BackgroundAlthough the Life-Sustaining Treatment (LST) Decision Act was enforced in 2018 in Korea, data on whether it is well established in actual clinical settings are limited. Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is a common nosocomial infection with high mortality. However, there are limited data on the end-of-life (EOL) decision of patients with HAP. Therefore, we aimed to examine clinical characteristics and outcomes according to the EOL decision for patients with HAP.MethodsThis multicenter study enrolled patients with HAP at 16 referral hospitals retrospectively from (...) January to December 2019. EOL decisions included do-not-resuscitate (DNR), withholding of LST, and withdrawal of LST. Descriptive and Kaplan–Meier curve analyses for survival were performed.ResultsOf 1,131 patients with HAP, 283 deceased patients with EOL decisions (105 cases of DNR, 108 cases of withholding of LST, and 70 cases of withdrawal of LST) were analyzed. The median age was 74 (IQR 63–81) years. The prevalence of solid malignant tumors was high (32.4% vs. 46.3% vs. 54.3%, P = 0.011), and the ICU admission rate was lower (42.9% vs. 35.2% vs. 24.3%, P = 0.042) in the withdrawal group. The prevalence of multidrug-resistant pathogens, impaired consciousness, and cough was significantly lower in the withdrawal group. Kaplan–Meier curve analysis revealed that 30-day and 60-day survival rates were higher in the withdrawal group than in the DNR and withholding groups (log-rank P = 0.021 and 0.018). The survival of the withdrawal group was markedly decreased after 40 days; thus, the withdrawal decision was made around this time. Among patients aged below 80 years, the rates of EOL decisions were not different (P = 0.430); however, mong patients aged over 80 years, the rate of withdrawal was significantly lower than that of DNR and withholding (P = 0.001).ConclusionsAfter the LST Decision Act was enforced in Korea, a DNR order was still common in EOL decisions. Baseline characteristics and outcomes were similar between the DNR and withholding groups; however, differences were observed in the withdrawal group. Withdrawal decisions seemed to be made at the late stage of dying. Therefore, advance care planning for patients with HAP is needed. (shrink)

This paper explores the question of embodiment/disembodiment discussed by Hwa Yol Jung mainly in his recent work, Rethinking Political Theory (1993a) in tandem with an examination of some recent developments in Korean scholarship on the same subject. To sum up, the following three points are emphasized. First, this living body does not exist except in specific modalities. In this sense, Gabriel Marcel''s paradigmatic affirmation that I am my body requires an elaboration of the specific modalities of the living body as (...) a being in the world. Second, the way a living body exists is not exclusively mental or physical, but both. In short, it is phenomenal. Third, the point of the whole argument can be summed up as follows: to conceal one''s own body is natural, but to forget it is dangerous. The primary task of phenomenology is not to denude human beings, but to reawaken ourselves to the idea that we are beings who live with and through bodies. (shrink)

In the digital age, many corporations communicate with their publics via online channels. Among many channels, a corporation’s official Web site is often used for informing publics of its performance and other corporate-related information and for shaping a positive corporate image. This study quantitatively analyzed corporate Web sites, particularly the “About us” Web pages of Fortune 500 corporations based on symbolic convergence theory, which describes the formation of symbolic reality and the shared meaning of that symbolic reality among the public. (...) A content analysis revealed that economic corporate management was the dominant rhetorical vision, and the fantasy, in the context of SCT, of being a superior company was emphasized by the 500 examined corporations. Such symbolic reality was constructed using corresponding structural tools of Web content, such as dramatis personae, plot line, and scene. In addition, the rhetorical vision and fantasy themes created by the Web sites turned out to be contingent on business classifications. Companies that pursued other types of fantasy themes and rhetorical visions were also identified. Some suggestions for corporate communicators are provided based on the results of this analysis. (shrink)

