The middle power concept is versatile enough to categorise any states in the middle range of the world order that display certain behavioural characteristics known as middle power behaviours. ...Meanwhile, the adoption of the middle power concept as an explicit policy position by Korean IR scholars and policy researchers can shape and influence the actual policy practice as South Korea's academic discussions on 'middle power diplomacy knowledge' (MPD) have advanced with the purpose of serving its national interests. This research sought to better conceptualise South Korea's middle power diplomacy particularly on the South China Sea disputes between the USA and China and determine whether or not it is essential for its national interests through active Korean IR scholars' and policy researchers' perspectives. It found that there is more uncertainty or concern about employing 'middle power diplomacy' due to their assessment of finding greater drawbacks than benefits. Yet, the utmost reason behind such discrepancy stems from the epistemic fallacies prevalent in the middle power scholarship. Ultimately, discussions on South Korea's middle power diplomacy should begin with the awareness of such fallacies and attempt to address them by critically examining the ontology of South Korea's middle power categorisation, which leads one to question what kind of reality entails South Korea's being a 'middle power' in the SCS disputes and, from there, determine its appropriate role.
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The fundamental dilemma in the middle power study is the repeated epistemic fallacies that attempt to answer an ontological question of middle powers with epistemic features. With the common ...epistemic belief that middle powers are significant actors that play some constructive roles, South Korea is automatically designated as a middle power as long as the agent (researcher or practitioner) finds comparable middle power‐like characteristics in South Korea's material attributes and foreign policy behaviors. However, this research adopted a critical realist research design that addresses the epistemic fallacy and finds the “real world” that makes South Korea's middle power categorization necessary. It analyzed South Korea's middle power rhetoric in South Korean presidents' and foreign ministers' foreign policy discourses, and ultimately uncovered that the “real world” behind South Korea's middle power rhetoric has been its environment comprised of the dominant and less dominant countries. As the less dominant country, South Korea has utilized the middle power title to balance and neutralize the asymmetrical power relations and create an environment more conducive to South Korea's national interests. This includes the removal of South Korea's deeply ingrained victim mindset. Yet, it should be emphasized that such a conclusion is valid only because of the critical realist research design, committed to ontological realism, epistemological relativism, and judgmental rationalism. If not, South Korea's unequal power environment would be viewed as merely an additional condition that a “middle power” South Korea must deal with.
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3.
Critical realism Jeong, Monica S
International journal (Toronto),
06/2019, Volume:
74, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The fundamental problem in middle power scholarship lies in the research design that inadvertently permits bias, tautology, and circularity in the process of realizing the final outcome. Most ...researchers begin with a presumption that middle powers are countries in the middle range of the world order, capable and willing to play some constructive roles beyond their borders. Thus, they tend to select methods and data compatible with the given presumption, and reach predictable outcomes that determine middle power status by middle power behaviours, or middle power behaviours by middle power status. This is an epistemic fallacy where the ontic category of middle powers is defined by the epistemic knowledge of middle powers. Eventually, any countries with comparable characteristics/behaviours to the given presumption can be classified as “middle powers” conducting middle power behaviours. This article offers critical realism as a much-needed remedy to the stagnant middle power scholarship. It examines a group of countries already categorized as middle powers—Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and Australia (MIKTA)—under a critical realist framework, and finds that those countries and their activities cannot be generalized by the conventional middle power conception. In fact, the middle power rhetoric itself holds both a positive and negative ideological implication that requires further scrutiny. Yet, what makes the critical realist research design and its findings invaluable is the commitment to ontological realism, epistemological relativism, and judgmental rationalism that addresses the recurring epistemic fallacy. Therefore, the research findings are not merely new insights about “middle power” countries; they are a valid clue that can help uncover the “real” world that causes the so-called “middle power” categorization.
