Human Side Research Articles

The Indigenous Status of the Hungarian Language Community in the Carpathian Basin : A Historical and Contemporary Interpretation.

The notion of ‘indigenous’ as described in international regulations and resolutions is adjusted to the situation of the Hungarian language community in the Carpathian Basin, with special reference to the Hungarian minorities in the countries along the Hungarian border. The regional communities of the Hungarian minorities beyond the borders should be seen indigenous groups since 1920, with the flexible semantic extension of ‘indigenousness’. Significant parts of the Hungarian language community were annexed to the newly formed non-Hungarian states. The then new state borders cut through natural geographic, and mostly homogenous Hungarian ethnic, ethnographic, regional cultural and dialectal territories. Those left behind the borders became indigenous, while staying on their homeland. This interpretation is based on the linguistic and cultural features of the minorities in question, to point to the human side of their historical developments and present state.

The Human Side of Cyber Takedowns: Theory and Evidence from GitHub

The Human Side of Cyber Takedowns: Theory and Evidence from GitHub

Noticias sobre los catálogos monumentales de España en el epistolario de José Gestoso (1852-1917)

The aim of this paper is to reveal unpublished news on the production of Spain’s monumental catalogues. This information has been located in the epistolary collection of the Sevillian scholar José Gestoso, kept at the Institución Colombina in Seville. This information has been extracted from the letters this personality received from some of his authors. It helps to trace the intrahistory of one of the most important projects undertaken in Spain in favour of the knowledge and protection of historical and artistic heritage. Given the private nature of the documentation, the more human side of the cataloguing tasks is perceived, and how they were conceived and interpreted personally and individually by their protagonist

Applying Lean Thinking to Improve Operational Safety in Oil and Gas Industry

The oil and gas industry with its stringent safety policies, standards, rules and procedures still experience minor-to-major operational accidents/incidents in petroleum exploration and production processes. The root causes of incidents in upstream and downstream sectors are attributed to humans and organizational factors. The sector has been revolutionizing its safety system by way of risk identification and management and hazards hunt at a workplace to reduce the risk level of fatal and non-fatal injuries. In this research, the authors apply lean philosophy to surface the challenges of oil and gas safety system in an innovative way by identifying problems at root source and addressing it with employees’ engagement and involvement to continuously improve the safety system. The application of lean thinking has been proven in healthcare and manufacturing industries where this research makes parallel to take advantage of the experiences of the lean founders. Safety should not be a priority as priorities could change based on situations. Instead, safety should be an embedded business value that could be value streamed along the value chain, with value considered from the perspective of customer value that can also include the internal customer, employees. The purpose of this study is to find out why stringent oil and gas safety standards, procedures and rules have not spared the industry from occurrences of occupational accidents and incidents. Therefore, this study aims in addressing how offshore oil and gas exploration and production operational safety can be improved through lean thinking, where upstream work processes are streamlined to improve workplace visibility, eliminate wastes, improve structural sustainability as well as HSE risks and improve operational safety. The study focuses on human side of occupational safety improvement through direct employees’ involvement, workforce engagement and lean thinking application using lean philosophy, practice and tools. The study comprises five parts that are: Introduction, literature review, research methodology, result, discussion and conclusion.

In Search of Zorba: Are You Fit to Lead an Online Distance Education Organisation?

Are you fit to lead an online distance learning organisation? Within the context of the Zorba factor, this is the focus of this paper. Ten key questions are presented for you to self-assess your leadership capacity in online learning. The questions address your capacity to build trust, create a vision, accept the leadership deal, lead effective change, create the right team, delegate with autonomy, deploy technology as tools, step aside and allow others to assume leadership roles, make planning continuous rather than optional and build and nurture all of these under the core foundation of the search for Zorba – the human side of enterprise. The search for Zorba is about putting humanity back in leadership and refocusing and reframing leadership with humanistic values that empower and sustain organisation and its members. The Zorba Factor is the glue that binds the organisation, its members, partners and stakeholders and society together. It gives the organisation and its members meaning and purpose. In the final analysis, the search for Zorba is about finding the passion and humanity in each of us.

