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- [Social Sciences/Business] Can TV PSA Campaigns help reduce suicide rates?
- Professor In Han Song isong@yonsei.ac.kr School of Social Welfare, Yonsei University ■ Social Sciences & Business / Can TV PSA Campaigns help reduce suicide rates? Yonsei researchers investigate the effects of a public service advertisement campaign on suicide prevention in South Korea Over the past decade, South Korea has maintained the highest suicide rate among the 35 nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is clear, then, that suicide-prevention strategies need to be adopted at the national level. But which measures are most effective? In a paper titled “Does a TV Public Service Advertisement Campaign for Suicide Prevention Really Work? A Case from South Korea,” Yonsei University researchers Song, You, Kim, Kim, Kwon et al. (2016) examine whether a TV advertisement significantly increased the volume of calls to a crisis hotline. The paper was published in Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention. Using a database of phone calls to a crisis hotline compiled by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, the authors compared daily call counts before, during, and after the TV PSA campaign. The campaign aired for 16 days in 2013, and the researchers investigated changes in the number of calls related to both suicide and other general mental health issues. Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of PSA campaigns for reducing smoking and alcohol abuse. However, such campaigns aimed at suicide prevention are a relatively recent phenomenon, and therefore research on their effectiveness is limited. Moreover, despite South Korea’s high suicide rate, few studies have specifically investigated the impact of suicide-prevention PSAs in the Korean context. Song, You, Kim, Kim, Kwon et al. analyzed the call volume at the “129 Health and Welfare Call Center” (operated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare) during the 16 days before the PSA campaign began, the 16 days while the campaign ran, and the 16 days after it had concluded. The call data were divided into two categories: suicide-related counseling and other mental health issues. For the purposes of comparison, the researchers also analyzed crisis-call data for the corresponding period (March to June) in 2012. Finally, they investigated whether the differences in call counts before, during, and after the campaign were statistically significant. Used with permission from Crisis, published online November 21, 2016 © 2016 Hogrefe Publishing www.hogrefe.com DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000434 A surge in calls The number of calls to the hotline during the TV PSA campaign was about 1.6 times greater than before or after the campaign. Specifically, the average daily number of suicide-related calls was 40 before the campaign, 67.5 during the campaign, and 43.6 after the campaign. Meanwhile, little change was observed in the number of calls related to other mental health issues. Importantly, there was no significant change in call volume for the corresponding period during the previous year (March to June 2012). This seems to clearly indicate that the surge in calls observed during the 2013 PSA campaign was not related to “seasonality”—that is, a spike in suicidal behavior during certain months or seasons. Challenges remain While calls to the hotline significantly increased during the PSA campaign, they quickly dropped to precampaign levels immediately after its conclusion. This highlights a need to find ways to encourage people to continue using crisis hotlines beyond the timeframes of suicide-prevention PSA campaigns. For one thing, the duration and frequency of advertisements could be extended to increase public exposure to the hotline number. The duration of the suicide-prevention campaign was actually quite short compared to other TV PSA campaigns in Korea, such as those targeting smoking (the suicide campaign also had a much smaller budget). Moreover, beyond TV campaigns, other media—such as newspapers, billboards, radio, and movie theaters—could be used to continue to draw public attention to the crisis hotline. Looking forward Given the paucity of research on the impact of TV PSA campaigns on suicide prevention in South Korea, this study makes an undeniable contribution to the literature. Further, it opens doors for future research to consider aspects such as the demographics of hotline callers, whether callers actually view TV PSA campaigns, and whether such campaigns actually reduce the number of suicide deaths (in Korea, detailed data on daily suicide deaths are not publicly available). The researchers’ findings are consistent with those of previous studies (in other national contexts) reporting that TV PSA campaigns positively affect suicide-related calls to crisis hotlines. Likewise, other studies on PSA effectiveness have found similar reductions in call volume after the end of a campaign. While there is little doubt that such PSAs actually spur people to seek help, there is also a need to extend the effect beyond the scope of specific campaigns. Overall, this study provides important insight into the effectiveness of specific strategies aimed at reducing suicide rates. Considering the high prevalence of suicide in South Korea, such research is vitally necessary in the Korean context, and the authors fill a noticeable gap in this area. Figure. Comparison of call volumes related to suicide and other mental health issues at the 129 Health and Welfare Call Center during each phase of the TV PSA campaign (Unit: calls, daily average). Updated in Feb 2017 Reference I. H. Song, J.-W. You, J. E. Kim, J.-S. Kim, S. W. Kwon, J.-I. Park, “Does a TV public service advertisement campaign for suicide prevention really work?” Crisis, doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000434
