• Analyses & Alternatives
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.111-141
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• 2018

By the middle of 2018 there are signs of China's entry into a new period of development, characterized by a change in the old model: "market reforms-inner-party democratization - moderate foreign policy" to another: "market reforms - Xi Jinping personality cult - offensive foreign policy." This model contains the risks of arising of the contradiction between economic freedom and political-ideological rigidity which can lead to destabilization of the political life. However, in the current positive economic dynamics, these risks may come out, rather, in the medium and long term. Today, the political situation in China remains stable - despite growing dissatisfaction in scientific expert and educational circles due to increased control over the intellectual sphere by the authorities. The need for a new redistribution of power between central and provincial authorities could potentially disrupt political stability in the medium term, but, at the moment, is not a critical negative factor. The economic situation is positive-stable. Forecasts indicate a possible increase in China's GDP in 2018 at 6.5%. At the same time, there are negative expectations in connection with the Sino-US and potentially Sino-European "trade war". In the Chinese foreign policy, as a response to Western pressure, China increasingly uses the Russian direction of its diplomacy in the expanded version of Russia + SCO. The nuance here is seen in China's adjusted approach to the SCO: first of all, not as a mechanism for cooperation with Russia, but as an organization that allows using Russia's potential for pressure on the US in the Sino-US strategic rivalry. In the second half of 2018, the Chinese economy will continue to develop steadily, albeit with unresolved traditional problems (debts of provinces and state-owned enterprises, ineffective state sector, risks on the financial and real estate market). In politics, discontent with the cult of Xi will accumulate, but without real threats to its power. Weakening in economic opposition between China and the United States is possible due to Beijing's search for compromises on tariffs, intellectual property, trade deficit. To find such trade-offs, Xi will use the so-called. "Personal diplomacy" of direct contacts with Trump.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.1-36
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• 2018

When it comes to explaining the relationship between inventory investment and business fluctuations, the production smoothing theory and the stock-out avoidance theory take contradictory stances. Decision-making related to inventory investments of corporations is thought to be influenced by both motives, but the relative sizes or directions of their respective influences can differ depending upon the phase of the business cycle. Against this backdrop, this paper differs from existing studies in that it theoretically tests the relative significances of the production smoothing and stock-out avoidance motives in the inventory investment dynamics, while placing its analytical focus on determining the existence and patterns of the asymmetric dynamics of inventory investment over the business cycle phases. To this end this paper sets up a non-linear model that is expanded from the existing linear inventory investment model, and checks whether its predictive power is better than that of the existing model. The results of analysis confirm the nature of the asymmetric dynamics of inventory investment over the business cycle phases. A stock-out avoidance motive appears but there is no significant production smoothing motive in boom times. In downturns, in contrast, the stock-out avoidance motive is insignificant, but a quality of asymmetric dynamics in which changes in inventory cause the deepening of recessions, due to the non-convexity of production costs proposed by Ramey (1991), is detected. This paper confirms that a model considering the asymmetric dynamics of inventory investment can have better predictive power than one that does not consider it, through within-sample and out-of-sample predictions and various predictive power tests. These research results are expected to be useful for economic forecasting, through their enhancement of the understandings of the inventory investment dynamics and of the nature of its business cycle destabilization.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.1278-1286
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• 2008

The effect of Tween 20 addition on changes in the stability of methylcellulose (MC) emulsions (1 wt% MC, 10 wt% n-tetradecane, 20 mM bis-tris buffer, pH 7) was investigated by creaming stability and orthokinetic stability measurements. In the case of MC emulsions containing varying amounts of oil (1$\sim$30 wt%) and no Tween 20 added, creaming stability, judged by mean migration velocity of fat globules ($V_m$), was found to depend on droplet size: the larger the droplet size, the worse the stability [$V_m$: 0.326 $\mu$m $min^{-1}$ ($d_{32}$: 0.32 $\mu$m) ${\rightarrow}V_m$: 0.551 $\mu$m $min^{-1}$ ($d_{32}$: 0.53 $\mu$m)]. With Tween 20, creaming stability was found to be worse than the one without Tween 20, except for MC emulsion containing 0.2 wt% Tween 20. In addition, cream stability was the lowest with the lowest concentration of Tween 20 and a tendency to recover with increasing Tween 20 concentration [$V_m$: 0.598 $\mu$m $min^{-1}$ (0.01 wt%)${\rightarrow}V_m$: 0.389 $\mu$m $min^{-1}$ (0.2 wt%)] was found. From viscosity measurement for aqueous bulk phase of MC emulsions, such a change in the creaming stability was found to coincide well with the results of viscosity measurement. Therefore, it was reasonable to say that creaming stability of MC emulsions containing Tween 20 depended on MC concentration in aqueous bulk phase, which was in turn varied by competitive adsorption between MC and Tween 20 at the oil droplet surface. In case of orthokinetic stability, judged by destabilization time ($t_d$), it was found that the addition of Tween 20 resulted in lowered stability with more pronounce tendency at higher concentrations [$t_d$: 160 min (0.03 wt%)${\rightarrow}t_d$: 100 min (0.2 wt%)]. Moreover, combined with previous results, the orthokinetic stability of MC emulsions containing Tween 20 was found to be exponentially proportional to MC load. In conclusion, competitive adsorption between MC and Tween 20 may affect the stability properties of MC emulsion to varying extents, depending on the concentration of Tween 20.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 2012

