Why Are We Fascinated with Violence? An Investigation of Mass Media’s Role in Depicting Violence as Entertainment.

A literature review was conducted to determine the most common patterns in violence- related topics portrayed in mass media. Psychological research suggests that violence is a by-product of society: as a learned behavior, violence and aggression are experienced through modeling by adults, peers, and outside sources. With the vast emergence of mass media in the 20th and 21st centuries, mass media channels have been branded “responsible” for the formation of aggressive behaviors in children and young adults. The relationship between publications of violent events in mass media and viewers’ role is far more complicated. Mass media is a common way of communicating new information and serves as a source of entertainment. When speaking of crime, the line between news and entertainment is often blurred. Mass media, like daily newspapers and news channels, present the most up-to-date information about many events, including crime. Serving as the gatekeepers between criminal events and the public, these news outlets have the power to maintain what stays “hot,” the power to leave out certain details, or to present events in the light that is most appealing to the average viewer. Sensational, most gruesome cases become especially newsworthy. Cases like robbery, rape, murder, and aggravated assault amount to only 11% of all criminal cases; serial killings amount for less than 1% of all criminal cases; and the vast majority of incarcerated adults are nonviolent offenders. Nevertheless, it appears that these cases are far more commonplace and frequent. The frequency paradox, a term developed while working on this project, is the irrational idea that random violent crimes are far more prevalent and commonplace than they actually are, due to the frequency and the dramatized way in which mass media outlets present them to the viewers. Only one-fifth of violent crimes made national news broadcasts in the past twenty years; the majority of them include elements of “sensationalism” – especially those that are violent, have unusually high death tolls, and tend to stir political discussions. The frequency paradox may be responsible for creating moral panics, a public outcry for political change. The frequency paradox, however, does not apply to all channels of mass media, but only those that value quantity over quality. New-generation mass media, like podcasts, YouTube channels, true crime books, and unsolved mystery documentaries have created a space for crime-obsessed individuals to talk about true crime to other crime-obsessed individuals. New-generation mass media creates a deviated culture from those who are merely interested in “consuming” crime as mindless entertainment. New-generation mass media calls for help from the investigator within us, spending hours listening to facts and evidence of crimes, and to aid in solving them. This contemplative space challenges the frequency paradox with public action to solve murder mysteries and disappearance cases. This project will suggest an idea that emergence of new generation true crime media is a product of socially-aware, socially- educated, socially-connected Millennials..

Isoperiodic deformations of the acoustic operator and periodic solutions of the Harry Dym equation

We consider the problem of describing the possible spectra of an acoustic operator with a periodic finite-gap density. We construct flows on the moduli space of algebraic Riemann surfaces that preserve the periods of the corresponding operator. By a suitable extension of the phase space, these equations can be written with quadratic irrationalities.Comment: 15 page

Ligophorus abditus n. sp. (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) and other species of Ligophorus Euzet & Suriano, 1977 infecting the flathead grey mullet Mugil cephalus L. in the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea

As a result of the re-examination of museum slides and new material of monogeneans collected from Mugil cephalus L. in the Sea of Japan, the estuary of a river which flows into the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea (off Zhifu, at the boundary of the Bohai Sea) and the East China Sea (off the Ryukyu Islands), five species of Ligophorus Euzet & Suriano, 1977 were identified, one of which is new. The known species are L. chabaudi Euzet & Suriano, 1977, L. cheleus Rubtsova, Balbuena & Sarabeev, 2007, L. domnichi Rubtsova, Balbuena & Sarabeev, 2007 and L. pacificus Rubtsova, Balbuena & Sarabeev, 2007, which are reported from the Yellow Sea; in addition, L. domnichi is reported for the first time from the East China Sea. Ligophorus abditus n. sp., from the Sea of Japan, differs from its most similar congeners, L. pacificus and L. domnichi, in the shapes of the dorsal anchors and the accessory piece of the male copulatory organ. A comparison of all of the species of Ligophorus recovered from M. cephalus in the Sea of Japan was carried out using Principal Component Analysis, and their distribution and origin are discussed

