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Assessing Employee Satisfaction in the Context of Covid-19 Pandemic
Ana Fernandes 1, Rui Lima 2, Margarida Figueiredo 1, Jorge Ribeiro 3, José Neves 4, Henrique Vicente 1,4,
1Universidade de Évora
2Instituto Politécnico de Saúde do Norte
3Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo
4Universidade do Minho
The current COVID-19 pandemic crisis brought new challenges for all companies, forcing them to adopt new working methods to avert/minimize infection. Monitoring employee satisfaction is a challenging task, but one that is paramount in the current pandemic crisis. A workable problem-solving methodology has been developed and tested to respond to this challenge that examined the dynamics between Artificial Intelligence, Logic Programming, and Entropy for Knowledge Representation and Reasoning. Such formalism are in line with an Artificial Neural Network approach to computing. The ultimate goal is to assess employees' satisfaction in Water Analysis Laboratories while considering its development and management. The model was trained and tested with real-world data collected through questionnaires. The proposed supervised exercise yielded an overall accuracy of 92.1% and 90.5% for both, training and testing sets.
Keywords: COVID-19, Human Resources Management, Organizational Performance, Artificial Intelligence, Logic Programming, Entropy, Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, Artificial Neural Networks
Received: 21 November 2020 · Accepted: 19 December 2020 · Published: 30 December 2020
The recent outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is an unprecedented situation worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) and public health authorities around the world are taking steps to slow the outbreak of COVID-19 and reduce infection rates. While many companies are developing and implementing business continuity plans, all employers need to prepare, get along and respond appropriately as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves [1]. The COVID-19 spreads not only through respiratory droplets or contact with contaminated surfaces, but through [2], viz airborne particles and fomites.
The risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace depends on the likelihood of reaching one meter from other people, frequent physical contact with people who may be infected with COVID-19 and contact with contaminated surfaces and objects [3]. The WHO identified three levels of exposure risk in workplace [4], viz:
Low exposure risk - Jobs or work without frequent, close contact with the general public or others. Workers in this group have minimal occupational contact with the public and other co-workers. Examples of such chores may include remote workers (i.e. working from home), office workers without frequent close contact with others and workers providing teleservices.
Medium exposure risk - Activities or assignments with close, frequent contact with the general public or others. This risk level may apply to workers who have frequent and close contact with the people in high-population-density work environments (e.g. food markets, bus stations, public transport, and other work activities where physical distancing of at least one meter may be difficult to observe), or tasks that require close and frequent contact between co-workers. This may also include frequent contact with people returning from areas with community transmission. Examples of such duties may include front-line workers in retail, home deliveries, accommodation, construction, police and security, public transport, and water and sanitation. Workplaces for medium-risk jobs require daily cleaning and disinfection at least twice a day of objects and surfaces that are touched regularly, including all shared rooms, surfaces, floors, bathrooms and changing rooms [5].
High exposure risk - Jobs or tasks with close contact with people who may be more likely to have COVID-19, as well as contact with objects and surfaces possibly contaminated with the virus. Examples include transporting people known or suspected to have COVID-19 without separation between the driver and the passenger, providing domestic services or home care for people with COVID-19, and having contact with the deceased who were known or suspected of having COVID-19 at the time of their death. Employments that may fall under this category include domestic workers, social care workers, personal transport and home delivery providers and repair technicians (e.g., plumbers, electricians) who have to provide services in the homes of people with COVID-19. High-risk workplaces require specific measures since the possibility of suspending activity must be assessed. Requires cleaning and disinfection before and after contact with any known or suspected case of COVID-19, use of a medical mask, disposable lab coat, gloves and eye protection for workers who come into contact with suspected or known people with COVID-19 [5].
Aside from the above, there may be jobs in the same work environment with different levels of risk and different jobs or work items may have similar exposure levels. Thus, managers must carry out risk assessments to determine the possibility of exposure risk, to implement preventive measures [4]. The risk assessment must be carried out for each specific work environment and to each allocation. Following this line of thinking, for each risk assessment it is prudent to consider the environment, the task, the threat, if any (e.g., for front-line personnel) and available resources, such as personal protective equipment. Furthermore, the specificities of each worker should be considered since some workers may be at a higher risk of developing serious COVID-19 disease due to age or pre-existing medical conditions [5]. However, the implementation of the action plan and the preventive measures is not sufficient. All new processes and working measures must be understood and accepted by each one to guarantee the commitment of the entire team [6]. However, assessing employee satisfaction is a difficult task that comprises a variety of issues that depend on both the employee and the organization [7], [8]. The present work aims to assess the satisfaction of the employees of water analysis laboratories (sector classified by WHO as to have a medium risk of exposure to the virus [4]) with the preventive measures resulting from the pandemic crisis.
In the literature, employee satisfaction studies are common, but there are still not many studies related to employee satisfaction in times of a pandemic because it is a recent topic. Using the ScienceDirect platform the search for the term COVID-19 gave 30.698 results. However, combining the terms COVID-19, risks and employee satisfaction only 256 results were obtained. Studies related to COVID-19 and employee satisfaction in the areas of health [9], [10] and in the hospitality sector [11]–[13] are the most frequent.
Tengilimoglu et al. studied the levels of anxiety, depression, and stress of health employees during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. The authors stated that the biggest cause of anxiety or stress among health professionals comes from the fear of contaminating their family members with the COVID-19 virus [9]. Zhang et al. predicted the anxiety and satisfaction of health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic based on a cohort composed by 712 healthcare workers [10]. Grounded on an 8-point framework the authors present an empirical measure of COVID-19 Organizational Support and investigate its associations with healthcare workers' anxiety and life satisfaction. According to the authors the proposed measure enables healthcare institutions to assess, monitor, compare and improve COVID-19 specific support and contribute to minimize the anxiety levels of the collaborators during the pandemic [10].
