Estimating the Costs and Benefits of Local Government Reorganisation: A Case of Korea

It appears that few empirical studies have been conducted which are aimed at estimating not only the costs but also the benefits surrounding local government reorganisation, either in academia or in government, and most reports on the issue seem to focus primarily on costs. In order to examine local issues such as reorganisation, however, in which many interested parties are controversially involved, both costs and benefits should be estimated objectively and disseminated in as many ways as possible before a referendum is conducted. This paper intends to bridge the gap between current levels of analysis and what is required for an accurate appraisal to be made of local government reorganisation. In it, we introduce the result of a research project conducted in relation to a local authority reorganisation plan implemented in Korea. The initiative seeks to create a unitary local authority replacing one first-tier and four second-tier local authorities within the first tier, in the hope of reducing the cost of providing services and also of making local authorities more competitive. This paper describes the research strategy employed to estimate the costs and benefits associated with local government reorganisation, and then we introduce the results of the analysis. The research process being described here gives us information about what should be included in the categories of costs and benefits, and what methodologies can be applied in estimating these. Finally the analysis shows how much the benefits and costs resulting from reorganisation will be.

Investigation of the SH3BP2 Gene Mutation in Cherubism

Cherubism is a rare developmental lesion of the jaw that is generally inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. Recent studies have revealed point mutations in the SH3BP2 gene in cherubism patients. In this study, we examined a 6-year-old Korean boy and his family. We found a Pro418Arg mutation in the SH3BP2 gene of the patient and his mother. A father and his 30-month-old younger brother had no mutations. Immunohistochemically, the multinucleated giant cells proved positive for CD68 and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP). Numerous spindle-shaped stromal cells expressed a ligand for receptor activator of nuclear factor kB (RANKL), but not in multinucleated giant cells. These results provide evidence that RANKL plays a critical role in the differentiation of osteoclast precursor cells to multinucleated giant cells in cherubism. Additionally, genetic analysis may be a useful method for differentiation of cherubism.</p

Quasi-Eigenstate Evolution in Open Chaotic Billiards

We experimentally studied evolution of quasi-eigenmodes as classical dynamics undergoing a transition from being regular to chaotic in open quantum billiards. In a deformation-variable microcavity we traced all high-Q cavity modes in a wide range of frequency as the cavity deformation increased. By employing an internal parameter we were able to obtain a mode-dynamics diagram at a given deformation, showing avoided crossings between different mode groups, and could directly observe the coupling strengths induced by ray chaos among encountering modes. We also show that the observed mode-dynamics diagrams reflect the underlying classical ray dynamics in the phase space.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure