• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• 제48권2호
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• pp.18.1-18.10
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• 2023

Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether collagen triple helix repeat containing-1 (CTHRC1), which is involved in vascular remodeling and bone formation, can stimulate odontogenic differentiation and angiogenesis when administered to human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs). Materials and Methods: The viability of hDPSCs upon exposure to CTHRC1 was assessed with the WST-1 assay. CTHRC1 doses of 5, 10, and 20 ㎍/mL were administered to hDPSCs. Reverse-transcription polymerase reaction was used to detect dentin sialophosphoprotein, dentin matrix protein 1, vascular endothelial growth factor, and fibroblast growth factor 2. The formation of mineralization nodules was evaluated using Alizarin red. A scratch wound assay was conducted to evaluate the effect of CTHRC1 on cell migration. Data were analyzed using 1-way analysis of variance followed by the Tukey post hoc test. The threshold for statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: CTHRC1 doses of 5, 10, and 20 ㎍/mL had no significant effect on the viability of hDPSCs. Mineralized nodules were formed and odontogenic markers were upregulated, indicating that CTHRC1 promoted odontogenic differentiation. Scratch wound assays demonstrated that CTHRC1 significantly enhanced the migration of hDPSCs. Conclusions: CTHRC1 promoted odontogenic differentiation and mineralization in hDPSCs.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• 제5권1호
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• pp.1-8
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• 2006

Since its defeat in the Second World War, Japan has been fostering good ties with Western countries, especially the United States. However, some East Asian leaders emboldened by their countries' economic success have proclaimed that the future belongs to Asia and have put forward the "Asian values" argument. It is interesting to note that some elements of the "Asian values" argument resemble ultranationalist discourse that was dominant in Japan before the war. The Japanese Government had a great opportunity to reappraise its role in international politics and take stock of its economic and diplomatic relations with East Asian countries after the end of the Cold War. To meet future challenges, Japan should fully overcome anti-Western sentiment and participate in establishing a truly democratic East Asian regionalism based on the "universal values" of human rights, democracy and freedom. This may prove to be one of the biggest challenges for Japan's East Asia policy in the new century.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.27-45
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• 2012

Among political scientists, Japan's free trade agreements (FTA) with member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been considered to be a political tool that can compete against China for regional leadership in East Asia. However, this paper demonstrates that Japan's so-called FTA diplomacy towards ASEAN nations serves the broad interests of Japanese actors in both the political and economic sectors. Given the attention to Japanese domestic political issues, it is argued that diplomacy primarily facilitates a need for free trade with ASEAN and ASEAN markets for Japanese corporations to compete in the global economy and for the government to nurture Japan's stagnant economy by assisting these corporations. This work also contends that the unclear function of FTA as an economic good is due to the lack of the government capacity to effectively manage FTA diplomacy. This partly results from the conventional view with regard to Sino-Japanese rivalry.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.13-25
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• 2012

In the wake of the Arab Spring, the Internet's role in aiding dramatic political transformation has come to the fore. Throughout the Middle East, protestors have employed Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and other popular websites to organize and spread news at home and to the outside world. Chinese authorities have been increasingly nervous about the Arab uprisings, and fear that similar events will inspire unrest in China. The new information and communication technologies make it possible for social movements to initiate novel forms of collective actions. The Internet provides new opportunities for political liberalization. In Chinese society, citizens can now participate in politics uninvited. With each passing day, the online community gets stronger. The digital revolution has the potential for broadening democratic principles and could bring democracy to the collective Chinese mind.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.57-69
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• 2015

This paper explores some of the ways in which social games - games played with others through social network sites such as Facebook - are situated within the everyday. It argues that social games are more than just games; they perform a range of interactive and integrative functions across and within people's lives and therefore need to be investigated as such. Social games en-able spaces for and practices of creative expression, and identity management. They also form a mechanism through which relations can be enacted and maintained across and outside of the game environment. This argument requires the researcher to consider the panoply of ways in which people integrate social games within their lives and everyday practices. Part of a larger project, this paper explores some findings from an exploratory survey of Australian game play-ers about their management and integration of game play within the everyday with a particular focus on gender.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.45-55
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• 2015

This paper examines the diffusion of smartphones with a special emphasis on the diffusive interactions between Apple iOS and Google Android in a global context. Since the two mobile platforms were first introduced in the market, the use of smartphones has skyrocketed, suggesting that the dramatic diffusion of smartphones may be explained in part by the growth and competition of these two platforms. To study this, an extended Bass model is applied to a data set of quarterly smartphone sales between 2008 and 2013 for 15 countries. Our findings suggest that the innovation effect was more salient for iOS than for Android in developed countries, whereas the imitation effect was more striking for Android than for iOS in developing countries. Furthermore, our results from the co-diffusion model suggest that the diffusion of Android negatively affected by the diffusion of iOS, but not vice versa.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.123-143
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• 2020

This study examines the interplay between the reactions of YouTube users and North Korean propaganda. Interesting enough, the study has noticed changes in the strict media environment under young leader Kim. Messages delivered by the communist regime to the outside world appeared to resemble those of 'normal' countries. Although North Korean YouTube was led mainly by the account operator, visitors from different nations do comment on the channel, which suggests the possibility of building international communities for propaganda purposes. Overall, the study observed a sparsely connected social network among ordinary commenters. However, the operator did not exercise tight control over peer-to-peer communication but merely answered questions and tried to facilitate mass participation. In contrast to the many news clips, the documentary content on North Korea's YouTube channel did not explicitly advocate for North Korea's current political positions.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.1-7
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• 2020

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic once again demonstrated how crucial it is to have unlimited access to scientific information. At the same time, the economic disparities that the pandemic revealed and aggravated made us realize that many of us cannot afford access to expert knowledge. While the international community is speculating about possible outcomes of the crisis, one can be said for sure, the pandemic accelerated many inevitable changes that would otherwise happen at a slower pace including increasing digitalization of the society and the expanding role of open data in the life of the academic community.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.31-42
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• 2020

There is great confusion over what constitutes public diplomacy (PD), who its actors are, and the relevance of non-state actors. In the Korean context, in addition to the general fuzziness of the concept, linguistic peculiarities of the terms gonggong and gongjung both of which refer to public, waegyo, which is interchangeably used for international affairs, foreign policy and diplomacy, and juche which is simultaneously used for actor and agent, add more layers of confusion. While the term PD in Korea is based almost entirely on Western conceptualization, these linguistic peculiarities prevent fruitful conversations among scholars and practitioners on PD. Against this background, this research note explores and addresses conceptual ambiguities that pertains to PD and the policy discourse on the topic, particularly on non-state PD in Korea. The paper draws on Korean government's PD-related policy documents and Diplomatic White Papers and all relevant academic articles found in Korean-language journals registered in the Korean Citation Index (KCI), which are analysed to gain an understanding of the PD-related policy discourse in Korea.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.1-21
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• 2017

The Jakarta Provincial Government utilizes the YouTube channel to interact with citizens and enhance transparency. The purpose of this study is to explore online perceptions of local government image perceived by online audiences through the YouTube platform. The concepts of organizational image and credibility in the political image are adapted to analyze online public perceptions on the Jakarta Provincial Government image. Using the video summarization approach on Three hundred and forty-six official YouTube videos, which were uploaded from 1 March 2016 to 31 May 2016, and content analysis of Eight thousand two hundred and thirty-seven comments, this study shows both political and bureaucratic image emerge concurrently in the Jakarta Provincial Government case. The typology model is proposed to describe and explain the four image variations that occurred in the case study. Practical recommendations are suggested to manage YouTube channel as one of the social media used in the local government context.