Spodoptera species (S. exigua and S. litura) are important pests of several crops and vegetables in Korea. We investigated development processes of Spodoptera species under constant temperatures (20, 25 and 30 oC) regimes and relative humidity (RH) (30-35, 50-55, 70-75, and 90-95%) conditions. We collected eggs of Spodoptera species by releasing them into a rectangular box inner walls covered with a sheet of white paper. Temperature and RH significantly impacted on oviposition, immature survival, adult emergence and longevity of Spodoptera species. Maximum number of eggs, shorter developmental time, higher adult emergence with longer longevity were reported in 70-75% at 30 oC. Minimal eggs and larval survival were recorded in 30-35% and 90-95% RH, respectively. This results suggest that temperature and RH had individual apparent effect on the developmental processes of Spodoptera species instead interactive effect. Therefore, there is chance to cause a significant damage to field crops and vegetables in 70-75% at 30 oC.

Background: Choosing to perform squats on an unstable surface potentially offers advantages surpassing those of their stable counterpart. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare muscle activation during squats on stable and unstable surfaces and investigate the relationship among thigh muscles. Design: Observational study. Methods: Nineteen adults participated in this study. The stable surface consisted of a flat floor. The unstable surface involved the use of an air cushion. An air cushion was positioned beneath each foot of the study participants. Surface electromyography was employed to measure muscle activation. %MVC was calculated by measuring muscle activation during squat execution and manual muscle testing. Results: The comparison of muscle activation during squats between stable and unstable surfaces revealed a significant difference in the rectus femoris and biceps femoris (P<.05). On stable surfaces, positive correlations were observed in the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and vastus medialis (P<.05). On unstable surfaces, positive correlations were found between the rectus femoris and vastus medialis (P<.05). Conclusion: This study observed an increase in muscle activation of the rectus femoris and biceps femoris during squats on an unstable support surface compared to a stable support surface.

Extensive research and testing continue to be conducted for the development of vaccines targeting zoonotic diseases such as brucellosis. In this study, the potential of the DapB as a recombinant protein vaccine to effectively combat Brucella abortus 544 infection in BALB/c mice was evaluated. Western blotting assay results showed that recombinant protein DapB reacted with Brucella-positive serum, indicating its potential immunoreactivity. In vivo results showed that the peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cell population significantly increased in the DapB-immunized mice group after the first, second and third blood collection, compared to the control group that received PBS. Additionally, at the fourth blood collection, an increase in CD4+ T cell activation was observed in three vaccination groups compared to PBS negative control group. These results indicate the potential of DapB in stimulating cellular immunity. Fourteen days after infection, the bacterial load in the spleen was evaluated. The reduction in bacterial replication in the spleen by both DapB and RB51 highlights their protective efficacy against Brucella infection. These findings contribute to the ongoing efforts in developing effective vaccines against brucellosis and provide valuable insights for further research in this field.

Background: Coating a culture plate with molecules that aid in cell adhesion is a technique widely used to produce animal cell cultures. Extracellular matrix (ECM) is known for its efficiency in promoting adhesion, survival, and proliferation of adherent cells. Gelatin, a cost-effective type of ECM, is widely used in animal cell cultures including feeder-free embryonic stem (ES) cells. However, the optimal concentration of gelatin is a point of debate among researchers, with no studies having established the optimal gelatin concentration. Methods: In this study, we coated plastic plates with gelatin in a concentrationdependent manner and assessed Young’s modulus using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to investigate the microstructure of the surface of each plastic plate. The adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation of the ESCs were compared and analyzed revealing differences in surface microstructure dependent on coating concentration. Results: According to AFM analysis, there was a clear difference in the microstructure of the surface according to the presence or absence of the gelatin coating, and it was confirmed that there was no difference at a concentration of 0.5% or more. ES cell also confirmed the difference in cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation according to the presence or absence of gelatin coating, and also it showed no difference over the concentration of 0.5%. Conclusions: The optimum gelatin-coating for the maintenance and differentiation of ES cells is 0.5%, and the gelatin concentration-mediated microenvironment and ES cell signaling are closely correlated.

