Inevitable Death Research Articles

A Study of Thing-Narrative in The Masque of the Red Death

The Masque of the Red Death is one of Edgar Allan Poe‘s most important works, which has been studied by numerous scholars from the perspectives of style, narrative aesthetics, and semiotics. However, the relevant interpretation to date has almost completely ignored the description of things in the novel. At present, there is an obvious “material turn” or “non-human turn” in the field of humanities research, that is, the research perspective turns to the “object” components that have been largely ignored in the past, including animals, plants, minerals, ecosystems, landscapes, places, etc. Therefore, from the perspective of the thing-narrative, combined with the social and historical background of the works, this paper analyzes Poe‘s use of thing-narrative techniques through close reading of the text. Through the in-depth analysis of the interaction between things and characters in the story, the author explains how castles, rooms, and ebony clocks, as cultural symbols, agents with subjectivity, exist as noumenon, influence or predict the fate of characters, and promote the development of the plot. And to further clarify Poe‘s theme in this novel - the inevitability of death.

A Comprehensive Review on the Significance of Cysteine in Various Metabolic Disorders; Particularly CVD, Diabetes, Renal Dysfunction, and Ischemic Stroke.

Metabolic disorders have long been a challenge for medical professionals and are a leading cause of mortality in adults. Diabetes, cardiovascular disorders (CVD), renal dysfunction, and ischemic stroke are the most prevalent ailments contributing to a high mortality rate worldwide. Reactive oxygen species are one of the leading factors that act as a fundamental root cause of metabolic syndrome. All of these disorders have their respective treatments, which, to some degree, sabotage the pathological worsening of the disease and an inevitable death. However, they pose a perilous health hazard to humankind. Cysteine, a functional amino acid shows promise for the prevention and treatment of metabolic disorders, such as CVD, Diabetes mellitus, renal dysfunction, and ischemic stroke. In this review, we explored whether cysteine can eradicate reactive oxygen species and subsequently prevent and treat these diseases.

A Study of Thing-Narrative in The Masque of the Red Death

The Masque of the Red Death is one of Edgar Allan Poe‘s most important works, which has been studied by numerous scholars from the perspectives of style, narrative aesthetics, and semiotics. However, the relevant interpretation to date has almost completely ignored the description of things in the novel. At present, there is an obvious “material turn” or “non-human turn” in the field of humanities research, that is, the research perspective turns to the “object” components that have been largely ignored in the past, including animals, plants, minerals, ecosystems, landscapes, places, etc. Therefore, from the perspective of the thing-narrative, combined with the social and historical background of the works, this paper analyzes Poe‘s use of thing-narrative techniques through close reading of the text. Through the in-depth analysis of the interaction between things and characters in the story, the author explains how castles, rooms, and ebony clocks, as cultural symbols, agents with subjectivity, exist as noumenon, influence or predict the fate of characters, and promote the development of the plot. And to further clarify Poe‘s theme in this novel - the inevitability of death.

An estimate of burnout prevalence among oncology nurses

BackgroundRegistered nurses (RNs) in oncology must cope with the suffering of patients, the inevitability of death and their own transience. This poses a possible risk for the development of burnout, which can result in low job satisfaction and ultimately an increased intention to leave the job. Our aim was to assess psychological distress in registered nurses working in oncology.Objective and methodA cross-sectional survey with the Oldenburger Burnout Inventory was presented to nurses within the German Cancer Society. It collected data on psychological distress via two subscales, exhaustion and disengagement. Socio-demographic data were assessed.ResultsAmong 83 participating nurses, we found a prevalence of high disengagement in 17 oncology nurses (20.48%) and high exhaustion (MExh>2.5 = burnout) in 44 (53.00%). Looking at the highest values of both scales, 18.08% of respondents were at high risk for psychological distress. There was a low correlation between disengagement and age (r = 0.331, p < 0.01). The risk of high disengagement among nurses older than 50 (n = 9, 52.94%) was three times higher than for those who were 50 or younger (n = 8, 47.06%) (RR = 8.642, 95% CI: 1.475–5.749, p < 0,01).ConclusionThis survey highlights a high rate of burnout among German oncology nurses. Interventions should be developed, implemented, and delivered in an age-appropriate manner. To ensure high-quality care and patient safety, oncology nurses should be offered preventive mental healthcare services later in their careers.Clinical trial registration numberThe study was registered with the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS500018851).

