A comparative examination of policy and models of disability in Korea and the UK

Over the last three decades, the understanding of disability has changed substantially, changes in theoretical debates and policy on disability now encourage society to understand and treat disabled people as ordinary citizens. However, arguably the dominance of Western theory on disability has resulted in the marginalisation of disabled people’s experiences in non Western cultures. This paper compares disability in relation to the culture of South Korea and the UK, by attempting to articulate some of the implicit values of disability and development of the relevant disability polic

“Same but different”: A visual ethnography of the everyday lives of siblings with autistic children in South Korea

This study explores the ordinary daily lives of siblings of autistic children in South Korea and draws on four theoretical perspectives: social psychological, young carers, the new sociology of childhood and cross-cultural. Building on knowledge of sibling’s of autistic and other disabled children in western context, I used techniques of visual ethnography to extend understanding of the everyday lives of children with autistic siblings. Nine children, aged between aged 7 and 15, in two South Korean cities were given cameras to make 'video diaries' and 'home movies' over a two week period. This was followed by reviewing sessions with the researcher to discuss the films and invitations to prepare further, age appropriate, visual representations of family life. Interviews were also held with nine mothers and two fathers to elicit their understandings of the expectations and experiences of the child participants. Despite the modernising effects of globalisation in South Korea, the values and normative expectations of Confucian familism still provided firm foundations for family life and family expectations. Reflected by limited support from the State or voluntary organisations, the children carried important responsibilities for their autistic siblings. Important insights into their ordinary daily lives included: i) 'sacrifice' as a key part of the fulfilment of filial obligation across the life span, ii) children conceptualized their relationships with their autistic siblings as 'same but different' from those of other children; iii) the children and their autistic siblings developed 'Jeong' (strong interpersonal ties) and 'Woori’ (togetherness) that are typical of sibling relationships in Korea, iv) high value was placed on 'harmonious family life' with significant implications for the siblings' daily lives, v) autism was integrated as part of everyday life despite experiences of stigmatising attitudes and vi) invisible vulnerabilities were reinforced by the strength of traditional expectations that discouraged consideration of die 'costs' of’ being a good sibling’. The voices and world views of the children in this study lead to the conclusion that Confucian familist values represent a source of strength as well as challenges for the siblings of autistic children in South Korea

Emergence and clashes in disabled service user organisations in South Korea

This paper explores the development and challenges of disabled service user participation within disabled people’s organisations in South Korea at a time of rapid evolution in welfare policy and practice. Since 1990s, disabled people’s organisations influenced by disability activisms, especially disability Dangsajajuwei, have increased significantly in South Korea. Those changes have increased disabled service user’s participation for service development, delivery, and meeting key needs such as disability rights, but many disabled people’s organisations have clashed with each other in order to take initiatives of service delivery for their own organisation. This paper concludes that Korean disabled people’s organisations are currently facing several challenges such as 1) defining disabled people’s organisation via Dangsajajuwei, 2) creating exclusive and selective authoritarian user groups among disabled people 3) losing a collective disabled service user's voice, 4) political and service system restraints of disabled service user participation, that are major threats towards the development of service user participation

Participatory research in a pandemic: The impact of Covid-19 on co-designing research with autistic people

Social work research should adopt a critical approach to research methodology, opposing oppression that is reproduced through epistemological assumptions or research methods and processes. However, traditional approaches to autism research have often problematised and pathologized autistic1 individuals, reinforcing autistic people’s positions as passive subjects. This has resulted in autistic people being largely excluded from the production of knowledge about autism, and about the needs of autistic people. Participatory approaches promote collaborative approaches to enquiry and posit autistic people as active co-constructors of knowledge, a stance that is congruent with social work values of social justice and liberation. However, Covid-19 is not only altering our everyday life but also upending social research. This paper discusses the challenges faced by a participatory study involving autistic people during the Covid-19 pandemic. This paper examines how Covid-19 increased the individual vulnerability of autistic participants and changed their research priorities, increased the researcher’s decision-making power, and placed greater emphasis on barriers created by inaccessible methods. Covid-19 did not present novel challenges, but rather exacerbated existing tensions and inevitable challenges that are inherent in adopting an approach that aims to oppose oppression

High-resolution crystal structure of the non-specific lipid-transfer protein from maize seedlings

AbstractBackground: The movement of lipids between membranes is aided by lipid-transfer proteins (LTPs). Some LTPs exhibit broad specificity, transferring many classes of lipids, and are termed non-specific LTPs (ns-LTPs). Despite their apparently similar mode of action, no sequence homology exists between mammalian and plant ns-LTPs and no three-dimensional structure has been reported for any plant ns-LTP.Results We have determined the crystal structure of ns-LTP from maize seedlings by multiple isomorphous replacement and refined the structure to 1.9 å resolution. The protein comprises a single compact domain with four α-helices and a long C-terminal region. The eight conserved cysteines form four disulfide bridges (assigned as Cys4–Cys52, Cys14–Cys29, Cys30–Cys75, and Cys50–Cys89) resolving the ambiguity that remained from the chemical determination of pairings in the homologous protein from castor bean. Two of the bonds, Cys4–Cys52 and Cys50–Cys89, differ from what would have been predicted from sequence alignment with soybean hydrophobic protein. The complex between maize ns-LTP and hexadecanoate (palmitate) has also been crystallized and its structure refined to 1.8 å resolution.Conclusion The fold of maize ns-LTP places it in a new category of all-α-type structure, first described for soybean hydrophobic protein. In the absence of a bound ligand, the protein has a tunnel-like hydrophobic cavity, which is large enough to accommodate a long fatty acyl chain. In the structure of the complex with palmitate, most of the acyl chain is buried inside this hydrophobic cavity