With regard to the hospitality industry, Bajrami et al. examined various effects of COVID-19 (e.g., job insecurity, complaints from employees during isolation, risk behavior in the workplace and changes in the organization) on work motivation, job satisfaction and sales intentions [11]. The study was carried out on Serbia and embraced a cohort of 624 hospitality workers. The authors point out that the job insecurity and changes in the organization showed a negative impact in all outcomes, whereas while risk-taking behavior has a negative influence only in job satisfaction. Regarding demographic variables only the age and marital status influence job motivation and turnover intentions [11]. Farmaki and Stergiou explored front-line hotel employees' views about working during the COVID-19 pandemic to identify the factors that may influence their ability and willingness to report to work. Despite the difficulties in the distinction between barriers to ability or willingness to report to work the authors proposed some remedial recommendations such as training, measures to facilitate employees' transport, measures for infection controls in customer areas, and the reinforce the communication between the organization and the employees [12]. Jung et al. examined the effects of job insecurity caused by COVID-19 on job engagement and turnover intent based on a cohort comprising 314 employees of Seoul five-star hotels. According the authors the perceptions of job insecurity had negative effects on the engagement of deluxe hotel employees and led to the increased of turnover intent [13]. The study also reveals that the job insecurity had a greater influence on employees' engagement; e.g., if one state that Generation Y than Generation X, one is asserting that the impact of job insecurity is higher for people of generation Y than for people of generation X [13]. Kang and Shin examined how risk reduction strategies using technology innovation for social distancing and cleanliness (e.g., kiosk check-in system, mobile check-in system, robot cleaning system, and ultraviolet light cleaning system) at hotels influence customer health risk perception and decision-making behaviors in both pandemic and post-pandemic scenarios. The study allowed to identify that the perceived health risk mediates the relationship between expected interaction and hotel booking intention. The authors highlighted that low levels of expected interaction through technology mediated systems lead to low levels of perceived health risk [14].
Logic Programming
There are many approaches to Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KRR) using the epitome of Logic Programming (LP), namely in the areas of Model Theory and Proof Theory. In this article, the Proof Theoretical methodology for problem solving was adopted and expressed as an extension of the LP language [15]. Under this setting a LP will be grounded on a finite set of clauses as presented in Listing [1].
The Prime Example of a Logic Program
The first clause denotes predicate's closure, "," designates "logical and", while "?" is a domain atom denoting "falsity", the \(p_{i}\), \(q_{j}\), and \(p\) are classical ground literals, i.e., either positive atoms or atoms preceded by the classical negation sign \(\rightharpoondown\) [15]. Indeed, \(\rightharpoondown\) stands for strong negation, i.e., a strong declaration that speaks for itself, while not denotes negation-by-failure, i.e., a failure in proving a certain statement since it was not declared in an explicit way. According to this way of thinking, a set of exceptions (or abducibles) are present in every program, given here in the form of exemptions to the extensions of the predicates that make the program, i.e., clauses of the form
\(exception_{p_{1}}\), .. , \(exception_{p_{j}}\)(\(0\geq j\geq k\)), \(k\in\mathbb{Z}\)
that denote data, information or knowledge that cannot be ruled out [16]. On the other hand, clauses of the type
\(?\)(\(p_{1}\), .. , \(p_{n}\), \(not\) \(q_{1}\), .., \(not\) \(q_{n}\))\(n,m\geq 0\)
are Integrity Constraints (ICs) (or invariants) that make it possible to specify the context under which the universe of discourse should be understood [15], [17].
It is undeniable that expressing theories as logic programs has become more natural and general as the field of LP matured and other fields began to use its tools and results. Theories are typically uttered as a series of patterns (rules) and facts that make it possible to infer non-logical consequences using logical inference. In writing such rules and facts, both explicit (or strong) negation and explicit declarations may be used to reinforce knowledge. Theories, on the other hand, can be further refined by adding special rules in the form of ICs. These assume that, regardless of the assumptions, some conditions must be met. An implicit constraint on any sound theory has overall consistency, i.e., it must not be possible to infer a conclusion and its contradiction. Since the most common situation in the real world is incomplete and updateable information, any system that makes serious attempts to deal with real-world situations must cope with such complexities. The principle used is the Open World Assumption (OWA) where everything is unknown or undefined until one has some secure evidence of its truthfulness or falseness. Indeed, this principle differs from the more usual Closed World Assumption (CWA) where everything is assumed false until there is solid evidence of its truthfulness. It was not taken a fuzzy logic approach once thresholds would be needed. For such attitude an a priori evaluation of falseness or truthfulness would be required.
A Thermodynamics Approach to Knowledge Representation and Reasoning
Energy transfer operations or processes are systematically analyzed to determine how they can be assessed. It turns out that energy transfer should not only be characterized by the act or process itself but should also be seen in a broader context. This context is introduced as the entropic potential of the transferred energy. It takes into account the entire energy transfer in its initial and finite states, i.e., it starts, for example, as pure exergy if it is a primary energy, and ends as pure anergy if it has become part of the internal energy of the environment. With this in mind, an energy degradation process can be defined under a proper tangible background. Indeed, the problem-solving methodology presented and discussed in this article is based on this perception and aims to describe the practices of KRR as a process of energy degradation [17]–[19]. In order to explain the basic rules of the proposed approach, the First and Second Law of Thermodynamics are considered, attending that one's system moves from state to state over time. The first part, also known as the Energy Saving Law, states that the total energy of an isolated system is constant, i.e., cannot change over time. This means that energy can be converted but cannot be generated or destroyed. The second part deals with Entropy, a property that quantifies the orderly state of a system and its evolution. These characteristics fit the proposed vision of KRR practices, and have to be understood as a process of energy degradation or, in other words, when one looks to system entropic state, its energy can be break up and used in sense of erosion, but never used in the sense of destruction, viz:
Exergy, sometimes called available energy or more precisely available work, is the part of the energy which can be arbitrarily used after a transfer operation or, in other words, the entropic state of the universe of discourse. In Figure 2 it is given by the dark colored areas.
Vagueness, i.e., the corresponding energy values that may or may not have been transferred and consumed. In Figure 2 are given by the gray colored areas.
Anergy, that stands for an energetic potential that was not yet transferred and consumed, being therefore available, i.e., all of energy that is not exergy.
These terms refer to all possible processes as pure energy transfer and consumption practices [17]–[19].
Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are computing tools inspired by studies of the human brain and nervous system. In fact, they are mathematical models that simulate such systems as are understood today. One of the main characteristics of ANNs is their ability to learn. In fact, it is important to note that ANNs are not traditional computer programs. They learn from examples through a process called training, in which ANNs organize themselves to adjust an internal set of parameters (i.e. synapses weights) that are used to collect the information contained in the data. Compared to traditional methods, ANNs treat inaccurate and/or incomplete data, give approximate results, and are less prone to outliers. In addition, it is not necessary to accept restrictions or to know the relationships between variables from the outset. Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) is one of the most widespread ANN architectures in which neurons are layered and only forward connections exist [20]. The MLP design is typically trial and error using an upward approach, starting with an initial architecture that is adjusted to minimize the internal error (e.g., Mean Square Error) [20], [21].
