4(5)-methylimidazole (4(5)-MI) is carcinogenic, nitrogen-containing compound, mainly found during the manufacturing of caramel coloring. Hence, presence of 4(5)-MI is well-known in any food products with addition of caramel coloring for desirable sensory characteristics, such as cookies. Limited work has been conducted to develop suitable analytical method and to investigate effect of caramel coloring in cookies. This study aimed at developing the analytical method for quantification of 4(5)-MI and confirming influence of caramel coloring on level of 4(5)-Mi in cookies. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was utilized for qualification and quantification of 4(5)-MI. Sample preparation procedure specialized in bakery products was fully developed in this study. The concentration of 4(5)-MI in 15 commercial cookies and biscuits ranged from 71.5 to 1254.8 ng/g. Correlation equation (y = 706.42x + 21.792) was obtained to estimate effect of caramel colorant on level of 4(5)-MI in cookies. Further, analytical method developed and results of correlation equation can be utilized in future studies on reduction of 4(5)-MI in many food.

Firms acquire customers using myriad forms of marketing media (Neslin & Shankar 2009), and different media strategies yield different results to the firms. Therefore, allocating media strategy given a firm’s spending raises important questions for managers. This is especially the case since the media landscape has changed dramatically, with new media channels incorporating online, mobile, and social media now being considered the mainstream. It is crucial to understand how each form of media influences consumers and how it operates alongside traditional media. Based on Stephen and Galak (2012), marketers distinguish earned media from paid media. Earned media is defined as media activity that a company does not directly generate, such as press mentions on the internet and online community posts in consumer-generated social media. On the other hand, paid media refers to the media activity which a company generates (for example, television, radio, print, and direct mail). It is common for firms to consider using earned media and paid media at the same time when developing marketing communication strategies. Despite the coexistence of paid and earned media channels, previous empirical findings focus either on paid media or earned media and suggest that these individually will increase a firm’s marketing outcomes. However, there is a lack of research that examines the question of whether the use of paid media and earned media at the same time is synergistic. The effects of a cross media synergy only focuses on the resource allocation within paid media (for example, TV–Radio (Edell & Keller 1989), TV–Magazine (Confer & McGlathery 1991), TV–Print (Dijkstra, Buijtels, & Van Raaij 2005), and TV, Radio, Print and Outdoor (Briggs, Krishnan, & Sheeran 2003)). Thus, by considering paid media and earned media concurrently, this study investigates whether the synergies between paid and earned media have a stronger effect on a firm’s long term profitability than the isolated effects of TV or word of mouth (WOM) alone. In addition, the research on earned media has focused on short-term outcomes such as customer actions (for example, website sign-ups) and sales growth, sales rank, cross-product sales, and ratings (Trusov, Bucklin, & Pauwels 2009; Li & Hitt 2008; Moe & Trusov 2011). Moreover, in the limited research on the relationship between earned media and long-term outcomes, the outcomes are restricted to those related to soft metrics of communication effectiveness (for example, attitude and brand awareness). Therefore, we use customer equity, which is regarded as a forward looking firm outcome variable, thereby enabling marketers to monitor and measure the long-term financial impact of marketing spending (Kumar & Shah 2015). Moreover, cross-media synergy can be accurately measured by customer equity, which incorporates both customer acquisition and retention. Based on Villanueva, Yoo, and Hassens (2008), customers acquired through paid media focus more on trials, whereas customers acquired through earned media provide the firm with more repeats. In other words, paid media plays a key role in the acquisition of customers, while, on the other