Rich in Resources: a Blessing or a Curse? The Case of Mongolia

Alexandre Repkine 동중앙아시아경상학회 2011 한몽경상학회 학술대회 Vol.2011 No.1

In this study we are addressing an important question of whether Mongolia's natural abundance in natural resources is likely to promote economic growth in the country or lead it to stagnation. We argue that the natural resource curse is not cast in stone, but that at the same time little can be expected in terms of the economic prosperity if drastic institutional reforms are not undertaken in the near future. Those reforms would have to concern the transparency of Mongolia's financial sector so as to decrease the cost of capital, and government intervention in order to channel the windfall profits from the mining sector into the infrastructural improvements. Such improvements are especially needed in order to reduce Mongolia's comparative disadvantage in terms of its transportation costs. Encouraging innovative processes in the manufacturing sector especially for the export-oriented firms would be another policy priority.

Korean War Studies in the United States

Alexandre Y. Mansourov 한국전략문제연구소 2000 KRIS 총서 Vol.- No.-

Kim Jong Un’s First 500 Days: Consolidating Power and Clearing Political Space for National Revival

Alexandre Mansourov 통일연구원 2013 International journal of korean unification studie Vol.22 No.1

This article assesses the leadership changes in North Korea since Kim Jong Un assumed power after Kim Jong Il’s death on December 17, 2011. The first part addresses three fundamental questions: who really governs the country, how stable is the current North Korean regime, and what lies over the horizon for the leadership transition? Part two analyzes key dynamics within the Kim family, including the rising influence of Kim Jong Un’s uncle Jang Song Thaek and the emergence of Kim’s wife, Ri Sol Ju as a factor in family politics, as well as the regime’s efforts to preserve and modernize the Kim monarchy. The article will also discuss how the regime seeks to strengthen the socialist party-state, reinvigorate the party’s central leadership institutions, tighten the party’s control over mass public organizations, and watchfully manage the party’s center-periphery relations. Part three analyzes the main drivers and direction behind Kim Jong Un’s transformation of the legacy government he inherited from his father, focusing on his overhaul of the national security establishment and party-military relations, restructuring of the socio-economic team, and adjustment of the foreign policy team.

Anomalous Increase of TC in UGa2 under Pressure

Alexandre Kolomiets,Ladislav Havela,Jiˇr´ı Prchal,Alexander V. Andreev 한국물리학회 2013 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.62 No.10

UGa2 is 5f ferromagnet with TC = 126 K. High-pressure study of a single crystal exhibits a dramatic increase of TC without any sign of saturation, reaching 155 K at p = 7 GPa, corresponding to +4 K/GPa. Such effect can be understood assuming a weak 5f delocalization and an exchange interaction driven by the hybridization with non-f states, which is strengthened under pressure.

Atypical necrotizing encephalitis associated with systemic canine distemper virus infection in pups

Alexandre Mendes Amude,Selwyn Arlington Headley,Amauri Alcindo Alfieri,Suely Nunes Esteves Beloni,Alice Fernandes Alfieri 대한수의학회 2011 JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE Vol.12 No.4

This report describes the naturally occurring atypical neuropathological manifestation of systemic canine distemper virus (CDV) infection in two 16-day-old Pit Bull pups. CDV-induced changes affected the gray and white matter of the forebrain while sparing the hindbrain. Histologically, there was necrosis with destruction of the nervous parenchyma due to an influx of inflammatory and reactive cells associated with eosinophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies within glial cells. Positive immunoreactivity against CDV antigens was predominantly observed within astrocytes and neurons. RT-PCR was used to amplify CDV-specific amplicons from brain fragments. These findings suggest the participation of CDV in the etiopathogenesis of these lesions.

Sustainable integration of airports into urban planning – a review

Alexandre G. de Barros 서울시립대학교 도시과학연구원 2013 도시과학국제저널 Vol.17 No.2

Traditional airport planning and design considers the airport as an isolated entity accessed by aircraft and passengers. However, airports are rarely the final destination of air passengers – these have a need to access the airport from a widely distributed set of origins/destinations. The surface portion of air trips has a significant impact on the urban transportation system. In addition, airports also affect the land use in their vicinities due both to the noise generated by low-flying aircraft and the need to protect the airspace used by those some aircraft from obstacles protruding from the ground. This article reviews the most important issues associated with integrating airports into the urban environment in a sustainable manner.

