• Title/Summary/Keyword: International

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Effects of Dollarization on Inflation and Exchange Rates in North Korea (달러라이제이션이 확산된 북한경제에서 보유외화 감소가 물가·환율에 미치는 영향)

  • Mun, Sung Min;Kim, Byoung-Ki
    • Economic Analysis
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    • v.26 no.2
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    • pp.1-42
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    • 2020
  • This paper studies, from a quantity theory of money perspective, the reasons that North Korean inflation and exchange rates maintain stability while its economy is experiencing difficulties due to the international community's economic sanctions. In doing so, this paper uses both domestic and foreign currencies in an analytic model based on the quantity theory of money to cautiously reflect North Korea's dollarization as well as its management of its exchange rate. In particular, foreign currency holdings are divided into those for store-of-value purposes and those for transaction purposes. This paper shows that in the early stages, in which the amount of foreign currency holdings for store-of-value purposes is decreasing while the amount of foreign currency holdings for transaction purposes is intact, inflation and exchange rates both exhibit stable movements. In the middle stages, where the amount of foreign currency holdings for transaction purposes begins to fall, exchange rates show some increase and inflation decreases. In the final stages, when the amount of foreign currency holdings for transaction purposes significantly decreases, exchange rates and inflation both increase, and in some situations a crisis can happen. According to this paper's analysis, if the economic sanctions continue to the extent that the amount of North Korean foreign currency holdings for transaction purposes starts to fall, the exchange rate and inflation stability we see now are unlikely to be maintained.

Effectiveness of Acupotomy for Migraine: A Systematic Review (편두통의 침도 치료에 대한 체계적 문헌고찰)

  • Seok-Hee Jeon;Soo-Min Jeong;Jeong-Cheol Shin
    • Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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    • v.40 no.3
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    • pp.62-78
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    • 2023
  • Objectives : This study aims to assess the impact of acupotomy on migraine through an examination of clinical studies conducted since 2015. Methods : We conducted a comprehensive search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized controlled trials (nRCTs) related to acupotomy treatment for migraine, utilizing five Korean online databases (OASIS, Science ON, DBPIA, KISS, RISS), as well as four foreign online databases (CNKI, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library). We identified a total of 10 relevant studies for analysis. Participants characteristics, treatment points, combination treatments, treatment cycles or frequencies, evaluation indices, efficacy, and adverse events were analyzed. The risk of bias in the 10 RCTs was assessed using the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2.0). Results : A total of 931 participants were included in 10 studies. In the intervention group, the average duration of migraine morbidity ranged from 15.5±4.5 months to 15.9±4.2 years. Six studies based their diagnoses on the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD), while five studies relied on Chinese diagnostic criteria. All studies specified the treatment area as the region exhibiting tenderness or induration on the head and neck. Treatment cycles ranged from a minimum of 2 days to a maximum of 1 week, with the number of days per treatment course varied from 5 days to 4 weeks. The diameter of acupuncture needles used varied between 0.3 mm and 1 mm. Of the eight studies specifying needle length, the shortest was 20 mm, and the longest was 40 mm. A total of eight evaluation indices were employed, with total efficacy rate (TER) and visual analogue scale (VAS) being the most frequently used. Statistically, all intervention groups showed more significant results compared to the control groups. Adverse events were reported in only two studies within the intervention group. Overall, the risk of bias assessment for the selected RCTs ranged from 'some concerns' to 'high risk of bias.' Conclusions : This study showed that acupotomy treatments for migraine were effective.

Infection Control in Pulmonary Function Laboratories in Domestic Hospitals (국내 의료기관의 폐기능검사실에서 감염관리 실태조사)

  • Nan-Hee LEE;Suhng Wook KIM
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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    • v.55 no.3
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    • pp.143-150
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    • 2023
  • The global outbreak of COVID-19 has underscored the pressing need for robust infection control practices in pulmonary function laboratories (PFL). However, the existing guidelines and regulatory frameworks provided by relevant authorities in the country have revealed certain deficiencies in effectively addressing this significant public health crisis. This study surveyed the infection control regulations, disposable item usage, ventilation facilities, spatial separation, and the configuration of entrance doors in 51 domestic hospital facilities from Oct 1, 2021, to Nov 2, 2021. The survey findings revealed that while there was a relatively satisfactory adherence to airborne, droplet, and contact precautions with adequate awareness and utilization of personal protective equipment, the environmental disinfection practices exhibited a suboptimal performance rate of 39.22% per patient. Depending on the specific survey domains, substantial variations were observed in the utilization of disposable items (81.05%), ventilation systems (45.75%), dedicated testing spaces (80.39%), separation of administrative areas (15.69%), and the installation of automated doors (19.61%). This study not only highlights the paramount importance of infection control in PFLs within domestic medical institutions but also provides foundational data for developing and enhancing standardized guidelines that align with international benchmarks for infection control in these settings.

