Social networking sites (SNS) are defined as web-based services that enable consumers to create a public profile and a list of contacts with whom they share a social network (Kang et al., 2014). On SNS sites, consumers can find the right product, obtain advice from people, make purchases, post product recommendations, reviews and photos, and create SNS communities (Shen, 2008). The shopping motive acts as an important trigger to browse for products on social media websites. Product browsing over social media sites could influence the intention of future purchase and sharing information of product and brand with friend and acquaintances. For companies related to social media business, both intention to purchase and information sharing are crucial elements. However, few efforts have been made to identify the factors driving consumer intentions to purchase and word-of-mouth of fashion products on social media sites. The objectives of this study were to determine the factor to facilitate product browsing and to find out the causative relationship among influential factors and consumer intentions to purchase and word-of-mouth of fashion products on social media sites. The instrument was developed based on the previous literatures (Brien, 2010; Park, et al., 2012; To, 2007; Woo & Hwang, 2013) and each item was measured by five-point Liker type scales. A total of 269 data were collected during a regularly scheduled class in universities, who have experienced to purchase fashion products or make a product review on social media sites. Mean age of the respondents was 22.3 years old. Nearly 75.3 percent of the subjects were women, and more than half of the respondents (61.6%) have purchased the products (e.g., apparel, shoes, etc.) on social commerce sites over three years. The structure equation model analysis was conducted by AMOS 23.0 using a correlation matrix with maximum likelihood approach. The structural equation model was relatively acceptable (chi-square value = 136.30, df = 66, p = .000; GFI = .94, AGFI = .91, RMR = .05). Cronbach's alphas were ranged between .83 and .87. This result suggests that utilitarian shopping motives have influenced directly product browsing, purchase intention, and word-of-mouth intentions of fashion products on social media sites. The more product browsing on social media sites, the more intended to purchase and word-of-mouth of fashion products with friend and acquaintances. It implies that consumer with utilitarian shopping motives are likely to more browse, and then to more purchase and write the review of fashion products on social media sites. However, consumers with hedonic shopping motives are prone to more write the review of fashion products to their friends and acquaintances without product browsing or purchase intention on social media sites.

With advances in digital technology, retailers are utilizing digital signage which would be a visual factor of atmospherics in a retail environment. Based on stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, this study was to examine a moderating effect of digital signage in relationship between atmospherics and store patronage. To collect data, a self-administered questionnaire was developed based on literatures, and mainly contained usage experience of digital signage, atmospherics (20 items), and store patronage (6 items). All items were measured on 7 point rating scale. Two sampling frames for this study were involved: experienced sample from retail stores with digital signage vs. unexperienced sample from retail stores without digital signage. Each sample was separately asked to complete the same questions regarding experience with digital signage, store atmospherics and store patronage. A total 497 usable responses (n=278 for experienced digital signage; n=219 for unexperienced digital signage) were obtained from consumers who were aged from 20 to 49 years old. For experienced sample, digital signage has been used various types: for example, location-based digital screen for store and shopping information (52.5%) was the most experienced, and followed by LED screen (28.8%) and others (e.g., Digital Look-Book, Virtual-Try-on, Interactive Screen, and Self-checking kiosk) in the fashion retail environments. Of total respondents, females (50.7%) were slightly more than were males (49.3%). For data analysis, descriptive statistics, factor analysis, t-test, hierarchy regression analysis were used by using PASW18. Preliminarily, factor analysis revealed that atmospherics consisted of three elements, such as store layout, visual aesthetics and interior display. The factor loadings were ranged from .60 to .80 and three factors were accounted for 70.42% of total variance. Compared with store without digital signage, the mean score of atmospherics (e.g., store layout, visual aesthetics, and interior display) was more highly rated in the retail stores with digital signage. In a hierarchical multiple regression model, two factors of store layout and interior display had a significant effect on store patronage in the first step (F=69.23, p<.001, Adjusted R2=.29). The store layout (β=.33, p<.001) and interior display (β=.17, p<.01) were likely to increase consumers’ store patronage. Also, interaction effect of digital signage and atmospherics was significant in the second step (R2 Change=.014, F Change=3.386, df1=3, df2=487, p<.05). Digital signage had moderating effect only in the relationship between interior display and store patronage (β=.65, p<.05). The findings suggest that digital signage plays an important role as a stimulus in improving atmospherics at the retail environments. Particularly, the digital signage would be effective in a good interior display including POP signs, product display, racks and cases, furniture, which can lead to store patronage. This study provides a managerial implication into retailers for improving atmospherics by utilizing retail technology inside a store. Especially for fashion retailers, it is required to combine digital technology service with in-store visual merchandising for a retail environment.

