Human Struggle Research Articles

Proteins, possibly human, found in World War II concentration camp artifact

Museums displaying artifacts of the human struggle against oppression are often caught in their own internal struggle between presenting factual and unbiased descriptions of their collections, or relying on testament of survivors. Often this quandary is resolved in favor of what can be verified, not what is remembered. However, with improving instrumentation, methods and informatic approaches, science can help uncover evidence able to reconcile memory and facts. Following World War II, thousands of small, cement-like disks with numbers impressed on one side were found at concentration camps throughout Europe. Survivors claimed these disks were made of human cremains; museums erred on the side of caution—without documentation of the claims, was it justifiable to present them as fact? The ability to detect species relevant biological material in these disks could help resolve this question. Proteomic mass spectrometry of five disks revealed all contained proteins, including collagens and hemoglobins, suggesting they were made, at least in part, of animal remains. A new protein/informatics approach to species identification showed that while human was not always identified as the top contributor, human was the most likely explanation for one disk. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of protein recovery from cremains. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD035267.

Julius Margolin on freedom and ‘being human’ under conditions of Soviet totalitarianism

The article Julius Margolin on Freedom and ‘Being Human’ under Conditions of Soviet Totalitarianism is devoted to analyzing the work of Julius Margolin, philosopher, writer, and victim of the Soviet regime. In the novel Journey into the Land of Zeks, Margolin describes his experiences in the Gulag and witnesses the cruel process of dehumanization. This article aims to show the experiences of a Gulag prisoner and his struggle for freedom and humanity. The author of the article, analyzing Margolin's memoirs, wants to show the totalitarian system's threats to human beings.

Screening the Port City: Poetics and Promotions

Abstract This article contrasts a range of films from around the world that take place within port cities. It presents the port city film as a case of transnational “geographic imaginary” that dramatizes spaces of contact across lifeworlds. The authors find that there are two primary narrative modes in the port city film: a dominant mode in which gender, ethnic, class, and other identities bestowed by the geographic imaginary become inescapable, and a resistant or transformative mode in which characters are offered the opportunity to locate a new identity within a world of ephemeral relationships. Themes of criminality, poverty, and urban constituents struggling for personal agency, however, run counter to many city-branding narratives. The article concludes by comparing these fictional representations to a number of promotional and nonfictive examples of Chinese and British port city representations offering a very different vision of transnational contact—one that emphasizes a nation-building and growth “cleaned” of the human struggles for hybrid identity so vividly dramatized across port city fictions.

ANALYSIS OF HUMAN STRUGGLE OF MAIN CHARACTERS IN INDIAN DRAMA FILM “BLACK” (2005)

This study describes the struggle of the main characters in the Black movie. This study is descriptive qualitative. The analysis shows that 1) Sahai convinces Michelle's parents, especially her father to help Michelle. 2) Sahai controls Michelle's emotional disturbance by ignoring her anger and refusing to speak through finger-spelling. 3) Sahai teaches fingerspelling by touching and forming letters on Michelle's hand. 4) Sahai teaches Michelle good manners in eating with a spoon. The impact of Sahai's struggle on Michelle's life is 1) Michelle can spell letters and words. 2) Michelle gets a college education and can graduate. 3) She can become fully human is physically limited. The film shows human struggle trapped in the darkness that surrounds Michelle's life makes her behave like an animal because she can't catch and understand the teachings and attention of her parents. Michelle as a disabled child since birth, can't see and hear, which makes her mother look for a teacher to educate her. Sahai teaches her how to communicate through hand and mouth gestures. So, we can understand the struggles of the parents, teacher, and Michelle's struggle to find light in her life.