The Opportunities for New Filters in the Developing Low Tar Markets (저타르 담배의 시장증대에 따른 새로운 필터의 역할)

  • Shepherd, R.J.K.;Taylor, M.J.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science Conference
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    • 1997.10a
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    • pp.79-90
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    • 1997
  • The world-wide cigarette market is becoming increasingly regulated. This involves restrictions on the freedom to advertise, restrictions on where people can smoke, and in some ways of most importance, limits on cigarette smoke deliveries. In particular, in an increasingly large number of countries maximum tar legislation is being enacted. In many cases, such as the European Union, this type of legislation is progressive and over time it is entirely conceivable that maximum permitted tar deliveries will be reduced to as low as 5 mg, possibly with additional restrictions on smoke nicotine deliveries. In addition, the pace of change is increasing as more and more countries embark on tar reduction programmes. The key challenge facing the cigarette industry is to manage these changes in such a way which ensures that product acceptability is maintained at as high a level as is possible in these circumstances. There are a number of ways of achieving this involving filter ventilation, modifying blends and using different filter constructions The real innovation comes when combining these in a way that gives the most acceptable balance of all these competing variables as far as the smoker is concerned. Undoubtedly, the nature of the filter is of crucial importance in designing the most acceptable low tar products, and this paper will discuss some of the filter types which are currently in use in the various low tar markets around the world. Also, some thoughts about the future in terms of new filter developments will be presented.

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Amino Acids Supplemented with Culture Medium Stimulated On Development of Porcine Embryos

  • Lee, Y.S.;S.H. Song;Lee, S.N.;K.H. Chung;Park, C.S.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Embryo Transfer Conference
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    • 2002.11a
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    • pp.80-80
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    • 2002
  • This study was carried out that to investigate the effects of amino acids supplemented with culture medium on development of porcine embryos cultured in vitro. Cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were cultured in the maturation medium containing hormones (0.5$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ LH, 0.5$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ FSH and 1$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ estradiol-17${\beta}$) for 20-22 h at 39$^{\circ}C$ in an atmosphere of 5% CO$_2$in air. Subsequently, COCs were cultured in hormone-free maturation medium for 20-22 h. After maturation for 40-44h, oocytes were removed cumulus cells by pipetting and cultured with epididymal sperm for 5 h in the mTBM. Embryos obtained were divided in 4 groups (1) cultured in NCSU 23 containing 0.4% BSA to blastocyst stage(Control), (2) essential amino acids (EA), (3) non-essential amino acids (NA), (4) mixture of essential and non essential amino acid (EA+NA). All treated groups(2-4) were used a glucose free NCSU 23 medium supplemented with pyruvate (0.33 mM), lactate (4.5 mM) to morula stage. From morula to blastocyst stage embryos of all treated groups were cultured in NCSU 23 containing 0.4% BSA. The rates of cleaved oocytes at 48 h after IVF were from 82% to 88% in the groups of control, EA, NA and EA+NA, respectively. The in vitro developmental rates into blastocysts in the groups of EA and EA+NA were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those of group of control (35.1, 35.4 vs. 19.4%, respectively), however, no significant (P<0.05) between control and NA. In conclusion, supplemented with essential amino acid or mixture of essential and non essential amino acid in the culture medium at morula stage increased the rate of development to blastocyst on in vitro produced porcine embryos.

