The Welfare Effect of Organic Milk

This study analyzes the demands for organic and conventional milk at both brand level and commodity level adopting the multi-stage demand approach. The study also measures the consumer benefits from organic milk introduction and finds the welfare effect significant.Demand and Price Analysis,

The Challenging and Transformative Implications of Education for Sustainable Development: A Case Study in South Korea

Sustainable development can be considered one of the biggest global challenges of this era, especially in the domain of education. Hence, this paper presents a case study on how the “Tongyoeng Regional Center for Expertise (Tongyoeng RCE)” has contributed to the practice of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and to the reformation of curriculum development process in South Korea. It establishes a cooperative system between formal education and in/non-formal education within an environment of a conservative and exclusive educational system. While focusing on the substantial achievement of Tongyoeng RCE that has transformed the South Korean education system from a “knowledge and grade-centred” Eastern educational regime to a “value and practice centred” one, this study also addresses how the RCE has initiated a “learning society,” that is, decentralized and deregulated educational communities that are more flexible in resolving the unprecedented challenges of globalization. This research emphasizes the implications of education for sustainable development as a challenging and transformative curriculum development process in South Korea

Importance of social skills in Korea's labor market

Thesis(Master) --KDI School:Master of Development Policy,2016According to the OECD’s project on Definition and Selection of Key Competencies, key competencies required for successfully dealing with the complex demands of society in the 21stCentury include “social skills”, or the ability to interact with other people. Although evidence from numerous researches emphasizes the importance of social skills, Korea’s education has continuously maintained its focus on rote-learning and cognitive skills. The aim of this research is to test whether social skills indeed have relevance in Korea’s labor market. Using data from Korea Education and Employment Panel, this study shows that social skills have apositiveimpact on individual earnings.Such a relationship between social skills and earnings holdstrue even after controlling for cognitive skills and other types of non-cognitive skills, as well as occupation and industry fixed effects.Introduction Literature Review Data and Methods Results DiscussionmasterpublishedJung Hee CHOI

Individualized masculine citizenship: study abroad men and military service in South Korea

This dissertation is a study of the politics of citizenship in the context of South Korea's ardent globalization and neoliberal reforms, through the stories of men who have spent extensive period time studying outside of South Korea, whom I call "study abroad men" in this thesis, and their military service in South Korea. My ethnographic research demonstrates that these study abroad men are both legally and culturally limited in their belonging abroad when they come of age and attempt to work and settle down after their education. Thus, despite their life and education abroad from an early age, these transnational young men deeply value enhancing the possibility of a viable future in South Korea; those who want to open up their possible futures in South Korea even come to appreciate compulsory military service (currently required to serve at least for two years, only for men) as an opportunity to secure full membership, a militarized masculine citizenship, in South Korea. Analyzing the ways in which study abroad men who value flexibility and mobility along with cosmopolitan aspiration make sense of and give meaning to military conscription in South Korea, I argue that study abroad men secure individualized masculine citizenship through a military service that is highly classed and largely pursued for individual benefits; as such their service differs from the dominant discourse in South Korea that legitimizes military conscription as an equal sacred duty of every male citizen for the sake of nation. I further argue that this pursuit of national membership through military service is not necessarily contradictory with cosmopolitan aspirations or flexible citizenship strategies. I specifically locate this project in contemporary South Korea, a site which offers a productive vantage point from which to grasp the tension between the global and national

Emergent localized states at the interface of a twofold PT\mathcal{PT}-symmetric lattice

We consider the role of non-triviality resulting from a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian that conserves twofold PT-symmetry assembled by interconnections between a PT-symmetric lattice and its time reversal partner. Twofold PT-symmetry in the lattice produces additional surface exceptional points that play the role of new critical points, along with the bulk exceptional point. We show that there are two distinct regimes possessing symmetry-protected localized states, of which localization lengths are robust against external gain and loss. The states are demonstrated by numerical calculation of a quasi-1D ladder lattice and a 2D bilayered square lattice.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Surgical experience of pericardial mesothelioma presenting as constrictive pericarditis

SummaryWe report two cases, which had been initially diagnosed with constrictive pericarditis but later were definitely diagnosed with mesothelioma after receiving pericardiectomy. The two patients complained of dyspnea. Chest computed tomography showed mild pericardial effusion and thickened pericardium, which was found enveloping the heart without any lumps. Pericardiectomy (phrenic nerve to phrenic nerve) was performed and post-operative histology confirmed malignant mesothelioma. One patient had recurrence near the pericardium at 7 months post-operatively and died at 11 months post-operatively. Another patient, after receiving chemotherapy, is still alive at 16 months post-operatively. We consider that pericardial mesothelioma, an extremely rare disease exhibiting clinical signs similar to those of constrictive pericarditis, must be diagnosed at the early stage of its onset

MRI Features of Primary Breast Lymphoma in Patient with Breast Carcinoma for Differential Diagnosis

Teaching point: Homogeneous internal enhancement and washout pattern on DCE-MRI and a low ADC value on DWI in women with breast carcinoma help distinguish primary breast lymphoma from bilateral synchronous breast carcinoma

Machine Learning-Based Nicotine Addiction Prediction Models for Youth E-Cigarette and Waterpipe (Hookah) Users

Despite the harmful effect on health, e-cigarette and hookah smoking in youth in the U.S. has increased. Developing tailored e-cigarette and hookah cessation programs for youth is imperative. The aim of this study was to identify predictor variables such as social, mental, and environmental determinants that cause nicotine addiction in youth e-cigarette or hookah users and build nicotine addiction prediction models using machine learning algorithms. A total of 6511 participants were identified as ever having used e-cigarettes or hookah from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (2019) datasets. Prediction models were built by Random Forest with ReliefF and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO). ReliefF identified important predictor variables, and the Davies–Bouldin clustering evaluation index selected the optimal number of predictors for Random Forest. A total of 193 predictor variables were included in the final analysis. Performance of prediction models was measured by Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Confusion Matrix. The results suggested high performance of prediction. Identified predictor variables were aligned with previous research. The noble predictors found, such as ‘witnessed e-cigarette use in their household’ and ‘perception of their tobacco use’, could be used in public awareness or targeted e-cigarette and hookah youth education and for policymakers