Catholic Church in Umakua of Tanzania, from 1890s-1970s

This paper investigated the methods used by Roman Catholic Missionaries in christianisation of the Makua of Masasi Tanzania from 1890s to1970s. This study was prompted by the understanding that the Makua were deeply engaged in their traditional religion as demonstrated by their cultural practices. In spreading Christianity to Makua people, the Benedictine missionaries had to deploy variety of strategies and techniques to win the Makua people. The main objective of this paper was to examine the methods missionaries used to manipulate the Makua into Christianity and to demonstrate how the Makua people responded to the Benedictine missionary pressure. Finally, to examine the way Christianity contributed to the transformation of Makua society and the endurance of Makua traditional religion. This study employed historical materialism theory developed by Karl Marx in 1818-1883 in order to inform the dynamics of the Makua society. The theory was deemed convenient because it captures society as a social formation in which all human activities are treated as an interconnected single whole. Religion is treated as an ideological product of human struggle to transform their lives. Historical research methodology was employed in order to generate evidence on the past through review of documents, interviews with people contemporary to the events and some oral histories. These data collection methods deployed different instruments to capture data from different historical sources both primary and secondary sources. Qualitative research approach was applied in data collection and analysis leading to the production of this historical narrative. The findings revealed that, the Catholic evangelization approach among the Makua was that of a carrot and stick system. There were positive incentives such as provision of education and health services which were employed to facilitate the spread of Christianity to the Makua. The paper concludes that, despite Makua cherishing their .......... : -

Heterodoxical Ideologies of Some Philosophical ISMS

An impartial analysis and spotlight on the philosophical ‘Isms’ clearly shows that not all the recognized behavioural sciences help us in day to day life and particularly in the trying situations. In fact the primary task of philosophy, traditionally assigned, is to study the nature of human existence and our relationships with each other. Having universally acknowledged the famous Aristotelean remark about human nature that Man is a Social Animal, the very next problem that arises is how to transform him into a cultured animal ? Scores of Isms are available but not all have a true grip on human mind. A few of them can safely be ignored concluding that they have merely earned historical importance but the efficacy of even those in vogue needs to be examined. This is because the struggle of humanity as a whole and in particular, related to the sensitive souls has not ended. It is but natural to look at the Isms with a hope or expectation to get proper guidance. Needless to say, there is a sort of chaos and as scientifically proved there is a continuity at an incomprehensible pace in this entropean world. We have updated our knowledge from scientific research to gain comfort yet there is something missing owing to which complacency is shattered. That is why complex philosophies presented in a verbose manner may impress us for a while but in actual practice they do not serve a right purpose. Philosophical thoughts can get a response in an appreciative manner only when displayed through a simplified version. Philosophers and Thinkers are definitely benefitted from a huge repertoire of knowledge. But the issue is regarding the art of presenting the gist of it for a common man who eagerly seeks guidance from the philosophical Isms. Seekers of wisdom do not have narrow confines but they might face the problem of presentation. No doubt they have to sound academic for exhibiting their scholarship but the world is habituated to dwell on a utility based platform. This paper tries to focus on those Isms which have not only significance but also are usable and therefore, we need to be wary enough in selecting them for following or practising in life.

Religion - A Sophisticated Strategy to Gain Control Over the Masses

Among matters that occupy the mind of people since early history are fears of the unknown and death that have most likely triggered the need for a patronizing superpower, namely, God. Limited understanding of surrounding wonders, hard survival, and refusal to comply with our relatively short life span have probably prompted this need, which intensified with growing hostility among tribes and rising civilizations fighting over territory, resources and leadership. Although physical power has always been a dominating factor in these human struggles (as is among animals), the developed brain and verbal communication provided an additional powerful tool used by smart individuals and minorities to gain control over ignorant, frightened masses. In convincing the audience about their ability to convey prayers and requests to the ‘heavenly patron’, God, these people (e.g., Shamans, Prophets, Priests, Monks, Rabies, Islamic preachers) have actually constituted a new status, ‘sanctified mediators’, from which the road to establishment of a new religious movement, based on an unusual individual, was paved. To ratify their sacred status, these people cleverly attributed the creation of the world (still an unsolved issue) to God, and formed a virtual reality accompanied by rituals that attracted the masses. They exploited the need of people for a patronizing superpower to constitute a religion that provided ‘answers’ to the rising curiosity, limited scientific knowledge, and spiritual requirements of the masses, but also to gain superiority as well as advance their own abundance and wealth. Not only that people now had a God to lean on, the sanctified mediators further strengthened their status by composing social and religious rules with an entire set of orders (do and don’t do) and worships that included prayers and ceremonies, aiming to please God and obtain his mercy and support. In administrating the worships these mediators utilized the amazing obedience consent of people to satisfy their spiritual needs, and so they took control over the masses.