The human side of austerity: health spending and outcomes during the Greek crisis

SUMMARY The Greek crisis was the deepest in post-war Europe. Public spending on health, that had grown extremely fast in the first decade of the 2000s, was cut by almost 40% between 2010 and 2016, also an unparalleled figure in post-war Europe. Although some of the cuts were mitigated by a system of clawback on the private pharmaceutical industry and by increased household out of pocket expenditure, the provision of health services was also greatly impacted by the spread of long-term unemployment, which in the employment-based Greek system left possibly millions of individuals without access to health services, until universal coverage was effectively restored in 2016. In this paper I aim at establishing the basic facts about the health crisis. Although care must be exercised in not presenting a simplistic, uniformly bleak picture, I show that several indicators point to a substantial deterioration in the health outcomes of the Greek population during the critical years of loss of universal coverage until 2016, in particular for the more vulnerable sectors of the population.

Examining Humanity in Bernard Beckett’s Genesis: Anaximander, Plato, Classical Philosophy and Gothic in Dystopian Fiction for Young Adults

New Zealand author Bernard Beckett’s young adult novel Genesis (2006) blends classical philosophy and Gothic tropes in a dystopian novel about the nature and ends of humanity. It is a curious work, presented in the form of philosophical dialogue and set in a future world known as The Republic, in which robots have triumphed over humanity and formed a new society based on rational order. Yet sinister underpinnings to their society and their emotional origin-story, which forms the core of this novel, show both that their rational world order is built on lies, deception, and murder, and that the human soul is harder to be rid of than they imagine. The clash between robots and humans is depicted as a clash between reason and passion, and also as a clash between a classical calm (seen in the Republic’s emphasis on classical philosophy) and the Gothic emotions associated with the dark, but emotional, side of humanity. Genesis is a compelling reflection on the nature of the human soul, aimed at young readers. This paper will trace how that reflection plays out through Beckett’s use of classical and Gothic ideals in an unusually thought-provoking dystopian work for young readers.

Epistemological limitations of Earth system science to confront the Anthropocene crisis

Our current understanding of the Earth System has significantly improved in recent years. As a result, the Anthropocene is seen as a major planetary emergency not only for humans but for other living organisms too. However, Earth System science lacks a proper integration of the social or human side and the natural side of the Earth System into an organic theoretical corpus. Without such an integration a comprehensive understanding of the Earth System is not possible, and the practical actions undertaken to face the Anthropocene crisis will only alleviate some of its effects but the planetary emergency will keep deepening. The epistemological reason underlying disagreement between natural and social sciences is that Earth System scientists understand the natural side of the Earth System and the Anthropocene from a dialectic and materialist perspective, whereas they understand the social side of the studied object from a positivist and idealist perspective. Such a dualist approach hampers a proper understanding and the practical actions aimed at transcending the planetary crisis. By consciously adopting a dialectic and materialist epistemic paradigm under which both natural and social realms are studied and understood, Earth System scientists would be able to identify the internal contradictions of the studied objects and, accordingly, to address the research in the suitable directions. In this way, structural solutions and not merely conjunctural measures to face the Anthropocene crisis could be formulated.

The Phenomenon of Conscience in Social Work

The Phenomenon of Conscience in Social Work

The Human Side of Science.

The Human Side of Science.

The power of personal care: the value of the patient-GP consultation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a dramatic shift from face-to-face to remote consulting within general practice. There have been some important gains in terms of travelling for patients and flexible working for general practice teams. However, there have been losses too. Urgent GP cancer referrals were estimated to be at 42% in April 2020 compared with the year before.1 Digital-first approaches, now widespread, can paradoxically increase overall GP workload and a recent study warns of extra GP work by up to a third.2 Vigilance and open minds are needed. As we move forward and while preparing for a busy winter, it is timely to decide which changes should be kept and under what conditions. Research has illuminated the considerable value of the human side of general practice. Over 20 years ago we learned that longer consultations and the patient knowing the GP are significantly associated with enablement — an important outcome …

Against the grain? The craving for domestic femininity in a gender-egalitarian welfare state

