Whats Happening in the Jury Room? : Analyzing Shadow Jury Deliberations in Korea

This paper looked into the jury deliberation process by examining shadow jury deliberations in 18 actual cases between November 2010 and July 2011 in Korea. Based on the direct observation and the content analysis of the videotaped deliberation, we examined four key areas in jury deliberation in order to gain insights and implications for the institutional design of the jury system: (1) the binding effect of the jury verdict, (2) the number of jurors, (3) the jurors deliberations regarding both conviction and sentencing, and (4) the judges intervention in jury deliberation. The results demonstrate that the shadow jurors in general actively participated in the deliberation process by speaking in turn, and were respectful toward other jurors in debate. The jury forepersons positively played their role by giving jurors equal chance to talk and managed the discussion well. Misunderstanding of law and the intermingling of facts relevant to conviction or sentencing were not as frequent as many people expected: when such problems occurred, they were most often corrected through the intervention of other jurors or judges. Most judges were helpful in jurors reaching a verdict in the jury room. Also there was no definitive relationship between the size of the jury and the quality of deliberation. On the other hand, the shadow jurors tended to state their initial positions early in the deliberation process without fully discussing the issues first. They oftentimes made arguments not based on evidence. In addition, jurors emotions affected decision-making in some instances. Although encouraging aspects as well as areas for improvement coexist, the overall quality of jury deliberation in Korea, as evidenced by this study, is positive. Over time, the Korean jury system is expected to be firmly established as a robust institution to increase democratic participation of the lay people and to enhance the credibility of the judiciary.This article was supported by the 2011 Overseas Research Fund for Humanities and Social Sciences of Seoul National University granted to Professor Jisuk Wo

A standardized pathology report for gastric cancer: 2nd edition

The first edition of ‘A Standardized Pathology Report for Gastric Cancer’ was initiated by the Gastrointestinal Pathology Study Group of the Korean Society of Pathologists and published 17 years ago. Since then, significant advances have been made in the pathologic diagnosis, molecular genetics, and management of gastric cancer (GC). To reflect those changes, a committee for publishing a second edition of the report was formed within the Gastrointestinal Pathology Study Group of the Korean Society of Pathologists. This second edition consists of two parts: standard data elements and conditional data elements. The standard data elements contain the basic pathologic findings and items necessary to predict the prognosis of GC patients, and they are adequate for routine surgical pathology service. Other diagnostic and prognostic factors relevant to adjuvant therapy, including molecular biomarkers, are classified as conditional data elements to allow each pathologist to selectively choose items appropriate to the environment in their institution. We trust that the standardized pathology report will be helpful for GC diagnosis and facilitate large-scale multidisciplinary collaborative studies

HDR Map Reconstruction From a Single LDR Sky Panoramic Image for Outdoor Illumination Estimation

Outdoor low dynamic range (LDR) panoramic images that contain the sun and sky are generally over-saturated because the sun is 10,000 times brighter than the regions that surround it. Because the luminance information in the region that contains the sun in these images is lost, it is difficult to identify the sun’s position and generate high dynamic range (HDR) environment maps that can be used to realistically relight virtual objects. Previous methods to reconstruct HDR maps did not consider that the sun covers a small area in an image but contains extremely high luminance values. These methods are therefore insufficient for estimating scene illumination. We propose a multi-faceted approach to reconstructing HDR maps from a single LDR sky panoramic image that considers the sun and sky regions separately. We encode an input image and transfer a multi-dimensional latent representation to two decoders, which reconstruct the luminance information in the sky and sun regions separately. To plausibly model sun illumination, we introduce two networks (Sunpose-net and Sunrad-net) that estimate the position and radiance of the sun. The generated sun radiance map is then merged with the output of the decoder that is responsible for sun regions. We demonstrated that the proposed method more plausibly reconstructs HDR maps than previous methods using the HDR-VDP-2.2 which measures the visual quality of reconstructed HDR maps against ground truth. The accuracy of the overall sun and sky illumination distribution in HDR maps reconstructed using the proposed method was evaluated using histogram distance measures

The Conceptualization of the Performance Elements of Media Organizations and the Factors that Influence their Performance