Meditations on an Expanded, Narrative Inquiry Methodology Combining Clinical Dynamic Understanding and Biography

As a meditation on a method of narrative inquiry, this paper describes an ongoing project which integrates a narrative, portrait-based approach to clinical storytelling with a clinically-focused dialogical process. Expanding upon previous narrative work completed by Michael O’Loughlin and colleagues, this research is a single-case, longitudinal, qualitative exploratory study of an individual who has struggled with psychosis, been exposed to the psychiatric care system, and transmuted their life history through artistic sublimation. In addition to producing a biographical portrait, the purpose of this study’s expanded methodology is to invite a reflective, dialogical process that allows for autobiographical engagement, verification and co-construction of the emerging life story, and deepening conversations about the complexities of human struggle. It is my hope that, through a version of dialogical exchange and narrative practice in the tradition of Michael White, this research provides a way in which clinicians and researchers can facilitate curative, biographical spaces for those with painful lived experience and inherited trauma. By receiving, tracking, and validating human thought and experience, this work aims to combine the portraiture of rendering a life with an in-depth exploration of the complexities of and intersectionality between subjectivity, severe psychiatric distress, creativity, counter-storying, and narrative healing.

Meaningfulness beyond Meaning-Making. Cultural Psychological Aspects of the Donor Portrait

Art is a rich area in which to study psychological life through the lens of cultural psychology. While any kind of art can be studied within cultural psychology, in the current piece we argue that an art form known as the donor portrait, and more particularly a subcategory thereof known as the contact portrait, visually depicts core aspects of our psychological lives that constitute matters of fundamental interest within cultural psychology. After briefly discussing this particular art form, we focus on how these portraits visually depict four core aspects of cultural psychology. We first explore how the contact portrait navigates the “frontier problem” found at the intersection of individuality and commonality. We then examine how contact portraits catalyze, but do not cause, the viewer’s emotional engagement. The third aspect concerns the human struggle to make sense out of an unknown future. Finally, we discuss the search for meaningfulness beyond meaning-making depicted within these images and lying at the core of our psychological lives. These characteristics of the contact portrait attest to our human striving towards what lies beyond our current state, something that finds expression in the idea of Schaufrömmigkeit—a pious, humble need to see that which is ultimately unseeable.

“In México, I was someone, but here I am a nobody:” an immigrant mother and daughter moving beyond love to facilitate new ways of being

In this article, we present parallel narratives of an immigrant youth and her mother who have had to maneuver continual and abrupt interruptions in family cohesiveness and other daily experiences due to anti-immigrant policies and the materialization of being cast beyond love. We highlight how they created spaces of self-transformational love and coalitional love to resist measures of exclusion and redraw how they participated in a divided world. We also argue how educators must encourage these spaces of love and work against practices that contribute to the alienation and suppression of immigrant students and their families. Rather, educators must put a human face to these human struggles and break free from any pretense that this work should solely occur outside the bounds of a school’s borders.

Withering Lily: Human Struggle to Face the Negative Effects of Social Media

This creative thesis focuses on understanding the relation between using social media and social anxiety. The goal of this work is to understand what causes the disorder to appear after exposures to social media and the effect it has on someone. To reach that goal, this creative thesis uses the Presentation of Self Theory and Social Anxiety theory to understand how social media could cause social anxiety and how it affects their life externally . It shows that the problem comes from the desire to become “perfect” in society and after that it would lead to the heightened fear of judgement that is the trigger of social anxiety. Further, social anxiety would prevent someone from living a good social life. Therefore, by understanding people’s desire to be “perfect” and the effects of social anxiety, we can see that being overly afraid of being judged on social media could ruin someone’s life.Keywords: Social Media, Social Anxiety, Presentation of Self, Screenplay, Cyberpunk

Cannibalistic and Pornographic Images of Lagos City in Toni Kan’s The Carnivorous City

The city is a spatial phenomenon that conditions the production of African city literature and reveals African urban life, experience, relations and problems in the aftermath of colonialism. Sociopolitical, economic and cultural issues have been of more interest to extrinsic critics of African city fiction than exploring the aesthetics that make city a universal subject in African literature. Studies on The Carnivorous City are qualitative towards the novelist’s penchant for city-life, acculturation, human struggle, greed, love, corruption and other post-independent issues in Africa, yet, Kan’s city fiction, like every literary text, has its form. This study, therefore, attempts to fill this gap by interrogating city as form in The Carnivorous City.The study examines the novel as an autonomous work of art and it adopts New Criticism, with a particular reference to “closing reading” and “reconciliation of the opposites” as analytic principles.The study describes the city as the subject of African city literature and portrays its pornographic and cannibalistic tendencies. It also reveals The Carnivorous City is rich towards the use of formal elements in the conceptualization of Lagos City in text, and indicates further that the novel is a city fiction rich in language, animal imagery and sensual dictions that portray Lagos as the universal subject in text.The study recommends a close reading of African city fictions as this approach enriches the artfulness of the sub-genre and sharpens the meaning of the urban literary texts beyond what extrinsic reading offers.

«Я ніколи ще не бачив такої сили в людях»: інтерв’ю з фотографом Жеромом Сессіні

Jérôme Sessini is a French photographer, and member of Magnum Photos, in his works covers some of the most significant historical events of the last 30 years. The interview was recorded in January 2023 by Valeriia Shulha, a student of the Art History Department of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. In the first part of the interview, Jérôme talks about the beginning of his career as an amateur photographer and American documentary photographers as his big inspiration. He started photography at the age of 23 and now he’s a leading photojournalist, having joined Magnum in 2012 and becoming a full member in 2016. Jérôme's lens covers political upheaval, social uprisings, and human struggle. He’d started working as a photojournalist in 1998 when he covered the conflict in Kosovo on behalf of the Gamma photo agency. Since then, he has been immersed in some of the most important events of recent years, including the war in Iraq (from 2003 to 2008), Aristide’s fall in Haiti (2004), the conquest of Mogadishu by the Islamic militias, and the war in Lebanon (2006). His works have one common feature - avoiding dry documentation, they’re picturing stories of ordinary people, to show the world’s social tragedies on a micro-scale. In the second part of interview the photographer explains why Ukraine is the most important project for him and shares his experience of documenting the events of modern Ukrainian history. In 2014, Sessini began covering events in Ukraine since the Revolution of Dignity. After the Maidan’s events, the photographer traveled throughout Ukraine for several years and gathered in his book "Inner Disorder" all the stories of Ukrainian’s lives ruined by the war. The photo book was published in 2021. Jérôme's work Final Fight for Maidan won the World Press Photo Awards in 2015. Sessini shares the story behind the creation of this image. A few days after the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Sessini arrived in Ukraine, working on a series of photos for magazines such as "The New Yorker". Jérôme Sessini explains that the main aim for him is to create a coherent narrative in his works. The photographer always has been trying to communicate with the people he photographs. According to Jérôme, the only way to convey something to his audience is to feel and experience what you’re photographing.

Enlightenment, Critical Theory, and the Role of Business Schools in the Anthropocene

Purpose: This article analyses relations between the Dialectic of Enlightenment, critical theory, and the Anthropocene, and poses the question: How do the Dialectic of Enlightenment and critical theory relate to the Anthropocene? Moreover, what is the role of business schools and critical management studies in the context of the Anthropocene? Theoretical framework: The Dialectic of Enlightenment questioned why advancements in rationality and technology failed to lead humanity to emancipation. Moreover, advancements in rationality and technology have led to the Anthropocene: a new geological age marked by the human capacity to modify the climate and ecosystems of Planet Earth. This debate, which is related to fields such as sustainability, organisations, and management, can be held in business schools. Method/design/approach: To discuss this theme, we compose a theoretical essay. Results and conclusion: The shock of the Anthropocene has provoked the need to think differently about social and environmental issues and to declare humanity as being responsible for nature. However, this response can neither be naïve nor generalised; it cannot place the responsibility for the Anthropocene on every human being equally. That would also reduce the significance of the human struggle to both acknowledge and solve the current climate and nature issues. We propose five dimensions where business schools could advance to foster critical thinking in the Anthropocene: curriculum, institutional practices, academic staff, the educational system, and subjectivity. Research implications: Critical management studies (CMS) and business schools are two important players that can use the Anthropocene-induced perspective shift to think differently about social and environmental issues. Originality/value: We show that CMS can use the Anthropocene shock to reinforce itself and gain greater legitimacy to critically analyse modern methods of organising the human society. Business schools also need to review their current practices for educating future managers who need to be aware of their environmental impact both as human beings and as professionals.

Engineering Resilience to Water Stress in the Late Prehispanic North-Central Andean Highlands (~600–1200 BP)

The Andes are defined by human struggles to provide for, and control, water. Nowhere is this challenge more apparent than in the unglaciated western mountain range Cordillera Negra of the Andes where rain runoff provides the only natural source of water for herding and farming economies. Based on over 20 years of systematic field surveys and taking a political ecology and resilience theory focus, this article evaluates how the Prehispanic North-Central highlands Huaylas ethnic group transformed the landscape of the Andes through the largescale construction of complex hydraulic engineering works in the Cordillera Negra of the Ancash Province, North-Central Peru. It is likely that construction of these engineered landscapes commenced during the Middle Horizon (AD 600–1000), reaching their apogee under the Late Intermediate Period (Huaylas group, AD 1000–1450) and Inca (AD 1450–1532) period, before falling into disuse during the early Spanish colony (AD 1532–1615) through a combination of disease, depopulation, and disruption. Persistent water stress in the western Pacific-facing Andean cordillera was ameliorated through the construction of interlinked dams and reservoirs controlling the water, soil, and wetlands. The modern study of these systems provides useful case-studies for infrastructure rehabilitation potentially providing low-cost, though technologically complex, solutions to modern water security.

POLITIK HUKUM PEMERINTAH DALAM BIDANG PERTANAHAN DARI PERSPEKTIF HAK ASASI MANUSIA

This study aims to determine the legal politics of the government in the land sector from a human rights perspective. The research results were obtained through normative legal research by examining library materials or secondary data as well as legal developments that support the research. The results of this study indicate that individual property rights arise from the relationship between humans and nature, not from human-human relations. Property rights do not depend on the consent of others, but arise because of individual businesses. Property rights are natural rights that do not originate from the state, are managed individually and must be protected by the state. Land ownership rights can also be said to be human rights, not because of inherent rights to humans, but natural rights obtained from human struggles or efforts. Thus, the revocation or relinquishing of land rights from private property by force is a violation of human rights. Citizens' refusal to implement various laws and regulations in the land sector is evidence that government policies in the land sector, both at the substance or content level (het onderwerp) of the prevailing laws and regulations, have not shown serious attention to guarantee and protection of human rights.

