The Effects of Export Diversification on Macroeconomic Stabilization: Evidence from Korea

This paper studies whether export diversification mitigated the negative effect of the global financial crisis on exports using the Korean case. Specifically, we use annual data on the exports of 24 Korean manufacturing industries from 2000 to 2016 and examine whether the negative effect of the crisis on exports was less prevalent in industries that were more diversified in terms of country and product. We also examine whether export competitiveness, as measured by the revealed comparative advantage index by industry, had a mitigating effect on trade during the crisis. In order to study these issues, we use panel regression with a fixed-effect model for 24 Korean manufacturing industries. From our empirical analysis, we find that country diversification weakened the negative impact of the global financial crisis on Korea’s exports, whereas neither product diversification nor export competitiveness did so

Embryoid body size-mediated differential endodermal and mesodermal differentiation using polyethylene glycol (PEG) microwell array

Embryoid bodies have a number of similarities with cells in gastrulation, which provides useful biological information about embryonic stem cell differentiation. Extensive research has been done to study the control of embryoid body-mediated embryonic stem cell differentiation in various research fields. Recently, microengineering technology has been used to control the size of embryoid bodies and to direct lineage specific differentiation of embryonic stem cells. However, the underlying biology of developmental events in the embryoid bodies of different sizes has not been well elucidated. In this study, embryoid bodies with different sizes were generated within microfabricated PEG microwell arrays, and a series of gene and molecular expressions related to early developmental events was investigated to further elucidate the size-mediated differentiation. The gene and molecular expression profile suggested preferential visceral endoderm formation in 450 μm embryoid bodies and preferential lateral plate mesoderm formation in 150 μm embryoid bodies. These aggregates resulted in higher cardiac differentiation in 450 μm embryoid bodies and higher endothelial differentiation in 150 μm embryoid bodies, respectively. Our findings may provide further insight for understanding embryoid body size-mediated developmental progress.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CAREER Award DMR0847287)United States. Office of Naval Research (Naval Research Young National Investigator Award)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (HL092836, EB02597, AR057837

Comparison of Clinical Efficacy between a Single Administration of Long-Acting Gonadotrophin-Releasing Hormone Agonist (GnRHa) and Daily Administrations of Short-Acting GnRHa in In Vitro Fertilization-Embryo Transfer Cycles

This study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a single administration of long-acting gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) as compared with daily administrations of short-acting GnRHa in controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) for in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) cycles. The mean dosage of recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone (rFSH) required for COH (2,354.5±244.2 vs. 2,012.5±626.1 IU) and the rFSH dosage per retrieved oocyte (336.7±230.4 vs. 292.1±540.4 IU) were significantly higher in the long-acting GnRHa group (N=22) than those in the short-acting GnRHa group (N=28) (p<0.05). However, the mean number of visit to the hospital that was required before ovum pick-up (3.3±0.5 vs. 22.2±2.0) and the frequency of injecting GnRHa and rFSH (12.8±1.2 vs. 33.5±3.5) were significantly decreased in the long-acting GnRHa group (p<0.0001). The clinical pregnancy rate, implantation rate, and early pregnancy loss rate were not significantly different between the 2 groups. So, we suggest that a single administration of long-acting GnRHa is a useful alternative for improving patient's convenience with clinical outcomes comparable to daily administrations of short-acting GnRHa in COH for IVF-ET cycles

Effect of pre-stroke statin use on stroke severity and early functional recovery: a retrospective cohort study

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.Abstract Background Experimental studies suggest that pre-stroke statin treatment has a dual effect of neuroprotection during ischemia and neurorestoration after ischemic injury. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pre-stroke statin use on initial stroke severity and early clinical outcome. Methods We used a prospective database enrolling patients with acute ischemic stroke from 12 hospitals in Korea between April 2008 and January 2012. Primary endpoint was the initial stroke severity as measured by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score. Secondary endpoints were good outcome (modified Rankin Scale [mRS], 0–2) and overall mRS distribution at discharge. Multivariable regression model and propensity score (PS) matching were used for statistical analyses. Results Among the 8340 patients included in this study, 964 patients (11.6 %) were pre-stroke statin users. The initial NIHSS score (mean [95 % CI]) was lower among pre-stroke statin users vs. non-users in multivariable analysis (5.7 [5.2–6.3] versus 6.4 [5.9–6.9], p = 0.002) and PS analysis (5.2 [4.7–5.7] versus 5.7 [5.4–6.0], p = 0.043). Pre-stroke statin use was associated with increased achievement of mRS 0–2 outcome (multivariable analysis: OR [95 % CI], 1.55 [1.25–1.92], p < 0.001; PS matching: OR [95 % CI], 1.47 [1.16-1.88]; p = 0.002) and favorable shift on the overall mRS distribution (multivariable analysis: OR [95 % CI], 1.29 [1.12-1.51], p = 0.001; PS matching: OR [95 % CI], 1.31 [1.11-1.54]; p = 0.001). Conclusions Pre-stroke statin use was independently associated with lesser stroke severity at presentation and better early functional recovery in patients with acute ischemic stroke