The study was carried out in a water laboratory in southern Portugal. The age of the employees varied between 18 and 60 years (mean age 38 ± 20 years), with 61% women and 39% men. A questionnaire to assess employee satisfaction with the new pandemic crisis procedures was created and used for a cohort of 64 elements. The questionnaire was used over a period of five months (June to October) and resulted in a database of 320 records. In order to avoid possible hidden errors in connection with sampling procedures, the questionnaires were applied to all employees of the laboratories [22].
The questionnaire was divided into two segments; the former one contained frequently asked questions (e.g. age, gender, educational qualification, seniority and department within the organization), while the latter contained points for assessing employee satisfaction with the current protective measures.
In the first part of the questionnaire the answers are descriptive, while in the others the Likert scale was used with four levels, i.e., Very Dissatisfied, Slightly Dissatisfied, Satisfied and Very Satisfied. In addition, the participants are requested to specify the tendency of his/her answer, i.e., growing tendency (Very Dissatisfied \(\rightarrow\) Very Satisfied) or the opposite (Very Satisfied \(\rightarrow\) Very Dissatisfied).
The Action Research Methodology for problem solving, which is also known as Participatory Action Research, community-based study, co-operative enquiry, action science and action learning - is an approach commonly used for improving conditions and practices in a range of environments and will be used in this work. It involves people conducting systematic enquiries in order to help them improve their own practices, which in turn can enhance their working environment and the working environments of those who are part of it. The purpose of undertaking action research is to bring about change in specific contexts. Action research's strength lies in its focus on generating solutions to practical problems and its ability to empower people, by getting them to engage with research and the subsequent development or implementation activities.
Sample Characterization
The gathered data was classified by age-groups as shown in Figure 1(a) (i.e., 17-20, 21-30, 31-50 and 51-70 years old). 69% of the partakers are younger than 30 years of age while 6% are older than 51 years of age. In terms of academic qualifications, 80% of the cohort reported having basic or secondary education, 17% reported having a degree and 3% reported having postgraduate education (Figure 1(b)). In terms of length of service, 50% of participants reported 1-5 years, 32% more than 11 years, and 12% less than 1 year (Figure 1(c)). In terms of departmental areas (Figure 1(d)), 34% belong to the management sector (consisting of Quality Management, Human Resources, Finance and Results departments), and 66% belong to the technical sector (i.e. chemistry, microbiology and sampling departments)).
Sample characterization in terms of age groups (a), academic qualifications (b) length of service (c), and (d) departmental areas
A Thermodynamic Approach to Data Attainment and Processing
Aiming to collect information about employees' satisfaction concerning the new procedures related with the pandemic crisis, the second part of the questionnaire comprises questions related with the employees' opinions about Organization Related Items - Four Items (ORI - 4), Training Related Items - Four Items (TRI - 4), Resources Related Items - Four Items (RRI - 4), and Cleaning and Disinfection Related Items - Five Items (CDRI - 5). Since the participants were requested to mark the alternative(s) that best reflect their feelings concerning each item and the tendency of his/her answer, i.e., growing tendency (Very Dissatisfied \(\rightarrow\) Very Satisfied) or the opposite (Very Satisfied \(\rightarrow\) Very Dissatisfied), the answer options were given in terms of an expanded version of a Likert scale, viz Very Satisfied (4), Satisfied (3), Dissatisfied (2), Very Dissatisfied (1), Dissatisfied (2), Satisfied (3), Very Satisfied (4).
In order to quantify the qualitative information and make the process intelligible, complete calculation details for Organization Related Items - Four Items (ORI - 4) are provided. Table 1 shows the results regarding an employee answers to the ORI - 4. For example, the answer to I1 was Dissatisfied (2) \(\rightarrow\) Satisfied (3), shows a trend in the employee's opinion with a decrease in entropy, i.e., there is an increase trend in his/her opinion. For I2 and I4 the answers were Dissatisfied (2) and Satisfied (3), respectively, a fact that speaks for itself, while for I3 no options were pointed out, which indicates a vague situation, i.e., the value of the energy consumed is unknown, although it is known that it is in the bandwidth is the interval \(0...1\).
An employee's answers to ORI - 4
Items Scale
(4) (3) (2) (1) (2) (3) (4) vagueness
I1 × ×
I2 ×
Figure 2 and Figure 3 describe such responses regarding the different forms of energy, i.e., exergy, vagueness and anergy. Bearing in mind the fact that the markings on the axis correspond to one of the possible scaling options, the employees' opinion behaves better when the entropy decreases, which is the case with I1, as shown in Table 2 for the Best and Worst Case Scenarios (BCS/WCS).
Evaluation of the entropic state of the system for the Best and Worst-case scenarios, attending an employee perception in terms of his/her answer to the ARS - 4
Best-case scenario (BCS)
Worst-case scenario (WCS)
A global view of the energy that an employee is predicting to be used by the system to be in the entropic state suggested by his/her responses to ORI - 4, per item. The dark areas stand for exergy, gray areas denote vagueness and white areas represent anergy
The formula used in Table 2 report the way to handle sub-sections of a circle area, they are self-explanatory. On the other hand, the data collected above may now be structured in terms of the predicate organization related items (ori - 4) in the form
\(ori - 4:EXergy,VAgueness,ANergy,Employee\) \(Satisfaction\) \(Assessment,\)
\(Quality-of-Information \rightarrow True, False\)
whose extent follows (Table 3 and Listings [2] and [3]).
The extent of the ori - 4's predicate as a result of an employee answers to ORI - 4
Ex BCS
VA BCS
AN BCS
ESA BCS
QoI BCS
EX WCS
VA WCS
AN WCS
ESA WCS
QoI WCS
ORI - 4 0.31 0 0.69 0.95 0.69 0.31 0.33 0.36 0.77 0.36
A global view of the energy an employee predicts that has been used by the system to be in the entropic state his/her answer suggests in answering ORI - 4 for Best (a) and Worst (b) case scenarios, per energy type. The dark areas stand for exergy, gray areas denote vagueness and dashed areas represent anergy
The extent of the predicate ori - 4 for the Best-case scenario
The extent of the predicate ori - 4 for the Worst-case scenario
The evaluation of Employees Satisfaction Assessment (ESA) and Quality of Information (QoI) for the different items that make the ori - 4 are now given in the form, viz:
ESA is figured out using \(ESA=\sqrt{1-ES^{2}}\) (see Figure 4), where \(ES\) stands for the exergy's that may have been consumed, a value that ranges in the interval \(0 ... 1\). In the Best-case scenario, \(ES=exergy\), while in the Worst-case scenario, \(ES=exergy+vagueness\).
