Prospects for Monetary Cooperation in East Asia

The purpose of this paper is to reexamine the exchange rate policy of the Republic of Korea, and its role in promoting financial and monetary cooperation in East Asia in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis. The Republic of Korea would not actively participate in any discussion of establishing a regional monetary and exchange rate arrangement as it is expected to maintain a weakly managed floating regime. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been fostering the yuan as an international currency, which will lay the groundwork for forming a yuan area among the PRC; the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); Hong Kong, the PRC; and Taipei,China. Japan has shown less interest in assuming a greater role in East Asia’s economic integration due to deflation, a strong yen, slow growth, and political instability. Japan would not eschew free floating. These recent developments demand a new modality of monetary cooperation among the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the PRC. Otherwise, ASEAN+3 will lose its rationale for steering regional economic integration in East Asia.exchange rate policy; republic of korea; financial monetary cooperation; east asia; global financial crisis; regional economic integration

Financial contagion in the East Asian crisis

노트 : Book Title: International Financial ContagionBook Chapter: Financial contagion in the East Asian crisi

Cigarette Smoking after Aerobic Exercise: The Unfavorable Impacts on Vascular Function

It is well-accepted that vascular dysfunction plays a key role in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases. Although vascular dysfunction is multi-faceted, exercise is a commonly recommended prophylactic strategy to preserve vascular function. We and others have shown that exercise training can elicit beneficial effects on vascular function (e.g., blood pressure and conduit artery function) in healthy and clinical populations1-4. In fact, indices of vascular function are enhanced shortly after acute exercise5,6, suggesting that the postexercise recovery period may be a crucial component for facilitating long-term vascular adaptations7. Poor habits may be detrimental to this recovery window, such as cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking is considered a common modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and is associated with arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction8,9. Since exercise is often recommended to individuals with cardiovascular risk factors to prevent disease, it is imperative to understand how smoking can impact acute exercise recovery. Previous studies have investigated cigarette smoking prior to acute exercise and revealed that this can impair normal vascular and exercise pressor responses, thus inducing greater cardiac and arterial strain10-12. However, until recently, the impacts of cigarette smoking on hemodynamics and conduit artery function during recovery after aerobic exercise have not been explored. In this issue of The Korean Journal of Sports Medicine, Cho et al.13 investigated the effects of cigarette smoking on blood pressure and conduit artery function during recovery after an acute bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise

Impact of aerobic and anaerobic exercise training on oxidative stress and antioxidant defense in athletes

Exercise mediates an excessive free radical production leading to oxidative stress (OS). The body has natural antioxidant systems that help decrease OS, and these systems may be enhanced with exercise training. However, only a few studies have investigated the differences in resting OS and antioxidant capacity (AOC) between aerobically trained athletes (ET), anaerobically trained athletes (RT), and untrained individuals (UT). Therefore, this study sought to investigate the resting and postexercise OS and AOC in ET, RT, and UT. Sixty healthy young males (26.6±0.8 yr) participated in this study. Subjects were divided into three groups, ET, RT, and UT by distinct training background. Resting plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonyls (PC) were not significantly different in ET, RT, and UT. However, MDA and PC were significantly increased following a graded exercise test (GXT) in UT but not in ET and RT. Resting total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels and TAC were not different in ET, RT, and UT. Interestingly, TAC levels significantly decreased after the GXT in all groups. Additionally, UT showed lower post-exercise TAC levels compared to ET and RT. These results showed that ET, RT, and UT have similar OS and AOC at rest. However, both ET and RT have greater AOC against exercise mediated OS compared to UT. These findings may explain, at least in part, why both aerobic and anaerobic types of exercise training improve redox balance. However, it appears there is no specific exercise type effect in terms of redox balance

Correlation of Pre-Hypertension with Carotid Artery Damage in Middle-Aged and Older Adults

The intima–media thickness (IMT), luminal diameters (LDs), flow velocities (FVs), compliance, and β-stiffness of the carotid artery (CA) are considered as independent risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Pre-hypertension (PHT) is also an independent CVD risk factor. This study investigated the association between CA damage (CAD) and PHT. A total of 544 adults participated; their blood pressures (BPs) and CA characteristics were measured using a mercury-free sphygmomanometer and ultrasound. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to assess the differences in the CA characteristics according to the BPs, multinomial logistic regression to evaluate the risk of CAD associated with PHT. In ANCOVA, the CA characteristics of PHT were significantly different from normotensive. The odds ratios (ORs) of IMTmax, LDmax, LDmin, peak-systolic FV (PFV), end-diastolic FV (EFV), PFV/LDmin, EFV/LDmax, compliance, and β-stiffness of PHT were 4.20, 2.70, 3.52, 2.41, 3.06, 3.55, 3.29, 2.02, and 1.84 times higher than those of the normotensive, respectively, in Model 2. In Model 3 adjusted for age, the ORs of LDmax, LDmin, EFV, PFV/LDmin, and EFV/LDmax of PHT were 2.10, 2.55, 1.96, 2.20, and 2.04 times higher than those of the normotensive, respectively. Therefore, the present study revealed that CAD is closely correlated with pre-hypertensive status in adults

Two Higgs doublet models for the LHC Higgs boson data at s=\sqrt{s}= 7 and 8 TeV

Updated LHC data on the new 126 GeV boson during the 7 and 8 TeV runnings strengthen the standard model Higgs boson interpretation further. Through the global $\chi^2$ analysis, we investigate whether the new particle could be one of the scalar particles in two Higgs doublet models. Four types (Type I, II, X and Y) are comprehensively studied. Taking the recent analysis on the spin-parity of the new boson, we consider two scenarios: the new boson is either the light CP-even one ($h^0$) or the heavy CP-even one ($H^0$). It is found that both scenarios are consistent with the new data, not only in the parameter regions near the decoupling limit but also in other regions far from the decoupling limit. In addition, the current data are compatible with the possibility that the light Higgs boson $h^0$ is hidden in the mass window of 90-100 GeV. The diphoton or $\tau\tau$ channel can provide a probe of this possibility by the enhanced signal rates.Comment: To appear in JHE