Characteristic properties of goal-setting ability among students of first, third and final years of studying

This article represents analysis of the goal-setting problem in modern psychology and the results of experimental studies of goal-setting ability among the students of first, third and final years of studying and postgraduates of the Kazan (Volga region) Federal University. This article also provides the characteristic properties of development of goal-setting ability at different stages of studying and recommendations on the training related to the development of goal-setting ability at different stages of studying. © IDOSI Publications, 2014

“Siena Case”: the Political Development of the Siena of the Renaissance in Historiography of the Second Half of XX-XXI Centuries

The basic approaches to the study of the political development and government of Siena, one of the Italian republics of the Renaissance, are examined. The works of Western, especially Italian, historians of the second half of the XX - beginning of the XXI centuries are analyzed. The novelty of the study is that the author summarizes the results of studying the problem, shows the evolution of approaches to its solution, introduces the reader to modern views on it. An urgent question about the specifics of the Renaissance state by the example of the formation of Siena statehood in the second half of the XIV - first half of the XVI centuries has been raised. Based on a study of the works touching upon this problem, the author shows that during the study period the issue of the features of Siena’s political and state development was considered from different perspectives and underwent evolution from the problem of the decline of Siena to the problems of autonomy of the Siena state within the “Medici state”. Analysis of Western historiography of this period leads the author to agree with the conclusions of Italian scientists that the formation of a system of “parties” and coalition governments in Siena determines not only the relatively late formation of Signoria Petrucci, but also the specifics of Siena’s political and state development a kind of historical alternative to the Florentine signoria

Математическое моделирование распространения электромагнитных волн в неоднородных линиях

Здійснено аналітичне дослідження поширення електромагнітних хвиль у ізотропних неоднорідних лініях при наявності так званих експофункціональних впливів. Математичне моделювання базується на відповідних крайових задачах, де ЧДУ (диференціальне рівняння у частинних похідних) є загальним хвильовим рівнянням відносно шуканої напруженості електромагнітного поля. Дане ЧДУ, у свою чергу, породжено диференціальною системою Максвелла спеціального вигляду. Критерій розв’язання цієї системи доведено у сенсі еквівалентності загальному хвильовому рівнянню у класі неузагальнених функцій. Точний розв'язок вищезгаданих крайових задач одержано класичним методом інтегральних перетворень.Analytical study of electromagnetic wave propagation is done in the case of isotropic inhomogeneous lines in the presence of the so called expofunctional influences. Mathematical simulation is based on the corresponding boundary problems whose PDE (partial differential equation) is the general wave one regarding the unknown electromagnetic field intensities. This PDE, in its turn, is generated by the specific form of differential Maxwell system. Solvability criterion of the latter is proved in terms of equivalence to the general wave equation in the class of non generalized functions. Those boundary problems explicit solutions are suggested using classical integral transform method.Осуществлено аналитическое исследование распространения электромагнитных волн в изотропных неоднородных линиях при наличии так называемых экспофункциональных воздействий. Математическое моделирование основано на соответствующих краевых задачах, где ЧДУ (дифференциальное уравнение в частных производных) является общим волновым уравнением относительно искомых напряженностей электромагнитного поля. Данное ЧДУ, в свою очередь, порождается дифференциальной системой Максвелла специального вида. Критерий разрешимости этой системы доказан в смысле эквивалентности общему волновому уравнению в классе необобщенных функций. Точное решение вышеупомянутых краевых задач получено классическим методом интегральных преобразований

DNA double-strand breaks induced by high NaCl occur predominantly in gene deserts