\(ESA_{BCS}=\sqrt{1-(0.31)^{2}}=0.95\)
\(ESA_{WCS}=\sqrt{1-(0.31+0.33)^{2}}=0.77\)
ESA evaluation
QoI is evaluated in the form, viz.
\(QoI=1-ES/Interval\) \(length(=1)\)
\(QoI_{BCS}=1-0.31=0.69\)
\(QoI_{WCS}=1-(0.31+0.33)=0.36\)
To complement Table 1, Table 4 and Table 5 shows an employee answers to TRI - 4, RRI - 4, and CDRI - 5.
Answers from an employee to the TRI - 4, RRI - 4, and CDRI - 5
TRI - 4 S5 × ×
S6 ×
RRI - 4 S9 ×
S10 × ×
S11 ×
CDRI - 5 S13 ×
The ranges of the predicates ori - 4, tri - 4, rri - 4, and cdri - 5, which were determined according to an employee's answers to the ORI - 4, TRI 4 - 4, RRI - 4, and CDRI - 5
TRI - 4 0.53 0 0.47 0.85 0.47 0.53 0.36 0.11 0.46 0.11
RRI - 4 0.34 0 0.66 0.94 0.66 0.34 0.36 0.3 0.71 0.3
CDRI - 5 0.41 0 0.59 0.91 0.59 0.41 0 0.59 0.91 0.59
Global 0.40 0 0.6 0.91 0.6 0.4 0.26 0.34 0.71 0.34
In Table 5, the row Global corresponds to the average of the Item (e.g., In the column Ex BCS, \(0.40 = (0.31 + 0.53 + 0.34 + 0.41)/4\)).
The ESA Implementation - A Logic Programming Line
The Formal Framework
Logic Programming (LP) is a programming paradigm which is largely based on Pure Logic. Any program written in a logic programming language is a set of sentences in logical form, expressing facts and rules about some problem domain, i.e., a problem-solving methodology that involve expressing problems and their solutions in a way that a computer can execute using logic inference. Indeed, LP is a creative process that uses deductive methods for problem solving based on the presumption that an attempt is made to construct evidence for the presumption. In this subsection a mathematical logical program is presented that considers the perception of the employee with respect to a particular subject (individual opinions about the satisfaction with the safety procedures) in order to evaluated the organization as a whole (Programs 4 and 5). This framework provides the basis for a symbolic assessment of the level of employees' satisfaction of an organization, plus a measure of its sustainability (QoI), i.e., a set of truth values that range in the interval 0 ... 1 [17], [23].
The Best-Case Scenario
Regarding the Best-case scenario one may have the program presented in Listing [4]. The extensions of predicates ori-4, tri-4, rri-4, and cdri-5 are now put together. It is now possible to generate the data sets that will allow one to train an ANN for the Best-case Scenario (see Figure 5) [17], [23], viz.
The input in the form of the employees' opinions about Organization Related Items - Four Items (extent of predicate ori-4), Training Related Items - Four Items (extent of predicate tri-4), Resources Related Items - Four Items (extent of predicate rri-4), and Cleaning and Disinfection Related Items - Five Items (extent of predicate cdri-5).
The output in terms of an evaluation of the Employee Satisfaction Assessment (ESA) of an institution and its sustainability (QoI), truth values that range in the interval 0 ... 1.
The make-up of the LP that establishes the ESA implementation in the Best-case scenario
A creative view of the ANN topology for ESA assessment and a measure of its Sustainability (QoI) for the Best-case scenario
In present work a cohort of 64 employees was enrolled, and the training/testing sets was gotten by clarifying the theorem presented in Equation [1] in every possible way, i.e., all the different possible sequences that combine the terms or clauses of the predicates' extent ori-4, tri-4, rri-4, and cdri-5, a number given by the expression \(C_{1}^{Predicates-extent} + ... + C_{Predicates-extent}^{Predicates-extent}\), where \(C_{Predicates-extent}^{Predicates-extent}\) is a predicates-combination subset, with predicates-extent elements presented in Equation [2].
\[ \begin{split} \forall (EX_{1}, VA_{1}, AN_{1}, ESA_{1}, QoI_{1}, ... , EX_{4}, VA_{4}, AN_{4}, ESA_{4}, QoI_{4}) \\ (ori-4(EX_{1}, VA_{1}, AN_{1}, ESA_{1}, QoI_{1}), \\ tri-4(EX_{2}, VA_{2}, AN_{2}, ESA_{2}, QoI_{2}), \\ rri-4(EX_{3}, VA_{3}, AN_{3}, ESA_{3}, QoI_{3}), \\ cdri-5(EX_{4}, VA_{4}, AN_{4}, ESA_{4}, QoI_{4})) \end{split}\]
\[ \begin{split} \{\{ori-4(EX_{1}, VA_{1}, AN_{1}, ESA_{1}, QoI_{1}), \\ tri-4(EX_{2}, VA_{2}, AN_{2}, ESA_{2}, QoI_{2}), \\ rri-4(EX_{3}, VA_{3}, AN_{3}, ESA_{3}, QoI_{3}), \\ cdri-5(EX_{4}, VA_{4}, AN_{4}, ESA_{4}, QoI_{4})\}, ... \} \approx \\ \approx \{\{ori-4(0.31, 0, 0.69, 0.95, 0.69), tri-4(0.53, 0, 0.47, 0.85, 0.47), \\ rri-4(0.34, 0, 0.66, 0.94, 0.66), cdri-5 (0.41, 0, 0.59, 0.91, 0.59)\}, ... \} \end{split}\]
With regard to the output of the ANN, i.e., both the Employee Satisfaction Assessment (ESA) and a measure of its Sustainability (QoI), for the Best-case scenario they may be weighed in the mold by Equation [3] leading to the ANN depicted in Figure 5.
\[\label{equ:output} \begin{split} \{\{(ESA_{ori-4}+ESA_{tri-4}+ESA_{rri-4}+ESA_{cdri-4}/4\}, ... \}_{BCS} \approx \\ \approx \{\{(0.95 + 0.85 + 0.94 + 0.91)/4 = 0.91\}, ... \}_{BCS} \\ \{\{(QoI_{ori-4}+QoI_{tri-4}+QoI_{rri-4}+QoI_{cdri-4}/4\}, ... \}_{BCS} \approx \\ \approx \{\{(0.69 + 0.47 + 0.66 + 0.59)/4 = 0.60\}, ... \}_{BCS} \end{split}\]
It is therefore possible to describe an employee's answers to the various items presented in the questionnaire in terms of the entropy they are associated with over a period of 5 (five) months (see Figure 6). Entropy follows a decreasing line from the first to the third month, which means that the employee increases his/her satisfaction with the safety procedures during this time. However, by the end of this month, it had inflected, i.e., the employee satisfaction with the preventive measures resulting from the pandemic crisis is declining. A view that culminates with a full break at the end of the 5th month.
