This research aims to analyse consumers’ (Millennials and Gen Z) luxury consumption behaviour by focusing on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that drive consumption of luxury goods. Then, the study investigates whether they prefer to purchase offline or online for luxury goods. Lastly, it analyses which media most influences individuals when it comes to luxury consumption. An online survey is developed and distributed to Millennials and Gen Z. A first round of data collection took place in 2022 and a second round of data collection will take place at the beginning of 2024. Initial findings show that consumers are driven by intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivations when purchasing and who influences more when buying luxury online. Furthermore, it emerges that consumers prefer to shop offline, highlighting the importance of physical stores.

The study investigated the influence of website features on the purchase intention of online fashion among Generation Z consumers in South Africa. This topic has received increasing attention against the backdrop of the rapidly growing ‘Digital Generation’, or ‘Millennial consumers’, who are one of the most tech-savvy generations. Despite the benefits that online shopping offers to both the business and the consumer, the act of buying clothes online has presented some challenges to customers. This study therefore aims to gather further insight in an attempt to provide fashion businesses with guidance to better succeed in encouraging customers to shop online. This study selected two visual elements (website aesthetics and product presentation) and two functional website features (website navigation, and security and privacy) and social norms, the test the effect they have on perceived ease of use, attitude and intention to purchase clothing online. The proposed conceptual model tested seven hypotheses of which four were supported. By means of an empirical study, 166 online surveys were collected from individuals within the Generation Z cohort and the analysis was done using SPSS27 by running multiple regression analysis to test the relationships between the variables. The results from this study provide global and local fashion brands with valuable insight into the consumption habits of young consumers in an emerging economy, and factors that drive online fashion consumption.

In this study, the displacement dependence, strength, and energy dissipation capacity of the steel rod damper were evaluated. The test variables are the number of steel rod dampers and the lateral deformation prevention details. From test results, it was evaluated that the displacement dependence conditions in the structural design code were satisfied. The maximum strength and energy dissipation capacity increased linearly as the number of steel rod increased. In addition, the maximum strength and energy dissipation capacity were evaluated by more than 20 times increased by using of the lateral deformation prevention details.

Fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a polyphagous agricultural pest that damages about 80 species of plants. It mainly damages Poaceae and plants used as food resources for humans. Its original habitat is the American continent, but it unintentionally settled in tropical and subtropical Asia, including Africa, India, and Sri Lanka. It occurs every year even in southern China, which is geographically adjacent to the Korean Peninsula, causing damage to crops. In Korea, it was first discovered on Jeju Island in June 2019 and is being discovered every year in Jeju and some inland areas. In 2023, there were a total of 13 discoveries, including those in the Jeju and Jeonbuk regions. Quarantine agency identified the maternal genotypes of all currently discovered individuals using COI and identified differences in genetic traits between individuals using the sex-related Z-chromosome. For comparison with the information on the individuals that invaded the country, 15 individuals from Guangxi and Guangdong provinces in China were collected and secured. Through the analysis of overseas samples, a database has been added to compare genetic information with domestic invasive species, and the reliability of the analysis is expected to increase.

Environmental concern has escalated as the climate crisis is an increasingly prevalent issue for the global society. Further catalysed by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, consumer behaviours are shifting, materialising in greener purchasing behaviour and heightened expectations of environmental brand practices. This phenomenon is affecting consumer attitudes and behaviour towards fashion brands. As such, credible environmental marketing strategies are increasingly central to brand success, influencing brand credibility perception.

The current paper aims to understand green behavior from the perspective of Gen Z, the emerging consumers of a new tech-savvy world, driven by social media. We offer a novel definition of green behavior via the lens of consumer activism in the context of social media, the basis for purchase decision-making by Gen Z. Undertaking a review of extant literature, we also identify a conceptual model for green behavior as a form of consumer activism in social media. We identify perceived environmental transgression as a precursor to green behavior. We also study the less-studied moderators of green stigma and green skepticism, which are important both in the context of Gen Z as well as social media.

We report the discovery of four quasars with M1450 ≳ −25.0 mag at z ∼ 5 and supermassive black hole mass measurement for one of the quasars. They were selected as promising high-redshift quasar candidates via deep learning and Bayesian information criterion, which are expected to be effective in discriminating quasars from the late-type stars and high-redshift galaxies. The candidates were observed by the Double Spectrograph on the Palomar 200-inch Hale Telescope. They show clear Lyα breaks at about 7000–8000 ˚A, indicating they are quasars at 4.7 < z < 5.6. For HSC J233107-001014, we measure the mass of its supermassive black hole (SMBH) using its Civ λ1549 emission line. The SMBH mass and Eddington ratio of the quasar are found to be ∼108 M⊙ and ∼0.6, respectively. This suggests that this quasar possibly harbors a fast growing SMBH near the Eddington limit despite its faintness (LBol < 1046 erg s−1). Our 100% quasar identification rate supports high efficiency of our deep learning and Bayesian information criterion selection method, which can be applied to future surveys to increase high-redshift quasar sample.

톱다리개미허리노린재(Riptortus pedestris Fabricius)는 지역에 따라 사과에 심각한 경제적 피해를 야기하고 있지만, 사과에서 톱다리개미 허리노린재 친환경 방제에 대한 연구는 전무한 실정이다. 따라서, 이번 연구에서는 톱다리개미허리노린재의 집합페로몬 성분 중 (E)-2-hexenyl (Z)-3hexenoate (E2HZ3H)이 노린재검정알벌(Gryon japonicum Ashmead)과 노린재깡충좀벌(Ooencyrtus nezarae Ishii)에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다. 사과 과수원에서 E2HZ3H는 전체 과수원에 발생하는 2종의 포식기생자의 밀도에는 직접적으로 영향을 주지 않았고 이들 포식기생자의 공간분포도 변화시키지 않았다. 그러나, E2HZ3H 루어가 설치된 지역 주변에서는 2종의 포식기생자 모두 제한적으로 유인하는 것을 확인하였다. 따라서, E2HZ3H 루어는 사과 과수원 내에서 정밀방제를 목적으로 친환경 방제에 고려될 수 있을 것으로 생각된다.