The purpose of this study is to find out how SNS marketing activities affect brand recognition, brand familiarity, and purchase intention for consumers who have purchased products from franchise chicken stores, including whether there is a moderating effect according to gender. SNS marketing activities were set up by configuring three attributes which are, SNS advertising, SNS information, and SNS events as sub-factors. For empirical analysis, a survey was conducted on SNS users, and SPSS/AMOS statistical programs were employed for the data analysis. First, the result of the empirical analysis showed that SNS advertising, SNS information, and SNS events have a significant positive effect on brand recognition. Second, it was found that the SNS events had a significant positive effect on brand familiarity. Third, it was found that SNS advertising has a significant positive effect on purchase intention. Fourth, it was observed that brand recognition has a significant positive effect on brand familiarity. Fifth, it was found that brand recognition and brand familiarity have a significant positive effect on purchase intention. Sixth, it was found that gender plays a significant role in the relationship between these constructs. Therefore, it can be assumed that the hypothesis presented in this study is sufficiently proven.

During implantation, endometrial cells undergo functional and structural changes, and support the successful embryo development. This reaction is known as decidualization and is critical to placental formation and to prevent the uterine functions. This progress is achieved by complex communication of regulators such as hormones, cytokines and growth factors. Some of the TGF-b superfamily members such as inhibin, activin, TGF-β, and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) involve in uterine modulation during pregnancy. Müllerian inhibiting factor (MIF) is a member of TGF-β superfamily and regulate folliculogenesis, but its expression and roles in uterus are not clear. In this study, we investigated the expression of MIF and its receptor Ⅱ in decidualizing endometrium. Interestingly its expression was detected in the fully decidualized cells. Its receptor II was detected in undifferentiated stromal cells. MIF expression was increased by decidual maturation and MIF receptor II was decreased by decidual reaction. MIF expression was induced by estrogen and its receptor II was increased by only progesterone in the stroma cells primed with estrogen. In the uterus of delayed implantation model mice, MIF expression was peak after 6 hr of estrogen administration. MIF receptor II expression was not induced. It means that MIF and MIF receptor II are expressed in the stroma cells with the specificity on physiological status. Based on them, it is suggested that MIF may work as paracrine factors in uterus during decidualization.

The pollen grain is a unique tricellular structure suitable for the delivery of the sperm cells to the ovule. All nutrients required for microspore and pollen cell growth are derived by passage through the anther locule and secretion by the tapetum lining. During later stages the tapetum degenerates but contributes to produce pigments, waxes, lipids and proteins which form the pollen coat and function in signaling between male (pollen) and female (pistil) tissues. The development of both normal pollen and tapetum is necessary for the fertilization processes in rice and would be exploited for the induction of male-sterility which is very useful to improve economic value of crops. We aredeveloping new approaches using a conditional male-sterility for the F1 hybrid seed production in rice. The conventional three parental systems for F1 hybrid seed production requirethe following three lines: male-sterile line, maintainer line, and restorer line. In this system, a critical requirement is to maintain the male-sterile inbred lines. Here we suggest molecular approaches, in which the engineered male-sterile plants are generated by regulating endogenous hormonal balance through the loss-of-function of genes. We can expect the male-sterility can be restored by exogenous applications of hormones such as gibberellin or jasmonic acid. Based on two parental systems, we will address the answer onfollowing question: how can we maintain a male-sterile line producing 100% male-sterile progenies without a maintainer? This work was supported by grants from Crop Functional Genomics Center of the 21C Frontier Program (CG1517), RepublicKorea.

Nitrogen (N) fertilization is essential for alleviating nutrient deficiencies of the world’s population by increasing rice production, one of the most important food crops of our time. Here we established an in vivo hydroponics rice seedling culture system to investigate the physio-biochemical and molecular responses of various rice genotypes to low nitrogen application. Yoshida’s nutrient solution (YS) was used to grow rice seedlings, and at three-week-old the seedlings manifested highly stable and reproducible symptoms, such as reduced shoot growth and length. Out of 12 genetically selected or tested genotypes, almost all (11 genotypes) showed varied degrees of growth reduction response to applied nitrogen (4 and 40 ppm N for treatment and control, respectively), but SR19663-B-B-34-3-3-3-1 showed similar growth as the control though its leaf width was smaller than the control. The leaves of a 11 representative low nitrogen-responsive genotype as BG90-2 were sampled for revealing the protein profiles between low and normal (control) nitrogen application by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DGE) followed by staining of separated proteins with silver. Fifty differentially expressed silver stained protein spots were excised from 2-D gels and 41 proteins identified using high-throughput mass spectrometry (MS) using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-MS and nano electrospray ionization liquid chromatography tandem MS. These proteins could be assigned as major (energy metabolism, photosynthesis and oxidative stress) and minor functional categories, revealing many novel low N-responsive proteins, including those having energy/photosynthesis, and defense/stress, and iron homeostasis-related functions.