Variation in the entropy of the employees' satisfaction with protection measures according to the perceptions of an employee for the Best-case scenario
This process makes it possible to monitor and manage the evolution of the system; to be pro-active through simulation, i.e., to foretell on the basis of observation, experience, or scientific reason; to act on the matters affecting its behavior, i.e., consider the answers to the items that contribute more to the deterioration of the system (i.e., have a higher entropic value or a higher value of exergy consumption).
The Worst-Case Scenario
Regarding the Worst-case scenario, ESA and QoI are evaluated in a similar way by the program presented in Listing [5]
The make-up of the LP that establishes the ESA implementation in the Worst-case scenario
In this case, regarding the output of the ANN, i.e., both the ESA and the QoI may be weighed as before as presented in Equation [4] leading to the ANN depicted in Figure 7.
\[\label{equ:output2} \begin{split} \{\{(ESA_{ori-4}+ESA_{tri-4}+ESA_{rri-4}+ESA_{cdri-4}/4\}, ... \}_{WCS} \approx \\ \approx \{\{(0.77 + 0.46 + 0.71 + 0.91)/4 = 0.71\}, ... \}_{WCS} \\ \{\{(QoI_{ori-4}+QoI_{tri-4}+QoI_{rri-4}+QoI_{cdri-4}/4\}, ... \}_{WCS} \approx \\ \approx \{\{(0.36 + 0.11 + 0.30 + 0.59)/4 = 0.34\}, ... \}_{WCS} \end{split}\]
A creative view of the ANN topology for ESA assessment and a measure of its Sustainability (QoI) for the Worst-case scenario
Regarding the entropy associated over a period of 5 (five) months the same comments apply in this scenario, but the inflection and break points occur earlier (see Figure 8).
Variation in the entropy of the employees' satisfaction with protection measures according to the perceptions of an employee for the Worst-case scenario
The software used to implement ANNs was the Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA), while maintaining the standard software parameters [23], [24]. To guarantee the significance of the results attained, 25 experiments were performed in all tests. In each simulation, the database was randomly split into two mutually exclusive partitions, i.e., the training set, with 2/3 of the data, used to build-up the model, and the test set, with the remaining cases to evaluate its performance. Table 6 presents the confusion matrix for the ANN model. The values shown in Table 6 allow computing the model accuracy for training set (92.1%, i.e., 198 well classified in 215) and for test set (90.5%, i.e., 95 well classified in 105). In the classification process, high denotes ESA higher than 0.85, medium stands for ESA ranging in the interval 0.5…0.85, and low were assigned to ESA lesser than 0.5.
Confusion Matrix regarding ANN model for Employees' Satisfaction Assessment
Training set Test set
Low Medium High Low Medium High
Low 41 1 0 16 0 0
Medium 2 119 1 5 67 2
High 0 3 38 3 12
ANNs stand for computational tools that can be used in generalization processes, i.e., have a correct input-output mapping even if the inputs are different from the examples used to train the network. However, if the network over stamps the training data, it may capture some aspects that are present in the training data that are not applicable to the function being modeled. This phenomenon is known as overfitting and occurs when the network loses the ability to generalize [20]. However, considering that the accuracies of training and test sets are close, the selected network performed well in prediction of the output variables for an independent data set and, therefore, show no overfitting.
Employee satisfaction is an old but at the same time very topical issue, as it is closely related to productivity. The actual pandemic crisis brought new challenges for the corporate sector, which had to adapt to new requirements in order to avoid or at least minimize contagion. Ensuring worker protection should be the responsibility not only of citizens, but also of organizations. However, it is difficult to judge as it involves dealing with employee satisfaction with different variables with complex relationships between them. In order to be able to assess the satisfaction of the employees in a water laboratory, a data acquisition and evaluation model was developed and experienced in practice. The focus was on an Artificial Intelligence/Logic Programming/Entropy approach to data processing, system evolution and management (being the data collected through questionnaire's answering), means that is brought into interrogation the immaterial part of this process, the emotions and people feelings. People is the most important asset in any organization. The proposed model offers a good accuracy of more than 90% and do not show overfitting. Future work will consider expanding the study to a larger sample in order to assess the influence of other variables such as age, gender or academic qualifications of employees on their satisfaction with the preventive measures resulting from the actual pandemic crisis. In addition, the relationships between the conscientious and the unconscious and their use for assessing and predicting the development and management of employee satisfaction.
Ana Fernandes is a PhD student in Biochemistry, Master in Environmental Chemistry, and Graduated in Chemistry at the University of Évora. She is Senior Technician in Health and Safety at Work and is Trainer, Consultant and Auditor of several entities, public and private, in the areas of Certification of Quality, Environment, Safety, Health and Safety at Work and Laboratory Accreditation. She is also a professor at several Higher Education institutions and Member of the Technical Commission 199-Health Information Systems of the Portuguese Institute for Quality. Her current interests include Quality Assessment, Health and Safety at Work, Organizational Efficiency and Public Health.
Rui Lima is since 2000 a professor and responsible for the Laboratories of the Escola Superior da Saúde at Vale do Ave, CESPU, Portugal. Degree in Food Engineering, with a Postgraduate Degree in Management of Organizations - Business Management Branch and Master in Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Food Industry by the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo, Portugal. He is currently enrolled in the PhD Program in Intelligent and Adaptable Software Systems at the University of Vigo, Spain. The current areas of research and interest range from Social Entropy and its connection to Chaos Theory and Artificial Intelligence.
Margarida Figueiredo went to the University of Évora, where she studied Physics and Chemistry and obtained her degrees in 1988. She joined the University of Évora in 1990 and received her PhD in Chemistry in 2004. She is now Auxiliary Professor at the Department of Chemistry of University of Évora. She is a researcher at the Center for Research in Education and Psychology and her currents interests include the study of Methodologies for Chemistry Teaching, Quality Assessment in Laboratories.
