Philippines - Second Korean case of Zika linked to trip to Philippines

The number of Koreans visiting the Philippines might significantly decrease following a second confirmed Zika case in a man who is believed to have been infected there.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), Wednesday, the man, 20, who tested positive for the virus, visited Boracay, a small resort island in the Philippines, and Kalibo, between April 10 and 14. He said he was bitten by a mosquito there on April 13.

Boracay is one of the most frequently visited tourist destinations for Koreans, especially newlyweds, with more than 100,000 traveling there annually.

So far, worries about the mosquito-borne virus have remained minimal here, because the outbreak is mainly concentrated in Central and South America. Korea's first confirmed patient last month was infected with the virus after travelling to Brazil, a country which is not a popular tourist destination for Koreans. But the situation is different for the Philippines.

Expectant mothers and soon-to-be-married couples are discussing in Internet communities about whether to cancel trips to the Philippines, because the virus is linked with birth defects.

"I decided to cancel my plans to travel to the Philippines. I am pregnant so my baby's heath is most important," a woman posted on one such site.

"Traveling is always fun and romantic, but I would never risk my baby's health for anything," another woman wrote.

According to Hana Tour, the nation's largest travel agency, the company is bracing for a possible spike in cancellations in the upcoming summer holiday season.

"Although there has been no significant number of cancellations yet, we are preparing for a possible decrease of travelers to the Philippines this summer," an official from the agency said.

"If the KCDC issues a travel advisory for virus-affected regions, then we would consider exempting cancellation fees for pregnant women," he added.

Meanwhile, the second patient, who had been hospitalized at the Seoul National University Hospital, was released Thursday, according to the KCDC.

"The man is healthy, and all his symptoms including rash and fever have subsided. We decided to release him as he is not likely to infect others," an official said.

The KCDC is running a test on the man's older brother, who accompanied him during the trip. The brother said he was not bitten by a mosquito, nor is he showing symptoms.

The mosquito-borne virus is almost never life threatening but poses serious health concerns for pregnant women, because it is linked with microcephaly, a birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains.

The KCDC recommends pregnant women delay their travel to 45 countries on its watch list, mostly in countries in Central and South America, and Oceania.

By Lee Kyung-min

koreatimes

Indonesia - Indonesian Ambassador Furious over Workers Deportation

Seoul - Indonesian Ambassador to South Korea John A. Prasetio said that the issue with fake certificates for Indonesian migrant workers had damaged the country’s reputation.

Following a deportation of an Indonesian worker from Incheon Airport due to suffering tuberculosis, another Indonesian migrant worker from Indramayu, SU, was also deported.

When SU arrived at Incheon Airport on April 19, 2016, the 24-year old man had to be deported when he was found suffering from TB during a medical checkup. SU’s situation added to the long list of deported Indonesians due to health reasons and reflected collusion practices among clinics and migrant workers.

“Indonesia is one of the countries with the most deported workers,” said an airport staff as quoted from a press release issued by the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul on Friday, 22 April 2016.

Ambassador John said that he had sent a complaint letter to the government, however the deportation incident recurred that it would harm the reputation of Indonesian workers in general.

“The practice of providing fake certificates cannot be justified under any reasons. Indonesia is a great country that must show discipline before other countries,” John added in a furious tone.

SU was reportedly aware of his disease before he went to South Korea. He also admitted that he had an agreement with the clinic releasing the clinic from any responsibilities, should any unfavorable situations occur.

Maria Rita

http://en.tempo.co/read/news/2016/04/22/074764982/Indonesian-Ambassador-Furious-over-Workers-Deportation

China – Japan – South Korea - Study Identifies Genetic Loci Linked To Colorectal Cancer In East Asians

Researchers have identified three new genetic risk factors linked to colorectal cancer in East Asians.

Scientists have identified three new genetic risk factors linked to colorectal cancer in East Asians, which may reveal new insights into the biology and potential therapeutic targets of the disease.

Despite being one of the most commonly diagnosed malignancies in East Asia, the genetics of colorectal cancer has not been well established yet. To date, rare genetic variants linked to this malignancy only account for less than six percent of colorectal cancer cases. In addition, genetic risk factors relevant to the Asian populations are not well studied as previous genetic studies have mainly focused on European populations.

