South Korea, the newest member to join the OECD's Development Assistance Committee, has signaled that it will become a major donor of official development assistance (ODA). Having had its own history of being a large recipient of ODA, South Korea claimed that it will provide aid from the recipient's perspective. Using panel data covering twenty-three years (1987–2009) and 154 recipient countries, we examine whether South Korea's ODA reflects the recipient nation's humanitarian needs more than the donor's interests. We ask three questions: (1) What are the major determinants of South Korea's ODA allocation? (2) Has South Korea's ODA policies changed over different time horizons—that is, years, political regimes? (3) Does South Korea exhibit different standards of allocating ODA for different groups of recipient countries? We find that South Korea provides more aid to higher-income developing countries with higher growth rates, which shows the tendency to serve the donor's economic interests. When we examine the data by time periods, we do not find significant differences over decades or political regimes. However, when we reexamine the data based on recipients' income levels, we find that the relationship between per capita income of the recipient country and ODA allocation is negative only for the middle-income or lower-middle-income group recipients and positive for the rest. This finding suggests the possibility that South Korea's ODA policy may have a dual-track structure.

Background: Dysphagia is a common symptom and an important prognostic factor in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Although cognitive and motor dysfunctions may contribute to dysphagia in patients with PD, any specific association between such problems and swallowing functions is unclear. Here, we examined the potential relationship between cognitive/motor components and swallowing functions in PD. We evaluated the contributions of cognition and motor function to the components of swallowing via video fluoroscopic swallowing (VFS) experiments. Methods: We prospectively enrolled 56 patients without dementia having PD. Parkinson’s disease severity was assessed by the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). All participants received neuropsychological tests covering general mental status, visuospatial function, attention, language, learning and memory, and frontal executive function. The well-validated “modified barium swallow impairment profile” scoring system was applied during VFS studies to quantify swallowing impairments. Finally, correlations between neuropsychological or motor functions and impairment in swallowing components were calculated. Results: The most significant correlations were found between the frontal/executive or learning/memory domains and the oral phase of swallowing, though a minor component of the pharyngeal phase correlated with frontal function as well. Bradykinesia and the UPDRS total score were associated with both the pharyngeal and oral phases. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that cognitive dysfunctions are associated with the oral phase of swallowing in patients with early stage PD while the severity of motor symptoms may be associated with overall swallowing function.

Prefibrillar assembly of amyloid-β (Aβ) is a major event underlying the development of neuropathology and dementia in Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study determined the neuroprotective properties of an orally bioavailable Aβ synaptotoxicity inhibitor, SEN1576. Binding of SEN1576 to monomeric Aβ1–42 was measured using surface plasmon resonance. Thioflavin-T and MTT assays determined the ability of SEN1576 to block Aβ1–42-induced aggregation and reduction in cell viability, respectively. In vivo long-term potentiation (LTP) determined effects on synaptic toxicity induced by intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of cell-derived Aβ oligomers. An operant behavioural schedule measured effects of oral administration following i.c.v. injection of Aβ oligomers in normal rats. SEN1576 bound to monomeric Aβ1–42, protected neuronal cells exposed to Aβ1–42, reduced deficits in in vivo LTP and behaviour. SEN1576 exhibits the necessary features of a drug candidate for further development as a disease modifying treatment for the early stages of AD-like dementia.

The present study was undertaken to assess the beneficial effects of a daily consumption of 8 % freeze-dried red-pigmented leafy lettuce (Lactuca sativa) on CVD. C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat high-cholesterol diet supplemented with or without red-pigmented leafy lettuce for 4 weeks. The present results showed that the red-pigmented leafy lettuce-supplemented diet significantly decreased the level of total and LDL-cholesterol and TAG in the plasma of the mice. The atherosclerotic index was calculated to be 46 % lower in the mice fed with the lettuce diet compared with the control diet. Lipid peroxidation measured by 2-thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances was markedly reduced in the plasma, liver, heart and kidney of the mice fed the lettuce diet. The content of antioxidants (total glutathione and β-carotene) was significantly increased by lettuce supplementation. The antioxidant defence system by antioxidant enzymes including glutathione S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase and paraoxanase in blood or liver tissues was also increased, and showed the improved oxidative stress in the mice fed the lettuce diet. The measurement of tail DNA (%), tail extent moment and olive tail moment indicated that the lettuce diet increased the resistance of hepatocyte and lymphocyte DNA to oxidative damage. The present study showed that the supplementation of a high-cholesterol high-fat diet with 8 % red-pigmented leafy lettuce resulted in an improvement of plasma cholesterol and lipid levels, prevention of lipid peroxidation and an increase of the antioxidant defence system and, therefore, could contribute to reduce the risk factors of CVD.