The Global Economic Crisis, Dual Polarization, and Liberal Democracy in South Korea

This paper aims at a theoretical reflection on and an empirical analysis of the relationship between the global economic crisis and liberal democracy in South Korea. For this, we elaborate the concept of dual polarization and construct a model of path analysis which includes such variables as socio-economic and political-ideological cleavage, political party affiliation, ideological orientation, economic (crisis) outlook, and support for an autocratic presidential rule as potential threats to liberal democracy. Descriptively, the paper examines how liberal democracy has unfolded and where South Korea stands today with regard to the quality of her democracy. Analytically, the paper examines where the potential threat to liberal democracy comes from based on a general population survey in Korea from 2014. The major findings of our analysis include: 1) The support for autocratic presidential power is stronger among citizens than among MPs. 2) Political party affiliation, ideological orientation, and economic (crisis) outlook are closely interrelated and significantly affected by the political-ideological cleavage. All independent variables contribute to explaining support for an autocratic presidential rule. 3) Yet there also exists strong support for a democratic regime among both MPs and citizens

Paradoxical Modernity and the Quest for a Neo-Communitarian Alternative

The paradoxical nature of modernity as being embedded in institutional and cultural developments in history has been noted by many scholars. In that sense, it can be said that modernity has both bright and dark sides. Not only in the West, but also in Asia, the paradoxical nature of modernity has made people pay attention to communitarian alternatives to liberalism combined with modernity. By the way, two types of communitarianism can be discerned. One is more or less authoritarian, whilst the other democratic and participatory. In this paper, the latter type of ommunitarianism is called 'neo-communitarianism,' which has been expressed in such recent experiences in South Korea as NGO's participation in the 2000 General Election, soccer team supporters in the 2002 World Cup Games, the 2002 presidential election, and the emergence of the 386 generation as a self-conscious political agency which pursue participation and democracy by the help of the Internet.This paper was supported by Research Program 2006 of Seoul National University in Korea

Individual Freedom and Human Rights Community : A Sociological Intervention

Regaining access to the social within human rights discourse requires a new sociological imagination. This paper formulates the concept of human rights community and, with this, attempts to grasp the social dimension of human rights which diminishes significantly today as overshadowed by increasing individual empowerment. The social here refers to the process in which individuals are transformed from a legally entitled yet socially isolated rights-bearer to an active participant in constructing community life through collective collaboration. Although not opposed to individual empowerment, this interactive dimension of human rights development is more complex and calls for careful attention. The social means that citizens shape the community in a way that is democratic and communicatively open and inclusive. This aspect of human rights development has been built into the classical concept of popular sovereignty and institutionalized into political democracy via representation. Recent experiences of human rights cities tend to revitalize this dimension within the context of local politics. However, sociological imagination remains to be fully further explored to grasp genuinely bottom-up aspect of human rights development in everyday life. With this objective, this paper attempts to clarify the concept of a human rights community and potential tension by examining freedom of expression as epitomized by the example of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy of 2005. A discussion follows to show the main characteristics of the social constructionist approach to justice and human rights and the affinity between the idea of a human rights community and Asian culture, particularly a hidden assumption of Chinese discourses on human rights. Based on these reflections, an attempt will be made to examine the conditions and characteristics of the school as a human rights community and to explore the significance of recent experiences of a human rights city as well

An efficient method for visualization and growth of fluorescent Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae in planta

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Xanthomonas oryzae </it>pv. <it>oryzae</it>, the causal agent of bacterial blight disease, is a serious pathogen of rice. Here we describe a fluorescent marker system to study virulence and pathogenicity of <it>X. oryzae </it>pv. <it>oryzae</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A fluorescent <it>X. oryzae </it>pv. <it>oryzae </it>Philippine race 6 strain expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) (PXO99_GFP) was generated using the <it>gfp </it>gene under the control of the neomycin promoter in the vector, pP<it>neo</it>-<it>gfp</it>. The PXO99_GFPstrain displayed identical virulence and avirulence properties as the wild type control strain, PXO99. Using fluorescent microscopy, bacterial multiplication and colonization were directly observed in rice xylem vessels. Accurate and rapid determination of bacterial growth was assessed using fluoremetry and an Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbant Assay (ELISA).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results indicate that the fluorescent marker system is useful for assessing bacterial infection and monitoring bacterial multiplication <it>in planta</it>.</p

