Real Question Research Articles

Efflorescence of Relationships in Christ – Theological Fundament and Resonating Prospect

The aim of the paper is to examine the potency contained in the mystery of Christ as Alpha and Omega of human history. The issue will be viewed through the prism of accidental encounters, etc. that is, those which in our earthly life have no visible importance or continuation. It is striking that our life largely consists of such contacts: thousands of people passing by every day seem to be accidental, “non-productive” and not important. Broken relationships belong to the same set as well. Thus, the real question is whether they have any deeper meaning or not. I will try to argue, by reference to spiritual theology, that life in Christ brings a real answer to this question. The apparently accidental encounters become, subsequently, relationships flourishing in Christ, on the basis that He is the one spiritual principle of all believers and the Head of the Mystical Body of the Church. In Him, our particular present encounters are purified and come into perfection to the state when they will appear as true and everlasting relationships. A man who is overlooked now turns out to be a real co-author of my eternal happiness. Although this sense will fully be realised in heaven, it can now be experienced by hope and the contemplation of the neighbour in God.

Analysis of Evolving Technologies and Impact of Smart Shipping on the Future Workforce in the Maritime Industry

Purpose: There is a shift in phase within the maritime industry toward smart shipping, where IoT and AI are used. The real question revolved around these technologies' impact on future employees in ships and shipping. The reason is to understand how this rapidly changing technological world affects these maritime professionals. Study design/methodology/approach: A systematic review was performed according to the system of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta−Analyses (PRISMA). The literature review aimed at analysing a comprehensive spectrum from academic publications to industry reports and white papers in order… The Smart Shipping case studies were studied to provide practical knowledge on the integration of IoT and AI in maritime operations. Findings: The resulting analysis was a diverse and changing technological environment, including blockchain, AI, IoT, autonomous vessels, and innovations that are driven by sustainability. The use of blockchain applications allows for achieving increased transparency, while AI-based developments bring improvements in navigation, logistics and maintenance. The introduction of IoT allows industries to transform via the collection of data in real time. Autonomous vessels offer both challenges and opportunities designed to impact seafaring jobs. Sustainability innovations aim at clean energies and more ecological applications. Smart Shipping case studies demonstrated various positive outcomes on the deployment of IoT and AI applications that are realised in terms of operational efficiency gains up to issues with workforce adaptation. Originality/value: The paper sheds light on the maritime environment as well as its potential impact on determining the future workforce. The strategies to deal with the changes, such as job role change, workforce adaptation strategy and overcoming challenges, should be considered essential. Whereas merits arising from technical development enable the companies to benefit as far as efficiency is concerned, missing opportunities for careers in seafaring imply that active measures to build workforce capacities have become inevitable. The paper ends with recommendations for policy-makers, industrial representatives, and researchers who can help take successful steps in the face of changing fields associated with technology use encompassing maritime operations.

On the Estimation of Fit Indices for the Structural Part of a Model

When a researcher proposes an SEM model to explain the dynamics among some latent variables, the real question in model evaluation is the fit of the model’s structural part. A composite index that lumps the fit of the structural part and measurement part does not directly address that question. The need for more attention to structural-level fit has been noted for a long time, but the literature has been limited to conceptual issues such as how to define the structural-level RMSEA or CFI. How to estimate those structural-level fit indices, however, have been overlooked. Traditional estimation methods for composite-fit RMSEA and CFI are not applicable to structural-level fit indices, even if data are complete and normally distributed. In this article, we give correct point estimators and confidence intervals for structural-level RMSEA and CFI. Simulation results suggest that the new methods have satisfactory performance in realistic situations.

Protein plant factories: production and resource use efficiency of soybean proteins in vertical farming.

