Jahr - European Journal of Bioethics

Jana Tomašovičová (ed.), The Blurring of Boundaries in Bioscientific Discourse

2023-01-23

Book review

4. Dani kulturne animaliSTike »Galeb nije tica«

Lara Botica — 2023-01-23

Prikaz skupa

5th Bioethics Days in Osijek – Bioethics and human rights

Ivica Kelam — 2023-01-23

Scientific meeting review

Editorial

2023-01-23

A Study on the Analysis of the Interrelationship between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible Using Text Mining

2023-01-23

https://doi.org/10.21860/j.13.2.9

The development of human civilization is a continuous process of imitation and creation based on exchange. Most historical research is performed qualitatively, so consequently, historical interpretations tend to be biased with personal or subjective viewpoints. In this context, Bible is the most-read book in history and comparative studies are steadily conducted owing to its similarities with the myths of ancient civilizations. This study combines qualitative and quantitative analysis to analyze the interrelationship between a myth and the Bible. Specifically, intertextuality analysis was performed around the great flood episode in Mesopotamia’s Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible’s Genesis. Text mining–based association rule analysis and word cloud analysis were combined to verify this. Intertextuality analysis revealed the interrelationship between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible; moreover, text mining helped verify the association in intertextuality analysis. Through this, the study proposes a research method for civilization exchange studies by objectively approaching the flow and directionality of exchanges among civilizations in the ancient Mediterranean regions. Furthermore, along with civilization exchange studies, a practical convergent research method for studies in the areas of humanities, regional studies, and history was suggested.
Keywords: Data science, Epic of Gilgamesh, Great flood, Mesopotamia, Myth, Mesopotamian civilization, Bible, Text mining, Association analysis, Civilization Exchange studies, Research methodology.

Social Structural Prospects for the AI Era

2023-01-23

https://doi.org/10.21860/j.13.2.10

In this paper, I will detail the phenomenal problems involved in the AI era. Issues such as information bubble, post-truth, and digital prison will point to the problems that arise in an environment based on AI technology. This article will also show that, after Covid-19, the AI-based environment has changed not only as a technology as a tool for humans, but also as a condition for survival. From this, we diagnose the problems of control, monitoring, and subjection brought about by the development of AI technology and the changes to the living environment caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. Synthesizing these problematic situations, I argue that the AI-based environment is not designed to cause social change as a result of natural changes or technological progress, but as a kind of discipline mechanism. I believe that it is necessary to consider how this will affect the changes and development of human society, and that it is necessary to predict this through social structural changes. Through this process, I will discuss this concept by analogically applying them to the problems of the AI era. I would like to ask a fundamental question about whether the AI era will be able to achieve real progress for humans and human society. Moreover, through this comprehensive investigation, this article draws the conclusion that AI as a discipline device will play a critical role in producing new power.
Keywords: AI, covid 19, information bubble, digital prison, subjection, power.

Karlovac Bioethical Encounters

Igor Salopek — 2023-01-23

Guest Editor's Editorial

The subjective experience of archival research on war orphans from World War II

2023-01-23

https://doi.org/10.21860/j.13.2.4

The article deals with the emotional experience of researching personal records of war orphans from World War II - the wards of the “Josipovac” orphanage in Zagreb. The decision to choose the topic came from the need to analyze the vulnerability of researchers conducting archival data research about traumatic experiences. The idea behind the article stems from the nostalgia and sadness that the researcher felt during and after reading “Remembering of Home”, a section in the admission sheets of war orphans that wasn’t included initially, but was arbitrarily added by the “Jospiovac” caretakers. It is interesting to point out that the factual data from their biographies recorded in these predefined sections did not elicit a significant emotional response from the researcher. In fact, she was almost indifferent to them. Analyzing her experiences in the context of the theories of bibliotherapy, it was established that archival research on war trauma can cause overwhelmingly uncomfortable feelings for those conducting the research. In bioethical literature, the importance of showing understanding and compassion towards research participants who have experienced a traumatic event is often emphasized. Since the issue of empathizing with the ones conducting the research is rarely a theme in these works, it ought to be discussed in greater detail within the context of the principle of bioethical sensibility.
Keywords: archival research, war orphans, “Josipovac” orphanage, nostalgia, bioethical sensibility.