'Waiting with Bated Breath'

'Waiting with Bated Breath'

Ability of Laboratory Findings Upon Admission to Predict Lung Involvement and Its Severity in COVID-19 Patients Requiring Hospitalization

Background: The struggle of humanity with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, which affected the whole world and caused severe social and health crises, continues without deceleration. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the relationship between the abnormal laboratory parameters upon admission and the intensity of lung involvement using chest computerized tomography severity score (CT-SS). Methods: This single-center study evaluated a total of 242 patients who were admitted to our hospital due to COVID-19 with positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results. The patients were divided into three groups of no involvement on thorax CT images, mild involvement, and moderate-severe involvement. Results: The mean ages of groups 1 (n=42), 2 (n=123), and 3 (n=77) were 38±10.6, 56.3±16, and 61±15.6 years, respectively (P<0.001). The three groups showed significant differences in terms of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart rate, oxygen saturation, lymphocyte count, platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic immune inflammation index (SII), ferritin, troponin-I, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and c-reactive protein (CRP) values (P<0.001). The CRP (R=0.545, P<0.001), ferritin (R=0.481, P<0.001), and SII (R=0.473, P<0.001) were moderately and positively correlated with CT-SS, while neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (R=0.404, P<0.001), PLR (R=0.371, P<0.001), and ESR (R=0.327, P<0.001) were mildly and positively correlated with CT-SS. Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that elevation in CRP, as well as ferritin and SII values upon admission to the hospital was significantly correlated with CT-SS. The results also revealed that the presence of lung parenchyma involvement might be predicted in PCR positive COVID-19 patients without the need for thorax CT. Furthermore, it is believed that this information will provide great convenience to the clinicians who first welcome the patient in terms of predicting COVID-19 lung involvement.

Pengembangan Karakter Ikari Shinji Dalam Anime Neo Genesis Evangeliom

This research discusses the character development of the main character Ikari Shinji from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. Neon Genesis Evangelion is an anime series directed by Hideaki Anno that tells the story of humanity's struggle against shitos using a giant robot called Evangelion. To interpret the character of the main character, the method used is descriptive analysis, and the analysis refers to Weiland's theory of character development. The results of the research show that Ikari Shinji at the beginning of the story has a ‘lie’ that he believes in, namely running away from problems. However, he has the capability to beat ‘the lie’. Throughout the story he gets the consequences of his ‘lie’, he also finds out the truth and what he actually needs. At one point he had to make a decision between the truth and the ‘lie’. The result was Ikari Shinji's old self becomes 'dead' after he made that decision. He left the ‘lie’ and proved that he had developed into a better person. The story’s ending is the answer to this anime thematic question.

Nano-biofortification of different crops to immune against COVID-19: A review

Human health and its improvement are the main target of several studies related to medical, agricultural and industrial sciences. The human health is the primary conclusion of many studies. The improving of human health may include supplying the people with enough and safe nutrients against malnutrition to fight against multiple diseases like COVID-19. Biofortification is a process by which the edible plants can be enriched with essential nutrients for human health against malnutrition. After the great success of biofortification approach in the human struggle against malnutrition, a new biotechnological tool in enriching the crops with essential nutrients in the form of nanoparticles to supplement human diet with balanced diet is called nano-biofortification. Nano biofortification can be achieved by applying the nano particles of essential nutrients (e.g., Cu, Fe, Se and Zn) foliar or their nano-fertilizers in soils or waters. Not all essential nutrients for human nutrition can be biofortified in the nano-form using all edible plants but there are several obstacles prevent this approach. These stumbling blocks are increased due to COVID-19 and its problems including the global trade, global breakdown between countries, and global crisis of food production. The main target of this review was to evaluate the nano-biofortification process and its using against malnutrition as a new approach in the era of COVID-19. This review also opens many questions, which are needed to be answered like is nano-biofortification a promising solution against malnutrition? Is COVID-19 will increase the global crisis of malnutrition? What is the best method of applied nano-nutrients to achieve nano-biofortification? What are the challenges of nano-biofortification during and post of the COVID-19?