Stimulation of mast cells through the high affinity IgE receptor (Fc${\varepsilon}$RI) induces degranulation, lipid mediator release, and cytokine secretion leading to allergic reactions. Although various signaling pathways have been characterized to be involved in the Fc${\varepsilon}$RI-mediated responses, little is known about the precious mechanism for the expression of tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) in mast cells. Here, we report that rapamycin, a specific inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), reduces the expression of TNF-${\alpha}$ in rat basophilic leukemia (RBL-2H3) cells. IgE or specific antigen stimulation of RBL-2H3 cells increases the expression of TNF-${\alpha}$ and activates various signaling molecules including S6K1, Akt and p38 MAPK. Rapamycin specifically inhibits antigeninduced TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA level, while other kinase inhibitors have no effect on TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA level. These data indicate that mTOR signaling pathway is the main regulation mechanism for antigen-induced TNF-${\alpha}$ expression. TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA stability analysis using reporter construct containing TNF-${\alpha}$ adenylate/uridylate-rich elements (AREs) shows that rapamycin destabilizes TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA via regulating the AU-rich element of TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA. The antigen-induced activation of S6K1 is inhibited by specific kinase inhibitors including mTOR, PI3K, PKC and $Ca^{2+}$chelator inhibitor, while TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA level is reduced only by rapamycin treatment. These data suggest that the effects of rapamycin on the expression of TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA are not mediated by S6K1 but regulated by mTOR. Taken together, our results reveal that mTOR signaling pathway is a novel regulation mechanism for antigen-induced TNF-${\alpha}$ expression in RBL-2H3 cells.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.406-413
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• 2012

Effect of three additives, chitosan, ferric chloride, and MPE50 on membrane fouling reduction was studied. They were introduced with various dosing rate into activated sludge, and changes in filtration resistance measured by the batch cell filtration test were evaluated. Both the filtration resistance and the specific cake resistance were minimized at 20 mg/g-MLSS with chitosan, 70 mg/g-MLSS with ferric chloride, and 20 mg/g-MLSS with MPE50 addition, respectively. Introduction of the additives into the activated sludge resulted in reduction of not only cake resistance, but also fouling resistance. However, the chitosan addition to three different activated sludge resulted in three different optimal dose of 10, 20, 30 mg/g-MLSS, respectively. This implies that the optimal dose is dependent on sludge characteristics rather than a constant value. Overdose above the optimal dosage always aggravated filterability in all cases. Zeta potential of sludge flocs, relative hydrophobicity, floc size distribution, soluble EPS concentration and supernatant turbidity were measured in order to analyze fouling reduction mechanism. Nearly neutral surface charge along with the largest particle size was observed at the optimal dose. This could be explained by particle destabilization and restabilization mechanism as positively charged additives were injected into sludge flocs of negative surface charge. Both soluble EPS concentration and supernatant turbidity also showed the lowest value at the optimal dose. These foulants are believed to be coagulated and entrapped in sludge flocs during flocculation. Chitosan and MPE50 which are cationic polymeric substances showed higher reduction in both soluble EPS and fine particles comparing with ferric chloride.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.30 no.3 s.47
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• pp.353-359
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• 2004

The extent of silica flocculation can be modified by varying the silica concentration, aqueous phase pH, salt and polvmer concentration. High volume fraction W/O emulsion stabilized by hydrophobic silica was established with various aqueous phase conditions for cosmetic application. By increasing the silica concentration up to $1.0\;wt\%,$ the size of droplet decreased. A high silica concentration increased the viscosity of continuous oil phase by network formation, which resulted in target size of droplet. The stability of W/O emulsion is improved as increasing the aqueous phase pH. At low and intermediate pH, the emulsions became more stable by adding salt $(0.083\;mol\;dm^{-3}\;MgSO_4).$ At high PH, the presence of salt caused significant destabilization. The gelation behavior of the emulsion indicates that the effect of salt on silica-stabilized emulsion is derived from an electrostatic attraction. The addition of xanthan gum in aqueous phase increased the mono-dispersity of the W/O emulsion by making water more hydrophobic and hindering the recombination of droplets. In conclusion, these results indicate that very stable emulsifier-free, finely dispersed W/O emulsion can be achieved for cosmetic application by changing the aqueous phase composition.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.407-419
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• 2002