hand, earned media increase the retention of customers. Thus, it is appropriate to measure the cross-media synergy with the customer equity (long term profitability) that can capture the customer acquisition and retention simultaneously. Regarding the long term impact of the firm’s media strategy, previous research has used the economic impact of traditional marketing channel (for example, television, radio, magazine or newspaper, advertisement, e-mail links, and direct mail) versus that of WOM (for example, links from Web sites, magazine, or newspaper articles, referrals from friends or colleagues, referrals from professional organizations or associations, and referrals from search engines) on customer equity. Traditional marketing had a stronger effect than WOM in the short term, while WOM is a quiet, gradual-impact, long lasting driver (Villanueva, Yoo, & Hassens 2008). This result can be attributed to the different characteristics of each media channel. Although earned media, including WOM, is not entirely controlled by the firm, earned media may be more likely to last longer for various reasons. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is that earned media has greater credibility than conventional marketing activities that are implemented by the firms, and is therefore more persuasive than conventional advertising (Brown & Reingen 1987, Villanueva, Yoo, & Hassens 2008). In other words, considering the impact of each type of media in itself, earned media is more effective in increasing long-term profitability. However, the interaction effect of earned and paid media has not been empirically tested yet. Thus, it is conceivable that a cross-media synergy (incorporating the implementation of earned media and paid media at the same time) will last longer than the implementation of each isolated media. As Armelini and Villanueva (2010) pointed out, earned media and paid media have complementary effects. For example, offline advertising increases website visitation by influencing consumer awareness, while online advertising directly leads to website traffic (Ilfeld & Winer 2002). The consumer buying process involves distinct stages such as awareness, consideration, and purchase (Lavidge & Stener 2000) and each media influences customer buying behavior in a different way. Hence, it enhances the effectiveness in terms of long-term profitability to utilize the cross-media effect properly. For example, in the car industry, 64 % new car buyers become aware of the features and benefits of a car by obtaining information online, even though they purchase their cars from an offline dealership (J.D. Power and Associates 2004). This finding implies that a firm’s implementation of both paid and earned media properly will maximize the customers’ arousal of the target brands. Furthermore, converging paid media and earned media is expected to proliferate the growth of a firm’s profitability, such as sales, revenue, and customer’s equity, at an exponential rate. For example, the effects of TV advertising execution can be enhanced by press mentions that a company does not directly generate; this is because press mentions support the credence of TV advertising. Inversely, since paid media activities reach the audience relatively more than WOM (due to the high audience penetration share), the online share of press mention can proliferate rapidly with the execution of paid media activities. Therefore, the interaction between earned media and paid media has a greater effect on customer equity than isolated media implementation. The impact of a media synergy has more positive effect and last longer than isolated media implementation (and our model is displayed in Fig. 1). We collect data on marketing efforts, word-of-mouth circumstance, and performance of a telecommunication company. Based on customer equity models and quarterly marketing and performance data, we first estimate the lifetime value of the newly acquired and existing customers. Thereafter, we determine the customer equity of the company over each period. We develop and employ a time-series model for examining the relationship between cross media efforts (paid media vs. earned media) and the estimated firm’s customer equity. Finally, we examine the synergistic effect of cross media on the firm’s long-term profitability.

