Emergence of the post-developmental welfare regime

노트 : Paper prepared for presentation at the Annual Meeting of RC19, Montreal, 20-22 August 2009

Balancing between prejudice and fact for Gaming Disorder: Does the existence of alcohol use disorder stigmatize healthy drinkers or impede scientific research?

The inclusion of Gaming Disorder (GD) criteria in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) beta draft was recently criticized, and an argument was made for its removal to “avoid a waste of public resources.” However, these misleading statements are believed to be based on under estimation of this ever-growing problem. Such claims may endanger public health and the psychosocial well-being of affected individuals. Thus, the seriousness of the problem was briefly emphasized in our response paper. We provided an overview of how debates of this kind were developed in our region. In addition, we addressed the arguments made on research and children’s rights. The accusation that GD exerts negative impacts on children’s freedom and stigmatizes healthy gamers may arise from a false belief that this new digital media is benign or not addictive. Such statements could be true in some, but not all, cases. Unwillingness to recognize the addictive potential of gaming, as well as insistence on treating GD simply as an individual problem, are reminiscent of the era in which alcoholism was viewed as a personality problem. These dangerous views place affected individuals at greater health risk and further stigmatize them. Formalization of the disorder is also expected to help in standardization of research and treatment in the field. The inclusion of GD in the upcoming ICD-11 is a responsible step in the right direction

Quantifying Quality: Research Performance Evaluation in Korean Universities

Research performance evaluation in Korean universities follows strict guidelines that specify scoring systems for publication venue categories and formulas for co-authorship credit allocation. To find out how the standards differ across universities and how they differ from bibliometric research evaluation measures, this study analyzed 25 standards from major Korean universities and rankings produced by applying standards and bibliometric measures such as publication and citation counts, normalized impact score, and h-index to the publication data of 195 tenure-track professors of library and information science departments in 35 Korean universities. The study also introduced a novel impact score normalization method to refine the methodology from prior studies. The results showed the university standards to be mostly similar to one another but quite different from citation-driven measures, which suggests the standards are not quite successful in quantifying the quality of research as originally intended

Reduction in Tcf7l2 Expression Decreases Diabetic Susceptibility in Mice

Objective: The WNT signaling pathway effector gene TCF7L2 has been associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. However, it remains unclear how this gene affects diabetic pathogenesis. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of Tcf7l2 haploinsufficiency on metabolic phenotypes in mice

Improvement of RTLS Performance Using Recursive RF Active Echo Algorithm

When it comes to indoor Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) for an Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV), the most important factor is to minimize the location estimation error. In industrial sites, centimetre-level accuracy is required for the AGV. Since the duration for measuring the position of an AGV is slower than the speed of arriving RF signals, the margin of error inevitably becomes larger than in systems that use low-speed media such as ultrasonic waves. To minimize such errors, a short-range location estimation Recursive RF Active Echo (RRFAE) algorithm is presented. Increasing the time ratio by repeatedly and interactively reflecting the signal can reduce measurement error. That is, there is an effect of expanding the measurement distance by the number of iterations. We propose and implement a precise positioning algorithm in an indoor environment where many reflections exist. The error analysis of the RRFAE algorithm after hardware correction shows that the level of the RRFAE's errors is only one tenth that of an RTLS system that uses other RF signals

Angelicae Dahuricae Radix Inhibits Dust Mite Extract-Induced Atopic Dermatitis-Like Skin Lesions in NC/Nga Mice

We examined whether Angelicae Dahuricae Radix (AR) suppresses the development of atopic dermatitis (AD)-like skin lesions induced by Dermatophagoides farinae in NC/Nga mice. To investigate the effect of AR, we measured the AD severity score, measured plasma levels of IgE and histamine, and performed histological analysis in NC/Nga mice. We also confirmed the anti-inflammatory effects of AR by measuring TARC/CCL17 production from LPS-treated RAW 264.7 cells and mRNA levels of TARC and MDC/CCL22 in TNF-α/IFN-γ-treated HaCaT cells. 10 mg/day of AR extract was applied for 4 weeks to NC/Nga mice. Both the AR extract and 0.1% tacrolimus suppressed the development of AD-like skin lesions and reduced dermatitis scores of the back and ear skin. AR extracts caused an inhibition of histological changes induced by repeated application of D. farinae and a reduction of IgE and histamine levels in plasma (P < 0.05). Furthermore, NO production in LPS-treated RAW 264.7 cells was diminished in a dose-dependent manner, and hTARC production and TARC and MDC mRNA levels in TNF-α/IFN-γ-treated HaCaT cells were diminished by AR. The inhibitory effect of AR on NO, TARC and MDC production may be associated with the suppression of AD-like skin lesions in D. farinae-induced NC/Nga mice

Safety Evaluation of Yukmijihwang-tang: Assessment of Acute and Subchronic Toxicity in Rats

Yukmijihwang-tang (YMJ; Liu wei di huang tang (China), Rokumigan (Japan)) has been used in the treatment of diseases including renal disorder, cognitive vitality, and diabetes mellitus. However, there is very little information regarding the toxicity of YMJ to give an assurance of safety for clinical treatment. To provide safety information for YMJ, we evaluated its acute and sub-chronic toxicity in rats. The single-dose toxicity of YMJ was examined using Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were treated with YMJ extract orally at 0, 500, 1000, or 2000 mg/kg body weight. After a single administration, clinical signs were observed every day for two weeks, and body weights were measured five times, including an initial measurement on day 1 (the day of administration). In the sub-chronic oral toxicity study, YMJ was administered to rats at 0, 500, 1000, or 2000 mg/kg/day for 13 weeks. Mortalities, clinical signs, body weight changes, food and water consumption, ophthalmologic findings, urinalysis, hematological and biochemical parameters, gross findings, organ weights, and histological examination were monitored during the study period. We found no mortality and no abnormalities in clinical signs, body weights, and necropsy findings for any of the animals in the acute and sub-chronic studies following oral administration in the rat at up to 2000 mg/kg/day YMJ. YMJ may not have any single-dose toxicity; the LD50 of YMJ was over 2000 mg/kg, and it is safe for rats. The no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) was considered to be 2000 mg/kg/day

Effects of Platycodon grandiflorum methanolic extract on testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia in Wistar rats

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is highly prevalent in the male population over the age of 60 years, manifesting as prostatic enlargement and distinctive changes in tissue histomorphology. In this study, we investigated whether a Platycodon grandiflorum methanolic extract (PGME) improved BPH in a testosterone propionate (TP)-induced model of BPH in rats. Castration was performed via the scrotal route under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia, and BPH was induced in the rats with a subcutaneous injection of TP (3 mg/kg) given every consecutive day for 4 weeks after castration. The control group of castrated rats received subcutaneous injections of corn oil. Experimentally, induced rat model of BPH, PGME led to significant reductions in prostate weight and dihydrotestosterone levels in the serum and prostate. Histologically, BPH was evident in the ventral lobe of the prostate, and PGME treatment significantly reduced the severity of the lesion. Therefore, PGME was effective in reducing TP-induced BPH in a rat model, and may be useful for the clinical treatment of patients with BPH.Keywords: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), dihydrotestosterone, testosterone, Platycodon grandifloru