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The Present Clinical Studies of Oriental Medicine and CAM Therapies in Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neurotoxicity (항암제 유발 신경독성을 관리하는 한의학 및 보완대체요법들과 임상시험 현황)

  • Park, Sun-Ju;Go, Ho-Yeon;Han, Yoo-Jin;Ko, Seong-Gyu;Kim, Sung-Hoon
    • The Korea Journal of Herbology
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    • v.24 no.4
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    • pp.205-213
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    • 2009
  • Objectives : Cancer incidence is increasing in all countries and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) in patients undergoing chemotherapeutic agents have been a clinically serious problems. So far therapeutic options for CIPN patients are limited and no confirmed methods have yet been established for dealing with peripheral neuropathy. Therefore this review is to provide an evidence-based summary of oriental medicine and CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) neuroprotective and treatment therapies which have gone through clinical trials. Methods : An overview of the domestic and international papers of adult clinical trials relating management of only CIPN symptoms through 1990 to present were searched by electronic databases. Search key words were chemotherapy-induced neurotoxicity, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, chemotherapy toxicity & herb, chemotherapy toxicity & acupuncture, chemotherapy toxicity & CAM. Only English and Korean written papers were reviewed. Total 25 papers were reviewed in this study, 18 papers were retrieved by electronic search. Results : Clinical studies of managing CIPN were rare, two acupuncture clinical studies and four herb medicinal studies were found. Rest of 19 papers were about other CAM clinical studies. Total 25 papers were analyzed, and all interventions were focused on their pain control efficacy. Other 24 trials of potential therapies except one proved to be effective for CIPN, however some described to be inadequate positive or sufficient negative. Conclusions : As most of the studies were pilot studies, interventions for the prevention and treatment of CIPN have to go through prospective confirmatory studies, such as larger scale randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled clinical trials must be done for the safe and effective use of proposed therapies. Also standard measurement scales have to be developed for the better clinical study of CIPN.

An Analysis of Changes in Power Generation and Final Energy Consumption in Provinces to Achieve the Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) (국가 온실가스 감축목표(NDC) 상향안 달성을 위한 17개 광역시도별 발전 및 최종에너지 소비 변화 분석)

  • Minyoung Roh;Seungho Jeon;Muntae Kim;Suduk Kim
    • Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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    • v.31 no.4
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    • pp.865-885
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    • 2022
  • Korean government updated her Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in 2021 and announced the target and various measures for reductions. Among the many issues, final energy demand and renewable energy power mix for 17 provinces to achieve the target are being analyzed using GCAM-Korea. Simulation results show that final energy demand of 2030 is approximated at the similar level to that of 2018. This is being enabled by the conservation of coal with higher electrification especially in industry sector. Higher power demand with lower coal consumption in final energy consumption is shown to be provided by 33.1% of renewable, 24.6% of gas, and 18.0% of nuclear power generation in 2030. Meanwhile, the share of coal-fired power generation is expected to be reduced to 12.8%. Major future power provider becomes Gyeongbuk (Nuclear), Gyeonggi (Gas), Jeonnam (Nuclear, Gas) and Gangwon (PV, Wind), compared to one of current major power provider Chungnam (Coal). This analysis is expected to provide a useful insight toward the national and provincial energy and climate change policy.

Study Analysis of Isocycloseram and Its Metabolites in Agricultural Food Commodities

  • Ji Young Kim;Hyochin Kim;Su Jung Lee;Suji Lim;Gui Hyun Jang;Guiim Moon;Jung Mi Lee
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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    • v.42 no.1
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    • pp.71-81
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    • 2023
  • An accurate and easy-to-use analytical method for determining isocycloseram and its metabolites (SYN549431 and SYN548569) residue is necessary in various food matrixes. Additionally, this method should satisfy domestic and international guidelines (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and Codex Alimentarius Commission CAC/GL 40). Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to determine the isocycloseram and its metabolites residue in foods. To determine the residue and its metabolites, a sample was extracted with 20 mL of 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile, 4 g magnesium sulfate anhydrous and 1 g sodium chloride and centrifuged (4,700 G, 10 min, 4℃). To remove the interferences and moisture, d-SPE cartridge was performed before LC-MS/MS analysis with C18 column. To verify the method, a total of five agricultural commodities (hulled rice, potato, soybean, mandarin, and red pepper) were used as a representative group. The matrix-matched calibration curves were confirmed with coefficients of determination (R2) ≥ 0.99 at a calibration range of 0.001-0.05 mg/kg. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.003 and 0.01 mg/kg, respectively. Mean average recoveries were 71.5-109.8% and precision was less than 10% for all five samples. In addition, inter-laboratory validation testing revealed that average recovery was 75.4-107.0% and the coefficient of variation (CV) was below 19.4%. The method is suitable for MFDS, CODEX, and EU guideline for residue analysis. Thus, this method can be useful for determining the residue in various food matrixes in routine analysis.