This study aims to examine the concept of media organizations performance and the factors that influence their level of performance. Media organizations are often private profit-seeking enterprises but at the same time also have a public side that realizes freedom of speech, which is a core value of democracy. Therefore, a theory of media organizations organizational performance needs to reflect this duality. We divide media organizations organizational performance into two categories: economic-industrial and sociocultural. Economic-industrial performance can be defined as how media organizations perform in the market. A typical indicator is how much sales revenue they bring in. In addition, because their revenue heavily depends on advertisements, newspaper subscriptions or television viewer ratings, which are directly connected to advertisement revenue, can be used as performance indicators. Sociocultural performance refers to how media organizations perform with respect to their content. A media organizations sociocultural performance primarily depends on whether it has accomplished the goals indicated by relevant laws. In addition, sociocultural performance depends on how the contents of a media organization are received by its readers or viewers, which can be identified by media credibility measures that are conducted by many organizations. Factors that influence media organizations performance include independence, diversity and openness. The present study is a preliminary attempt to provide conceptual analysis as groundwork for empirical research. We hope this preliminary examination builds a foundation for comparative studies of diverse public organizations such as public hospitals, universities, and public enterprises and can contribute to further theoretical and conceptual discussions about organizational performance.Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul National University

Minimization of Torque Deviation of Cylinder Deactivation Engine through 48V Mild-Hybrid Starter-Generator Control

Cylinder deactivation (CDA) is an effective technique to improve fuel economy in spark ignition (SI) engines. This technique enhances volumetric efficiency and reduces throttling loss. However, practical implementation is restricted due to torque fluctuations between individual cylinders that cause noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) issues. To ease torque deviation of the CDA, we propose an in-cylinder pressure based 48V mild-hybrid starter-generator (MHSG) control strategy. The target engine realizes CDA with a specialized engine configuration of separated intake manifolds to independently control the airflow into the cylinders. To handle the complexity of the combined CDA and mild-hybrid system, GT-POWER simulation environment was integrated with a SI turbulent combustion model and 48V MHSG model with actual part specifications. The combustion model is essential for in-cylinder pressure-based control; thus, it is calibrated with actual engine experimental data. The modeling results demonstrate the precise accuracy of the engine cylinder pressures and of quantities such as MAF, MAP, BMEP, and IMEP. The proposed control algorithm also showed remarkable control performance, achieved by instantaneous torque calculation and dynamic compensation, with a 99% maximum reduction rate of engine torque deviation under target CDA operations

Wnt/β-catenin pathway is a key signaling pathway to trastuzumab resistance in gastric cancer cells

Abstract Background Trastuzumab is the only approved target agent for the first-line treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) positive gastric cancer; however, trastuzumab resistance is a major problem in clinical practice. To comprehend the mechanism of trastuzumab resistance, we focused on the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and its influence on the phenotypes and behavior of trastuzumab-resistant gastric cancer cells. Methods Trastuzumab-resistant NCI-N87R cells were established in vitro from the human gastric cancer cell line NCI-N87 by dose-escalating repeated trastuzumab treatment. We investigated the phenotypes of NCI-N87R cells, including Wnt signaling pathway activity. Gastric cancer organoid cells were incubated with complete medium and Wnt3a-depletion medium, and their resistance to trastuzumab was compared. Results NCI-N87R exhibited stemness and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like phenotypes, along with decreased levels of the epithelial marker E-cadherin and increased levels of the mesenchymal markers Vimentin and Snail along with an increased Wnt signaling pathway activity. When gastric cancer cells were incubated in Wnt3a-conditioned medium. Wnt signaling pathway activity and resistance to trastuzumab increased. Gastric cancer patient-derived organoids incubated in Wnt3a-depletion medium were more susceptible to dose-dependent inhibition of cell viability by trastuzumab than those incubated in complete medium. Conclusions Trastuzumab-resistant gastric cancer cells exhibited EMT-like phenotype, and trastuzumab resistance was promoted by the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. The Wnt/β-catenin pathway is a key signaling pathway for trastuzumab resistance in gastric cancer cells