• Title/Summary/Keyword: Eastern Asia

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Analysis of the Policy Network for the “Feed-in Tariff Law” in Japan: Evidence from the GEPON Survey

  • Okura, Sae;Tkach-Kawasaki, Leslie;Kobashi, Yohei;Hartwig, Manuela;Tsujinaka, Yutaka
    • Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.41-63
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    • 2016
  • Energy policy is known to have higher path dependency among policy fields (Kuper and van Soest, 2003; OECD, 2012; Kikkawa, 2013) and is a critical component of the infrastructure development undertaken in the early stages of nation building. Actor roles, such as those played by interest groups, are firmly formed, making it unlikely that institutional change can be implemented. In resource-challenged Japan, energy policy is an especially critical policy area for the Japanese government. In comparing energy policy making in Japan and Germany, Japan’s policy community is relatively firm (Hartwig et al., 2015), and it is improbable that institutional change can occur. The Japanese government’s approach to energy policy has shifted incrementally in the past half century, with the most recent being the 2012 implementation of the “Feed-In Tariff Law” (Act on Special Measures Concerning Procurement of Renewable Electric Energy by Operators of Electric Utilities), which encourages new investment in renewable electricity generation and promotes the use of renewable energy. Yet, who were the actors involved and the factors that influenced the establishment of this new law? This study attempts to assess the factors associated with implementing the law as well as the roles of the relevant major actors. In answering this question, we focus on identifying the policy networks among government, political parties, and interest groups, which suggests that success in persuading key economic groups could be a factor in promoting the law. Our data is based on the “Global Environmental Policy Network Survey 2012-2013 (GEPON2)” which was conducted immediately after the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake with respondents including political parties, the government, interest groups, and civil society organizations. Our results suggest that the Feed in Tariff (FIT) Law’s network structure is similar to the information network and support network, and that the actors at the center of the network support the FIT Law. The strength of our research lays in our focus on political networks and their contributing mechanism to the law’s implementation through analysis of the political process. From an academic perspective, identifying the key actors and factors may be significant in explaining institutional change in policy areas with high path dependency. Close examination of this issue also has implications for a society that can promote renewable and sustainable energy resources.

Study on Reinterpretation of temperament concept of Sasang constitutional Medicine based on the Neurological theories of emotion (현대적 감정이론을 통한 사상의학(四象醫學)의 성정론(性情論)의 재해석)

  • Chang, Jun-Young;Kang, Jung Soo;Kim, Byoung-Soo
    • Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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    • v.22 no.2
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    • pp.1-12
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    • 2014
  • The Sasang constitutional Medicine is the original medicine that is created from the deep studies on former Eastern medical theories by Lee Jae-Ma in the late 19th century. This medicine deals with the interaction between mind and body in great depth. The temperament (the distinct nature and character of an individual, 性情) concept is the theoretical basis which divides man's constitution into four(Taeyangin, Taeumin, Soyangin and Soumin). This concept is derived from The old oriental Sung-Myung concept which has philosophical meaning. These terms of Sung and Jung also have metaphysical meaning and can not be explained easily. but roughly, The temperament is divided two concept. the distinct nature(性) means human's nature and the distinct nature(情) means human's desire. Besides, In Sasang constitution medicine, terms that traditionally represent emotions in asia are used as terminology of temperament. Altough too many aspects about Human's mind remains unknown yet, According to Neurological evidences, the brain is regarded as the main organ that produces rationality and emotion. Especially the way that brain produces an emotion provides some clues that can tell us how can mind affect body. Emotion is considered as evolutionary adaptation to response correctly against unexpected chaotic external changes. It is something that humans are born with, and causes physical responses simultaneously. Moreover, It can be come out with or without consciousness. The temperament(性情) concept and Emotion have similarity that both play an important role in mind-body correlation. Therefore Neurological researches on emotion were able to help reinterpret temperament(性情) concept. the distinct nature(性) seems to be the emotion that is come out directly from the brain stem, and the distinct nature(情) seems to be the emotion that is produced after neocortex involved thinking process. And the reason why Sung and Jung affect organs differently is explained from the manner that brain expresses emotion.

