Public Opinions on Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation: A Survey Analysis

This research attempts to provide an in-depth analysis of the public perceptions of inter-Korean economic cooperation. KDI survey data with a sample size of 1,000 were subjected to empirical analyses. By means of ordered logit estimations, we derive the following results. First, there is a significant effect of age on economic cooperation perceptions, where younger generations tend to be more negative. Second, the group who has positive view on the economic cooperation tends to prefer large-scale, domestic-entity-funded cooperation projects, whereas the group who has negative view tends to prefer small-scale projects and projects funded by international organizations. According to these results, prioritizing trade with the involvement of international organizations is likely to be an effective measure to alleviate potential political constraints and to achieve sustainable long-run economic cooperation systems when pursuing the economic cooperation

Drug development and novel combination strategies with phytochemicals for precision medicine in cancer

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. August 2017. Major: Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology. Advisor: Zigang Dong. 1 computer file (PDF); xvi, 171 pages.Precision medicine refers to matching the most accurate and effective treatment to each individual, and has the potential to manage diseases. In cancer, however, developing drug candidates and finding effective combination strategies are in great demand. Here, we present a framework covering drug development against a specific oncoprotein, effective combinations of drug and natural compounds, and a physiologically-achievable chemoprevention strategy. First, HI-B1 is synthesized and identified as a direct β-catenin inhibitor. A colon cancer patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model with a high level of β-catenin is sensitive to HI-B1. Second, a combination of aspirin with a ginger extract shows synergistic effect. Combining a ginger extract with aspirin treatment can significantly reduce the effective dose of aspirin while retaining its therapeutic effects in PDX mouse models. Third, multiple phytochemicals at low doses accumulatively inhibit one key protein to exert their chemopreventive and therapeutic effects. Natural ERK2 inhibitors are discovered using chemoinformatics, crystallography, cell biology and biochemistry. Each outcome could be used in a precision oncology workflow to help prevent and treat cancer efficiently

A Case Study of Characteristics of Damages Caused by Typhoon EWINIAR 2006 in South Korea

During recent years, the climate of Korea has clearly been divided between dry season and rainy season due to the global warming and other reasons, and a record breaking rain is falling every year. The mountain slopes in Korea receives significant damage generally during the seasons of high rain front and typhoon. In 2006, the rainy season started in July and Typhoon EWINIAR which hit South Korea between July 26 and 28 caused significant damage to various slopes and roads. This paper presents a case study of the damages and characteristics of the damages to cut slopes, fill slopes, and roads caused by the concentrated heavy rains for 3 days in the regions of Inje and YangYang

Electrical Investigation of the Oblique Hanle Effect in Ferromagnet/Oxide/Semiconductor Contacts

We have investigated the electrical Hanle effect with magnetic fields applied at an oblique angle ({\theta}) to the spin direction (the oblique Hanle effect, OHE) in CoFe/MgO/semiconductor (SC) contacts by employing a three-terminal measurement scheme. The electrical oblique Hanle signals obtained in CoFe/MgO/Si and CoFe/MgO/Ge contacts show clearly different line shapes depending on the spin lifetime of the host SC. Notably, at moderate magnetic fields, the asymptotic values of the oblique Hanle signals (in both contacts) are consistently reduced by a factor of cos^2({\theta}) irrespective of the bias current and temperature. These results are in good agreement with predictions of the spin precession and relaxation model for the electrical oblique Hanle effect. At high magnetic fields where the magnetization of CoFe is significantly tilted from the film plane to the magnetic field direction, we find that the observed angular dependence of voltage signals in the CoFe/MgO/Si and CoFe/MgO/Ge contacts are well explained by the OHE, considering the misalignment angle between the external magnetic field and the magnetization of CoFe.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

Low energy proton-proton scattering in effective field theory

Low energy proton-proton scattering is studied in pionless effective field theory. Employing the dimensional regularization and MS-bar and power divergence subtraction schemes for loop calculation, we calculate the scattering amplitude in 1S0 channel up to next-to-next-to leading order and fix low-energy constants that appear in the amplitude by effective range parameters. We study regularization scheme and scale dependence in separation of Coulomb interaction from the scattering length and effective range for the S-wave proton-proton scattering.Comment: 23 pages, 6 eps figures, revised considerably, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Alpha-Linolenic Acid-Enriched Butter Promotes Fatty Acid Remodeling and Thermogenic Activation in the Brown Adipose Tissue

Supplementation with n-3 long-chain (LC) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) is known to promote thermogenesis via the activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT). Agricultural products that are biofortified with α-linolenic acid (ALA), the precursor of n-3 LC PUFA, have been launched to the market, but their impact on BAT function is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of ALA-biofortified butter on lipid metabolism and thermogenic functions in the BAT. C57BL/6 mice were fed a high-fat diet containing ALA-biofortified butter (n3Bu, 45% calorie from fat) for ten weeks in comparison with the isocaloric high-fat diets prepared from conventional butter or margarine. The intake of n3Bu significantly reduced the whitening of BAT and increased the thermogenesis in response to acute-cold treatment. Also, n3Bu supplementation is linked with the remodeling of BAT by promoting bioconversion into n-3 LC PUFA, FA elongation and desaturation, and mitochondrial biogenesis. Taken together, our results support that ALA-biofortified butter is a novel source of n-3 PUFA, which potentiates the BAT thermogenic function

Building the Foundation for a Health Education Program for Rural Older Adults

We explored rural older adults’ perceptions of health to inform health promotion program development, using social marketing as our framework. Participants in seven focus groups viewed independence and holistic health as indicators of health and identified healthful eating and physical activity as actions to promote health. Barriers to these actions included physical limitations, social factors, financial considerations, motivation issues, and information confusion. Participants desired education that improves knowledge and skills, provides socialization opportunities, and occurs in familiar, affordable locations. Our findings can be useful to others developing health programming for rural-residing older adults. Also, we show that applying social marketing principles during formative assessment can be helpful in tailoring programs to audience interests and concerns