Plant growth and development strongly influenced by light quantity and its spectral composition. Young tomato plants were cultivated in growth cabinets under artificial light provided by red and blue light emitting diodes(LEDs) during 12 hours, then plants were exposed to monochromatic ultraviolet, blue, green and red lights as an end-of-day(EOD) treatment during 4 hours to study their effect on plant growth parameters. EOD lighting from various LEDs increased total fresh and dry weights as well as assimilation area compared to those in control. Blue light increased stem height, internode length and stem diameter. Monochromatic UV-A light reduced stem elongation, highly increased stomatal conductance. Compactness and health index of young tomato plants were increased in UV-A and red light treatments.

This study aims to investigate the effects of ankle foot orthosis(AFO) on the activities of tibialis anterior(TA), soleus(Sol), rectus femoris(RF) and biceps femoris(BF) during stairs descending. The activities of TA, Sol, RF and BF were initially measured while descending 4 stairs without using AFO. The activities of the same muscles were then measured again while descending 4 stairs while using AFO. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to analyze the results in order to examine the differences between the with using AFO and without using AFO. Although the activities of TA, Sol and RF were relatively lower while using AFO than without using AFO, only the differences in Sol and RF activities were significant(p<0.05). The activity of BF was relatively higher while using AFO compared to the activity of BF observed without using AFO. However, difference was not significant(p>0.05). Conclusion of this study was observed since AFO’s ground reaction force absorption during stairs descending reduced the need to use So and RF that is related to shock absorption. BF activity was increased with AFO than without during standing forward to correct the trunk stability.

Using a partial D-loop sequence of mtDNA, a comprehensive molecular evolutionary analysis was performed of the maternal lineages of the Jeju native pigs(JNPs) that presented in Jeju Island. A total of 100 DNA sequences from Asian domestic pigs(ADP), European domestic pigs(EDP), Asian wild boars(AWB), European wild boars(EWB), and JNPs were used for the molecular evolutionary analyses including phylogeny and network analyses. The most fitted model for the phylogenetic analysis was determined using hierarchical likelihood-ratio tests conducted by MrModeltest implemented in the PAUP package. A consensus tree was established from 5,000,000 iterations using the MR BAYS program. Three recognizable JNP groups–one(JNPE) in the European cluster and two(JNPA1 and JNPA2) in the Asian cluster–were detected in the estimated phylogenetic tree and network. The maternal lineage of JNPE was the most adjacent to that of EWB and a clear haplogroup sharing an identical haplotype(hap16) among 15 individuals of JNPE and 2 individuals of EWB was detected.

Introducing lineage-specific transcription factors (TFs) into somatic cells enables the induction of distinct cellular identities without the need to first pass through a pluripotent stem cell (PSC) state. We and others have demonstrated the direct conversion of somatic cells into adult stem cells or progenitor cells, such as angioblast-like progenitor cells, hematopoietic stem cells, and neural stem cells. The process underlying direct conversion is known to be relatively simpler and faster than that of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) generation. Furthermore, directly converted cells have been shown to exhibit therapeutic potential following transplantation into respective disease models without obvious evidence for tumor formation. Thus, TF-mediated direct conversion technology has been considered as an alternative to iPSC technology for patient-specific cell- and tissue-replacement therapies. Here we show our recent findings describing the robust direct conversion of differentiated somatic cells into distinct cellular identities. Furthermore, we also show the recent 3D organoid technology for generating brain tissues from human pluripotent stem cells.

Bombolitin is a venom peptide originally isolated from bumblebees and possesses various biological activities, including hemolytic activity. Bombolitins exhibit amphipathic α-helical structure in lipid-membrane-mimicking environments. To investigate their pharmacological and toxicological properties, anti-tumor, anti-microbial and cytotoxic activities of bombolitins from Bombus ardens and Bombus ussurensis were evaluated. Bombolitins of the two species exhibited extremely high anti-tumor activity against ovarian tumor cells SK-OV-3 and NIH; OVCAR-3 at 25-50 μM, which is 2-fold more potent than other wasp venom peptides studied to date (Yoon et al., 2015; Yoon et al., 2016). The two bombolitins showed significantly high antimicrobial activity. However, bombolotin of B. ussurensis showed no antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli. In addition to their high levels of anti-tumor activity, bombolitins showed considerable levels of hemolytic activity. Thus, to utilize bombolitins as a potential candidate for anti-tumor peptide drugs, further studies for reducing cytotoxic properties of bombolitns is essential.