Crustal velocities around the Korean Peninsula estimated with GPS (GPS로 잰 한반도 주변의 지각운동 속도)

  • Park, Pil-Ho;Ahn, Yong-Won;Park, Jong-Uk;Joh, Jeong-Ho;Lim, Hyung-Chul
    • Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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    • v.3 no.3
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    • pp.153-160
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    • 2000
  • Crustal velocities around the Korea peninsula are estimated and investigated from eight IGS permanent stations in eastern Asia area. GPS data for the period of May 1995 to December 1991 were analyzed to estimate daily coordinates of each site relative to TAEJ site. The velocity vector of each site is estimated from linear regression analysis with time series of coordinates. As the result, horizontal velocity components for four stations(Tsukuba, Usuda,Taiwan and Shanghai) using thirty-two months data were estimated with the standard error less than 1 mm/year. Our GPS velocity of six sites on the interiors of the Eurasia plate are similar within 1 cm/year with small differences respectively. On the other hand, the velocities of Tsukuba and Usuda showed the great differences from the other six sites. This can be explained by the fact that these two sites are enforced by the surrounding four plates, such as the Pacific, Eurasia, North America and Philipine plate. This study showed that the distance between Korea and Japan is shortened with the rate of 3 cm per year.

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Trend and Prediction of Environmental Resources Consumption in the Korean Peninsula (한반도 단위의 환경자원 소비량 추이와 예측)

  • Yeo, Min Ju;Kim, Yong Pyo
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.25 no.4
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    • pp.261-279
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    • 2016
  • Trends of food and energy consumptions in South Korea, North Korea, and the Korean Peninsula were shown and consumptions of food and energy for the integrated Korean Peninsula with several Cases were predicted, and the directions for the environmental resources management were suggested in this study. The Food Supply Quantity, the Protein Supply Quantity, and the Food Supply of North Korea were less than those of South Korea, the Eastern Asia, and World after 1990s. However, it is expected that the food consumption in North Korea will increase, if two Koreas are integrated. If the Food Supply Quantity of North Korea is the same as that of South Korea with the maximum projected population of integrated two Koreas by 2055, the food consumption in the Korean Peninsula would increase by 25% compared with the 2011 food consumption of integrated two Koreas. Thus, the choice of diet should be carefully considered and the increase of agricultural productivity is required. Energy consumption in North Korea is very small comparing to that of South Korea and fraction of coal in energy usage of North Korea is very high. If the energy consumption per capita of North Korea after integration be the same as that of South Korea in 2011, the energy consumption in the Korean Peninsula would increase by 45% compared with the 2011 energy consumption of integrated two Koreas. To minimize the environmental effects caused by energy consumption, the energy plan with the reduced fraction of coal in energy supply of North Korea should be adopted and advanced technology with higher efficiency should be applied to establish or expand the energy facility in North Korea.

Study of Genetic Diversity and Taxonomy of Genus Sorbus in Korea Using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD에 의한 한국내 마가목속 식물의 유전적 다양성과 분류학적 연구)

  • Park, So-Hye;Kim, Sea-Hyun;Seo, Hee-Won;Huh, Man-Kyu
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.17 no.4 s.84
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    • pp.470-475
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    • 2007
  • Genus Sorbus is a long lived woody species. Plants of this genus are primarily distributed patchy throughout Asia and Europe. Sorbus commixta is primarily distributed throughout Europe. Eastern Asian Sorbus species are regarded as very important herbal medicines in Korea and China. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was used to investigate the genetic variation and phylogenetic analysis of four species of this genus in Korea. Although some Korean populations of these species were isolated and patchily distributed, they exhibited a high level of genetic diversity. Twenty-six primers revealed 205 loci, of which 128 were polymorphic (62.4%). S. commixta showed the highest diversity (0.165), whereas S. aucuparia showed the lowest diversity (0.109). The estimated gene flow (Nm) was low high among intra-species (mean Nm=0.755). A similarity matrix based on the proportion of shared fragments (GS) was used to evaluate relatedness among species. The estimate of GS ranged from 0.786 to 0.963. The molecular data allowed us to resolve well-supported clades in Korean taxa and European species. An addition, especially, species-specific markers for genus Sorbus by RAPD analysis may be useful in germ-plasm classification and agricultural process of several taxa of this genus.