Jorge Ribeiro is Adjunct Professor in the School of Technology and Management Polytechnic of the Institute of Viana do Castelo (IPVC) - Portugal, since 2006. He holds a PhD (Informatics Engineering) in 2011 at the Department of Electronic and Computation of the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. He is affiliated with the ADiT-Lab (Applied Digital Transformation Laboratory) of the Polytechnic of the Institute of Viana do Castelo. His main research interests are Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering and Knowledge Discovery in Databases and he has been author and co-author of some papers in the field of Data Mining, Software Engineering, Knowledge Representation, Evolutionary Systems and Data Mining using Geographic Information Systems.
José Neves is Full Professor of Computer Science at Minho University, Portugal, and Emeritus Professor since 2019 at the same university. He also integrates the faculty of CESPU (Cooperative of Higher Education Polytechnic and University, CRL). He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Heriot Watt University, Scotland, in 1983. His current research interests relate to the areas of Logic Programming, Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, Evolutionary Intelligence and Machine Learning. Lately it has been focusing on the area of Computational Sustainability, namely on the relationship between the disciplines of Psychology, Economics, Computer Science, Mathematical Logic and Philosophy and their contributions to Decision Making in Business Environments.
Henrique Vicente went to the University of Lisbon, where he studied Chemistry and obtained his degrees in 1988. He joined the University of Évora in 1989 and received his PhD in Chemistry in 2005. He is now Auxiliary Professor at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Évora. He is a researcher at the REQUIMTE/LAQV (University of Évora) and at Algoritmi Research Center (University of Minho). His current interests include Water Quality Control, Lakes and Reservoirs Management, Data Mining, Knowledge Discovery from Databases, Knowledge Representation and Reasoning Systems, Evolutionary Intelligence, and Intelligent Information Systems.
Ana Fernandes participated in the elaboration of the questionnaire, their validation, and implementation, as well as, in the computational features of the work. In addition, she contributed to the discussion of the results and to the writing of the article.
Rui Lima participated in the elaboration of the questionnaire, their validation, and implementation, as well as, contributed to the discussion of the results and to the writing of the article.
Margarida Figueiredo participated in the elaboration of the questionnaire, their validation, and implementation, as well as, contributed to the discussion of the results and to the writing of the article.
Jorge Ribeiro participated in the computational features of the work, as well as, contributed to the discussion of the results and to the writing of the article.
José Neves participated in the computational features of the work, as well as, contributed to the discussion of the results and to the writing of the article.
Henrique Vicente participated in the computational features of the work, as well as, contributed to the discussion of the results and to the writing of the article.
This work has been supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020 and UIDB/50006/2020.
Hector Florez, Ph.D. Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas, Colombia
Tong Li, Ph.D. Beijing University of Technology, China
Diego Peluffo-Ordóñez, Ph.D. Universidad Yachay Tech, Ecuador
Fernando Yepes-Calderon, Ph.D. Children's Hospital Los Angeles, United States
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A. Fernandes, M. Figueiredo, A. Dias, J. Ribeiro, J. Neves, and H. Vicente, "A case-based approach to assess employees' satisfaction with work guidelines in times of the pandemic," in International conference on applied informatics, 2020, pp. 183–196.
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E. Frank, M. Hall, and I. Witten, "The WEKA workbench. Online appendix for data mining: Practical machine learning tools and techniques." Morgan Kaufmann, 2016.
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Copyright © 2020 for this article by its authors. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, providing appropriate credit to the original author(s) and source.
Generated using pandoc scholar, adapted by Christian Grévisse


Re: Breastfeeding education - mandatory!
donor milk to boost toddler immune system?
Re: donor milk to boost toddler immune system?
Dr. In Boston/Prov clip tongue tie????
only in the USA, not!
reactions to "Sexting and breastfeeding"
Research on anxiety and test weighing - and collegiality!
Sugar water overloading the pancreas?


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> Genre: Fiction > The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
Bottom of the Barrel by Vladimir Nabokov
Nabokov's Dozen by Vladimir Nabokov
A Russian Beauty and Other Stories by Vladimir Nabokov
Details of a Sunset and Other Stories by Vladimir Nabokov
Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories by Vladimir Nabokov
March 31, 2022 by vel veeter Leave a Comment
It's always been true that most of Vladimir Nabokov's literary output has been a family affair. Vera Nabokov was always his first reader, editor, "muse" and of course ran his life's affair, as he was a kind classic European aristocratic effete, something he adored. In the United States, he was of course no better. These stories might be the most family affair as not only did Vladimir translate all of them with his son Dmitry, who also translated most of Nabokov's Russian writing with his father, it's also clear that he's acting as literary executor and continuing to add to this collection in subsequent editions up until at least 2008, just a few years before his death at almost 80. He of course had his own illustrious career as a translator and opera singer. Additionally, several of the stories here were translated by Dmitri alone, some with consultation from his mother, and several years after her death.
He tells us in the introductory materials about these choices, selections, and especially dealing with the previously uncollected stories, at least in English. Nabokov published four primary English translations of his stories: Tyrants Destroyed, Details of a Sunset, Nabokov's Dozen, and A Russian Beauty. But there remained what he called "bottom of barrel" which as Dmitri tells us is not a reflection of their quality but of their status as the last remaining worthwhile stories. These were sometimes published, often with "The Enchanter", the ur-story for Lolita, and sometimes separately. Gathered here in the Collected Stories, I've decided to treat them as a separate collection, which is also supported by Dmitri's admitting that in Italian and in Israel they had already been published that way previously.
Bottom of the Barrel –
The nature of Nabokov's Russian literary output means that for the most part the story collections neither represent a set of themes, a specific time period, or anything else. He was more or less mining them with his son and wife and putting out the collections as they became translated to his satisfaction. Even this uncollected set of works, what I am calling the Bottom of the Barrel because he called them that are still representative of a set of work he deems worthy.
These story range in a number of ways. The opener, "The Wood Sprite", speaks to a kind magical realism/Russian fairy tale quality to some of his short stories. Others involves a kind of impressionistic first-person narration often about a love affair to the lover, and others still remind me more of the Proustian and Zweigian connections that so much of his writing has to the pre-fall Russian aristocracy that he so adored and group up within.
Nabokov's Dozen –
There's a reason this collection came first. It's by far the best, has the most robust collection of stories, and is overall the most successful.
Tyrants Destroyed –
This collection of short stories by Vladimir Nabokov, especially after I read his uncollected works, helps to give shape in not only what he was concerned with in his short fiction, but also what he was specifically looking to achieve with his story collections.