- 통합관리자 2017.02.20
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- [Social Sciences/Business] ‘Translocal Relations’ to solve international environmental issues
- Professor Lee Tae-Dong Political Science and International Studies, Yonsei University tdlee@yonsei.ac.kr ■ Social Sciences & Business ‘Translocal Relations’ to solve international environmental issues Professor Lee Taedong introduces concept to deal with climate change In his book Translocal Relations and Climate Change, Yonsei Political Science and International Studies Professor Lee Tae-dong focuses on the role of cities and local authorities in addressing climate change internationally. He argues that today’s globalized cities and their municipal governments are proving more adept than national governments in instituting effective policies to combat global warming. From this, Professor Lee has arrived at the concept of “translocal relations” between municipal governments, which are considered as autonomous agents. Professor Lee sees translocal relations as working both vertically and horizontally. Vertical relations move from the international down to the state, local community, and individual. This hierarchical structure, though, can result in various discrepancies at each level. On the other hand, Professor Lee identifies horizontal relations between local governments, in which cities learn from each other’s climate change policies. For instance, Paris’s public bike-sharing system Vélib has been emulated in South Korea through the “Nubija” program. In addition to these trans-city networks, Professor Lee highlights the relations that have formed between NGOs, foundations, and individuals, which transcend both national borders and economic differences. Translocal relations also form in the fields of education, culture, economics, society, and politics, and they have proven more rapid in effecting meaningful policy changes. In terms of fighting climate change, it is not only major cities in developed countries that are active participants, but also smaller ones in developing nations. Some of the most important transnational and translocal climate change networks include ICLEI, C40 Cities, and Covenant of Mayors. Speaking of the significance of his book, Professor Lee said: “Translocal Relations and Climate Change arrives at implications for both theory and policy through empirical research on why cities partake in translocal climate change networks, how they collaborate within these networks, and how network membership affects climate change reduction policies.” Updated in Feb 2017
- 통합관리자 2017.02.17
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- [Social Sciences/Business] How socioeconomic contexts complement contingent factors in examining government expenditure
- Professor Whasun Cho Political Science and International Studies, Yonsei University wsjho@yonsei.ac.kr ■ Social Sciences & Business / How socioeconomic contexts complement contingent factors in examining government expenditure Yonsei researcher Whasun Jho takes a deeper dive into how institutions and social capital affect economy and help us better understand future outcomes How much should the government intervene in economic activities, and how do current organizational change and socioeconomic traditions in the public sector affect this determination? Previous studies have focused on how contingent factors such as economy and partisanship can affect government involvement and expenditure, but in “Socioeconomic Contexts of Government Expenditure Across OECD Countries,” Yoo and Jho also consider socioeconomic traditions of a country—trust and state–business relations—to highlight the diverse business systems and subsequent varieties of capitalism that appear across countries. Their hypotheses challenge and then confirm that changes in economic activities, such as the decrease of government expenditure, can be sustainable when balanced attention is paid to both contingent and contextual factors alongside broader trends, such as globalization and a preference for “small government.” A new method of examination Yoo and Jho examine the relationship between government size as measured by the ratio of expenditure to gross domestic product and the socioeconomic traditions of a specific country, the latter of which is defined by social norms that affect the institutional and organizational characteristics of a country. Their study uses panel data from 1995 to 2008 for 29 Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries, and finds that the variation of each socioeconomic characteristic is constant and relatively stable. Sources of data include the OECD Statistics Portal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and individual studies on political positioning and legal factors. The panel employed in this study comprises corrected standard errors estimation using STATA (version 11), and it presents the outcomes of fixed effects and feasible generalized least squares estimations. By incorporating trust (i.e., the general inclination of people to have faith in fellow citizens) and state–business relations (SBR) into commonly observed factors such as government debt and trade, the authors examine why, for example, some countries maintain a large government in the face of overwhelming government debt and low levels of trust. But what do trust and SBR have to do with government spending? The level of trust within a country helps predict the size of government expenditure by determining the required level of government involvement in economic activities. In a country with high internal trust, for example, transactions between organizations will have low levels of friction and