Embracing mortality: psychological preparation on death in the guidance of stoic philosophy

Humanity's greatest fear is the inevitability of death, the ultimate fate that all strive to evade. This collective dread of mortality stems from its perceived malevolence. Across the ages, from religious rituals promising salvation to scientific efforts to delay death, human attempts to confront mortality vary widely. Yet death remains inescapable, a natural consequence of life. While religious doctrines offer comfort through ideas of an afterlife, and science views death as a biological challenge to be postponed. Conversely, philosophy advocates for an intellectual acceptance of death's inevitability. The Stoic Philosophy, in particular, advocate for the joyful acceptance of death as an integral part of life. This philosophical stance fosters a positive perspective on death, encouraging individuals to live life to its fullest potential. Embracing death with joy entails psychological reassurance and preparatory measures for life's inevitable end. This qualitative study explores psychological preparation for death using primary and secondary data sources. Primary sources include the philosophical texts by Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, specifically "Letters to Lucilius," "On the Shortness of Life," and "Meditations." Secondary data is collected from peer-reviewed journals, books, and reports that contextualize these works within modern psychological frameworks. The primary audience includes individuals preparing for death due to age or illness and those grieving loved ones, offering a pathway to peace and understanding through Stoic wisdom. Moreover, this will be a guidance to those who work with the terminally ill people to get psychological resilience. By embracing death, Stoicism encourages both the dying and the bereaved to find psychological reassurance and encourage all to live a meaningful life in the given time frame.

The Inevitability of Death: Mental Simulation Moderates the Effect of Death Anxiety on Older Adults' Vulnerability to Fraud.

Death anxiety arousal is a common tactic in fraud targeting older adults; however, little is known about its impact on vulnerability to fraud and the moderating role of mental simulation. Two experiments were conducted using the mortality salience task. Experiment 1 employed a mortality salience manipulation to examine the causality of death anxiety arousal affecting older adults' vulnerability to fraud using a behavioral experiment. Experiment 2 used the imaginary priming paradigm to manipulate different types of mental simulation to address whether mental simulation could moderate the relationship between death anxiety and vulnerability to fraud. The results showed that death anxiety significantly increased the vulnerability to fraud. Process and downward outcome simulation buffered this effect, while upward outcome simulation exacerbated it. Clinicians may focus on relieving death anxiety, decreasing upward outcome simulation, and enhancing process or downward outcome simulation as promising pathways to protect older adults against fraud.

Exploring Death Anxiety Among Older Adults: An Integrative Review of Associated Factors and Interventions.

With the aging of the population and the substantial surge of individuals above the age of 60, psychological concerns particular to this population have come to hold more weight on the healthcare and social levels. One of the concerns of older adults, which can significantly influence their psychological well-being, is the fear of inevitable mortality or death anxiety. This integrative review tackles the subject of death anxiety among older adults by providing a comprehensive synthesis of the factors associated with death anxiety and the effective interventions to mitigate it. A systematic screening of relevant articles was conducted using the PRISMA guidelines. Content and thematic analysis of 46 selected articles were performed, from which five key themes emerged: demographic factors, psychological and psychosocial factors, spiritual and religious factors, death reminders, and effective interventions. The review contributes to the field of thanatology and offers clinical insights into the care of older adults.

The Good Death in Early Modern Europe

ABSTRACTThe inevitability of death does not change its variability. In The Hour of Our Death (1981), Philippe Ariès positioned the sudden, unexpected, mass death of epidemics (especially from the Black Death) against the personalized, domesticated death for which one had time to prepare. The domesticated death, so he argued, appeared during a specific epoche of European history and was an historical inflection point, coinciding with the 18th century Enlightenment. Ariès looked unfavorably at this climax for what he saw as a process of de‐spiritualization, waning of faith, and the beginnings of commercialization and medicalization of death. Since his publications, scholars from a range of fields—history, anthropology, literature, religion, and art—have sought to address the omissions, exaggerations, and misleading claims in Ariès' account and, in doing so, have developed a rich field studying the cultural history and significance of death. Now situated in a transdisciplinary space, studying the good death and the tradition of ars moriendi (the art of the dying well) offers new perspectives and answers new questions about death. Although there is much that could be discussed, the focus here will be on recent trends in scholarship on the tradition of ars moriendi and its relationship to the interrelated histories of burial, the role of clerical and lay comforters, and the role of physicians as well as the historical and religious‐philosophical problems of the prolongation of life and sudden death.

