Beyond the Bifurcated Myth: The Medical Migration of Female Korean Nurses to West Germany in the 1970s

This study investigates beyond the bifurcated myth of the medical migration of Korean women to Germany in the 1970s, which is known as the “German dispatchment” myth from the Korean perspective and the “development aid” discourse from that of the Germans, by focusing on the newly-released documents from the German Hospital Federation (Deutsche Krankenhausgesellschaft, DKG). The migration was essentially a transfer of labor from a weak to a strong state, and the disparity of state strength characterized the nature of the recruitment mechanism. Both Korea and Germany have romanticized the labor transfer and appropriated the collective experiences of migrants for their own political purposes. In this transnational business, the Korean Overseas Development Corporation (KODCO) and the DKG maintained exclusivity in the labor migration channel and were faithful to their own interests. The DKG, as a representative of the German healthcare industry, was concerned about being criticized for destroying the healthcare system of developing countries by stealing their skilled workforce. They, therefore, tried to influence publicity in Korea and Germany to persuade the people that the recruitment benefited both countries. However, the DKG was aware of the deceitfulness of its “development aid” discourse. The Korean government, which advanced the labor export for the sake of obtaining foreign currency, romanticized it as patriotism and used the term “German dispatchment.” However, the incapacity and corruption of KODCO as an agency from the Korean perspective resulted in criticism regarding its recruitment program. The DKG complained that the selection of incapable personnel coupled with corruption was causing unforeseen financial damage to its member hospitals. Nevertheless, it officially defended its partner for the sake of its own interests, such as avoiding bad publicity and securing the sustainability of the recruitment program. The conflicts regarding nursing tasks and working conditions between Korean nurses and their German colleagues and employers captured in the documents of the DKG trace the origin of the issues in relation to cultural misunderstanding and pervasive racism. The disparity of state strength between the two countries resulted in the subaltern position of Korean female healthcare workers in the global labor market, and they tried to bring forth the best possible outcome while working in a foreign country in unfamiliar circumstances. However, the difficulties with female guest workers from Asia were generally credited to their inability to adhere to the German working style. This study contributes to the existing scholarship on this topic by filling the gaps. Historical research on the medical migration of Korean nurses and nurse-aides to West Germany has relied on limited historical sources. In 2013, the National Archives of Korea transferred official documents regarding these workers that were produced and archived by the DKG, which represented the interests of German healthcare institutions. Its documents on Korean nursing personnel provide supplementary information and display findings in different perspectives. They do not bring forth completely new findings that have never been researched before but are still valuable for delivering concrete evidence on the circumstances of that time, which were previously merely inferred

Indentations on Air Plasma Sprayed Thermal Barrier Coatings Prepared by Different Starting Granules

The effect of starting granules on the indentation properties of air plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) is investigated in this paper. Various kinds of spray-dried granules are prepared from different processing conditions, especially varying solvent and dispersant, showing a deformed hollow-typed and a filled spherical-typed granule. The similar coating thicknesses are prepared by adjusting process parameters during air plasma spray. All XRD peaks in phase analysis are tetragonal and cubic phases without any monoclinic phase after the starting granules were heat-treated. A relatively porous microstructure of the coating layer could be obtained from the monodisperse granules, while a relatively dense microstructure resulted from the hollow-typed granules. The morphology and distribution of the granules crucially affect the microstructure of thermal barrier coatings and thus have influences on indentation properties such as indentation stress-strain curves, contact damage, and hardness. The implication concerning microstructure design of TBCs for gas turbine applications is considered

THREE DIMENSIONAL SMOOTHING TECHNIQUES USING QUATERNIONS APPLIED TO GAIT

The purpose of this study was to implement a three-dimensional (3D) technique for smoothing gait analysis data. Three dimensional smoothing is problematic as it relies on one-dimensional smoothing techniques that are ill-posed to preserve the integrity of the real, raw data. Since Davis et al, (1991) method many researchers (e.g. Baker, 2006) have emphasized the problems of three dimensional gait analysis

An Angiotensin I Converting Enzyme Polymorphism Is Associated with Clinical Phenotype When Using Differentiation-Syndrome to Categorize Korean Bronchial Asthma Patients