Controlled environment agriculture, particularly vertical farms (VF), also called plant factories, is often claimed as a solution for global food security due to its ability to produce crops unaffected by weather or pests. In principle, essential macronutrients of the human diet, like protein, could technically be produced in VF. This aspect becomes relevant in the era of protein transition, marked by an increasing consumer interest in plant-based protein and environmental challenges faced by conventional farming. However, the real question is: what does the cultivation of protein crops in VF imply in terms of resource use? To address this, a study was conducted using a VF experiment focusing on two soybean cultivars. With a variable plant density to optimize area use, and because of the ability to have more crop cycles per year, protein yield per square metre of crop was about eight times higher than in the open field. Assuming soy as the only protein source in the diet, the resources needed to get total yearly protein requirement of a reference adult would be 20 m2 of crop area, 2.4 m3 of water and 16 MWh of electricity, versus 164 m2, 111 m3 and 0.009 MWh in the field. The study's results inform the debate on protein production and the efficiency of VF compared to conventional methods. With current electricity prices, it is unlikely to justify production of simple protein crops in VF or promote it as a solution to meet global protein needs. © 2024 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

HOW TO IMPROVE THE PATHWAY BETWEEN INTENTIONS AND RESULTS

AbstractThe pathway between leadership intentions and results does not always unfold according to what you want, desire, or expect. As authors Hunter and Powell explain, “unconscious autopilot, blind spots, reactive emotions, or outworn mental models can divert your aim and set in motion a domino effect of inadequate choices, actions, and results.” As a remedy, they introduce the “Intention‐Results Map,” which defines interim steps that include Attention, Perception, Choices, and Actions. Applications of the map are illustrated through the story of “George,” a high‐profile financial advisor who struggles with a difficult client. Figures with questions for each step in the Intention‐Results Map provide practical guidance for readers. Together, the authors, Jeremy Hunter, a professor at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University, and Lili Powell, a professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and School of Nursing, regularly share the Intention‐Results Map in their courses and programs to help participants breakdown and implement mindful leadership.

HOW COULD HUSSERL’S THEORY OF THE BODILY SELF-CONSTITUTION OF THE EGO HELP BRIDGE THE EXPLANATORY GAP?

The explanatory gap—the apparently ineliminable chasm between physical, bodily processes and states on the one hand, and subjective, lived experience on the other—belongs among the greatest problems of contemporary philosophy of mind and empirical research concerning consciousness. According to some scholars—such as eliminativist philosophers like Paul and Patricia Churchland—it is a pseudo-question. However, in our interpretation, an accurate phenomenological reflection on one’s own consciousness convinces the attentive and careful philosopher that it is very much a real question—and in fact a crucial one. The present paper endeavours to show how Husserl’s theory of the bodily self-constitution of the ego could help us, not to close the explanatory gap in a reductionist manner, but rather to bridge this gap by rendering apparent the necessary connection between the subjective, phenomenal side of experience and its bodily basis. In this interpretation, Husserl’s conception of embodiment could even provide a more rigorous and firmer theoretical foundation than any which currently undergirds empirically related research regarding the origins of consciousness in the natural world. In the first half of the study, I outline Todd Feinberg and Jon Mallatt’s attempt to bridge and, in a further step, to eliminate the explanatory gap, in which they proceed from the external world to the interiority of mind. The second part of the paper presents a phenomenological analysis that aims to demonstrate that a Husserlian attempt would follow the opposite direction: from the inside proceeding outwards towards the external, physical reality.

Brain-Computer Interface, Generative AI (GAI)

Brain-computer interface (BCI) is an interface (or sort of a system) by which humans can communicate with computers. The real question arises about why humans must communicate with the computer via brain signals. There are over a million or more people suffering from diseases or malfunctions of motor ability where mobility is limited, or there is no mobile at all. This interface allows these individuals to communicate with the outside world. Such diseases would rise yearly as more techniques and methods become available to diagnose them. While there is no cure for such injuries or diseases, there may be a stopgap to fill the communication void. We take communication for granted, whereas a person with limited mobility is a boon.

