This article provides a theoretical policy-making model of chemical sunset that gradually substitutes green alternatives for persistent toxic substances within a finite timeframe. The technological inflexibility of these substances is a tough obstacle to a chemical sunset, because a chemical sunset seeks to ultimately stop, within a short period of time, the risky businesses of these substances that are highly entrenched into our society. In wrestling with this obstacle, the intelligent precautionary “polluter pays” principle integrates three policy tools: a “precautionary (...) `polluter pays' principle,” “intelligent trial and error,” and democratic “regulatory negotiation.” It is designed to promote technological pluralism and strong democracy, as well as to create either trust or mutual adjustment among relevant groups. (shrink)

This study explores the history of nanotechnology from the perspective of protein engineering, which differs from the history of nanotechnology that has arisen from mechanical and materials engineering; it also demonstrates points of convergence between the two. Focusing on directed evolution—an experimental system of molecular biomimetics that mimics nature as an inspiration for material design—this study follows the emergence of an evolutionary experimental system from the 1960s to the present, by detailing the material culture, practices, and techniques involved. Directed evolution, (...) as an aspect of nanobiotechnology, is also distinct from the dominant biotechnologies of the 20th century. The experimental systems of directed evolution produce new ways of thinking about molecular diversity that could affect concepts concerning both biology and life. (shrink)

Background Nurses providing care to patients with end-of-life or terminal illnesses often encounter ethically challenging situations leading to moral distress. However, existing quantitative studies have examined moral distress using instruments that address general clinical situations rather than those specific to end-of-life care. Furthermore, qualitative studies have often been limited to participants from a single unit or those experiencing moral distress-induced circumstances. A comprehensive and integrated understanding of the overarching process of moral distress is vital to discern the unique circumstances surrounding (...) end-of-life care and its consequential impacts. Research objectives To explore the moral distress experiences of nurses who are frequently involved in caring for patients with end-of-life or terminal illnesses and apply it to two existing theories: the model of moral distress and the ecological model. Research design A qualitative descriptive approach was employed. Participants and research context Seven focus group interviews involving 30 nurses were performed. The subsequent transcriptions underwent rigorous content analysis. Ethical considerations We obtained Institutional Review Board approval from a university. Focus group interviews were conducted with nurses who agreed to participate and signed the consent form. Findings The moral distress-inducing factors and nurses’ perceived impact of moral distress were identified and categorized based on moral distress theories and ecological models. A total of 15 categories and 30 subcategories across the following 4 domains were derived: (1) intrapersonal, (2) interpersonal, (3) organizational, and (4) structural factors. Conclusions End-of-life-specific circumstances induced moral distress among nurses, with both negative and positive impacts identified. Effective organizational and policy support is essential to manage conflicts, form a healthy organizational culture, provide training, and prevent unnecessary expenses due to the negative consequences of moral distress. (shrink)

The study aimed to examine the influence of personal characteristics on activity preferences using decision tree analysis and examine the effects of the variables using conventional approaches. A descriptive study was conducted with 251 nursing home residents with dementia in Korea to examine the relationship between their personal characteristics and activity preferences. Decision tree analysis was used to classify participants’ activity preferences, and preference levels were examined using logistic regression analysis. Activities were classified as either physical and social activities or (...) cognitive and affective activities. This model showed an accuracy rate of 85.7% for positively predicting physical and social activity preference and 30.3% for positively predicting cognitive and affective activity preference. Gender was the strongest determinant of activity preference. The odds of preferring physical and social activities were 3.179 times higher among women, while the odds for preferring cognitive and affective activities were 0.412 times higher among men. Notably, cognitive and affective activity preference increased to 58.8% for married male participants. This study’s findings can contribute to the development of programs to decrease behavioral and psychological symptoms among older people with dementia residing in nursing homes and provide scientific evidence for integrating these activities into long-term services for this population. (shrink)

This research was focused on investigating why some consumers might support cause-related marketing campaigns for reasons other than personal benefit by examining the influence of moral emotions and cultural orientation. The authors investigated the extent to which moral emotions operate differently across a cultural variable (US versus Korea) and an individual difference variable (self-construal). A survey method was utilised. Data were collected from a convenience sample of US ( n = 180) and Korean ( n = 191) undergraduates. Moral emotions (...) significantly influenced purchase intention for a social-cause product. The influence of an ego-focused moral emotion (i.e., pride) on purchase intention was greater for US than Korean participants. The influence of another-focused moral emotion (i.e., guilt) on purchase intention was greater for high-interdependent participants than for low-interdependent participants. The findings of this research provide important and relevant implications to marketers and policy makers in developing persuasive messages and customer relationship programmes. (shrink)