Here, researchers from China, Japan, and South Korea established the Asia Colorectal Cancer Consortium (ACCC) that looked at novel genetic risk factors for colorectal cancer. This genome-wide association study, published recently in Nature Genetics, reports some of the findings made by the ACCC researchers.

Using genomic data from 2,098 colorectal cancer samples and 5,749 control samples, the team shortlisted 64 potential variants, or single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), linked to colorectal cancer.

After replicating their findings in an independent set of samples they narrowed down the list to four, and three of the four variants were found associated with colorectal cancer in a large European population.

The investigators noted a weaker association with these variants in the European population, which made them believe that the genetic variants driving the disease might be different for the Asian and European ancestry.

Critical genes linked to cancer are found located close to the four risk variants identified by this study, the authors found. One of them is the gene encoding cyclin D2, CCND2, which is important in regulating the cell cycle machinery. Dysregulation of the cell cycle leads to tumor formation, and cyclins have been frequently linked to cancer. As current studies on CCND2 are few, the study suggested the need for more extensive research on the role of cyclins in the development of colorectal cancer.

“These new discoveries are very exciting,” said Wei Zheng, M.D., Ph.D., MPH, senior author of the study. “They will certainly lead to future studies regarding the biology of these regions and the translational potential of these findings in cancer prevention and treatment.”

The article can be found at: Jia WH et al. (2012) Genome-wide association analyses in east Asians identify new susceptibility loci for colorectal cancer.

Source: Vanderbilt University Medical Center;

Yuka Suzuki | Health & Medicine

http://www.asianscientist.com

South Korea - Korea Raises Asian Standard in AMI Treatment

KSIC Holds Symposium to Discuss Ways to Reduce AMI Mortality Rates

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--(Marketwire - Feb 21, 2013) - Specialists at home and abroad gathered to discuss how to reduce the mortality rates of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), which is the main cause of sudden death and leads to more than 9,000 deaths annually in Korea.

The Korean Society of Interventional Cardiology (KSIC, www.ksic.org) and the Korean Society of Cardiology (KSC) presented a roadmap to improve treatment results and establish an Asian treatment standard for AMI during a symposium titled 'Raising Asia Standard,' held yesterday in the Grand Hyatt Seoul, Korea.

Korea's 30-day AMI in-hospital mortality rate reached 6.9% in 2011. In terms of age-sex standardized OECD mortality in 2009, the rate was still 6.3%, far higher than in Australia (3.2%), the US (4.3%) and Denmark (2.3%) as well as the OECD average (5.4%). But, it was lower than in Japan (9.7%) and Singapore (8.2%).1

In addition, Korea's AMI mortality within one year after hospital discharge was 8.1% in 2010, so well-established management for AMI patients is needed. OECD said that Korea should improve its health system to increase the quality of medical services. In a report titled 'OECD Health Care Quality Review: Korea,' published in February 2012, OECD emphasized the improvement of quality of care for cardiovascular diseases by establishing registration for patients at risk in order to deliver long term monitoring services and follow-up services.

Despite high death rates and the lack of a national management system, establishing a health system for AMI patients -- before they arrive at hospital, during hospitalization and after discharge from hospital -- is at an early stage in Asia. A survey of Asian member countries by KSIC last year showed that Singapore (Singapore Myocardial Infarction Registry) and Malaysia (National Heart Association of Malaysia) are the only countries that monitor one-year AMI mortality rates across the nation.

Against this backdrop, KSIC has launched 'Raising Asia Standard (RAS)' campaign. During the symposium, KSIC introduced educational and PR programs to increase public access to disease information, while stressing the need for an advanced registry to conduct statistical studies at the national level based on monitoring results.

"The RAS campaign will provide an opportunity to help streamline the emergency medical system and improve the quality of healthcare services across all AMI treatment areas in Korea," said KSIC Chairman Jang Yang-soo. "I hope that this campaign, which started in Korea, will help advance healthcare services across Asia and save more AMI patients' lives."

During the symposium, Rosli Mohd Ali, Chairman of the Interventional Cardiovascular Society of Malaysia, explained the country's AMI registry and the current treatment situation. In addition, Prof. Huay Cheem Tan, National University of Singapore Heart Center, spoke about the city-state's AMI treatment network.

1 Admission-based AMI 30 day in-hospital mortality rate(Age-sex standardised rate, 2009), OECD Health Care Quality Indicators: Care for Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Conditions

http://www.marketwire.com

Philippines - Philippines recalls S. Korean noodles for containing carcinogens

MANILA - Philippine authorities have ordered the recall of six brands of South Korean noodles from local shops after they were reported to contain a cancer-causing chemical.

