With the rapid development of digital technologies and the Internet, the boundaries between countries are shrinking and markets are becoming global (Oh et al., 2016). Simultaneously, cross-border online shopping is another trend that has spread across the world, and global e-commerce has now become a reality (Johnson et al., 2003; Moore, 2015). However, in prior studies related to eWOM, the national culture has received little attention among the numerous factors that could adjust the effect of eWOM (Christodoulides et al., 2012). In addition, in the real world, although individuals are frequently exposed to combined eWOM messages containing both positive and negative information about the same product, most previous studies on eWOM have focused on the one-sided eWOM valence. There are not many empirical studies on the influence of the two-sided eWOM valence on consumers’ persuasions. Thus, Study I examines the attitude effect of the two-sided eWOM valence from a cross-cultural perspective, particularly on the basis of the differences in thinking styles between the Easterners and Westerners. For this, we use a 2[Valence: positive/negative, negative/positive] x 2[Culture: East (South Korea), West (United States)] factorial design. To classify the culture, the thinking style was measured as a within-group variable. As a result, the interaction effect between valence and culture (nation) was significant. Specifically, in the East (South Korea), no significant difference existed in the changes in brand attitude depending on the two-sided eWOM valence, whereas brand attitude changes from a negative/positive presentation order in the West (United States) were significantly larger than the positive/negative presentation order. Study II demonstrates the mediated moderation effect of perceived cognition congruency in a cross-cultural setting for explaining the underlying mechanism. Drawing on the cognitive fit theory, we present a two-sided eWOM-consumers’ perceived cognition congruency proposition: the two-sided eWOM valence that matches the information processing order consumers habitually have would facilitate the favorable comprehension (reflected by perceived cognition congruency) and assessment (reflected by changes in brand attitude) of the reviews. As a result, the two-sided eWOM valence indirectly affects brand attitude changes by mediating perceived cognition congruency. This valence directly affects the brand attitude changes in the Westerner (United States) group, which has an analytical thinking style. However, the direct and indirect effects of two-sided eWOM valence on brand attitude changes are not significant in the Easterner (South Korea) group, which has a holistic thinking style. This examination might explain why differences in the changes in brand attitude between the Easterners and Westerners were revealed through the twosided eWOM valence, thus providing in-depth insights into consumer responses for the valence. This study expands the diversity of studies conducted on the characteristics of the two-sided eWOM. Furthermore, it is expected to provide a strategic direction and practical implications for two-sided eWOM-driven information management by organizations.

The purpose of this study is to find out the activity of gluteus medius muscle by the changes of load given to the upper limbs in single support phase. This study was twenty healthy men from A College. The left gluteus medius muscle was measured using SEMG(surface Electromyogram). Only the left foot was supported, and for the right foot, the right upper limbs were abducted while hip joint and the knee joint were bent at a 90° angle. The study was made by giving weight using dumbbells, depending on the RM of the subject(0RM, 1RM, 3RM, 5RM, 7RM). Gluteus medius muscle showed a large activity for those given weight to the upper limbs(1RM, 3RM, 5RM, 7RM) than that without weight(0RM). There was a significant difference in the activity of gluteus medius muscle between each RM. Gluteus medius muscle is high active when weight is given to the upper limbs in single support phase.

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seeds have long been clinically used in Korea to promote bone formation and prevent osteoporosis. In addition, the safflower buds (SB) were found to have more useful functional ingredients than safflower seed. Thus, we investigated the preventive effects of SB diet in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. The rats were divided into five groups; sham operated group, OVX alone group, OVX plus 17β-estradiol (E2 10 ㎍/㎏, i.p.) and OVX plus SB diet feeding group (0.3% or 1%). Feeding of SB diet (0.3% or 3%) to OVX rats markedly increased trabecular formation in femur compared to OVX rats. Feeding of SB diet (0.3% or 3%) to OVX rats also decreased TRAP activity compared to OVX rats. These results suggest that SB diets have bone sparing effects by the decrease of osteoclast activity. We also observed that OVX rats fed with SB diet (0.3% or 3%) exhibited the decrease of calcium and phosphorus in serum compared to OVX-induced rats. Therefore, SB may be beneficial for the patients of osteoporosis, especially in postmenopausal women.

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) is a short day plant and has been adapted to various climates and environments during cultivation. However, the cultivation area is restricted to a very narrow range of latitudes. To date, nine major genes (E1 to E8 and J) have been reported to control the flowering time and maturity. Here, we evaluated the role of E2, E3, E4, and their paralogue genes in late flowering soybean cultivars under long day (LD) conditions using Soybean yellow common mosaic virus (SYCMV)-based virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) system. A total of nine VIGS constructs were infiltrated into two fully expanded cotyledons and primary leaves. After inoculation with these VIGS constructs on Jangyeobkong, which is a late-flowering cultivar, phenotypic traits were evaluated for the first flowering dates (FFDs) and pod maturities under LD conditions. The FFDs of the silenced plants occurred 50-56 days after sowing (das), while the non-silenced plants bloomed on 60-61 days. We found that the E3 paralogue-silenced plants flowered the fastest and responsive genes were identified to be associated with the promotion of flowering time. As the knock-down of E3 paralogue, expression of E1 was up-regulated, E2 was no difference, E3 and E4 genes were down-regulated in the silenced plants. Expression of GmFT2a and GmFT5a is known to be controlled by E3 and E4. Interestingly, GmFT5a were highly expressed in SYCMV:E3 paralogue-silenced plants, whereas the expression of GmFT2a was not significant. These results support that GmFT5a is able to independently promote flowering under LD conditions.