This study explores the impact of teachers? perception of trust in colleagues on their sense of empowerment in Mainland China, with a particular focus on the mediating role of teacher efficacy. The results of a survey of 1646 teachers indicate that although teachers scored positively on trust in colleagues, efficacy and empowerment, they had relatively lower scores on general teaching efficacy (GTE) and participation in decision-making. Trust in colleagues was a significant predictor of teacher empowerment. In addition, personal teaching efficacy (...) had a significant mediation effect on the relationship between trust in colleagues and teacher empowerment, while GTE had not. These findings lead to some implications for understanding the nature of GTE and the relationship between trust and teacher empowerment. (shrink)

This paper investigates whether the pattern of firms’ corporate social responsibility activities affects firm value. If firms do permanently CSR activities for strategic purposes, firms’ value is more likely to increase. Using firms known to do CSR in Korea, we examine the valuation effect by adopting an earnings response coefficient model and document firms with permanent CSR activities, which show higher ERCs than other firms regardless of the level of CSR activities. This result partly explains the inconsistency among the results (...) of previous studies by showing the differential implication for firm value depending on the CSR activity pattern. Also, the results of our paper imply that investors need to consider the pattern of firms’ CSR activities in their economic decision making. (shrink)

BackgroundExperience with open disclosure and its study are restricted to certain western countries. In addition, there are concerns that open disclosure may be less suitable in non-western countries. The present study explored and compared the in-depth perceptions of the general public and physicians regarding open disclosure in Korea.MethodsWe applied the COREQ checklist to this qualitative study. We conducted 20 in-depth interviews and four focus group discussions with 16 physicians and 18 members of the general public. In-depth interviews and focus group (...) discussions were performed according to semi-structured guidelines developed according to a systematic review of open disclosure. We conducted a directed content analysis by analyzing the verbatim transcripts and field notes in accordance with the predetermined guidelines.ResultsOpen disclosure perceptions were summarized in terms of the “five Ws and one H”. All physician and general public participants acknowledged the normative justifiability of open disclosure. The participants mostly agreed on the known effects of open disclosure, but the physicians had negative opinions on its expected effects, such as decreased intention of the general public to file lawsuits and increased credibility of medical professionals. Generally, the participants thought that open disclosure is required for medical errors causing major harm. However, the physicians and general public had conflicting opinions on the need for open disclosure of near misses. Most physicians did not know how to conduct open disclosure and some physicians had bad experiences due to inappropriate or incomplete open disclosure.ConclusionPhysicians and the general public in Korea acknowledge the need for open disclosure. Guidelines according to the type of patient safety incident are required to encourage physicians to more readily conduct open disclosure. Furthermore, hospitals need to consider organizing a dedicated team and hiring experts for open disclosure. (shrink)

Attempting to determine solutions for unethical practices in the field, this research was designed to assess the effectiveness of public relations firms’ ethics statements in decreasing the incidence of malpractice. This study revealed an encouraging finding that practitioners working in firms with ethical parameters were significantly more likely to engage in ethical practices. Moreover, educating public relations practitioners about the content of ethics statement could positively influence their ethical practices. At the same time, this study’s findings suggest further questions for (...) consideration in future scholarship and in the application of ethics statements to practice within the field. (shrink)

River water pollution by wastewater can cause significant negative impact on the aquatic sustainability. Hence, accurate modeling of this complicated system and its cost-effective treatment and reuse decision is very important because this optimization process is related to economic expenditure, societal health, and environmental deterioration. In order to optimize this complex system, we may consider three treatment or reuse options such as microscreening filtration, nitrification, and fertilization-oriented irrigation on top of two existing options such as settling and biological oxidation. The (...) objective of this environmental optimization is to minimize the economic expenditure of life cycle costs while satisfying the public health standard in terms of groundwater quality and the environmental standard in terms of river water quality. Particularly, this study improves existing optimization model by pinpointing the critical deficit location of dissolved oxygen sag curve by using analytic differentiation. Also, the proposed formulation considers more practical constraints such as maximal size of irrigation area and minimal amount of filtration treatment process. The results obtained by using an evolutionary algorithm, named a parameter-setting-free harmony search algorithm, show that the proposed model successfully finds optimal solutions while conveniently locating the critical deficit point. (shrink)