구약성경에 나타난 부활 - 시편을 중심으로

This article explores the theme of resurrection in the Old Testament. Since it is already established that there is no evident testimony of the resurrection in the Old Testament except in the Books of Daniel and 2 Maccabees, I just summarize the existing interpretations of these texts. In addition, I observe that some texts such as Hos 6:2, Isa 26:19, Ez 37:1-14, Job 19:25-27, which do not explicitly mention the theme of resurrection, are interpreted with reference to it in the New Testament and in the patristic teachings. I also consider the possibility of interpreting the immortality in the Book of Wisdom in connection with the corporal resurrection. In the case of the Psalms, some texts are interpreted in connection with the resurrection, but the Hebrew texts have no explicit reference to this theme. I examine the possible references to the resurrection in Psalms 1, 16, 49, 73, and 149. These psalms explore the prospects of the future in different contexts, such as the problem of retribution not realized in this life, the prosperity of the wicked, the inevitability of death, and the final judgment, and begin to conceive of hope beyond death. The hope for the resurrection in these texts is not evident, but they approach the hope beyond death. A certain eschatological hope begins to emerge. The Septuagint, the New Testament, and the interpretations of the Church Fathers also read the hope for the resurrection in these psalms. While the hope for the resurrection emerged gradually in the Old and New Testaments, the Psalms constituted moments in which the hope germinated. In later years commentators with more developed beliefs in the resurrection reinterpreted these psalms from their own perspective.

Is it Real History or Illusion?—Exploration of Narrative Strategies in Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, exploring the confluence of historical context, narrative ingenuity, and thematic depth in his work. Born during the tumultuous Civil War era, Bierce’s experiences as a Union soldier profoundly influenced his literary focus, notably in his portrayal of war’s brutalities and psychological impact. The paper examines how Bierce’s narrative style, characterized by a blend of stark realism and surreal elements, set him apart in the late 19th-century literary landscape. His most acclaimed work, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, is dissected for its innovative narrative structure, symbolic language, and exploration of existential themes such as the fragility of life, the inevitability of death, and the human psyche’s struggle with freedom and fate. The study highlights Bierce’s unique contribution to the short story genre and his lasting influence on American literature.

End-of-Life Care for Newborn Infants: A Multicenter Real-Life Prospective Study

Plain Language SummaryThe death of a newborn seems a contradiction, an error of nature. However, neonatal death is a reality and a problem that concerns different disciplines such as public health and bioethics. While the causes are obviously important to develop strategies to decrease them, the way neonates die is essential, including the shared decisions about specific therapies and the care provided at the end of life. To avoid therapies without beneficial effects, neonatal deaths in more industrialized countries follow a process of redirection of care, that is, addressing comfort and avoiding pain instead of looking for a cure that is not possible. The objectives of this study were to describe how neonates die in a middle-income country, whether there was redirection of care, and the reason for this decision. Over a 6-month period, health professionals who were involved in the terminal care of neonates were interviewed within 7 days of the death, and data of the end-of-life process were recorded. We gathered information on 697 neonatal deaths, which represent 80% of the total deaths occurring in Argentina in that period. Overall, 32% of neonates died after a process of redirection of care, most of them because of an inevitable death and a lower percentage because of severe compromise of expected quality of life. In conclusion, in contrast to more industrialized countries, most neonates who die in Argentina do so while receiving full support and when care is redirected, this decision mainly follows a condition of inevitable death.

Sir Oliver Style, his Verse, and the Smyrna Earthquake of 1688

ABSTRACT Oliver Style, the son of a Kentish baronet, was working in Smyrna, Turkey, when in 1688 the port city was devastated by an earthquake. Thousands were killed. Style survived (though apparently seriously injured), returned to England, and wrote a descriptive, deeply personal ‘Advice to a painter’ poem about the event. Over the years until his death in 1703 he composed more than twenty other poems, which reflect on his life and inevitable death, and, with considerable bitterness, survey the folly, cruelty and suffering of mankind. This body of work, scarcely studied, survives in a single contemporary manuscript held in Leeds University Library. The essay discusses Style’s life and family background, describes the manuscript, appraises the poems in some detail, and places Style’s description of the Smyrna earthquake in the context of contemporary prose accounts. It concludes with an annotated edition of his 139-line earthquake poem.

