Masaryk University Journals / Časopisy Masarykovy univerzity
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Assessing Pandemic Measures: The Impact of Digital Technologies on Fundamental Rights
Get PDFThe European Union’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic relied heavily on creating, deploying and using digital technologies. This article focuses on the implications of two such measures - digital contact tracing and digital vaccine certificates. Much of the academic response to these has focused on data protection law, the preservation of privacy and the reluctance to build surveillance infrastructures that would empower states with tracking capabilities. This contribution tackles these digital initiatives from another angle. It examines their deployment through a broader human rights lens, and explores whether the EU, in mobilising these measures to curb the pandemic and reinstate free movement during these times, complied with its international obligations to protect human rights, particularly those enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. This paper argues that in urgent and extraordinary contexts where knowledge and understanding of health threats are limited, such as was the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains essential to be prudent if and when overstating the primacy of one or more rights over others. Human rights instruments include provisions on emergency contexts, and laws implementing fundamental rights, such as the GDPR, allow for the deployment of measures to help protect against threats to public health. It is essential in such contexts to strive for an appropriate balance which ensures a sustained role for protective mechanisms such as lawfulness, proportionality, and legal and technical safeguards, in light of public interest goals and without undue deference to state interests which may have serious implications - such as, in this case, unjustified mass surveillance
Problematic TikTok use severity, self-control, and school engagement: A one-year longitudinal study
No full textAs short-form video applications such as TikTok have gained popularity, the phenomenon of problematic short-form video usage has emerged as a significant area of research. However, the impact of problematic TikTok use severity on young people’s school engagement, as well as the underlying mechanisms of this impact, has yet to be rigorously explored through empirical studies. The present study employed a one-year longitudinal design (with data collection occurring at three time points, spaced six months apart) at two universities located in South China. A total of 590 university students, aged 17 to 24 years, completed scales designed to assess the severity of problematic TikTok usage, usage patterns, self-control, and school engagement and to collect demographic information. Correlational analysis revealed a positive correlation between self-control at time point 2 (T2) and school engagement at time point 3 (T3), whereas both variables exhibited negative correlations with problematic TikTok use severity at time point 1 (T1). Furthermore, regression analysis demonstrated that, after controlling for age, TikTok use time, and school engagement at T1, self-control at T2 played a mediating role in the association between problematic TikTok use severity at T1 and school engagement at T3. Additionally, both gender and TikTok use patterns played a significant moderating role in the mediating effect of self-control. The indirect effect of self-control was observed to be substantial only among male university students. In addition, this indirect effect was more pronounced among university students who passively use TikTok than among those who actively use TikTok. These findings enhance our understanding of both the direct and indirect effects of the severity of problematic TikTok use and the potential moderating factors influencing the relationship between problematic TikTok use severity and school engagement. Additionally, our research offers valuable practical insights into the responsible use of short-form video applications such as TikTok and suggests strategies for effectively mitigating the negative impacts of problematic TikTok usage on school engagement
Metaphors and anthropomorphism in medical discourse
Get PDFThe crucial question in this study is how anthropomorphic metaphors influence medical discourse by attributing human characteristics to illnesses. We implemented the research design based on the frameworks of cognitive linguistics and critical discourse analysis, placing emphasis on developments in the conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), more recently elaborated by Kövecses (2010), Semino et al. (2017), and Gibbs (2017). In the process of analysing a manually collected corpus of communicative exchanges between patients, non-patients and medical workers retrieved from online platforms, the Metaphor Identification Procedure VU University Amsterdam (MIPVU) as outlined by Steen et al. (2010) was employed. We narrowed down the focus of our study to previously underexplored linguistic analysis of anthropomorphic metaphors in health and disease narratives. We hypothesized that 1) anthropomorphic metaphors are the most prevalent form of metaphors in medical communication, and 2) they are effective in bridging the experiential gap. Consequently, the research questions were formulated: What is the occurrence of anthropomorphic metaphors? What are the functions of anthropomorphic metaphors from the speakers’ and recipients’ perspectives? In what way can such language constructions influence patients’ mutual understanding and interaction? Which conceptual domains are most frequently represented through anthropomorphic metaphors? Results indicate that 40 per cent of the metaphors used in medical discussions are anthropomorphic. On the interpersonal level, they enhance both empathy and comprehension by creating a sense of shared experience. Corpus analysis further revealed that the strategic use of anthropomorphic metaphors in medical communication can potentially improve patients’ engagement and comprehension. In this sense our findings align with the current research on the impact of metaphors on speakers. More importantly, our research brings new perspectives on anthropomorphic metaphors, providing classification of direct and metaphoric anthropomorphism as well as further analysis of subtype categories.