While social interaction and play in a VR environment are becoming ever more popular, little is known about how social VR games affect users. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the role of several contingent factors in social VR games by modeling the relationships between involvement, well-being, depression, self-esteem, and social connectedness. A conditional process-moderated mediation model of the measured variables was analyzed with 220 pieces of collected data. The result showed that: the direct effect of involvement on (...) well-being was significant, and the index of moderated mediation involving depression, self-esteem, and social connectedness was significant. We conclude that high levels of involvement in social VR games by socially isolated users with low self-esteem can negatively affect their well-being. The findings of this study contribute in several ways to our understanding of the effect of social VR games upon users and provide important practical implications. (shrink)

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of perceived HR practices on affective commitment and turnover intention. This study explored which HR practices were relatively more important in predicting affective commitment and turnover intention. A total of 302 employees from the United States and 317 from South Korea completed the same questionnaires for assessing the aforementioned relationships. The results illustrated that among perceived HR practices, internal mobility had the most significant association with turnover intention in both (...) the US and South Korea. While internal mobility was a stronger predictor of affective commitment for the US sample, training was the most important variable for predicting affective commitment in South Korea. The second purpose of the study was to examine whether individuals’ positive affect influences the relationship between perceived HR practices and affective commitment and turnover intention. In the US, positive affect moderated the relationship between perceived HR practices and affective commitment and turnover intention such that the relationships were stronger for individuals reporting high positive affect relative to those reporting low positive affect. However, these relationships were not significant in South Korea. We discuss the implications of these results, study limitations, and practical suggestions for future research. (shrink)

Lymphangiogenesis is an important developmental process that is critical to regulation of fluid homeostasis, immune surveillance and response as well as pathogenesis of a number of diseases, among them cancer, inflammation, and heart failure. Specification, formation, and maturation of lymphatic blood vessels involves an interplay between a series of events orchestrated by various transcription factors that determine expression of key genes involved in lymphangiogenesis. These are traditionally thought to be under control of several key growth factors including vascular growth factor‐C (...) (VEGF‐C) and fibroblast growth factors (FGFs). Recent insights into VEGF and FGF signaling point to their role in control of endothelial metabolic processes such as glycolysis and fatty acid oxidation that, in turn, play a major role in regulation of lymphangiogenesis. These advances have significantly increased our understanding of lymphatic biology and opened new therapeutic vistas. Here we review our current understanding of metabolic controls in the lymphatic vasculature. (shrink)

Does the Ship of Theseus present a genuine puzzle about persistence due to conflicting intuitions based on “continuity of form” and “continuity of matter” pulling in opposite directions? Philosophers are divided. Some claim that it presents a genuine puzzle but disagree over whether there is a solution. Others claim that there is no puzzle at all since the case has an obvious solution. To assess these proposals, we conducted a cross-cultural study involving nearly 3,000 people across twenty-two countries, speaking eighteen (...) different languages. Our results speak against the proposal that there is no puzzle at all and against the proposal that there is a puzzle but one that has no solution. Our results suggest that there are two criteria—“continuity of form” and “continuity of matter”— that constitute our concept of persistence and these two criteria receive different weightings in settling matters concerning persistence. (shrink)

The paper surveys the problem of language and translation in Antoine Berman’s pioneering achievements. This French philosopher of translation was deeply influenced not only by Schleiermacher, who affirmed the unity of thought and expression, but also by Benjamin, who drew attention to the formalism of language. In Berman’s view the essence of language lies in signifiers and letters. He criticized the Platonic view of language and translation which endows non-sensual, mental, and universal elements, with a higher ontological status. Thus Berman (...) proposed a modern theory of translation without Platonism. Meanings can be realized through and within letters not only in the source language, but also in the target language. In this sense, Berman’s philosophy of translation clearly reflects “the achievements of modern semiotics” . The paper criticizes the conception of translation as trapped within the logic of identity, which ignores the differences between, and the multiplicity of, languages as a result of a deep-rooted drive to obtain a universal meaning. The paper shows that Berman’s philosophy reflects and accepts this multiplicity allowing thereby the logic of difference/otherness to flourish in translation. (shrink)

