studies reveal that playing video racing games increases risk taking in a subsequent simulated road traffic situation, as well as risk-promoting cognitions and emotions, blood pressure,sensation seeking, and attitudes toward reckless driving. Study 1 ruled out the role of experimental demand in creating such effects. Studies 2 and 3 showed that the effect of playing video racing games on risk taking was partially mediated by changes in selfperceptions as a reckless driver. These effects were evident only when the individual played racing games that reward traffic violations rather than racing games that do not reward traffic violations (Study 3) and when the individual was an active player of such games rather than a passive observer (Study 4). In sum, the results underline the potential negative impact of racing games on traffic safety

Induction of Noxa-Mediated Apoptosis by Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara Depends on Viral Recognition by Cytosolic Helicases, Leading to IRF-3/IFN-β-Dependent Induction of Pro-Apoptotic Noxa

Viral infection is a stimulus for apoptosis, and in order to sustain viral replication many viruses are known to carry genes encoding apoptosis inhibitors. F1L, encoded by the orthopoxvirus modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) has a Bcl-2-like structure. An MVA mutant lacking F1L (MVAΔF1L) induces apoptosis, indicating that MVA infection activates and F1L functions to inhibit the apoptotic pathway. In this study we investigated the events leading to apoptosis upon infection by MVAΔF1L. Apoptosis largely proceeded through the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family protein Bak with some contribution from Bax. Of the family of pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins, only the loss of Noxa provided substantial protection, while the loss of Bim had a minor effect. In mice, MVA preferentially infected macrophages and DCs in vivo. In both cell types wt MVA induced apoptosis albeit more weakly than MVAΔF1L. The loss of Noxa had a significant protective effect in macrophages, DC and primary lymphocytes, and the combined loss of Bim and Noxa provided strong protection. Noxa protein was induced during infection, and the induction of Noxa protein and apoptosis induction required transcription factor IRF3 and type I interferon signalling. We further observed that helicases RIG-I and MDA5 and their signalling adapter MAVS contribute to Noxa induction and apoptosis in response to MVA infection. RNA isolated from MVA-infected cells induced Noxa expression and apoptosis when transfected in the absence of viral infection. We thus here describe a pathway leading from the detection of viral RNA during MVA infection by the cytosolic helicase-pathway, to the up-regulation of Noxa and apoptosis via IRF3 and type I IFN signalling

Electronmicroscopic studies of the assemblies and structures of small heat shock proteins

Kleine Hitzeschockproteine (sHsps) sind eine weit verbreitete und facettenreiche Subklasse von Hitzeschockproteinen. Die Rolle der sHsps bei der Erhaltung der Proteinhomeostase unter Stressbedingungen ist länger bekannt. Jedoch sind bezüglich der Verknüpfung ihrer Struktur mit ihrer Funktion noch viele Fragen offen. In dieser Arbeit stand die strukturelle Untersuchung polydisperser Assemblierungen von sHsps aus verschiedenen eukaryotischen Organismen mittels Transmissions-Elektronenmikroskopie und Einzelpartikelanalyse im Vordergrund. Dabei konnten für drei Vertreter 3D-Rekonstruktionen bei mittlerer Auflösung erhalten werden. Für weitere sHsps wurde das dynamische Verhalten der Oligomere bestätigt.Small heat shock proteins (sHsps) are wide spread and manifold subclass of heat shock proteins. It is well known that sHsps play an important roll for proteinhomeostasis under stress conditions. However, still lot of questions exist concerning the connection between their structure and function. The focus of this study is on the structural analysis polydisperse assemblies of sHsps different eukaryotic organisms with transmission electron microscopy and single particle analysis. 3D-reconstructions at medium resolution could be obtained for three proteins. The dynamic behaviour of the oligomers could be confirmed for further sHsps

HEXACO, the Dark Triad, and Chat GPT: Who is willing to commit academic cheating?

The rise in popularity of Chat GPT, an advanced language model that uses deep learning techniques to simulate human-like conversation, has raised concerns about its potential misuse, particularly in academic contexts. The present study (N = 283) explored the relationship between personality traits and the intention to use chatbot-generated texts for academic cheating. Among the HEXACO and Dark Triad traits, Honesty-Humility, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience (all negative), Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy (all positive) were significant predictor variables. A multiple regression analysis showed that Honesty-Humility had the most robust association with the intention to use chatbot-generated texts for academic cheating. Further analyses on the facet level revealed that the fairness facet of Honesty-Humility was the most predictive, suggesting that individuals high in Honesty-Humility refrain from using chatbot-generated texts for academic cheating as they prioritize fairness over their own interests. Promoting Honesty-Humility and its fairness facet can be a valuable approach to promoting ethical behavior in academic and other contexts