The Effect of Quantitative Easing on Inflation in Korea

남민호 대외경제정책연구원 2018 East Asian Economic Review Vol.22 No.4

This paper evaluates the whole impact of quantitative easing on inflation in Korea implemented by the central banks in four major advanced economies, the U.S., Euro Area, U.K. and Japan. According to the analysis employing a VAR-X model with the security holdings of those central banks an exogenous variable, quantitative easing is estimated to exert downward pressures on inflation in Korea. Considering the impulse responses of Korean macroeconomic variables to a quantitative easing shock, the spillover effect is transmitted through exchange rate channel while trade channel turns out to be ineffective. In an additional analysis assessing the impact of each quantitative easing program of the central banks, only those of the Fed and European Central Bank are estimated to be significant. The empirical results prove to be robust even if using long-term interest rates as an alternative indicator of quantitative easing.

Light and Primo Vascular System in the Brain

남민호,최승훈,소광섭 한국물리학회 2012 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.60 No.6

Ultra-weak light emission (biophoton) from cells and organs of all types of living organisms has been studied since the early 1920s. The optical communication channel hypothesis in an animal’s body, in conjunction with this cellular light emission and acupuncture meridians, was proposed. In this review we consider a concrete realization of this hypothesis with the recently found primo vascular system in the brain. The primo vascular system is an anatomical structure corresponding to the acupuncture meridians. It is a new circulatory system that is distributed throughout the whole body of an animal, including a human. Its main function is regeneration of damaged or aging tissues. Recently, techniques to observe the primo vascular system in the brains of rabbits and rats have been developed. The primo vessel in the fourth ventricle of the brain was floating in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and it ran along the central canal of the spinal cord of a rat or rabbit. It was visualized by using fluorescent nanoparticles that were injected into the CSF of the lateral ventricle and were preferentially absorbed by the primo vessel. Possible applications of the primo vascular system combined with biophotons for the treatment of various brain diseases, like Alzheimer’s disease are envisioned.

Herbal Acupuncture for the Treatment of Obesity

남민호,이승욱,나현영,유정화,백선호,안광석,안영민,안세영,최승훈,이병철 사단법인약침학회 2016 Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies Vol.9 No.2

Obesity is thestate ofexcessive body fat accumulationand ismainly causedby consumingmore calories than are burned through physical activity. Herbal acupuncture (HA), also known as pharmacopuncture, has been increasingly used in clinics of Korean medical to alleviate obesity. This review analyzed four clinical studies and 16 animal studies on the effectiveness of HA as a treatment for obesity. Clinical evidence suggests that various kinds of HA might be beneficial for treating obesity; however, further investigations with well-designed, evidence-based, randomized clinical trials are needed. Animal studies support the idea that HA might be beneficial for the treatment of obesity and provide possible mechanisms, such as anti-inflammation, antioxidation,modulating lipidmetabolism and so on, to explain the effect of HA on obesity. This review, based on the evidence collected, suggests that HA could have a beneficial effect for alleviating obesity by modulating inflammation, oxidative stress, lipid metabolism, leptin, and the insulin signal.

중국 조선족민족건강체조의 대학교양체육과정 적용 가능성

남민호 한국스포츠학회 2017 한국스포츠학회지 Vol.15 No.2

소수민족지역에서 민족건강체조를 보급하는 것은 “전민건신계획”(全民健身计划)의 수요로서 민족대학교의 우 세를 이용하여 자신의 역할을 충분히 발휘하는 것은 물론 민족지역에서 민족건강체조를 보급하는 중요한 사업이다. 이에 본 연구는 현재 중국의 대학교 특히 소수민족대학교들에서 널리 보급되고 있는 소수민족건강체조의 전개양상의 특징을 규명하고 중국내 소수민족건강체조의 당위성과 이론적 근거를 마련하는데 그 목적을 두었다. 이를 기초로 중국의 조선족 민족건강체조가 형성 발전할 수 있었던 사회적 배경과 문화적 환경을 분석한 후 다음과 같은 결론을 도출해 낼 수 있었다. 첫째, 소수민족건강체조를 소수민족대학교의 교양체육과정에 설치하는 것은 중국정부에서 민족대학교에 제출한 대학교 양체육 개혁방향과 일치한 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 대학교, 특히 연변대학교의 사생들은 조선족민족건강체조를 대학교양 체육과정에 개설하는 물음에 아주 긍정적인 태도를 보여 주었다. 셋째, 민족대학교들에서는 교사자원, 체육관시설, 학과 건설, 인문환경 등에서 모두 민족건강체조를 개설하는 조건이 구비되어 있는 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 민족대학교의 학생 들이 보편적으로 즐길 수 있도록 플랫폼을 구축하고 대학교 차원의 정책적 프레임을 설정해야 할 것으로 사료된다. The dissemination of ethnic health gymnastics in ethnic minority areas is not only sufficient to exercise their role by utilizing the superiority of national universities as a demand of “all citizens' health plan” It is an important business. The purpose of this study is to identify characteristics of development of minority national health gymnastic which is widely distributed in Chinese universities, especially ethnic minority universities, and to establish the justification and rationale for minority national health gymnastics in China. On the basis of this, after analyzing the social background and cultural environment in which Chinese ethnic Korean gymnastics were formed and developed, the following conclusions could be drawn. First, the establishment of ethnic minority gymnastics in the liberal arts courses of ethnic minority universities coincided with the direction of reform of physical education physical education submitted to the national university by the Chinese government. Second, university students, especially Yanbian University, showed a very positive attitude to the question of opening Korean ethnic health gymnastics to university physical education physical education courses. Third, at national universities, it is found that there are conditions to open ethnic health gymnastics in teacher resources, gymnasium facilities, department construction, and human environment. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a platform to universally enjoy the students of National University and set up a policy frame at university level.