The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement dated Thursday that the noodles made by Nongshim Co, "will be off the shelves immediately", and called on the public to report if they were still being sold.

"The government is also undertaking inspection, collection and testing of other brands of noodles not currently identified to be contaminated as a precaution," the statement on the agency's website said.

The Philippine agency said its South Korean counterpart had found that the six brands contained "benzopyrene, a chemical with carcinogenic potential" in its tests.

The statement did not say if the Philippine agency had tested the Nongshim brands itself. Spokesmen of the local FDA could not be contacted for comment.

China, Taiwan and Vietnam have all reportedly had similar recalls of the same brands of South Korean noodles over similar health fears.

AFP

South Korea - Brain satnav helps surgeons travel to a tumour

SATNAV is good at finding the easiest route to where you want to go. Now a version for the brain could allow a flexible probe to take the safest route to reach deep tissue. Together, the algorithm and probe could provide access to brain tumours that were previously deemed inoperable.

When surgeons want to take a biopsy from deep inside the brain, they face a problem - how to get there without damaging the brain tissue en route. Flexible needles are one solution. Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena at Imperial College London and colleagues created such a probe in 2009, basing the design on the needle-like ovipositor that female wasps use to deposit eggs inside trees.

Just like the wasp's ovipositor, the probe has a number of interlocking flexible shafts, each of which can slide independently of the others. The probe naturally sticks to the soft brain tissue, providing traction, which means that when one of the shafts slides further into the tissue the probe will flex. By controlling the relative movement of each shaft it is possible to send the probe snaking along a path through the tissue.

Rodriguez y Baena's team has now begun to think about exactly which paths are best to take. "Some areas of the brain are more important than others and we needed a way to decide what route caused the least amount of damage to vital areas," says team member Seong Young Ko at Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea. "You would want to stay well away from major blood vessels and sensory areas, for example."

The team has now developed an algorithm to direct the probe around these obstacles. It considers three factors: the distance from the scalp to the desired brain tissue, the proximity of the route to vital areas such as blood vessels or nerve bundles, and the accumulated risk along the way.

There is controversy over how to rate the importance of different parts of the brain, so the team tested the algorithm by giving arbitrary levels of importance to different areas. It revealed the path which should theoretically bring the least risk to a patient. Ko presented the algorithm at the BioRob 2012 conference in Rome, Italy, last month.

"The ability to take a curved path through the brain, selecting the most forgiving route to avoid critical regions, represents an intriguing breakthrough," says Katrina Firlik, a neurosurgeon in Greenwich, Connecticut, who was not involved in the research. "It could not only enhance safety but might even expand the surgical repertoire to include cases currently deemed inoperable."

That is the hope, says Ko. So far the probe has only been tested in animal tissue, but he says the goal is to use the algorithm to guide the safe implantation of electrodes deep in the brain and to improve the safety of taking biopsies from hard-to-reach tumours.

Helen Thomson

http://www.newscientist.com/

USA - First case of alleged stem-cell fraud enters US courts

The days of "stem-cell tourism" could be numbered.

Six residents of Los Angeles, California, are suing South Korean company RNL Bio and associates in a Californian court for alleged fraud.

They claim the company convinced them to travel to clinics in South Korea, China or Mexico to donate fat tissue and have stem cells from it re-administered to cure diseases and even reverse ageing.

Stem cells hold great medical promise, but only one treatment is licensed in the US and that is for a rare blood disorder. Others are experimental and it is illegal to offer them commercially.

Yet some companies still tout stem-cell "cures" that are carried out outside the US. RNL Bio calls its fat-tissue stem cells "safe technologies" for treating various disorders.

There have been protests against these treatments for years, but this is the first civil lawsuit for damages, says Paul Knoepfler of the University of California at Davis.

It "serves notice to the purveyors of unproven stem-cell treatments" that they may face litigation if they market in the US, says Bernard Siegel of the Genetics Policy Institute, a stem-cell watchdog in Palm Beach, Florida.

Debora MacKenzie

http://www.newscientist.com/

South Korea - South Korean smokers finally start to feel the heat

SEOUL: After decades of indifference, big businesses and the government are turning up the heat on smokers in South Korea, a nation with one of the developed world's highest male smoking rates.

