Restructuring Revisited: Flexible Korea and Rigid Japan

Korea has successfully undergone economic restructuring, as compared to Japan. The "flexibility" of Korea and "rigidity" of Japan are strongly related to the differences between development strategies the two countries adopted. Although Korea adopted the Japanese developmental state model, it excluded workers from the development coalition. Whereas excluded workers had been a source of instability in the Korean system, the well-found coalition of government, business, and workers in Japan had guaranteed stability of the system. This difference was not conspicuous before the economic crises; strong performance of the Korean economy and a heavy-handed government had silenced discontented Korean workers. When the crisis occurred, Korean workers demanded the overhaul of the system, while Japanese workers did not. While Japan attempted to protect the system, Korea dismantled it due to the lack of support of the disenchanted Korean people, in addition to pressure from IMF and foreign countries. Though Korea has been successful in revamping its economic system and regaining economic growth since restructuring after the economic crisis of 1997, the new system is not stable. Workers, still not fully represented in national decision-making processes, are calling for revision of the system, and are frequently expressing their anger. Japan, reluctant to accept an Anglo-American economic model, is struggling to get out of a sluggish economy, but it still enjoys a relatively stable social system

'A New Wine in A New Bottle?' : The Social and Political Realignment under Restructuring in South Korea

This paper investigates the social and political concomitants of structural adjustment in South Korea. After three years of restructuring in the financial, corporate, employment, and public sectors under the IMF"s oversight, South Korea has undergone a profound societal transformation. It will be argued that the neo-liberal, market-oriented reform policies of Kim Dae Jung regime are aimed at improving national competitiveness by strengthening transnational linkages. Specifically, this paper will address ⅰ) the basic policy lines of structural adjustment programs in terms of achievements and failures, ⅱ) the resulting social and political realignment with regard to power distribution and class alliance, and ⅲ) the lessons from Mexican restructuring where the bright and dark sides have coexisted. This paper concludes that restructuring is a necessity for South Korea, but its current structural adjustment is conservative and cosmetic. In order to survive the violent 21st century, South Korea needs to undergo more fundamental restructuring based on a new alternative paradigm of development

Regional Community Building in Northeast Asia in a Global Context

In the context of power shift from Europe to Asia, Asia is creating a new history as the most dynamic region in the world. Historically, Asian countries have long maintained cultural and institutional connections within the region through constant contact, exchange, trade, and warfare. These cultural and institutional linkages serve as a cohesive factor for Asian countries to converge on regional commonness despite intraregional disparities. When looking at Northeast Asia, the center of Asian dynamism, the regions future is beset by serious challenges and threats, complicated by historical conflicts and territorial disputes. Building a regional community is crucial to turn tension and conflict to cooperation and coexistence in the region, but it is hampered by hegemonic competition under the rise of nationalism. As a way out, they should take both economic and cultural approaches toward the creation of regional community according to bilateral principles based upon one-to-one negotiations. In this regard, the non-expansionary stance of Korea so far gives her a moral hegemonic precedence over China and Japan in Northeast Asian community building.This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2012-413-B00006)

Cost-effectiveness of chuna manual therapy and usual care, compared with usual care only for people with neck pain following traffic accidents: a multicenter randomized controlled trial

This is the first cost-effectiveness analysis of Chuna manual therapy (CMT) plus usual Korean traditional medicine for traffic accident victims using a randomized controlled trial. A total of 132 participants were equally allocated to the intervention group receiving 6–11 sessions of CMT plus usual Korean traditional medicine care for three weeks or usual care including acupuncture, cupping, herbal medicine, moxibustion, and traditional physiotherapy at three hospitals. At 12 weeks, from a healthcare perspective, the intervention group had significantly higher costs (mean (SD), $778 (435) vs.$618 (318); difference, $160; 95$15 to $289; p = 0.005). From a societal perspective, total costs were insignificantly lower in the intervention group (mean (SD),$1077 (1081) vs. $1146 (1485); difference,$−69; 95% CI, $−568 to$377; p = 0.761). The intervention group dominated, with significantly higher QALYs gained at lower overall cost with a 72% chance of being cost-effective. From a societal perspective, the intervention was cost-saving for individuals who had neck pain after car accidents, although it was not cost-effective from the healthcare perspective ($40,038 per QALY gained). Findings support use of CMT as an integrated care treatment for whiplash from a societal perspective. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to determine cost-effectiveness in other cultural contexts

Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Like Nanoparticle Vaccination Induces Long-Term Protection Without Pulmonary Disease by Modulating Cytokines and T-cells Partially Through Alveolar Macrophages

The mechanisms of protection against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are poorly understood. Virus-like nanoparticles expressing RSV glycoproteins (eg, a combination of fusion and glycoprotein virus-like nanoparticles [FG VLPs]) have been suggested to be a promising RSV vaccine candidate. To understand the roles of alveolar macrophages (AMs) in inducing long-term protection, mice that were 12 months earlier vaccinated with formalin-inactivated RSV (FI-RSV) or FG VLPs were treated with clodronate liposome prior to RSV infection. FI-RSV immune mice with clodronate liposome treatment showed increases in eosinophils, plasmacytoid dendritic cells, interleukin (IL)-4+ T-cell infiltration, proinflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and, in particular, mucus production upon RSV infection. In contrast to FI-RSV immune mice with severe pulmonary histopathology, FG VLP immune mice showed no overt sign of histopathology and significantly lower levels of eosinophils, T-cell infiltration, and inflammatory cytokines, but higher levels of interferon-γ, which are correlated with protection against RSV disease. FG VLP immune mice with depletion of AMs showed increases in inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, as well as eosinophils. The results in this study suggest that FG nanoparticle vaccination induces long-term protection against RSV and that AMs play a role in the RSV protection by modulating eosinophilia, mucus production, inflammatory cytokines, and T-cell infiltration