This paper elucidates and rationalizes the ethical governance system for healthcare AI research, as outlined in the ‘Research Ethics Guidelines for AI Researchers in Healthcare’ published by the South Korean government in August 2023. In developing the guidelines, a four-phase clinical trial process was expanded to six stages for healthcare AI research: preliminary ethics review (stage 1); creating datasets (stage 2); model development (stage 3); training, validation, and evaluation (stage 4); application (stage 5); and post-deployment monitoring (stage 6). Researchers identified (...) similarities between clinical trials and healthcare AI research, particularly in research subjects, management and regulations, and application of research results. In the step-by-step articulation of ethical requirements, this similarity benefits from a reliable and flexible use of existing research ethics governance resources, research management, and regulatory functions. In contrast to clinical trials, this procedural approach to healthcare AI research governance effectively highlights the distinct characteristics of healthcare AI research in research and development process, evaluation of results, and modifiability of findings. The model exhibits limitations, primarily in its reliance on self-regulation and lack of clear delineation of responsibilities. While formulated through multidisciplinary deliberations, its application in the research field remains untested. To overcome the limitations, the researchers’ ongoing efforts for educating AI researchers and public and the revision of the guidelines are expected to contribute to establish an ethical research governance framework for healthcare AI research in the South Korean context in the future. (shrink)

The main purpose of this study was to validate a scale to examine the moral sensitivity of Korean nurses. A pre-existing scale, the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire (MSQ), developed by Lützén, was used after deletion of three items. The reliability and validity of the scale were examined by using Cronbach’s alpha and factor analysis, respectively. According to the results, reliability of the scale was adequate but its construct validity was not fully supported. Through discussion on evidence of validity, five subconstructs emerged. (...) In particular, unlike the factor structure of the MSQ, two subconstructs, patient-oriented care and professional responsibility, were newly extracted. It was assumed that the other three MSQ subconstructs, conflict, meaning and benevolence (expressed as nurses being ethically good), would not be sensitive to cultural background. Given these findings, interpretations about the meaning of moral sensitivity of Korean nurses are discussed. (shrink)

Computerized relaxation training has been suggested as an effective and easily accessible intervention for individuals with psychological distress. To better elucidate the neural mechanism that underpins the effects of relaxation training, we investigated whether a 10-session computerized relaxation training program changed prefrontal gamma-aminobutyric acid levels and cerebral blood flow in women with psychological distress. We specifically focused on women since they were reported to be more vulnerable to develop stress-related disorders than men. Nineteen women with psychological distress but without a (...) diagnosis of psychiatric disorders received the 10-day computerized relaxation training program that consisted of 30-min cognitive-relaxation training and 10-min breathing-relaxation training per day. At baseline and post-intervention, perceived stress levels, anxiety, fatigue, and sleep quality were assessed by self-report questionnaires. Brain magnetic resonance spectroscopy and arterial spin labeling scans were also performed before and after the intervention to evaluate GABA levels and relative CBF in the prefrontal region. Levels of perceived stress, anxiety, fatigue, and sleep quality improved following 10 sessions of computerized relaxation training, resulting in a significant relief in composite scores of stress-related symptoms. The prefrontal GABA levels decreased, while relative CBF increased after the intervention. In addition, a greater increase in relative prefrontal CBF was associated with better composite scores of stress-related symptoms following the intervention. The current findings suggest that computerized relaxation training may improve stress-related symptoms through modulating the prefrontal GABA levels and CBF in women with psychological distress. (shrink)

Halal means permissible or lawful in Arabic and is applied to both the religious and daily life of Muslims. Islamic Law Shariah requires Muslims to consume halal products only. But with the expansion of supply chains around the world and the development of many new products, Muslim consumers have found it difficult to confirm whether food is halal or not. Also, as many foods are produced in non-Muslim countries and exported to Muslim countries, interest in halal certification in non-Muslim countries (...) is increasing. With several Islamic countries strengthening their halal certification regulation for import in recent years, there is no accurate information on whether halal certification is necessary to export to Muslim countries or the Islamic State, and is lack of clear study of the definition of the Islamic State. Therefore, in this research, we will investigate the constitution and food import regulations of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation member states, called the Union of Islamic States, to study the definition of Islamic State and whether halal certification is necessary for food exports. (shrink)