Some firms are pressing workers to kick the habit or miss out on promotion and the health ministry will toughen warnings on cigarette packs.

Seoul council plans eventually to make one fifth of the city's total area smoke-free. Even the military is getting in on the act: army draftees undergoing basic training will get advice from a clinic on ways to quit.

But successive national governments -- fearful of an electoral backlash -- have held back from raising the tax on cigarettes.

Some 44.3 percent of South Korean men smoked in 2009, according to the latest available data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This compares to an average among all member nations of 26.5 percent for men.

The smoking rate among Korean women is low due to social taboos.

Samsung Electronics, the country's largest employer, is at the forefront of efforts to cajole workers to quit smoking.

Executives of its Device Solutions (DS) department, which employs 35,000 people out of a total of 101,970 Samsung Electronics staff in Korea, recently called on staffers to join a non-smoking programme.

A company spokesman said almost all DS employees had made non-smoking pledges as part of what it called a "well-received" voluntary programme.

The department "considers employees as the company's most valuable asset, and their health and well-being are a top priority. The recent smoking cessation programme is an extension of that belief," a statement said.

The spokesman said the company as a whole was considering strengthening anti-smoking policies.

"Certain consequences for smokers are under consideration. They haven't been finalised nor enforced," he said, adding smoking could be a factor affecting promotion prospects.

The Woongjin Group, which has wide ranging businesses, has also tightened its policies. It said promotions made in February took smoking into account and all new employees must sign an anti-smoking pledge.

"The announcements were made prior to the promotion process, so there weren't any complaints from those who didn't get promotion," said its spokeswoman.

Woongjin conducts random hair and urine tests on a large number of employees at irregular intervals.

Media reports say some other major companies employ similar tactics, even though they publicly deny pressuring employees. Some employees say they don't object.

"At first, I had negative feelings about the policy because it was too forceful. But as I followed along, I began to think it was good for me," said Che Young-Jin, 31, who recently quit smoking.

Outside the workplace, Seoul city government has banned smoking in plazas and parks and near bus stops and schools. Offenders face a 100,000 won ($86) fine.

"We caught 240 cases last year at main plazas and parks and this year, our 23 officers are going to random spots and catching about three to five smokers every day," said Song Yo-Sang, a manager at the city government.

By 2014, the city plans to make 21 percent of its total area a non-smoking zone. It is considering a blanket ban on smoking in all public areas except for some designated spots.

The health ministry will increase the size of warning messages on cigarette packs from 30 percent of the surface area to 50 percent.

"Two more messages, which are a counselling hotline number and a message that inhalation of tar depends on smoking habits, will be printed with the original message," said Song Myoung-Jun, a ministry deputy director.

The ministry also plans to use graphic warning pictures, such as diseased lungs, on packs although it may take time to amend laws to permit this.

But officials are still hesitant to raise the cigarette tax, the lowest among OECD nations. A pack of Marlboro costs just 2,700 won ($2.31).

Song acknowledged the price was low but said a rise "requires social consensus".

Some smokers say South Korea's new-found zeal is excessive.

"Conducting tests and constantly pressuring employees to quit smoking even after work clearly violates human rights," said Hong Sung-Yong, director of the Korea Smoker's Association.

"People shouldn't make smokers look like barbarians when smoking is legal and we pay the rightful amount of taxes," he said, calling on Seoul city to designate public smoking areas.

"Prohibiting smoking is like pushing smokers off the brink and merely shows that they don't care at all about smokers' rights," Hong said.

-AFP/sb

Australia – S Korea - Fighting Food Allergies Through A Korean-Australian Collaboration

Food scientists in Australia and Korea are working together to develop innovative processing techniques that alter the properties of allergenic proteins in milk and food products.

Food scientists in Australia and South Korea are minimizing the adverse health effects of allergens in milk and other food products by developing innovative processing techniques that alter the properties of allergenic proteins.

A new memorandum of understanding signed today between the University of New South Wales (UNSW) School of Chemical Engineering and Korea’s National Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) will explore the potential benefits of this and other innovative food safety technologies.

The food allergy research group at UNSW, led by Dr. Alice Lee, aims to develop nano-sensors that can better detect allergens such as those found in animal milk, which can cross a spectrum and in severe cases can result in potentially life threatening anaphylaxis.

