The Korean case study : past experience and new trends in training policies

Korea's skills development strategy has been highlighted as one of the key driving forces of the country's economic development. This paper examines the main features and evolution of this strategy from the 1960s to the present. In particular, it discusses how the skills development policies have contributed to economic development and poverty reduction. The findings in the paper highlight a set of important lessons for the design and implementation of skills development policies, which could be useful for other developing countries.Education For All,Primary Education,Access&Equity in Basic Education,Population Policies,Labor Markets

Mixed-State Entanglement and Quantum Teleportation through Noisy Channels

The quantum teleportation with noisy EPR state is discussed. Using an optimal decomposition technique, we compute the concurrence, entanglement of formation and Groverian measure for various noisy EPR resources. It is shown analytically that all entanglement measures reduce to zero when $\bar{F} \leq 2/3$, where $\bar{F}$ is an average fidelity between Alice and Bob. This fact indicates that the entanglement is a genuine physical resource for the teleportation process. This fact gives valuable clues on the optimal decomposition for higher-qubit mixed states. As an example, the optimal decompositions for the three-qubit mixed states are discussed by adopting a teleportation with W-stateComment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Tapasin gene polymorphism in systemic onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: a family-based case-control study

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) comprises a group of chronic systemic inflammatory disorders that primarily affect joints and can cause long-term disability. JRA is likely to be a complex genetic trait, or a series of such traits, with both genetic and environmental factors contributing to the risk for developing the disease and to its progression. The HLA region on the short arm of chromosome 6 has been intensively evaluated for genetic contributors to JRA, and multiple associations, and more recently linkage, has been detected. Other genes involved in innate and acquired immunity also map to near the HLA cluster on 6p, and it is possible that variation within these genes also confers risk for developing JRA. We examined the TPSN gene, which encodes tapasin, an endoplasmic reticulum chaperone that is involved in antigen processing, to elucidate its involvement, if any, in JRA. We employed both a case-control approach and the transmission disequilibrium test, and found linkage and association between the TPSN allele (Arg260) and the systemic onset subtype of JRA. Two independent JRA cohorts were used, one recruited from the Rheumatology Clinic at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (82 simplex families) and one collected by the British Paediatric Rheumatology Group in London, England (74 simplex families). The transmission disequilibrium test for these cohorts combined was statistically significant (chi(2) = 4.2, one degree of freedom; P = 0.04). Linkage disequilibrium testing between the HLA alleles that are known to be associated with systemic onset JRA did not reveal linkage disequilibrium with the Arg260 allele, either in the Cincinnati systemic onset JRA cohort or in 113 Caucasian healthy individuals. These results suggest that there is a weak association between systemic onset JRA and the TPSN polymorphism, possibly due to linkage disequilibrium with an as yet unknown susceptibility allele in the centromeric part of chromosome 6

Epidemiology of human parechovirus, Aichi virus and salivirus in fecal samples from hospitalized children with gastroenteritis in Hong Kong

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Clinical spectrum of paradoxical deterioration during antituberculosis therapy in non-HIV-infected patients

Paradoxical deterioration during antituberculosis therapy, defined as the clinical or radiological worsening of pre-existing tuberculous lesions or the development of new lesions in a patient who initially improves, remains a diagnostic dilemma. Although different clinical presentations of paradoxical response have been described, a systematic analysis of the entity in non-HIV-infected patients is lacking. Reported here are two cases of paradoxical deterioration in which sequential changes in lymphocyte counts and tuberculin skin test results are emphasized. In addition, 120 episodes of paradoxical response after antituberculosis treatment were reviewed. Of the total 122 episodes, 101 (82.8%) were associated with extrapulmonary tuberculosis. The median time from commencement of treatment to paradoxical deterioration was 60 days. The median time to onset of central nervous system manifestations (63 days) was longer than the time to onset of manifestations at other sites (56 days) (P=0.02). Development of new lesions in anatomical sites other than those observed at initial presentation was observed in 31 (25.4%) episodes. A surge in the lymphocyte count, accompanied by an exaggerated tuberculin skin reaction, was observed in our patients during the paradoxical deterioration, analogous to the findings in HIV-positive patients. Treatment of the paradoxical response included surgical intervention (60.7%) and administration of steroids (39.3%). The use of steroids appeared to be safe in this series, as 95% of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates were susceptible to first-line antituberculosis therapy.postprin

Clinical deterioration in community acquired infections associated with lymphocyte upsurge in immunocompetent hosts

Clinical deterioration during the course of community-acquired infections can occur as a result of an exaggerated immune response of the host towards the inciting pathogens, leading to immune-mediated tissue damage. Whether a surge in the peripheral lymphocyte count can be used as a surrogate marker indicating the onset of immunopathological tissue damage is not known. In this study, we report the clinical presentations and outcomes of a cohort of immunocompetent patients with non-tuberculous community acquired infections who experienced clinical deterioration during hospital stay (n=85). 12 (14.1%) patients had a surge in lymphocyte count preceding their clinical deteriorations, and their diagnoses included viral pneumonitis (4), viral encephalitis (3), scrub typhus (2), leptospirosis (1), brucellosis (1), and dengue haemorrhagic fever (1). The clinical manifestations during deterioration ranged from interstitial pneumonitis (6), airway obstruction (1), CNS disturbances (4), and systemic capillary leak syndrome (1), all of which were thought to represent immunopathological tissue damages. When compared with patients without lymphocyte surge, these patients were more likely to be infected with fastidious/viral pathogens (0 vs 12; p<0.05), in addition to having lower mean baseline lymphocyte counts (403±181 vs 1143±686 cells/μl; p<0.05). We postulate that the peripheral lymphocyte count may be a useful surrogate marker indicating the presence of immunopathological damage during clinical deterioration in certain infectious diseases. © 2004 Taylor & Francis.postprin