If, today, ‘politics is in culture and culture is relentlessly political’ (Brown, 2002), if the domains of ‘the political’ and ‘the cultural’ can no longer be easily distinguished or kept separate, then contemporary political theory requires an understanding and analysis of cultural politics. This essay undertakes the first stages of such a project by trying to theorize ‘cultural politics’. I argue that ‘cultural politics’ proves to be an object of discourse — it indeed has a certain discursive existence — but (...) not an object of discipline, since no single field or discipline produces it as an object of knowledge. I read this disciplinary failure optimistically, arguing that the study of cultural politics requires a reorientation of theory. The sort of interdisciplinary and multiple-genre work needed to study cultural politics produces a conception of theory as fugitive. Fugitive theory must travel among disciplines, calling on a variety of theoretical and political resources to sustain itself; it refuses the very notion of ‘applied’ theory, insisting that theory ‘is already at work’ in politics (Butler, 1997). To link politics to culture is to practise fugitive theory. And the practice of fugitive theory therefore has the capacity to reveal and explore the workings of cultural politics. (shrink)

Philosophical orthodoxy holds that pains are mental states, taking this to reflect the ordinary conception of pain. Despite this, evidence is mounting that English speakers do not tend to conceptualize pains in this way; rather, they tend to treat pains as being bodily states. We hypothesize that this is driven by two primary factors—the phenomenology of feeling pains and the surface grammar of pain reports. There is reason to expect that neither of these factors is culturally specific, however, and thus (...) reason to expect that the empirical findings for English speakers will generalize to other cultures and other languages. In this article we begin to test this hypothesis, reporting the results of two cross-cultural studies comparing judgments about the location of referred pains between two groups—Americans and South Koreans—that we might otherwise expect to differ in how they understand pains. In line with our predictions, we find that both groups tend to conceive of pains as bodily states. (shrink)

Despite the increased attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and regulatory changes in recent years, little is known about how apparel companies are implementing and communicating CSR practices to their stakeholders. To fill the gap, this study investigated the range and strategies of leading apparel specialty retailers’ CSR practices as communicated on their websites over a longitudinal period of 1 year. In total, 17 apparel specialty retailers were included in the analysis. The companies’ websites were content-analyzed in-depth using the coding (...) criteria focusing on labor and environmental issues developed for this study. The initial data were collected in November 2011 and the study was replicated in December 2012 to examine any changes in the CSR practices. As of 2011 only nine companies addressed CSR issues on their websites at different degrees despite their leadership positions in the industry. Environmental issues were addressed by only five companies, with different ranges of practices. In 2012, all 17 companies addressed labor issues on their websites with varying degrees of specificity. In terms of environmental issues, six companies (an increase of one company from 2011) addressed environmental initiatives on their websites with wider ranges of practices. Discussed are problems and opportunities, as well as the role of the government and stakeholders, for the effective communications of CSR policies and initiatives for the apparel industry. (shrink)

Four Daoist texts illustrate the dynamic image of the Daoist immortal world on which a Daoist environmental ethics can be built. The first text is the Daodejing with two of the oldest commentaries. The second is Tao Hongjing’s Diagram of Rank and Functions of True Spirits. The third is the collection of poems by Immortal Changchun, titled Panxiji. The fourth is the Morning and Evening Liturgical Prayer Book of the Quanzhen Order, which represents Daoist ecological concerns for the natural world. (...) Daoism not only accords with the impetus and spirit of environmental ethics but can also make a concrete contribution to its implementation. (shrink)

Background:While nursing ethics education is commonly provided for undergraduate nursing students in most nursing colleges, consensus on the content and teaching modules for these ethics courses have still not been established.Objectives:This study aimed to examine the effects of nursing ethics education on the moral sensitivity and critical thinking disposition of nursing students in Korea.Research design:A one-group pre- and post-test design was used. Moral sensitivity was measured using the Korean version of the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire. Critical thinking disposition was measured using (...) the Critical Thinking Disposition Questionnaire.Participants and research context:Participants were 70 undergraduate nursing students who were attending a university located in Seoul, Korea. The nursing ethics education was provided 7 times, from September to December 2010, and comprised 90-min sessions each week.Ethical considerations:This study was conducted in accordance with the Human Subject Research Ethics Committee guidelines.Findings:After the education, the levels for the patient-oriented care, a sub-domain of moral sensitivity, and inquisitiveness, a sub-domain of critical thinking disposition, significantly improved. There were no changes in overall scores for moral sensitivity and critical thinking disposition. There were significant positive correlations between moral sensitivity and critical thinking disposition both pre- and post-intervention.Conclusion:These results reflect the need for ongoing efforts to develop innovative content, structure, and instructional methods for undergraduate nursing ethics education programs. (shrink)

