This study examines elderly residential life in long-term care settings, focusing on the ways residents interact with their physical and social environments. It further proposes that the residential environment is an important player for everyday ethics in long-term care settings, and is also an important factor in enhancing the quality of life for residents. By employing the theories of place identity and environmental meanings and listening to the voices of the elderly collected through an ethnographic field study in elderly homes (...) of life care, the study reveals the residents’ experiences of going through declining health and moving through the stages of care. Two major themes were identified. The first theme of liminal life portrays the elders’ fears as they move through the stages of care. This theme includes four sub-themes: the loss of home and the loss of autonomy; impending loss and its constant reminders; the social classification of “us” and “them”; the irreversibility of moving. The second theme of relational life describes the keys to successful transitions as experienced and told by the residents. The second theme includes three sub-themes: shifting identity and the acceptance of old age; human interdependence and building trust; an accompanied death. Study implications are further discussed, including specific suggestions for social programs and revisions to the physical environments. A more fundamental question about place-based staged care is also raised so as to serve as a point of departure for reflections and discussions amongst health professionals, planners and designers, and other decision-makers. (shrink)

Complex diseases involve both a genetic component and a response to environmental factors or lifestyle changes. Recently, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have succeeded in identifying hundreds of polymorphisms that are statistically associated with complex diseases. However, the association is usually weak and none of the associated allelic forms is either necessary or sufficient for the disease occurrence. We argue that this promotes a network view, centred on functional redundancy. We adapted reliability theory to the concerned sub-network, modelled as a parallel (...) array of functional modules. In our model, as long as one module remains active, the function correlated with the respective disease is ensured and disease does not occur. Genetic factors reduce the initial number of available modules while environment, contingent surroundings, personal history, epigenetics, and some intrinsic stochasticity influence their persistence time. This model reproduces age-specific incidence curves and explains the influence of environmental changes. It offers a new paradigm, according to which disease occurs due to a lack of functional elements, depending on many idiosyncratic factors. Genetic risk assessed from GWAS is only a statistical notion with no direct interpretation at the individual level. However, genomic profiling could be useful at population level in devising models to guide decisions in health care policy. (shrink)

This volume is the general index to the eighteen published textual volumes in the_ Collected Works of C.G. Jung_. The comprehensive indexing goes beyond the volume indexes, and includes sub-indexes to important general topics, such as Alchemical Collections, Codices and Manuscripts, Feud and Numbers, the sub-indexing for the Bible arranged by book, chapter and verse. The _General Index_, with the _General Bibliography of C.G. Jung's Writings_, together complete the publication of the _Collected Works of C.G. Jung_ in English.

Chinese mind-body exercises are positively associated with executive function, but their effects on EF, from synthesized evidence using systematic and meta-analytic reviews, have not been conducted. Therefore, the present systematic review with meta-analysis attempted to determine whether CMBEs affect EF and its sub-domains, as well as how exercise, sample, and study characteristics moderate the causal relationship between CMBEs and EF in middle-aged and older adults. Seven electronic databases were searched for relevant studies published from the inception of each database through (...) June 2020. Randomized controlled trials with at least one outcome measure of CMBEs on EF in adults of mean age ≥ 50 years with intact cognition or mild cognitive impairment and with or without chronic diseases were included. A total of 29 studies ultimately were included in this study. The results indicated that CMBEs improved overall EF, as well as its sub-domains of working memory and shifting. The beneficial effects of CMBEs on EF occurred regardless of type, frequency of group classes, session time, total training time, and length of the CMBEs, in addition to that more frequent participation in both group classes and home practice sessions resulted in more beneficial effects. The positive effects of CMBEs on EF were also demonstrated, regardless of participants mean age, sex, and cognitive statuses, health status, as well as training mode and study language. This review thus suggests that CMBEs can be used as an effective method with small to moderate and positive effects in enhancing EF, and that more frequent group classes and home practice sessions may increase these effects. However, certain limitations, including strictly design studies, limited ES samples for specific variables, and possible biased publications, required paying particular attention to, for further exploring the effects of CMBEs on EF. (shrink)