Pseudo-differential OTA Design with ±0.9V Wide Input Swing Range in 0.18μm Submicron Technology

남민호,김두환,장영조,조경록 한국과학기술원 반도체설계교육센터 2017 IDEC Journal of Integrated Circuits and Systems Vol.3 No.3

In this paper we present a novel approach in the design of a pseudo-differential operational transconductance amplifier having a wide input range being adapted to the implementation of a 9th-order Bessel filter. Inclusion of a PMOS device biased at the subthreshold and triode regions facilitated an improvement of 40% in the input swing range by suspending half of the supply, while maintaining degradation of transconductance Gm to less than 1%. The operational transconductance amplifier is fabricated using a 0.18-µm n-well 1P5M CMOS process with a 1.8V supply. Results through measurement show 1% Gm variation, and a total harmonic distortion of below −62dB under the input swing range of ±0.9V. The 9th order Bessel filter shows the cutoff frequency of 100MHz highly desirable for a digital versatile disc pickup circuit operating at 16 times normal speed.

Adult Neurogenesis and Acupuncture Stimulation at ST36

남민호,인창식,소광섭,최승훈 사단법인약침학회 2011 Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies Vol.4 No.3

Although it was believed that the brain was incapable of regeneration after embryonic development, neurogenesis is now known to occur into adulthood. Adult neurogenesis has been demonstrated in the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricles and the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. Acupuncture has long been used to treat neurologic conditions, and recent reports suggest that neurogenesis may account for its beneficial effects. ST36 was the most often used acupoint in previous reports and was shown to enhance cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation. This acupoint may be linked to the brain through the primo vascular system, an anatomic structure thought to correspond to acupuncture meridians. This primitive vascular-like system appears to be involved in physiologic and pathologic processes by circulating substances throughout the body. The role of the primo vascular system as the link between the skin and brain underlying the beneficial effects of acupuncture requires further investigation.

A Primo Vascular System Underneath the Superior Sagittal Sinus in the Brain of a Rabbit

남민호,임재관,Seung Hoon Choi,김성철,소광섭 사단법인약침학회 2012 Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies Vol.5 No.5

The primo vascular systems (PVS) observed in the central nervous system have been limited to the ones floating in the cerebrospinal fluid. In those experiments, it was difficult to obtain the same results because the PVS was not fixed in a given anatomical position. In the current work, we report a finding of a PVS in a well-defined location, namely, underneath the superior sagittal sinus in the sagittal fissure, so that repetition of the experiments is possible. This provides a cornerstone for PVS research because the lack of reproducible sample-taking hindered a deeper study of the PVS, such as RNA sequencing or RNA microarray. This obstacle can be overcome through the discovery in the current work. This PVS showed characteristics of the PVS observed in other organs. It showed the bundle structure of subvessels, the parallel distributions of F-actins, and the rod-shaped nuclei. Furthermore, it had a primo node in front of the confluence of sinuses above the pineal body. It had branches shooting off from the main primo vessel in the subarachnoid space toward the cerebral hemispheres. The results indicate that this PVS underneath superior sagittal sinus has proper features to function as a flowing channel.