Despite the prevailing discourses on the importance of top management ethical leadership, related theoretical and empirical developments are lacking. Drawing on institutional theory, we propose that top management ethical leadership contributes to organizational outcomes by promoting firm-level ethical and procedural justice climates. This theoretical framework was empirically tested using multi-source data obtained from 4,468 employees of 147 Korean companies from various industries. The firm-level analysis shows that top management ethical leadership significantly predicts ethical climate, which then results in procedural justice (...) climate that fully mediates the effects of top management ethical leadership on two organizational outcomes, namely, firm-level organizational citizenship behavior and firm financial performance. The present study provides a plausible theoretical account and empirical validation of a mechanism through which top management ethical leadership enhances organizational performance. (shrink)

This study focuses on CEO hubris and its detrimental effect on corporate financial performance along with an examination of critical corporate governance contingencies that may moderate the negative effect. From 654 observations of 164 Korean firms over the years 2001–2008, we found that CEO power exacerbated the negative effect of CEO hubris on corporate financial performance, whereas board vigilance mitigated it. This study provides empirical evidence that entrenchment problems arising from CEO hubris would be exacerbated as CEOs become more powerful, (...) but weakened as board of directors become more vigilant. Theoretical contributions and practical implications will be discussed. (shrink)

This article analyzes through a linguistic lens three official documents of the Roman Catholic Church on women’s ordination; it also identifies various discursive tactics utilized by text creators to reinforce gender hierarchy within the Church. Drawing from Fairclough’s three dimensional discourse framework, we examine the ideological message embedded in the linguistic features and the role each text plays within a matrix of power relations. Through close readings of Inter Insigniores: On the Question of Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood, (...) Ordinatio Sacerdotalis of John Paul II, and Women and the Priesthood, we demonstrate how discourse analysis can serve as a useful tool for identifying logical fallacies, inconsistencies, dilemmas, and manipulative tactics in religious discourses. (shrink)

Background: There is increasing evidence to support the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation applications in cognitive augmentation and rehabilitation. Neuromodulation achieved with tDCS may further regulate regional cerebral perfusion affiliated through the neurovascular unit; however, components of cerebral perfusion decrease across aging. A novel neuroimaging approach, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, can aid in quantifying these regional perfusional changes. To date, the interaction of the effects of tDCS on cognitive performance across the lifespan and obtained fNIRS hemodynamic responses remain unknown.Objective: This (...) review aims to examine the effects of tDCS on cognitive performance and fNIRS hemodynamic responses within the context of cognitive aging.Methods: Six databases were searched for studies. Quality appraisal and data extraction were conducted by two independent reviewers. Meta-analysis was carried out to determine overall and subgroup effect sizes.Results: Eight studies met inclusion criteria. The overall effect size demonstrates that tDCS can alter cognitive performance and fNIRS signals, with aging being a potential intermediary in tDCS efficacy.Conclusion: From the studies included, the effects of tDCS on cognitive performance and fNIRS metrics are most prominent in young healthy adults and appear to become less robust with increasing age. Given the small number of studies included in this review further investigation is recommended. (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)

In recent years, there has been an increase in the adoption of Shari’a in Europe and North America as an arbitration protocol for the resolution of potential contractual disputes. In a largely secular Western business environment, this reality raises corporate policy implications for business organizations. In particular, questions are raised about whether Shari’a is by nature too unpredictable—and too dismissive of women’s rights—to be properly and ethically permitted by Western companies as a possible dispute resolution alternative. This article examines the (...) dynamics and factors that are involved as corporate managers decide whether Shari’a arbitration ought to be banned entirely from contractual negotiations. Arguments for and against the inclusion of a Shari’a arbitration clauses in commercial contracts and contract negotiations are presented. The article concludes that while managers should exercise great prudence and consider the moral implications of negotiating arbitration clauses, an organizational ban of the use of faith-informed arbitration generally, or Shari’a in particular, would be neither morally required nor optimally serve the interests of the organization or its stakeholders. (shrink)

This descriptive study was undertaken to identify the degree of ethical sensitivity of staff nurses and to analyze the differences in ethical sensitivity in terms of both general and ethics-related characteristics. Participants were 236 staff nurses working in general hospitals in Korea. Ethical sensitivity was measured by means of an instrument developed by the researchers. The results showed that the mean score for the degree of ethical sensitivity was 0.71 out of a possible maximum score of 1 (range 0.30 to (...) 0.97). For general characteristics, there was a significant difference in ethical sensitivity according to age (F (df 2233)-3.99, P-0.02). For characteristics related to ethics, there was a significant difference in ethical sensitivity according to attitude towards the nursing profession (F (df 4231)-2.94, P-0.03). It is therefore recommended that a training program reflecting these variables be developed to enhance staff nurses’ ethical sensitivity. (shrink)