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Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to examine the South Korean government's policy approach in addressing the North Korean abductions of South Koreans and uncover the actual hindrance behind the ...prolonged stalemate beyond merely North Korea's obstinate denial and negative attitude toward the abduction issue. Design, Methodology, Approach-The research study scrutinized the South Korean government's policy approach from the Kim Dae-jung administration (1998-2002) to the most recent Moon Jae-in administration (2017-2021) through policy discourses, white papers on Korean unification, Korean news articles addressing the government's position, government officials' interviews, and the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee state's audit meeting minutes of the Ministry of Unification. Then it adopted the following three foreign policy analysis models: the rational actor model, the organizational process model, and the bureaucratic politics model that well demonstrate not only the process of the South Korean government's policy decision making and implementation, but also the fundamental rationale behind the government's policy continuity despite unsatisfactory results. Findings-While North Korea itself is a considerable factor behind the prolonged stalemate, another major impediment is the South Korean government's own integration of the abduction issue in the "separated families" issue. The government's main resolution approach has revolved around the rationality of verifying the abductees' living status within the humanitarian context of separated families and if fortunate, reuniting the abductees and their families through reunions designed for those families divided during the Korean War. In fact, such an approach has become a standardized protocol despite the serious drawbacks. Demands for change or an alternative approach have been repeatedly voiced within the government body, yet the prolonged stalemate has continued without any concrete remedy. Therefore, the current stalemate will likely continue in the future unless the government boldly breaks away from the existing integration of the abduction issue from the separated families issue. Practical Implications-This paper reveals the source of the prolonged stalemate from the South Korean government's policy position, its decision-making and implementation process. Thus, the paper provides a better understanding of the underlying concerns and can help find appropriate solutions to the abduction issue. Originality, Value-The North Korean abductions of South Koreans has been understudied in academia with most of the available research articles written in the Korean language. This paper will bridge that gap and provide further knowledge and insight regarding the abduction issue to the international community while humbly encouraging greater interest in this subject.
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Sleep problems are highly prevalent in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. This article reviews existing evidence on etiology, associated symptoms, and management of sleep problems associated ...with chemotherapy treatment during cancer. It also discusses limitations and methodological issues of current research. The existing literature suggests that subjectively and objectively measured sleep problems are the highest during the chemotherapy phase of cancer treatments. A possibly involved mechanism reviewed here includes the rise in the circulating proinflammatory cytokines and the associated disruption in circadian rhythm in the development and maintenance of sleep dysregulation in cancer patients during chemotherapy. Various approaches to the management of sleep problems during chemotherapy are discussed with behavioral intervention showing promise. Exercise, including yoga, also appear to be effective and safe at least for subclinical levels of sleep problems in cancer patients. Numerous challenges are associated with conducting research on sleep in cancer patients during chemotherapy treatments and they are discussed in this review. Dedicated intervention trials, methodologically sound and sufficiently powered, are needed to test current and novel treatments of sleep problems in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Optimal management of sleep problems in patients with cancer receiving treatment may improve not only the well-being of patients, but also their prognosis given the emerging experimental and clinical evidence suggesting that sleep disruption might adversely impact treatment and recovery from cancer.
BACKGROUNDThe US Department of State estimates that there are between 4 and 27 million individuals worldwide in some form of modern slavery. Recent studies have demonstrated that 28% to 50% of ...trafficking victims in the United States encountered health care professionals while in captivity, but were not identified and recognized. This study aimed to determine whether an educational presentation increased emergency department (ED) providers’ recognition of human trafficking (HT) victims and knowledge of resources to manage cases of HT.
METHODSThe 20 largest San Francisco Bay Area EDs were randomized into intervention (10 EDs) or delayed intervention comparison groups (10 EDs) to receive a standardized educational presentation containing the followingbackground about HT, relevance of HT to health care, clinical signs in potential victims, and referral options for potential victims. Participants in the delayed intervention group completed a pretest in the period the immediate intervention group received the educational presentation, and all participants were assessed immediately before (pretest) and after (posttest) the intervention. The intervention effect was tested by comparing the pre–post change in the intervention group to the change in 2 pretests in the delayed intervention group adjusted for the effect of clustering within EDs. The 4 primary outcomes were importance of knowledge of HT to the participant’s profession (5-point Likert scale), self-rated knowledge of HT (5-point Likert scale), knowledge of who to call for potential HT victims (yes/no), and suspecting that a patient was a victim of HT (yes/no).