Art culture courses/workshops and persons over 50 years

Eduard Pavlović — 2023-01-23

https://doi.org/10.21860/j.13.2.5

The aim of this paper is to see how certain notions about art culture courses/workshops for people over 50 can somewhat confirm Lefebvre’s phrase “We should live in the everyday life for it is what ought to be transformed.“ The participants of this research were people we came across in various places in October and November 2021. We created our own questionnaire, comprised of six questions. Additional notes show that 33 people answered the questionnaire. The majority of participants were: between the ages of 51 and 70 (21 or 63 %), born in Croatia’s more urban regions, and had intellectual jobs, i.e. they worked in civil services (17 or 51 %). Most of the participants were retired (especially men), had 2 children (16 or 48 %), owned an apartment or a house in a mid or small-sized city in Croatia (21 or 61 %), and were mostly religious (27 or 82 %). As far as the main topic is concerned, most participants stated that they were somewhat familiar with art (17 or 52 %), that they are interested or somewhat interested in art, that they are a bit more interested in painting than sculpting/ceramics, that they find knowing how to observe a work of art to be more professional (20 or 61 %), that they also care about socializing (25 or 71 %), but that they also care about the price of the course/workshop (17 or 52 %). Instead of offering a conclusion, it is worth noting that this pilot study shows that people over the age of 50 desire a change in their everyday life, but that they also care about the costs of such transformation.
Keywords: old age, art courses/workshops.

The positioning of mental health of children and young people in the Republic of Croatia

2023-01-23

https://doi.org/10.21860/j.13.2.6

Children and young people deserve special attention when we talk about health, among other things, because of the connection between childhood and adolescence resources on the impact of well-being in adulthood where we expect productive individuals who contribute responsibly to the community in all aspects, including both social and economic. Mental health has been set as a public health priority on a world scale. Globally, 10-20% of children and adolescents experience some form of mental disorder with half of them beginning at the age of 14 and three-quarters by their mid-20s. When discussing children and young people’s mental health as a social reality, we are discussing a social issue that needs to be solved on a societal level in a manner that is appropriate, resolves confusion and builds perspective. This paper gives an overview of the investment in health, children and families, an overview of the content of strategic documents for mental health, children and youth policies, as well as the issue of defining and monitoring the state of mental health. All the aforementioned arguments also favor the claim that investments in the mental health of children and youth in the Republic of Croatia still aren’t on a sufficient enough level to achieve higher levels of success.
Keywords: mental health, children and young people, public policy, investing in children.

Application of National Guidelines for Pre-hospital and Hospital Emergency Medical Services for Patients Who Require Palliative Care

Sanja Predavec — 2023-01-23

https://doi.org/10.21860/j.13.2.7

The palliative patient is cared for by many professionals, including the emergency medical team. The goal and purpose of palliative care is to maintain and improve the quality of life of palliative patients through symptoms control and psychological, spiritual, and social support. The National Guidelines for Prehospital and Hospital Emergency Medical Services for Patients Requiring Palliative Care provide general information about palliative care, descriptions of emergencies with specific clinical assessments in patient care, the importance and way of communication with the patient and family, including counselling the dying patient's family, deciding on the appropriateness of medical procedures, and communication of bad news.
Keywords: Palliative Care, Emergency Medical Service, National Guidelines.

Informed consent in psychotic decompensation

Matea Podgornjak — 2023-01-23

https://doi.org/10.21860/j.13.2.8

The consent of an informed patient is not merely a signature on a legally binding document, but rather a process in which the patient is empowered and becomes an active ally in a treatment. Valid informed consent includes adequate information that is given to the patient in an appropriate manner, the voluntariness of consent, and the patient’s ability to make a decision regarding treatment. Meeting these conditions when treating patients with mental health disorders can be challenging. Mental disorders can compromise a person’s ability to understand relevant information about the nature of their illness as well as their ability to make decisions regarding treatment. However, a psychiatric diagnosis does not imply that a person is unable to make a decision regarding their treatment, nor does it exclude them as an equal partner in the therapeutic process. By reviewing the case of a 39-year-old patient who developed an acute psychotic disorder during the treatment of COVID pneumonia, we dive into the ethical dilemmas that arise when approaching a patient who is experiencing psychotic decompensation.
Keywords: informed consent, psychotic decompensation, psychiatric treatment, autonomy, COVID-19.