There are thirteen stories in this collection and more than about half of them feel like sketches and vignettes, still with impeccable writing, but limited in their focus. The absolute two strongest pieces for me were "Lik" about a man who becomes embroiled in a brutish set of experiences with his childhood bully, and the title story "Tyrants Destroyed" about a man slowly working himself up to commit an assassination, or so it seems.
It's wild to me that Nabokov claims (perhaps truthfully) that he didn't read Kafka until well into his writing life because so many of these stories feel like a perfect and beautiful blend of Kafka and Stefan Zweig.
A Russian Beauty –
Another collection with impeccable writing, but not always impeccable storytelling. I am starting to realize I should have braked more while reading through this wider collection.
Details of a Sunset –
This collection I think is the shortest of the bunch, and presents the most vignettes and character sketches version of all the stories. Like I said in other reviews here, there's a lot of very good writing, but the specifics of the stories themselves are a little lost on me.
Some Quotes:
"The contemplation of beauty, whether it be a uniquely tinted sunset, a radiant face, or a work of art, makes us glance back unwittingly at our personal past and juxtapose ourselves and our inner being with the utterly unattainable beauty revealed to us."
"Actually he was a pessimist, and, like all pessimists, a ridiculously unobservant man."
"You see, we find comfort in telling ourselves that the world could not exist without us, that it exists only inasmuch as we ourselves exist, inasmuch as we can represent it to ourselves. Death, infinite space, galaxies, all this is frightening, exactly because it transcends the limits of our perception."
"Many fellow exiles of mine denounce indignantly (and in this indignation there is a pinch of pleasure) fashionable abominations, including current dances. But fashion is a creature of man's mediocrity, a certain level of life, the vulgarity of equality, and to denounce it means admitting that mediocrity can create something (whether it be a form of government or a new kind of hairdo) worth making a fuss about."
"I had once been splintered into a million beings and objects. Today I am one, tomorrow I shall splinter again. And thus everything in the world decants and modulates. That day I was on the crest of a wave. I knew that all my surroundings were notes of one and the same harmony, knew – secretly – the source and the inevitable resolution of the sounds assembled for an instant, and the new chord that would be engendered by each of the dispersing notes. My soul's musical ear knew and comprehended everything."
"Your voice, through the beelike hum, was remote and anxious. It kept sliding into the distance and vanishing. I spoke to you with tightly shut eyes, and felt like crying. My love for you was the throbbing, welling warmth of tears. That is exactly how I imagined paradise: silence and tears, and the warm silk of your knees. This you could not comprehend."
"My angel, oh my angel, perhaps our whole earthly existence is now but a pun to you, or a grotesque rhyme, something like "dental" and "transcendental" (remember?), and the true meaning of reality, of that piercing term, purged of all our strange, dreamy, masquerade interpretations, now sounds so pure and sweet that you, angel, find it amusing that we could have taken the dream so seriously (although you and I did have an inkling of why everything disintegrated at one furtive touch– words, conventions of everyday life, systems, persons– so, you know, I think laughter is some chance little ape of truth astray in our world."
"When a hypothesis enters a scientist's mind, he checks it by calculation and experiment, that is, by the mimicry and the pantomime of truth. It's plausibility infects others, and the hypothesis is accepted as the true explanation for the given phenomenon, until someone finds its faults."
"Logical reasoning may be a most convenient means of mental communication for covering short distances, but the curvature of the earth, alas, is reflected even in logic: an ideally rational progression of thought will finally bring you back to the point of departure where you return aware of the simplicity of genius, with a delightful sensation that you have embraced truth, while actually you have merely embraced your own self… anything you might term a deduction already exposes the flaw: logical development inexorably becomes an envelopment."
Filed Under: Fiction, Short Stories Tagged With: Vladimir Nabokov
vel veeter's CBR14 Review No:140 · Genres: Fiction, Short Stories · Tags: Vladimir Nabokov ·
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text:
You are here: Cancer and Work Testimonial Videos
Tina works as an Administration Manager for subsidized housing for First Nations. She was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 41. In this video, Tina talks about trying to find support during her breast cancer treatment and her reactions to her body's changes.
Lindsay was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 29. Her treatment consisted of two rounds of chemotherapy, stem cell transplant, full-body radiation and then spinal-tap radiation. Watch as she talks about her diagnosis, isolation, lost and rekindled friendships, returning to the world, and finding her balance.
In this video, Jen talks about dealing with endodermal sinus, a rare form of ovarian cancer, as a young adult. She talks about how hard it was to go back to being dependent on her mother through treatment and her slow and difficult return to work. Jen also shares how finding a support group of young-adult cancer survivors helped her heal.
These videos are courtesy Canadian Partnership Against Cancer: Truth of It video series.


This coffee maker is designed for effortless operation so you can enjoy the simple pleasure of hot, fresh coffee.
This reliable coffee maker offers all the functionality and power you would expect from a Sunbeam coffee maker. An essential in every kitchen, this easy to use product will deliver the perfect brew of coffee with every use. Enjoy a cup of coffee before the brew is done with the convenient Brewing Pause n' Serve™ feature.


CHANG'S FLOWER, INC. has been set up 5/24/1999 in state FL. The current status of the business is Inactive. The CHANG'S FLOWER, INC. principal adress is 4625 S. ORANGE BLOSSOM TRAIL, ORLANDO, FL, 32839-1705. Meanwhile you can send your letters to 4625 S. ORANGE BLOSSOM TRAIL, ORLANDO, FL, 32839-1705. The company`s registered agent is SIU RACHEL 5100 OLD HOWELL BRANCH RD., WINTER PARK, FL, 32792. The company`s management are Director - Chang Bih Ing Duh, Director - Chang San Hou. The last significant event in the company history is ADMIN DISSOLUTION FOR ANNUAL REPORT which is dated by 9/21/2001. This decision is take in action on unknown. The company annual reports filed on Annual reports – 7/12/2000.


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Defenders Achievement
Play as Iron Fist, Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage
Iron Fist's token is unlocked after completing his mission, 'How Now, Shou-Lao', in the East Village in Manhattan for 75,000 studs.
Daredevil's token is unlocked after completing his mission, 'Dockside Barney', on the Docks along the west coast of Manhattan (north of Roxxon) for 250,000 studs.
Jewel (Jessica Jones)'s token is unlocked after completing her mission, 'Au Pair Not There', east of Central Park in the Upper East Side of Manhattan for 40,000 studs.
Luke Cage's token is unlocked after completing his mission, 'Rage Cage', in East Harlem in Manhattan for 55,000 studs.