perceived risk. High trust, then, should result in small government because of the decreasing need for government intervention. In contrast, if a country shows low trust, there could be higher boundaries between organizations regardless of whether they operate in public or private sectors. Each country’s SBR level, or the extent to which a country is familiar with government intervention in economic activity, was determined by the following seven componentsoftheIndex of Economic Freedom: freedom of business, trade, investment, and labor; fiscal freedom; monetary freedom; and property rights. The study shows that tighter SBR increases government expenditure , whereas higher trust decreases it. For example, economies with high trust and loose SBR, such as the United Kingdom, are more inclined to rely on the private sectors. Yoo and Jho found that, across their sample countries, the coefficient of 0.001 of trust indicated that the increase of trust by 10% resulted in the decrease of government expenditure by 1%, which, in an empirical analysis, is far from meaningless. Other country-specific examples Every country is different in terms of the practices that reflect individuals’ economic activities and the extent to which government intervention into these activities matters; hence, previous studies have shown inconclusive and distinct trajectories when exclusively focusing on contingent factors. Yoo and Jho use various country-specific case studies to help us reconsider how to organize sustainable practices when implementing changes to economic activities, and remind us that changes in government expenditure reflect the socioeconomic traditions of a country. France The French government has consistently maintained large government expenditure and involvement (e.g., state-owned enterprises), despite low levels of trust within the country. This illustrates the positive relationship between tight SBR and government expenditure in an environment of low trust. Germany In German society, both trust and SBR have remained relatively high; however, the study’s data show that its government expenditure has steadily decreased since the mid-1990s. This illustrates the moderating effect of trust on the relationship between SBR and government expenditure. Conclusion Yoo and Jho show us how the organizational traditions of a country affect the extent to which they can be combined with new ideas and trends. This, however, inevitably means that each country has different system-level behavior and organizational heterogeneity. In addition, levels of trust can vary within a single country, verifying that there is no general form of organizational change, and that the outcomes—such as indications of government expenditure and involvement—cannot be understood apart from countries’ embedded socioeconomic traditions. Updated in Feb 2017 Reference T. Yoo, W. Jho, “Socioeconomic Contexts of Government Expenditure Across OECD Countries: A Complementary Perspective From Trust and State–Business Relations,” Administration & Society, doi: 10.1177/0095399714555754
- 통합관리자 2017.02.17
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- [Humanities] Un désir de littérature coréenne, A Desire of Korean Literature
- Professor Myeong-Kyo Jeong Korean Language and Literature, Yonsei University ■ Humanities / Un désir de littérature coréenne, A Desire of Korean Literature Professor Jeong Myeong-Kyo introduces Korean literature to worldwide audience Yonsei Professor Jeong Myeong-kyo’s Un désir de littérature coréenne (A Desire of Korean Literature), published in 2015 in France by Decrescenzo Éditeurs, is a collection of essays meant to introduce twentieth-century Korean literature to a worldwide audience. Situating Korean literature as part of the networks and cross-cultural flows of world literature, Professor Jeong brings a much needed critical and theoretical framework to bear on modern Korean works, something that has been lacking in other efforts to promote the literature internationally. While tracing the development of Korean literature from the beginning of the twentieth century onwards, Professor Jeong highlights both its unique cultural characteristics and its universal themes that transcend national boundaries. In this way, he makes a compelling case for the appeal of Korean literature to a wider international readership. In recognition of the importance of the book, Professor Jeong was invited to the 2016 Salon de Livre (Book Fair) in Paris, where Korean literature was spotlighted. There, he gave a lecture introducing Korean literature and held a book signing event. While in Paris for the fair, Professor Jeong also appeared on Radio France Internationale to speak about his book and Korean literature. In April of last year, Un désir de littérature coréenne was featured in the French monthly Magazine littéraire, which stressed the energy and dynamism of modern Korean literature. Updated in Feb 2017
- 통합관리자 2017.02.17
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- [Yonsei Research In Media] International Campus to Become Research Hub for Materials
- ■ Yonsei Research in Media / International Campus to Become Research Hub for Materials A new joint research lab with Germany’s Fraunhofer has opened on the international Campus in Songdo A new joint research laboratory in the field of materials has opened on the International Campus in Songdo. Global Research Lab for Fraunhofer IKTS, YICT, and KIMS (GRL-FYK) is part of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP)’s Premium Talent Development Project, and it represents a partnership between Yonsei Institute of Convergence Technology (YICT), Germany’s Fraunhofer Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS), and the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS). GRL-FYK is designed to facilitate the global sharing of research results and the transfer of technologies. Yonsei President Kim Yong-hak said: “The joint lab will embark on competitive research that will be foundational for the Yonsei Science Park. Through such endeavors, there will be more partnerships with other global corporations and research labs and centers.” Stanislaw Tilich, President of the German Federal Council, remarked that with the opening of GRLFYK, a bridge has been established between Korea’s Incheon and Germany’s Dresden, one that offers an innovative model for international collaboration. Updated in Feb 2017