This article aims to develop new conceptions of the psychosocial dynamics that drive the re-romanticization of domestic femininity in current financialized capitalism. Feminist scholars have described this heightened cultivation of mothering as a reparative move in response to irreconcilable tensions between cultural ideals of the ‘balancing mother’ and ‘lean-in femininity’. This article adds a materialist-psychosocial lens to these conceptions, to enhance understanding of what drives this craving for domestic femininity. Drawing on a free-association narrative interview study with couples in the financial elite in the comparatively gender-egalitarian Norwegian context, I describe a specific emotional mechanism that resists democratization of gender in this specific group. The interviews reveal a felt need to cultivate ‘the human side of things’ at safe distance from the competitiveness of ‘hard-core finance’. The Nordic earner–carer model with its entwinement of care and professional pursuits, cultivated by the more self-fulfilment-oriented parts of the professional middle-class appears not only unwanted but threatening. In my analysis, I retrieve and develop a psychoanalytically inspired historical-materialist feminism, one that perceives of the gendered division of work as a split in modes of focusing human energy. I suggest that the resurgent cultivation of domestic femininity is nurtured by a self-energizing antagonism between competitive and relational practices. I further argue that the cultivation of domestic femininity in these financial couples points to a potential antagonism between the democratization of love and the specific anxiety-driven competitiveness to which this financial-elite group may be particularly susceptible.

School Improvement and Contextual Factors: A Qualitative Case Study on Educators’ Perceptions and Experiences

The present study focuses on the exploration of the perceptions and experiences of school administrators (principals and vice-principals) and teachers regarding school improvement and influencing contextual factors. Designed as case study research, this study utilized data gathered from school principals, vice-principals, and teachers from various school levels in the fall semester of 2019-2020 academic year. The researcher collected data in a graduate-level course offered in a master’s program without a thesis at a large state university in Southeastern Turkey through course assignments. Delving into school improvement perceptions and experiences from the eyes of three different groups of practitioners offered significant insights into contextual factors, namely hindrances to and enablers of school improvement, along with the steps to be taken at the praxis level and certain external factors. The results of the research might indicate that both issues related to the human side of school improvement such as the behaviors, practices, and attitudes of school staff, students and parents and the structural side like physical characteristics, budget, education system, and socioeconomic status of school environment have impacts on school improvement. These factors are likely to govern school improvement efforts and outcomes.

Veterinary Telemedicine: A literature review

As telemedicine becomes more mainstream in the veterinary profession, it is important to understand when and how to utilise it successfully, and its potential downsides. This literature review supports the use of veterinary telemedicine for teleconsultations, and using wearable and mobile health (mHealth) devices for monitoring animal health. Data supporting the provision of virtual care directly to a client within an established veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR) is more limited, and some of what we know comes from paediatric medicine on the human side. As we have learned from human health care providers, we must be aware there could be a tendency to overprescribe antimicrobials in a virtual visit compared to an in-person visit. Data have also shown telemedicine can be just as effective in diagnosing respiratory disease when compared to traditional visits to a doctor’s office or hospital. Telemedicine is especially effective in areas where access to care is limited, whether because of geography, finances, or lack of resources. Overall, veterinary telemedicine and telehealth can provide positive results.
 

Passenger Safety on Whale-Watching Vessels in Australia

To date, the focus of research into risks and safety in whale watching has tended to be on the safety of the whales (or dolphins/porpoises). This article explores the issue from the human side of the interaction and considers boat-based whale-watching passenger safety by reviewing evidence from available legal case records and legislation in Australia to better understand the risks and injuries that can occur to people in these marine wildlife tourism scenarios. A review of two legal cases and observations from media reports of whale-watching incidents in other jurisdictions revealed that waves and associated violent vessel movement are responsible for serious injuries to passengers. Where there was a failure to keep a proper lookout for waves and safely adapt to changing sea conditions operators have been found negligent. Legal challenges have also been successful in cases involving inaccurate and misleading promotion and communication about the nature of the tour and associated risks, and where passengers had not received adequate safety briefings. Furthermore, signed waivers that sought to protect the tour operator from responsibilities for injuries sustained aboard were not sufficient to absolve operators from liability. Given the different cultures, languages, and physical capabilities of a diverse range of international tourists interested in whale watching it is recommended that promotional materials, safety briefings, and safety communications (such as warning signs) be communicated by widely used and understood symbols and in multiple languages. In addition, some screening of passengers to ascertain preexisting medical conditions and to assess their ability to participate in the voyage safely, and with understanding of safety instructions, should be undertaken prior to a vessel leaving the dock. Templates to assist operators with their responsibilities are now available from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

