International Live Endoscopic Multichannel Demonstration Using Superfast Broadband Internet Connections

Telemedicine is a convenient and efficient tool for remote education in various fields. The telemedicine system can also be used to educate doctors and medical students. The aim of our study was to establish the effectiveness of the telemedical system for use in a live endoscopic multichannel demonstration conference and to test the effectiveness and usefulness of a multicenter-based live endoscopic demonstration through live, interactive, high resolution video transmission using advanced networks and the digital video transport system (DVTS)

Complementarity among International Asset Holdings: Do Banks Have a Special Role?

This paper studies the pattern and structure of cross-border bilateral financial asset holdings. By utilizing an extended dataset and employing a variant of gravity models, we find strong evidence for the presence of complementarities among bank loans, shortand long-term debts, and portfolio equity holdings. The complementarities can be explained by common factors of standard gravity models such as economy size, state of development, and information cost proxies, as well as bilateral trade in goods and services. However, we also find the presence of a direct channel of complementarities among financial asset holdings that cannot be explained by these gravity factors. We proceed to investigate whether the complementarities can be characterized by the models that predict a special role of banks in alleviating information asymmetry. We find supporting evidence for this hypothesis in that international bank lending tends to increase the volume of portfolio asset holdings. This acceleration effect of bank lending is stronger for destination countries with higher degrees of ‘law and order,’ which suggests that cross-border bank lending may not lead to capital market integration, despite reduced information cost, if there is no appropriate infrastructure to facilitate portfolio investment. By investigating the structure of bilateral asset holdings, we also find positive evidence for the information role of banks. The share of bank lending decreases with increasing state of development of destination countries measured by per capita GDP and human capital accumulation, but increases with increasing distance, suggesting that information cost may play an important role in determining the structure of cross-border asset holdings.Cross-border asset holdings; Financial integration; Bank lending

Increasing ambient temperature progressively disassembles Arabidopsis phytochrome B from individual photobodies with distinct thermostabilities.

Warm temperature is postulated to induce plant thermomorphogenesis through a signaling mechanism similar to shade, as both destabilize the active form of the photoreceptor and thermosensor phytochrome B (phyB). At the cellular level, shade antagonizes phyB signaling by triggering phyB disassembly from photobodies. Here we report temperature-dependent photobody localization of fluorescent protein-tagged phyB (phyB-FP) in the epidermal cells of Arabidopsis hypocotyl and cotyledon. Our results demonstrate that warm temperature elicits different photobody dynamics than those by shade. Increases in temperature from 12 °C to 27 °C incrementally reduce photobody number by stimulating phyB-FP disassembly from selective thermo-unstable photobodies. The thermostability of photobodies relies on phyB's photosensory module. Surprisingly, elevated temperatures inflict opposite effects on phyB's functions in the hypocotyl and cotyledon despite inducing similar photobody dynamics, indicative of tissue/organ-specific temperature signaling circuitry either downstream of photobody dynamics or independent of phyB. Our results thus provide direct cell biology evidence supporting an early temperature signaling mechanism via dynamic assembly/disassembly of individual photobodies possessing distinct thermostabilities

Causes of the Korean Financial Crisis: Lessons for Policy

This paper uses an asymmetric information framework to understand the causes of the recent financial crisis in Korea. It shows that the Korean data is consistent with this explanation of the crisis. It then draws on this analysis to discuss several lessons that can help guide Korean policymakers in the future.

Synthesis method of asymmetric gold particles.

Asymmetric particles can exhibit unique properties. However, reported synthesis methods for asymmetric particles hinder their application because these methods have a limited scale and lack the ability to afford particles of varied shapes. Herein, we report a novel synthetic method which has the potential to produce large quantities of asymmetric particles. Asymmetric rose-shaped gold particles were fabricated as a proof of concept experiment. First, silica nanoparticles (NPs) were bound to a hydrophobic micro-sized polymer containing 2-chlorotritylchloride linkers (2-CTC resin). Then, half-planar gold particles with rose-shaped and polyhedral structures were prepared on the silica particles on the 2-CTC resin. Particle size was controlled by the concentration of the gold source. The asymmetric particles were easily cleaved from the resin without aggregation. We confirmed that gold was grown on the silica NPs. This facile method for synthesizing asymmetric particles has great potential for materials science

Old Wine in New Skins? Revisiting the Software Architecture for IP Network Stacks on Constrained IoT Devices

In this paper, we argue that existing concepts for the design and implementation of network stacks for constrained devices do not comply with the requirements of current and upcoming Internet of Things (IoT) use cases. The IoT requires not only a lightweight but also a modular network stack, based on standards. We discuss functional and non-functional requirements for the software architecture of the network stack on constrained IoT devices. Then, revisiting concepts from the early Internet as well as current implementations, we propose a future-proof alternative to existing IoT network stack architectures, and provide an initial evaluation of this proposal based on its implementation running on top of state-of-the-art IoT operating system and hardware.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures and table

Utilizing Mindfulness to Increase Attachment and Parental Efficacy

The following proposal is a review of the literature on the potential benefit to utilizing mindfulness to foster secure attachment in early parent-child relationships and increase parental efficacy. Research into mindfulness has indicated beneficial results in the treatment of several psychological disorders including depression. The promising indications from mindfulness research with depression have demonstrated the potential usefulness of mindfulness for insecure attachment and parenting interventions. An ideal direction to take mindful parenting research is into preventative and early intervention stages as it has been indicated that the earlier parenting intervention and preventative measures can occur, the better outcome children will have

Utilizing Mindfulness to Increase Attachment and Parental Efficacy

The following proposal is a review of the literature on the potential benefit to utilizing mindfulness to foster secure attachment in early parent-child relationships and increase parental efficacy. Research into mindfulness has indicated beneficial results in the treatment of several psychological disorders including depression. The promising indications from mindfulness research with depression have demonstrated the potential usefulness of mindfulness for insecure attachment and parenting interventions. An ideal direction to take mindful parenting research is into preventative and early intervention stages as it has been indicated that the earlier parenting intervention and preventative measures can occur, the better outcome children will have

Which People? Whose Constitution? A Comparative Look at Constitutional Founding in Korea and Japan

Professor Hahm examines the process of constitutional founding in South Korea and Japan after World War II. His lecture revisits a number of legal and political issues that were hotly contested by the drafters at the time. Professor Hahm also highlights a more general theoretical problem that confronted efforts to establish democratic constitutional orders for the first time. The lecture raises questions about our received understanding regarding a number of issues, including ideas about the legitimacy of a constitution, assumptions regarding the identity of the sovereign people, and the role of the past in the creation of a new constitutional order. Runtime: 01:12:2