Our competitive, service-oriented societies are taking a toll on the late-modern individual. Rather than improving life, multitasking, "user-friendly" technology, and the culture of convenience are producing disorders that range from depression to attention deficit disorder to borderline personality disorder. Byung-Chul Han interprets the spreading malaise as an inability to manage negative experiences in an age characterized by excessive positivity and the universal availability of people and goods. Stress and exhaustion are not just personal experiences, but social and historical phenomena (...) as well. Denouncing a world in which every against-the-grain response can lead to further disempowerment, he draws on literature, philosophy, and the social and natural sciences to explore the stakes of sacrificing intermittent intellectual reflection for constant neural connection. (shrink)

Debt-ridden corporate growth and increased vulnerability was one of the causes of the 1997 financial crisis in Korea. Introduction of the outside director system has been the core part of the board reforms following the crisis. Our estimation using instruments obtained from a natural experiment illustrates that outside monitoring has improved capital structure of firms even when we control for the leverage regulation effect, enhanced compliance with leverage regulation and thus reduced business risks, and reduced excessive growth and excessive investment (...) more consistently for the top 10 largest chaebols than non-chaebol firms and smaller sized chaebol affiliates. Our results shed some light on why existing studies report the positive effect of outsiders on firm value and add value to existing agency theory by illustrating that the effect of improved governance on capital structure could be non-linear. (shrink)

Transparency is the order of the day. It is a term, a slogan, that dominates public discourse about corruption and freedom of information. Considered crucial to democracy, it touches our political and economic lives as well as our private lives. Anyone can obtain information about anything. Everything—and everyone—has become transparent: unveiled or exposed by the apparatuses that exert a kind of collective control over the post-capitalist world. Yet, transparency has a dark side that, ironically, has everything to do with a (...) lack of mystery, shadow, and nuance. Behind the apparent accessibility of knowledge lies the disappearance of privacy, homogenization, and the collapse of trust. The anxiety to accumulate ever more information does not necessarily produce more knowledge or faith. Technology creates the illusion of total containment and the constant monitoring of information, but what we lack is adequate interpretation of the information. In this manifesto, Byung-Chul Han denounces transparency as a false ideal, the strongest and most pernicious of our contemporary mythologies. (shrink)

Western thinking has long been dominated by essence, by a preoccupation with that which dwells in itself and delimits itself from the other. By contrast, Far Eastern thought is centred not on essence but on absence. The fundamental topos of Far Eastern thinking is not being but 'the way' (dao), which lacks the solidity and fixedness of essence. The difference between essence and absence is the difference between being and path, between dwelling and wandering. 'A Zen monk should be without (...) fixed abode, like the clouds, and without fixed support, like water', said the Japanese Zen master Dōgen. Drawing on this fundamental distinction between essence and absence, Byung-Chul Han explores the differences between Western and Far Eastern philosophy, aesthetics, architecture and art, shedding fresh light on a culture of absence that may at first sight appear strange and unfamiliar to those in the West whose ways of thinking have been shaped for centuries by the preoccupation with essence. (shrink)

Outside directors’ regular board meeting attendance is important in improving the effectiveness of a governance system. Such attendance is evidence of their commitment to the firm as key other players in monitoring and decision making. Using a unique dataset for Korean firms, and three-level random coefficients models, we find that, foreign outside directors, an independent appointment process, professional knowledge of business operations and accumulated firm-specific knowledge are important factors that affect outside directors’ attendance of board meetings. The results also confirm (...) that both outside directors’ personal characteristics and the social context are crucial in understanding their board meeting attendance. Further analysis shows that a positive corporate environment that supports the outside director system encourages outside directors’ attendance at board meetings. (shrink)