As a result of development in medical diagnostic technology, the incidence of double primary cancer is increasing. In case that one primary cancer was identified by pathologic finding and has suggestive multiple metastatic lesions of the cancer, it is often difficult that the lesions are considered as another synchronous primary malignancy, not as metastasis of primary cancer. Here, we report a rare case of synchronous double primary renal cell carcinoma that was diagnosed initially as metastatic duodenal adenocarcinoma. A 66-year-old man presented with a palpable abdominal mass. Abdominal computed tomography showed duodenal wall thickening and hypervascular masses in the liver and left kidney. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed an ulcerative lesion in the duodenal bulb, and endoscopic biopsy identified moderately-differentiated adenocarcinoma. We regarded the findings as duodenal adenocarcinoma with metastasis to liver and kidney. So he was treated with fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy for the diagnosis of duodenal adenocarcinoma with liver and renal metastases. After 10 months, he developed a right forearm mass. Morphological and immunohistochemical analysis of an incisional biopsy of the forearm mass were consistent with a diagnosis of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Even when there is a pathologically confirmed malignancy, clinicians must consider the possibility of synchronous double primary malignancy in metastatic lesions.

The quality of customer service has been one of the most representative determinants of retailers’ sustainable competitiveness. Since Parasuraman et al. (1988) introduced the service quality instrument, called SERVQUAL, many studies have used SERVQUAL to measure service quality in various domains. However, since SERVQUAL was originally developed to measure general service quality, it didn’t fully consider the underlying characteristics of a specific industry such as retailing. Recently, as retail industry is becoming more competitive, there is a general agreement that the most important retailing strategy for creating competitive advantage is the delivery of high service quality. From the retail manager’s perspective, the level of service quality is highly correlated with the level of customer loyalty and the customer’s favorable word-of-mouth behavior. In this sense, most retail managers would be very interested in the question of how to increase their customer loyalty rate and, therefore, to elaborate this question in more detail, service quality study in a retail setting would be very important. Current measures of service quality, including SERVQUAL, do not adequately capture customers’ perceptions of service quality for retail stores such as department stores or general discount stores. The main objective of this study is to investigate the usefulness and applicability of the different methods, including SERVQUAL, in measuring the service quality of retail environment and their relationships to customer loyalty and word-of-mouth behavior. By exploring the suitability of each different measurement method for retail service quality, this study enhances the understanding of the major dimensions of retail service quality and the analysis of the effect of service quality on customer loyalty and word-of-mouth behavior.

Design innovation is acquiring greater importance as consumers’ emotional needs grow ever greater and the cycle of technological innovation grows ever faster. Apple in particular led and strengthened this trend, achieving incomparable business success in the technology-driven electronics industry. However, although the importance of design innovation has increased, very little research has been done to explain the influence of design innovation on business success. This study aims to investigate the influence of design innovation attributes on perceptions, attitudes, and purchase intentions among designers and consumers. 408 designers and 464 consumers participated in an online survey that presented as stimuli four different smart watches. Design innovation attributes were evaluated based on the criteria of features, aesthetics, and ergonomics; consumer-perceived values were categorized as emotional, social, and functional. Regarding consumers attitudes, attitude toward product and attitude toward brand were measured separately. Overall results indicate that purchase intention among designers and consumers alike is influenced by their attitude toward product as well as brand. However, in the case of designers, these attitudes are most influenced by emotional value, while consumers are influenced by emotional as well as social values. Moreover, all three innovation attributes - namely, features, aesthetics, and ergonomics - affect designers’ perception of emotional value, but only aesthetics and ergonomics affect consumers’ emotional and social value. The study demonstrates three significant differences in the responses of designers and consumers. First, there is correlation of aesthetics and ergonomics to functional (price) value among designers, but not consumers. Second, there is correlation of functional (quality) value to attitudes toward product and brand for consumers, but much less or none at all for designers. Third, the influence of features on perception of emotional value is more pronounced among designers as compared to consumers. In conclusion, aesthetics and ergonomics are important design innovation attributes for consumers as well as designers, but the latter also attach significance to features. While perception of emotional as well as social value is important to consumers, designers consider only emotional value. It is anticipated that the relative importance of design innovation attributes will vary according to product categories and price ranges; therefore, further comparative studies will be meaningful in investigation of design innovation.