Relationships between Tumor Volume and Lymphatic Metastasis and Prognosis in Early Oral Tongue Cancer

ObjectivesAlthough T stage is an important prognostic tool for oral tongue cancer, it fails to define the depth of invasion and true three-dimensional volume of primary tumors. The purpose of this paper is to determine the relations between tumor volume and lymph node metastasis and survival in early oral tongue cancer.MethodsForty-seven patients with T1-2 tongue cancer were included. Tumor volumes were measured by the computerized segmentation of T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging.ResultsThe overall average tumor volume was 27.7 cm3 (range, 1.4 to 60.1 cm3). A significant positive correlation was found between tumor volume and pathological T stage, depth of invasion, and cervical lymph node metastasis (P<0.001, P<0.001, and P=0.002, respectively). When the tumor volume exceeded 20 cm3, the cervical metastasis rate increased to 69.2%. The overall 5-year disease specific survival rate was 80%. There was a statistically significant association between large tumor volume (≥20 cm3) and the 5-year disease-specific survival (P=0.046).ConclusionTumor volume larger than 20 cm3 was associated with greater risk cervical lymph node metastasis and poor 5-year disease-specific survival rate in early oral tongue cancer patients

Toxoplasma gondii Infection in the Brain Inhibits Neuronal Degeneration and Learning and Memory Impairments in a Murine Model of Alzheimer's Disease

Immunosuppression is a characteristic feature of Toxoplasma gondii-infected murine hosts. The present study aimed to determine the effect of the immunosuppression induced by T. gondii infection on the pathogenesis and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Tg2576 AD mice. Mice were infected with a cyst-forming strain (ME49) of T. gondii, and levels of inflammatory mediators (IFN-γ and nitric oxide), anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10 and TGF-β), neuronal damage, and β-amyloid plaque deposition were examined in brain tissues and/or in BV-2 microglial cells. In addition, behavioral tests, including the water maze and Y-maze tests, were performed on T. gondii-infected and uninfected Tg2576 mice. Results revealed that whereas the level of IFN-γ was unchanged, the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines were significantly higher in T. gondii-infected mice than in uninfected mice, and in BV-2 cells treated with T. gondii lysate antigen. Furthermore, nitrite production from primary cultured brain microglial cells and BV-2 cells was reduced by the addition of T. gondii lysate antigen (TLA), and β-amyloid plaque deposition in the cortex and hippocampus of Tg2576 mouse brains was remarkably lower in T. gondii-infected AD mice than in uninfected controls. In addition, water maze and Y-maze test results revealed retarded cognitive capacities in uninfected mice as compared with infected mice. These findings demonstrate the favorable effects of the immunosuppression induced by T. gondii infection on the pathogenesis and progression of AD in Tg2576 mice

Laboratory information management system for COVID-19 non-clinical efficacy trial data

Background : As the number of large-scale studies involving multiple organizations producing data has steadily increased, an integrated system for a common interoperable format is needed. In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a number of global efforts are underway to develop vaccines and therapeutics. We are therefore observing an explosion in the proliferation of COVID-19 data, and interoperability is highly requested in multiple institutions participating simultaneously in COVID-19 pandemic research. Results : In this study, a laboratory information management system (LIMS) approach has been adopted to systemically manage various COVID-19 non-clinical trial data, including mortality, clinical signs, body weight, body temperature, organ weights, viral titer (viral replication and viral RNA), and multiorgan histopathology, from multiple institutions based on a web interface. The main aim of the implemented system is to integrate, standardize, and organize data collected from laboratories in multiple institutes for COVID-19 non-clinical efficacy testings. Six animal biosafety level 3 institutions proved the feasibility of our system. Substantial benefits were shown by maximizing collaborative high-quality non-clinical research. Conclusions : This LIMS platform can be used for future outbreaks, leading to accelerated medical product development through the systematic management of extensive data from non-clinical animal studies.This research was supported by the National research foundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MSIT) (2020M3A9I2109027 and 2021M3H9A1030260)

Achievements of and challenges facing the Korean Disabled People’s Movement

This paper provides a critical review of the development of the disabled people’s movement in South Korea since 1945, reflecting both its achievements and the obstacles it has faced. In particular, political positions and responses to the movement’s agitation against socio-cultural discrimination and inequality are discussed. Further, three key theoretical foundations of the movement are examined in order to describe the diversity inherent therein. This paper concludes that the disabled people’s movement has heavily influenced the values, norms, and systems of Korean society, but it has predominantly focused on integrating disability issues into policy and legislation, not on changing society and culture. Hence, the Korean Disabled People’s Movement is currently facing many challenges that are major threats towards its future development