The roles of Marcian, Aspar and Zeno in the interregnum between the death of Theodosius II and the accession of Marcian
No full textIn scholarly literature, it is often assumed that the elevation of Marcian (450–457) was a result of an agreement between Aspar and the Empress Pulcheria; sometimes another general, Zeno, is thought to be a significant figure in this election. However, it is unclear how Zeno was involved and whether he even was in Constantinople at the time. Equally unclear is what Aspar's official position was – he may have been a general, but what sort of general? The article offers some possibilities and further argues that Zeno, although absent, was essential for Aspar's plans. Aspar may have managed to convince the Empress and all the courtiers that Marcian was the best choice; however, he still needed to secure Zeno's support and avoid a civil war, as Zeno had been suspected of mutiny. Further, we may well ask whether the accession of Marcian was an election at all, or rather a "surrogate usurpation" which was a common thing in the 5th century in the West: it can be argued that just like Ricimer, Aspar did not aspire to the imperial title himself, but conveniently, there was a suitable candidate among his servants. Another puzzle is the interregnum between the death of Theodosius II and the accession of Marcian. It lasted for 28 days, which is much more than with any other case of imperial election. The logical conclusion is that several weeks were required to find Zeno (whose location in the East was apparently unknown), brief him and ask him to come to Constantinople to give his approval and support for the choice of Marcian. The article thus tries to answer an important question: was the accession of Marcian a convenient way of Aspar to preserve and even enhance his own standing without altering or disrupting the power structure in the East
The network of old roads in the western part of the Vizovice Uplands in the first half of the 12th century
No full textStudie zkoumá síť historických cest ve Vizovické vrchovině ve 12. století, přičemž se zaměřuje na propojení sídel uvedených v listině olomouckého biskupa Jindřicha Zdíka (1141). Oproti předchozím pracím kombinuje analýzu písemných a kartografických pramenů, nedestruktivní terénní průzkum a geoinformační analýzy. Výsledky potvrzují existenci komunikační sítě odpovídající pravidlům optimální trasy a připouští i možnost alternativního směřování některých cest. Interaktivní příloha pomáhá vizualizovat vývoj osídlení Uherskobrodska a Slavičínska.This study examines the network of historical roads in the Vizovice Uplands in the 12th century, focusing on the connection of settlements mentioned in the charter of the Olomouc bishop Jindřich Zdík (1141). In contrast to previous works, it combines the analysis of written and cartographic sources, non-destructive field research and geoinformation analysis. The results confirm the existence of a communication network corresponding to the rules of the optimum route and indicate the possibility of an alternative direction of some of the roads. An interactive supplement helps visualize the development of the settlement of the Uherský Brod and Slavičín regions
Keith J. Holyoak – The Human Edge: Analogy and the Roots of Creative Intelligence
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[Glomb, Tomáš. Connecting the Isiac cults: formal modeling in the Hellenistic Mediterranean]
No full textRecenzované dílo:
Glomb, Tomáš. Connecting the Isiac cults: formal modeling in the Hellenistic Mediterranean. First published. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023. xiii, 178 p. Scientific studies of religion: inquiry and explanation. ISBN 978-1-350-21069-1.Reviewed work:
Glomb, Tomáš. Connecting the Isiac cults: formal modeling in the Hellenistic Mediterranean. First published. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023. xiii, 178 p. Scientific studies of religion: inquiry and explanation. ISBN 978-1-350-21069-1
Voting for Hard Eurosceptic Parties in 2024 European Parliament Elections in the Czech Republic: The Role of Salience and Attitude toward Czexit
No full textIn this article, we test the applicability of the EU issue voting model to the case of the 2024 Czech European Parliament elections. Given the increasing importance of the issue of leaving or remaining in the European Union, we examine whether voters’ attitudes towards this issue affect their electoral behaviour. Furthermore, research on individual-level salience’s effects on EU issue voting is limited. To address this gap, we leverage post-election survey data on the importance voters attribute to the issue of leaving the EU to assess whether salience influences turnout and moderates the effect of voter preferences on party choice. We show that voters who judge the issue of Czexit to be highly salient are less likely to abstain. Additionally, we find that in general, voters’ attitudes regarding Czexit exert only a weak effect on their decision to support parties that reflect their views on this issue. However, we find that this effect is moderated to a large degree by the salience that voters attribute to the issue, in that voters considering the question of Czexit to be highly salient are considerably more likely to support parties that match their preferences (i.e. Czexit supporters vote for hard Eurosceptic parties and remain supporters for non-hard Eurosceptic parties). Thus, the study concludes that voter behaviour largely follows an EU issue voting logic, highlighting the key role played by issue salience in this process
Hard Euroscepticism in the Shadow of Fidesz: the Our Homeland Movement in Hungary
No full textThe article investigates manifestations of hard Euroscepticism in Hungary, with a particular focus on the Our Homeland Movement (Mi Hazánk Mozgalom), a radical right-wing populist party founded in 2018. While the party’s manifestos articulate a deeply critical position on the European Union and explicitly propose holding a Huxit referendum within approximately five years – justifying its classification as hard Eurosceptic – an analysis of its online communication and parliamentary activity reveals a notable absence of EU-related contestation. The study also considers the case of Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség), which has, since coming to power in 2010, exhibited traits that transcend the soft Eurosceptic category. The article contends that the conventional hard/soft Euroscepticism dichotomy is insufficient for capturing the complex and evolving nature of Hungary’s ruling party’s relationship with the European Union