FINDINGSThere were 258 study participants from 14 EDs; 141 from 8 EDs in the intervention group and 117 from 7 EDs in the delayed intervention comparison group, of which 20 served as the delayed intervention comparison group. Participants in the intervention group reported greater increases in their level of knowledge about HT versus those in the delayed intervention comparison group (1.42 vs −0.15; adjusted difference = 1.57 95% confidence interval, 1.02–2.12; P < 0.001). Pretest ratings of the importance of knowledge about HT to the participant’s profession were high in both groups and there was no intervention effect (0.31 vs 0.55; −0.24 −0.90–0.42, P = 0.49). Knowing who to call for potential HT victims increased from 7.2% to 59% in the intervention group and was unchanged (15%) in the delayed intervention comparison group (61.4% 28.5%–94.4%; P < 0.01). The proportion of participants who suspected their patient was a victim of HT increased from 17% to 38% in the intervention group and remained unchanged (10%) in the delayed intervention comparison group (20.9 8.6%–33.1%; P < 0.01).
INTERPRETATIONA brief educational intervention increased ED provider knowledge and self-reported recognition of HT victims.
Abstract
B123
Asian and Pacific Islanders bear a disproportionate burden of liver disease caused by chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, which is associated with a 25% risk of death from ...cirrhosis or liver cancer. However, few community based programs exist to tackle this serious public health problem among low income, uninsured Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants. The Hep B Free Clinic is a student-run grassroots organization that focuses on HBV and liver cancer prevention in one of the nation’s largest immigrant communities: San Jose, California. From 2007-2008, we provided free HBV serological screening to 510 patients. For chronically infected patients who elected to undergo follow up monitoring, a series of blood tests were given to evaluate for liver damage (alanine transaminase, ALT), a liver cancer marker (alpha-fetoprotein, AFP), and HBV replication (HBV DNA levels). Of those screened, 17% were chronically infected. Remarkably, one-third (33%) of infected patients were unaware that they were infected. Of those chronically infected, 100% showed signs of active liver damage as measured by elevated ALT, and 9% had elevated AFP tumor markers for hepatocellular carcinoma. Nearly one-quarter (24%) of those chronically infected carried HBV DNA levels that met the criteria for treatment. Patients who were candidates for antiviral therapy were signed up for free drug assistance programs, and those requiring triphasic CT scans for possible liver cancer were referred. Uninfected patients lacking protective HBV antibodies were provided free vaccinations. Our striking findings call for more aggressive liver cancer prevention in this community, including universal screening for HBV.
Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2008;1(7 Suppl):B123.
Sheath-run artificial muscles Mu, Jiuke; Jung de Andrade, Mônica; Fang, Shaoli ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
07/2019, Volume:
365, Issue:
6449
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Although guest-filled carbon nanotube yarns provide record performance as torsional and tensile artificial muscles, they are expensive, and only part of the muscle effectively contributes to ...actuation. We describe a muscle type that provides higher performance, in which the guest that drives actuation is a sheath on a twisted or coiled core that can be an inexpensive yarn. This change from guest-filled to sheath-run artificial muscles increases the maximum work capacity by factors of 1.70 to 2.15 for tensile muscles driven electrothermally or by vapor absorption. A sheath-run electrochemical muscle generates 1.98 watts per gram of average contractile power-40 times that for human muscle and 9.0 times that of the highest power alternative electrochemical muscle. Theory predicts the observed performance advantages of sheath-run muscles.
Woven-Yarn Thermoelectric Textiles Lee, Jae Ah; Aliev, Ali E.; Bykova, Julia S. ...
Advanced materials (Weinheim),
07/2016, Volume:
28, Issue:
25
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The fabrication and characterization of highly flexible textiles are reported. These textiles can harvest thermal energy from temperature gradients in the desirable through‐thickness direction. The ...tiger yarns containing n‐ and p‐type segments are woven to provide textiles containing n–p junctions. A high power output of up to 8.6 W m−2 is obtained for a temperature difference of 200 °C.
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