They are also working to understand how these allergens change after harvest and during food processing, and how this affects the resulting human reaction.

“Food allergy has been an emerging food safety concern especially in developed countries,” said Lee. “The current collaborative research project we have with the National Institute of Animal Science is focused on reducing the health risks of milk allergens by a means of high pressure processing.”

Under the new agreement, a researcher from the NIAS has been seconded to UNSW to work in the Food Science and Technology group, which is also looking at microbiological risks such as E. coli and salmonella, and chemical risks posed by traces of antibiotics, hormones, and pesticides.

Antibiotics are often administered to livestock in very low doses to fend off bacteria growth, but leftover residues can sometimes be present in meat, says Lee, resulting in negative health impacts when humans are exposed.

Korea’s Rural Development Administration Department is comparable to Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, says Lee, so it has a broad research focus, with a range of possibilities for future research collaborations in the areas of food safety.

“Korea and Australia share a common interest in food security, global food availability, and food safety – especially around livestock hygiene,” said Professor Rob Burford, head of the School of Chemical Engineering. “This is an exciting partnership for UNSW.”

Source: UNSW.

Asian Scientist Newsroom | Academia

South Korea - Meat-eating contributed to human evolution: study

KOREA - A high-quality diet made possible by devouring meat caused prehistoric humankind to wean faster, allowing them to be more productive, according to a research by a group of scientists from Lund University in Sweden.

"Eating meat enabled the breast-feeding period and thereby the time between births to be shortened," said lead researcher Elia Psouni.

The link between a high-protein diet and breast-feeding lies in brain development, according to researchers.

Scientists studied 70 mammalian species and discovered that the young of all species stop feeding off mother's milk when their brain develops to a certain stage. They have learned that this stage is reached faster by mammals that acquire at least 20 per cent of their energy from meat.

Moreover, humans' development of unusually large brain is contributed by process of obtaining meat as well as ingestion of meat.

Hunting requires communication, planning and use of tools, all of which necessitates a more complicated thinking process and ergo, a larger brain.

However, the study does not suggest how we should eat now. Psouni stressed that the research is strictly about how meat-eating may have helped humans spread on Earth, and it implies nothing about ideal diet for modern humans.

The Korea Herald/Asia News Network

South Korea - South Korea Halts Customs Clearance of U.S. Beef

South Korea will halt customs clearance of U.S. beef imports after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease in six years was found in a dairy cow in central California, an agriculture ministry official said.

The government will release details of inspections “soon,” Park Sang Ho, an official at South Korea’s agricultural ministry, said by phone. The agriculture office shortly after issued a statement saying it will take the “necessary measures.”

South Korea, once the third-largest buyer of U.S. beef, began restricting shipments in 2003, following the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow, in the U.S. herd. The Asian country resumed imports of the meat from cattle younger than 30 months of age in June 2008. This is the fourth BSE case found in the U.S. herd , and the first since March 2006.

“It’s a pressing matter because we are concerned consumers will shy away from U.S. beef,” Choi Jong Sun, chairman of the Korea Meat Importers’ Association, said today by phone fromSeoul. “The concern about mad cow has faded over the past few years. We are closely watching the impact on demand and what the government will do.”

The cow was identified as part of routine testing for the brain-wasting disease, John Clifford, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief veterinarian, said yesterday. It was discovered before it entered the human food chain and posed any threat to consumers, Clifford said.

Futures Rebound

Cattle futures rebounded after tumbling by the exchange limit yesterday. Futures for June delivery climbed 0.3 percent to $1.11925 a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange at 12:13 p.m. Tokyo time. Futures fell 2.6 percent to settle at $1.11575 a pound yesterday to the lowest level since July 1 and the biggest percentage drop on a most-active contract since May 23.

Harim Co. (136480), a maker of canned chicken breasts and nuggets, rose 4.8 percent and Dong Won Fisheries Co., a deep-sea fishing company, gained 9 percent in Seoul trading on speculation demand for poultry and seafood will increase after the new U.S. mad cow case.

“The agricultural ministry is studying the case and considering what actions will be taken for the U.S. beef imports,” South Korea’s Finance Minister Bahk Jae Wan told reporters in Seoul today. “Possible steps may include halting the customs clearance.”