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the dynamic capabilities embedded in ESG management, which are being pursued by global companies, and corporate performance amid increasing uncertainty. Furthermore, the secondary purpose is to examine the function of environmental uncertainty moderating the DCs-performance relationship. Concerning the analysis tool, this study employs topic modeling with Word2Vec embedding that analyzes unstructured data. This was employed as an alternative method beyond the limitations of the traditional approach, i.e., survey or (...) interview. A DCs dictionary was constructed by redesigning the 12 detailed dimensions of Teece’s DCs into 10 dimensions, and then time series scores of individual global companies were extracted by applying this dictionary to the sustainability reports of 97 companies. Sustainability reports of 153 companies among Fortune Global 500 companies announced in 2020 were originally collected, but in the process of collecting additional financial data about these companies from OSIRIS, a total of only 97 companies was selected in the end due to omission of data. A fixed effect panel analysis was conducted, and the main findings are as follows: First, the DCs embedded in ESG management have a positive or negative direct effect on corporate performance. In particular, a statistically significant relationship was not observed in the innovation oriented capabilities, whereas a statistically significant positive relationship was observed in the customer oriented capabilities. Second, uncertainty moderates the relationship between DCs and corporate performance positively or negatively. Interestingly, the moderating effect of uncertainty only appears in the function of the sensing and reconfiguring capabilities. From this, it can be seen that the function of DCs, which is embedded in the ESG management of global companies, is limited due to the imbalance between the sensing-seizing-reconfiguring capabilities. These findings imply that, despite the positive function of DCs embedded in ESG management, costs and benefits occur at the same time, and DCs can improve performance only if there is an organizational adaptation strategy suitable for uncertainty. Accordingly, business managers need to recognize the importance of pursuing sensing-seizing-reconfiguring capabilities in a balanced way to improve corporate performance through ESG management under uncertainty. (shrink)

Die heutige Zeitkrise hängt nicht zuletzt mit der Verabsolutierung der vita activa zusammen. Sie führt zu einem Imperativ der Arbeit, der den Menschen zu einem arbeitenden Tier degradiert. Die Hyperaktivität des Alltags nimmt dem menschlichen Leben jegliche Kraft zum Verweilen und zur Kontemplation. Dadurch wird die Erfahrung erfüllter Zeit unmöglich. Notwendig für die Überwindung der heutigen Zeitkrise sind die Revitalisierung der vita contemplativa und das Wiedererlernen der Kunst des Verweilens.

Die heutige Zeitkrise hängt nicht zuletzt mit der Verabsolutierung der vita activa zusammen. Sie führt zu einem Imperativ der Arbeit, der den Menschen zu einem arbeitenden Tier degradiert. Die Hyperaktivität des Alltags nimmt dem menschlichen Leben jegliche Kraft zum Verweilen und zur Kontemplation. Dadurch wird die Erfahrung erfüllter Zeit unmöglich. Notwendig für die Überwindung der heutigen Zeitkrise sind die Revitalisierung der vita contemplativa und das Wiedererlernen der Kunst des Verweilens.

SUMMARYHaving first met in 1835, John Stuart Mill and Alexis de Tocqueville began ‘an extremely interesting and mutually laudatory correspondence'; but their splendid friendship did not last. A popular thesis focuses on letters exchanged in 1840 to 1842 that reflect conflicting views on the Eastern Question and argues that Mill initiated the ‘strange interruption’. Given Mill's commitment to the ‘agreement of conviction and feeling on the few cardinal points of human opinion’ as a prerequisite of genuine friendship, such interpretation sounds (...) plausible. However, circumstantial evidence, most notably Mill's willingness to have a frank discussion with Tocqueville on pending issues, contradicts the assertion that Mill was enraged by Tocqueville's 1841 letter. This essay suggests focusing attention on two additional cardinal differences between them—their contrasting views of François Guizot and confrontation vis-à-vis benevolent imperialism. Moreover, personal matters such as Harriet Taylor's dislike of Tocqueville and Mill's departure from the London and Westminster Review are also believed to have largely led to Mill discontinuing correspondence with Tocqueville. (shrink)

The most famous korean Poet Jiha Kim had turned toward the thoughts for life in the beginning of eighties in Korea. I will here introduce the causes and the basis of his thoughts. It has been recognized already that Korean traditional philosophy of DongHak (the learning in the East Asia) and the western philosophies, ie the theology of liberation, the philosophy of Bergson or Deleuze had influenced much to his thoughts for life. But the most determinate basis of his thoughts, (...) I think is the experiences in the movements for democracy in Korea. His thoughts represent the dear believes which the mass have won since the seventies.These believes resides in the not exhausting life powers of the Minjung (Peoples repressed and alienated). His thoughts has succeed to the modern philosophy of democratic resistance but also criticised the severe problems of modern philosophies. After the democratic movement in Korea there has taken place the cultural revolution movements in Korea by new generations, which can not be adjoined to the previous democratic movements without the thoughts for life of Jiha Kim. (shrink)