High concentration of NaCl increases DNA breaks both in cell culture and in vivo. The breaks remain elevated as long as NaCl concentration remains high and are rapidly repaired when the concentration is lowered. The exact nature of the breaks, and their location, has not been entirely clear, and it has not been evident how cells survive, replicate, and maintain genome integrity in environments like the renal inner medulla in which cells are constantly exposed to high NaCl concentration. Repair of the breaks after NaCl is reduced is accompanied by formation of foci containing phosphorylated H2AX (γH2AX), which occurs around DNA double-strand breaks and contributes to their repair. Here, we confirm by specific comet assay and pulsed-field electrophoresis that cells adapted to high NaCl have increased levels of double-strand breaks. Importantly, γH2AX foci that occur during repair of the breaks are nonrandomly distributed in the mouse genome. By chromatin immunoprecipitation using anti-γH2AX antibody, followed by massive parallel sequencing (ChIP-Seq), we find that during repair of double-strand breaks induced by high NaCl, γH2AX is predominantly localized to regions of the genome devoid of genes (“gene deserts”), indicating that the high NaCl-induced double-strand breaks are located there. Localization to gene deserts helps explain why the DNA breaks are less harmful than are the random breaks induced by genotoxic agents such as UV radiation, ionizing radiation, and oxidants. We propose that the universal presence of NaCl around animal cells has directly influenced the evolution of the structure of their genomes

Ligophorus llewellyni n. sp. (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) from the redlip mullet Liza haematocheilus (Temminck & Schlegel) introduced into the Black Sea from the Far East

Ligophorus llewellyni n. sp. (Ancyrocephalidae: Ligophorus Euzet & Suriano, 1977) is described from the gills of Liza haematocheilus (Temminck & Schlegel) introduced into the Black Sea from the Far East. Ligophorus llewellyni is closely related to L. pilengas Sarabeev & Balbuena, 2004, which parasitises the same host species. The two species differ in the morphology of the accessory piece of the copulatory organ and in some of the characters of the haptoral hard-parts. The morphometric variability of L. llewellyni and in its morphologically most similar congeners from the Black Sea is studied. Correlations between 30 morphometric characters of the haptoral hard-parts and the significance of each for species differentiation are examined. It is suggested that only 22 characters are useful as diagnostic criteria permitting the differentiation of morphologically similar species of Ligophorus

Breeding behavior and pup development of the Caspian seal, Pusa caspica

The Caspian seal, Pusa caspica, is an ice-breeding phocid endemic to the Caspian Sea. The breeding behavior of this species is poorly documented. Here, we report behavioral observations of 518 mother-pup pairs and 210 lone pups, made from the bridge of icebreakers traversing seal breeding grounds while servicing oil installations in the northeastern Caspian Sea, during 34 trips from late January to early March, 2006-2012. The breeding habitat of Caspian seals is land-fast or drift ice, usually at least 20 cm thick, overlying water 3–5 m deep. Pregnant females formed pairs or small groups. They were not observed to use lairs, but preferentially pupped beside ice ridges or ice-slab piles that afforded shelter to pups. In years when there were few natural leads into the ice-field, females often gave birth on the edge of artificial leads formed by shipping channels. Pups were categorized into stages from newborn (1), white-coat (2), molting (3), and molted (4), with Stage 3 and 4 pups appearing from mid to late February. The nursing period lasted at least 3 weeks and neighboring mother-pup pairs appeared to be mutually tolerant. Mothers left their pups alone or at nursery sites, presumably to forage. Most white-coat pups moved over the ice while avoiding water in response to disturbance from vessels. Mother-pup pairs maintained contact while moving across the ice by a combination of the pup’s following response and diligent chaperoning by the mother. During disturbances some lone pups sought refuge in shelters under ice slabs, whereas others followed a neighboring mother-pup pair away from the vessel. Male-female pairing occurred in late season with no male-male competition observed on the ice. While breeding and pup rearing behavior of Caspian seals has some features in common with that of other Holarctic seals, it is largely distinct and adapted to the unique conditions of the Caspian environment, in particular the paucity of snow cover on the ice