Efficiency Issues in the Mongolian Economy during Transition

Alexandre Repkine 동중앙아시아경상학회 2010 한몽경상연구 Vol.21 No.1

This paper is presenting a snapshot at the efficiency issues that have been pertinent to the Mongolian economy since the start of its transition towards a free market economic system in the early nineties. Observing that, regardless of the swift market reforms undertaken by the Mongolian government at the beginning of the transition process and the surprisingly good initial conditions, the labor and factor productivity indices failed to demonstrate sustained growth, we are looking for several sources of inefficiency in the Mongolian economy that might be responsible for such stagnation. Namely, we are looking into the efficiency problems in Mongolia’s financial system, the mining sector taxation, and the public sector wage structure. We identify inefficiencies in all three, and suggest several policy implications that would help increase the productive efficiency in the Mongolian economy.

Reinventing the Mongolia-Russia Relationship: a Geoeconomic Perspective

Alexandre Repkine 동중앙아시아경상학회 2009 한몽경상연구 Vol.20 No.1

In this paper I am analyzing Mongolia’s unique geoeconomic location in between Russia and China. I argue that it is essential that Mongolia be considered as a civilization of its own rather than a satellite or vassal of either of its two big neighbors. I start by analyzing Mongolia’s comparative advantages with respect to China and Russia and stress Mongolia’s importance as home to the world’s most significant strategic deposits, and as a transit country. An historical journey reveals that Mongolia has been strongly influenced by the former Soviet Union for most of the twentieth century so that ignoring this influence is counterproductive, while it makes every economic and political sense making use of it. The key idea in this essay is that neither Russia nor China should be trying to make Mongolia part of its sphere of interests. Rather, a balanced cooperation with the two countries is necessary to achieve both economic prosperity and the solution of brewing ethnical problems in the region.

Capability of Tungsten Carbide Micro-mills to Machine Hardened Tool Steel

Alexandre Gilbin,Michaël Fontaine,Gérard Michel,Sébastien Thibaud,Philippe Picard 한국정밀공학회 2013 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol. No.

The aim of this study is to optimize micro-mills and their conditions of use to manufacture plastic injection molds in hardened tool steels by micro-milling. The presented results deal with the test of four types of tungsten carbide square end micro-mills in elementary operations with different feed rates and cutting speeds in order to analyze the evolution of cutting forces, cutting stability, tool life,tool wear, surface roughness and burs formation. This experimental approach allows highlighting the influence of cutting conditions,especially feed rate, on burr formation and tool life. This analysis shows a correlation between the micro-mills characteristics (geometry, composition of tungsten carbide) and their wear behavior. Moreover, some dynamic aspects of the micro-milling process are underlined through the influence of cutting speed on cutting stability. This type of experimental study is suitable for the optimization of the tool edge geometry and it reveals the need to develop a predictive model adapted to micro-milling to optimize the dynamic behavior of the tool.

The Tissue Doppler Imaging Derived Post- Systolic Velocity Notch Originates at the Aortic Annulus

Alexandre J. Ouss,Robert K. Riezebos 한국심초음파학회 2014 Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging (J Cardiovasc Im Vol.22 No.1

Background: A distinct velocity pattern represented by a “notch” is observed during the time interval between the end of thesystolic and the onset of the early diastolic velocity wave on longitudinal myocardial velocity curve. The origin of the post-systolicvelocity notch (PSN) has not been resolved. Methods: The high frame rate color tissue Doppler imaging of the apical longitudinal axis was performed in 32 healthysubjects. Results: The time delays of the PSN onset at the posterior aortic wall (AW), the mid anteroseptal wall (MAS) and theposterior mitral annulus (MA) relatively to the anterior aortic annulus (AA) were found to be significantly longer than zero (5.1 ±2.2, 6.0 ± 2.3, 6.8 ± 2.8 ms; p < 0.001). The amplitude was the highest at the AA when compared to the AW, the MAS and theMA (4.77 ± 1.28 vs. 2.88 ± 1.11, 2.15 ± 0.73, 2.44 ± 1.17 cm/s; p < 0.001). A second PSN spike was identifiable in 10/32(31%) of the studied subjects at the AA. Of these, 9 (28%) exhibited a second PSN spike at the AW, 3 (9%) at the MAS and noone at the MA. Conclusion: The AA represents the site of the earliest onset and maximal amplitude of the PSN on the longitudinal velocitycurve suggesting its mechanism to be that of an energy release at the instant of the aortic valve closure causing an apicallydirected acceleration of the myocardium. A substantial number of healthy subjects exhibit a second PSN spike predominantly atthe level of the AA. Its mechanism remains to be elucidated.