Japan, Taiwan

South Korea’s move comes even as Japan said it won’t suspend imports, according to Minoru Yamamoto, director at the ministry’s international animal health affairs office. Taiwan will maintain its curbs on beef from countries that have reported mad-cow disease, Council of Agriculture Chief Secretary Tai Yu-yen said today.

Baker Commodities Inc. said the case was at its Hanford deadstock plant, where dead livestock are held before going to a rendering plant. The animal arrived at the plant April 18 and all test samples are sent to the University of California at Davis, Dennis Luckey, executive vice president of operations at Los Angeles-based Baker, said in a phone interview. The animal was at least 30 months old and the disease was discovered as part of random testing conducted to meet USDA quotas, he said.

‘System Working’

The discovery of mad cow disease in California shows that the government’s surveillance system is working, and the U.S. beef and milk supply is safe, Guy Loneragan, an epidemiologist and professor of food safety and public health at Texas Tech University, said on a conference call with reporters organized by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

In 2003, after the first case of the disease, dozens of countries shuttered their doors to U.S. shipments.

Losses to livestock producers and meatpackers ranged from $2.5 billion to $3.1 billion annually from 2004 through 2007, according to the International Trade Commission. Nations including Japan and China have maintained some restrictions ever since.

Bloomberg

South Korea - Tourists flock to S. Korea surgeons seeking celebrity looks

SEOUL - It was in the mid-2000s when South Korean plastic surgeon Joo Kwon noticed a trickle of Chinese women walking into his clinic, even though he hadn't advertised overseas.

"They somehow found a way to the clinic... and nearly all of them said they want the face of Lee Young-Ae," Joo said, referring to a top South Korean actress who starred in the pan-Asian hit drama "Jewel in the Palace".

The trickle has now turned into a flood of Chinese packing Joo's JK Plastic Surgery Centre - one of the country's largest - and many other clinics, lured by the looks of South Korean entertainers who have taken Asia by storm.

A Hallyu (Korean wave) of pop culture over the past decade has won a devoted fan base in China, Southeast Asia and Japan. The South's TV dramas dominate prime-time airwaves and K-pop bands sell out concerts and top the charts.

Legendary TV hits like "Winter Sonata" and "Autumn Fairy Tale" help draw tens of thousands of foreign fans to filming locations in South Korea every year, boosting the tourism industry.

Now skilled plastic surgeons in the looks-obsessed South - who often helped beautify Korean stars in the first place - are enjoying an unexpected boom as they do the same for their foreign fans.

According to government data, overall medical spending by foreign visitors hit a record $116 million last year. Fourteen per cent sought plastic surgery or skin treatments such as botox.

Almost a half of all foreigners seeking a nose job, a facelift, a jawbone reduction or a tummy tuck were from China. Their number nearly tripled from 1,657 in 2009 to 4,400 in 2010.

"The Hallyu boom has definitely played a key role in drawing new patients from abroad," said Hong Jeong-Geun, spokesman for the Korea Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.

Hong said many star-struck foreigners visit clinics with photos of celebrities like Kim Hee-Sun, a popular actress in Asia, and ask surgeons to emulate her nose angle or eyes.

Made beautiful with a little 'help'

"They understand that some stars, rather than born beautiful, were made beautiful with a little bit of help from plastic surgeons," Hong told AFP.

Cut-throat competition among the country's growing number of plastic surgeons - who now number some 1,700 - made them even more aggressive in trying to lure new clients, he said.

Joo's clinic in Seoul's affluent Gangnam district - home to more than 400 plastic surgery and skin-treatment clinics - is at the forefront of such efforts.

About a half of its customers are non-Koreans, from China, Japan, the Middle East and even Africa. Patients picked up at the airport by limousines are greeted by staffers who speak English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese or Mongolian.

Joo declined to give the total number of patients at his clinic but said 10 doctors perform dozens of surgeries every day.

The clinic recently opened its own hotel to better serve deep-pocketed foreigners who spend an average of about 20 million won ($17,675) to get multiple surgery during a single visit.

"I think there's a good chance that plastic surgery can become South Korea's new major export industry," said Joo.

Customers like Anny Guo are highly sought after.

The daughter of a construction firm CEO in the northeastern Chinese city of Jilin, she flew to Seoul to get a nose job and make her high cheekbones less prominent.

Her parents gave her 100,000 yuan ($15,860) after she begged them for months.

Undesirable trend

"I want to have a face and skin like Song Hye-Gyo...or nose like Han Ga-In," the 24-year-old college student told AFP, referring to popular South Korean actresses.