Modeling of Geochemical Variations and Weathering Depth on the Surface of Pelitic Rocks in Periodical Submerging Zone: Bangudae Petroglyphs (주기적 침수구역 이질암 표면의 지구화학적 변화와 풍화심도 모델링: 반구대 암각화)

  • Chan Hee Lee;Yu Gun Chun
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.55 no.6
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    • pp.583-596
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    • 2022
  • The rock surface of Bangudae petroglyphs is mainly dark brown hornfelsified shales by contact metamorphism. The surface form a weathered layer of a invariable depth, and there is a difference with mineral and chemical composition between weathered and non-weathered layers. Surface of the petroglyphs has been discolored to light brown over the face due to biological and chemical weathering. As the measuring chromaticity based on the non-weathered layer, the whiteness and yellowness increased in the weathered layer, and the color difference (ΔE) was 5.54 to 36.89 (mean 17.26). In the weathered layer of the petroglyph surface, the CaO content was reduced by about 90% compared to the non-weathered layer, and Sr also showed the same trend. In particular, the mean porosity of the non-weathered layer was 0.4%, but it was estimated as 25.0% in the weathered layer. This is interpreted as the fact that calcite reacts with water, and forms a weathered layer from the surface as it is eluted. Based on the weathering depth modeling of the petroglyphs using the penetration characteristics of X-rays, the weathering depth of rock faces was found to be 1 to 2mm. However, the area classified as 2mm or more estimated to be a maximum of 3 to 4mm, considering the weathering depth around the petroglyphs surface.

Ideology, Politics, and Social Science Scholarship on the Responsibility of Intellectuals

  • Koerner, E.F.K.
    • Lingua Humanitatis
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.51-84
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    • 2002
  • The 1990s have seen the publication of many books devoted to Language and Ideology (cf. Joseph & Taylor 1990. for one of the early ones) even though the term 'ideology' itself has remained ill-defined (Woolard 1998). The focus of attention has usually been placed on the particular use of language and often for some kind of 'political' ends, not on linguistic or other scholarship which might have been driven by some sort of ideology, i.e., a bundle of assumptions which themselves were taken as given. At least since Edward Said's 1978 book Orientalism, it has been clear to everyone that scholars construct their conceptualization of things in line with their understanding of the cultural, social, and political world in which they live, and that this often unreflected 'pre-understanding' effects their view of cultures that are different from theirs and more often than not geographically and temporally distant from theirs. This recognition has had a sobering effect no doubt, and Said's book has long since become 'mainstream.' Much more disturbing to the scholarly profession has been the publication of Martin Bernal's Black Athena in 1987, since it went much further, going beyond accusations of colonialism and cultural bias, in suggesting that the Western representation of Classical Greece over the past two hundred years was false and that what had been accepted until now about occidental antiquity must now be seen derived from African-Asiatic cultures of the Near East, notably that of the Ancient Egyptians, and that no other than Socrates should be seen as black man. While we may understand the intellectual climate in the United States that led academics to present 'myth as history' (Lefkowitz 1996), it is obvious that lines of regular scholarly principles of investigation have been crossed (cf Lefkowitz & Rogers 1996). The present paper investigates what may be seen as the ideological underpinnings of such work. After reviewing some recent scholarship in the area of linguistic historiography that have shown that academic work has never been 'value-neutral' (as may have been assumed or has been claimed by some practitioners), it is argued that in effect one must be aware of what Clemens Knobloch has recently termed Resonanzbedarf, i.e., the desire, whether conscious or not, of scholars-and probably scientists, too-to have their work recognized by the educated public and that, in so doing, their discourses tend to pick up on contemporary popular notions. These efforts may be harmless if everyone was to recognize these allusions and adoption of certain lexical. items(buzz words) as props or what Germans call Versatzstiicke, but history tells us that this has not always been the case. Still, as Hutton (1999) has shown, not all scholarship during the Third Reich for example can simply be dismissed as worthless because it was conducted in under a prevailing political ideology. Indeed, in seemingly innocent times, linguists can be shown to frame their argument in a way that makes them appear so utterly superior to their predecessors (cf. Lawson 2001). Upon closer inspection, those discourses turn out to be much like those of scholars in nationalistic environments that have tended to select their 'facts' to prove a particular hypothesis (cf., e.g., Koerner 2001). The article argues for scholars to take a more active role in exploding myths, scientifically unfounded claims, and ideologically driven distortions, especially those that are socially and politically harmful.

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