- 통합관리자 2017.02.14
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- [Yonsei Research In Media] Listed as a highly cited researcher for 3 consecutive years
- Professor Jinwoo Cheon Yonsei-IBS Institute, Yonsei University Center for Nanomedicine, Institute for Basic Science Department of Chemistry, Yonsei University ■ Yonsei Research in Media / Listed as a highly cited researcher for 3 consecutive years Professor Jinwoo Cheon has been listed by Clarivate Analytics as one of Highly Cited Researchers for 3 consecutive years Professor Jinwoo Cheon at Yonsei University has been listed by Clarivate Analytics as one of the 2016 Highly Cited Researchers. The list represents some of the world’s most influential minds as determined by a citation analysis of Web of Science data. He is thus named on the list for 3 consecutive years. Cheon earned his doctoral degree from University of Illnois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993 and joined Yonsei University as a professor at the Department of Chemistry in 2002. He is the Director of Center for Nanomedicine at the Institute of Basic Sciences(IBS). He is also a Senior Editor of Accounts of Chemical Research and an editorial advisory board member of Nano Letters and Horizons Chemistry. As a pioneer in ‘nanomedicine’ that integrates nanomaterials and medicine, professor Cheon experimentally proved the enhanced effect of magnetic nanoprobes for the detection of cancer markers for the first time in the world. He has also developed the magnetic switch and nanoparticles that may be broadly applied to cancer therapy. Updated in Feb 2017
- 통합관리자 2017.02.14
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- [Life Sciences] Using Big Data to Discover and Predict Disease Genes
- ■ Life Sciences / Using Big Data to Discover and Predict Disease Genes Yonsei Biotechnology Professor In Suk Lee and his team are using big data to more effectively identify and predict disease genes Yonsei Biotechnology Professor In Suk Lee and his research team are using big data to more effectively identify and predict disease genes. To this end, they have developed a new co-expression database called COEXPEDIA (www.coexpedia.org), which enables the identification of diseases and drugs previously unknown to be related to a gene or a gene group of interest. Currently, COEXPEDIA contains nearly eight million co-expressions inferred from both humans and mice, and it is open to researchers throughout the world. The research team has also developed a genome-scale co-functional network of zebrafish genes, DanioNet (www.inetbio.org/danionet). DanioNet allows for function-driven disease gene discovery in zebrafish, which offers a promising human disease model due to the fish’s high anatomical and genomic similarity to humans. In using rigorous statistical assessment, the team was able to confirm the high prediction capacity of DanioNet for a wide variety of human diseases; more specifically, the team demonstrated the feasibility of function-driven disease gene discovery using DanioNet by predicting genes for ciliopathies and performing experimental validation for eight candidate genes. This article, “Function-driven discovery of disease genes in zebrafish using an integrated genomics big data resource,” was published November 16 of 2016, also in Nucleic Acids Research. Updated in Feb 2017 Reference Hongseok Shim, Ji Hyun Kim, Chan Yeong Kim, Sohyun Hwang, Hyojin Kim, Sunmo Yang, Ji Eun Lee, Insuk Lee, “Function-driven discovery of disease genes in zebrafish using an integrated genomics big data resource” Nucleic Acids Research, doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkw897
- 통합관리자 2017.02.13
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- [Engineering/Technology] New excitonic quasi-particle detected in atomically-thin two-dimensional semiconductors
- Associate Professor Hyunyong Choi School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Yonsei University ■ Engineering & Technology / New excitonic quasi-particle detected in atomically-thin two-dimensional semiconductors Yonsei researchers traced the cause of the low photoconversion efficiency in atomically thin two-dimensional semiconductors Professor Hyunyong Choi of Yonsei University School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and his team of researchers found that when an atomically-thin layer semiconductor absorbs light, a new kind of quasiparticle, an exciton, emerges and reduces the photoconversion efficiency. Like graphene, an atomic layer semiconductor is as thin as an atom, but it is known that its band gap means that the sheet easily absorbs light. < Transient Dynamics of the Intraexcitonic Spectral Weight > An exciton refers to a quantum state, where electrons and holes become attracted to each other, and thus they are unable to move, implying that the excitons cannot generate currents of light, or photocurrents. By applying ultra-high-speed spectrometry to a layer of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) using a femtosecond (10−15 second) laser, Choi’s research team was able to confirm the presence of a new exciton in the sample. This result supports the conclusion that the exciton particle is the cause of the low photoconversion efficiency of the single layer semiconductor. Choi stated, “The discovery of this exciton revealed the difficulty molybdenum disulfide has as a photoelectronic device.” Updated in Feb 2017 Reference Cha, S., Sung, J. H., Sim, S., Park, J., Heo, H., Jo, M.-H., Choi, H., “1s-intraexcitonic dynamics in monolayer MoS2 probed by ultrafast mid-infrared spectroscopy” Nature Communications, doi: 10.1038/ncomms10768