Climatological Study of 1994's Summer Droughts in Korea (한국에 있어서 1994년 하계한발의 기후학적 연구)

  • Yang, Jin-Suk
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.93-102
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    • 1996
  • The Korean Peninsula is located on the east coast of monsoon Asia of the midlatitude, where the Pacific polar front moves. As a result variations of spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation occur. A great variation of precipitation during the summer months created frequent droughts and floods. The purpose of this study is to identify distributional characteristics and to analyze synopic characteristics of summer droughts in Korea. The research methods used are ; (1) to identify droughts based on the anomaly of monthly precipitation during summer of 1994. (2) to analyze correlations between drought and weather systems by using the calender of rain days. (3) to compare a synoptic mechanism of summer droughts with that of typical normal summer. The characteristics of summer droughts of 1994 may be summarized as follows ; 1) While most regions were affected by the droughts some regions displayed specific characteristics. The southern part of the Korean Peninsula was severely affected during the month of June. August droughts severely affected east part of the Sobek Mountains, thus showing that the droughts of June and August are highly localized. 2) In the pressure anomaly of surface field. the positive anomaly appears in June around Korean Peninsula, but in July when all parts of the South Korea were under severe droughts, the anomaly changes and becomes negative. 3) Extracyclones occurred less frequently in the summer of 1994. Those that did occur were located in areas far off the Korean Peninsula having little consequences on the drought patterns. 4) The trough of westerly wave at 500hPa height patterns in June is located far from the eastern sea of Korean Peninsula, but in July and August Korean Peninsula belongs to ridge of westerly wave. 5) In June the positive height anomaly at 500hPa surface appears zonally from Siberia to the western Parts of North Pacific Ocean, and in July and August, the strong positive anomaly appears around Korean Peninsula. As a result the zonal index of westerlies at during each month of summer in Korean sector has a large value, which in turn implies that drought will prevails when zonal flow is strong.

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Micro-Geopolitics against the U.S. Forces in S. Korea: Local Problems Caused by the U.S. Military Bases and Strategies for their Resolution (주한미군의 미시적 지정학 - 미군기지로 인한 지역사회의 범죄 및 환경 문제의 발생과 해결방안 -)

  • Choi, Byung-Doo
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.9 no.3
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    • pp.297-313
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    • 2003
  • Problems caused by the U.S. military bases have attracted little attention until recently due to the national security of S.Korea and the peace of North-Eastern Asia, emphasized from the perspective of macro-geopolitics. However, since the political regime has been democratized and political discourses have been liberalized from the 1990s, those problems become a nation-widely serious social issue, though they have been brought about on the local areas. Thus, it can be suggested that micro-geopolitics is highly relevant and significant in approaching the local problems caused by the U.S. military bases, and ultimately resolving the macro-geopolitical problem of longstanding unfair relations in the SOFA and the withdrawal of U.S. troops. This paper aims to consider local problems caused by the U.S. military bases and resolving strategies from the perspective of micro-geopolitics. First of all, it discusses some significance of the micro-geopolitical perspective, as it has been recently emphasized in political geography in considering local problems and politics of life on the basis of place, then looks on empirically criminal and environmental problems caused by the U.S. military bases, analyses the questionnaire date on the perception of local dwellers around the military camps in Nam-gu Daegu, and finally suggests strategies to resolve those problems, which level up from the micro to the macro-scale of geopolitics.

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Development of Universal Primers for Phylogenetic Analysis and Species-specific Band Identification in the Genus Actinidia (다래나무속 식물의 분류 및 계통 특이밴드 탐색을 위한 범용 프라이머 개발)

  • 김성철;장기창;송은영;김공호;정용환;김미선;오순자;고석찬
    • Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.107-115
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    • 2004
  • To develop universal primers for phylogenetic analysis and species-specific marker for breeding program of kiwifruit, eighteens primers were designed from kiwifruit genome-specific repeat sequences. Seven species including twenty two varieties collected from native eastern Asia were examined using 18 to 22 mer kiwifruit target(KT) primers. among eighteen primers, we selected seven primers for phylogenetic relationship. The genus Actinidia was divided into two large groups; group I,A. arguta, A. melanandra, A. kolomikta, and A. marcrosperma, characterized by the non-hair in fruits and loaves or a few pubescences only in young stage, which belongs to the section Leiocarpae, and group II, A. chinensis, A. deliciosa, and A. eriantha, characterized by a lot of hairs only in young fruit stage and with a lot of hairs or fuzzes in leaves and branches, which belongs to the section Stellatae. Group II especially belongs to the series Perfectae of the section Stellatae and was divided into two subgroups; subgroup I containing A. chinensis and A. deliciosa, and subgroup II containing A. eriantha. In contrast, the two species, A. chinensis and A. deliciosa, which are known to have common parents, were divided into two independent subgroups with 80% of a similarity value. On the other hand, we selected KT6F for variety specific bands, KT12E primers for 'Hayward' and 'Tomuri'. KT7F or KT12F primers were useful for analysis of inheritance pattern in kiwifruit cross-breeding. We suggest that these primers will be a powerful tool for elucidating phylogenetic relationship and selection of novelty kiwifruit in a breeding program.