The Autoethnography of a Teacher Educator

I turn to evocative autoethnographic storytelling as a means to experiment with the text of teacher education and re-imagine my role as a professor of education and early childhood literacy. When I feel that the rigidity of rubrics and standards designed to evaluate my students is creating an uncomfortable distance between us, I invite the formation of a literate thirdspace. My stories convey the feeling of being in-between states of authority and imagination, and question the image of the child’s fragility, including my own. As my students respond with their own memories through discussion, commentary, and writing, my autoethnography emerges as more personal and concrete. The inevitable death of my mother collides in my mind with the university’s literacy curriculum as I am teaching it, and I am forced to revisit the absence of friends, and my mentor to cancer. The denial of death as part of our own, and our children’s experience, is challenged by a child’s words at the end of this paper, where I finally learn to accept loss and the painful act of saying goodbye.

Принцип всеединства как основа идеи бессмертия в философии Ф.М. Достоевского и Вл.С. Соловьева

The article represents a study of F.M. Dostoevsky’s and V.S. Solovyov’s immortological ideas, which are insufficiently studied today. On the material of various publications of Dostoevsky, it is shown that he considered the idea of immortality as “the main and the most supreme idea of human existence”, since it is inherent in a perfect, final being, which implies an indissoluble unity. It is assumed that the sources of the writer’s immortalological ideas were the philosophical systems of I.G. Fichte, F.W.J. Schelling, K.G. Karus and G.T. Fechner. It was revealed that Dostoevsky considered active love and the idea of “absolute self-improvement” necessary for spiritual transformation and overcoming selfishness, leading to a violation of integrity and inevitable death. Based on the material of Solovyov's early works, it is shown that his views strongly coincided with the position of the writer. As it turned out, both Russian thinkers saw the possibility of a future life only in connection with Christianity, which differed significantly from traditional teaching. An overview of the concept of “true Christianity” is given, which presupposes, first of all, faith in the immortality of man and unity. Suffering is seen as a necessary driving force towards the conscious renunciation of one's own personality and the merging of humanity with the diversity of manifestations of the metaphysical essence. It is shown that an important condition for this is joint improvement, since individual efforts to transform the world are not enough. It is concluded that due to such transformation “free all-human unity, worldwide brotherhood in the name of Christ” will be established in the world. Undoubtedly, partly utopian in their basis, the ideas of the writer and philosopher were aimed at solving the spiritual problems of man of that time and humanity in general.

PERCEPTION OF DEATH IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH POETRY

This research is a determined attempt to reveal the perception of DEATH in contemporary English poetry. It has been a focal point of lengthy discussions and numerous reflections, as DEATH is a universal experience that everybody regardless of nationality, gender and marital status, religious and political views will go through one day. All people are mortal by nature, but the idea of what happens after death to some extent depends on the culture or religion they belong to. Thus, the religious perception of DEATH as a stage of transformation that puts an end to earthly suffering and paves the way for an everlasting, abundant life in Heaven can be traced in modern English poetry. It helps people embrace their own mortality, make peace with the fluidity of time and inevitability of DEATH. Another finding shows that DEATH is often depicted as the end of the journey, the awareness of which, on the one hand, fills life with meaning and motivates people to act on their dreams, but on the other, causes deep regrets about missed opportunities and wasted time. There is no distinct fear of DEATH in the studied poetry, but rather the feeling of immense sadness over something the person hasn’t done or can’t change.

Patient's last wish: organ donation after euthanasia. What conditions should be met to fulfill it?

Organ donation after euthanasia (ODE) is a complex procedure involving the patient, the family, and the medical staff. Most organ donations occur from patients declared brain dead, and healthcare professionals rely on surrogate decisions, or the possible expression of ante-mortem will. Organ donation from deceased individuals is thus feasible under rigorous conditions, while direct donation after euthana-sia is not possible. The scientific community has not reached a shared conclusion. It is also difficult to quantify the number of patients who would be medically eligible to donate organs after euthanasia. In keep-ing with the core the principle of self-determination, any decision to undergo euthanasia (with or without organ donation) must be voluntary and not influenced by external pressures. For this reason, the physician should avoid informing the patient about the possibility of donating their organs before their request for euthanasia is evaluated. Just as noteworthy is the issue of healthcare providers' conscientious objec-tion and the receiving patient's right to know whether the transplanted organs come from a subject who underwent euthanasia. Finally, the patient who requests to end their life does so primarily because they are tormented by unbearable suffering and often expresses, as a last wish, the desire to exercise their free will regarding their own body. Organ donation after euthanasia would therefore seem to reinforce patient autonomy and self-esteem, thus giving a different meaning to their inevitable death, which is useful in saving the lives of others.