After you've unlocked and purchased all four characters, hold to bring up the character grid (if you can't do this yet, visit a blue or red platform). Then select one character to spawn. Repeat this process three more times for the remaining characters. Once you select the fourth character, the achievement will unlock.


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and become who you were meant to be?
Even as a little girl, Jayne Dennagee felt disconnected from her parents. When her mother was diagnosed with ALS, Jayne put her own dreams on hold to give her mother a level of care her mother could never give her. As medical bills force the family into continual downsizing and her mother's illness becomes her father's sole obsession, Jayne is forced to grow up too quickly.
When Jayne's father takes matters into his own hands after his wife's suffering escalates, Jayne makes the only decision she can live with: She turns him in to the authorities. She soon finds herself running from her father's "doctor death" reputation, determined not to let his deeds steal her future. She legally changes her name from the recognizable and shame-tainted Jayne Dennagee to a more hopeful Becca Morrow, and with the aid of her one remaining friend and mentor, she accepts a new job hundreds of miles away, caring for the elderly, ailing mother of young businessman Isaac Hughes.
Settling into her new life, Becca adapts easily to caregiving for someone who is grateful for every kindness, someone through whom a latent faith is coaxed back to life. Her heart is drawn to Isaac — an honorable man who not only notices but appreciates her. But when Isaac's mother passes away under unusual circumstances, Becca's past resurfaces. The unnerving details of her family history point to Becca as a murder suspect. All sense of home and all hope for love she has so desperately longed for vanish. Even if she can clear her name, what will be left of her heart?
Then a phone call from prison shakes her to the core. The man she has been running from reaches out to her for help, asking for more than he himself ever provided. Can Becca forgive her father and pay the high price of inviting him back into her life, or will his legacy make it impossible to open her heart at all? She has spent so much effort running from her broken home, searching for a better place to belong. Can it be that her forgiveness and God's grace can make her broken home the birthplace of what she's needed all along?
Ultimately, Ruchti hopes readers will discover that forgiving and loving when it's most difficult can lead to the most tender memories; that even through the ugliness of dying, the end of life dances with its own beauty; and that finding where we belong is often less about a place or a reputable family history and more about a faith that forms the foundation of all other belonging.
Join Cynthia Ruchti for a webcast on June 11 at 8:00 PM EDT. Readers will be able to discuss the book, answer and ask questions and win prizes. Watch the Cynthia Ruchti Reader Page on Facebook for details.
Her books have been recognized by Retailers' Choice, RT Reviewers' Choice, Family Fiction Readers' Choice, ACFW's Carol Award nomination, and other honors. All My Belongings is her eighth release (including three non-fiction books). Ruchti has also written articles for numerous magazines and industry publications and currently serves as Professional Relations Liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers.
Ruchti lives in Wisconsin where she spends her days diving into words, worship and wonder. It is her delight to serve on her church's worship team and creative arts team. One of her greatest joys is helping other writers grow in their craft. Cynthia and her husband have been married for 40-plus years and have three grown children and five grandchildren.


When I was ten I had my mother knit me a long multicolored scarf. I started wearing a trench coat and I took to carrying all sorts of odds and ends in my jacket pockets; a bit of string, magnifying glass, a magnet and some cool looking stones. Why you might ask? Because I wanted to be like my hero The Doctor.
I grew up watching Doctor Who every Sunday on PBS. I can't really tell you which Doctor it was that I saw first, nor which story. The earliest memory that stands out of watching of watching the good old Doctor is the story "Genesis of the Daleks" at my grandparents. I believe we were visiting for some holiday or another, Christmas perhaps.
While everybody else was busy in the dining room, I sat in the living room, my dinner sitting on a TV tray, watching the good Doctor (the episode was "Genesis of the Daleks", a rather dark story with parallels to the Nazi party, where nearly everyone who isn't The Doctor or his companions are killed by the end of the story). I remember my grandmother entering the room and shaking her head over this "science fiction stuff" I was watching. Repeats of Star Trek often got the same reaction. But this was a different kind of science fiction. These were stories that often blended the fantastic with the horrific.
One of the main things that attracted me Dr. Who in the first place was some of its darker horror film influenced episodes, such as; "Pyramids of Mars" with its murderous robot mummies, "Seeds of Doom" featuring a killer plant and an arctic base, and "The Brain of Morbius" which was notably influenced by Frankenstein.
As a kid the monsters where a big draw for me, heck even as an adult they are. The show was (and still is) notorious for its non budget. But that didn't stop the special effects team from coming up with some very creative monsters. There were diabolical robots (such as the Daleks and the Cybermen), strange monsters (the aquatic Sea Devils and their cousins the Silurans), and even killer mannequins (one of my favorite recurring villains, the alien spawned Autons).
But as great as all the monsters are they wouldn't nearly so cool without The Doctor. What's not to love about a guy with two hearts who travels the universe in a blue police box?
Join me next time as I begin counting down my Top 5 favorite Doctor's from the show's original run!
Part Time Lord. Part '80's horror film. All Nerd. If they made a movie of my life it would be shot on video and directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis.
Upcoming Stranger Things Season 3 Game Has 16-Bit Power!
Take a moment and check out a few screenshots as well as the announcement trailer for the Stranger Things Season 3 game!
1977's Battle Of The Network Stars Was Intense!
Awesome article by my old friend Prof. Oblivion! Glad to have you here!!
Great first post Professor. I was always drawn to the monsters and villains as well. Something about the style and workmanship, it all felt very lo-fi, I found it all very enjoyable.
Man I love the old theme, used to scare the living hell out of me.
One of the best TV shows, ever.
Pertwee's run made me a fan and Tom Baker took it to another level.
Watching every single story with the different incarnations is like a ride through the universe's mysteries.
Today, the new series is the bright spot of TV.
And that old theme music is like a calling to step out of my head and into the wild.
Like above poster, I started watching some Pertwee episodes on my local PBS station back in the day, thought it was OK. But when they started airing the Baker episodes I fell in love with it. Baker had the flair and whimsical style that made me a fan for life. Yeah the effects were lo-fi, but the stories were a wonderful mix of horror and scifi. Loved how the doctor didn't resort to violence or guns, but still beat the bad guy every time. Oh yeah, also had fond memories of the scarf mom made me and the trenchcoat with pockets full of yoyo's, jellybabies and a sonic screwdriver(made out of lego's),,good times.
LOI-Thanks! And thank you for sharing your memories.
Dr. Who for the win!