In this study, genetic analysis was conducted to investigate the association of angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism with clinical phenotype based on differentiation-syndrome of bronchial asthma patients. Differentiation-syndrome is a traditional Korean medicine (TKM) theory in which patients are classified into a Deficiency Syndrome Group (DSG) and an Excess Syndrome Group (ESG) according to their symptomatic classification. For this study, 110 participants were evaluated by pulmonary function test. Among them, 39 patients were excluded because they refused genotyping. Of the remaining patients, 52 with DSG of asthma (DSGA) and 29 with ESG of asthma (ESGA), as determined by the differentiation-syndrome techniques were assessed by genetic analysis. ACE insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism analysis was conducted using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Student's t, chi-square, Fisher and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium tests were used to compare groups. No significant differences in pulmonary function were observed between DSGA and ESGA. The genotypic frequency of ACE I/D polymorphism was found to differ slightly between DSGA and ESGA (P = .0495). However, there were no significant differences in allelic frequency observed between DSGA and ESGA (P = .7006, OR = 1.1223). Interestingly, the allelic (P = .0043, OR = 3.4545) and genotypic (P = .0126) frequencies of the ACE I/D polymorphism in female patients differed significantly between DSGA and ESGA. Taken together, the results presented here indicate that the symptomatic classification of DSGA and ESGA by differentiation-syndrome in Korean asthma patients could be useful in evaluation of the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma

Transmission of wireless backhaul signal in a cellular system with small moving cells

Deployment of small moving cells (SMCs) has been considered in advanced cellular systems, where wireless backhaul links are required between base stations and SMCs. In this paper, we consider signal transmission by means of multiuser beamforming in the wireless backhaul link. We generate the beam weight in an eigen-direction of weighted combination of short- and long-term channel information of the backhaul link. The beam weight can maximize the average signal-to-leakage-plus-noise ratio (SLNR), while providing the transmission robust to SMC mobility. We analyze the performance of the proposed scheme in terms of the average signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and optimize the transmit power by iterative water-filling. Finally, we verify the performance of the proposed scheme by computer simulation.This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MSIT) (No. 2019R1F1A1063171)

Mild Hypothermia Attenuates Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 Induction via Activation of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase-1/2 in a Focal Cerebral Ischemia Model

Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in cerebral vascular endothelium induced by ischemic insult triggers leukocyte infiltration and inflammatory reaction. We investigated the mechanism of hypothermic suppression of ICAM-1 in a model of focal cerebral ischemia. Rats underwent 2 hours of middle cerebral artery occlusion and were kept at 37°C or 33°C during occlusion and rewarmed to normal temperature immediately after reperfusion. Under hypothermic condition, robust activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1/2 (ERK1/2) was observed in vascular endothelium of ischemic brain. Hypothermic suppression of ICAM-1 was reversed by ERK1/2 inhibition. Phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in ischemic vessel was attenuated by hypothermia. STAT3 inhibitor suppressed ICAM-1 production induced by stroke. ERK1/2 inhibition enhanced phosphorylation and DNA binding activity of STAT3 in hypothermic condition. In this study, we demonstrated that hypothermic suppression of ICAM-1 induction is mediated by enhanced ERK1/2 activation and subsequent attenuation of STAT3 action

Effect of 660 nm Light-Emitting Diode on the Wound Healing in Fibroblast-Like Cell Lines

Light in the red to near-infrared (NIR) range (630–1000 nm), which is generated using low energy laser or light-emitting diode (LED) arrays, was reported to have a range of beneficial biological effects in many injury models. NIR via a LED is a well-accepted therapeutic tool for the treatment of infected, ischemic, and hypoxic wounds as well as other soft tissue injuries in humans and animals. This study examined the effects of exposure to 660 nm red LED light at intensities of 2.5, 5.5, and 8.5 mW/cm2 for 5, 10, and 20 min on wound healing and proliferation in fibroblast-like cells, such as L929 mouse fibroblasts and human gingival fibroblasts (HGF-1). A photo illumination-cell culture system was designed to evaluate the cell proliferation and wound healing of fibroblast-like cells exposed to 600 nm LED light. The cell proliferation was evaluated by MTT assay, and a scratched wound assay was performed to assess the rate of migrating cells and the healing effect. Exposure to the 660 nm red LED resulted in an increase in cell proliferation and migration compared to the control, indicating its potential use as a phototherapeutic agent

Detection of Human Papillomavirus(HPV) DNA in Children's Genital and Respiratory Tract Papilloma and in Birth Canals of Their Mothers

In order to study the epidemiologic relationship between children's papillomaviral disease and papillomaviral infection of mothers, five anogenital warts and seven laryngeal papilloma in children were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction to detect HPV DNA HPV type 6 was found in 8 cases and HPV type 11 in 7 cases. Both types were found in 3 cases. From these results, anogenital warts and laryngeal papilloma in children are found to be pure viral diseases caused by HPV type 6 and 11. Nine cases of DNA extracted from cervical swabs from mothers of children with condyloma or laryngeal papilloma, were examined to identify possible latent infection of HPV. Among 9 cases, HPV DNA was found in two cases. These results suggest that inapparent infection of HPV type 6, 11 in the birth canal may contribute to the development of these viral diseases in their offspring aside from sexual abuse