The Global Economic Crisis, Dual Polarization, and Liberal Democracy in South Korea

This paper aims at a theoretical reflection on and an empirical analysis of the relationship between the global economic crisis and liberal democracy in South Korea. For this, we elaborate the concept of dual polarization and construct a model of path analysis which includes such variables as socio-economic and political-ideological cleavage, political party affiliation, ideological orientation, economic (crisis) outlook, and support for an autocratic presidential rule as potential threats to liberal democracy. Descriptively, the paper examines how liberal democracy has unfolded and where South Korea stands today with regard to the quality of her democracy. Analytically, the paper examines where the potential threat to liberal democracy comes from based on a general population survey in Korea from 2014. The major findings of our analysis include: 1) The support for autocratic presidential power is stronger among citizens than among MPs. 2) Political party affiliation, ideological orientation, and economic (crisis) outlook are closely interrelated and significantly affected by the political-ideological cleavage. All independent variables contribute to explaining support for an autocratic presidential rule. 3) Yet there also exists strong support for a democratic regime among both MPs and citizens

Inhibitory effect of a tyrosine-fructose Maillard reaction product, 2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal on amyloid-β generation and inflammatory reactions via inhibition of NF-κB and STAT3 activation in cultured astrocytes and microglial BV-2 cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Amyloidogenesis is linked to neuroinflammation. The tyrosine-fructose Maillard reaction product, 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal, possesses anti-inflammatory properties in cultured macrophages, and in an arthritis animal model. Because astrocytes and microglia are responsible for amyloidogenesis and inflammatory reactions in the brain, we investigated the anti-inflammatory and anti-amyloidogenic effects of 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated astrocytes and microglial BV-2 cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cultured astrocytes and microglial BV-2 cells were treated with LPS (1 μg/ml) for 24 h, in the presence (1, 2, 5 μM) or absence of 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal, and harvested. We performed molecular biological analyses to determine the levels of inflammatory and amyloid-related proteins and molecules, cytokines, Aβ, and secretases activity. Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) DNA binding activity was determined using gel mobility shift assays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal (1, 2, 5 μM) suppresses the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) as well as the production of nitric oxide (NO), reactive oxygen species (ROS), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in LPS (1 μg/ml)-stimulated astrocytes and microglial BV-2 cells. Further, 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal inhibited the transcriptional and DNA binding activity of NF-κB--a transcription factor that regulates genes involved in neuroinflammation and amyloidogenesis via inhibition of IκB degradation as well as nuclear translocation of p50 and p65. Consistent with the inhibitory effect on inflammatory reactions, 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal inhibited LPS-elevated Aβ₄₂levels through attenuation of β- and γ-secretase activities. Moreover, studies using signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) siRNA and a pharmacological inhibitor showed that 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal inhibits LPS-induced activation of STAT3.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results indicate that 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal inhibits neuroinflammatory reactions and amyloidogenesis through inhibition of NF-κB and STAT3 activation, and suggest that 2,4-bis(<it>p</it>-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal may be useful for the treatment of neuroinflammatory diseases like Alzheimer's disease.</p

Single-Copy Certification of Two-Qubit Gates without Entanglement

A quantum state transformation can be generally approximated by single- and two-qubit gates. This, however, does not hold with noisy intermediate-scale quantum technologies due to the errors appearing in the gate operations, where errors of two-qubit gates such as controlled-NOT and SWAP operations are dominated. In this work, we present a cost efficient single-copy certification for a realization of a two-qubit gate in the presence of depolarization noise, where it is aimed to identify if the realization is noise-free, or not. It is shown that entangled resources such as entangled states and a joint measurement are not necessary for the purpose, i.e., a noise-free two-qubit gate is not needed to certify an implementation of a two-qubit gate. A proof-of-principle demonstration is presented with photonic qubits.Comment: 8 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1812.0208

Another Cosmopolitanism: A Critical Reconstruction of the Neo-Confucian Conception of Tianxiaweigong (天下爲公) in the Age of Global Risks

In this paper we would like to present the profile of another cosmopolitanism through critical reconstruction of one of the core elements in Chinese political imaginary, the conception of Tianxiaweigong (天下爲公), which means literally: All under the Heaven belongs to the public. The first meaning of another cosmopolitanism lies in the fact that it starts not from the main western tradition of cosmopolitanism, but from the tradition of Confucian political thoughts. However, it has a second, but more important meaning that is concerned with two deficits which the cosmopolitan publicness in the age of global risks should cope with; the democratic deficit and what we would like to call ecological deficits. The critical cosmopolitan project in the age of global risks needs to be reflective in dual senses to cope with both two deficits. The second meaning of another cosmopolitanism lies in this critical cosmopolitan project