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the arterial wall characterized by progressive accumulation of lipids, cells, and extracellular matrix. Matrix metalloproteinases(MMPs) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases(TIMPS) contribute to vascular matrix remodeling in atherosclerosis, and some cytokines may play role in the synthesis or activation of MMPs or TIMPs. Material and Method： We produced experimental atherosclerotic plaques in 9 rabbits by atherogenic hypercholesterol diet for 12 weeks, and 10 other rabbits were used as control group with standard laboratory chow, At that time, 19 rabbits were sacrificed and aorta, coronary arteries and blood specimens were prepared. The expressions of MMP-9, TIMP-2 and interleukin(IL)-18, and the bioactivity of IL-6 were investigated with H&E stain, immunohistochemical stain, immunoblotting(Western blot analysis), and bioassay. Result： Serum cholesterol in the experimental group increased up to 1258$\pm$262 mg/dL(control group： 41$\pm$7 mg/dL). All experimental group showed well-developed atherosclerotic plaques in aorta and coronary artery. The expression of MMP-9 in aorta and coronary artery of the experimental group showed significant increase than that of the control group by immunohistochemistry. Among the experimental group, complicated lesions with intimal rupture or complete luminal occlusion, demonstrated stronger expression of MMP-9. Interestingly, there was no difference in expression of TIMP-2 between the experimental and the control group. These findings were confirmed by Western blot analysis. The bioassay revealed significant up-regulation of serum bioactivity of IL-6 in the experimental group(4819.60$\pm$2021.25 IU/$m\ell$) compared to that of IL-6 in the control group(27.20 $\pm$ 12.19 IU/$m\ell$). IL-18 was expressed in all atherosclerotic plaques, whereas little or no expression was detected in the control group. Conclusion： The increased MMP-9 expression along with the unchanged TIMP-2 expression seem to be contributory factors in extracellular matrix degradation in atherosclerosis. Focal overexpression of MMP-9 may promote plaque destabilization and cause complications of atherosclerotic plaques such as thrombosis with/without acute coronary syndrome. Elevation of IL-6 and IL-18 may be more than just markers of atherosclerosis but actual participants in lesion development. Identification of critical regulatory pathway is important to improve the understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of atherosclerosis and may open the way for novel therapeutic strategies.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.417-433
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• 1992

Lead-zinc-copper deposits of the Jeonheung and the Oksan mines around Euiseong area occur as hydrothermal quartz and calcite veins that crosscut Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of the Gyeongsang Basin. The mineralization occurred in three distinct stages (I, II, and III): (I) quartz-sulfides-sulfosalts-hematite mineralization stage; (II) barren quartz-fluorite stage; and (III) barren calcite stage. Stage I ore minerals comprise pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena and Pb-Ag-Bi-Sb sulfosalts. Mineralogies of the two mines are different, and arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, tetrahedrite and iron-rich (up to 21 mole % FeS) sphalerite are restricted to the Oksan mine. A K-Ar radiometric dating for sericite indicates that the Pb-Zn-Cu deposits of the Euiseong area were formed during late Cretaceous age ($62.3{\pm}2.8Ma$), likely associated with a subvolcanic activity related to the volcanic complex in the nearby Geumseongsan Caldera and the ubiquitous felsite dykes. Stage I mineralization occurred at temperatures between > $380^{\circ}C$ and $240^{\circ}C$ from fluids with salinities between 6.3 and 0.7 equiv. wt. % NaCl. The chalcopyrite deposition occurred mostly at higher temperatures of > $300^{\circ}C$. Fluid inclusion data indicate that the Pb-Zn-Cu ore mineralization resulted from a complex history of boiling, cooling and dilution of ore fluids. The mineralization at Jeonheung resulted mainly from cooling and dilution by an influx of cooler meteoric waters, whereas the mineralization at Oksan was largely due to fluid boiling. Evidence of fluid boiling suggests that pressures decreased from about 210 bars to 80 bars. This corresponds to a depth of about 900 m in a hydrothermal system that changed from lithostatic (closed) toward hydrostatic (open) conditions. Sulfur isotope compositions of sulfide minerals (${\delta}^{34}S=2.9{\sim}9.6$ per mil) indicate that the ${\delta}^{34}S_{{\Sigma}S}$ value of ore fluids was ${\approx}8.6$ per mil. This ${\delta}^{34}S_{{\Sigma}S}$ value is likely consistent with an igneous sulfur mixed with sulfates (?) in surrounding sedimentary rocks. Measured and calculated hydrogen and oxygen isotope values of ore-forming fluids suggest meteoric water dominance, approaching unexchanged meteoric water values. Equilibrium thermodynamic interpretation indicates that the temperature versus $fs_2$ variation of stage I ore fluids differed between the two mines as follows: the $fs_2$ of ore fluids at Jeonheung changed with decreasing temperature constantly near the pyrite-hematite-magnetite sulfidation curve, whereas those at Oksan changed from the pyrite-pyrrhotite sulfidation state towards the pyrite-hematite-magnetite state. The shift in minerals precipitated during stage I also reflects a concomitant $fo_2$ increase, probably due to mixing of ore fluids with cooler, more oxidizing meteoric waters. Thermodynamic consideration of copper solubility suggests that the ore-forming fluids cooled through boiling at Oksan and mixing with less-evolved meteoric waters at Jeonheung, and that this cooling was the main cause of copper deposition through destabilization of copper chloride complexes.