- 통합관리자 2017.02.13
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- [Engineering/Technology] A Mechanism for collecting uranium from used nuclear fuels
- Associate Professor Byungchan Han Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University ■ Engineering & Technology / A Mechanism for collecting uranium from used nuclear fuels A group of researchers at Yonsei discovered key mechanisms for the development of nuclear fuel recycling processes A group of researchers at Yonsei University has discovered key mechanisms for efficient recycling of used nuclear fuels using pyro-electrochemical the reactions. Using first principles-based computational modelings, Professor Byungchan Han at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Yonsei University proposed an atomic-level description of the electrorefining process in which uranium deposits on a solid electrode from an ionic state solvated in a molten salt. The study was published in the March 2016 Electrochimica Acta and the International Journal of Energy Research, the leading journal in nuclear science and technology. Currently, nuclear power plants in South Korea use and discard 700 tons of used fuels annually, which is temporarily stored inside power plants. The capacity of the nation’s high-level nuclear waste disposal facilities, operated by each nuclear plant, will begin to reach full saturation around 2024. In 2016, the South Korean government responded by announcing a roadmap to permanently disposing of the high-level radioactive nuclear waste by 2053. The securement of the sites, however, has been met with strong public resistance and faces great concern regarding proper management to prevent potential accidents over the next hundreds of thousands of years. To overcome these challenges, ten countries, including South Korea and the United States, are working on developing a new concept, referred to as pyroprocessing technology, to electrochemically recycle the used nuclear fuels at a high temperature. The method provides incredible benefits in the management of high-level nuclear waste, such as dramatic volume reduction of discarding waste, recycling of used nuclear fuels, and nonproliferation stances. The design of an effective pyroprocessing system, however, has been limited due to lack of accurate understanding of the mechanisms and the nonexistence of any database of material properties, including uncertainties in experimental measurements. Using advanced computational methods, the researchers were able to predict key thermodynamic and kinetic properties of uranium solvated in molten salt, leading to successful capture of the atomistic-level mechanism for its collection onto a tungsten electrode. Furthermore, they simulated nucleation and growth processes of the deposited uranium, which was validated by experimental observations. Professor Han believes that the significance of the research is that this database of key properties can be used as the groundwork towards developing an efficient and safe pyroprocessing system. Updated in Feb 2017 Reference Kwon, C., Kang, J., Kang, W., Kwak, D., Han, B., “First principles study of the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of U in an electrorefining system using molybdenum cathode and LiCI-KCI eutectic molten salt” Electrochimica Acta, doi: 10.1016/j.electacta.2016.02.123 Kwon, C., Kang, J., Han, B., “First-principles based computational study on nucleation and growth mechanisms of U on Mo(110) surface solvated in an eutectic LiCI-KCI molten salt” International Journal of Energy Research, doi: 10.1002/er.3527
- 통합관리자 2017.02.13
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- [Engineering/Technology] Nanoelectrode System Developed to Extract Electricity from Algae
- Associate Professor Wonhyoung Ryu (center) Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University ■ Engineering & Technology / Nanoelectrode System Developed to Extract Electricity from Algae A research team led by Professor Won-Hyoung Ryu has created a technology to extract photosynthetic electrons from algae Yonsei Mechanical Engineering Professor Won-Hyoung Ryu’s research team has created a technology to extract photosynthetic electrons from algae. Their method involves inserting a patterned nanowire or nanoelectrode into live algal cells, enabling the potential harvesting of electricity from multiple cells simultaneously. The team reported on this new energy conversion technology in the September 14, 2016 issue of Advanced Functional Materials, an important journal in the field of materials engineering. Of the research, Professor Ryu said: “The system we developed this time is a new concept of bio-solar energy conversion technology that uses algal cells, which have recently come to the fore as an environmental issue. This technology’s development is the product of a study that showed the possibility of the practical use of photosynthetic currents, and it further shows the possible development of bio-solar energy hybrid energy conversion technology.” Updated in Feb 2017 Reference Kim, L. H., Kim, Y. J., Hong, H., Yang, D., Han, M., Yoo, G., Song, H. W., Chae, Y., Pyun, J.-C., Grossman, A. R., Ryu, W., “Patterned Nanowire Electrode Array for Direct Extraction of Photosynthetic Electrons from Multiple Living Algal Cells” Advanced Functional Materials, doi: 10.1002/adfm.201602171
- 통합관리자 2017.02.13