There have been various studies on the passage of Philippians 1:15–18 but there have been few studies on a hybrid aspect of Christian identity implicated in the passage. The aim of the study was to reveal a hybrid aspect of the passage. The socio-historical setting for the study was the Greco-Roman period. For this study, I employed rhetorical criticism, a socio-linguistic approach and an anthropological linguistic approach to the passage, as well as the analysis of the socio-historical and cultural background (...) of the passage. As a result, I found that Paul, who retained his Jewish identity but embraced Christian identity, tried to suggest such a new kind of identity for the intended audience and their community. In this article, I argued that Paul as a hybrid personality urged the Christian community in Philippi to have distinguished Christian habitus and field in Philippians 1:15–18. In particular, Paul persuaded his intended audience or readers to acknowledge and accept even those preachers who had questionable intentions into their Christian community. Such an inclusive attitude was to make a clear distinction between the community and their traditional Greco-Roman socio-cultural background. Contribution: The research on Philippians 1:15–18 reveals a hybrid aspect of Christian identity implicated in the passage. This research would contribute to the biblical studies of the Hervormde Teologiese Studies journal through its rhetorical, socio-linguistic and anthropological approach to the biblical passage of Philippians 1:15–18. (shrink)

There have been historical and literary studies on the pre-deuteronomistic narrative of 1 Samuel 21 and 22. However, there have been few studies on the reception of Doeg the Edomite among the exilic and post-exilic communities. This article tries to show how the minor character of Doeg the Edomite in 1 Samuel 21 and 22 was understood by the exilic and post-exilic communities after the fall of Jerusalem. With this objective in mind, the article analyses the literary structure of 1 (...) Samuel 21 and 22 with a focus on Doeg. Along with the literary approach to the text, it examines the historical setting of the exilic and post-exilic communities regarding their cultural memory and enmity towards Edomites. The conflict between Edom and Israel has been constantly described in the biblical text including the Deuteronomistic History. The enmity of Israel towards Edom had been worse after the fall of Jerusalem. The pre-deuteronomistic record of Doeg in 1 Samuel 21 and 22 would have been used as a propagandistic device to reinforce the enmity of the exilic and post-exilic communities towards Edom and Edomites. (shrink)

The author sets forth from the claim that the name of Hannah Arendt is tied to the radical and original revival of the question of political freedom, which he substantiates with her famed statement that ”The purpose of politics is freedom.” The source of freedom and the political are identical or one. One the one hand, human freedom in this world is attainable only politically, while on the other, freedom is the sole reason for the subsistence and justification of politics. (...) The author highlights three categories through which the criterion of political freedom is expressed in Hannah Arendt. These are identity, pluralism and spontaneity. (shrink)

L’auteur part de l’assertion avancée dans cet article que le nom de Hannah Arendt soulève la question radicale et originale de la liberté politique, ce qui est motivé par sa célèbre thèse que le sens de la politique est la liberté. Il s’agit de l’identité de la liberté et du politique et de leurs origines identiques. D’un côté, la liberté de l’Homme ne peut être réalisée que d’une manière politique et de l’autre, la liberté est la seule raison de l’existence (...) et de la justification de la politique. L’auteur met en relief les trois catégories qui chez Hannah Arendt établissent les critères de la liberté politique. Ce sont l’identité, la pluralité et la spontanéité. (shrink)

Der Name Hannah Arendt bezeichnet eine ebenso radikale wie originale Erneuerung der Frage nach der „politischen Freiheit”. Um es gleich zu sagen: Freiheit ist mit dem Politischen identisch und gleichursprünglich. „Der Sinn von Politik ist Freiheit.” Das heißt, die genuin menschliche Freiheit in dieser Welt ist nur politisch vollziehbar, während die Freiheit der einzige Existenz- und Rechtfertigungsgrund der Politik ist. Hannah Arendts Überlegungen über das Kriterium politischer Freiheit konzentrieren sich vor allem auf drei Kategorien: „Identität”, „Pluralität” und „Spontaneität”.