The online store attributes acts as an important trigger for e-impulse buying. Purchasing apparel products are often affected by irrational and emotional attraction making them one of the most frequent impulsively purchased items online. Triggered by ease access to products, easy purchasing, lack of social pressures and absence of delivery efforts, impulse buying occurs in approximately forty percent of all online expenditures. Impulse buying occurs when consumers experience an urge to buy a product, without thoughtful consideration why and for what reason one needs the product. However, few efforts have been made to identify the relationship among-store services attributes, emotions, browsing, urges to buy, and e-impulse buying of apparel products. The objectives of this study was to estimate a path model analysis for causative relationship among e-store service attributes, emotions, browsing, urges to buy, and e-impulse of apparel products. The instrument was developed based on the previous literatures (Park, et al., 2012; Verhagen & Dolen, 2011; Yang & Peterson, 2004)and each item was measured by five-point Liker type scales. A total of 250 data were collected during a regularly scheduled class in universities. More than half of the respondents (65.5%) were 18 to 21 years old. Nearly 65.5 percent of the subjects were women, and more than half of the respondents (63.8%) were below the sophomore. The path model analysis was conducted by AMOS 18.0 using a correlation matrix with maximum likelihood approach. An exploratory factor analysis revealed three types of e-store service attributes: Accuracy, Reliability, and Ease of use. The path model, which was estimated to examine causal relationships among variables (i.e. three types of e-store service attributes, emotions, browsing, urges to buy, and e-impulse buying), was relatively acceptable (chi-square value = 34.40, df = 13, p = .001; GFI = .98, AGFI = .93, RMR = .03). Cronbach's alphas were ranged between .83 and .87. This result suggests that emotions (e.g., positive and negative), browsing and urges to buy perceived by shoppers play important roles as mediators of the e-impulse buying of apparel products. Especially, the urge to buy apparel products was the most important mediator to trigger e-impulse buying. The consumers perceived the accuracy and reliability of e-store attributes were the more perceiving the urges to buy apparel products through the more positive emotions and then the more browsing at e-store. Also, the more ease to use of e-store perceived the more urges to buy apparel products. The more perceiving urges to buy at e-store were the more e-impulse buying of apparel products. This study provides retail managerial implications for stimulating e-shoppers' impulse buying of apparel products.

Among hemipteran insects which is the most important insect vector of plant viruses, small brown planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus, transmits the rice stripe virus (RSV) causing rice stripe disease. For effective control of RSV, it is important to understand interaction between RSV and L. striatellus. Therefore, in this study, expressed sequence tag (EST) databases were generated based on 454 GS-FLX pyrosequencing for comparative transcriptome analysis between nonviruliferous and RSV-viruliferous L. striatellus. By comparing the two EST libraries, we showed that 108 host genes were significantly up-regulated and 28 host genes were significantly down-regulated in viruliferous insects. Interestingly, genes encoding ribosomal proteins were mainly up-regulated in viruliferous L. striatellus, whereas genes related to translation were concentrated in the downregulated cohort. These RSV-dependently regulated genes may have important function in the behavior of planthopper or the transmission of RSV.

In the transcriptome surveys of Laodelphax striatellus, several cDNA sequences showed a high level of similarities to the insect picorna-like virus genomes. Interestingly, there was no sequence similarity between picorna-like virus sequences from the RSV-viruliferous and those from the non-viruliferous L. striatellus. Picorna-like virus from the non-viruliferous L. striatellus was a geographical isolate of Himetobi P virus (HiPV). The genome of the HiPV was 9,272 nt in length excluding the poly(A) tail and contained two open reading frames (ORFs), which were separated by a 176 nt intergenic region that functions as an internal ribosome entry site (IRES). The 5' ORF encodes the non-structural proteins and the 3' ORF encodes the capsid proteins. The partial genomic RNA of the picorna-like virus from the RSV-viruliferous L. striatellus, LsPV-2, was 8,769 nt in length excluding the poly(A) tail and contained a single, large open reading frame (nt 1–8,535) encoding a 2,845 aa polyprotein. In terms of sequence similarity, identity, and genome organization, LsPV-2 resembled insect picornalike viruses belonging to the family Iflaviridae. A phylogenetic analysis based on RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) sequence showed that LsPV-2 was most closely related to the deformed wing virus (DWV). The HiPV and LsPV-2 were incompatible each other in L. striatellus, suggesting that these two picorna-like viruses may have important functions in transmission of the RSV.

