Origins and changes of East Asian party systems and voter alignments : social conditions, issue effects, and party coalitions

My dissertation explains the formulation of party systems and voting behaviors in East Asia. The previous literature maintained that East Asian party politics was caused by the homogeneous culture and the philosophy. However, I argue that strong issue effects of national security and economic development established East Asian party systems. Both grand issues suppressed social cleavages and other issues in party competition during the post - World War II era. However, social cleavages recently emerged as the effects declined due to the end of the Cold War and economic growth. To examine my arguments, I use content analysis for electoral campaign issues and quantitative methods for electoral surveys of three countries from 1945 to 2014: Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. My research indicates that East Asian party bases have not been single but multiple groups. Governmental parties effectively made majority coalitions based on their issue advantages. In addition, it extends Lipset and Rokkan (1967)'s social cleavage theory by adding the importance of issues, external threats and national industrialization to their list of "revolutions.

Protein kinase CK2 phosphorylates and activates p21-activated kinase 1

Activation of the p21-activated kinase 1 (PAK1) is achieved through a conformational change that converts an inactive PAK1 dimer to an active monomer. In this paper, we show that this change is necessary but not sufficient to activate PAK1 and that it is, rather, required for CK2-dependent PAK1S223 phosphorylation that converts a monomeric PAK1 into a catalytically active form. This phosphorylation appears to be essential for autophosphorylation at specific residues and overall activity of PAK1. A phosphomimetic mutation (S223E) bypasses the requirement for GTPases in PAK1 activation, whereas the constitutive activity of the PAK1 mutant (PAK1H83,86L), postulated to mimic GTPase-induced structural changes, is abolished by inhibition of S223 phosphorylation. Thus, S223 is likely accessible to CK2 upon conformational changes of PAK1 induced by GTPase-dependent and GTPase-independent stimuli, suggesting that S223 phosphorylation may play a key role in the final step of the PAK1 activation process. The physiological significance of this phosphorylation is reinforced by the observations that CK2 is responsible for epidermal growth factor–induced PAK1 activation and that inhibition of S223 phosphorylation abrogates PAK1-mediated malignant transformation of prostate epithelial cells. Taken together, these findings identify CK2 as an upstream activating kinase of PAK1, providing a novel mechanism for PAK1 activation

Technical Efficiency in the Iron and Steel Industry: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

In this paper we examine the technical efficiency of firms in the iron and steel industry and try to identify the factors contributing to the industry's efficiency growth, using a time-varying stochastic frontier model. Based on our findings, which pertain to 52 iron and steel firms over the period of 1978-1997, POSCO and Nippon Steel were the most efficient firms, with their production, on average, exceeding 95 percent of their potential output. Our findings also shed light on possible sources of efficiency growth in the industry. If a firm is government-owned, its privatization is likely to improve its technical efficiency to a great extent. A firm's technical efficiency also tends to be positively related to its production level as measured by a share of the total world production of crude steel. Another important source of efficiency growth identified by our empirical findings is adoption of new technologies and equipment. Our findings clearly indicate that continued efforts to update technologies and equipment are critical in pursuit of efficiency in the iron and steel industry.

Analysis of Core Technologies and Implementation Services for Smart City

Smart City Platform is a software that optimally allocates resources and provides services to citizens by utilizing ICT technologies such as artificial intelligence, IoT, virtual reality, augmented reality, and 5G mobile communication to solve various urban problems occurring in the city.In order to implement the Smart City environment, basic platform technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, network, Internet of Things(IoT) and Cloud computing are essential.In this paper, we used the big data analysis tool ‘BigKinds’ to lookup the topic 'Smart City Technology' and 'Smart City IoT' in news, editorials and quotations. After analyzing them, we then derived the core technologies needed in building a Smart City. Furthermore, we introduced the concept of the basic Smart City technologies and then deduced implications and drew a conclusion by analyzing both the local and foreign Smart City construction services. In addition, it compared and analyzed the core technologies for supporting services in various smart cities.The Smart City’s basic technologies and service analysis can be utilized by the local government to effectively establish policies and technology strategies in the Smart City industry

Fabrication and Characterization of Metal-Loaded Mixed Metal Oxides Gas Sensors for the Detection of Hazardous Gases

This study concerns gas sensors that may protect individuals by detecting hazardous gases that may be generated in hot spaces (≥50°C) with residues of organic waste. We investigated the responses and selectivities of the sensors to different kinds of hazardous gases such as acetaldehyde, toluene and hydrogen sulfide. We also investigated operating temperatures and catalysts for the sensors. The thick film semiconductor sensors that detected some hazardous gases were prepared using nano-sized sensing material powders (SnO2, WO3, ZnO) that were prepared through sol-gel and precipitation methods. The nano-sized sensing materials were blended with various amounts of metal oxides (SnO2, ZnO, WO3) and coated with transition metals (Pt, Pd, Ru, Au, Ag, Cu and In). The metal oxide thick films were fabricated on an Al2O3 plate with a Ni-Cr heater and a Pt electrode through a screen-printing method. Morphologies, compositions, phases, surface areas and particle sizes of sensor compounds were examined by SEM, EDS, XRD and BET analysis. The investigated response to the various hazardous vapors was expressed as the value of Ra/Rg, where Ra and Rg are the resistance of the sensor material in the air and in hazardous gas, respectively