The rise of technology has brought innovations in the field of marketing. The most modern trend of marketing is termed as social media marketing. Social media is not only reducing the communication distance in the world but the discovery of social media provided opportunities for business to increase their exposure. However, it has been observed that regardless of the advantages of new technology some time users’ are reluctant to accept and use that technology. Considering these facts, the investigation of the factors affecting consumers’ intention for the acceptance and use of social media marketing (SMM) has been the greatest concern of the researcher. Other facet of this study is to understand the nature of consumers’ behavior across culture. This research is an empirical study for testing the underlying factors that influence the users’ intention for the acceptance and use of SMM. Current research proposes SMM acceptance model by integrating unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and technology acceptance model along with personal constructs. As the focus of this study was on UTAUT, hence majority of factors were selected from this theory. The survey was conducted with sample of 612 participants from South Korea and Pakistan. Findings by using structural equation modeling revealed that attitude towards online advertisement and electronic word of mouth significantly affect users’ intention for acceptance of SMM. Moreover, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, social influence, perceived usefulness, and perceived risk significantly influence users’ attitude towards advertisement. It has been found that the effect of social influence, perceived usefulness, and involvement is significant on attitude towards electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Moderating effects of nationality, gender, and use frequency are also tested on integrated model. The findings are helpful to understand consumer behavior and advantageous for marketing strategies. This research will contribute to the literature within the domain of social media marketing. The findings along with implications and recommendations for future research were also discussed at the end.

Lack of knowledge is reported to be the main reason that consumers do not buy products with ethical certifications. More than half (59%) of respondents from a study indicated that they had never considered buying such products due to insufficient knowledge about them (Demeritt, 2002). The purpose of this research is to provide a clear overview about the influence of product knowledge on consumer behavior and to develop a typology of fair-trade consumers. An online questionnaire in which respondents self-report their responses was developed to measure the constructs used for the study: self-perceived knowledge, purchase experience, demographic data (age, gender, education level, and income), psychographic data (attitudes and moral norms), and behavioristic data (purchase intentions of fair-trade apparel and willingness to pay more for fair-trade apparel). Data were collected using a web-based survey with 250 U.S. residents. Two-step cluster analysis was used to classify respondents into sub-groups based on their level of self-perceived knowledge and previous purchase experience of fair-trade apparel. In addition, ANOVA was used to test the predictive validity of the cluster solution. A three cluster solution was suggested by the results: 1) Less familiar and less experienced: This group was the largest among the three clusters (40.4%). It mostly consist of people with low level of self-perceived knowledge and low purchase experience related to fair-trade apparel. 2) More familiar and more experienced: This group consists of 30.8% of the sample and has moderate level of self-perceived knowledge and several experience related to fair-trade apparel. 3) More familiar but less experienced: This group was the smallest among the three clusters (28.8%). People from this group feel fairly knowledgeable about fair-trade apparel but have low experience with purchasing the product. Regarding demographic data, ANOVA results showed that there were significant differences in consumers’ income level (F=5.77, p=.004) across groups. Tukey’s HSD post hoc test indicated that the more familiar and more experienced group had higher income levels than the other two groups. Examining psychographic data showed that attitudes toward fair-trade products (F=7.42 p=.001) and moral norms (F=11.66 p<.001) significantly varied across groups. More familiar and more experienced group had more positive attitudes and higher level of moral norms than the less familiar and less experienced group. In terms of behavioristic data, groups differed significantly in both purchase intentions (F=18.16 p<.001) and willingness to pay more (F=5.02 p=.007) for fair-trade apparel. That is, more familiar and more experienced group was willing to pay significantly more and had higher purchase intentions for fair-trade apparel than the less familiar and less experienced group.

This study attempts to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial orientation on positive psychological and behavior intention such as psychological ownership, work engagement, organizational citizenship behavior, sales efforts, adaptive selling behavior, performance for internal marketing based on job demands and resources model (JD-R model). The purpose of this study is to examine how the five-dimensional entrepreneurial orientation (innovativeness, proactiveness, risk taking, autonomy, aggressiveness) can affect salespeople’s positive motivation and to suggest how to manage and train salespeople effectively as internal customers. For this study, data were gathered from the respondents who are salespeople and analyzed by using structural equation model (SEM). According to the results of the study, entrepreneurial orientation affected salespeople’s positive psychological ownership and work engagement. In addition, we confirmed that psychological ownership affected to increase work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior, and work engagement was a positive precedence factor increasing organizational citizenship behavior, sales efforts and adaptive selling behavior. Lastly, we found that organizational citizenship behavior, sales efforts and adaptive selling behavior showed a positive impact on performance. Based on the study results, this research suggested academic and managerial implications to manage and train salespeople effectively in the business-to-business markets.