Everyday Aesthetics and the Dichotomy Between Routine and Charisma

Everyday aesthetics, at its core, is based on the supposed dichotomy between art and life, considering life as something routine-like, and art as the breaking of the routine, something charismatic. Different authors of everyday aesthetics use different words to describe this dichotomy. For example, in his article “What is ‘Everyday’ in Everyday Aesthetics?”, Ossi Naukkarinen simply uses everydayness and non-everyday-like, while Arto Haapala, in his “On the Aesthetics of the Everyday: Familiarity, Strangeness, and the Meaning of Place” uses the terms familiarity and strangeness. The authors also propose different ways of bridging this dichotomy. However, as the paper shows, the real question is not how to bridge the dichotomy itself but rather whether the dichotomy exists in the first place. Moreover, the paper suggests a change of direction in future investigations of everyday aesthetics, and focusing on the nuances that exist on the routine-charisma and charismatic-routine spectrum, supported by academic research and the personal account of the paper’s author art project. Moreover, the implications of this shift extend beyond the boundaries of everyday aesthetics.

“To Be or Not to Be”: Was That the Question? On My Book Los poemas del ser y el no ser y sus lenguajes en la historia

Abstract This article presents my interpretation of Shakespeare’s monologue “To be or not to be” in the framework of my book Los poemas del ser y el no ser y sus lenguajes en la historia (2017). It develops my thesis that “to be or not to be” proves not to be the real question for Hamlet, since he immediately abandons this metaphysical contraposition and proceeds to formulate in moving verses his real problem: the tragic misery of human life and of his own life, and the anguish and uncertainty of what comes beyond it if one takes one’s own life. The difference between sleep and death is that, after the latter, consciousness will lack a body, and nobody can imagine what dreams could look like without it. But the whole monologue is an argument against trying to solve real life problems through rising to the utmost abstractions. I have tried to summarize the significance of this monologue as a historical step between several ancient poems about being and non-being, and their relation to the real conflict of understanding life and death, and texts of Goethe, Hegel and Machado, which approach the subject from the new awareness elaborated by Shakespeare in his text.

Complete mesocolic excision for colon cancer: current status and controversies.

According to Hohenberger's original description, complete mesocolic excision for colon cancer involves precise dissection of the avascular embryonic plane between the parietal retroperitoneum and visceral peritoneum of the mesocolon. This ensures mesocolic integrity, access to high ligation of the supplying vessels at their origin and an associated extended lymphadenectomy. Results from centres which have adopted this approach routinely have demonstrated that oncological outcomes can be improved by the rigorous implementation of established principles of cancer surgery. Meticulous anatomical dissection along embryonic planes is a well-established principle of precision cancer surgery used routinely by the specialist colorectal surgeon. Therefore, the real question concerns the need for true central vascular ligation and associated extended (D3) lymphadenectomy or otherwise, particularly along the superior mesenteric vessels when performing a right colectomy. Whether this approach results in improved overall or disease-free survival remains unclear and its role remains controversial particularly given the potential for significant morbidity associated with a more extensive central vascular dissection. Current literature is limited by considerable bias, as well as inconsistent and variable terminology, and the results of established randomized trials are awaited. As a result of the current state of equipoise, various national guidelines have disparate recommendations as to when complete mesocolic excision should be performed if at all. This article aims to review the rationale for and technical aspects of complete mesocolic excision, summarize available short and long term outcome data and address current controversies.

Realist Ethics

A review of Vassallo, Jesús. Epics in the Everyday: Photography, Architecture, and the Problem of Realism. Zürich: Park Books, 2019. 328 pages. ISBN 978-3-03860-162-3. Jesús Vassallo's Epics in the Everyday explores the question of realism in architecture as it has been mediated by photography's documentary tradition. Synthesizing an immense body of theory and practice, Vassallo argues that architects should address a world that is saturated with images and objects by embracing the banal ordinariness of these remnants.

The Real Question the FDA Is Asking Its Advisory Committees

The Real Question the FDA Is Asking Its Advisory Committees

How is Patient Adherence Possible? A Novel Mechanistic Model of Adherence Based on Humanities.