Many South Korean TV shows are aired with subtitles on Chinese websites only a day after being screened in Seoul.

"Most of my friends who watch South Korean dramas want to come here to get surgery. They think plastic surgeons here are the best in Asia," said Guo.

Policymakers have eased regulations, allocated a greater budget, staged presentations overseas and given awards to successful clinics to promote all kinds of medical tourism.

"Medical tourism, plastic surgery included, will be a new growth driver for our economy....and the popularity of our stars is helping us a lot," said Jung Eun-Young, deputy director of the health ministry's policy department.

Even cosmetic surgeons, however, have some reservations.

Joo Kwon said it was undesirable that more and more Koreans are seeking such operations.

"I think South Korea has a very rigorous and narrow definition of beauty because we're an ethnically homogenous society and everyone looks pretty much the same. It is also related to low self-esteem," he said

"I think the situation will somewhat moderate in future as society becomes more diverse. But it will take quite a bit of time until we get there."

AFP

South Korea - High-Resolution Atomic Imaging of Specimens in Liquid by TEM Using Graphene Liquid Cell

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced that a research team from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has developed a technology that enables scientists and engineers to observe processes occurring in liquid media on the smallest possible scale which is less than a nanometer.

Professor Jeong Yong Lee and Researcher Jong Min Yuk, in collaboration with Professor Paul Alivisatos's and Professor Alex Zettl's groups at the University of California, Berkeley, succeeded in making a graphene liquid cell or capsule, confining an ultra-thin liquid film between layers of graphene, for real-time and in situ imagining of nanoscale processes in fluids with atomic-level resolution by a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Their research was published in the April 6, 2012 issue of Science.

The graphene liquid cell (GLC) is composed of two sheets of graphene sandwiched to create a sealed chamber where a platinum growth solution is encapsulated in the form of a thin slice. Each graphene layer has a thickness of one carbon atom, the thinnest membrane that has ever been used to fabricate a liquid cell required for TEM.

The research team peered inside the GLC to observe the growth and dynamics of platinum nanocrystals in solution as they coalesced into a larger size, during which the graphene membrane with the encapsulated liquid remained intact. The researchers from KAIST and the UC Berkeley identified important features in the ongoing process of the nanocrystals' coalescence and their expansion through coalescence to form certain shapes by imaging the phenomena with atomic-level resolution.

Professor Lee said, "It has now become possible for scientists to observe what is happening in liquids on an atomic level under transmission electron microscopes."

Researcher Yuk, one of the first authors of the paper, explained his research work.

"This research will promote other fields of study related to materials in a fluid stage including physical, chemical, and biological phenomena at the atomic level and promises numerous applications in the future. Pending further studies on liquid microscopy, the full application of a graphene-liquid-cell (GLC) TEM to biological samples is yet to be confirmed. Nonetheless, the GLC is the most effective technique developed today to sustain the natural state of fluid samples or species suspended in the liquid for a TEM imaging."

The transmission electron microscope (TEM), first introduced in the 1930s, produces images at a significantly higher resolution than light microscopes, allowing users to examine the smallest level of physical, chemical, and biological phenomena. Observations by TEM with atomic resolution, however, have been limited to solid and/or frozen samples, and thus it has previously been impossible to study the real time fluid dynamics of liquid phases.

TEM imaging is performed in a high vacuum chamber in which a thin slice of the imaged sample is situated, and an electron beam passes through the slice to create an image. In this process, a liquid medium, unlike solid or frozen samples, evaporates, making it difficult to observe under TEM.

Attempts to produce a liquid capsule have thus far been made with electron-transparent membranes of such materials as silicon nitride or silicon oxide; such liquid capsules are relatively thick (tens to one hundred nanometers), however, resulting in poor electron transmittance with a reduced resolution of only a few nanometers. Silicon nitride is 25 nanometers thick, whereas graphene is only 0.34 nanometers.

Graphene, most commonly found in bulk graphite, is the thinnest material made out of carbon atoms.

It has unique properties such as mechanical tensile strength, high flexibility, impermeability to small molecules, and high electrical conductivity. Graphene is an excellent material to hold micro- and nanoscopic objects for observation in a transmission electron microscope by minimizing scattering of the electron beam that irradiates a liquid sample while reducing charging and heating effects.

ScienceDaily