Introduction: Climate Change, Cosmopolitanism, and Media Politics

The four papers shown in this special section have been chosen out of the 20 papers presented in an international conference on the overall topic of Climate Change and Risk Society: New Trends of Megacity Transformation held at Seoul National University from July 9-11, 2014,** with Professor Ulrich Beck who delivered a keynote public lecture Emancipatory Catastrophism: What does it mean to Climate Change and Risk Society at Press Center in the downtown of Seoul in the afternoon of July 8, 2014. Becks concept of global risk society starts from the recognition that modernization has produced new forms of risks that cannot avoid with advanced technology development. Modernization became a root cause of modern risks which are deeply embedded in modern society itself. In particular, global ecological risks threaten the survival of humanity. Perhaps, one of the most critical type of such global risks is climate change, a representative cross-boundary and inter-generational environmental problem

Inhibitory effect of a tyrosine-fructose Maillard reaction product, 2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal on amyloid-β generation and inflammatory reactions via inhibition of NF-κB and STAT3 activation in cultured astrocytes and microglial BV-2 cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Amyloidogenesis is linked to neuroinflammation. The tyrosine-fructose Maillard reaction product, 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal, possesses anti-inflammatory properties in cultured macrophages, and in an arthritis animal model. Because astrocytes and microglia are responsible for amyloidogenesis and inflammatory reactions in the brain, we investigated the anti-inflammatory and anti-amyloidogenic effects of 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated astrocytes and microglial BV-2 cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cultured astrocytes and microglial BV-2 cells were treated with LPS (1 μg/ml) for 24 h, in the presence (1, 2, 5 μM) or absence of 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal, and harvested. We performed molecular biological analyses to determine the levels of inflammatory and amyloid-related proteins and molecules, cytokines, Aβ, and secretases activity. Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) DNA binding activity was determined using gel mobility shift assays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal (1, 2, 5 μM) suppresses the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) as well as the production of nitric oxide (NO), reactive oxygen species (ROS), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in LPS (1 μg/ml)-stimulated astrocytes and microglial BV-2 cells. Further, 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal inhibited the transcriptional and DNA binding activity of NF-κB--a transcription factor that regulates genes involved in neuroinflammation and amyloidogenesis via inhibition of IκB degradation as well as nuclear translocation of p50 and p65. Consistent with the inhibitory effect on inflammatory reactions, 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal inhibited LPS-elevated Aβ₄₂levels through attenuation of β- and γ-secretase activities. Moreover, studies using signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) siRNA and a pharmacological inhibitor showed that 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal inhibits LPS-induced activation of STAT3.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results indicate that 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal inhibits neuroinflammatory reactions and amyloidogenesis through inhibition of NF-κB and STAT3 activation, and suggest that 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal may be useful for the treatment of neuroinflammatory diseases like Alzheimer's disease.</p

Degradation mechanism of Schottky diodes on inductively coupled plasma-etched n-type 4H-SiC

The degradation mechanism of Ta Schottky contact on 4H-SiC exposed to an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) was studied using deep-level transient spectroscopy and angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Four kinds of traps T1, T2, T3, and T4 were observed in the ICP-etched sample. The T4 trap was deep in the bulk, but the shallower levels, T1, T2 and T3, were localized near the contact. From angle-resolved XPS measurements, the ICP-etched surface was found to be carbon deficient, meaning the production of carbon vacancies by ICP etching. The activation energies 0.48 (T3 trap) and 0.60 eV (T4 trap) agreed well with the previously proposed energy level of V-C (0.5 eV). The ICP-induced traps provided a path for the transport of electrons at the interface of metal with Sic, leading to a reduction of the Schottky barrier height and an increase of the gate leakage current.open6