Expression of μ-Opioid Receptor in CA1 Hippocampal Astrocytes

남민호,한경석,이재광,배진영,안희영,Seahyung Park,오수진,김은주,황은미,배영철,이창준 한국뇌신경과학회 2018 Experimental Neurobiology Vol.27 No.2

μ-opioid receptor (MOR) is a class of opioid receptors with a high affinity for enkephalins and beta-endorphin. In hippocampus, activation of MOR is known to enhance the neuronal excitability of pyramidal neurons, which has been mainly attributed to a disinhibition of pyramidal neurons via activating Gαi subunit to suppress the presynaptic release of GABA in hippocampal interneurons. In contrast, the potential role of MOR in hippocampal astrocytes, the most abundant cell type in the brain, has remained unexplored. Here, we determine the cellular and subcellular distribution of MOR in different cell types of the hippocampus by utilizing MORmCherry mice and two different antibodies against MOR. Consistent with previous findings, we demonstrate that MOR expression in the CA1 pyramidal layer is co-localized with axon terminals from GABAergic inhibitory neurons but not with soma of pyramidal neurons. More importantly, we demonstrate that MOR is highly expressed in CA1 hippocampal astrocytes. The ultrastructural analysis further demonstrates that the astrocytic MOR is localized in soma and processes, but not in microdomains near synapses. Lastly, we demonstrate that astrocytes in ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens also express MOR. Our results provide the unprecedented evidence for the presence of MOR in astrocytes, implicating potential roles of astrocytic MOR in addictive behaviors.

베이지안 모형평균법을 이용한 경상수지 벤치마크 추정

남민호,김현태 한국은행 2014 經濟分析 Vol.20 No.3

본고의 목적은 경상수지 불균형 혹은 지속가능성의 평가 기준으로 이용되고 있는 경상수지 벤치마크를 추정하는 데 있으며, 추정방법으로는 경상수지 벤치마크 추정 모형의 불확실성이 높다는 점을 감안하여 베이지안 모형평균법(Bayesian Model Averaging)을 채택하였다. 추정 결과 우리나라의 경상수지 벤치마크는 2000년 이후 2.2~2.6%의 좁은 구간 내에서 등락하는 안정적 흐름을 보였다. 경상수지 갭, 즉 실제 경상수지와 경상수지 벤치마크간의 차이로 측정한 경상수지 불균형은 주로 강력한 부(-)의 대외충격이 도래한 시기에 확대되었다가 국내외 경기가 동반 상승하면서 축소되는 경향을 보였다. 이는 중기적 시계에서 거시경제의 안정적 성장에 기여하는 정책을 통해 불균형의 자연스러운 해소를 유도하는 것이 단기에 경상수지 흑자를 축소시키는 것만을 목표로 하는 정책보다 바람직함을 시사한다. 한편 베이지안 모형평균법으로 추정한 경상수지 벤치마크와 고전적 추정방법을 이용하여 추정한 벤치마크를 비교하면, 전자가 상대적으로 더 안정적인 흐름을 보인다는 점에서 벤치마크의 개념 및 기존 추정결과에 보다 부합하는 것으로 나타났다. The aim of this paper lies in estimating the current account benchmarks for Korea to be employed for assessing imbalances and sustainability of the current account balance. As the model uncertainty involved in the estimation is considerable, Bayesian model averaging(BMA) is chosen as a estimation method. The estimated current account benchmarks have shown a stable path while varying within a narrow interval between 2.2% and 2.6%. The current account imbalances, assessed by the estimation results, tend to expand on the arrival of forceful negative shocks from abroad and then contract with the global and domestic economies improving in tandem. This analysis implies that it is desirable to induce the imbalances to dwindle naturally through implementing policies to contribute to a stable growth of macroeconomy in the medium-term horizon rather than the ones targeting only curtailment of current account surplus in the short-term. Comparing the current account benchmark estimated via BMA and the one via classical inference, the former proves to be more consistent with the concept of benchmark and existing estimation results in the literature in that it shows a more stable path.

Nexus between Inflation, Inflation Perceptions and Expectations

남민호,고민지 한국개발연구원 2018 KDI Journal of Economic Policy (KDI JEP) Vol.40 No.3

We uncover a nexus between actual inflation, inflation perceptions and expectations in Korea through analyzing micro as well as aggregate data from the Consumer Survey. We document two novel findings. First, households’ subjective perceptions of inflation exert more impact on expectation formation than actual inflation. Second, inflation perceptions are broadly in line with the trajectory of the inflation trend. This is attributable to the fact that changes in actual inflation have been generated mainly by the consumption items whose price changes are perceived more sensitively as those items are frequently bought or have a larger share in household expenditures. Conducting a cross-country comparison, we find that information rigidity in expectation formation process and the nexus between perceptions and expectations of inflation prove to be stronger in Korea. Additionally, we reconfirm the existing finding that the scope of information utilized for forming inflation expectations is fairly circumscribed.