Bereaved Family Caregivers Perception of Trust in Palliative Care Doctors by Patients with Terminal Cancer

Trust is a key factor in achieving a good death. However, few studies have focused on factors that help patients with terminal cancer establish trusting relationships with their palliative care doctors. This exploratory qualitative study, conducted in Japan, was designed to identify factors related to terminal cancer patients’ trust in their doctors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 caregivers and grounded theory was the research approach chosen to guide this study. The data revealed seven factors related to the trust to palliative care doctors, including caring attitude, symptom management, courteous and specific explanations, long-term involvement in the patient’s care, being faced with inevitable death, good impression of the institution, and referral by a trusted doctor. These factors were categorized into three main themes: [1] palliative care doctors, [2] patients with terminal cancer, and [3] professional reputation. There is potential for improving end-of-life experiences through understanding and implementing interventions to ensure trust identified by these caregivers

„DUBLjE DNO DUŠI NO STRADANjU“

The novel Nebo, tako duboko by Vesna Kapor belongs to a type of lit- erature that in a certain way resists the contemporary novelistic tendencies to deal with external traits of the characters and their relationships with the world ‒ the novel deals with internal character traits, i.e. human soul, as well as with the concept of the meaning of life. After losing their only child, the parents’ souls are torn between maintaining a kind of illu- sion that physical death is not final, and, on the other hand, questions about the shortness of human existence on Earth. It seems that two main features or two dimensions of this poetic novel ‒ lyrical and metaphysical ‒ arise from these two directions. The character (a lament) and the theme of the novel (the death of a young, close person and the absence of time distance) are delicate and require the mastery of narration and stylistic expression, which gives the novel a lyrical dimension. It is also possible to analyse the novel from the point of view of metaphysics, which is manifested through at least three phenomena: the phenomenon of time (given to man on Earth), the phenomenon of the secrets of the other world (can a man change the course of his destiny?) and the phenomenon of storytelling (as a way of resisting the transience of life and inevitability of death). These phenomena are deeply rooted in Christian idea of Love for another, as well as in a universal idea of the power of the story which can overcome even death itself, that is, to preserve the memory of life through storytelling.

‘Discretion fought with nature’ (1.1.5): eulogy and jointure in Hamlet

The article studies the formal aspects of Claudius’ inaugural speeches in Hamlet, which mimics sermons on the inevitability of death and the holy nature of patrilinear bonds linking the dead and the living. It compares this with the suggestion that his ‘state [is] disjoint and out of frame’ (1.2.20), which recalls early modern discussions on jointure, a legal provision allowing wives to take possession of their late husbands’ lands and tenements, thereby (momentarily) dispossessing the natural heirs. Claudius’ speeches contrast the topos of the ‘natural’ cycle of life and death, and the ‘discretion’ afforded Gertrude by law to symbolically dispossess her own son in favour of a new husband and king. As Claudius makes short shrift of his eulogy for his ‘dear brother’, he paves the way for his own unceremonious death in act 5, when Hamlet chastises the infamous nature of the king’s ‘union’ or ‘jointure’ with Gertrude. Contrariwise, Hamlet succeeds in being remembered following the rules of epideictic rhetoric.

Experience of the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy type 3 Kugelberg-Welander with Nusinersen

Before the advent of pathogenetic therapy, the diagnosis of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) meant the loss of all hopes for recovery and the patient's setting on the path of a steady decline in motor functions, a deterioration in the quality of life and, ultimately, inevitable early death. Currently, new methods of pathogenetic therapy with nusinersen and risdiplam, as well as etiological therapy with onasemnogene abeparvovec, are available in the Russia. Nusinersen is an antisense oligonucleotide that modifies splicing of the SMN2 gene to increase production of normal full-length motor neuron survival protein, which is deficient in SMA. The mechanism of action of Nusinersen is based on the activation of the disabled exon 7 of the SMN2 gene. The article describes an example of long-term effective treatment using pathogenetic therapy of a patient diagnosed with SMA type 3.