This study empirically verified the endorsement effect of a restaurant platform as a reliable third-party organization on changes in customers’ attitudes toward restaurants by measuring big data-based consumption values using customers’ reviews and applying difference-in-differences. The results indicated that endorsement effects are effective when specific cues are provided and under unusual circumstances such as the pandemic.

We study retailer app use and shopping behavior by investigating whether and how app adopters’ preferred store registration (PSR), a voluntary enrollment of store loyalty program, can lead to changes in purchase behaviors among the adopters in offline stores. A panel dataset from a large bakery franchise chain was studied using difference-in-differences with propensity score matching for causal inference. The results show that customers who participated in PSR increase their spending, compared to customers who did not. In addition, the results confirm that the PSR-spending relationship is moderated by customer and store characteristics; customers who visited infrequently and spent less prior to PSR participation increase their purchases, and they spend more at stores with better service quality.

Adding new stores close to incumbent franchisees, or franchise encroachment, has been a contentious issue in the marketplace. Prior studies on the encroachment effect focus mainly on the store-level cannibalization, lacking the understanding of customer-level post-encroachment outcomes. The authors investigate individual-level transaction data from a cluster of bakery franchise stores to quantify the franchise encroachment effect at store- and individual-levels with store and customer heterogeneity. Our results show that incumbents experience a decrease in sales, and the extent of the lost sales is attenuated by the distance between incumbent and new stores and the size of incumbents’ product assortment. The individual-level analysis reveals that three customer segments exhibit different post-encroachment shopping behaviors: (1) patronizing incumbents only, (2) patronizing both incumbent and new stores, and (3) completely switching to new stores. While the second segment increases the post-encroachment overall spending, the third segment contributes to both cannibalization to incumbents and higher sales to the franchisor. Our findings offer managerial implications of how to manage franchise encroachment with context-dependency and customer segmentation in terms of maximizing overall franchise performance.

Involving issues of environmental, consumer safety and health, and/or social concerns, a morally controversial action refers to an activity that does not have a single standard of ethics for all people, making it challenging to draw a clear line between what is ethical versus unethical. Despite its ambiguity, any firm can be involved in it, especially when the firm operates in the global marketplace where a variety of social, health, and environmental consequences surrounding a given action are questioned by consumers. If consumers come to know of a familiar brand’s morally controversial behavior, it can create approach-avoidance conflicts in their minds; they may see the brand’s action as mismatched with their own moral standards (“avoidance” manifested through a measurable construct––moral incongruence), while being tempted to justify the action (“approach” manifested through moral rationalization).

부추속은 수선화과에 속하며 약 1000여종에 이른다. 좀부 추는 자생 부추속에 속하며 식용이 가능하고 크기가 작아 분 화식물로 적합하다. 이에 따라 본 연구는 좀부추를 분화 소재 로서 개발하기 위하여 식물의 측지성장을 촉진하고 꽃의 품질 을 향상시키기 위해 수행되었다. 이를 위하여 좀부추의 구근 을 생장조절제(GA3, BA, 에테폰, TDZ)에 다른 시간(1, 5시 간)동안 침지처리했을 때 식물의 생장과 꽃에 어떤 영향을 주 는지 조사하였다. GA3 처리구는 엽수와 자구의 수가 증가해 증식을 촉진시키는 효과가 있었다. 게다가 GA3는 화수의 증 가와 조기개화를 유도했다. 그러나 엽폭과 화경의 폭은 감소 하였다. 에테폰은 좀부추의 초장과 초폭에서 영향을 주지 않 았으나 1h에서 자구의 수가 증가하였다. 에테폰은 화서 발생 을 억제하여 화경의 수가 감소하였다. BA는 식물의 생장과 개 화 특성에 유의적인 영향을 보이지 않았다. TDZ처리한 식물 은 왜화되고 생육상태가 불량하였으며, 식물을 고사시켰다.