Patient non-adherence is a major contemporary medical issue because of its consequences in terms of frequency, morbidity and mortality, and health care costs. This article aims to propose a mechanistic model of adherence based on the tenet that non-adherence is the default option, as long-term adherence in chronic diseases requires sustained effort. The real question becomes, how is patient adherence possible? By focusing on adherent patients, the paper explains the mental mechanisms of adherence using concepts largely drawn from humanities, philosophy of mind, and behavioral economics and presents the findings of empirical studies supporting these hypotheses. The analysis first demonstrates the relationship between patient adherence and temporality and the influence of character traits. Further, it points out the importance of habit, which allows adherence to become non-intentional, thereby sparing patients' cognitive efforts. Finally, it points out the importance of the quality of the interaction between the person with a chronic disease and the health professional. These features explain why adherence is a syndrome (the healthy adherer phenotype), separating people into those who are safe and those who are at risk of non-adherence, non-control of diabetes, and complications. The concepts presented in this article summarize 20 years of personal clinical and philosophical reflection on patient adherence. They are mainly illustrated by examples from diabetes care but can be applied to all chronic diseases. This novel model of adherence has major practical and ethical implications, explaining the importance of patient education and shared medical decision-making in chronic disease management.

'The Real Question of Freedom': The State, the Church and the Individual, c.1860–1920

This essay explores the relationship between the individual, the state and the church. In particular, it considers he ways that a particularly influential group of early twentieth-century state-critics – the English pluralist – grappled with the tension between state authority and individual liberty through a careful engagement with the thought of John Henry Newman. But while English pluralists like J. N. Figgis and Harold Laski admired Newman's critiques of ultramontanism, they could not accept some of Newman's premises, particularly those regarding the conscience, which underlay his rejection of ultramontanism. English pluralism, this essay suggests, was beset by a kind of conceptual confusion which its proponents recognized but could not – or would not – resolve.

Online Educational Experiences in Some Majors of Eszterházy Károly University

Abstract Introduction: In Hungary, as in many parts of the world, a crisis situation has arisen with the start of the quarantine period associated with the coronavirus, which presented the education system with a serious challenge. Social inequality (also in terms of network access and device availability) was expected due to, that differences will only increase the gap in education. Digital connectivity and the digital environment became the main arena for students and faculty over the course of a weekend. That's a real question, of course, can we talk about real digital education during this period? Was online education effective or was it rather a blind spot? Methods: In our research, we examined it from the perspective of geography teachers, kindergarten teachers, and university students attending teaching courses learning and teaching „switching online” betweem March, 2020 and April, 2021 at the Eszterházy Károly Catholic University (then even EKE). Our sample consisted of 108 people. We used an online questionnaire study to assess students' experiences with the effectiveness of distance learning and the development of their digital competence, about the possibilities of implementing professional internships. We were looking for student answers to, how each segment of distance learning can be integrated into the normal education system. We compared our results with similar Hungarian and international research results. Results: Most students felt that online education was effective. The digital competence of students has evolved. Due to changed circumstances of traineeships, students could not gain enough experience, which could later affect their work. Discussion: The changes that have occurred can be highlighted as secondary benefits, this educational environment could be more sustainable in the future, than the traditional educational environment, however, the consequences of isolation cannot be ignored. Limitations: The research shows data valid only for Hungary. Conclusions: Consideration of the experience of students for the effectiveness of their education in the coming years.

Technology During the Post-Pandemic Era: Adaptation or Limitation?

Abstract According to The Guardian, “Professors, programmers and journalists could all be out of a job in just a few years” [1]. In North America, long before the pandemic, some high schools (both public and private) replaced books and notebooks with laptops. In universities, the students preferred listening to the recordings of the lectures taken on their computers or phones instead of actively taking notes during the classes. Technology has been the topic of many debates among teachers, parents, and students. Seen both advantageous and disadvantageous, technology in the classroom has become indispensable to teaching. Technology has proven to have been the only way out of the pandemic crisis regarding business and education. The trend in the education field in a post-pandemic context resulted from a blend between teaching approaches and technology use. However, in a post-pandemic context, this trend has been seen as one of the central factors leading to an increase in the lack of inperson socialization for youths and a principal distraction from their studies. Moreover, the development of more advanced software (A.I. Bot ChatGPT) has started to influence the teaching process regarding assignments. However, the real question is how and to what extent the use of technology can be advantageous for students today.