Background : Acanthopanax sessiliflorus (Rupr. et Maxim) Seem, belonging to the Araliaceae family, is widely distributed in Korea, China, and Japan. The plants belonging to Acanthopanax species are traditionally used in Korea as anti-rheumatoid arthritis, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic drugs and are recognized to have ginseng-like activities. A simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed and validated for independent analysis of major compounds and chlorogenic acid in A. sessiliflorus fruits. Chlorogenic acid was reported that prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease in vivo. Also, it has antioxidant effect in vitro test. In the previous experiment, chlorogenic acid were found in A. sessiliflorus fruits. This study was performed to identification of the major compounds and investigate the method validation for the determination of chlorogenic acid in A. sessiliflorus fruits. Methods and Results : Three major compounds were recorded on a Varian Unity Inova AS-400 FT-NMR spectrometer and analyzed by the new HPLC analysis method. HPLC analysis was carried out using an Waters e2695 and PDA detector. The new analyasis method was validated by the measurement of intra-day, inter-day precision, accuracy, limit of detection (LOD, S/N=3), and limit of quantification (LOQ, S/N=10) of chlorogenic acid. The results showed that the correlation coefficient (R2) for the calibration curves of chlorogenic acid was 0.997 in terms of linearity. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.565 ㎍/ml and 2.88 ㎍/ml, respectively. There was no interfering peak observed each other and HPLC system was suitable for analysis showing goodness of peak and high precision. Conclusion : This method is suitable to detect and quantify major compounds in A. sessiliflorus fruits. Furthermore, the result will be applied to establish chlorogenic acid as an standard compound for A. sessiliflorus fruits.

Genetically modified (GM) papaya (Carica papaya L.) line 55-1 (55-1), which is resistant to papaya ringspot virus infection, has been marketed internationally. Many countries such as the European Union, Japan, and Korea have a mandatory safety assessment, approval and labeling regulations for GM foods. Thus, there is a need for specific methods for detecting 55-1. In this study, we established a real-time PCR detection method applicable to 55-1 for a variety of papaya products. The limit of detection was possible for fresh papaya fruit up to dilutions of 0.005% and 0.01% (weight per weight [w/w]) for homozygous SunUp and heterozygous Rainbow cultivars, respectively, in non-GM papaya. The 55-1 event-specific detection method observed parallelism (r2>0.99) between the concentration of line 55-1 cultivars and Ct values obtained in amplification plots at concentrations of 0.005-10% for SunUp DNA and 0.01-10% for Rainbow DNA. The method was applicable to the qualitative detection in various types of processed products (cocktail fruit, dried fruit, juice, etc.) containing papaya as a main ingredient. Monitoring papaya products for the presence of GM papaya were demonstrated using a P35S and T-nos real-time PCR detection method but no amplification signals were detected.

Mungbean (Vigna radiata) is a fast-growing, warm-season legume crop that is primarily cultivated in developing countries of Asia. We constructed a draft genome sequence of mungbean to facilitate genome research into the subgenus Ceratotropis and to enable a better understanding of the evolution of leguminous species. The draft genome sequence covers 80% of the estimated genome, of which 50.1% consists of repetitive sequences. In total, 22,427 high confidence protein-coding genes were predicted. Based on the de novo assembly of additional wild mungbean species, the divergence of what was eventually domesticated and the sampled wild mungbean species appears to have predated domestication. Moreover, the de novo assembly of a tetraploid Vigna species (Vigna reflexo-pilosa var. glabra) provided genomic evidence of a recent allopolyploid event. To further study speciation, we compared de novo RNA-seq assemblies of 22 accessions of 18 Vigna species and protein sets of Glycine max and Cajanus cajan. The species tree was constructed by a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method using highly confident orthologs shared by all 24 accessions. The present assembly of V. radiata var. radiata will facilitate genome research and accelerate molecular breeding of the subgenus Ceratotropis.