This study is inspired by thesis that philosophy constructs its subject all through a certain normative perspective. Philosophical setting of cosmopolitanism question, how to establish society of free and equal “citizens of the world” by means of universalistic morals, gives only the normative horizon of expectations which turns our look down on the irrational reality. Irrational reality can be defined by the notion of “society of worldly risk” used by Ulrich Beck for identifying the time affected with every possible disaster. (...) Disasters adduce how uncertain are the foundations on which we have built a national state and thereby democracy. The more the risks are becoming global, the more we are becoming enforced to a “worldly-civil awareness”. Despite of acknowledging risks which are becoming more global, we are primarily the “citizens of the state” and not the “citizens of the world”. We can not, however, deny national state boundaries losing their significance. Starting with presumption how worldly society is more a joint market, the intention is to put accent on “cosmopolitan dimension” of trans-national demarcation in order to develop universalistic morals of worldly-civil society, considering the future of democracy. (shrink)

Die vorliegende Studie lässt sich von der These inspirieren, dass die Philosophie ihren Gegenstand durch eine bestimmte normative Perspektive erst erzeugt. Die philosophische Fragestellung des Kosmopolitismus, wie sich eine Assoziation freier und gleicher „Weltbürger” mit Mitteln der universalistischen Moral herstellen lässt, entwirft erst den normativen Erwartungshorizont, der den Blick auf die vernunftlose Wirklichkeit lenkt. Die vernunftlose Wirklichkeit lässt sich durch den Terminus der „Weltrisikogesellschaft” charakterisieren, den Ulrich Beck zur Diagnose unserer von allen möglichen Katastrophen heimgesuchten Zeit einführt. Katastrophen führen vor (...) Augen, wie unsicher die Fundamente sind, auf denen wir den nationalen Staat und damit die Demokratie errichtet haben. Je mehr sich die Risiken globalisieren, umso mehr werden wir zu „weltbürgerlichem Bewusstsein” angehalten. Trotz der Erkenntnis der sich globalisierenden Risiken sind wir primär „Staatsbürger” und nicht „Weltbürger”. Aber es lässt sich nicht leugnen, dass nationalstaatliche Grenzen an Bedeutung verlieren. Ausgehend von der Annahme, dass die Weltgesellschaft mehr als der Weltmarkt ist, möchte ich das „kosmopolitische Moment” der transnationalen Entgrenzung hervorheben, um eine universalistische Moral der weltbürgerlichen Gesellschaft im Hinblick auf die Zukunft der Demokratie zu entwickeln. (shrink)

Moja studija nadahnuta je tezom da filozofija svoj predmet izgrađuje tek kroz određenu normativnu perspektivu. Filozofsko postavljanje pitanja kozmopolitizma, kako sredstvima univerzalističkog morala uspostaviti udruženje slobodnih i jednakih »građana svijeta«, zasniva tek normativan horizont očekivanja koji svrće pogled na bezumnu stvarnost. Bezumna stvarnost dade se okarakterizirati pojmom »društva svjetskoga rizika«, koji Ulrich Beck uvodi kao dijagnozu vremena koje su zadesile sve moguće katastrofe. Katastrofe predočuju kako su nesigurni temelji na kojima smo izgradili nacionalnu državu a time i demokraciju. Što se (...) više rizici globaliziraju, tim više postajemo prisiljeni na »svjetsko-građansku svijest«. Usprkos spoznaji rizika koji se globaliziraju, mi smo prvenstveno »građani države«, a ne »građani svijeta«. Ne može se međutim poreći da granice nacionalne države gube na značenju. Polazeći od pretpostavke da je svjetsko društvo više kao tržište, htio bih istaknuti »kozmopolitski moment« transnacionalnog razgraničenja, kako bih razvio univerzalistički moral svjetskog građanskog društva s obzirom na budućnost demokracije. (shrink)

Friedrich Nietzsche has emerged as one of the most important and influential modern philosophers. For several decades, the book series Monographien und Texte zur Nietzsche-Forschung (MTNF) has set the agenda in a rapidly growing and changing field of Nietzsche scholarship. The scope of the series is interdisciplinary and international in orientation reflects the entire spectrum of research on Nietzsche, from philosophy to literary studies and political theory. The series publishes monographs and edited volumes that undergo a strict peer-review process. The (...) book series is led by an international team of editors, whose work represents the full range of current Nietzsche scholarship. (shrink)