Recombinant Influenza Virus Carrying the Conserved Domain of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) G Protein Confers Protection Against RSV Without Inflammatory Disease

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the most important causes for viral lower respiratory tract disease in humans. There is no licensed RSV vaccine. Here, we generated recombinant influenza viruses (PR8/RSV. HA-G) carrying the chimeric constructs of hemagglutinin (HA) and central conserved-domains of the RSV G protein. PR8/RSV.HA-G virus showed lower pathogenicity without compromising immunogenicity in mice. Single intranasal inoculation of mice with PR8/RSV.HA-G induced IgG2a isotype dominant antibodies and RSV neutralizing activity. Mice with single intranasal inoculation of PR8/RSV.HA-G were protected against RSV infection as evidenced by significant reduction of lung viral loads to a detection limit upon RSV challenge. PR8/RSV.HA-G inoculation of mice did not induce pulmonary eosinophilia and inflammation upon RSV infection. These findings support a concept that recombinant influenza viruses carrying the RSV G conserved-domain can be developed as a promising RSV vaccine candidate without pulmonary disease

Comparative effectiveness and safety of concomitant treatment with Chuna Manual Therapy and usual care for whiplash injuries: a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Objectives: We aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of Chuna manual therapy combined with usual care to those of usual care alone for treating whiplash injuries. Design: A two-arm, parallel, assessor-blinded, multicenter pragmatic randomized clinical trial. Setting: Three hospitals in Korea. Participants: Overall, 132 participants between 19 and 70 years of age, involved in traffic accidents and treated at three hospitals in Korea, >2 but <13 weeks prior to enrollment, with neck pain consistent with whiplash-associated disorder grades I and II and a numeric rating scale score ≥5 were included. Interventions: Participants were equally and randomly allocated to the Chuna manual therapy and usual care (n = 66) or usual care (n = 66) groups and underwent corresponding treatment for three weeks. Primary and secondary outcome measures: The primary outcome was the number of days to achieve a 50% pain reduction. Secondary outcomes included areas under the 50% numeric rating scale reduction curve: pain, disability, quality of life, and safety. Results: The Chuna manual therapy + usual care group (23.31 ± 21.36 days; p = 0.01) required significantly fewer days to achieve 50% pain reduction compared to the usual care group (50.41 ± 48.32 days; p = 0.01). Regarding pain severity, functional index, and quality of life index, Chuna manual therapy and usual care were more effective than usual care alone. Safety was acceptable in both groups. Conclusions: In patients with subacute whiplash injury, Chuna manual therapy showed a rapid rate of recovery, high effectiveness, and safety

Lactobacillus plantarum DK119 as a Probiotic Confers Protection against Influenza Virus by Modulating Innate Immunity

Lactobacillus plantarum DK119 (DK119) isolated from the fermented Korean cabbage food was used as a probiotic to determine its antiviral effects on influenza virus. DK119 intranasal or oral administration conferred 100% protection against subsequent lethal infection with influenza A viruses, prevented significant weight loss, and lowered lung viral loads in a mouse model. The antiviral protective efficacy was observed in a dose and route dependent manner of DK119 administration. Mice that were treated with DK119 showed high levels of cytokines IL-12 and IFN-c in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids, and a low degree of inflammation upon infection with influenza virus. Depletion of alveolar macrophage cells in lungs and bronchoalveolar lavages completely abrogated the DK119-mediated protection. Modulating host innate immunity of dendritic and macrophage cells, and cytokine production pattern appeared to be possible mechanisms by which DK119 exhibited antiviral effects on influenza virus infection. These results indicate that DK119 can be developed as a beneficial antiviral probiotic microorganism

Immunosuppression status of liver transplant recipients with hepatitis C affects biopsy-proven acute rejection

Background/Aims The relationship between patient survival and biopsy-proven acute rejection (BPAR) in liver transplant recipients with hepatitis C remains unclear. The aims of this study were to compare the characteristics of patients with and without BPAR and to identify risk factors for BPAR. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the records of 169 HCV-RNA-positive patients who underwent LT at three centers. Results BPAR occurred in 39 (23.1%) of the HCV-RNA-positive recipients after LT. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 92.1%, 90.3%, and 88.5%, respectively, in patients without BPAR, and 75.7%, 63.4%, and 58.9% in patients with BPAR (P<0.001). Multivariate analyses showed that BPAR was associated with the non-use of basiliximab and tacrolimus and the use of cyclosporin in LT recipients with HCV RNA-positive. Conclusion The results of the present study suggest that the immunosuppression status of HCV-RNA-positive LT recipients should be carefully determined in order to prevent BPAR and to improve patient survival