Cellulose fibers were stabilized by treatment with an electron-beam (E-beam). The properties of the stabilized fibers were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The E-beam-stabilized cellulose fibers were carbonized in N2 gas at 800°C for 1 h, and their carbonization yields were measured. The structure of the cellulose fibers was determined to have changed to hemicellulose and cross-linked cellulose as a result of the E-beam stabilization. The hemicellulose decreased the initial decomposition temperature, and the cross-linked bonds increased the carbonization yield of the cellulose fibers. Increasing the absorbed E-beam dose to 1500 kGy increased the carbonization yield of the cellulose-based carbon fiber by 27.5% upon exposure compared to untreated cellulose fibers.

The genus Macrolygus Yasunaga, 1992 is the genus includes two Asian species. This genus described by Yasunaga at 1992, with a single type species, M. viridulus. Thereafter, Zheng and Lu (2002) reported the second species, M. torreyae from China. In this poster, We report M. viridulus for the first time from Korea.

Pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN) produced in the subesophageal ganglion is known to stimulate pheromone production in the pheromone gland. A cDNA isolated from female adult heads of Maruca vitrata encodes 197 amino acids including PBAN, designated as Mvi-PBAN, and four other neuropeptides (NPs): diapause hormone (DH) homologue, α-NP, β-NP and γ-NP. All of the peptides are amidated in their C-termini and shared a conserved motif, FXPR(or K)L-NH2 structure. Mvi-PBAN consists of 35 amino acids as previously reported (Chang and Ramasamy, 2014). RT-PCR analysis revealed that Mvi-PBAN cDNA was expressed in all examined body parts. Nucleotide sequence analysis of RT-PCR products indicated the Mvi-PBAN sequence was identical in all examined body parts of both sexes. These results suggest that Mvi-PBAN expression is maintained in examined stages or tissues.

The mirine plant bug genus Paramiridius, which has been known only by a single Taiwanese species, is reported from Indochinese Laos for the first time and redefined. Two additional species, P. indochinensis and P. laomontanus, are described as new to science. The female genitalic structures are from the first time figured for the genus. A key is provided for all three known Paramiridius species.

The population of Myrmica ants, which is most abundant in high altitudinal areas in South Korea, is expected to decrease significantly due to climatic warming, whereas Aphaenogaster japonica population is expected to increase in these areas. The two ant groups are similar in shape, size, and ecology, indicating intensive competition in overlapping areas. To determine the competitions between the two groups, I investigated the ants at a high mountain (Mt. Gaebangsan) during two ant foraging seasons (2010 and 2011) using pitfall traps and bait traps along altitudinal gradients. Two Myrmica species (kotokui and kurokii) were present between 800 m to 1577 m, whereas A. japonica appeared up to 1200 m. Fights between ants were observed 22 times and fights between these two ant groups were most frequently found. Although a competitive hierarchy was not apparent, A. japonica appears to be dominant over Myrmica species in food competition when considering the more timid behavior of Myrmica species and my unpublished data. However, food discovery speed is greater in Myrmica species than in A. japonica, indicating a dominance-discovery tradeoff. The food discovery capability of A. japonica was greatly reduced at 1050 m elevation, which is around the elevational limit. This elevational suppression of food discovery capability was not found in Myrmica species.

Species diversity of ant fauna inhabiting the university campus in the Seoul Metropolitan city, Hanyang University is documented in this investigation. Totally, 14 species of 8 genera belong to 3 subfamilies discovered in study area. Our results are compared with the previous works on ant fauna in the forest and urban habitats based on species number difference. In study area, site 12 and 13 contain wide forest area and diverse environmental elements such as rotten wood, leaf mold and group of living tree. Site 7 has small forest area, but show wide variety of environments like site 12 and 13. Urbanized region like site 8, 10 or area in construction like site 1 show the most lowest diversity. Aside from diversity, Four ant species, Paratrechina flavipes, Lasius spp., Camponotus japonicas, Tetramorium caespitum, appear at almost all habitat, seems to have strong tolerance to environmental change.

Despite many researches related with in-vitro culture of porcine spematogonial stem cells (SSCs), adherent culture system widely used has shown a limitation in the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal. Therefore, in order to overcome this obstacle, suspension culture, which is known to have numerous advantage over adherent culture, was applied to the culture of porcine SSCs. Porcine SSCs retrieved from neonatal testes were suspension-cultured for 5 days or 20 days, and characteristics of suspension-cultured porcine SSCs including proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity, and self-renewal-specific gene expression were investigated and compared with those of adherent-cul-tured porcine SSCs. As the results, the suspension-cultured porcine SSCs showed entirely non-proliferative and significantly higher rate of AP-positive cells and expression of self-renewal-specific genes than the adherent-cultured porcine SSCs. In addition, long-term culture of porcine SSCs in suspension condition induced significant decrease in the yield of AP staining-positive cells on post-day 10 of culture. These results showed that suspension culture was inappropriate to culture porcine SSCs, because the culture of porcine SSCs in suspension condition didn’t stimulate proliferation and maintain AP activity of porcine SSCs, regardless of culture periods.