The influence of human factors on 360∘ mulsemedia QoE

Abstract Quality of Experience (QoE) is indelibly linked to the human side of the multimedia experience. Surprisingly, however, there is a paucity of research which explores the impact that human factors has in determining QoE. Whilst this is true of multimedia, it is even more starkly so as far as mulsemedia - applications that involve media engaging three or more of human senses - is concerned. Hence, in the study reported in this paper, we focus on an exciting subset of mulsemedia applications - 360∘ mulsemedia - particularly important given that the upcoming 5G technology is foreseen to be a key enabler for the proliferation of immersive Virtual Reality (VR) applications. Accordingly, we study the impact that human factors such as gender, age, prior computing experience, and smell sensitivity have on 360∘ mulsemedia QoE. Results showed insight into the potential of 360∘ mulsemedia to inspire and to enrich experiences for Generation Z - a generation empowered by rapidly advancing technology. Patterns of prior media usage and smell sensitivity play also an important role in influencing the QoE evaluation - users who have a preference for dynamic videos enjoy and find realistic the 360∘ mulsemedia experiences.

Defying Dementia: An Exploration of Recovery

Exploring the human side of dementia helps put a face on this fast-growing affliction. This study reflects one elderly woman’s story of recovery from dementia that arose following a stroke. Painting a portrait of life with dementia can help us conceptualize the experience, how people live and how they would like to live. The woman is Marcia, my mom, and this is a qualitative inquiry with a collaborative narrative design to explore her experiences and to document my own. This study may help dementia patients and their support teams better understand the process of living with dementia and can perhaps lead to a more informed and supportive environment to optimize recovery for all concerned.

Understanding The Petty Demon Through the Perspective of Disability and Gender Theory

Fyodor Sologub's tale of crazed sinfulness, The Petty Demon, has remained in the heart of Russian culture since its introduction in 1907, leaving what can best be described as an appreciated scar. The greatest Byronic tales utilize the acceptance of decadence to create complex characters that allow audiences to peer into the darker side of humanity, and often themselves, while still maintaining some emotional connection to the antihero. While the depravity displayed in The Petty Demon is often the most prominent feature, the contrasted relationships of the characters Lyudmila and Peredonov reveal key insights toward understanding of the novel's thematic and socioemotional framing of women and the mentally ill. These patterns are analyzed in the context of the novel and compared to those in other works of the Russian canon with the help of papers by Hustis, Mills, and Greene. Lyudmilla's few unsatisfactory and foreign excuses for her perversion fail to help her escape the sexist symbolism she embodies as a female character, resulting in her solidification as a gossiping temptress with little room for reader empathy or a separation from the basic stereotypes women were already saddled with. Peredonov's escalating madness is contrasted against her evils in a manner that accentuates her follies while failing to separate many of his cruel actions from his mental illness. The resulting feelings coalesce to project the characters' worst qualities upon the innocent and underprivileged through the vehicles of familiar archetypes, contributing to the perpetuation of harmful cultural perspectives on such groups.

Book Reviews

Book Reviews

The human side of geoscientists: comparing geoscientists' and non-geoscientists' cognitive and affective responses to geology

Abstract. Geoscientists and non-geoscientists often struggle to communicate with each other. In this paper we aim to understand how geoscientists and non-geoscientists perceive geological concepts and activities, that is, how they think (cognitive responses) and feel (affective responses) about them. To this effect, using a mixed-methods approach, we compare mental models – people's representation of a phenomenon – of the subsurface, mining/quarrying, and drilling, between geoscientists (n=24) and non-geoscientists (n=38) recruited in Ireland. We identify four dominant themes which underlie their mental models: (1) degree of knowledge and familiarity, (2) presence of humans, (3) affective beliefs, and (4) beliefs about perceived impact of the activities. While the mental models of the non-geoscientists focused more on the perceived negative environmental and economic impacts of geoscience, as well as providing evidence of lay expertise, those of the geoscientists focused more on human interactions. We argue that mental models of geoscientists and non-geoscientists are the result of beliefs, including both cognitive and affective components, and that both components need to be acknowledged for effective dialogue between the two groups to take place.