Sr, Nd and Pb Isotopic Compositions of the Pyeongtaek-Asan Alkali Basalts: Implication to the Contrasting Compositional Boundary for the Mantle beneath Korean Peninsula (평택-아산 알칼리 현무암의 Sr, Nd 및 Pb 동위원소 조성: 한반도 아래 맨틀의 대조적인 조성 경계에 대한 의미)

  • Park, Kye-Hun;Cheong, Chang-Sik;Jeong, Youn-Joong
    • The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.144-153
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    • 2008
  • Sr, Nd, Pb isotopic compositions of the Cenozoic basaltic rocks distributed in Pyeongtaek-Asan area display significantly enriched values compared with mid-ocean ridge basalts just like other Cenozoic basalts of Korea. The isotopic compositions of most of the Cenozoic basaltic rocks of Korea including those from Pyeongtaek-Asan area can be explained as mixing between enriched mantle component with relatively low $^{206}Pb/^{204}Pb$ ratios and depleted mantle component. In contrast, Jejudo basalts can be explained as mixing between enriched mantle component with realtively higher $^{206}Pb/^{204}Pb$ ratios and depleted mantle componsnt. Combined with that very similar division of enriched mantle components is applied to the Cenozoic basalts of northeast China and southeast China, it is suggested that subcontinental lithospheric mantle of central and southern parts of Korea represents eastern extension of North China Block and South China Block respectively. The indentation model for the late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic continental collision of China contradicts to such an interpretation, because it cannot explain occurrence of subcontinental lithospheric mantle component of South China Block-affinity under the Jejudo area. Instead, it is more probable that suture zone of the two continental blocks crosses between central and southern Korea and its location is further south from the Pyeongtaek-Asan area. Such distinct location compared with Imjingal belt, supposedly collisional boundary suggested before, suggests that mantle boundary may not be coincide with crustal boundary for the continental collision.

Suppression of Cocaine Intake by Acupuncture at HT7

  • Lee, Bong-Hyo;Kim, Sung-Hwan;Lim, Sung-Chul;Kim, Jae-Su;Lee, Yun-Kyu;Lee, Ji-Hye;Jung, Tae-Young;Yang, Chae-Ha;Yoon, Seong-Shoon;Han, Chang-Hyun;Lee, Kyung-Min
    • The Journal of Korean Medicine
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    • v.31 no.3
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    • pp.17-27
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    • 2010
  • Objectives: Cocaine has been well known as a representative drug of abuse for its strong reinforcing effect linked to the mesolimbic reward system including dopamine, and such reinforcement leads to the addiction. Acupuncture has been used widely in eastern Asia for the treatment of various diseases including mental disorders and psychiatric problems, and is gathering more interest as one of the complementary and alternative medicines in western countries. In a previous study, we demonstrated that acupuncture at HT7 could affect dopamine release in the mesolimbic system of rats sensitized to alcohol and morphine. This study was designed to investigate whether acupuncture at HT7 could attenuate cocaine intake or not. Material & Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 270-300 g at the start of experiment were trained to self-administer food pellets under a fixed ratio 1 schedule. After the success of acquisition of 100 pellets within 3 h for 3 consecutive days, animals were subjected to surgery whereby Silastic tubing was implanted into right jugular vein and secured with mesh under the anesthetization using pentobarbital injection (50 mg/kg, i.p.). Following recovery, rats were trained to self-administer cocaine (0.25 mg/kg) in daily 2 h sessions under fixed ratio 1 schedule over 10 days. Each treatment was performed on the next day of each establishment of baseline. Results: Results show that acupuncture at HT7, but not at control points, reduced cocaine intake significantly. Acupuncture at HT7 decreased selectively active lever response from $63.15{\pm}3.35$ to $51.46{\pm}3.99$ corresponding $82.12{\pm}5.31%$ compared to basal level. Also, it was demonstrated that the effect of acupuncture was mainly occurred at the half period. Nevertheless, acupuncture at HT7 did not influence the food taking behavior. Conclusions: From the results of this study, it may be suggested that acupuncture at HT7, at least in part, could contribute to the treatment of cocaine abuse.