Bioethics, Art and Body-cathexis in Persons With Disabilities

Renata Martinec — 2023-01-23

https://doi.org/10.21860/j.13.2.1

Self-assessment and social reception of the physical appearances of people with disabilities take place in a very demanding and challenging area in modern society. For this reason, effort has been made to promote the “disability aesthetics” in order to emphasize the importance of accepting “bodies” that differ from the desirable, socially determined aesthetic representation. As part of this attempt, art should also be considered as an interesting medium, since it can promote the universality of aesthetics and reveal beauty in its imperfection and incompleteness by playing with acceptable elements of form. It is, in fact, something different and incomprehensible combined with an acceptable aesthetic form that expresses the unity of opposites, as well as the experience of diversity and magnificence of the human body. In this sense, it is not not only social sensitization towards bodily imperfection that is being promoted, but also the positive body cathexis, which has one of the crucial roles in defining self-experience and in forming one’s emotions, ideas, and behaviors. In this regard, interdisciplinary collaboration should be the basis for choosing new paradigms and aesthetic criteria, according to which each individual, despite their “incomplete beauty”, would be a metaphor for something special, unrepeatable and unique. Ultimately, such belief can help one achieve a sense of self-satisfaction and self-fulfillment as one of the fundamental achievements of one’s own existence.
Keywords: bioethics, art, universal aesthetics, disability art, body cathexis.

Evaluating Roma women’s knowledge of reproductive health within the Roma community of the City of Rijeka - a cross-sectional study

Ingrid Redžepi — 2023-01-23

https://doi.org/10.21860/j.13.2.2

Due to an ever increasing pressence of uterine and ovarian cancer, as well as breast cancer in both Croatia and the world, the health of reproductive organs is of great importance in every woman’s life. The incidence of illenesses of reproductive organs in Roma women is often conditioned by a lifestyle defined by reduced emancipation and neglect for women caused by cultural differences and being closed off toward their surroundings. The aim of this paper is to evaluate Roma women’s knowledge about the health of the reproductive system. 62 female members of the Roma community in Rijeka over the age of 30 have agreed to partake in this crossectional study that was conducted using an anonymous questionnaire that participants consented to. The results indicate that Roma women are not informed well enough, i.e. that their knowledge of reproductive health, the prevention of illnesses of reproductive organs, the importance of regular gynecologic visits, the importance of preventing STI’s and of birth control is lacking. The results also show that younger, more educated and employed participants knew more than older participants who didn’t graduate and are unemployed. The results point to the fact that the participants couldn’t answer most key questions, but their desire to learn and increase their knowledge on this topic gives hope for further cooperation in this field. Considering the results of the research, it is important to work on work on raising awareness regarding the prevention and protection of Roma women’s health, as well as raising self-awareness and self-respect.
Keywords: reproductive health, Roma women and health, Roma women, education, national minority.

Informed Consent and Public Health

Ivana Tucak — 2023-01-23

https://doi.org/10.21860/j.13.2.3

Informed consent, which is primarily aimed at encouraging individual patients and subjects of scientific research to make autonomous decisions, and public health measures, such as compulsory vaccination against infectious diseases, the successfulness of which implies harmonized administration of vaccines to a broad population, seem to be irreconcilable opposites at first glance. This paper deals with investigating whether these opposites can reconcile or whether informed consent can be applied in the field of public health. The first part of the paper provides a short overview of the main features of informed consent and its relevance in treating individual patients. The second part of the paper tackles the issue of immunization. If not provided with consent of their patients or having a legal obligation, physicians are believed to interfere with the bodily integrity of other people when conducting vaccination and their act can be deemed as an assault and entail non-pecuniary damage compensation. Herd immunity as a “public good” can only be achieved if all people are equally subject to public health measures. At this point, the key question is if informed consent and appertaining freedom of decision-making represent a threat to the accomplishment of this public health goal.

This question should truly be answered since vaccination may, though rarely, bring to medical complications, which may then lead to high treatment costs, loss of income and extremely rare, to death. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that disclosure of the risks and benefits of immunization within the framework of public health programmes could contribute to putting the fundamental bioethical postulates into practice: establishing and fostering mutual trust between physicians and their patients, which can, in the end, contribute to a higher immunization rate of a population Keywords: informed consent, compulsory vaccination, trust, public health policies, public good.