Genome-Wide Association Study in East Asians Identifies Novel Susceptibility Loci for Breast Cancer

Genetic factors play an important role in the etiology of both sporadic and familial breast cancer. We aimed to discover novel genetic susceptibility loci for breast cancer. We conducted a four-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 19,091 cases and 20,606 controls of East-Asian descent including Chinese, Korean, and Japanese women. After analyzing 690,947 SNPs in 2,918 cases and 2,324 controls, we evaluated 5,365 SNPs for replication in 3,972 cases and 3,852 controls. Ninety-four SNPs were further evaluated in 5,203 cases and 5,138 controls, and finally the top 22 SNPs were investigated in up to 17,423 additional subjects (7,489 cases and 9,934 controls). SNP rs9485372, near the TGF-β activated kinase (TAB2) gene in chromosome 6q25.1, showed a consistent association with breast cancer risk across all four stages, with a P-value of 3.8×10−12 in the combined analysis of all samples. Adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 0.89 (0.85–0.94) and 0.80 (0.75–0.86) for the A/G and A/A genotypes, respectively, compared with the genotype G/G. SNP rs9383951 (P = 1.9×10−6 from the combined analysis of all samples), located in intron 5 of the ESR1 gene, and SNP rs7107217 (P = 4.6×10−7), located at 11q24.3, also showed a consistent association in each of the four stages. This study provides strong evidence for a novel breast cancer susceptibility locus represented by rs9485372, near the TAB2 gene (6q25.1), and identifies two possible susceptibility loci located in the ESR1 gene and 11q24.3, respectively

The Effects of Export Diversification on Macroeconomic Stabilization: Evidence from Korea

This paper studies whether export diversification mitigated the negative effect of the global financial crisis on exports using the Korean case. Specifically, we use annual data on the exports of 24 Korean manufacturing industries from 2000 to 2016 and examine whether the negative effect of the crisis on exports was less prevalent in industries that were more diversified in terms of country and product. We also examine whether export competitiveness, as measured by the revealed comparative advantage index by industry, had a mitigating effect on trade during the crisis. In order to study these issues, we use panel regression with a fixed-effect model for 24 Korean manufacturing industries. From our empirical analysis, we find that country diversification weakened the negative impact of the global financial crisis on Korea’s exports, whereas neither product diversification nor export competitiveness did so

What Drives the Stock Market Comovements between Korea and China, Japan and the U.S.?

This paper measures the extent of comovements in stock returns between Korea and three major countries (China, Japan and the U.S.) using industry-level data for Korea from 2003 to 2016 in the spirit of the international capital asset pricing model. It also examines what drives the comovements between Korea and the three countries. We find that the comovements of Korean stock returns with those of the U.S. and Japan became smaller after the global financial crisis. In contrast, the comovement in stock returns between Korea and China became larger after the crisis. After an additional analysis, we conclude that trade linkage is the main driver of the comovements between Korea and the three countries.2

Climate Change Funds and Implications for LAC Countries and the IDB

This paper surveys climate change funds related to LAC countries and attempts to derive some implications through performance analyses of these funds. The performance analyses show that the following matters should be addressed: increases in participation of the IDB as an agent in the projects for the LAC region, enlargement of the scale of co-financing in the IDB-brokered cases as well as in the LAC region, and reinforcement of the linkage between the SECCI Funds and international climate change funds. Further research as to why the level of co-financing in LAC countries is lower than in other regions would also be of interest.

Mobilizing Resources for Supporting Environmental Activities in Developing Countries: The Case of the GEF Trust Fund

Mobilizing sufficient resources is essential for supporting environmental activities in developing countries, and cofinancing is generally considered an important tool to help developing countries increase the resources they need. Moreover, cofinancing should increase ownership of projects by local authorities while improving accountability. The literature, however, has not explored why certain projects receive higher levels of cofinancing than others. This paper attempts to fill this gap by examining the cofinancing ratio and its determinants using projects financed by the GEF Trust Fund. The empirical results confirm that the rules of the fund, requiring different minimum cofinancing ratios by size and focal area of the GEF projects, do matter. Other important factors include funds' origins (foreign vs. domestic), types of cofinancing sources (reimbursable vs. nonreimbursable) and the particular GEF agencies involved.