A brief comment on Hawthorne (2023): “On the definition of distinct mineral species: A critique of current IMA-CNMNC procedures”

AbstractIn this communication we present a brief response to Hawthorne (2023) who, in a paper in volume 87,doi.org/10.1180/mgm.2023.8(this journal), claims evidence for violations of the electroneutrality principle in mineral formulae derived through IMA–CNMNC procedures: i.e. the dominant-constituent rule, the valency-imposed double site-occupancy, the dominant-valency rule, and the site-total-charge approach (STC).His statement is not correct as the STC method is based on the end-member definition; thus, it cannot violate the requirements of an end-member, particularly the laws of conservation of electric charge. The STC was developed to address the shortcomings in the previous IMA–CNMNC procedures.The real question is: which method to use to define an end-member formula? Currently, there are two approaches: (1) STC, which first identifies the dominantend-membercharge arrangement and then leads to the dominantend-member composition; (2) the dominant end-member approach.

Treatment of GERD Irrespective of Symptoms and Severity in COPD: To be or not to be!

COPD and GERD more commonly diagnosed and frequently reported health issues due to overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms and now considered as ‘two sides of same coin’. COPD related anatomical changes and medications will alter the course of existing GERD and increase the risk of new onset GERD. Proximal and distal anatomical locations of GERD have variable presentations such as worsening of COPD, acute non-infective exacerbations, recurrent cough, and respiratory failure. Proximal pathways involve direct lung injury by means of microaspiration of gastric contents and microbiological colonization. Distal pathway involves indirect mechanisms by sharing common anatomical and embryological developments with involvement of vagus nerve mediated noradrenergic cholinergic mediator’s related effects on bronchi and bronchioles. Both proximal and distal pathways have effects on lung functions. GERD has negative impact on natural course of COPD and exists in asymptomatic and symptomatic types. Prevalence of GERD should be actively sought in all COPD cases to prevent exacerbations, decrease lung functions decline, lower the risk of clinical and physiological worsening, and overall cost of care because of these high index issues. PPI therapy has significant effects on patients with COPD in reducing the number of acute attacks, adverse reactions, and mortality. Recurrent exacerbations need GERD to be ruled out in all cases of COPD to have successful treatment outcome. Only symptomatic cases treatment has shown positive outcome in GERD with COPD. Hence, ‘to be or not to be is the real question’ and no treatment is recommended for asymptomatic GERD cases with COPD irrespective of disease severity.

On the current strike wave

Emerging from global economic shutdown in 2021, some of Britain’s largest employers embarked on radical restructuring of workers’ wages and conditions by exploiting the lack of protection for workers in UK legislation to impose ‘fire and rehire’ and wage cuts. As inflation and interest rates rose sharply, trade unions resisted attacks on their members’ living standards by organising the largest strike wave for over 30 years. The current strike wave has developed from defensive strikes against attacks on jobs and wages into a broad united front of organised labour across both private and public sectors. The political resistance of the organised working class poses the real question of who runs Britain.

Promoting the 21st Century Skills Using Project-Based Learning

The requirement of the 21st century demands teachers to design a learning process that emphasizes student-centered learning. Project-based learning is seen as an effective model to solve this problem. Therefore, this study aimed at analyzing the use of project-based learning viewed from its characteristics, syntax, advantages, and disadvantages. This study was designed in a library study in which the data were obtained from reviewing some articles related to the topic. The results of the study showed that 1) the main characteristic of this model is the project itself which is guided by a real problem or question; 2) in general, the syntax of project-based learning can be categorized into three, that is, planning, implementing, and evaluating; 3) the advantages of this model meet the 21st century skills; 4) the disadvantages of this model mainly deal with time allotment, students’ characteristics, and school facilitation. In conclusion, project-based learning is an effective model to promote 21st century skills.